What to do when you failed to clear Google Wallet settings on the HTC EVO 4G LTE before flashing
We’ve been advising people since the HTC EVO 4G LTE first came out that they needed to clear their Google Wallet settings before flashing a new ROM or they might face a secure element brick. But if you’re a flashaholic like me, there might be times you forget that step. What do you do?
I’ve gotten in the habit of backing up my running ROM before flashing, so if I install a new ROM and realize I forgot to wipe Google Wallet, I can just backup my new ROM, restore the old, boot into the old ROM, wipe Wallet settings, and then restore the new ROM. It’s a twenty minute penalty at most, and getting in the habit of backing up before flashing a new ROM will pay off in other ways at some point.
Assuming you didn’t do that however, if you had Titanium Backup installed before, install it and run and see if you don’t get a warning that the device’s ID had changed. If it gives you that warning, you should have the option to change your Android ID back to what it previously was. Do that.
Having installed a lot of ROMs on the EVO 4G LTE, I can count two times I ended up facing a situation where I did not have a nandroid of the previous ROM. In both cases I restored the original Android ID and just moved on with no Wallet bricks. However, that may just be a placebo.
Whether the Android ID matters, or whether HTC’s update of the firmware and Google’s recent updating of Wallet has patched some of the secure element brick problems, is unclear. I’ve flashed incorrectly twice now and still have a responding secure element and working Google Wallet, and have read of many people who have flashed from ROM to ROM without resetting the Android ID with no issues.
So, see if you can restore the last ROM and clear settings properly. Failing that, try and restore the Android ID, and failing that, don’t panic. We don’t know really what caused the secure element bricks in the first place, but we’re not hearing reports of them any more. It could have been the first recovery versions, could have been bad chips, or possibly just bad radio firmware.
If anyone has a definitive answer on how to brick the secure element, let us know. Not a lot of people have intentionally set out to destroy that chip.
Happy flashing!
