# bootloops (sorta) into recovery



## tcaruth (Mar 16, 2012)

earlier today, i pulled my mesmerize out of my pocket, pushed unlock, moved my finger where the unlock normally is, and realized the display was blank (it did vibrate as though it unlocked). i pulled the battery, and upon rebooting the phone, it flashes the samsung logo, flashes again, and finally reboots into recovery.

what ive done to my phone prior this
started at 2.3.5
flashed cwm recovery
installed zip to ics build 2
reboot into recovery using ics's menu
installed zip to ics build 6.5
installed zip gapps
installed zip gapps fixer
installed zip datafix
installed zip glitch kernel
used phone for a week
this garbage boot loop happens

anybody have any advice? i just had gotten all my apps back here, and would hate to have to reinstall everything again already.
tomorrow i plan to just start over unless theres a fix


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## wizayne (Aug 22, 2011)

Run a full backup including data then Odin stock with a full restore package. Reboot fully, and then Odin cwm4 fixed for cm7.. Reboot into recovery and flash something gingerbread td based like cm7 or miui.. Now reboot fully into new rom and then into cm7 cwm4 recovery and flash ics build 2, then after rebooting flash whatever ics you had previously and then do a nandroid advanced restore and restore your data from the backup you made before going back to stock. This has worked for others and should for you. My good luck I know I hate starting over which is why I use tibu and a nice list of filters including remove after fresh flash, and install after flash, and and move to sd after installing.

Sent from my Xoom using RootzWiki


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## Bigmike (Aug 1, 2011)

I accidentally three fingered into recovery once and it broke the boot sequence so this was the result. Eventually had to Odin to stock, blah blah blah and back to ics. But when this happened i was unable to get to a computer for a whole day so i tried restoring from backups after formatting the system and what not.

Never found a solution to end the recovery loop but had an after thought that maybe formatting just the boot then restoring only the boot from a compatible nandroid might have worked.

Also might not do squat but someone should try it if they ever encounter this recovery loop. Couldn't hurt, especially if you're just going to needed to odin anyways.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using RootzWiki


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## wizayne (Aug 22, 2011)

unfortunately once you are in cwm4 for cm7 and not an ics cwm version it will no longer properly mount your partitions so no amount of nandroid restoration will fix it. the only way to break the cycle of looping into the wrong recovery is flashing odin and losing everything.

if cwm were able to mount properly then you could get into adb and recursively pull your /data and /datadata directories and in that way backup your data.
i have done this on my xoom before when i made a mistake and couldnt boot but had adb access from recovery. once i pulled the data i was able to use fastboot to wipe all data (somehow the internal storage had become corrupt thus preventing boot/nandroid backups or restores even tho adb worked)


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## knivesout (Dec 1, 2011)

I've run into the 3-finger bootloop and fixed it without having to odin all the way back to stock. You just flash the CWM4 fixed recovery in odin, then go from there. I'm pretty sure the time I did it I just reflashed the kernel then it booted fine, but you could try wiping cache/dalvik, reflash kernel, or reflash rom. I'm not sure what "fixes" the bootloop, but it can certainly be recovered from without having to odin all the way back to stock and losing your data.


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## tcaruth (Mar 16, 2012)

knivesout said:


> I've run into the 3-finger bootloop and fixed it without having to odin all the way back to stock. You just flash the CWM4 fixed recovery in odin, then go from there. I'm pretty sure the time I did it I just reflashed the kernel then it booted fine, but you could try wiping cache/dalvik, reflash kernel, or reflash rom. I'm not sure what "fixes" the bootloop, but it can certainly be recovered from without having to odin all the way back to stock and losing your data.


i did try this, but since it was a few days ago, i cant quite remember the order that i did things in.
i think it was cwm4 > wipe cache > reflash rom > reflash kernel

as a side note, it didnt work. perhaps doing it in that order would fix something, however my gps was broken when i received the phone from signal (probably a refurb) so i've got to send it in now.


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