Database Develop

Accidentally flashed a file to root that was for KitKat (Im on Lollipop)

So I accidentaly flashed the wrong root file thus making my systemui continuously crash. Any suggestions as to what I can do?

shahrukhraza said:
So I accidentaly flashed the wrong root file thus making my systemui continuously crash. Any suggestions as to what I can do?
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Click to collapse
Stock recovery or TWRP?
Are you looking to undo what you did without having to do a complete wipe, or are you open to more drastic solutions? Because you can always run the toolkit to reset to complete stock by flashing the stock images over your current system. But that would of course perform a complete wipe.

Paddington said:
Stock recovery or TWRP?
Are you looking to undo what you did without having to do a complete wipe, or are you open to more drastic solutions? Because you can always run the toolkit to reset to complete stock by flashing the stock images over your current system. But that would of course perform a complete wipe.
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Click to collapse
I dont really mind a complete wipe. And are you referring to this toolkit? http://forum.xda-developers.com/mot...l-windroid-universal-android-toolkit-t3048099
if not could you please tell me which one?
And to clarify, I followed this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fPIYhzWlnw . The file that I flashed to attempt to root is in the description of that.

shahrukhraza said:
I dont really mind a complete wipe. And are you referring to this toolkit? http://forum.xda-developers.com/mot...l-windroid-universal-android-toolkit-t3048099
if not could you please tell me which one?
And to clarify, I followed this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fPIYhzWlnw . The file that I flashed to attempt to root is in the description of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually used this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-2014/development/tool-moto-x-pure-edition-recovery-t2897819 when I was messed around, but I would imagine either would work. When I needed to return to unrooted stock, I believe that toolkit returned me to 4.4.4 unrooted stock, then I just ran the 5.0 OTA once the phone booted up.
The toolkit you referenced is the one I used to unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP, and root my phone. As long as you can get to recovery or fastboot, either toolkit should work to return you to stock. BUT I caution you, I have a pure edition, and these toolkits were made for the pure edition. If you do not have a pure edition, you'll want to read the disclaimers/instructions/other posts to make sure it will work on your phone.

Okay so this escalated quickly.
So here I am being my dumb self , I try to flash TWRP. That goes fine and then I try to wipe my data. After that I reboot it and as its turning on it foes black on the boot animation. and now I cant even get into freaking recovery mode. I dont know what I did but im pretty sure I messed up bad. I need some serious help now and anything is appreciated.

Paddington said:
I actually used this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-2014/development/tool-moto-x-pure-edition-recovery-t2897819 when I was messed around, but I would imagine either would work. When I needed to return to unrooted stock, I believe that toolkit returned me to 4.4.4 unrooted stock, then I just ran the 5.0 OTA once the phone booted up.
The toolkit you referenced is the one I used to unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP, and root my phone. As long as you can get to recovery or fastboot, either toolkit should work to return you to stock. BUT I caution you, I have a pure edition, and these toolkits were made for the pure edition. If you do not have a pure edition, you'll want to read the disclaimers/instructions/other posts to make sure it will work on your phone.
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Yessir thanks for replying. However I now have a whole new problem. Do you have any suggestions for that? It is the post above^

shahrukhraza said:
Okay so this escalated quickly.
So here I am being my dumb self , I try to flash TWRP. That goes fine and then I try to wipe my data. After that I reboot it and as its turning on it foes black on the boot animation. and now I cant even get into freaking recovery mode. I dont know what I did but im pretty sure I messed up bad. I need some serious help now and anything is appreciated.
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Click to collapse
Hey thats an easy fix just load into the boatloader and reflash the rom through mfastboot
edit: you should be able to get all the files you need from his website http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-2014/general/ota-pure-edition-lollipop-5-0-t2932625

ewalk4866 said:
Hey thats an easy fix just load into the boatloader and reflash the rom through mfastboot
edit: you should be able to get all the files you need from his website http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-2014/general/ota-pure-edition-lollipop-5-0-t2932625
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Click to collapse
Bootloader as in vol. down + power button right? Thats not working too. I also tried other combinations to no luck. And before it was turning on but now its not even booting to the boot animation. Thanks for the link though, if it does magically boot into the bootloader then i'll know what to do at least.
Edit: Okay so theres the charging animation, so thats a start, I guess. Still no luck on the bootloader tho.

Okay got it into bootloader mode!
Now before I do any other stupid thing can somebody just confirm one thing for me? On Graffix's website, this is the img I should flash through mfastboot right
Lollipop 5.0 22.21.11 FULL IMAGE PACKAGE Zip
Just a confirmation because I dont really trust my judgement. Thanks again everybody

shahrukhraza said:
Okay got it into bootloader mode!
Now before I do any other stupid thing can somebody just confirm one thing for me? On Graffix's website, this is the img I should flash through mfastboot right
Lollipop 5.0 22.21.11 FULL IMAGE PACKAGE Zip
Just a confirmation because I dont really trust my judgement. Thanks again everybody
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that's right remember you only have to flash system

Sorry that my Toolkit suggestion messed you up. I really thought that solution would work, not make it worse.

Paddington said:
Sorry that my Toolkit suggestion messed you up. I really thought that solution would work, not make it worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Toolkit are never really a good idea it just makes people lazy and not learn how to flash or fix problems on there own.

Paddington said:
Sorry that my Toolkit suggestion messed you up. I really thought that solution would work, not make it worse.
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Click to collapse
Nah man that didnt mess it up, some other stupid thing did it lol. Nothing on you, rather thanks for the help.

ewalk4866 said:
Toolkit are never really a good idea it just makes people lazy and not learn how to flash or fix problems on there own.
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Click to collapse
I agree that Toolkits can make you lazy and not learn how to fix things on your own, but when you need a quick fix and don't have time to figure out what is going wrong, it's always nice to just boot your phone into fastboot or recovery and fix things with a few keystrokes on your computer.

I got it to work guys! Thanks for all the help. It was much appreciated.

Possible to make a custom recovery for this device..

I think it's possible because the amazon fifth Gen, it has a locked bootloader but we were still able to boot into a custom recovery by using the original kernel of the device somehow. I know it's not the same thing but if we have access to do commands we can flash a custom recovery that way. I'll be asking the guy who made the custom recovery on how he did it. Then maybe we can modify the android 6.0 update zip and inject root into it??

I have that device. It requires fastboot i believe.

Not holding my breath

danweb66 said:
I have that device. It requires fastboot i believe.
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Click to collapse
It is possible to nuke the laf and gain access to fastboot. You could then flash your needed commands and restore laf.

tabp0le said:
It is possible to nuke the laf and gain access to fastboot. You could then flash your needed commands and restore laf.
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Click to collapse
I was about to say exactly that. A fun little trick I picked up with my G2 when I bricked it really damn bad and basically had zero options for getting it to boot again without access to fastboot, which was so wonderfully omitted by LG despite the G2 and the Nexus 5 being almost the same phone under the hood, so I was a bit reckless thinking they wouldn't have made the software so drastically different when they're almost identical hardware.
I have a feeling nuking laf and using a kindle method really could work, but unfortunately I don't have a backup phone to move my number over to while I try until I get a replacement Moto X under warranty (that one literally bricked itself within six months running stock)

I don't think the 5th gen fire has 6.0...I may be mistaken tho.

No I'm not saying use fastboot I'm saying flash the recovery using dd commands instead. You can back up the recovery just incase something happensAL and flash that back. Meaning nuking only the recovery partition and flashing a modified boot.img

Interesting, sounds possible but you would think that someone more advanced than us would of considered this.

Awesomeslayerg said:
No I'm not saying use fastboot I'm saying flash the recovery using dd commands instead. You can back up the recovery just incase something happensAL and flash that back. Meaning nuking only the recovery partition and flashing a modified boot.img
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Click to collapse
base_ten said:
Interesting, sounds possible but you would think that someone more advanced than us would of considered this.
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Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure that's what I did for the tmoble version...was side load the recovery with dd commands..I think the twrp recovery needs to made for sprint tho
Edit: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo...recovery-twrp-2-8-7-0-touch-recovery-t3164874 there was 2 ways 2 do it one with flashify an the other with dd commands...not sure if it will work for us but who knows...

Hate to resurrect a perfectly dead thread, but I'm guessing no one has tried this with any success?

Ive been looking into things like i know g2 had lokinexploit att g3 images and recoverys are bumped both had lock bls but i dont know yet i just got this g4 last night and ill be stuck with it for at least a year or so so im in for testing i aint worried bout waranty and i got insuarance have in my opinion better tech skills than a lot of people i know so im all game

Won't boot into recovery

Hello. I have unlocked bootloader successfully (it says "unlocked" at screen and also "tampered"). I have all the fastboot/adb software on my windows pc and can communicate with the phone. I flash recovery via fastboot and it is successful...includes a "recovery" option under bootloader options but it just flashes a disclaimer screen and quickly goes back to bootloader screen. Without custom recovery I cannot root this phone which is my goal. I have tried to reflash other recovery images, including cmw and twrp - I believe cmw is on it now but it won't open.
Hoping someone can assist me with this.
Thank you

belowHeights00 said:
Hello. I have unlocked bootloader successfully (it says "unlocked" at screen and also "tampered"). I have all the fastboot/adb software on my windows pc and can communicate with the phone. I flash recovery via fastboot and it is successful...includes a "recovery" option under bootloader options but it just flashes a disclaimer screen and quickly goes back to bootloader screen. Without custom recovery I cannot root this phone which is my goal. I have tried to reflash other recovery images, including cmw and twrp - I believe cmw is on it now but it won't open.
Hoping someone can assist me with this.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reflash whichever recovery you plan to use then remove the battery and put it back in then hold the volume down button and then press and hold the power button at the same time and the phone should then boot to recovery. Make a backup after so you have something to fall back on just in case.

MrMike2182 said:
Reflash whichever recovery you plan to use then remove the battery and put it back in then hold the volume down button and then press and hold the power button at the same time and the phone should then boot to recovery. Make a backup after so you have something to fall back on just in case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I just now gave that a shot but it had no effect.

belowHeights00 said:
Thanks for the reply! I just now gave that a shot but it had no effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you actually holding both buttons down at the same time until the screen turns on? Don't let them go hold them both down until your screen lights up. Then select recovery but if it doesn't work then try below.
Try flashing this version of twrp https://twrp.me/devices/htcdesire510usa32bit.html ... If you're not in the USA I need to know.

Flashing twrp didn't change anything unfortunately. I recently tried re-locking my bootloader and attempted to flash stock images back to the phone but when I press "yes" to the question about voiding the warranty before unlocking the bootloader again...the disclaimer just flashes and the phone won't let it.
Also, I cannot seem to restore it to stock through the menu...nor the bootloader screen.
So now I have "tampered" and "Relocked" banners on top of bootloader screen.
One the upside, the phone itself works fine (I currently only use it for wifi).
Only thing I can think of is I originally flashed a corrupt recovery img (or incompatible version).
Hoping you or someone else has any ideas as to how to get this thing working again. I'd be happy with reverting completly back to stock and starting the process over..

belowHeights00 said:
Flashing twrp didn't change anything unfortunately. I recently tried re-locking my bootloader and attempted to flash stock images back to the phone but when I press "yes" to the question about voiding the warranty before unlocking the bootloader again...the disclaimer just flashes and the phone won't let it.
Also, I cannot seem to restore it to stock through the menu...nor the bootloader screen.
So now I have "tampered" and "Relocked" banners on top of bootloader screen.
One the upside, the phone itself works fine (I currently only use it for wifi).
Only thing I can think of is I originally flashed a corrupt recovery img (or incompatible version).
Hoping you or someone else has any ideas as to how to get this thing working again. I'd be happy with reverting completly back to stock and starting the process over..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What service provider are you using?
Don't toss the unlock code you got from HTC you're gonna need the very first one you got keep it forever.

I'm using Boost but I think I figured it out. It ended up being a corrupt download of cmw. I actually used an ruu to get back stock and now the whole process went smoothly. Just looking for a rom that fits...got any recommendations in that area?

belowHeights00 said:
I'm using Boost but I think I figured it out. It ended up being a corrupt download of cmw. I actually used an ruu to get back stock and now the whole process went smoothly. Just looking for a rom that fits...got any recommendations in that area?
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Click to collapse
Not really since everyone has their own tastes but I'd advise you to create a backup in your recovery so you can use it in case something goes wrong. Currently me and a friend are working on CM13/12..

MrMike2182 said:
Not really since everyone has their own tastes but I'd advise you to create a backup in your recovery so you can use it in case something goes wrong. Currently me and a friend are working on CM13/12..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny enough I never made a backup before and constantly have to re-locate stock images due to soft bricking. I now am making backups so as not to go through that again.
I have a question perhaps you could answer -- if I install a rom that doesn't include any additional tweaks such as extended personaliation options in settings (transitions, etc, etc.)..is there a mod I can flash to achieve that?

belowHeights00 said:
Funny enough I never made a backup before and constantly have to re-locate stock images due to soft bricking. I now am making backups so as not to go through that again.
I have a question perhaps you could answer -- if I install a rom that doesn't include any additional tweaks such as extended personaliation options in settings (transitions, etc, etc.)..is there a mod I can flash to achieve that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For extended personalizing other than developer options, I'd use Xposed.

MrMike2182 said:
Not really since everyone has their own tastes but I'd advise you to create a backup in your recovery so you can use it in case something goes wrong. Currently me and a friend are working on CM13/12..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How have you started working on that, i gthink i should join too. Are you working on the USA model or UK? (X86 or X64)

Zubagy said:
How have you started working on that, i gthink i should join too. Are you working on the USA model or UK? (X86 or X64)
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Click to collapse
The USA model because myself and rb don't have the EU phone to even test anything on it.. We still have a lot of booting problems right now. I'd say if you wanted to help I'd have to ask what you know about building roms from source? Have you done it before?
P.S: There's already a CM-12.1 available for the EU model although it does have some issues.. You should read about it if you want to try it..

MrMike2182 said:
The USA model because myself and rb don't have the EU phone to even test anything on it.. We still have a lot of booting problems right now. I'd say if you wanted to help I'd have to ask what you know about building roms from source? Have you done it before?
P.S: There's already a CM-12.1 available for the EU model although it does have some issues.. You should read about it if you want to try it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really, But perhaps it time to learn

Zubagy said:
Not really, But perhaps it time to learn
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Click to collapse
It's pretty cool and fun once you get the hang of making things and seeing them function right, and the other thing is... You'll need a pretty decent computer to compile/build with and it'll need to have at least 4GB ram (more is better) and about 50 to 100 GB hard drive space for building your rom plus the CM source code needs to be on your system too...

MrMike2182 said:
It's pretty cool and fun once you get the hang of making things and seeing them function right, and the other thing is... You'll need a pretty decent computer to compile/build with and it'll need to have at least 4GB ram (more is better) and about 50 to 100 GB hard drive space for building your rom plus the CM source code needs to be on your system too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess then am good to go, are those the only requirements....... i dont have any source code though

Zubagy said:
I guess then am good to go, are those the only requirements....... i dont have any source code though
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Click to collapse
Well how fast is your internet? By the way.. I'm using a Linux operating system... What are you using? It cannot be done on Windows unless you use a VM.

Hey, I also faced this problem but I find the solution and successfully flash twrp
Hey, I also faced this problem but I find the solution and successfully flash tarp recovery.
belowHeights00 said:
Hello. I have unlocked bootloader successfully (it says "unlocked" at screen and also "tampered"). I have all the fastboot/adb software on my windows pc and can communicate with the phone. I flash recovery via fastboot and it is successful...includes a "recovery" option under bootloader options but it just flashes a disclaimer screen and quickly goes back to bootloader screen. Without custom recovery I cannot root this phone which is my goal. I have tried to reflash other recovery images, including cmw and twrp - I believe cmw is on it now but it won't open.
Hoping someone can assist me with this.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

MrMike2182 said:
Well how fast is your internet? By the way.. I'm using a Linux operating system... What are you using? It cannot be done on Windows unless you use a VM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the delay, yes.... i am using vm ware... my net is not that fast... but it can get things done.

Strange issue.

Hey guys! So this is a very strange issue. When I power off my nexus, a lot of times I have to wait a good 30 seconds or so before I can power it back on or go into the bootloader. If I power it off, and try to turn it back on fast, it stays black screen almost as of it's frozen or just not responding. I noticed this issue begun when I flashed the radio from N preview 2, and didn't happen before that. My question here, is what could this be? Can the radio really cause odd things like this to happen? Or is there another cause? I am running the newest Android version MOB30I, and have multirom installed with about 4 or so secondaries.

H4X0R46 said:
Hey guys! So this is a very strange issue. When I power off my nexus, a lot of times I have to wait a good 30 seconds or so before I can power it back on or go into the bootloader. If I power it off, and try to turn it back on fast, it stays black screen almost as of it's frozen or just not responding. I noticed this issue begun when I flashed the radio from N preview 2, and didn't happen before that. My question here, is what could this be? Can the radio really cause odd things like this to happen? Or is there another cause? I am running the newest Android version MOB30I, and have multirom installed with about 4 or so secondaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You flashed Npreview radio on a marshmallow build?

Dead-neM said:
You flashed Npreview radio on a marshmallow build?
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Click to collapse
Yes! Yes I did. Could this be an issue?

H4X0R46 said:
Yes! Yes I did. Could this be an issue?
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Click to collapse
no. as im using the n preview radio on marshmallow, which is the same radio that came out with the last security update.
---------- Post added at 05:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------
H4X0R46 said:
Hey guys! So this is a very strange issue. When I power off my nexus, a lot of times I have to wait a good 30 seconds or so before I can power it back on or go into the bootloader. If I power it off, and try to turn it back on fast, it stays black screen almost as of it's frozen or just not responding. I noticed this issue begun when I flashed the radio from N preview 2, and didn't happen before that. My question here, is what could this be? Can the radio really cause odd things like this to happen? Or is there another cause? I am running the newest Android version MOB30I, and have multirom installed with about 4 or so secondaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im going to guess, try a different kernel. as its the kernel that will boot up the device?

H4X0R46 said:
Yes! Yes I did. Could this be an issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it can. Why did you do that?
Make a backup (android or titatium backup)
Then reflash stock n6 firmware (erase data so put your backup and important files into pc)

Dead-neM said:
Yes it can. Why did you do that?
Make a backup (android or titatium backup)
Then reflash stock n6 firmware (erase data so put your backup and important files into pc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the N radio, is the same exact radio that google released for the may security patch. so the N radio, is the latest official radio for the nexus 6. so no, that wont be the problem.

simms22 said:
no. as im using the n preview radio on marshmallow, which is the same radio that came out with the last security update.
---------- Post added at 05:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------
im going to guess, try a different kernel. as its the kernel that will boot up the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if it is. I'm using the newest Elite kernel for Marshmallow, it's always been my go to kernel. It's strange because after turning the device off, I can't turn it back on instantly, screen stays black as if it's not 100% shut down yet. I have to wait a bit before turning it back on, or entering the bootloader.

simms22 said:
im going to guess, try a different kernel. as its the kernel that will boot up the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's the bootloader that boots the device.
If he's hitting the power button and unable to get to the "Google" splash screen or the bootloader, the kernel is very irrelevant.
I'd be more curious if he's trying to use the bootloader from the N-Preview 2 with MM. Even though I think it's supposed to be backwards compatible, the bootloader is the only thing that would cause that sort of issue.
*technically* I'm pretty sure that you could format /boot (where the kernel is stored) and still get to your bootloader for fastboot and such. So, the kernel is really irrelevant until after the bootloader does it's thing.
*edit*
also, there's a reason that these are known as "Developer Previews" not "End-User Previews"... If you don't know how to fix weird issues that pop up like that, you should probably avoid them.

Yoinx said:
No, it's the bootloader that boots the device.
If he's hitting the power button and unable to get to the "Google" splash screen or the bootloader, the kernel is very irrelevant.
I'd be more curious if he's trying to use the bootloader from the N-Preview 2 with MM. Even though I think it's supposed to be backwards compatible, the bootloader is the only thing that would cause that sort of issue.
*technically* I'm pretty sure that you could format /boot (where the kernel is stored) and still get to your bootloader for fastboot and such. So, the kernel is really irrelevant until after the bootloader does it's thing.
*edit*
also, there's a reason that these are known as "Developer Previews" not "End-User Previews"... If you don't know how to fix weird issues that pop up like that, you should probably avoid them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm yes after what said simms22 I've check the n preview and the bootloader is xxx.18 instead of last mm which is xxx.17 but a bootloader downgrade is risky right?
@H4X0R46 do you use the .sh file and update your bootloader and radio with n preview?

Dead-neM said:
Mmm yes after what said simms22 I've check the n preview and the bootloader is xxx.18 instead of last mm which is xxx.17 but a bootloader downgrade is risky right?
@H4X0R46 do you use the .sh file and update your bootloader and radio with n preview?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can be. Normally, once you upgrade, you just stick with the new one as they're backwards compatible normally. But, the ones for the Previews aren't always 100%. The whole reason these previews come out is so that developers can start making their apps compatible prior to the official release. Ideally, this is supposed to be done in emulators not necessarily real devices.
If the 30 second delay in powering back on is *that* big of a deal (to him) to risk bricking the phone by downgrading the bootloader and having something go wrong... I say go for it.

Yoinx said:
It can be. Normally, once you upgrade, you just stick with the new one as they're backwards compatible normally. But, the ones for the Previews aren't always 100%. The whole reason these previews come out is so that developers can start making their apps compatible prior to the official release. Ideally, this is supposed to be done in emulators not necessarily real devices.
If the 30 second delay in powering back on is *that* big of a deal (to him) to risk bricking the phone by downgrading the bootloader and having something go wrong... I say go for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is downgrading the bootloader really risky? I've done it before without issue and never knew this was risky! Are you supposed to just stay with the newest bootloader if you already flashed it? I always flash the bootloader for the image I'm flashing, even if I'm downgrading.

Dead-neM said:
Mmm yes after what said simms22 I've check the n preview and the bootloader is xxx.18 instead of last mm which is xxx.17 but a bootloader downgrade is risky right?
@H4X0R46 do you use the .sh file and update your bootloader and radio with n preview?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flash each partition manually.

H4X0R46 said:
Is downgrading the bootloader really risky? I've done it before without issue and never knew this was risky! Are you supposed to just stay with the newest bootloader if you already flashed it? I always flash the bootloader for the image I'm flashing, even if I'm downgrading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's always risky when you're messing with essentially the lowest level software on the device. For instance, lets say that something happens while you're flashing the bootloader and it corrupts. What do you use to reflash it? You can't get to fastboot anymore...
As long as you know what you're doing, don't have corrupt images, and don't lose power or have lightning strike your computer while you're doing it, you would be fine.
The issue is that many/most people on XDA these days have no idea how to recover from problems or even what problems the things that they're doing might cause. So I tend to approach every situation under the assumption that the other poster may not have a full understanding.
No offense intended of course.

Yoinx said:
It's always risky when you're messing with essentially the lowest level software on the device. For instance, lets say that something happens while you're flashing the bootloader and it corrupts. What do you use to reflash it? You can't get to fastboot anymore...
As long as you know what you're doing, don't have corrupt images, and don't lose power or have lightning strike your computer while you're doing it, you would be fine.
The issue is that many/most people on XDA these days have no idea how to recover from problems or even what problems the things that they're doing might cause. So I tend to approach every situation under the assumption that the other poster may not have a full understanding.
No offense intended of course.
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Click to collapse
Alright so that's just to be safe then? My laptop sometimes freezes solid out of the blue, uncommon but does happen, and I always thought "what if I'm flashing stuff?" Scary thought. ESPECIALLY the bootloader! So the danger you're referring to is flashing a bootloader in general, not so much downgrading? Like I said, I always match the bootloader to the version I'm running. This is okay?
EDIT: I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check the MD5 checksum for EVERYTHING before flashing. Can never be too safe

H4X0R46 said:
Alright so that's just to be safe then? My laptop sometimes freezes solid out of the blue, uncommon but does happen, and I always thought "what if I'm flashing stuff?" Scary thought. ESPECIALLY the bootloader! So the danger you're referring to is flashing a bootloader in general, not so much downgrading? Like I said, I always match the bootloader to the version I'm running. This is okay?
EDIT: I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS check the MD5 checksum for EVERYTHING before flashing. Can never be too safe
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In general, the bootloader needs to match the highest version of android you intend to run. They're typically always backward compatible. On some phones, you can't downgrade the bootloader (at least not easily). This phone you should be fine doing so. However, there's not usually any reason to (backwards compatible afterall).

Yoinx said:
In general, the bootloader needs to match the highest version of android you intend to run. They're typically always backward compatible. On some phones, you can't downgrade the bootloader (at least not easily). This phone you should be fine doing so. However, there's not usually any reason to (backwards compatible afterall).
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Cool! Thanks for your input on that! Much appreciated! Yea I'm always wary of the bootloader because like you said, it IS the lowest software on the device. Quick question, if that were to get corrupted, does the device just not boot resulting in permanent brick? Or does it boot just no fastboot access? Might be a noob question, but why not ask lol

H4X0R46 said:
Cool! Thanks for your input on that! Much appreciated! Yea I'm always wary of the bootloader because like you said, it IS the lowest software on the device. Quick question, if that were to get corrupted, does the device just not boot resulting in permanent brick? Or does it boot just no fastboot access? Might be a noob question, but why not ask lol
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Depends, I've never really looked into unbricking this phone. Never had to yet.
Depending on the phone you can use tools like QHUSB and similar which let you reflash partitions just through the USB connection.

I know it's late but it could also be just the rom setup. I know a while ago there were commits that shut the device screen and buttons off before it was done shutting down (to make it appear faster) this made devices seem bricked for a short period. I don't know what ever happen to those commits, so I can't say for sure that it is them. But your issue fits perfectly.

So have I been flashing the bootloader wrong all along? I flashed in twrp a couple times but I try to flash them individually and wipe after flashing.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Anybody able to find out why? I'm surprised to see I'm not the only one having this issue, it's annoying really.

Delete all files and re-partition all?

If you ever had loaded into recovery in temporary TWRP you'll note that even after formating /data/ and doing an advance wipe (selecting everything), then enter the file manager there is still a bunch of folders and some files throughout your device.
Is there a way to wipe out everything and start completely 100% fresh?

DO NOT DO THIS --- OR --- DO but do not cry about it
I have an answer to my question and it is as I suspected. The short and more official answer is, no. The longer answer is, yes, technically. -- But you should not try it unless you are 100% sure you can live without your phone (forever).
As it turns out no one had a full 100% flash for the whole device and its complete file system structure (except for Motorola). But as it turns out without a manufacturing cable it would be useless anyway. This is because part of your phone is protected and cannot be wiped clean and flashed so blindly... ie... Unlike your desktop computer. But if you're like me you have noticed some orphan files (a few logs).
Is it worth taking the risk just to clear some orphan files? Probably not. But since you do not have a manufacturing cable and technically, your phone can recover, what you can do is the following.
Do NOT use the TWRP installed on your phone. Rather use it in memory
Code:
sudo fastboot boot twrp-3.3.1-0-payton.img
Load TWRP and format DATA
Reboot, go to advance wipe, wipe everything.
Reboot to TWRP (again)
In TWRP via the terminal type in
HTML:
rm -r -f *
You will see a lot of things that cannot be deleted. This is because you do not have permission to do so. What little is removed will likely be restored after reboot from the master rom hidden somewhere on your phone which cannot be played with unless you have a manufacturing cable (so I am told). ---- If you have such a cable --- DO NOT DO THIS. --- If you suspect you have such a cable --- Do NOT do this. -- I did this with just my normal charging cable.
After you have run the command which will take forever. Tell TWRP to reboot to bootloader. You will now have a BLACK screen. This is where I panicked. I waited a while and long pressed down the power button (presumably turning off my device). Then I pressed down the power button and the lower volume button. -- Keep holding the buttons. -- It will take longer than you like but your phone will boot up. And low and behold everything that was in the master rom (chip?) has been restored and you will now see the bootloader screen (finally). Load TWRP and install your ROM of choice.
How many times have I done this successfully? 2x
Does this mean this is dependable? Unlikely
Do I recommend this? No.
Should you depend on this? No.
Are you taking a large gable? YES
Can this brick your device? YES, more than likely.
Should you do this if you have any doubts? NO.
Will you get any help if this goes wrong? NO.
So why did I do it? As I look to possibly upgrade my phone in the future I feel a little more daring and can afford to do so. lol

you say "yes, technically", but I have yet to see someone get back to a fully operational stock. The best they can do is get to a mostly operational custom ROM. I (and a bunch of other folks here) would love to be proven wrong.

KrisM22 said:
you say "yes, technically", but I have yet to see someone get back to a fully operational stock. The best they can do is get to a mostly operational custom ROM. I (and a bunch of other folks here) would love to be proven wrong.
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After performing this I installed only the official firmware. No additional ROM or GSI. The firmware itself includes the stock software.
A word of caution. --- I did this on 3 phones now. 2 work just fine. But 1 does not. The one that does not reports my IMEI as 0. This means it boots, it loads, it will play games and apps and update via Google Play Store, but it will never make a single phone call ever again. --- Food for thought.

Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?

KrisM22 said:
Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?
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The world will never know. lol --- I'm a Linux user and their app doesn't seem to like Wine. I suppose I could set up a virtual machine with Windows and hope to connect through that. But I was once informed you really cannot do that via a virtual machine. Unless I was misinformed?! In any case, flashing the phone is not a problem. I can wipe it and reinstall any ROM or GSI at the moment. Or I can repeat my process too back to stock under a full wipe. The results appear to be the same.
I already have ordered a cheap Moto G7 from Google as a replacement. My current plan will be to find a very light (small), bare-bones ROM / GSI and install it onto this Moto X4. From there I'll load it up with games and such and let the kids play with it. Figure since it cannot make or receive calls anymore (or text messages either) it will make for a fun little toy.

MotoX4 said:
The world will never know. lol --- I'm a Linux user and their app doesn't seem to like Wine. I suppose I could set up a virtual machine with Windows and hope to connect through that. But I was once informed you really cannot do that via a virtual machine. Unless I was misinformed?! In any case, flashing the phone is not a problem. I can wipe it and reinstall any ROM or GSI at the moment. Or I can repeat my process too back to stock under a full wipe. The results appear to be the same.
I already have ordered a cheap Moto G7 from Google as a replacement. My current plan will be to find a very light (small), bare-bones ROM / GSI and install it onto this Moto X4. From there I'll load it up with games and such and let the kids play with it. Figure since it cannot make or receive calls anymore (or text messages either) it will make for a fun little toy.
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Thanks! Yeah, in the past I have been a lot on Ubuntu and stuff like this is not forgiving for wine.
It's a darn shame that we can't just send these phones to Moto with $25 and get it fixed. Oh well!

KrisM22 said:
Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?
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Moto smart assistant can`t recognize the phone in rescue mode..

St.Noigel said:
Moto smart assistant can`t recognize the phone in rescue mode..
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I know it can't on yours, and most folks with this prob. I was wondering about MotoX4's case. But thanks for trying it!
I had high hopes for that smart assistant when I discovered it, but no joy. When we lost RSDlite, we lost a lot - unless they upgrade it...

KrisM22 said:
I know it can't on yours, and most folks with this prob. I was wondering about MotoX4's case. But thanks for trying it!
I had high hopes for that smart assistant when I discovered it, but no joy. When we lost RSDlite, we lost a lot - unless they upgrade it...
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RSDlite? Lost? Is this what you seek? https://rsdlitetool.com/

MotoX4 said:
RSDlite? Lost? Is this what you seek? https://rsdlitetool.com/
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6.2.4 won't recognize a Moto X4 after it is upgraded to Pie.

I used RSDLite since the times of the P2K and MAGX (Linux)... but since it's easier to use fastboot commands...
I have a stock X4 Android One around, if I want to flash Pixel Experience, can I go back to stock in the future?

joel_sinbad said:
...snip...
I have a stock X4 Android One around, if I want to flash Pixel Experience, can I go back to stock in the future?
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In all probability, NO.

Then I'm gonna stay on Stock Rom, so... If I want to flash custom Roms, there's not way back...

joel_sinbad said:
Then I'm gonna stay on Stock Rom, so... If I want to flash custom Roms, there's not way back...
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If you read a lot on this forum, that's the message I see.

I agree, NO going back. You can, I have... flash any factory Pie rom . All will flash fine and no IMEI, wifi. Radios are gone. I use Google Fi and cell data services go wierd on custom roms, if you want carrier switching.

This makes me think that the Moto X4 is more dangerous than the back then Atrix 4G with their Tegra 2 chipset...

joel_sinbad said:
This makes me think that the Moto X4 is more dangerous than the back then Atrix 4G with their Tegra 2 chipset...
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I don't recall thinking that the Moto Atrix 4g was at all dangerous when I had one - a rather nice phone imho, though that was a very long time ago. I don't think of the Moto X4 as "dangerous" - it is simply that there is not a correct understanding of the Pie file structure by the custom ROM devs such that their ROMs would not so change the file structure of the phone as to prevent it from being flashed back to stock.
Users need to recognize that, with this phone, you can't get back to stock if you flash any custom ROM.
afaik.
This change happened with the file structure and boot structure changes of the Pie update. Prior to that, folks could get away with all manner of mods. Devs for this phone need to approach modifications with the idea of assuring that any mod can be flashed back to stock, BEFORE it is released. That has not happened. And likely won't. User beware!

KrisM22..... Thank you for stating what I could not do as well.

kkjb said:
KrisM22..... Thank you for stating what I could not do as well.
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we ALL do it, and CAN do it - all in hopes of saving some newbie from disaster!