Question: Hard Reset said "Format is Failed"

[debbieeileensmith]

Hi... like alot of people my XDA Orbit has frozen on the first blue O2 screen that comes up when you turn the phone on. I tried the Hard Reset but the error "Format is Failed" appears. any suggestions? My computer does not recognise my phone when i connect it via USB lead either.

[johnston411]

Morning Debbie,

I'll have a look and see if i can find a solution for you as i've not come across this before.

Is it under insurance or warranty still?

[tonybro]

That looks like a major failure in the hardware ROM (not the software itself). It is very technical to rebuild the flash ROM so will likely need to go back to O2. My suspicion is the low-level format attributes in the hardware have corrupted.

The only hope, if you are willing to consider it, is to see if it will enter Bootloader Mode (3 coloured screen) and then you could potentially try a re-flash of the ROM. I wouldn't risk it though in this instance as I don't think it will cure the issue.

If you can imagine the analogy...

Hardware ROM is equivalent to PC hard drive
Software ROM is equivalent to the OS on hard drive

You can't install an OS onto a faulty hard drive and you can't easily re-build the format in the device ROM without serious software tools. I once managed it on my Exec but it was scary and I wouldn't recommend trying to anyone else.