Infinite initial setup loop

[aoriol]

Hello,

My 4K Sony (model KD-55X8005C) is stuck on the initial setup screen and goes back to the Welcome (the screen where you're asked to pick a language) screen in an infinite loop after choosing any of the two options on the Location (the screen where it asks you whether you want to share the location with Google) screen after I did a settings reset.

I've googled this issue and found many people who have experienced the same exact issue (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf9JFNk_ju0 & https://community.sony.com/t5/4K-Ultra-HD-TV/Stuck-with-initial-setup-screens-on-my-Sony-Bravia-4k-A... & https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/45sw8t/sony_android_tv_saferecovery_mode/).

I have tried factory resetting the device (holding down the power button on the TV together with the up arrow on the remote control), installing a fresh firmware via a USB drive (it told me the firmware is already up to date and I couldn't find a way to force it to continue) but nothing seemed to work!

Is there a solution to this bug?

[aoriol]

@MiCal1967 Yes, I've enabled developer options but I never use any commands and hence didn't turn the "ADB Debugging" option on.

[MiCal1967]

@aoriol

Maybe the new firmware(September) will be the solution for your problem.

But, as I wrote in a previous Post, this new Firmware when performed from a USB flash, must include two choises at the beginning.

1. Erase everything and Update (factory reset). All previous settings and apps will be lost

2. Keep previous settings-apps and Update

This is how I believe you will solve your issue. Someone, possibly @Anonymous must inform Sony and suggest.

They could also give-upload frequently the latest firmware with a different DATE header, so that if someone has encountered a fatal issue before completing installation, to be able to re-perform Update since same firmware will be recognized as a newer version.

https://community.sony.gr/t5/televisions/next-usb-firmware-update-must-include-an-option-of-factory-reset/td-p/2220371

[MiCal1967]

Hi again

You can ask Sony to send you the proper file .pkg for your TV model to "clear the memory allocated for System Updates" and the whole procedure to do that.

See this:

https://www.community.sony.com/t5/4K-Ultra-HD-TV/SOLVED-Sony-XBR55x850c-system-software-update-issue...

at Firefigher519 post.

I don't know if @Anonymous gives the same kind of solution for people that cannot complete their Firmware Update.

A memory cleaning could possibly help you solve your issue.

[aoriol]

@MiCal1967, well, in theory this is exactly what I need, but how do I get that .pkg?

@Anonymous, any idea on where can I find the .pkg to "clear the memory allocated for System Updates"?

[Anonymous]

@aoriol @MiCal1967 - will respond you both via PM, later though, too tired now

[aoriol]

@MiCal1967, @Anonymous, @angelacr in a super magic weird way I succeeded in turning USB debugging on in Developer settings and was finally able to connect to the TV via adb (tcip over wi-fi). But being the lucky guy that I am, I bricked it right away by running "adb reboot-bootloader" - it restarted and doesn't go further than the SONY logo. The SONY logo appears for a second or two and then the screen becomes blank and just sits that way. My best guess is that it's in USB debug mode.

Ironically, @pikachu2 ran into the same problem and he fixed it by connecting to it via usb and doing a "fastboot reboot" and I'm quite sure this will work in my case as well, HOWEVER, I keep on seeing a lot of posts where people say you can't adb over USB, a thing confirmed by my experience so far...

./adb usb

error: no devices/emulators found

./adb devices
List of devices attached

[BLANK]

Here's how my cable looks like: http://i.imgur.com/uLBNiB1.jpg

Can someone please help me out here as I'm losing my mind.

P.S. I tried plugging it in holding down all sorts of button combinations (both on the remote and TV) to kick it out of the USB debug screen with no luck.

P.P.S. I plugged the TV in via LAN to the router in a hope to connect via adb tcip, but all I get is a combination of "Operation timed out", "No route to host" & "Host is down" in rotation. The IP is not on the network list either, it probably needs to go further in the process to get an IP? I hope I'm wrong...

[angelacr · Accepted solution]

Dont confuse adb and fastboot. They are different protocols. Usually on a phone both are over USB; with Sony TVs  adb is wireless only. Fastboot is over USB. It does work but you'll need a cable that IS NOT DATA CROSSOVER. See my post (as Croques) here. It works.

The command you want is

fastboot -w


fastboot reboot

[aoriol]

Hi @angelacr, thank you so much for your reply!

Omg, omg, omg, after fastboot -w I got:

platform-tools $ ./fastboot -w
wiping userdata...
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type  not supported.
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [  0.052s]
finished. total time: 0.052s

It didn't touch "cache", should I proceed with fastboot reboot?

UPDATE: I waited enough so I've proceeded with the "fastboot reboot" command. It rebooted but the screen is black again. Should I just wait?

UPDATE2: The colored balls appeared bouncing, but this is definitely taking longer than usual (a few minutes already). Will keep you posted.

[angelacr]

Great You've cracked it. It WILL take an age as its reformatting stuff and rebuilding caches.

can you say with any certainty exactly how you got developer mode? That would be very useful information for the Community to have.

[aoriol]

@angelacr YOU [edited by moderator] ROCK!!!!!! IT ACTUALLY WIPED THE CACHE AND I WAS ABLE TO FINALLY BOOT THE OS (after 2 months of efforts). Thank you so much again, from the bottom of my heart! ❤️

As for enabling the debugging thing, I was simply bruteforcing through the Select Language -> Select Network.. blabla thing for a million times (quite literally) and then all of the sudden it let me in. Cold-sweated, I went straight to Settings to turn the debugging on. And as expected, after a restart it went back to the boot loop again and it's when I started dicking with adb and "bricked" it.

Bottom line:

1. Super dissapointed in Sony support (you guys suck big time!) - this is more than enough to prevent me from buying another Sony product ever again.

2. Super impressed by the community support. Thank you again @angelacr, @Anonymous, @MiCal1967, @pikachu2 and others. Love you all!