[Q] Possible Brick? internal SD card seems to be "stuck" as is. WEIRD - G Tablet Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Okay guys, so here's a weird one.
My g-tablet was working great. Was running VEGAn-Tab Build, BETA 5.1.1, no reason to update it, because it did everything I needed. I finally had it to where I wanted it, then it all kind of started falling apart. Here's how.
I power it on and notice my home screen got all messed up for some reason (using launcher pro). All of the settings defaulted to the original. I tweaked it back to more or less how I wanted it, and when I had it back to normal, thought nothing better of it. Must have glitched out some how.
Then I notice a bunch of things starting to force close, specfically android market, amazon market, titanium backup, google services framework, launcher pro, etc. Odd thing is it would do it one at a time, but otherwise my tablet would carry on as normal.
I go ahead and restart the tablet, to see if that helps at all, and what do you know, the homescreen is messed up again! I thought launcher pro might have been the culprit, so I un-installed the app and rebooted... And launcher pro is still there.
I go ahead and delete it again and start deleting other apps, restarting the tablet, and no matter what I do, everything stays the same. time for some clockwork mod action. I go into clockwork mod, and try to do the factory reset option, thinking what the hey, I'll try anything right now. Hit it, mourn the loss of my user data, and reboot the system... and again, everything is still the same.
I hook up my tablet to the computer via usb, and it looks like I'm able to at least delete misc. files that way. But when I return to good old Tabatha (my nickname for Gtab) everything is stuck just the way it is.
Needless to say, it feels like I'm stuck in the twilight zone.
I know I should have researched it by now, but I'm going to finally look it up to see if I can recover with NVFlash (I know I know, very noobish of me, using strange roms and not knowing any of the basics).... but I'm increasingly worried I've got some kind of a hardware malfunction on my hands. Could it be the memory? The internal SD card?
Oddly enough, my tablet still functions... I can browse the web, hook it up to my computer, etc etc, but no matter what I do I can't alter the data I already have on my tablet. Can't delete things, can't change settings, update apps, etc. etc. Which makes it pretty much useless for what I wanted to use it for.
I finally realized what this is like. The movie groundhog day, and I'm stuck in the same day, over and over again.
Any help or input that might get me out of this mess would be greatly appreciated.
Phil: "I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over..."

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This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.

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rajeevvp said:
This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the direction, at least I know it isn't an isolated incident. It's 1:45 AM where I am right now, and I have to wake up for work in about 5 hours... So I probably won't be able to get in depth with the follow up on this stuff untill after work tomorrow night (so long as the wife doesn't hog the computer )
Again thanks for the quick response, I appreciate you pointing me into some sort of direction. Can't wait to try to get this sorted out!

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Currently trying to figure out how to get ADB going.... pretty intimidating, but I'm trying. I got the Java JDK installed, installing the SDK, but can't find the "SDK Setup.exe" file or even a USB driver folder in the SDK directory. Got a good resource for getting ADB set up?

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Save yourself some trouble. Got to http://www.knoppix.org/ and download the latest Knoppix live CD image.
Burn it, boot it, then use the adb executable from this post. For simple things like just running adb, you don't need the entire Android SDK.
Get me a dmesg while inside ClockworkMod:
Code:
$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
ADB commands documentation

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Thanks, I'll try it out sometime this weekend!

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Well, I really screwed myself now. I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive. [Do I need to load the OS onto a flash drive instead?]
So I started messing with some stuff in clockwork mod. I apparently really goofed it, and I got a "Magic Value Mismatch" error everytime I tried to boot it up.
I looked up Magic Value Mismatch, and from there it pointed to using NVFlash to try to fix that problem. So tried that. After I flashed it, I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
I looked up this issue and apparently the key is to get into clockwork mod and do factory reset, reset cache, and partition the SD card to 2048 and 0, which I did... (per post #4 on this thread: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17501-helpstuck-in-bootloop/ ) but still no dice.
Not sure where to go from here, or if I can even get it to interface with ADB in its current state. Looks like I'm done for
Thanks for trying though

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On second thought, I may have had a breakthrough, at least in getting ADB to see my tablet!!! Woohoo! It finally sees the device and has a serial number. Was following the device on this thread:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/viewsonic-gtablet-technical/5377-adb-g-tab-step-step.html
7. under the "[Google.NTx86]" section, paste the following:
Code:
;NVIDIA Tegra
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7000
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7100&MI_01
save the file and exit.
But I have a 64 bit machine, so I finally figured it out and plopped that into the 64 bit portion of the .inf file. DOH!
So now let me see what I can drum up through the previous commands above.... though the parameters have changed now to be sure... Due to my haste things may have taken a turn for the worse.
To recap, now my tablet is stuck in a boot loop after having done NV Flash, after having screwed up some settings in clockwork mod trying to fix a "Magic Value Mismatch" error.

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Tried:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
I just run this in the cmd prompt at my platform-tools directory where the adb is correct?
All it says is, "The system cannot find the path specified."
Am I doing something wrong, or is my tablet that messed up?

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Okay, this is slightly weird. So I was browsing around in clockwork mod, and lo and behold, the original zip flies for vegan tab are all STILL THERE. So I reloaded them... And My tablet zips back to exactly the way I had it before!
Only this time, so far no force closes. This looks way too good to be true after what I've been through. I'm going to try modifying some files and settings and restart my tablet to see what it does. I'm pretty sure I can't be out of the woods yet. Allthough it is 3:33 AM as this is happening... magic hour. I may be going insane.
EDIT: Nope, was definitely way too good to be true. All my data is as stuck as it was ever was. But at least now I can get into it again. But now we're back to square one. Lemme figure out this dmesg business and get back to you. X(

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So I would try issuing the following exactly in the command line at the adb platform tools folder:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Is that code supposed to be copy and paste in? I don't seem to be getting anything. I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file. And you want me to do that while the g tablet is in recovery, correct?
FYI, trying to do it through Windows 7. Would that command only operate in the linux environment via knoppix?
Thanks

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titobetlogs said:
I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redirect the output to a file:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
titobetlogs said:
I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggested using Knoppix just because it is so easy to use adb in Linux. Broken-down steps for future reference:
1. Download and burn the latest Knoppix Live CD iso image. Check the downloaded file size. The .iso file should be ~700MB in size. Also, test the CD by booting it and then typing at the boot prompt: knoppix testcd
2. Boot Live CD and skip the creation of any partition or file to store user data. After all, we just want to run adb.
3. After Knoppix has booted into the desktop, run a browser, right click on the adb.zip attachment in this post, then select "Save Link As..." and save the zip file into /tmp.
4. Connect the gTablet to the PC via the USB cable.
5. Open a terminal window, then type in it:
Code:
hostpc$ [B]cd /tmp[/B] [I]Change to the dir. where adb.zip was saved[/I]
hostpc$ [B]unzip adb.zip[/B] [I]Unzip zip file[/I]
hostpc$ [B]ls -l adb[/B] [I]Check if the adb program was extracted OK[/I]
-rwx------ 1 rvp rvp 159620 Dec 1 22:23 adb
hostpc$ [B]chmod 555 adb[/B] [I]Make adb executable.[/I]
hostpc$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
Note 1: do not type in the shell prompt, 'hostpc$'. It is only there to show you what the screen should (roughly) look like.
Note 2: If adb says something like "device not found", just unplug the USB cable from the PC, wait a few moments, then re-plug the cable and re-run the adb command again.
6. Go back into the browser and attach the dmesg.txt file that is there in /tmp. You will have to tell the Noscript plugin to allow scripts from xda-developers to enable attachments. Right click on the page, then select the Noscript menu item, then choose "Temporarily allow xda-developers.com".
I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not surprised. If the files on the internal SD card cannot be modified then that boot loop behaviour is to be expected. Here's why:
Android requires certain partitions to exist on the system. These partitions can be either on the flash or on SD cards. The partitions are:
/system: This is where the binaries and system apps that come with the firmware are stored. This partition is usually mounted read-only to protect it. On the gTablet, this partition is on the 512MB built-in NAND flash chip.
/cache: As the name indicates, this is the partition used to speed up the execution of the Java apps. Temporary files are also created here. This partition too is on the built-in NAND flash chip.
/data: This is where user-downloaded apps are stored by default, and also where Android stores its system configuration data. This partition, on the gTablet, is on the internal SD card.
/sdcard: This is where user content like media files, books, and the apps moved to SD card are stored. This partition too is on the internal SD card.
The first 3 partitions are critical and Android won't come up without them being present (or, if there are any errors on them). Among these 3, only /system needs to be correctly populated (When you install a ROM, new stuff is copied here). The other 2 partitions, /data and /cache can be empty and the system will boot up fine--with defaults. In fact, when you select "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM, /cache and /data are re-formatted--effectively, wiped clean.
(There are 2 other important partitions on the NAND flash chip, but, these are not mounted because they don't contain a proper filesystem. You have to use special tools to create the contents of these 2 partitions.
The first of these is the "boot" partition. This one and "system" are re-written when you install a new ROM. The "boot" partition holds the Android Linux kernel. If you install a new kernel, only the "boot" partition is rewritten.
The second is the "recovery" partition. This contains a separate, and usually different (and safe), Linux kernel and a mini filesystem image. This is a fail-safe partition. Stock recovery and ClockworkMod sit here.)
In your case, nothing on the internal SD card can be modified, so the stuff in /data will still be from your old ROM. (nvflash also cannot modify SD card contents, as I mentioned before.) When the stock firmware boots up, it will find incompatible stuff in /data. Critical apps will then die. Android will restart them, they will die again. This is your boot loop.
Get me the dmesg output and then we'll run a few tests using CWM, but, judging from your previous posts, I don't think your internal SD card can be fixed. You have 2 options:
1. Return the tablet for a replacement.
2. If you can't return it, I can switch the internal and external SD cards on your ROM so that you can boot and use the system (almost) normally. But, this is a custom solution and you will need to have an external SD card in its slot always. Read through this thread.

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Wow, you really know you're stuff! I'll see what I can get you later on in the day with regard to the dmesg, I'm currently still at work.
I had suspected a hardware error... bummer. I'll definitely be interested in seeing if I can just use the external micro sd slot to sub out for the internal sd card. I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards? That would be pretty awesome, I at least wouldn't feel too limited on space.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob. I greatly appreciate your patience and taking the time to break everything down for me. I have absolutely zero background in programming or anything computer related, though I do find this stuff extremely fascinating! If I could rewind the clock and study this stuff in school, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Again, thanks so much, can't thank you enough.

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titobetlogs said:
I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you should be able to run whatever ROM you want. I'll send you an installable zip file, in a few days, which should get you going again on Vegan-Tab, at least. You'll just need to remember to flash this zip file right after you've flashed the ROM (of your choice).
Right now, I don't know if I need one zip file for each kind of ROM in existence for the gTablet, or, if I can use some scripting and do the internal/external SD card switch using just a single installable zip file. I'll look into this on the weekend.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was a complete noob to Android myself back in April of this year. I've picked all of this up in just a few months. I'm pretty sure you can do it too, with a bit of poking around in the system. Of course, having a background in Unix/Linux helps a lot.

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In your honor, below are some inspiring lyrics from the Karate Kid soundtrack:
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ho-how-ho-own
INSPIRING GUITAR SOLO

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Dude! you're embarrassing me -- I haven't send you the zip file yet... and, you haven't sent that dmesg output I wanted.

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I know I've been stuck at work and family functions every day this week so far. Hopefully I'll get to it soon

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Finally got to this! Here you go! Thanks again!

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titobetlogs said:
Finally got to this! Here you go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't see any problems in that dmesg output. Time for some tests on the internal SD card.
Boot into CWM, then run on PC (on Linux run: sudo ./adb shell):
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell[/B]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I] Mount internal SD card partition[/I]
~ # [B]mkdir -p /sdcard/a/b/c[/B] [I]Make a directory tree[/I]
~ # [B]echo test > /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Create a file[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Read it back again[/I]
test [I]Correct[/I]
~ # [B]echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches[/B] Flush kernel caches
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] Read it back again
test Correct
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B] [I]Unmount[/I]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I]Remount /sdcard[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Reread file[/I]
test [I]You should see "test" here[/I]
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B]
You should see "test" after the kernel flush and the remount.
Next, reboot the tablet--back into CWM, then run the cat command again. `cat' should output "test", again, if the SD card is OK.

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Here's a screen of the commands I entered and what I got back. Did I do anything wrong? Looks like something's a bit off.