Droid bricked during OTA 2.1 update

[deathtoll2001]

So apparently hitting that "install update" button was a bad plan. Doing so appeared to run the appropriate installation routine, but on the final reboot it gets stuck:

Powers on, M appears, no problem.
"Droid" gets drawn on the screen, no problem.
Red eye appears, no problem.
Then the screen goes blank for about 5 seconds, and "Droid" gets drawn again.
This cycle repeated endlessly for about 2 hours before I gave up and pulled the battery.

I've tried hard resetting via battery pulling several times. I've tried pulling the SD card and booting it. Everything has resulted in the same endless cycle.

I do so love updates that brick my phone! Especially since it's my only phone at home... Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Kack]

you can go to verizon and get a new one.

 

[cereal killer]

Hello Deathtoll...

Couple things and I know it may sound silly but charge it for a bit (1 hour)

Then if it doesn't boot keep doing battery pulls.

There was another user with your same issue and after charging and battery pulls it started up. Weird I know but it's worth a shot.

As a side note he said the device runs perfectly now..

 

[deathtoll2001]

It was fully charged when I applied the update (unplugged it in the morning and hit "install"), but I can try it when I get back home.

I'm considering wiping my user data using recovery mode (after removing the SD card) but I'm not sure what that will do. Deleting cache partition had no effect and "Apply sdcard:update.zip" couldn't find the file so either something got corrupted, it got deleted/moved when the install supposedly finished, or the OTA install and recovery install work differently.

 

[Erron]

You could do an sbf restore. If for some reason nothing else works.

 

[thebowers]

If you were on stock and did the OTA update (the offically and not manually pushing it). I would take it to your nearest corp Verzion store. They can flash the .sbf if need be.

 

[rmoulton]

The good news is that if you are getting that far in the boot process then the phone is not "bricked". It is recoverable, and if you go to a Verizon store they "should" be able to fix it.

Of course, that depends on the technical skills of the person who does it. I've seen idiots and geniuses as technicians, so its the luck of the draw. You might try asking for the best Droid tech when you go in.

 

[Vitticeps]

Or, you could just manually download the update.zip to the sd card using your computer then install it that way.

It's not showing on your sd card now because the OTA doesn't download to the sd card, it downloads to the /cache directory and gets wiped after the update completes. Also, it's not named update.zip so even if it did download to the sd card you'd have to change the name manually. But all that's beside the point now...

Manually re-apply the update or take it to the nearest store.

 

[deathtoll2001]

I'm thinking I'll definitely be taking it to a Verizon store after work then. I'd love to try a manual install, but I have no computer I can put the card in (unless you can load it via the Droid without fully booting and mounting it).

Also, what's the .sbf?

 

[bw75]

2.1

deathtoll2001...did you get your phone fixed? and how did you do it? my phone did exactly the same thing....please help...

 

[JMac84]

Anyone having this problem should check out this thread. I had the exact same problem and eventually fixed it myself.

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/tech-issues-bug-reports-suggestions/35396-stuck-after-2-1-upgrade.html

Basically, pull the usb card, do a factory reset (you'll have to find the process somewhere online), reactivate the phone (pretty simple), and then reinstall your usb card.

 

[deathtoll2001]

I ended up taking mine back to the store and, rather than attempt to fix it, they immediately activated a refurbished one for me. This was very annoying as I had to resetup all of my app settings, home screen, task lists, email, etc.