Hovatek Forum MOBILE Android Hard bricked Acer Iconia One B3-A30 A6003
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Hard bricked Acer Iconia One B3-A30 A6003

Hard bricked Acer Iconia One B3-A30 A6003

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Serg86
Serg86
Serg86
Enthusiastic Member
7
27-08-2021, 04:52 PM
#1



Hey,

a friend of a friend asked me to check out the device, it no longer boots up. Power+Vol UP doesn't go into recovery, Power+Vol DOWN goes into Fastboot mode. Just powering it on shows the Acer logo until forcing it to shut off by holding the power button.

I've tried downloading various FW for B3-A30, using SPTool v.5.1924 (I also tried SPTool v.3.xxxx as suggested in another thread, but it shows an error when loading the scatter file), it can read the scatter file that comes with the FW no problem, but flashing it is another matter.

I've installed and uninstalled various VCOM, adb, MediaTek USB drivers I don't even know which ones any more, disabled Windows 10 driver signature enforcement. The device is being recognized by SPTool.

- I start up SPTool
- choose the scatter file (MT8163_Android_scatter.txt), no errors
- I click on download and plug in the (currently off) device
- Windows USB sound connected/disconnected/connected... etc in quick succession
- sometimes SPTool errors out Error code 2004
- if I immediatly click on download again, sometimes Error code 4032 appears after 30~ seconds - 1 minute, sometimes 4008
- I've checked out the error code thread here: https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-439.html but the errors I had all had generic advice like making sure drivers are installed etc.
- I've tried different USB ports (USB 3 and 2), different MicroUSB cables, no change

The progress bar at the bottom of SPTool is always saying 100% and is red.

I know it's a different device, but they are similar enough, I tried a few things suggested in this thread: https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-20877.html
but I keep failing at flashing anything onto it, which the guy succeeded at.

Some other thread suggested booting TWRP recovery with fastboot from some other device (BQ Aquaris M10), which has the same chip, but fastboot just sits there waiting for a device. I tried plugging in the powerd off device without holding buttons at all, I tried holding Vol DOWN to get into Fastboot mode while fastboot was running, while SPTool was running, there were absolutely no changes at all.

Does anyone have a definitive answer on which drivers I need to have installed? Which specific version of SPTool I should use? Perhaps a certain firmware?

I just need to get it working again, I don't care about any data loss.

Thanks.
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
28-08-2021, 11:15 AM
#2
(27-08-2021, 04:52 PM)Serg86 ...a friend of a friend asked me to check out the device, it no longer boots up. Power+Vol UP doesn't go into recovery, Power+Vol DOWN goes into Fastboot mode. Just powering it on shows the Acer logo until forcing it to shut off by holding the power button.

the combo should be vol (up or down) + power not the other way round


(27-08-2021, 04:52 PM)Serg86 ...I've tried downloading various FW for B3-A30, using SPTool v.5.1924 (I also tried SPTool v.3.xxxx as suggested in another thread, but it shows an error when loading the scatter file), it can read the scatter file that comes with the FW no problem, but flashing it is another matter.

how many firmwares have you downloaded in total for this model?
these errors you mentioned do they vary with firmware or totally random (ie you could get different errors for one firmware)?
have you tried formatting all except bootloader in spft?
Serg86
Serg86
Serg86
Enthusiastic Member
7
28-08-2021, 09:18 PM
#3
Thank you for replying.

I've downloaded 3, all had the exact same result. I suspect the USB connection is not being established properly so I wasn't even at the stage where they made any difference.

Not being able to get into recovery seems to be a common issue for these devices, so it's not that I'm not doing it right, I've tried it multiple different ways now, no luck.

I've just tried what you suggested, still the same Error 2004 and 4032. However, I just found out how to get a tiny step further. If I hold down Volume down while plugging in the USB cord and SPFTool is waiting for a connection, it goes from the red 100% progress bar to white 0% format or 0% download, depending on the operation, then errors out after some time, sometimes error code 4008 shows, sometimes 4010.

I think it connects and immediately loses the USB connection, because if I try to Start something in SPFTool after that, it just sits there without detecting the device at all. I hope it's a driver issue, not hardware. Do you have a suggestion as to which specific drivers I should try?
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
30-08-2021, 07:24 PM
#4
(28-08-2021, 09:18 PM)Serg86 Thank you for replying.

I've downloaded 3, all had the exact same result. I suspect the USB connection is not being established properly so I wasn't even at the stage where they made any difference.

Not being able to get into recovery seems to be a common issue for these devices, so it's not that I'm not doing it right, I've tried it multiple different ways now, no luck.

I've just tried what you suggested, still the same Error 2004 and 4032. However, I just found out how to get a tiny step further. If I hold down Volume down while plugging in the USB cord and SPFTool is waiting for a connection, it goes from the red 100% progress bar to white 0% format or 0% download, depending on the operation, then errors out after some time, sometimes error code 4008 shows, sometimes 4010.

I think it connects and immediately loses the USB connection, because if I try to Start something in SPFTool after that, it just sits there without detecting the device at all. I hope it's a driver issue, not hardware. Do you have a suggestion as to which specific drivers I should try?

vcom preloader driver that's what you need, https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-440.html , if you can, also try flashing with the battery of the device disconnected
http://www.mediafire.com/file/v6i6oevdct...MT8163.zip ; is this one of the firmwares you tried?
confirm if the bootloader of this device is unlocked ; see steps 1 - 10 @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-19578.html
Serg86
Serg86
Serg86
Enthusiastic Member
7
03-09-2021, 09:27 AM
#5



Ok I tried a lot already, including passing the USB connection to my Linux VM and trying the Linux version of the SPFTool, same exact problems, 4008 and 4010. Interestingly, while adb still doesn't, fastboot in Linux actually detects it, but unfortunately it's locked and unlocking is not possible, not even rebooting with "fastboot reboot" is possible.

I tried the Memory Test in SPFTool and it says "ERROR: NAND Flash was not detected!" and "ERROR: UFS was not detected!"

There are, apparently, also ways to solve this issue, but the solution I came accross was for an old phone model. The suggested software (Smartphone Multi-Port Download Tool) is too old, it does not support the device. The steps in the tutorial are not applicable to newer versions of the same software and attempting to use it gives me the same error codes SPFTool does.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/mtk67...d.1866962/

I pried open the back cover to disconnect the battery, it only comes to life if I hold down Vol DOWN while plugging it in, never goes into fastboot mode but SPFTool detects it, unfortunately, no change. The same error codes appear.

Anything else I could try?

Edit: Added XDA URL.
This post was last modified: 03-09-2021, 10:47 AM by Serg86.
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
04-09-2021, 01:17 PM
#6
(03-09-2021, 09:27 AM)Serg86 Ok I tried a lot already, including passing the USB connection to my Linux VM and trying the Linux version of the SPFTool, same exact problems, 4008 and 4010. Interestingly, while adb still doesn't, fastboot in Linux actually detects it, but unfortunately it's locked and unlocking is not possible, not even rebooting with "fastboot reboot" is possible.

I tried the Memory Test in SPFTool and it says "ERROR: NAND Flash was not detected!" and "ERROR: UFS was not detected!"

There are, apparently, also ways to solve this issue, but the solution I came accross was for an old phone model. The suggested software (Smartphone Multi-Port Download Tool) is too old, it does not support the device. The steps in the tutorial are not applicable to newer versions of the same software and attempting to use it gives me the same error codes SPFTool does.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/mtk67...d.1866962/

I pried open the back cover to disconnect the battery, it only comes to life if I hold down Vol DOWN while plugging it in, never goes into fastboot mode but SPFTool detects it, unfortunately, no change. The same error codes appear.

Anything else I could try?

Edit: Added XDA URL.

are you able to readback from this device?
you can edit options.ini within spft folder and change
[ReadBack]
ShowByScatter=false
to
[ReadBack]
ShowByScatter=true

launch spft, select a scatter file then attempt to readback e.g preloader and boot only
BTW nand and ufs not detected aren't errors, the device most likely uses emmc storage and not nand or ufs
it's the result of emmc you should look out for instead
Serg86
Serg86
Serg86
Enthusiastic Member
7
04-09-2021, 02:27 PM
#7
Yep, selected preloader and boot in ReadBack and it worked fine first try. I've finally seen the storied green checkmark I keep hoping for.
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
06-09-2021, 01:39 PM
#8
(04-09-2021, 02:27 PM)Serg86 Yep, selected preloader and boot in ReadBack and it worked fine first try. I've finally seen the storied green checkmark I keep hoping for.

okay, readback pgpt as well
save pgpt in the same folder location as preloader
launch wwr mtk 2.51 @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-21970.html
at the top right hand corner, select pgpt (it should auto select preloader in a different input box)
click "Auto mode" tab > 3. start auto-pilot > enter platform manually > select your chipset from the dropdown > start the process
it should take you to step 4, create scatter file

if this is all done successfully, compare the scatter file from wwr to that from the firmware you download (if they both have the exact same partitions, physical addr and length)
Serg86
Serg86
Serg86
Enthusiastic Member
7
06-09-2021, 03:25 PM
#9
Ok done, there are differences.

The newly created scatter file has 2 more flags per partition, "is_upgradable" and "empty_boot_needed", the one which came with the firmware did not. Furthermore, all partitions are of "type: NORMAL_ROM" in the created file, while a couple in the downloaded scatter file are of "type: EXT4_IMG". There are also different file names for SYS16 and SYS17, trustzone1.bin and trustzone2.bin while the downloaded firmware only has one tz.bin. As far as I can tell, everything else is the same, all the adresses match.

New scatter file:
https://pastebin.com/C249iR1a

Old scatter file:
https://pastebin.com/6hJH49vR

By the way, how would I go about flashing the stock Firmware available on the acer website? The scatter file included in there is completely different and SPFTool doesn't like it at all.
X3non
X3non
X3non
Recognized Contributor
22,062
07-09-2021, 12:49 PM
#10



(06-09-2021, 03:25 PM)Serg86 Ok done, there are differences.

The newly created scatter file has 2 more flags per partition, "is_upgradable" and "empty_boot_needed", the one which came with the firmware did not. Furthermore, all partitions are of "type: NORMAL_ROM" in the created file, while a couple in the downloaded scatter file are of "type: EXT4_IMG". There are also different file names for SYS16 and SYS17, trustzone1.bin and trustzone2.bin while the downloaded firmware only has one tz.bin. As far as I can tell, everything else is the same, all the adresses match.

they're basically the same, are you able to flash lets say the boot.img from your backup using the new scatter?
you can also try using miracle thunder v2.82 @ https://www.hovatek.com/forum/thread-14106.html
BTW you should take a full firmware backup


(06-09-2021, 03:25 PM)Serg86 By the way, how would I go about flashing the stock Firmware available on the acer website? The scatter file included in there is completely different and SPFTool doesn't like it at all.

those firmwares from acer are meant to be flashed using stock recovery, that's not an option seeing as your device can't boot to recovery mode
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