04-03-2016, 05:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-05-2016, 04:11 AM by Keex.)
Hi,
while trying to burn Android or RemixOS images to my SD card I encountered the problem, that the "Burn" process in PhoenixCard canceled at random points during the burn process, with just saying "Error" in the log. This could happen right after formatting, or it could burn some steps and then cancel. Hitting Burn multiple times could lead to different points of "Error".
One method that did work out for me in the end was the one described by user "Wurstbrot" in this thread of the lemaker.org forums:
Quote:Hi there,
I'm using a Laptop with Windows 8.1 with in-built card reader and had the same Problem burning an image and stumbled upon a pretty easy solution:
First you have to format your sd-card with sd-formatter (hint (Keex): SD Card Formatter), method full erase and format size adjustment ON. Thats in case you tried several Android installs, obviously there remain some leftovers.
Then turn on PhoenixCard (V310_20130618), select method "Startup" and press format.
Then you press "burn" and then.... Usually in 19 out of 20 tries I get an error.
Now here is the catch: when you get the error, eject the sd-card. Wait a few seconds till it says
"No drive present" or such, then Re-enter the card and hit "Burn"....
This time it will perform perfectly.
I've tried this several times now and it works everytime!
Hope I could save somebody some time,
cheers
Steps: - (Last resort, shouldn't be necessary): Perform complete card clean with Diskpart, as described below)
- (Optional: Format SD Card using SD Card Formatter (if it says that Full Erase wasn't supported for your card and instead did Quick Format, don't worry))
- Start PhoenixCard (version 3.10 on Pine64 Downloads page works)
- Select correct drive letter and image
- Select "Startup" method
- Click Burn (not format to normal!)
- Wait for error
- Leave PhoenixCard running, and pull out the SD card from the computer (i pulled out the card from my reader, not the whole reader)
- Wait for PhoenixCard to say "No devices found" or similar. Usually happens instantaneously. If nothing happens, start again at the top and try pulling the whole reader instead.
- Push the card/reader back into the reader/PC
- Select correct drive letter
- Click burn.
This time it should perform the Burn process successfully. I personally had no luck whatsoever, tried multiple readers and images, but this worked on the first try. I tested it with the RemixOS image "pine64_B2016022702_1000MB_LAN.img". The OS started successfully on the Pine64+ 2 GB.
I am running Win10 64bit. I did not use any compatibility modes or something along those lines.
Edit. For when it doesn't work:
I noticed that it doesn't work directly every time. Here is what MAY help:
Perform complete clean of the SD card using Diskpart
- Be careful! You may damage the system if you select the wrong disk to work on!
- Seriously: Select the wrong disk to work on and you will wipe your system or data HDD partition!
- Windows Key+R (Run program) -> Diskpart (possibly accept UAC)
- In the shell type in: list disk <enter> (always hit enter at the end)
- Find the number of the disk that is the SD card (usually one of the last, e.g. check the size)
- Type in: select disk 3 (instead of 3 the number you found)
- Type in "list disk" again, just to make sure: the active disk (aka the one that is to be cleaned) is marked with a *. Make SURE it is the SD card. All data on it will be wiped relentlessly and with no remorse. If you select your normal HDD, you will loose all data on it!!
- Type in: clean
- Type in: create partition primary
- Close the shell
The continue with the steps above.
Edit:
Andrew2 pointed out, that you could run into problems with this method, because the PhoenixCard errors are probably related to faulty read/write processes during the flash and you can end up with errors on the card.
(04-04-2016, 04:23 AM)Andrew2 Wrote: Then: Phoenix Card has some built-in checks relying on checksumming to verify whether some parts have been written correctly (does not apply to the largest part unfortunately). In case Phoenix Card throws errors then this is a sign of data corruption maybe caused by a bad (faulty or counterfeit) SD card or an SD card reader starting to corrupt data (well known problem with some USB readers that start to overheat and corrupt data after a certain amount of constant writing --> use USB2.0 when first connected to USB3.0, check the whole setup with one of the two tools below).
(04-03-2016, 05:06 AM)Keex Wrote: Hi,
while trying to burn Android or RemixOS images to my SD card I encountered the problem, that the "Burn" process in PhoenixCard canceled at random points during the burn process, with just saying "Error" in the log. This could happen right after formatting, or it could burn some steps and then cancel. Hitting Burn multiple times could lead to different points of "Error".
One method that did work out for me in the end was the one described by user "Wurstbrot" in this thread of the lemaker.org forums:
Quote:Hi there,
I'm using a Laptop with Windows 8.1 with in-built card reader and had the same Problem burning an image and stumbled upon a pretty easy solution:
First you have to format your sd-card with sd-formatter (hint (Keex): SD Card Formatter), method full erase and format size adjustment ON. Thats in case you tried several Android installs, obviously there remain some leftovers.
Then turn on PhoenixCard (V310_20130618), select method "Startup" and press format.
Then you press "burn" and then.... Usually in 19 out of 20 tries I get an error.
Now here is the catch: when you get the error, eject the sd-card. Wait a few seconds till it says
"No drive present" or such, then Re-enter the card and hit "Burn"....
This time it will perform perfectly.
I've tried this several times now and it works everytime!
Hope I could save somebody some time,
cheers
Steps:- (Optional: Perform complete card clean with Diskpart, as described below)
- Format SD Card using SD Card Formatter (if it says that Full Erase wasn't supported for your card and instead did Quick Format, don't worry)
- Start PhoenixCard (version 3.10 on Pine64 Downloads page works)
- Select correct drive letter and image
- Select "Startup" method
- Click Burn (not format to normal!)
- Wait for error
- Leave PhoenixCard running, and pull out the SD card from the computer (i pulled out the card from my reader, not the whole reader)
- Wait for PhoenixCard to say "No devices found" or similar. Usually happens instantaneously. If nothing happens, start again at the top and try pulling the whole reader instead.
- Push the card/reader back into the reader/PC
- Select correct drive letter
- Click burn.
This time it should perform the Burn process successfully. I personally had no luck whatsoever, tried multiple readers and images, but this worked on the first try. I tested it with the RemixOS image "pine64_B2016022702_1000MB_LAN.img". The OS started successfully on the Pine64+ 2 GB.
I am running Win10 64bit. I did not use any compatibility modes or something along those lines.
Edit. For when it doesn't work:
I noticed that it doesn't work directly every time. Here is what may help:
Perform complete clean of the SD card using Diskpart
- Be careful! You may damage the system if you select the wrong disk to work on!
- Windows Key+R (Run program) -> Diskpart (possibly accept UAC)
- In the shell type in: list disk
- Find the number of the disk that is the SD card (usually one of the last, e.g. check the size)
- Type in: select disk 3 (instead of 3 the number you found)
- Type in: clean
- Type in: create partition primary
- Close the shell
The continue with the steps above.
Anyways, just wanted to share with you, for when you run into the same problems. Thanks on the tips. I also use Diskpart to clean the SD partition. Just need to be extra careful not to clean your harddisk. My advise after launch diskpart, first action is immediately select to your SD card disk number to avoid any accidental mistake.
.. TL
(04-03-2016, 02:08 PM)tllim Wrote: Thanks on the tips. I also use Diskpart to clean the SD partition. Just need to be extra careful not to clean your harddisk. My advise after launch diskpart, first action is immediately select to your SD card disk number to avoid any accidental mistake.
.. TL
You are right, I added another point in the steps to check the selected disk.
04-04-2016, 04:23 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-04-2016, 05:47 AM by Andrew2.)
(04-04-2016, 03:16 AM)Keex Wrote: (04-03-2016, 02:08 PM)tllim Wrote: Thanks on the tips. I also use Diskpart to clean the SD partition. Just need to be extra careful not to clean your harddisk. My advise after launch diskpart, first action is immediately select to your SD card disk number to avoid any accidental mistake.
.. TL
You are right, I added another point in the steps to check the selected disk.
Sorry, but you're collecting here wrong/misleading 'information' (you should keep in mind that while Pine64 might be new the whole 'Android on Allwinner hardware' story is a bit older and everything you might wonder about is known since years).
When Phoenix Card is used in startup mode then the first step is cleaning out the first sectors of the card and writing an appropriate MBR + partition table to it that matches the card's size. Therefore using any tool like Dispart or SD Formatter is not only useless but dangerous instead (since you might wipe out your harddisk instead). It will later always look like this on the card (the first partition's size adjusted to use all available disk space):
Code: Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 5251072 15521790 10270719 4.9G b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda2 * 73728 139263 65536 32M 6 FAT16
/dev/sda3 1 5251072 5251072 2.5G 85 Linux extended
/dev/sda5 139264 172031 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 172032 204799 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 204800 3350527 3145728 1.5G 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 3350528 3383295 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 3383296 3448831 65536 32M 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 3448832 5021695 1572864 768M 83 Linux
/dev/sda11 5021696 5054463 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda12 5054464 5087231 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda13 5087232 5251071 163840 80M 83 Linux
Then: Phoenix Card has some built-in checks relying on checksumming to verify whether some parts have been written correctly (does not apply to the largest part unfortunately). In case Phoenix Card throws errors then this is a sign of data corruption maybe caused by a bad (faulty or counterfeit) SD card or an SD card reader starting to corrupt data (well known problem with some USB readers that start to overheat and corrupt data after a certain amount of constant writing --> use USB2.0 when first connected to USB3.0, check the whole setup with one of the two tools below).
So instead of trying to workaround these issues ejecting/reinserting the card (which might work if speed negotiation between host and card reader might be adjusted -- check Device Manager) the only reasonable strategy is to stop at the very first error and check card reader with inserted SD card using H2testw or f3. Anything else is simply fooling yourself and most probably creating an Android image containing bit flips that lead to all sorts of random problems later.
04-04-2016, 08:13 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-04-2016, 08:19 AM by Keex.)
(04-04-2016, 04:23 AM)Andrew2 Wrote: (04-04-2016, 03:16 AM)Keex Wrote: (04-03-2016, 02:08 PM)tllim Wrote: Thanks on the tips. I also use Diskpart to clean the SD partition. Just need to be extra careful not to clean your harddisk. My advise after launch diskpart, first action is immediately select to your SD card disk number to avoid any accidental mistake.
.. TL
You are right, I added another point in the steps to check the selected disk.
Sorry, but you're collecting here wrong/misleading 'information' (you should keep in mind that while Pine64 might be new the whole 'Android on Allwinner hardware' story is a bit older and everything you might wonder about is known since years).
When Phoenix Card is used in startup mode then the first step is cleaning out the first sectors of the card and writing an appropriate MBR + partition table to it that matches the card's size. Therefore using any tool like Dispart or SD Formatter is not only useless but dangerous instead (since you might wipe out your harddisk instead). It will later always look like this on the card (the first partition's size adjusted to use all available disk space):
Code: Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 5251072 15521790 10270719 4.9G b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda2 * 73728 139263 65536 32M 6 FAT16
/dev/sda3 1 5251072 5251072 2.5G 85 Linux extended
/dev/sda5 139264 172031 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 172032 204799 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 204800 3350527 3145728 1.5G 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 3350528 3383295 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 3383296 3448831 65536 32M 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 3448832 5021695 1572864 768M 83 Linux
/dev/sda11 5021696 5054463 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda12 5054464 5087231 32768 16M 83 Linux
/dev/sda13 5087232 5251071 163840 80M 83 Linux
Then: Phoenix Card has some built-in checks relying on checksumming to verify whether some parts have been written correctly (does not apply to the largest part unfortunately). In case Phoenix Card throws errors then this is a sign of data corruption maybe caused by a bad (faulty or counterfeit) SD card or an SD card reader starting to corrupt data (well known problem with some USB readers that start to overheat and corrupt data after a certain amount of constant writing --> use USB2.0 when first connected to USB3.0, check the whole setup with one of the two tools below).
So instead of trying to workaround these issues ejecting/reinserting the card (which might work if speed negotiation between host and card reader might be adjusted -- check Device Manager) the only reasonable strategy is to stop at the very first error and check card reader with inserted SD card using H2testw or f3. Anything else is simply fooling yourself and most probably creating an Android image containing bit flips that lead to all sorts of random problems later.
Good information that is true I guess, but i think the advantage of the Diskpart step is that in some cases the partitions on the SD card can be pretty messed up from previous failed attempts (mine was) and this assured at least some vanilla state that PhoenixCard then could work of.
I am not claiming that everything here is correct, needed or even a good idea. It can however work and I myself was really about to give up before trying it this way. I could have tried even more than two different readers/adapters, I could have bought some more SD cards but this would be just as hit&miss as just counting on some bit errors not mattering. Trying the latter though is certainly cheaper and I have yet to discover a problem (apart from the wrong RAM size you pointed out to me in the other thread, but that's a different problem).
If will add a disclaimer to the original post though to let people know about your concerns.
(04-04-2016, 08:13 AM)Keex Wrote: Good information that is true I guess, but i think the advantage of the Diskpart step is that in some cases the partitions on the SD card can be pretty messed up from previous failed attempts (mine was) and this assured at least some vanilla state that PhoenixCard then could work of.
Again: Phoenix Card will repartition the SD card anyway so it's absolutely useless to wipe something out in an earlier step. If Phoenix Card stops at the beginning, the button next to "Burn" is the right one to fix this problem. And every subsequent error reported by Phoenix Card is a clear sign of detected data corruption. And then the solution is not a workaround found in a forum with mostly questionable contents in the meantime (LeMaker's) but instead to check the reason the error occurs.
So the right advise would be to CHECK the whole card together with card reader first before even trying to use Phoenix Card to burn something on it. It is still a well known and also well understood problem that SD cards might be faulty and that card readers in high-speed mode start to corrupt data after some time of constant sequential writing.
Ok, I did what you suggested and tested the whole SD card using h2testw and it found no error (even though it wrote far more than the Android image contains), so I guess both the card and the reader are fine.
I still encounter the PhoenixCard error though, but it works reliably after using the idea from the "questionable" forum (which is a definition of pretty much any forum, btw). So maybe, please add another non-questionable idea that works and does not contain the words "buy new stuff".
See, I posted this for the simple reason that I was becoming extremely frustrated by the whole process, but found a solution in the steps in my original post. If someone else encounters the same problem (and I know from these forums that people do), and it may help them as well, then it was worth it. I don't know WHY it works, but I have seen stranger behaviour by software (my sound card driver still forces me to set the pc to standby in order for it to save setting changes...).
You said that replugging the sd card might change a speed negotiation? As far as I remember, at any occasion I saw roughly the same read/write speed, but could you elaborate how to check this in the Device Manager?
Use your windows Xp or windows 7 to burn your XD card, windows 10 all gave you errors and waste your time.
I just had Error after or whilst formatting the sd card.
Went back to the good old and trusty windows formatting via right click, then started the phoenix app as an administrator and had zero problems burning the image as startup.
BTW i am using windows 10...
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