Android Recovery

Download Android Studio: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

  • Extract

  • Run

  • The SDK will be downloaded. This might be an old version!

Set-up the linux USB so it could see my phone. I followed the Setting up a Device for Development instructions:

sudo -i
# list usb devices - make sure you can see a google device
lsusb
# set-up udev rules for google devices
vim /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Add the following:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{18d1}=="0bb4", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

Note

The ATTR value in this example if for Google. Other manufacturers are listed on the web page (see above) under USB Vendor IDs. You can also find the vendor ID by plugging in your USB device and running lsusb.

Update file permissions:

chmod a+r /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

Another online article said to reload the udev interface (not sure if this helped or not):

sudo -i
udevadm control --reload

Enable Fastboot Bootloader Mode:

  • press and hold Volume Down and Power simultaneously. Don’t release the buttons until the Fastboot Mode menu appears.

I didn’t need recovery mode, but if you do:

  • when entering recovery mode, you will see a green Android chilling on his back with a red warning sign. Press and hold the phones Power button and then press once Volume Up.

Tip

The following might work better if you use USB2

From the linux computer with the Android SDK installed:

sudo -i

Add the folder containing fastboot to the system path e.g:

export PATH=/home/patrick/Android/Sdk/platform-tools/:$PATH

# An older version of the SDK put 'platform-tools' into this folder:
export PATH=/home/patrick/bin/android-studio/sdk/platform-tools/:$PATH

Unlock the phone:

fastboot oem unlock

On the phone Restart bootloader. You will then be asked if you want to unlock. You need to say yes!

Download the factory image update from https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

Extract the file into a convenient folder e.g:

/home/patrick/repo/temp/hammerhead-lmy48b

(still as root), change into the folder and install the update e.g:

cd /home/patrick/repo/temp/hammerhead-lmy48b/
./flash-all.sh

Warning

Wait for the flash-all command to complete before continuing. It will say something like finished. total time: 139.047s.

Lock the phone:

fastboot oem lock