I have a stock Verizon Moto X (XT1060) that was running 4.4.4. I was on a flight Friday using the phone in airplane mode to run Spotify and Podkicker - noticed the phone was running a little hot so I shut the apps down for a while. Anyway, upon landing I take the phone off airplane mode and the usual minor flood of emails/texts/updates comes in. About 30 seconds after this the phone begins alternately flashing "Process android.process.acore has stopped" and "Process android.process.media has stopped." These cycled for about 5 displays of each, then would disappear for about 45 seconds, then start again. Tried resetting the phone, letting the battery die, no success.
Saturday I tried to navigate into settings to do a factory reset, but the screen froze whenever I tapped on the "backup and reset" menu. Could access all the other menus from settings (until the error cascade started again....). I was able to boot the phone into recovery mode and wiped the cache - nothing. Went back into recovery mode to do a factory reset and now I appear to be stuck in a boot loop - the Moto logo pops up, buzzes, and then does nothing for about a minute or two before trying again. I can get it into recovery mode and tried to wipe the cache and factory reset again, but still nothing.
Any thoughts? Tried looking at other threads but didn't seem to find anything like this. Thanks!
Try this cmd in fastboot
fastboot oem fb_mode_clear
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2738055
hbenz2008 said:
Try this cmd in fastboot
fastboot oem fb_mode_clear
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2738055
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No luck, unfortunately. Still stuck on the Moto screen. I can force the phone to reset by holding down the power button and then get it into fastboot, my computer recognizes the fastboot device, and the code seems to have run fine. Thanks for the idea - any other thoughts?
If you can still get into fastboot mode you can try flashing only the stock 4.4.4 system.img via mfastboot. That will not wipe your data. If that does not work I would do a full return to stock via mfastboot or you can use rsd.
Thanks Travis I'll give it a shot. I never enabled USB debugging and never unlocked my phone before this happened - I imagine I'll need to try and unlock the bootloader first, no?
cmcgowan said:
Thanks Travis I'll give it a shot. I never enabled USB debugging and never unlocked my phone before this happened - I imagine I'll need to try and unlock the bootloader first, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, don't need to unlock boot loader to flash the system.img just enable USB debugging in developer options. Tap build number 5 times to enable developer options. If you have never flashed anything before via fastboot rsd might be easier for you.
Thanks - I've used fastboot before on an older phone but never enabled USB debugging on this phone and now can't get to enable it since I'm stuck with this boot loop. Downloading the files from Moto now so will give it a shot tonight anyway. Can't really break it more than it's already broken since all I've got now is a shiny light up paperweight.
You will still need to download the stock images for 4.4.4 for Verizon and extract them. You can flash via rsd or simply flash just the system by running the command "mfastboot flash system system.img"
You will have to have the image file in the same folder as your mfastboot.exe I usually keep all mine in platform tools.
Sigh. Got everything downloaded but when I tried to flash either the boot image, recovery image, or system image, I ran into errors
Here's what displayed (sub boot/recovery for system - same basic error):
c:\{Path}\mfastboot flash system system.img
(bootloader) Variable not supported!
target max-download-size: 768MB
Multi-Flash is enabled!
sending 'system' (262144 KB)...
OKAY [16.793s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 17.756s
I was following option 5 from mark @ cdma forum's guide to return motox to stock (can't link b/c I don't have enough posts...) . No issues until I got to the flash boot boot.img step.
I'm assuming this is due to not having USB debugging enabled prior to my phone eating itself, though I'm not sure. Willing to try other things since I love my Moto X but my cheap replacement phone arrives tomorrow (hopefully) so at least its not the end of the world...
You are sure you got the 4.4.4 images? You did not try to downgrade right?
Yup. Definitely got the 4.4.4 images (went back to the Moto site and it will let me download the 4.4.4 immediately but made me request authorization for 4.4.2) and I know I was running the most recent version since I checked for an upgrade on my phone last week in the hope that Moto had released 5.0.
You are following this guide? http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x/general/guide-moto-x-return-to-100-stock-using-t2446515
If USB debugging is not on you can manually boot you device to boot loader mode. Then fastboot or rsd should work fine.
---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 PM ----------
Moto X Restore and unbrick for any major US carrier: https://youtu.be/jhhktIkwi7Q
I appreciate the help...but still no luck. That's basically what I've been doing and I went back through following those instructions - at every step I get the "variable not supported" error and then it fails at the flash boot step with the error message I described earlier.
cmcgowan said:
I appreciate the help...but still no luck. That's basically what I've been doing and I went back through following those instructions - at every step I get the "variable not supported" error and then it fails at the flash boot step with the error message I described earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are opening the cmd screen from the same folder as your images and fastboot and mfastboot.exe correct? From your error it looks like your cmd screen is directed to your "C" drive.
Sorry, just didn't type out the whole thing - the cmd path is to the platform-tools folder where all of the files are also located...
Damn was hoping it was something simply like that. Have you tried rsd?
I haven't - didn't enable USB debugging and for whatever reason the package I downloaded from Moto doesn't include the XML file of instructions. Most of the links from the youtube video and some of the links from the XDA guide earlier are also dead so seems like I'm pretty much out of options. Thanks for all of your help - guess I'm going with the $80 replacement till I'm up for an upgrade!
Okay everything started when i wanted to go back to stock after having installed CyanogenMod 12 on my VS980. Everything went well with the install but when i finally wanted to go back, i couldnt enter download mode, instead i would get fastboot mode. I looked into that and people said i only had to replace files like Laf.img, boot.img, and aboot.img through command prompt. When i did this and rebooted the phone, the lg logo came out saying "Security Error" and then bootloops. I can enter Twrp Recovery with ease but i cant go into fastboot nor Download Mode. When i connect to the computer while in Twrp though, my computer picks it up as VS980 but says it was not installed correctly. I dont know what happened and im confused on whether is Soft- Bricked or Hard- Bricked. If anyone could help me with this problem please i have a Windows computer btw, not linux, im not sure if i need a linus for this fix though
Just putting out there, everywhere i look, people always send me here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2432476
This just doesnt work for me since i cant enter download mode.
All help is appreciated and thank you in advance.
which TWRP version do you have?
the most simple solution if you have TWRP working is to flash a rom via OTG
I'm in the same boat man. I can get into TWRP 2.8.0.1 and download mode, but I can not get my drivers to install correctly. I have the drivers in a file. I've pointed my computer at that file, rebooted computer, changed usb cables, tried sideload feature in TWRP, tried the LG flash tool. Nothing helps. God I'm so dumb for erasing internal storage. I'm so used to having an sd card and was just thinking, don't erase sd card and you're good. I rushed through it and f'd up really good.
Errors
adb devices-doesn't list device just blank space
sideload or push just yields a list of all the commands, but nothing else
when I plug phone in to computer-drivers not installed correctly. 'MTP USB failed'
flashtool-'failed previous load'
sideload function of TWRP-It just tries to load forever
terminal in TWRP-I ran a command, but then it says you are not rooted install supersu. Not matter what I choose it reboots and sticks at 'LG' screen.
My drivers worked before I wiped internal storage, so I know it's my phone. Drivers just worked to transfer xdabbeb's 2.3 over 3 minutes before I shyt the bed with it.
Hi,
i need help with this strange problem, i want update my phone to android 6.0 but when i start local update phone reboot and freeze on Honor logo, when i try factory reset or reboot to stock recovery menu - its same, again only Honor logo. Bootloader work ok, its unlocked, phone rooted, but when i for example try flash twrp recovery - fastboot send me "Failed...command not allowed"...Cant access recovery menu by fastboot, any app in phone and by keys combination too..also vol up, vol down and power for update from sd card not work, trying to seek for solutions to more than 2 weeks, can anybody here help me please?Thx.
If you are sure bootloader is unlocked and using Linux OS, run fastboot commands as root/admin (as sudo).
oppili said:
If you are sure bootloader is unlocked and using Linux OS, run fastboot commands as root/admin (as sudo).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, im sure. On bootloader mode is in red color - Phone unlocked, but i not using Linux, im on Windows 7 and this not help me....
Try fastboot oem unlock - command again.
If still not works, try fastboot erase of that *.img file before flashing that new img file.
oppili said:
Try fastboot oem unlock - command again.
When i try this command...
c:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem get-bootinfo
...
(bootloader) unlocked
OKAY [ 0.004s]
finished. total time: 0.006s
If still not works, try fastboot erase of that *.img file before flashing that new img file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know about this but im above when i try erase all after this fastboot send me "Failed..." and i will be have dead phone, tell me - when i try erase command for all partitions - will be phone work wit fastboot after this??
THX
Are you the only user in pc ? Do you have admin rights ?
or
try any other pc
or
use Ubuntu OS
Lulu_568 said:
Hi,
i need help with this strange problem, i want update my phone to android 6.0 but when i start local update phone reboot and freeze on Honor logo, when i try factory reset or reboot to stock recovery menu - its same, again only Honor logo. Bootloader work ok, its unlocked, phone rooted, but when i for example try flash twrp recovery - fastboot send me "Failed...command not allowed"...Cant access recovery menu by fastboot, any app in phone and by keys combination too..also vol up, vol down and power for update from sd card not work, trying to seek for solutions to more than 2 weeks, can anybody here help me please?Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the reason for this case, that you should not apply updates while you are rooted.
(assuming that you are in lollipop stock )I suggest you check for the driver .. try to run adb (when your phone is in the active state, not powered off)
now, reboot to bootloader and try any other fastboot commands, like fastboot reboot (just to check that fastboot is responding to the device drivers..)
if it does respond, then I'm afraid you have a serious problem, if it doesn't respond, then you have to deal with the drivers, or you have to double check if your phone is unlocked
thilak devraj said:
the reason for this case, that you should not apply updates while you are rooted.
(assuming that you are in lollipop stock )I suggest you check for the driver .. try to run adb (when your phone is in the active state, not powered off)
now, reboot to bootloader and try any other fastboot commands, like fastboot reboot (just to check that fastboot is responding to the device drivers..)
if it does respond, then I'm afraid you have a serious problem, if it doesn't respond, then you have to deal with the drivers, or you have to double check if your phone is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i allready try, commands like fastboot reboot, or devices - its work, but when i try fastboot flash .... or erase cache - Command not allowed, when fastboot oem unlock - data parse fail...fastboot just respond but i cannot write or erase flash - dont know why....
Lulu_568 said:
Yes, i allready try, commands like fastboot reboot, or devices - its work, but when i try fastboot flash .... or erase cache - Command not allowed, when fastboot oem unlock - data parse fail...fastboot just respond but i cannot write or erase flash - dont know why....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then you should take it to the service center. the only best thing you can do now..
Lulu_568 said:
Yes, i allready try, commands like fastboot reboot, or devices - its work, but when i try fastboot flash .... or erase cache - Command not allowed, when fastboot oem unlock - data parse fail...fastboot just respond but i cannot write or erase flash - dont know why....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
erase cache command is blocked by huawei in fastboot irrespective of locked or unlocked state. somewhere i read unlock lost permissions after update. if you have not tried unlock after update try it. driver can also be an issue, install hisuite it comes with drivers.
Lulu_568 said:
Hi,
i need help with this strange problem, i want update my phone to android 6.0 but when i start local update phone reboot and freeze on Honor logo, when i try factory reset or reboot to stock recovery menu - its same, again only Honor logo. Bootloader work ok, its unlocked, phone rooted, but when i for example try flash twrp recovery - fastboot send me "Failed...command not allowed"...Cant access recovery menu by fastboot, any app in phone and by keys combination too..also vol up, vol down and power for update from sd card not work, trying to seek for solutions to more than 2 weeks, can anybody here help me please?Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this once,
copy firmware in folder 'dload' in sdcard root.
press vol up + vol down + power for 20 secs then release power but keep pressing vol up and vol down
shady143 said:
Try this once,
copy firmware in folder 'dload' in sdcard root.
press vol up + vol down + power for 20 secs then release power but keep pressing vol up and vol down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This not work, when i try this - phone freeze on Honor logo, same as on factory reset or when i try go to Recovery menu...
I check 100 times that is bootloader unlocked, can be problem in bad root or...?
Lulu_568 said:
This not work, when i try this - phone freeze on Honor logo, same as on factory reset or when i try go to Recovery menu...
I check 100 times that is bootloader unlocked, can be problem in bad root or...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay. are you sure the bootloader is unlocked? no harm done. just hold vol down + power up. and you get that green android with white background and the text in RED that says UNLOCKED. if its LOCKED, get the UNLOCK CODE first. just a reminder, you can only fastboot flash those *.imgs if you are UNLOCKED. and there are only some files will be flashed properly (recovery.img, recovery2.img, boot.img, you can try). yes, you can use Huawei Update Extractor to get those files, even in Marshmellow files. but for reviving the phone, use B067 Kitkat or any Kitkat you can get from Huawei Downloads.
1. Get into bootloader mode. I guess you already know how to do that. Plug the phone to wall charger. Yes, leave it charged with white screen showing. Leave it until you finished preparing the PC.
2. Make sure you can use fastboot. You can use Minimal ADB and Fastboot.exe found somewhere in XDA. And make sure that it can detect the phone when you write fastboot devices. It will show up if set up properly.
3. Huawei Update Extractor + Any Kitkat firmware. Extract everything. Note the tags beside each .img inside that Update Extractor. Youre gonna need those tags in order to flash properly.
4. Copy all those *.imgs that extracted into Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder. Check program files (x86).
5. Now ready the pc by launching that minimal adb and fastboot.exe as admin. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
6. fastboot devices. pull the phone from wall charger. plug it to pc. listen to usb connecting sound and driver installation. hit enter and the device should show up.
7. This is where its getting interesting. remember the tags? use that tags like this.
RECOVERY.img = fastboot flash RECOVERY RECOVERY.img
BOOT.img = fastboot flash BOOT BOOT.img
CHECK THE TAGS BEFORE FLASHING!!! and yes, just 5 or less files will be flashed successfully. Ignore it. fastboot reboot it. Yes, its stuck, plug it to the wall again while we prepare the microsd.
8. update.app file. Put that update.app file inside /microsd/dload/update.app folder. Put the microsd inside the phone. Yes, its stuck.
9. Now do the force update. when you see the emui logo, immediately plug it back to wall charger. wait until 100% and it rebooted itself, and you can see the language selection screen again.
DO WITH YOUR OWN RISK. Ive already done it, I hope it worked for you too.
zzztidurvirus said:
okay. are you sure the bootloader is unlocked? no harm done. just hold vol down + power up. and you get that green android with white background and the text in RED that says UNLOCKED. if its LOCKED, get the UNLOCK CODE first. just a reminder, you can only fastboot flash those *.imgs if you are UNLOCKED. and there are only some files will be flashed properly (recovery.img, recovery2.img, boot.img, you can try). yes, you can use Huawei Update Extractor to get those files, even in Marshmellow files. but for reviving the phone, use B067 Kitkat or any Kitkat you can get from Huawei Downloads.
1. Get into bootloader mode. I guess you already know how to do that. Plug the phone to wall charger. Yes, leave it charged with white screen showing. Leave it until you finished preparing the PC.
2. Make sure you can use fastboot. You can use Minimal ADB and Fastboot.exe found somewhere in XDA. And make sure that it can detect the phone when you write fastboot devices. It will show up if set up properly.
3. Huawei Update Extractor + Any Kitkat firmware. Extract everything. Note the tags beside each .img inside that Update Extractor. Youre gonna need those tags in order to flash properly.
4. Copy all those *.imgs that extracted into Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder. Check program files (x86).
5. Now ready the pc by launching that minimal adb and fastboot.exe as admin. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
6. fastboot devices. pull the phone from wall charger. plug it to pc. listen to usb connecting sound and driver installation. hit enter and the device should show up.
7. This is where its getting interesting. remember the tags? use that tags like this.
RECOVERY.img = fastboot flash RECOVERY RECOVERY.img
BOOT.img = fastboot flash BOOT BOOT.img
CHECK THE TAGS BEFORE FLASHING!!! and yes, just 5 or less files will be flashed successfully. Ignore it. fastboot reboot it. Yes, its stuck, plug it to the wall again while we prepare the microsd.
8. update.app file. Put that update.app file inside /microsd/dload/update.app folder. Put the microsd inside the phone. Yes, its stuck.
9. Now do the force update. when you see the emui logo, immediately plug it back to wall charger. wait until 100% and it rebooted itself, and you can see the language selection screen again.
DO WITH YOUR OWN RISK. Ive already done it, I hope it worked for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First...many thanks for your interest!
Look, about bootloader, on boot mode is in red PHONE UNLOCKED, i try this command in fastboot:
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>adb reboot bootloader
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem get-bootinfo
...
(bootloader) unlocked
OKAY [ 0.016s]
finished. total time: 0.016s
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem backdoor info
...
(bootloader) FB LockState: LOCKED
(bootloader) USER LockState: UNLOCKED
OKAY [ -0.000s]
finished. total time: -0.000s
so what is FB Lockstate??Is my bootloader unlocked or locked??
Here is another command which i try....
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot -w
wiping userdata...
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
Can't determine partition type.
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
erasing 'userdata'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.000s
Cant derermine partition type - is this problem?
I also try this....
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
target reported max download size of 524288000 bytes
sending 'recovery' (25034 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.783s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 1.033s]
finished. total time: 1.831s
C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot boot recovery.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.801s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.801s
It seems that fastboot write recovery (with your help i need use admin rights now this work) but i still cant boot to recovery no matter how...
I can also flash and backup boot and recovery via Flashify or Rashr and when i open backup with HEX editor it seems that i succesfully upload TWRP but still cannot acess TWRP recovery....
This is all what i try in this time, of course i read your help words about Huawei extractor etc. but not try at this time, i hope i explain more detailed my problem. Look im not a newbie, i allready flash etc. my Lenovo and P9 lite what i have here but not understand where can be problem in this Honor 4x, it seems like corrupted recovery partition or can be problem in read only/write partition - i play with this option before....
anyway - run as admin - this help me a lot i think, THX and wait your answer.
EDIT: one thing, you think that when i try flash stock recovery (i can, no problem of course) it will be work?
Update: Big success, i just try flash stock recovery B064b and now im in stock recovery menu, im surprised but what now? I want update to Marshmallow 6.0....?
But in stock recovery is: phone and the data cannot be recovered. Continue?
Oh sorry, this is about "not sd card inserted" problem
What will now progress? I have inside B130 firmware and want Marshmallow, also TWRP recovery must i flash now especially for B130 firmware for work?
Update: Yes, all working now, factory reset, recovery etc. you help me a lot, only if you can tell me what number of firmware must i upload for Marshmallow, thx
Last update: So finally, coz im too hurry and dont want wait for your answer :angel:, i just upload from local update first Android 5.1.1. after this 6.0 and all is perfect and working!
My big thanks and kisses goes to you zzztidurvirus, im lucky and still cant beleive that all works, again thx!!
I did once on Win to revert back to Stock from CM12.1 by using img from update.app file. For my case, it's the MM update.app not working, I couldn't flash img files into phone, then I tried to flash files from LP, it worked. I boot into LP ROM and update from there to MM.
Hey hey people.
I was trying to upgrade my friend's Honor X4 Che2-L11 variant to 6.0 age from it's lollipop and ****ed up - big time. It seems to have a recovery, and it bootloops. I can't get it to install any update.app though, it either errors or gets stuck/crashes at 5%.
Now I am trying to flash a individual stock recovery with fastboot. Like the guide by zzztidurvirus there, but whenever I try to issue flash command this is what I get:
target reported max download size of 471859200 bytes
sending 'RECOVERY' (9304 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.258s]
writing 'RECOVERY'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.261s
- so basically any flash command sends OKAY, Writing Fails with Command not allowed. Bootloader is unlocked, "PHONE unlocked" on screen and same status messages from fastboot as Lulu up there when making queries.
What gives, what could I try still?
Lulu_568 said:
This not work, when i try this - phone freeze on Honor logo, same as on factory reset or when i try go to Recovery menu...
I check 100 times that is bootloader unlocked, can be problem in bad root or...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had faced same issue but get back by using the that method.
Sumea said:
Hey hey people.
I was trying to upgrade my friend's Honor X4 Che2-L11 variant to 6.0 age from it's lollipop and ****ed up - big time. It seems to have a recovery, and it bootloops. I can't get it to install any update.app though, it either errors or gets stuck/crashes at 5%.
Now I am trying to flash a individual stock recovery with fastboot. Like the guide by zzztidurvirus there, but whenever I try to issue flash command this is what I get:
target reported max download size of 471859200 bytes
sending 'RECOVERY' (9304 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.258s]
writing 'RECOVERY'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.261s
- so basically any flash command sends OKAY, Writing Fails with Command not allowed. Bootloader is unlocked, "PHONE unlocked" on screen and same status messages from fastboot as Lulu up there when making queries.
What gives, what could I try still?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In this case help me i think run adb/fastboot as a admin and i use stock recovery .img from Huawei extractor when i got first success with writing as i remember, hope this help you...
Lulu_568 said:
In this case help me i think run adb/fastboot as a admin and i use stock recovery .img from Huawei extractor when i got first success with writing as i remember, hope this help you...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly not, as I tried both running ADB fastboot as admin from administrator command line and I tried three different recovery images from huawei, 6.0 (because the flash went bad during attempt to flash a 4.1EMUI with 6.0 B506 ROM for CHE2-L11) - And it keeps denying the write attempt with the same message. More info on the flash: I tried to TWRP flash from 5.1 rom to the EMUI4.1 6.0 ROM following guide someone made with updateappflasher.zip or something, during the flash the phone just crashed 60% in the bar and after that the phone is boot looping into recovery but it can't do anything. Like said any attempt to flash a stock rom even if a recovery seems to exist when booting VOL+ & POWER at the same time, but it will fail if attempting to do wipe data/factory reset in 40% mark. Forced updater can also be accessed but again, thanks to the firmware situation the phone is in it does not flash anything beyond 5% without crashing and being stuck or just giving an error message outright.
Only thing I might have not have is the right kind of ADB drivers but googling about CHE2-L11 I really cannot find a ADB drivers for this phone for life of me and dealing with windows 10 these days makes it worse. At least it used to be that I was with windows 7, back when I myself unlocked the bootloader of the phone and rooted it myself, I have some memory of that being harsh to deal with too, as I had hard time getting drivers that worked right with the phone etc.
I will check into this... At this point my friend bought a new phone already but I still will try to fix the phone for him since I feel personally pretty bad for pretty big mess I made.
I will also try this with a windows XP machine I have still, it is meant entirely for different things but at times like these it is somewhat nice to have a XP around. At least the darn driver problems are not a problem.
UPDATES:
I unbricked the phone. The stock recovery was intact enough for just a normal dload install of a update.app from huawei - why it did not initially work was probably the USB connection to computer and/or 64gig microSD card my friend had, not being compatible with Huawei's recovery updater. I myself had a 8gig card around which worked and I restored the phone ultimately to a 6.0 official ROM. I also went ahead to root it - and final find really was that the reason why recovery etc. would not flash, was because I wrote "fastboot flash RECOVERY twrp.img" - instead of "fastboot flash recovery twrp.img" - the latter works, and the all caps for "RECOVERY" results in illegal command error - and it was no bigger than that.
Meanwhile even after sorting this all out my friend already ended up buying a new phone so it hurts but I hope some other people find some info here useful.