Unable to boot into ClockworkMod Recovery

[Eulogy]

I've used ROM Manager to flash ClockworkMod Recovery onto my Motorola Droid, but when I try to reboot into the ROM, I just see the Motorola logo for a while and then it reboots again back into the phone. If I try to install a custom ROM, instead when it reboots I just get an exclamation icon and have to manually power down and reboot.

From what I've found online so far, nothing has worked as far as solving the problem. Flashing repeatedly, or going between ClockworkMod Recovery and SPRecovery didn't solve the problem, nor did reinstalling the ROM Manager application.

Interestingly, the SPRecovery ROM seems to boot fine, so I'm not sure why ClockworkMod fails every time. Trying to flash old/experimental versions of ClockworkMod always says "An error occurred while flashing your recovery." so I don't know what's going on there.

Any ideas?

[mr_silent]

It could be that your data connection is bad, and when clockwork goes to download the recovery image, the data is being saved, but it gets distorted. If sprecovery works then stick with that(I know, its a pain having to rename files and put them on the root of the sd card). Or look for an alternative recovery, there should be new ones out there by now, check around the forum.
BTW, its called recovery not ROM, ROMs are what you install via recovery.
Sent from my Milestone 1 using Droid Forums app

[Eulogy]

I re-downloaded ClockworkMod Recovery multiple times to ensure this wasn't the problem. I was just trying to follow the instructions here:
Motorola Droid: Full Update Guide - CyanogenMod Wiki

Will ROM Manager use SPRecovery to install a new ROM automatically, or will I have to do some manual method? (Like placing an update.zip in the root of the filesystem, or something similar.)

[AWB]

I don't honestly know cuz i haven't used SP since the days when sholes.info fell apart lol. However 2 ideas that may or may not work...you could build CWM from CM source at the github. And you could also try talking to CM in his IRC channel.

[huskerkate]

In RM you have to repeatedly "flash alternate recovery" and then "flash clockworkmod recovery" until you get a successful flash message within 3-5 seconds of flashing CWM - otherwise CWM wont "take". I've had this happen before, and it can take 5+ times of flashing back and forth for it to take.

Another option is to flash Raidzero's new recovery. It's a significant mod of SPR, and it is amazing! Has all the features of CWM, and then some!

Tappin like a mutha.

[Eulogy]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm not really sure I want to go as far as building from source.. was just hoping I could figure out why ROM Manager isn't flashing the existing version properly.

huskerkate, I have flashed back and forth several times, and yeah, on a few of them it takes a long time... but even after rebooting into it on one that happens within 3 seconds, it still doesn't take.

How would I flash Raidzero's recovery.. I've only used ROM Manager to do it.. and was hoping to install Cyanogen directly from ROM Manager. Would that still work from Raidzero's recovery?

Thanks again!

[huskerkate]

For RZ's recovery, you have to manually install roms thru recovery. But, that's the recommended method anyway. I NEVER recommend installing roms thru RM - it's too glitchy, as you've discovered.

RZ has packaged his recovery as an update zip. As long as you can boot into SPR (which you've said you can) you can just flash it that way. Look in RZ's section under Custom Roms, and you'll find the thread with dl links.

[Eulogy]

Okay.. after installing the Android SDK and using adb, and the instructions in the third post here:
Complete How-To on How to Mod Your Phone (2.1 ROM, O/C, MM, Boot Animation, etc)
(tweaked for the ClockworkMod Recovery, of course), I think the problem is actually a physically bad block. I get an error stating:
mtd: not writing bad block at 0x00320000
error writing recovery: No space left on device

This is consistent for every time I try to flash it. Presumably, SPRecovery flashes fine because it's a smaller image file than ClockworkMod Recovery.

[teddyearp]

Then in that case, may as well go ahead and try RaidZero's recovery. You will have to rename it to update.zip and put it on the root of your sdcard, but then you can havve alot of the features of CWRecovery (not having to rename your rom's) and it faster as well. Here's a link with instructions:

[Recovery] RZR SPR-based *update.zips-battery charging-more*

good luck

[Eulogy]

I was able to load the RZ Recovery since it's smaller in size. Now I'm not sure what exactly I need to wipe prior to installing the Cyanogen ROM. The RZ Recovery has the following options:
Wipe all
Wipe system
Wipe data
Wipe boot
Wipe cache
Wipe misc
Wipe battery stats
Wipe dalvik-cache

The walkthrough I was following said to "wipe data / factory reset" and then "wipe cache partition", so what is the equivalent in RZR?

Is there more info on the proper way to use this recovery? I haven't seen anything in that thread, though admittedly I haven't gone through all 47 pages of it.

Thanks much!