[Q] Purchased a used Nexus 9 and now having issues - Nexus 9 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Purchased a used Nexus 9 on Ebay factory reconditioned.
Unit's arrived with someone's email info associated with it.
Factory reset within Android seems to do not much of anything, I haven't done anything in recovery yet as I read that might require the registered owner's password.
Tried to unlock the bootloader so I could flash a fresh image but getting that permission is denied
What steps do I need to take to remove the other user, make myself the owner, unlock the bootloader, and rid myself of them? I'm about to email the person who's listed as the owner and see if they're willing to help in the event I need them to do something
Thanks!

What happens when you remove their email from Accounts in settings?
Sent from my XT1528

mildlydisturbed said:
Purchased a used Nexus 9 on Ebay factory reconditioned.
Unit's arrived with someone's email info associated with it.
Factory reset within Android seems to do not much of anything, I haven't done anything in recovery yet as I read that might require the registered owner's password.
Tried to unlock the bootloader so I could flash a fresh image but getting that permission is denied
What steps do I need to take to remove the other user, make myself the owner, unlock the bootloader, and rid myself of them? I'm about to email the person who's listed as the owner and see if they're willing to help in the event I need them to do something
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a new security feature in 5.1. You either need to get the former owner's username and password, or return it for a refund.

Ace42 said:
What happens when you remove their email from Accounts in settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I recall it didn't let me
cam30era said:
That's a new security feature in 5.1. You either need to get the former owner's username and password, or return it for a refund.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's running 5.0.1
Just talked with Google support - man they're easy to contact as a note. He said since 5.0.x didn't have the feature that locks the username and password in through a HBoot factory reset so to try it there. I'm at minute 9 of waiting for the thing to reboot to see if it worked or if it's going to ask me for a password.
We shall see however

After two hours it didn't boot. Got into recovery, factory reset doesn't seem to work, plenty of errors about trying to delete folders.
Took Google's suggestion and downloaded an image that was still in the 5.0.x range and tried flashing it ... get nothing but errors PU-FAIL
Noticed the hboot version number was for the WiFi, was sold it as an LTE/CDMA... downloaded the correct WiFi-only stuff, flashing fails.
It updates BCM, then PU-FAIL and something else on everything else.
Unit doesn't boot any more.. just sits at the spinning balls screen.
Think I got a lemon...

Managed to get it to mostly flash 5.0.2 - first part flashes fine, second part fails on .sig missing, extracted and flashed everything individually - cache failed a few times, few times it flashed fine, always throws up errors in recovery that it can't write it.
I'm beginning the believe the unit was refurbed and they missed a bad EMMC

mildlydisturbed said:
Managed to get it to mostly flash 5.0.2 - first part flashes fine, second part fails on .sig missing, extracted and flashed everything individually - cache failed a few times, few times it flashed fine, always throws up errors in recovery that it can't write it.
I'm beginning the believe the unit was refurbed and they missed a bad EMMC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Return it. Never buy electronics on ebay...there is no official warranty and after 60 days, the buyer protection of paypal terminates so you have no leverage with the seller in case of problems. Also, seller refurbished items are the worst as they repair things with no finesse and dont usually do a very good job of diagnosing the issue or replace with cheap parts. I have a lot of experience in refurbishing as I am a Samsung trained technician that works for a major Canadian retailer that has licensed repair centers across the country. I often try to make money on the side by buying broken Samsung phones and tablets and going through official channels to get replacement parts. Official replacement parts are more expensive but I get them at wholesale cost. What I have learned in my years of dealing with replacement parts is that a lot of those that use chinese replacement parts often end up with more problems than they had...you often see that in screen replacements, some of the quickest and high profit margins, using chinese parts will leave you with problems such as undercalibrated screens, low precision digitizers, backlight bleeding, and such. eBay is the biggest market for those parts and a high percentage of sellers on these channels make a living off those repairs. In any case, bad idea.

Yup, initiated a return. Wasn't what I ordered (ordered LTE/CDMA version, got WiFi), bad EMMC. as far as I can tell - I can flash 5.0.2 but always getting cache errors on clear and never able to do anything.

After a few more flashing experiences I found that I had about a 90% chance of successfully flashing a partition and about a 70% chance of getting into recovery.
These of course should have been 100%.
Thing's boxed up, sitting with a return label on it in the outgoing mailbox at work. Ah well, was interesting being a nexus owner if only for a couple of days

Related

[Q] Brand new S3 shows "modified" device status & "custom" system status...

[Q] Brand new S3 shows "modified" device status & "custom" system status...
Hi there,
I just got a brand new s3 through the post (my second, as I had to return the first due to having a scratched camera lens out of the box). The first odd thing was that the software was completely up to date - my first needed two rounds of updates and reboots.
I proceeding to check out the "about phone" page and found that the device status shows modified. So I've rebooted into download mode and it shows no custom binaries, official samsung rom, all good so far, but then, underneath theres a line that say system status: custom......hmmm....
Anyone else had this with an apparently brand new phone? I've found a couple of other instances similar to this on the forum, but neither quite match my circumstances and the responses to those threads seemed far from conclusive on whether the phone may be a refurb.
It came sealed, with a genuine new samsung sticker and in a plastic wrapping from a fulfilled by Amazon seller and looks totally brand-spanking, but, of course, thats not hard to do....
Is this anything to be concerned about and should I return the device...yet again..??
Any help/input/similar tales of woe(!) very much appreciated...
check imei on box against imei on phone
Yup - IMEI from software matches box and one under battery....how is that an indication of authenticity though? The phone could of been refurbed and put back in the same box - or is there more to it?
Cheers for the input
Forgot to mention, although it should be obvious from the post, that the phone has not been rooted or rommed (I literally turned it on less than an hour ago).
Also - one theory I have is that perhaps it's from newer batch, where the updates were applied at the factory....seems a bit of a stretch - anyone know if this is possible?
Sounds like a return that has been officially repaired and sold as new by Samsung on the cheap to suppliers, though they really should state that when selling I think?
One more thing - and apologies to keep bumping, but I just noticed that Opera Mini is installed....WTF? Is that normal?! I can't imagine so somehow....
Refurbished. No doubt
You know what I am typing with.. So don't fret.................Sponsored by Surya_mca
slaphead20 said:
Sounds like a return that has been officially repaired and sold as new by Samsung on the cheap to suppliers, though they really should state that when selling I think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know It was sold as brand new....
I find this Opera thing particularly disturbing as it's uninstallable - which suggests to me that it's baked into the rom, which in turn gets me questioning whether or not it's even genuine samsung product?
knowayback said:
I know It was sold as brand new....
I find this Opera thing particularly disturbing as it's uninstallable - which suggests to me that it's baked into the rom, which in turn gets me questioning whether or not it's even genuine samsung product?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It certainly sounds like an official phone, though the opera thing is very strange....how much did it cost?....and did you check the imei number?
Do your local laws protect you, in the sense that the vendor should give you a really brand new phone? If so, try contacting them and arguing that the phone isn't new, and you want a new one.
If there's nothing that can be done to get a new device, then just get over it, root your phone and uninstall whatever crap it came with (like Opera... argh!)
Yeah - F*** this - sending it back to Amazon A.S.A.P! I'm not paying 450 quid for a bloody refurb!
Gonna try my luck with one from Asda (well known UK supermarket firm), fingers crossed...!
Cheers for all the input, gave me the push I needed to stop procrastinating and get the ball rollin' on a return
A careless refurnish caught by a careful customer.
knowayback said:
Yeah - F*** this - sending it back to Amazon A.S.A.P! I'm not paying 450 quid for a bloody refurb!
Gonna try my luck with one from Asda (well known UK supermarket firm), fingers crossed...!
Cheers for all the input, gave me the push I needed to stop procrastinating and get the ball rollin' on a return
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or....use it as leverage to get a genuine new phone and some compensation discount as well.....and 450 is a lot to pay, got mine on eBay 3 months ago for 390, got lucky, but was only 10 miles away, delivered in person, shop around some more?
slaphead20 said:
Or....use it as leverage to get a genuine new phone and some compensation discount as well.....and 450 is a lot to pay, got mine on eBay 3 months ago for 390, got lucky, but was only 10 miles away, delivered in person, shop around some more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to stick with the big name retailers, cos if you do spot something like this they tend to be more efficient at refunds. I'd rather pay a bit extra safe in the knowledge that I can return in the first two weeks without any headaches.
Plus, the current Asda phone has the 2 year warranty....I'm just praying my luck changes and I get a decent one, as I'm dying to get my hack on after keeping the phone stock for the first couple of weeks (always good practice in my experience, just in case of issues such as these).
Saying that - fairplay on 390, reckon i'd a prolly gone for that an'all if it were just up t'road
450 was quite pricey even in Brazilian standards (everything is pricier in Brazil, because of our crappy taxes, labour cost and very high profit margin).
Mine cost me around (the equivalent to) US$ 320 exactly 3 weeks after launch.
In your position, I`d take it back to Amazon (or whoever), threaten to expose their practice (which you did already) and get more than a refund back.
This isn`t probably Amazon`s fault, unless they have a B-stock just to deal with RMAs and the like. It is probably Samsung's fault.
Wanted to update this post incase anyone else has this issue, as an interesting development has occurred. Got a new device from Asda today - out of the box the device status showed "Normal" - phew! Then the device wanted the usual 3 rounds of updates - double phew!
However, after the updates the device status now shows "modified" and in download mode the system status again shows "custom" - I'm afraid I didn't check what it was showing before the updates, but I'm assuming updating the device changed these values, and furthermore, I'm assuming that this is normal and Ok?
What do you guys think? Anyone else noticed this? Thankfully I don't have a random browser installed this time!
knowayback said:
Wanted to update this post incase anyone else has this issue, as an interesting development has occurred. Got a new device from Asda today - out of the box the device status showed "Normal" - phew! Then the device wanted the usual 3 rounds of updates - double phew!
However, after the updates the device status now shows "modified" and in download mode the system status again shows "custom" - I'm afraid I didn't check what it was showing before the updates, but I'm assuming updating the device changed these values, and furthermore, I'm assuming that this is normal and Ok?
What do you guys think? Anyone else noticed this? Thankfully I don't have a random browser installed this time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What updates by what method ??
Certainly is not normal unless you flash a custom rom or root .
jje
OTA - 5mins after turning it on... Normal before, modified after....
Went from baseband LF2 to LH1, build no. XXALF2 to XXBLG8...
Ok, so thanks to this thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1776019 - it seems that the device status modified and system status custom is affected by my Sandisk 64GB micro SD card.
Upon removal device status is back to normal and system status back to official Does anyone know why this might be? Is it still safe to use? And finally, does anyone have any idea or experience if reformatting it as ext4 or FAT32 will make any difference? Btw - I put it straight in as in came out of the box - exFAT i believe.
Once again any input gratefully appreciated
Need some help here, please...
Yesterday I got my new Vodafone Samsung Galaxy S3
It's already with the JB Polish rom. It's also rooted via Odin... because of that I used Triangle Away to reset flash counter...
Now, when I got to system status it's says is modified and when I go to the Odin Mode menu, Custom Binary Download is No and Current Binary says Samsung Official, but System Status says Custom...
Anyone can tell me how to change to Official?!?
P.S. - Does this has something to do with the CSC ?!? Mine says unknown...

Is this tablet recoverable? wants encryption password on boot

I have the possibility of buying a hdx on Craigslist for cheap that is listed as broken. But the error they get on booting the device is that it wants him to type in a password to decrypt storage. I have seen this issue searching Google but everyone says to factory reset, can you do that without being able to boot into android by holding various button combos like other Android phones? Or I think I can root it to fix it? From reading if the device at least powers on this is likely possible.
The owner has given up on it it seems and I can score it cheap but wanted your input if this is a known issue that can't be fixed, like if he failed to root it and is now trying to pawn it off.
arsenic0 said:
I have the possibility of buying a hdx on Craigslist for cheap that is listed as broken. But the error they get on booting the device is that it wants him to type in a password to decrypt storage. I have seen this issue searching Google but everyone says to factory reset, can you do that without being able to boot into android by holding various button combos like other Android phones? Or I think I can root it to fix it? From reading if the device at least powers on this is likely possible.
The owner has given up on it it seems and I can score it cheap but wanted your input if this is a known issue that can't be fixed, like if he failed to root it and is now trying to pawn it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
power + vol up to boot to recovery
if you can get one for cheap there a pretty good tablet, and if you can get one with lower firmware the better.
i have same issue with you. my kindle ask password to decrypt the device. i already tried to recover by holds uppower button + volume up but didn;t change anything. i don't know what to do
almost the same problem
I have the same boot encryption problem but i am the original owner of my HD 6
I've managed to enter safe mode on my device but this doesn't bypass boot encyption.
I'm waiting for a reply from amazon.
I'll post back when i do
---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:15 PM ----------
amazon tech support helped with the problem.
you can factory reset by turning the device off and pressing on and volume up(booting to recovery mode)(only hold for 4 seconds)
the controls in recovery mode are as follows:
up/down = vol up/vol down
enter = power button(tap once)
this will wipe the device and send you back to first setup.
apparently any further info about this is to be sent directly to tech support on +44 203 356 6212 or to call using amazon.co.uk/clicktocall and request amazon tech support
I am getting a boot password prompt every time I boot the device, I did factory reset twice, and it still does not help, still getting a big lock on the screen and request for a boot password
Any help will be appreciated
[email protected] said:
I am getting a boot password prompt every time I boot the device, I did factory reset twice, and it still does not help, still getting a big lock on the screen and request for a boot password
Any help will be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no recovery from this type of block if you don't know or have forgotten the password. You can reach out to Amazon to see if they have a code that will reset the device (unlikely).
Davey126 said:
There is no recovery from this type of block if you don't know or have forgotten the password. You can reach out to Amazon to see if they have a code that will reset the device (unlikely).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, I already reached out to Amazon 3 times. They have no idea, keep telling me Kindles do not have boot passwords
I never set it, and as I mentioned previously I did factory reset on the kindle. At this point this reset was performed 3 times, when the device boots I keep getting this boot password request
[email protected] said:
Thanks for the suggestion, I already reached out to Amazon 3 times. They have no idea, keep telling me Kindles do not have boot passwords
I never set it, and as I mentioned previously I did factory reset on the kindle. At this point this reset was performed 3 times, when the device boots I keep getting this boot password request
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like most Android devices Kindles (FireOS) can encrypt the data partition which presents a password prompt upon power-up. According to Amazon a factory reset should wipe the device and thus remove the password. Either that is not working for you or the device has been 'locked' by some other app or potentially malware. You may want to post a picture of the screen you are receiving. Someone may recognize it and be able to provide further guidance.
Davey126 said:
There is no recovery from this type of block if you don't know or have forgotten the password. You can reach out to Amazon to see if they have a code that will reset the device (unlikely).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon are telling me now my Kindle was rooted, even though I explain that it was never connected to any network, and no apps were installed on it, just copied some book files from my PC using a USB cable. That's it. Isn't there some kind of re-format, other than reset to factory settings?
[email protected] said:
Amazon are telling me now my Kindle was rooted, even though I explain that it was never connected to any network, and no apps were installed on it, just copied some book files from my PC using a USB cable. That's it. Isn't there some kind of re-format, other than reset to factory settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If 'reset to factory' did not work then I'm afraid you are out of luck unless you can convince Amazon to offer an exchange. The device may have been rooted if purchased from a 3rd party. That does not explain why it suddenly 'locked' nor what tool/app is throwing up the password prompt.
Davey126 said:
If 'reset to factory' did not work then I'm afraid you are out of luck unless you can convince Amazon to offer an exchange. The device may have been rooted if purchased from a 3rd party. That does not explain why it suddenly 'locked' nor what tool/app is throwing up the password prompt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The device was bought from Amazon, not a 3rd party, and it was working fine until my mom let it sit for several months without charging. Which should not have been a problem, but facts sho otherwise
[email protected] said:
The device was bought from Amazon, not a 3rd party, and it was working fine until my mom let it sit for several months without charging. Which should not have been a problem, but facts sho otherwise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should pound on Amazon for a replacement - especially since they falsely accused you of having a rooted device (how do they know that?). I'm guessing the device may have received an 'over-the-air' upgrade while it was sitting idle but perhaps lacked sufficient charge to complete the update. Or the upgrade just went bad; rare but it happens.
Sorry this happened to your mom. Also regret there is not a (reasonable) way to recover the device and/or its contents.
Davey126 said:
You should pound on Amazon for a replacement - especially since they falsely accused you of having a rooted device (how do they know that?). I'm guessing the device may have received an 'over-the-air' upgrade while it was sitting idle but perhaps lacked sufficient charge to complete the update. Or the upgrade just went bad; rare but it happens.
Sorry this happened to your mom. Also regret there is not a (reasonable) way to recover the device and/or its contents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying
I think it will be cheaper to buy a new kindle, new warranty, new features, etc.

Redmi Note 2 32GB from gearbest with stock rom - reboot loop + screen not responding

Hi everybody,
a few days ago I received my brand new Redmi Note 2 32GB from gearbest. I spent a lot of time finding a suitable priced model from within Europe below EUR 200,-. Finally I managed from gearbest UK warehouse and looked forward to it.
First bad news was the price difference between the EUR amount shown on gearbest shop site and what paypal finally charged when fetching the money using their exchange rate to USD. So the phone was already much more expensive than expected but still below EUR 200,-.
Now I received the phone and switched it on without changing anything: First thing reboot loop with mi.com logog. Websearches result in the information that this only happened after some kind of rooting, flashing, etc. Neither of them I did.
After a while I managed to boot into android (this only succeeded 3 times within the past 2 days!). I could change some settings but then the screen did not react any more to any input. Neither did the keys below the screen - only hardware keys are reacting.
So I forced the phone to reboot only to get stuck in the reboot loop again. This is now ongoing and ongoing - I am stuck between reboot loop and non-reacting phone with some occassional seconds in between where I can use it.
As said: This is a brand new phone directly unboxed - nothing installed, nothing downloaded, nothing rooted, nothing flashed!
gearbest just offers either return on my own costs (which finally raises the price of this phone above a level where I could easily by it from some domestic shop) or they offer some ridiculous refunds but I can keep the phone.
So question is: Is there anything I can do here to get the phone working again without rooting/reflashing (using some kind of GSM codes or similar - the tip from here does not work for me. No menu occurs.
2nd question: Rooting and flashing different firmware will void my warranty anyway. But is there any chance that flashing a different firmware would even help in this cases (if not and it is a hardware problem I cannot sent back the phone for repair)?
I am really annoyed and frustrated!
Any help is highly appreciated!
Bye
Clearly, someone has flashed something that went wrong before dispatching the phone to you, and/or the device is faulty. At the very least, the device is not fit for purpose. You should take the issue up with paypal. I wouldn't recommend flashing anything, because then it will all be your fault.
DarthJabba9 said:
Clearly, someone has flashed something that went wrong before dispatching the phone to you, and/or the device is faulty. At the very least, the device is not fit for purpose. You should take the issue up with paypal. I wouldn't recommend flashing anything, because then it will all be your fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since it came from a shop with the mentioned poor return possibilities I assume there is nothing PayPal can do against. I just wanted to check out my possibilities before returning the item (making it more expensive again).
Ok. Clearly, if it's a hardware fault, then flashing something new will not solve the problem. But how do you tell? I don't see any other way than flashing a new ROM.
Also don't see any way. Thought there might be some apps for analysing or something like the screen calibration where I posted the link (example given in that link does not work for me)?
Alternative would be: Returning the phone.
Are you able to enter recovery, and does it work correctly while in recovery?
If you can, you should try another rom from this forum. Maybe GearBest screwed up when they switched the original chinese MIUI to their "international version with bloatware".
If you can't enter recovery, you should return the phone.
To my knowledge there is no recovery installed. As said I just unboxed the new phone and tried to use it. The only thing I can enter is the fastboot screen.
Ok, found recovery mode. Inside is also one menu entry shown regarding installation of update.zip. But if I install a new ROM and it turns out to be a hardware bug - how to restore previous ROM in order to return the phone?
Also maybe important: Currently installed is MIUI-Version: MIUI 7 by xiaomi.eu 5.10.16 | Beta

Any way to tell if someone flashed the wrong ROM to a tablet?

I recently sold a tablet on eBay that was working when I shipped it, I have pictures of it working both before and after I factory reset it. When the buyer received it, he emailed me saying it will not turn on, but I am 100% sure it was working when I shipped it out. The buyer has initiated a return, which pretty much means I have to refund the money as there is nothing I can really do to prove it was working when sent. I have pictures of it working, with the date stamp on the EXIF data, but I am almost certain PayPal / eBay will side with the buyer anyway so I would rather at least get the tablet back in my hands.
The tablet was not in the best shape, but the sold price reflected that and I was entirely honest in the description. Reading back through the messages from the buyer there are some red flags popping up that have me wondering if he tried to flash something to it and bricked it. In my auction description and in messages between us I had indicated it was rooted and running TWRP as well as a custom ROM. He had replied saying that he may end up flashing to the original ROM (this after also asking me if it was SIM unlocked, even though it clearly stated it is a wifi only tablet).
Is there any way to find out if he tried to flash something like a P605 ROM onto the P600 I sold him and bricked it? Assuming he did do something like that and I can connect to it somehow either via ADB or ODIN, will it be fairly straightforward to flash the correct ROM back onto it? I should have the tablet back tomorrow and will want to check it fairly quickly to see if the guy screwed it up himself or not.
The only thing that does not have me almost 100% certain of it is that he only had it a few hours before contacting me to say it was not working. However, I absolutely know I sent a working tablet and in all honesty, am going to be pretty annoyed if I get back a non-working tablet.
Thanks.

Please help if possible

I have an old AT&T Asus 9020A tablet. I got them new years ago thru my phone plan with AT&T. It wasn’t used much and is like new still.
Anyway, I take care of my mother and she likes games and painting by numbers on her iPad but she broke it and screwed up her charging port. I want to fix this tablet up for her.
I bet it wasn’t used 2 months and was just forgotten….I looked it up and completed a factory reset on it and wiped it clean. So I was trying to set it up and get her to painting again! It’s bout to kill her not having it..lol
I was setting it up and it wants the old email associated that was used to set it up. There is no way to remember that or even get it. I asked my daughter, she don’t remember. Anyway, are there any way I can use (reset) this tablet not knowing the old email that was associated with it? Where I can fix her up for her or am I just wasting my time? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
So it is FRP locked?
Arealhooman said:
So it is FRP locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It’s not locked. It reset ever And started the initial setup as if it was new. It just wants the old gmail for some reason before it will accept the new one. It lets me start in the setting up her account on it but is asking for the old email for verification….. I don’t have it and there is no way to remember it unfortunately. I know they are there to keep folks from stealing them and that’s great. But 10 years later…LOL Is this possible?
what you describe (verify device with google account) is called FRP lock (factory reset protection). this is same on most/all official android devices to render device useless on theft.
however, the unofficial by-pass methods vary for each device model/android version. search on YouTube.

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