Can't Escape CM4D2-GB Boot Loop at Circled Robot

[receptacle]

I began a thread ( http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-2-hacks/178500-cant-get-into-any-recovery-end-my-rope.html ) in Droid 2 Hacks when I couldn't get into any recovery on my phone. Since then, the problem has changed a bit (seems to be CM4D2-GB related, which is why I'm starting this here now), but I'm still in severe need of help.

LOTS of detailed background can be found in the above thread, but in the interest of being concise, here's the short(er) version:

I got OTA GB Sept 1, rooted, bootstrapped, installed CM4D2-GB. Then kept upgrading through CM4D2-GB-20111006 as available, running happily. I went back to unrooted OTA GB to do possible warranty return but soon decided to keep the phone. I rooted OTA GB, bootstrapped, used Clockworkmod Recovery to wipe cache, install fresh CM4D2-GB-20111006 and gapps-08028-signed, then rebooted. I'm stuck at the CM4D2-GB circled robot animation circling, then running across screen, circling, etc...

I've tried every variation of battery pull, charger cord, sticking my tongue out to the left... everything I've read to try. Nothing works. I can get into stock recovery from powered-off, but if there's a way to Clockwork Recovery from powered-off, I don't know it. I have read methods for that, but none worked (power+vol down, battery pulls at certain times, wall charger, etc.).

I am really up a creek at this point and need some help. I've done SBF of VRZ_955_2.3.20 many times, using both RSDLite 4.9 and sbf_flash on Linux (which is my primary OS). It completes successfully, but then leaves my system in some weird state after reboot... no wallpaper and phone won't respond. Every time I get there, I have to do Power+X, stock recovery, Factory Data Reset, then start all over getting OTA GB, rooting, CWM. Then I install CM4D2-GB, then it boot loops forever on the Cyan logo.

Did I mention I really need some help?

 

[havens1515]

1) It sounds like you used bootstrap after CM7 was installed. That's a no-no. It will cause a bootloop like this. In the future, use the power menu. Press and hold power button, select reboot -> recovery.

2) When you sbf, it is normal to have to do a factory reset before it will boot.

3) Where are you getting CM4D2 from? The official builds from the CM website are designed to run on the Froyo kernel, which would explain what is happening. If you want the builds for the GB kernel, get them from ROM Toolbox or from this thread:
[DEV_THREAD]Droid 2 CM7 with Gingerbread Kernel

Hope this helps!

EDIT: You can download the ROM from ROM Toolbox, but if you have a CWM Recovery newer than 2.5.0.8, DO NOT use ROM Toolbox to install it. Use ROM Toolbox to DL it, then boot into recovery to install the zip.

EDIT #2: If you are stuck at the "circled robot" you may just need to give it some time. Sometimes mine takes up to 5-10 mins to boot after the initial flash of CM7. Any boot after that should only take a couple seconds.

 

[roydroid]

had similar problem with boot loop - here is how I solved.

I had a very similar problem - after loading a recent nightly build. Had done other nightlies, but this particular one ( can't remember the actual date) caused a never ending boot loop just as you describe. After 2 nights of searching for a way to get into recovery so that I could try one of my backups, I gave up. The only thing I could access was the built in recovery ( which you access by holding the up arrow on your slide out keyboard while powering on phone).

So finally, I went the SBF route back to stock. You SBF from the built in recovery. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. In fact, I could only get the SBF to work by creating a bootable CD for my windows computer. I used EZSBF ( link below). The bootable CD made it very easy and I was on my way. Once I got phone back to stock, I followed the instructions for installing CM7 and installed the latest version. Now all is well again.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-2-hacks/161849-tool-ezsbf.html

 

[receptacle]

havens1515:
1) I didn't even have Droid 2 Bootstrap as an icon anymore. I only used the power button or ROM Manager.
2) I didn't know FDR was required after SBF. I don't see the point in doing SBF if that's the case. I can always go into stock recovery and choose FDR... can't I (power+x, both volumes)?
3) I was always getting CM4D2-GB from the DEV thread you listed, so it was the right one.
4) I always gave the circled robot loop lots of time, often more than 10 minutes.

roydroid: I've had successful completions of SBF many time now, both by RSDLite in Windows and sbf_flash in my everyday Linux. SBF hasn't been the issue, really. The issue came when I tried to install a fresh CM4D2-GB-20111006 from RevNumbers unofficial collection. The weird thing is I obviously did it successfully with a September release, then as available flashed the newer CM4D2-GB ROMs.

Something worked!... I have done SBF, FDR, OTA GB, root, CWM, then installed CM4D2-GB-2011106 to get boot loop so many times I've lost count. I did it all again, but this time instead of trying to install a clean install of CM4D2-GB-2011106, I tried to restore the backup I did just before returning to unrooted OTA GB (backup was of CM4D2-GB-2011106+Jakesmod and my apps). Using CWM 2.5.0.8 directly gave errors about skipping system, data, .android_secure, and cache, then rebooted with no change to OTA GB. Then I went to ROM Manager and chose to restore the same one. It rebooted into CWM 5.0.2.0 and worked like a charm. *big deep breath* I don't have a clue why I could never install a clean version of the 20111006, and that still bugs me, but at least I have my phone usable again. Now I'm afraid to ever make changes to it.

 

[havens1515]

havens1515:
1) I didn't even have Droid 2 Bootstrap as an icon anymore. I only used the power button or ROM Manager.
2) I didn't know FDR was required after SBF. I don't see the point in doing SBF if that's the case. I can always go into stock recovery and choose FDR... can't I (power+x, both volumes)?
3) I was always getting CM4D2-GB from the DEV thread you listed, so it was the right one.
4) I always gave the circled robot loop lots of time, often more than 10 minutes.

roydroid: I've had successful completions of SBF many time now, both by RSDLite in Windows and sbf_flash in my everyday Linux. SBF hasn't been the issue, really. The issue came when I tried to install a fresh CM4D2-GB-20111006 from RevNumbers unofficial collection. The weird thing is I obviously did it successfully with a September release, then as available flashed the newer CM4D2-GB ROMs.

Something worked!... I have done SBF, FDR, OTA GB, root, CWM, then installed CM4D2-GB-2011106 to get boot loop so many times I've lost count. I did it all again, but this time instead of trying to install a clean install of CM4D2-GB-2011106, I tried to restore the backup I did just before returning to unrooted OTA GB (backup was of CM4D2-GB-2011106+Jakesmod and my apps). Using CWM 2.5.0.8 directly gave errors about skipping system, data, .android_secure, and cache, then rebooted with no change to OTA GB. Then I went to ROM Manager and chose to restore the same one. It rebooted into CWM 5.0.2.0 and worked like a charm. *big deep breath* I don't have a clue why I could never install a clean version of the 20111006, and that still bugs me, but at least I have my phone usable again. Now I'm afraid to ever make changes to it.

FDR and sbf are not the same. FDR resets all of your settings and data within the OS. sbf actually restores the OS itself to original state. Yes, you can always go into stock recovery and choose FDR, but it will only reset your settings, not the OS itself. As far as why you have to FDR after an sbf, I'm not 100% sure, there must be some data left over after the sbf. But I do know that if you DON'T FDR after an sbf, you will almost always bootloop.

I'm glad to hear something worked. Another word of caution - 2.5.0.8 and 5.0.2.0 backup and restore your data in different ways. So a backup made with 2.5.0.8 will not restore correctly if using 5.0.2.0, and vice versa. That's probably why restoring with 2.5.0.8 didn't work.

It sounds like your download of 20111006 may be bad. If you get up the courage to try again, I would try to re-download the file. Or at least check the md5 of your file against the known-good md5 (I think he posts all of the md5 sums on the DEV Thread)