Related
Hi - apologies first of all if this is covered elsewhere in the forums.
I purchased a brand new Nexus 6 directly from Motorola this week as they had slashed the price down to just £309 for the 64gb. It arrived Monday. I turned it on, signed into my network etc. it starting updating apps. Then it said that Android 5.1.1. was available so I downloaded it and proceeded to install. About halfway through the installation it crashed. My phone is now stuck on continually booting up and saying 'optimising xxx apps'. After a bit of research, I found that this was a common problem as 5.1.1. was trying to update and some apps were incompatible. So I read many forums and booted into Recovery mode, wiped the cache, wiped data and did a factory reset, but it still won't work.
I called Motorola who told me that they have had many of their Nexus 6s do this and all they could do was to refund me the phone as they now are out of stock.
Further research led me to read about 'flashing' the phone so I downloaded Wugfresh but I cannot get into the phone to enable me to debug. After many hours today I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to be able to use my new phone which I am gutted about.
My question is, is there anyway to flash the phone without enabling debugging because I cannot get into the main menu because all if does is just keep optimizing apps?
Many thanks for reading and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
bacon_roll said:
Hi - apologies first of all if this is covered elsewhere in the forums.
I purchased a brand new Nexus 6 directly from Motorola this week as they had slashed the price down to just £309 for the 64gb. It arrived Monday. I turned it on, signed into my network etc. it starting updating apps. Then it said that Android 5.1.1. was available so I downloaded it and proceeded to install. About halfway through the installation it crashed. My phone is now stuck on continually booting up and saying 'optimising xxx apps'. After a bit of research, I found that this was a common problem as 5.1.1. was trying to update and some apps were incompatible. So I read many forums and booted into Recovery mode, wiped the cache, wiped data and did a factory reset, but it still won't work.
I called Motorola who told me that they have had many of their Nexus 6s do this and all they could do was to refund me the phone as they now are out of stock.
Further research led me to read about 'flashing' the phone so I downloaded Wugfresh but I cannot get into the phone to enable me to debug. After many hours today I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to be able to use my new phone which I am gutted about.
My question is, is there anyway to flash the phone without enabling debugging because I cannot get into the main menu because all if does is just keep optimizing apps?
Many thanks for reading and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try and flash a flash a factory image via fastboot...
draa2711 said:
You could try and flash a flash a factory image via fastboot...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, he can't try, he has his bootloader locked.
OP, this thread is a classic case of why the first thing anyone should do with this device, even if not planning to root or otherwise modify it, is to enable developer options in settings and enable both USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking. Without both enabled there's no way to resolve your problem, and unfortunately you'll need to contact Motorola and arrange a return, since they are out of stock.
Once you get your money back, look on Swappa for a used device. You may be able to get a device that way at a lower price than what Motorola offers.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
OP, this thread is a classic case of why the first thing anyone should do with this device, even if not planning to root or otherwise modify it, is to enable developer options in settings and enable both USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking. Without both enabled there's no way to resolve your problem, and unfortunately you'll need to contact Motorola and arrange a return, since they are out of stock.
Once you get your money back, look on Swappa for a used device. You may be able to get a device that way at a lower price than what Motorola offers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your advice, but I had no idea, probably like so many others who aren't as clued up on Android that USB Debugging even existed. I just bought a phone that I wanted that now is no good to me having never been able to use it because of a bug in 5.1.1. I am returning to Motorola for refund.
Without wanting to raise false hopes, there is a thread in this forum where the OP says he recovered his device even though the bootloader was locked (he was certain of it, he said...), other people replying that this was impossible, and yet they eventually seemed to accept that it might be. My bootloader has been unlocked since day one, and I don't remember if there was an "Allow OEM unlock" option in Settings - the same thread had discussion about Marshmallow not having it. I suppose this N6 is still on Lollipop, so maybe a red herring...
I'll see if I can find the thread for reference, but in the meantime does anyone recognise the thread I mean?
bacon_roll, since I'm vegetarian I shouldn't be helping you but have you tried Wugfresh's option of "Phone is bricked/bootlooping"? I think all it does is to reboot the device into bootloader anyway, but I think this might be worth a go if you haven't already tried it. You did mention that you've booted into recovery, but you don't mention bootloader mode.
draa2711 said:
You could try and flash a flash a factory image via fastboot...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. As per my post, I can't because the phone is locked.
dahawthorne said:
My bootloader has been unlocked since day one, and I don't remember if there was an "Allow OEM unlock" option in Settings - the same thread had discussion about Marshmallow not having it. I suppose this N6 is still on Lollipop, so maybe a red herring...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could check in the About Phone menu to see what version you're on.
Both Android 5.x and Android 6.x have an OEM Unlocking toggle in Development Options. I know because I followed my own advice given above in my previous post in order to flash the latest Android 6.0.1 ROM to the device, and then checked Developer Options afterward.
dahawthorne said:
Without wanting to raise false hopes, there is a thread in this forum where the OP says he recovered his device even though the bootloader was locked (he was certain of it, he said...), other people replying that this was impossible, and yet they eventually seemed to accept that it might be. My bootloader has been unlocked since day one, and I don't remember if there was an "Allow OEM unlock" option in Settings - the same thread had discussion about Marshmallow not having it. I suppose this N6 is still on Lollipop, so maybe a red herring...
I'll see if I can find the thread for reference, but in the meantime does anyone recognise the thread I mean?
bacon_roll, since I'm vegetarian I shouldn't be helping you but have you tried Wugfresh's option of "Phone is bricked/bootlooping"? I think all it does is to reboot the device into bootloader anyway, but I think this might be worth a go if you haven't already tried it. You did mention that you've booted into recovery, but you don't mention bootloader mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi - please get my hopes up, I really want to keep this phone if I can
Without sounding like a complete nerd, what is the difference between recovery and bootloader mode?
When I scroll through the options with both arrows pressed and power button, I have START, RESTART BOOTLOADER, RECOVERY MODE, POWER OFF, FACTORY, BARCODES, BP TOOLS, QCOM & BOOTLOADER LOGS
I have done factory wipe/cache/restart bootloader etc.
How do I boot into bootloader mode please.
Thank you.
Overly simplistic reply here, but it should be enough to answer the question.
The bootloader prepares the system for booting. Once it's done its work it hands off control of the system to Android's kernel. Recovery is a mini operating system used to initiate low level functions such as wiping the on-board storage. The screen you describe I believe is the bootloader interface, hence why you have a "Restart Bootloader" option instead of "Start Bootloader".
You can probably save some serious money by returning and buying off swappa really. I just broke my N6 and couldn't find one in stock but, used swappa to find one around $260 that was only used for 2 weeks.
If you already have Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit installed, use the "Install & test drivers" button to make sure that you have all your drivers installed properly. If all is ok, although I know this won't be popular advice, then start with the "My device is soft-bricked", then try the "Unlock" button and then "Flash stock" button. If the phone is already a paperweight then I don't believe it can possibly do any more harm, and you might even hit it lucky...
If none of this works, grab Motorola's refund offer with both hands...
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Overly simplistic reply here, but it should be enough to answer the question.
The bootloader prepares the system for booting. Once it's done its work it hands off control of the system to Android's kernel. Recovery is a mini operating system used to initiate low level functions such as wiping the on-board storage. The screen you describe I believe is the bootloader interface, hence why you have a "Restart Bootloader" option instead of "Start Bootloader".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thank you.
I downloaded and installed Wugfresh, followed all the instructions. It won't work once it goes to flash because it can't see my phone connected. My PC recognises it as Nexus 6 but on the 'bootloader' screen at the bottom, it says Connect USB Data Cable, even though the phone says Battery OK (Charging). I tried to install latest USB drivers but apparently the latest are installed.
I am giving up now as I don't believe I can try anything else. Just strange that Wugfresh won't see the phone, yet my PC does.
Thanks.
Oh well...
You did try the Wugfresh "Test drivers"? It has a really helpful walkthrough on deleting and installing drivers. I'd give it a go before you give up.
dahawthorne said:
Oh well...
You did try the Wugfresh "Test drivers"? It has a really helpful walkthrough on deleting and installing drivers. I'd give it a go before you give up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I don't often use this phrase because I think it's very over rated but O M G - IT WORKED!!
I followed the driver guide in Wugfresh as you suggested, downloaded the CORRECT drivers, flashed it, unlocked bootloader, enabled usb debugging (just in case ) and then restored it then finally relocked the bootloader. It worked flawlessly and after setting up it is now 6.0.1 with the 1 Jan 2016 security patch applied - OTA.
I can't think you enough for your suggestion and advice, I really appreciate it and glad that I persevered with it.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks.
Bacon_Roll (vegetarian version)
That is absolutely fantastic news. I'm almost as pleased as you are. Remote assistance across the ether - you can't beat it with a big stick...
But as your attorney I advise you to go back into bootloader, check the connection (fastboot devices) and unlock again (fastboot oem unlock). This will wipe your device, but I reckon in the last 25 minutes you won't have been able to install much.
There are so many threads on this forum where people have been told "You're stuffed" because they have a problem and have a locked bootloader. Just this afternoon in another thread I read, literally in capital letters "DON'T RELOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER" for this very reason - without it you don't have recourse to the recovery tools you may one day need.
(P.S. Another person whose thread I followed also managed to get a result with NRT after all else had failed. I suggested to him that he might like to thank the developer, Doug Cohen/Wugfresh, more tangibly by donating a few dollars, which you can do through Paypal on his website. After all, he just saved your £300 phone... ).
@dahawthorne: I'll have to look into Wugfresh's utility. Not that I need it for anything, but it would be good to have in the unlikely event something goes wrong over here. Meanwhile, bacon_roll should take your advice to heart, because it will save him a lot of trouble in the future.
dahawthorne said:
That is absolutely fantastic news. I'm almost as pleased as you are. Remote assistance across the ether - you can't beat it with a big stick...
But as your attorney I advise you to go back into bootloader, check the connection (fastboot devices) and unlock again (fastboot oem unlock). This will wipe your device, but I reckon in the last 25 minutes you won't have been able to install much.
There are so many threads on this forum where people have been told "You're stuffed" because they have a problem and have a locked bootloader. Just this afternoon in another thread I read, literally in capital letters "DON'T RELOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER" for this very reason - without it you don't have recourse to the recovery tools you may one day need.
(P.S. Another person whose thread I followed also managed to get a result with NRT after all else had failed. I suggested to him that he might like to thank the developer, Doug Cohen/Wugfresh, more tangibly by donating a few dollars, which you can do through Paypal on his website. After all, he just saved your £300 phone... ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood! I will take your advice on both counts but I was going to donate anyway as it really is a fantastic tool.
Thanks again
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@dahawthorne: I'll have to look into Wugfresh's utility. Not that I need it for anything, but it would be good to have in the unlikely event something goes wrong over here. Meanwhile, bacon_roll should take your advice to heart, because it will save him a lot of trouble in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help over the thread Strephon - much appreciated.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@dahawthorne: I'll have to look into Wugfresh's utility. Not that I need it for anything, but it would be good to have in the unlikely event something goes wrong over here. Meanwhile, bacon_roll should take your advice to heart, because it will save him a lot of trouble in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FFS, it's not a magic wand, people! It can't do anything that fastboot and adb can't. Don't start a religion here instead teaching people to do stuff with their phones, Christ!
Some people were lucky enogh that their phones came with 5.0, and some early 5.0s didn't check yet for the Enable OEM Unlocking switch. You could have typed fastboot OEM unlock and achieved the same.
Ok, Ladies and Gentleman I need some deep thought processing here for some help with a Motorola Nexus 6. In brief here is what the problem is, a while back when flashing Pure Nexus rom, I experienced a loss of my IMEI. I can restore my IMEI but if and when I do, I lose any 4g and LTE connectivity. The phone functions in 3g with data and phone etc... just slow as molasses but if I restore my IMEI to the one that doesn't show up my IMEI correctly I get back LTE/4g and all works fine also. I've tried going all the way back to the original firmware which was saved to computer and restoring it. Same thing, I have IMEI but no LTE/4g. restore bad efs and get LTE/4g back. I've tried going through all the factory firmware's and flashing by ADB and or TWRP and nothing firmware wise will allow me to restore the IMEI and have LTE/4g signal. If I restore the bad efs and get OOOOOOOO for IMEI when using the *#06# on any firmware version, I regain LTE/4g functioning! I am using Pure Nexus 7.1 now and can still see the 00000000 as a IMEI, if I restore my efs and get IMEI back showing correctly, no LTE/4g signal! My phone can only function as it should as long as the IMEI doesn't show correctly! I have tried just flashing base bands and other segments of any rom and still the problem persist! I have even tried restoring an EFS from another nexus 6 and still no help. It's not the sims because I've tried AT&T sims and Verizon sims from other phones and it does the same thing! I've tried flashing with a sims in the phone and without. Any ideas??? It's like somehow a correlating segment of a file is not being recognized when the correct IMEI is present, like some thing some where in the efs, IMEI, and radio are not taking to each other so to speak, unless it shows the zero's! Brain waves come on and help me out here!!
Have you tried doing a fresh install of a complete factory nexus image? (i.e. entirely wiping the device)
jbaumert said:
Have you tried doing a fresh install of a complete factory nexus image? (i.e. entirely wiping the device)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, and Yes, about 30 different times, using Google developer site original factory firmware, using ADB and or TWRP all the way back to original image, which I have saved as I said in the original post! I don't have a problem restoring IMEI it's just if I do, the phone will not connect to LTE/4g no way no how. I have to have a "0" IMEI for the phone to function as it should actually function and the LTE/4g radio to work, something strange is a miss!
TheWacoKid said:
Thanks, and Yes, about 30 different times, using Google developer site original factory firmware, using ADB and or TWRP all the way back to original image, which I have saved as I said in the original post! I don't have a problem restoring IMEI it's just if I do, the phone will not connect to LTE/4g no way no how. I have to have a "0" IMEI for the phone to function as it should actually function and the LTE/4g radio to work, something strange is a miss!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alrighty, no need to yell.... The factory image is flashed with "fastboot" NOT adb or TWRP. Just wanted to clarify how you were returning the phone to stock.
jbaumert said:
Alrighty, no need to yell.... The factory image is flashed with "fastboot" NOT adb or TWRP. Just wanted to clarify how you were returning the phone to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I said thanks because I was yelling! Jezz, get a grip THIS IS YELLING! ADB/Fastboot both tools are used to flash, extract etc.. with your computer, so obviously one cannot flash/restore etc... without using the proper tools via computer!
Try this:
1) Install "Change APN" app from Google store
2) Open ChangeAPN and click the "option" ( the 3 vertical dots) in the upper right-hand corners.
3) click "reset to default"
4) exit the app
5) perform carrier reset ##3282#
6)If needed: after the phone reboots, perform PRL/Device config update. That's it and you should have LTE data.
Dixon Butz said:
Try this:
1) Install "Change APN" app from Google store
2) Open ChangeAPN and click the "option" ( the 3 vertical dots) in the upper right-hand corners.
3) click "reset to default"
4) exit the app
5) perform carrier reset ##3282#
6)If needed: after the phone reboots, perform PRL/Device config update. That's it and you should have LTE data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Ok, Itried that, restored my IMEI, "reset APN to default" Tried Carrier reset ##3282# and it says "NO Cellular Network" even though I am showing my network and 3G. So, I rebooted and same thing, went to PRL and tried to update and it says "update error" but it will refresh!
TheWacoKid said:
Yes I said thanks because I was yelling! Jezz, get a grip THIS IS YELLING! ADB/Fastboot both tools are used to flash, extract etc.. with your computer, so obviously one cannot flash/restore etc... without using the proper tools via computer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You clearly don't know the difference between a recovery, the bootloader and the operating system.
ADB is used when the phone is on and is not how you flash a factory image. Fastboot is used in the bootloader and is the proper method of restoring to factory.
admiralspeedy said:
You clearly don't know the difference between a recovery, the bootloader and the operating system.
ADB is used when the phone is on and is not how you flash a factory image. Fastboot is used in the bootloader and is the proper method of restoring to factory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I guess not, that's how I've been flashing, restoring and unbricking cells for years, I just don't understand anything!
TheWacoKid said:
No, I guess not, that's how I've been flashing, restoring and unbricking cells for years, I just don't understand anything!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know some magic we don't? There is no way you've flashed a ROM with ADB...
@admiralspeedy
I was very gratified when I noticed that I'd overnight become a Senior Member - until I realised that it had nothing to do with the wisdom I'd imparted in my posts, but only that I'd posted 100. So seniority doesn't imply knowledge, which I think you're beginning to demonstrate in this thread as well as in another where I've seen this same strange unnecessarily belligerent attitude.
TheWacoKid is asking for help, which I'd be happy to offer if I had any ideas. I feel absolutely no desire to tell him that he has no idea what he's doing. And nor should you.
Stop trolling and become a properly-active member of the community.
dahawthorne said:
@admiralspeedy
I was very gratified when I noticed that I'd overnight become a Senior Member - until I realised that it had nothing to do with the wisdom I'd imparted in my posts, but only that I'd posted 100. So seniority doesn't imply knowledge, which I think you're beginning to demonstrate in this thread as well as in another where I've seen this same strange unnecessarily belligerent attitude.
TheWacoKid is asking for help, which I'd be happy to offer if I had any ideas. I feel absolutely no desire to tell him that he has no idea what he's doing. And nor should you.
Stop trolling and become a properly-active member of the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I wouldn't have jumped on him like that if he hadn't come out swinging with snarky comments when people tried to help him.
admiralspeedy said:
You know some magic we don't? There is no way you've flashed a ROM with ADB...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look, I came on here to discuss a situation and or problem, which is what I thought this web site was known for, which I havent run into before, in that way not only do I get some help and or suggestions which might help me but help others at the same time who might have the same problem and or will have in the future and find possible solutions! If you don't have anything positive to add to the conversation/situation/problem at hand you are wasting my time, others time and most of all just making a fool out of yourself being childish and immature. Most on here come for solutions not looking to nitpick and try and belittle others like they know everything, which you don't, otherwise you would have given a solution! So you can continue to act like a troll or just leave the situation be and by the way, you ever hear of ADB Sideload??
Use method 2 , you will get everything definitely
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/guide-flash-factory-images-nexus-6shamu-t2954008
TheWacoKid said:
Look, I came on here to discuss a situation and or problem, which is what I thought this web site was known for, which I havent run into before, in that way not only do I get some help and or suggestions which might help me but help others at the same time who might have the same problem and or will have in the future and find possible solutions! If you don't have anything positive to add to the conversation/situation/problem at hand you are wasting my time, others time and most of all just making a fool out of yourself being childish and immature. Most on here come for solutions not looking to nitpick and try and belittle others like they know everything, which you don't, otherwise you would have given a solution! So you can continue to act like a troll or just leave the situation be and by the way, you ever hear of ADB Sideload??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm "belittling" you because your first two replies to someone who tried to help you were snarky and rude. In your own words, get a grip.
admiralspeedy said:
Actually, I wouldn't have jumped on him like that if he hadn't come out swinging with snarky comments when people tried to help him.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Time for you to go back and read some more...
You can flash a ROM with adb... Now unless you can help him... Shaddyup
rignfool said:
Time for you to go back and read some more...
You can flash a ROM with adb... Now unless you can help him... Shaddyup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can use ADB sideload to flash a ROM which requires you to be in the recovery. Standard ADB cannot be used to flash a ROM.
admiralspeedy said:
I'm "belittling" you because your first two replies to someone who tried to help you were snarky and rude. In your own words, get a grip.
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Click to collapse
Amazing to any one with half a brain how you a Troll can think from typed response that someone is yelling, swinging, snarky and rude but your the one with an attitude that is all the above because like I said your a childish troll! I can't believe this site would even allow someone like you to be a member paid or otherwise! Your attitude is all your own and based on your own weak assumptions! Now go back to playing with your legos!
drmuruga said:
Use method 2 , you will get everything definitely
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/guide-flash-factory-images-nexus-6shamu-t2954008
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I've used both of those methods, I have even tried just flashing individual parts all by themselves to see if just one part would give an error of some kind while flashing, no errors on any flash of any kind, the only difference being that if I read them correctly that on those methods it said to wipe data factory reset in recovery, before reboot, the Flashall bat file reboots automatically into image just flashed, I usually reboot as last command, if that makes any difference, I've even tried wiping then just flashing the new bootloader after a wipe, because it basically acts like a security checkpoint and partition manager, then rebooting and flashing the rest of one of the google firmware versions for the nexus 6.
TheWacoKid said:
Thanks, I've used both of those methods, I have even tried just flashing individual parts all by themselves to see if just one part would give an error of some kind while flashing, no errors on any flash of any kind, the only difference being that if I read them correctly that on those methods it said to wipe data factory reset in recovery, before reboot, the Flashall bat file reboots automatically into image just flashed, I usually reboot as last command, if that makes any difference, I've even tried wiping then just flashing the new bootloader after a wipe, because it basically acts like a security checkpoint and partition manager, then rebooting and flashing the rest of one of the google firmware versions for the nexus 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So was there a solution? The thread just ended. I also have this problem but I'm no where as technical as thewacokid.
But I do know how to follow steps
Additional facts - I don't know how to root a phone, therefore this is all factory settings, purchased phone new via Amazon, on t-mobile network... pretty downtrodden about my current situation... really would appreciate any guidance.
Llebowski
If you have access to a laptop or PC, download Wug Fresh's Nexus Root Toolkit. After installing go through the steps to setup your version of operating system. Go to restore from boot loop and follow the instructions.
@Rondeau79: Except he isn't in a bootloop, thus the toolkit won't do him any good.
@Llebowski: The solution to your erase problem is to do nothing. The Nexus 6 internal storage is encrypted by default, and erasing an encrypted volume takes a lot of time, especially if it has a lot of data in it. Three hours isn't uncommon. If it still is trying to erase as of the time I write this, then we'll have to dig deeper, but for now, be patient.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@Rondeau79: Except he isn't in a bootloop, thus the toolkit won't do him any good.
@Llebowski: The solution to your erase problem is to do nothing. The Nexus 6 internal storage is encrypted by default, and erasing an encrypted volume takes a lot of time, especially if it has a lot of data in it. Three hours isn't uncommon. If it still is trying to erase as of the time I write this, then we'll have to dig deeper, but for now, be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as a computer recognizes the device and fastboot works, he can get himself out of that mess.
@Rondeau79: Your previous comment assumed the OP's device was in a bootloop. It's not, and therefore the instructions you gave him were incorrect and would not have fixed the problem. The OP should not be using a toolkit in any event, but should learn how to use ADB and Fastboot by themselves.
Your current comment also will not help, because by the time the OP's device has notified the OP of the erasure occurring, it's too late for fastboot commands to do anything. In fact, once the erase has begun, it must complete or else the internal storage may become corrupted.
The only effective solution to the OP's problem is to do nothing and let the erasure finish.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@Rondeau79: Your previous comment assumed the OP's device was in a bootloop. It's not, and therefore the instructions you gave him were incorrect and would not have fixed the problem. The OP should not be using a toolkit in any event, but should learn how to use ADB and Fastboot by themselves.
Your current comment also will not help, because by the time the OP's device has notified the OP of the erasure occurring, it's too late for fastboot commands to do anything. In fact, once the erase has begun, it must complete or else the internal storage may become corrupted.
The only effective solution to the OP's problem is to do nothing and let the erasure finish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many different ways to skin a cat! Meaning there a multiple ways to fix a problem. One way might not be the same as another, but the ends will justify the means. This guy is looking for help, the OP has nothing to do with the way the problem can be solved. I could easily have that phone fixed in about 15 minutes. Chill out dude!
@Rondeau79: Reading comprehension failure on your part? OP's thread title is "Nexus 6 on Erasing Screen for 3+ hours after attempted factory reset - Help please??" The additional information provided by the OP is that this phone is bone stock and not rooted. The guy is looking for help. He is trying to understand why his phone is still doing the erase step after initiating the factory reset three hours previous.
The only reason you're getting so defensive in your most recent post is because you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about, and know it. The specious claim that you could have the OP's phone fixed in fifteen minutes proves it. So, instead of telling me to chill out - something I don't need to do because I'm perfectly fine - you need to own up to your mistakes and do some research before tossing out random snippets of "help" that have nothing to do with the OP's problem.
*hands you an ID-10-T form*...fill that out, mail it in, and you'll get your card in a few weeks.
Rondeau79 said:
There are many different ways to skin a cat! Meaning there a multiple ways to fix a problem. One way might not be the same as another, but the ends will justify the means. This guy is looking for help, the OP has nothing to do with the way the problem can be solved. I could easily have that phone fixed in about 15 minutes. Chill out dude!
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Click to collapse
Hi sir
Please help me how to fix this
Or as bricked as these Qualcomm devices CAN be?
Hey all,
The TL;DR is basically where the list starts
I was running Blu's TWRP v45, the latest PureFusion, Blu's latest Custom kernel, had OB15 firmware underneath. I had been SO USED to simply downloading the newest firmware from kamilmirza's AFH page and just flashing it + it being totally fine that I did it without thinking for OB16. I wasn't too worried because about a week ago I had flashed the unofficial Oreo Lineage and it worked just fine! Plus, I just assumed if it died I could just restore a backup or re-flash the older OB. But as soon as I flashed the new firmware/modem by itself this time on an otherwise perfectly running device, I only saw the OnePlus splash screen. No booting, no access to recovery, no NOTHIN.
I tried flashing the beta TWRP version afterward via fastboot but no dice. Also tried temporary booting via fastboot to it, flashing Blu's again, booting to that. Everything the same result. Splash screen & nothing more. I then went to the extent of trying to format all the partitions and flash a boot.img or do a "-w update" or "flashall" command via fastboot. Because everything out in the universe is a recovery-flashable-zip, it seems like there's no way I can flash the necessary OTA stuff to bring it back to life!
My only remaining idea is getting this damn unbrick tool to work (duhh). I can see the Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 in device manager after doing the Vol Up (only) and plugging the cable in. BUT the MSMDownloadTool just cannot see the device. Not in bootloader, not in the weird Vol-Up/cable state. [This is with Qualcomm drivers QUD.WIN.1.1 Installer-10037.3 Setup.exe, the official OnePlus drivers, ADB & Fastboot installed.]
Sorry for long explanation. In the end, what I'm left with is:
Blank formatted partitions (I hope... I'm not even positive they wound up formatted from the fastboot commands)
Fastboot is detected, but no ADB devices are found
Can get to bootloader, but nothing else
No recovery access - Flashing beta akhilnarang Oreo recovery does nothing. Flashing stock recovery does nothing. Flashing Blu_Spark recovery does nothing. (The fastboot commands succeed though each time somehow)
So far the only suggestion I've received is trying the MSMDownloadTool/unbrick process on another computer.
Does anyone have ANY ideas? From my experience, it seems like what might help me would be if a folder with the specific partition images existed for the OTAs, like how Google offers. (boot.img, recovery.img, user-data.img, system and so on). Am I wrong in thinking that? OnePlus has told me this simply does not exist and cannot give me anything like that (don't know why, when they already offer all the OTA flashables...)
PS - OnePlus support just absolutely refuses to even let me communicate to a "level 2" representative to ask a couple of the more technical questions about it. I can't understand why. They are insisting I start an RMA and send it for repair. They even initially scheduled a time for me to talk to higher level rep and then thought up a reason to cancel it via email an hour or so later...
Edit: Just in case the thread gets large and people don't read further posts, this is using:
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Test mode for the driver signing is enabled. Have the watermark bottom right of desktop
It's with the stock DASH cable
Tried multiple ports
Unfortunately it just doesn't show up in MSM at all, even with hitting 'enumerate' button multiple times
Tried starting the tool BEFORE the device is plugged in, as well as after
This is what Device Manager shows (attached) but just nothing in MSM all the way up & down
HOW IT GOT SOLVED:
At the end of the day, I had to fight and convince OnePlus support to grant me a remote session with Level 2 Support.
(Attached final image) These two password protected RAR files had almost identical tools as the Unbrick tutorial on XDA.
The major difference was that MSMDownloadTool was version 3.0.8 ***does anyone have this version??*** I can't get into these RARs. The 3.0 tool circulating did not work for me. We might need the newer version as time goes on?? Otherwise, the process was identical.
Unfortunately, the image they used was for 7.1.1. I had to unlock the bootloader and after doing that and getting OB15 & the RR build I wanted, etc, I then realized my phone was force-encrypted as well.
The only toolkit that worked for force decrypting once everything else worked was:
OnePlus_3_3T_5_64bit_TOOLKIT_by_Neisor
Finally, something like 3 clean flashes later, we Gucci.
Thanks for the attempted help to those that did! Hopefully this can help someone else.
Which Windows do you have? Have you tried MSMtool in safe mode? Or disabling Driver Signature Verification (any Windows after XP). I have got my phone so messed up that it was showing many lines with red "failed" text nearly on everything. No OS, no recovery, no boot, I think even modem was failed. This screen but I had way more fails https://forums.oneplus.net/attachments/win_20160928_21_31_49_pro-jpg.459494/
As long as you can turn your phone off and on, it's doable. But you need to do that USB plugging + volume up thing while phone is totally off (you can hear Windows making bling when you connect it while pressing volume up, but phone itself stays screen off). And there shouldn't be anything on the screen before/while MSMtool do its job.
You can try different USB ports too.
Eremitus said:
Which Windows do you have? Have you tried MSMtool in safe mode? Or disabling Driver Signature Verification (any Windows after XP). I have got my phone so messed up that it was showing many lines with red "failed" text nearly on everything. No OS, no recovery, no boot, I think even modem was failed. This screen but I had way more fails https://forums.oneplus.net/attachments/win_20160928_21_31_49_pro-jpg.459494/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha yes...... That's why I made this post though! It SEEMS like it should be possible to recover from this since fastboot commands + bootloader work! It SEEMED like it would be easy to recover from if anything went wrong... But, here I am.
Oh yeah forgot to mention ~
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Test mode for the driver signing is enabled. That part of the process went totally fine with BIOS and installing stuff, etc.
Also, shot in the dark but might @Funk Wizard have any ideas? Sorry to call out for this
Hopefully someone knows better how to solve this. For me the MSMtool part is always the hardest part too, usually it finds the phone, but throws some strange "Sahara communication failed" error. I noticed that even different USB cable can be a problem, but since your Windows finds "Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008" I guess that's not the case. Does it say something after that "Qualcomm 9008" -thing? For me it shows (COM3 or COM4 depending on which port it's in).
btw, I messed up my phone in nearly similar case, flashing wrong firmware when using leaked H2OS ROM.
Eremitus said:
Hopefully someone knows better how to solve this. For me the MSMtool part is always the hardest part too, usually it finds the phone, but throws some strange "Sahara communication failed" error. I noticed that even different USB cable can be a problem, but since your Windows finds "Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008" I guess that's not the case. Does it say something after that "Qualcomm 9008" -thing? For me it shows (COM3 or COM4 depending on which port it's in).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah sorry again for not being more clear lol
It's with the stock DASH cable
Tried multiple ports (but no USB 2 ports hmm)
Unfortunately it just doesn't show up in MSM at all, even with hitting 'enumerate' button multiple times.
Also tried starting the tool BEFORE device plugged in as well as after
This is what Device Manager shows (attached) but just nothing in MSM all the way up & down
If I find a solution I'll definitely put it in OP for others
purplepenguin said:
Yeah sorry again for not being more clear lol
It's with the stock DASH cable
Tried multiple ports (but no USB 2 ports hmm)
Unfortunately it just doesn't show up in MSM at all, even with hitting 'enumerate' button multiple times.
Also tried starting the tool BEFORE device plugged in as well as after
This is what Device Manager shows (attached) but just nothing in MSM all the way up & down
If I find a solution I'll definitely put it in OP for others
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, ok.
Stock dash cable works, so that part is ok. Also usb3.0 ports should work too, atleast for me. So everything else seems to be ok except the MSMtool itself
Try different cable, bin there done that!!
purplepenguin said:
Yeah sorry again for not being more clear lol
It's with the stock DASH cable
Tried multiple ports (but no USB 2 ports hmm)
Unfortunately it just doesn't show up in MSM at all, even with hitting 'enumerate' button multiple times.
Also tried starting the tool BEFORE device plugged in as well as after
This is what Device Manager shows (attached) but just nothing in MSM all the way up & down
If I find a solution I'll definitely put it in OP for others
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you find a solution, since my experience sounds similar to yours Ill share it and maybe you can find something to help out.
I was exactly where you are for about 3 hours last night.
Boot would always get stuck at the splash screen. Could boot into Fastboot, tried using the Skipsoft tool to fastboot flash a stock image but it kept failing.
As far as the Unbrick Tutorial goes, I know the first thing I kept messing up was thinking I needed to press the power button while holding the volume up and connecting to the PC
Also when I tried to manually update the driver on "Qualcomm 9088" it said it was already up to date.
Then I just ran the MSMTool it flashed 6.0.1 back on my phone and I was back in business.
Im sure this is the guide you followed: Here
I found another on the oneplus forums that is essentially the same but goes into a little more detail in the steps: Here
Since I was back completely Stock including Recovery I went ahead and sideloaded OB16 to get the firmware and modem then went about rooting, unencrypting etc...
Lost a few days worth of files but I'm back running LunuxOS Oreo right now.
Good luck I know how you feel. :good:
I've got it revived! I'll update OP. Sadly, it required OnePlus's intervention.
Hi. Trying to do brute force to get the passowrd here, don't you know how many characters that was? It will take days in my machine to search from 3 to 9 characters...
I think it is impossible to you to know, but if you know if they used only letters or something like that, it would be very useful
guilhermeferrari said:
Hi. Trying to do brute force to get the passowrd here, don't you know how many characters that was? It will take days in my machine to search from 3 to 9 characters...
I think it is impossible to you to know, but if you know if they used only letters or something like that, it would be very useful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry man. The OnePlus guy was ready an hour early before our appointment time. So I didn't have time to set up screen recording or anything
if I had to narrow it down more itd only be like 4-9 chars lol I know that's not much help... Definitely let me know if you get it open though please! It would probably help a lot of us!
purplepenguin said:
Sorry man. The OnePlus guy was ready an hour early before our appointment time. So I didn't have time to set up screen recording or anything
if I had to narrow it down more itd only be like 4-9 chars lol I know that's not much help... Definitely let me know if you get it open though please! It would probably help a lot of us!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I know the password. It's 10 character long. 7+3(7english small latter with 3 Numbers).
L2 Driver password is very very very very very loooooooong. can't even count accurately.
namefaisal said:
Well, I know the password. It's 10 character long. 7+3(7english small latter with 3 Numbers).
L2 Driver password is very very very very very loooooooong. can't even count accurately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jeez so wait you got it open or not?? Confused lol
Got the newer download tool ??
Yeah, I got it open
purplepenguin said:
Jeez so wait you got it open or not?? Confused lol
Got the newer download tool ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's the new 3.08 msmdownloadtool. OnePlus3T_28_A.57_171012.zip
I know the password and I won't share that but I will upload an UNLOCKED zip on google drive tonight. L2 Drivers too.
New Files without Password
namefaisal said:
Yeah it's the new 3.08 msmdownloadtool. OnePlus3T_28_A.57_171012.zip
I know the password and I won't share that but I will upload an UNLOCKED zip on google drive tonight. L2 Drivers too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Latest 3.08 msmdownloadtool re-archived without password from OnePlus3T_28_A.57_171012.zip
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kp2SBmhAByydol97o0yVlurVue9Ow8Aq/view?usp=sharing
And the L2+ driver.zip re-archived without password
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JL_sRg86CczUeZ2cfw8GY6rxc43myif8/view?usp=sharing
@Sam Nakamura
namefaisal said:
Latest 3.08 msmdownloadtool re-archived without password from OnePlus3T_28_A.57_171012.zip
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kp2SBmhAByydol97o0yVlurVue9Ow8Aq/view?usp=sharing
And the L2+ driver.zip re-archived without password
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JL_sRg86CczUeZ2cfw8GY6rxc43myif8/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This totally worked for me. Yes it put me back on 7.1.1 but I have been having issues trying to flash Oxygen ROMS and getting them to take. Phone is back to bone stock which I wanted for now and is working great. Thank you for sharing,
cdorrell12000 said:
This totally worked for me. Yes it put me back on 7.1.1 but I have been having issues trying to flash Oxygen ROMS and getting them to take. Phone is back to bone stock which I wanted for now and is working great. Thank you for sharing,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are most welcome.
Sadly everyone gets unbricked with these files but My device didn't. I have to send the device to the service center now. It seems my case is a hardware issue. Tough luck
namefaisal said:
Latest 3.08 msmdownloadtool re-archived without password from OnePlus3T_28_A.57_171012.zip
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kp2SBmhAByydol97o0yVlurVue9Ow8Aq/view?usp=sharing
And the L2+ driver.zip re-archived without password
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JL_sRg86CczUeZ2cfw8GY6rxc43myif8/view?usp=sharing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot saved my day !!
purplepenguin said:
@Sam Nakamura
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I just saw your mentioning somehow I missed it, happy you got your phone back already, unfortunately not independent for big OP, did you guys already share this new 3.08 MSM-download-tool to the well established threads or did you I missed this too? This information and according files should be shared with the community and easy to find for those poor souls who unintentionally killed their beloved device...
---------
Edit: further sharing isn't necessarily needed, you did already a pretty good job by naming the thread and describing the situation thoroughly, only suggestion could be to link the updated MSM-download-tool download to the first post with some hint, just an idea though...
Cheers
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs
Hi.
Updated my Pixel5a to latest android 13.
After unlocking bootloader and rooting the the phone with magisk the phone worked ok for a few days.
When suddenly after reboot it got to fastboot mode with failed to load/verify boot images error.
Tried to flash new image but every command I try now I get the "FAILED (remote: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready')" error
To make things worse i cannot switch the phone to recovery or rescue mode it always reboots to fastboot.
{
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Please help
Nobody encountered something similar?
First time since for me since I use smartphones(10+ years), a phone gets bricked so easily without a chance to revive it.
Here is your answer brother
Sorry I missed this.
Unfortunately, it looks like your bootloader is corrupted or malfunctioning, and the only way to fix this is by replacing the mainboard. There are special software tools that can perform a low level reflash, but they are not publicly available.
I have the same issue. After a broken screen replacement, my 5a would often freeze and turn off when these two conditions were met: Not connected to power + screen turned on.
I'm not 100% sure if it was connected to the screen replacement, given the problems only started occurring ~2 weeks later.
The phone would only turn on again when connected to power, even when the battery was already at 100%.
Unfortunately, I thought it was a software issue and didn't get it fixed immediately, so after one of the crashes I was greeted by the fastboot screen from the original poster above. Mine looks exactly the same (except for serial numbers etc.).
Current status:
Locked, unrooted, vanilla Android 13. Assume it's the January OTA, but could be December.
Recovery/Rescue modes don't work, I can only get into Fastboot. Selecting recovery will reboot into Fastboot.
Questions:
Is there a way to restore Android and how? Would it require a mainboard replacement like @V0latyle suggested?
Is the user data on the phone lost, or could it be saved in the process (no recent backups)?
What's the best way to back up an unrooted+locked+vanilla Pixel phone (without Google Cloud backup, given that's not E2E encrypted, afaik)?
Thank you!
niscy said:
I have the same issue. After a broken screen replacement, my 5a would often freeze and turn off when these two conditions were met: Not connected to power + screen turned on.
I'm not 100% sure if it was connected to the screen replacement, given the problems only started occurring ~2 weeks later.
The phone would only turn on again when connected to power, even when the battery was already at 100%.
Unfortunately, I thought it was a software issue and didn't get it fixed immediately, so after one of the crashes I was greeted by the fastboot screen from the original poster above. Mine looks exactly the same (except for serial numbers etc.).
Current status:
Locked, unrooted, vanilla Android 13. Assume it's the January OTA, but could be December.
Recovery/Rescue modes don't work, I can only get into Fastboot. Selecting recovery will reboot into Fastboot.
Questions:
Is there a way to restore Android and how? Would it require a mainboard replacement like @V0latyle suggested?
Is the user data on the phone lost, or could it be saved in the process (no recent backups)?
What's the best way to back up an unrooted+locked+vanilla Pixel phone (without Google Cloud backup, given that's not E2E encrypted, afaik)?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If I was current when the OP happened, I would've suggested powering on with the button combo to try and get into recovery -- Hold the Power and Volume Down; make sure to try and hold it down for as long as more than a minute. If that doesn't work, I might try Android Flash Tool as Noexcusses once suggested, but that usually requires an unlocked bootloader. Still...since it's officially from Google (the phone's maker), it might have some special "magic" that it can pull of, but don't get your hopes up on that...
3. The currently accepted best method is the Swift Backup app, My Backup Pro is an old and good staple, but without root, there's not much it will be able to save. I believe Swift (can) locks it to your Google account and/or you can password protect the backups, but I'm not totally sure if they encrypt it as well as locking it in such manner; I don't believe My Backup Pro does anything like this. There's always adb commands that might be able to save a little bit more, but again, not by much without root access. And I don't think any unrooted backup method bothers to back up the non-system internal storage.
Sorry for your troubles and hopefully you get it all back up and running! And not to be to "scoldy", but it's always a good idea to back things up (I usually do when I manually update the firmware & security updates each month); I know it's a bit harder to remember when it's an update OTA because it's a lot less involved, but it can be a good trigger to remind to...
simplepinoi177 said:
And not to be to "scoldy", but it's always a good idea to back things up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree... I had it on my todo list forever, but I just couldn't find a good way to back it up without root. And I didn't want root, because in the past that has prevented certain apps from working (e.g., some banking apps would see it as a security issue and refuse to start) and it has created trouble with OTAs.
Will look into this "Swift" app then. It's a shame, this is so trivial with iPhones (fully encrypted iTunes backups).
simplepinoi177 said:
Hold the Power and Volume Down
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That combo takes me to Fastboot, but when I select "Recovery" from there, the phone just reboots into Fastboot again with the same errors. I can see the phone in "fastboot devices", though.
simplepinoi177 said:
Android Flash Tool as Noexcusses once suggested
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android Flash Tool = the thing that you run in the browser, by clicking the "Flash" link on the Google website? Is that better than adb/fastboot?
Also, do you mean for side-loading the OTA (see https://developers.google.com/android/ota)? I thought that required access to recovery?
Or are you talking about flashing the factory image (https://developers.google.com/android/images#barbet)? I haven't tried that, yet, but I assumed it would wipe my user data?
EDIT: I see the device in the Android Flash Tool, says "connected". It's in Fastboot mode and showing OP's screen. Let's see what I can do from here.
EDIT2: OUCH.
niscy said:
I have the same issue. After a broken screen replacement, my 5a would often freeze and turn off when these two conditions were met: Not connected to power + screen turned on.
I'm not 100% sure if it was connected to the screen replacement, given the problems only started occurring ~2 weeks later.
The phone would only turn on again when connected to power, even when the battery was already at 100%.
Unfortunately, I thought it was a software issue and didn't get it fixed immediately, so after one of the crashes I was greeted by the fastboot screen from the original poster above. Mine looks exactly the same (except for serial numbers etc.).
Current status:
Locked, unrooted, vanilla Android 13. Assume it's the January OTA, but could be December.
Recovery/Rescue modes don't work, I can only get into Fastboot. Selecting recovery will reboot into Fastboot.
Questions:
Is there a way to restore Android and how? Would it require a mainboard replacement like @V0latyle suggested?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a locked bootloader, the only thing you can try to do is sideload an OTA, but if you can't get into recovery mode, I'm not sure there's anything you can do - a locked bootloader will reject commands such as boot, which would be useful in this case to live boot a good image...but if the bootloader was unlocked, you'd just be able to reflash /boot anyway
niscy said:
Is the user data on the phone lost, or could it be saved in the process (no recent backups)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I believe nothing can be done to save it or back it up. If you could get into recovery and sideload an OTA, user data would be preserved, but since you can't get into recovery, that point is moot, because it looks like your only option to get the device working again is to have it repaired, which would most likely involve mainboard replacement and complete loss of all user data (except what was already backed up into the Google cloud)
niscy said:
What's the best way to back up an unrooted+locked+vanilla Pixel phone (without Google Cloud backup, given that's not E2E encrypted, afaik)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is none. Google cloud backup is the best way, but even this can't back up app data, and there is no way to back up app data without root, because of Scoped Storage - no app can access any other app's "private" data without root permissions.
simplepinoi177 said:
1. If I was current when the OP happened, I would've suggested powering on with the button combo to try and get into recovery -- Hold the Power and Volume Down; make sure to try and hold it down for as long as more than a minute. If that doesn't work, I might try Android Flash Tool as Noexcusses once suggested, but that usually requires an unlocked bootloader. Still...since it's officially from Google (the phone's maker), it might have some special "magic" that it can pull of, but don't get your hopes up on that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the only thing that is required is that OEM Unlocking be enabled in developer options. If it is not, the Flash Tool won't work.
simplepinoi177 said:
3. The currently accepted best method is the Swift Backup app, My Backup Pro is an old and good staple, but without root, there's not much it will be able to save. I believe Swift (can) locks it to your Google account and/or you can password protect the backups, but I'm not totally sure if they encrypt it as well as locking it in such manner; I don't believe My Backup Pro does anything like this. There's always adb commands that might be able to save a little bit more, but again, not by much without root access. And I don't think any unrooted backup method bothers to back up the non-system internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, due to scoped storage, root permissions would be required to access any other app's private data to effect a "full" backup.
niscy said:
Will look into this "Swift" app then. It's a shame, this is so trivial with iPhones (fully encrypted iTunes backups).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can boot into system, you'd be better off using Google Cloud Storage because at least that would back up device settings. Swift Backup won't do this, and is otherwise only able to access "generic" data - phone logs, texts, external storage, etc.
niscy said:
That combo takes me to Fastboot, but when I select "Recovery" from there, the phone just reboots into Fastboot again with the same errors. I can see the phone in "fastboot devices", though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're toast, bud.
niscy said:
Android Flash Tool = the thing that you run in the browser, by clicking the "Flash" link on the Google website? Is that better than adb/fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's just a GUI alternative that only flashes official images. As I mentioned above this only works if OEM unlocking is enabled, or the bootloader is unlocked. A locked bootloader rejects commands like flash, boot, and update, so the flash tool unlocks the bootloader first (if not already unlocked) before proceeding with the flash.
niscy said:
Also, do you mean for side-loading the OTA (see https://developers.google.com/android/ota)? I thought that required access to recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does.
niscy said:
Or are you talking about flashing the factory image (https://developers.google.com/android/images#barbet)? I haven't tried that, yet, but I assumed it would wipe my user data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only do this with an unlocked bootloader. Even though it's the factory image, as I mentioned a couple times already, the commands necessary to flash the image are rejected by a locked bootloader.
As for wiping data, this only happens if you use the included script without editing out the -w. Some people with unlocked bootloaders prefer to update using the script, they just change it so it doesn't wipe data. I personally prefer updating using the factory image but I do everything manually through fastboot and ADB because I'm stubbornly old fashioned.
niscy said:
I agree... I had it on my todo list forever, but I just couldn't find a good way to back it up without root. And I didn't want root, because in the past that has prevented certain apps from working (e.g., some banking apps would see it as a security issue and refuse to start) and it has created trouble with OTAs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just so you know, there are ways & methods to keep apps from detecting root; I would say (as far as Pixel 2XL, Pixel 5, and Pixel 7's are concerned) about 95% of apps could be made to hide root from; I get Wallet, 3 banking apps, Netflix, Xfinity apps, & certain games which all shouldn't work with a rooted device to work. And, usually, if for some reason hidden detection stops working, it usually is worked on and works again within a short amount of time.
niscy said:
Android Flash Tool = the thing that you run in the browser, by clicking the "Flash" link on the Google website? Is that better than adb/fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Surprisingly, it is a thing you run from the browser...! It surprised the heck out of me too! I would've thought it was a tool you actually download and run... Be aware you most likely need like 3-4GB+ free on your system (usually C drive...
niscy said:
Also, do you mean for side-loading the OTA (see https://developers.google.com/android/ota)? I thought that required access to recovery?
Or are you talking about flashing the factory image (https://developers.google.com/android/images#barbet)? I haven't tried that, yet, but I assumed it would wipe my user data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am talking about neither of those as they require you to have access to recovery mode and/or require an unlocked bootloader...
niscy said:
EDIT: I see the device in the Android Flash Tool, says "connected". It's in Fastboot mode and showing OP's screen. Let's see what I can do from here.
EDIT2: OUCH.
View attachment 5813733
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! At least that's something! And hopefully, at least it's not a total loss...could be worse; you might've/could've had to wait while a repair shop completely replaced the motherboard.
If you end up having to wipe the device to recover, consider the worst case scenario where they replace the motherboard...it would mean a wiped device anyway....
Okay guys, thank you for the help so far @V0latyle @simplepinoi177
This is where I'm now:
It only gives me the "wipe" warning when I select the "Lock Bootloader" box, otherwise it directly proceeds to download the image without giving the warning.
How come I'm getting this far while I'm in Fastboot? Am I on the right path?
The image download failed a few times due to supposedly insufficient disk space (a lie). Turns out the problem was Incognito mode, seems that has restrictions that break the flash tool.
But now I'm getting the below instead after the image downloaded. Does that mean that the tool won't work, because my device is locked?
Flash Failed
Fastboot command (flash:bootloader_b) failed: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready'
niscy said:
Okay guys, thank you for the help so far @V0latyle @simplepinoi177
This is where I'm now:
View attachment 5813743
It only gives me the "wipe" warning when I select the "Lock Bootloader" box, otherwise it directly proceeds to download the image without giving the warning.
How come I'm getting this far while I'm in Fastboot? Am I on the right path?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See if you can get away with not checking "wipe device" or "lock[ing] bootloader"...
It automatically downloads the factory image -- that's why I said you have to have 3-4GB free on your hard drive...
You get that far because the AFT works in fastboot, and you luckily are still able to see fastboot in your device manager & be in fastboot mode...
I'd say you are on the right path....at least a lot more hopeful than replacing your mobo. But if all doesn't work, you may be required to wipe the device and/or lock the bootloader as well...
Seems the next thing I would have to try is re-running the Flash Tool with the "Wipe device" and "Lock bootloader" boxes checked?
Just to confirm, would the motherboard replacement require a user data wipe? If yes, then I guess I have nothing to lose at this point.
niscy said:
The image download failed a few times due to supposedly insufficient disk space (a lie). Turns out the problem was Incognito mode, seems that has restrictions that break the flash tool.
But now I'm getting the below instead after the image downloaded. Does that mean that the tool won't work, because my device is locked?
Flash Failed
Fastboot command (flash:bootloader_b) failed: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready'
View attachment 5813745
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, unfortunately this is bad news...
Most likely, I imagine and maybe @V0latyle can concur and/or elaborate, but it is most likely due to you not having OEM unlock ticked in the Developer Mode and an unlocked bootloader -- I stated before, but wasn't exactly sure as I've never tried it not on an unlocked bootloader, but that tool most likely doesn't work without having an unlocked bootloader (& thus also having OEM unlocked ticked as well)...I was just holding out hope that, since it was an official Google tool, it might've been able to do something for you (especially considering you could still see it as a fastboot device in your device manager)....
niscy said:
Seems the next thing I would have to try is re-running the Flash Tool with the "Wipe device" and "Lock bootloader" boxes checked?
Just to confirm, would the motherboard replacement require a user data wipe? If yes, then I guess I have nothing to lose at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, motherboard replacement requires a user data wipe. I'm unsure if the technician either does this just as policy/practice, or if after installing the new mobo, the Android OS requires it...but I imagine it is the latter...
It might be worth a try to check those boxes, but most likely will not work. Your bootloader is already locked, so "lock[ing] bootloader" is kinda redundant and wouldn't be necessary for it to work...
Okay guys, I think I'm officially ****ed. No matter what boxes I check, I get the error mentioned above ("Fastboot command (flash:bootloader_b) failed: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready'").
But even worse, I checked with some repair shop and they told me they won't even do motherboard replacements for out-of-warranty devices (because thieves would often use this service to "refurbish" stolen phones).
So I can't even get the motherboard replaced, unless I do it myself? **** my life.
niscy said:
Okay guys, I think I'm officially ****ed. No matter what boxes I check, I get the error mentioned above ("Fastboot command (flash:bootloader_b) failed: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready'").
But even worse, I checked with some repair shop and they told me they won't even do motherboard replacements for out-of-warranty devices (because thieves would often use this service to "refurbish" stolen phones).
So I can't even get the motherboard replaced, unless I do it myself? **** my life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that it didn't work out...was a long shot...
Is there a uBreakiFix anywhere near you (they are the official repair company for Google)? If not, would it be possible to ship them the unit? Talk to Google versus talking to "some repair shop" (unless that repair shop you talked to was uBreakiFix, then that might be the policy; but I doubt it. Doesn't sound reasonable. I might try another store; even if you have to ship it to a distant one)...
Or course this all means you will have to spend $$$ to get it repaired, so be prepared for that...
niscy said:
Seems the next thing I would have to try is re-running the Flash Tool with the "Wipe device" and "Lock bootloader" boxes checked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would have no effect on whether the tool works
niscy said:
Just to confirm, would the motherboard replacement require a user data wipe? If yes, then I guess I have nothing to lose at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the storage lives in the flash devices, which live on the mainboard. A new mainboard would be preloaded with firmware, and would have to be programmed with your IMEI, but it would be like getting a brand new phone - no user data whatsoever.
simplepinoi177 said:
Yes, unfortunately this is bad news...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, hold on. We've got a lot of people all responding at once. @niscy if you could, hold off for a bit until we can get to the bottom of what your device state is and what you can and can't do.
simplepinoi177 said:
Most likely, I imagine and maybe @V0latyle can concur and/or elaborate, but it is most likely due to you not having OEM unlock ticked in the Developer Mode and an unlocked bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, one of these is required to use the Android Flash Tool (although if the bootloader is unlocked, OEM Unlocking is default "on"
simplepinoi177 said:
-- I stated before, but wasn't exactly sure as I've never tried it not on an unlocked bootloader, but that tool most likely doesn't work without having an unlocked bootloader (& thus also having OEM unlocked ticked as well)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bootloader doesn't have to start unlocked; as long as OEM Unlocking is enabled, the Flash Tool will automatically unlock the bootloader and perform the flash. I'm pretty sure this results in a data wipe.
simplepinoi177 said:
I was just holding out hope that, since it was an official Google tool, it might've been able to do something for you (especially considering you could still see it as a fastboot device in your device manager)....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Negative, the Flash Tool is simply a GUI interface for ADB Platform Tools and uses the same commands. Since, as I have explained multiple times, a locked bootloader rejects several commands required to flash the device, OEM Unlocking would have to be enabled at the very least to use the tool, which would then unlock the bootloader so that the commands will work.
The only "Google approved" way to update ALL devices regardless of OEM lock or bootloader lock is via OTA, because either update_engine in Android system, or the recovery kernel, is able to verify the update package. The bootloader is not capable of verifying packages applied externally; it can only compare certain partitions (such as /boot) against reference hashes (vbmeta images), which is why it's designed to reject all flashing and booting commands while locked
To be able to perform a complete factory reflash on a locked bootloader, the bootloader would have to have the ability to analyze and verify the entire update package, and it simply does not have the resources to do this. Bootloader only has three jobs:
Verify boot images
Load boot images
Provide USB interface (and must be unlocked to flash anything)
simplepinoi177 said:
Yes, motherboard replacement requires a user data wipe. I'm unsure if the technician either does this just as policy/practice, or if after installing the new mobo, the Android OS requires it...but I imagine it is the latter...
It might be worth a try to check those boxes, but most likely will not work. Your bootloader is already locked, so "lock[ing] bootloader" is kinda redundant and wouldn't be necessary for it to work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I explained, it's because you'd essentially be getting a brand new phone that has never had user data on it. Wiping data on the old mainboard is unnecessary, but most repair centers don't have a way to transfer user data.
@niscy Before you go any further, let's establish where exactly "Square One" is. Please answer these questions:
Are you able to boot into Android system? Is recovery the only thing not working?
What have you tried to get into recovery mode?
When you attempt to boot into recovery, do you see an error message at the bottom of the bootloader screen?
Do you have any particular issue with backing up your data to Google Cloud if that option is possible?
V0latyle said:
1) Are you able to boot into Android system? Is recovery the only thing not working?
2) What have you tried to get into recovery mode?
3) When you attempt to boot into recovery, do you see an error message at the bottom of the bootloader screen?
4) Do you have any particular issue with backing up your data to Google Cloud if that option is possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Can't get into Android system, just Fastboot.
2) Select recovery from Fastboot mode with the volume keys. I also tried "fastboot reboot recovery" (doesn't seem to work on the 5a). It doesn't make a difference how I get into fastboot (just turning it on vs. voldown + power key combo).
3) Screen just goes black and stays black for 30-60 seconds or so. Then it goes back to the fastboot screen.
4) While setting it up, the explanations in Android suggested that it was not fully end-to-end encrypted. However, I found some articles online that say the opposite. So maybe I just got confused by ambiguous language.
EDIT: flashing without the Android Flash Tool fails too, obviously...
barbet-tq1a.230105.001 % ./flash-all.sh
Sending 'bootloader_b' (8762 KB) OKAY [ 0.350s]
Writing 'bootloader_b' FAILED (remote: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready')
fastboot: error: Command failed
Rebooting into bootloader OKAY [ 0.080s]
Finished. Total time: 0.080s
EDIT2: Seems there's enough E2E encryption in Google backups ... see https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2021/01/...n-apple-icloud-google-and-microsoft-accounts/
V0latyle said:
As I explained, it's because you'd essentially be getting a brand new phone that has never had user data on it. Wiping data on the old mainboard is unnecessary, but most repair centers don't have a way to transfer user data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting...I am aware that, for computers, replacing the motherboard doesn't necessarily touch data because that's usually stored on the hard drive. I figure the internal storage on a smartphone might be set up similarly and have it separated in something the same way (i.e. I imagine it's something similar to a microsd internal circuitry), and thus might not be touched simply by replacing the mobo. I wasn't insinuating that the repair centers would wipe old data that they were going to toss anyway; thought it was separate from the mobo and could possibly survive the exchange.
Thanks for clarifying! Also, I posted this here instead of PMing it because it is somewhat useful information that might help someone else understand things better (like me)...but I do apologize for the off-topic...
I just went back and read your first post. Failure to load/verify boot images means there's a dm-verity issue - as I mentioned previously, the bootloader verifies the integrity of the boot image as it's loaded; this prevents things like persistent rootkits. In this case, it's coming up against an error - the hash of the boot image does not match the verification hash in /vbmeta, probably because it somehow got corrupted during the update. With an unlocked bootloader this would be a fairly simple fix - just reflash /boot - but with a locked bootloader, this is pretty much impossible to fix.
niscy said:
1) Can't get into Android system, just Fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, because as described above, the boot image is corrupted, and unfortunately, the boot image also contains recovery.
niscy said:
2) Select recovery from Fastboot mode with the volume keys. I also tried "fastboot reboot recovery" (doesn't seem to work on the 5a). It doesn't make a difference how I get into fastboot (just turning it on vs. voldown + power key combo).
3) Screen just goes black and stays black for 30-60 seconds or so. Then it goes back to the fastboot screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure why the screen goes black for a while, it should just recycle back to the bootloader screen immediately
niscy said:
4) While setting it up, the explanations in Android suggested that it was not fully end-to-end encrypted. However, I found some articles online that say the opposite. So maybe I just got confused by ambiguous language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I won't be one of those people who advocates for using a product you don't believe in, but you also have to consider benefit vs risk - in this case, you really don't want to use your data, but you didn't implement an alternative for backups.
niscy said:
EDIT: flashing without the Android Flash Tool fails too, obviously...
barbet-tq1a.230105.001 % ./flash-all.sh
Sending 'bootloader_b' (8762 KB) OKAY [ 0.350s]
Writing 'bootloader_b' FAILED (remote: 'error getting device locked state Not Ready')
fastboot: error: Command failed
Rebooting into bootloader OKAY [ 0.080s]
Finished. Total time: 0.080s
EDIT2: Seems there's enough E2E encryption in Google backups ... see https://blog.elcomsoft.com/2021/01/...n-apple-icloud-google-and-microsoft-accounts/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. At this point, I think you're pretty much limited to two options:
Pay for a repair (expensive)
Buy a new device (even more expensive)
I'm sorry there's no better answer. If OEMs like Google (or in this case, Foxconn as the manufacturer) made a point of providing low level flash tools and training to repair stations, then it might be possible to reflash the boot image. But, they don't do this for a litany of reasons, ranging from "it's cheaper to replace than to fix" to "tools like this could be used for major exploits in the wrong hands".
simplepinoi177 said:
Interesting...I am aware that, for computers, replacing the motherboard doesn't necessarily touch data because that's usually stored on the hard drive. I figure the internal storage on a smartphone might be set up similarly and have it separated in something the same way (i.e. I imagine it's something similar to a microsd internal circuitry), and thus might not be touched simply by replacing the mobo. I wasn't insinuating that the repair centers would wipe old data that they were going to toss anyway; thought it was separate from the mobo and could possibly survive the exchange.
Thanks for clarifying! Also, I posted this here instead of PMing it because it is somewhat useful information that might help someone else understand things better (like me)...but I do apologize for the off-topic...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, mobile mainboards are generally "all in one", with the SoC, modem, and storage all located on the same board. There are sometimes small daughterboards for things like camera modules and microSD/SIM card slots but for the most part everything is on the same board. All flashable storage is located on the same memory devices - this includes the most basic things such as the bootloader itself and the baseband image, as well as the system partitions, and of course the "userspace" data. Imagine if your hard drive was built into your motherboard, and also hosted your BIOS/UEFI.
There is only one more thing I can advise trying, and it will most likely not work: Try to switch back to the A slot. You can do this through fastboot: fastboot --set-active=a
Again, this is not likely to work because I believe the bootloader will reject this command as well.
An interesting note that isn't of much help right now: The whole point of A/B slots (and seamless system updates) is not just being able to update "on the fly" without booting into recovery and waiting 5-10 minutes for an update to finish, but also a "fail safe" so that if an update fails for whatever reason, the system should recycle back to the last working configuration.
Spoiler: It works like this:
Let's assume for the sake of argument you're on slot A, running the January update.
When the February update becomes available, update_engine downloads the update package, extracts it, and writes it to the inactive slot - in this case, slot B.
The bootloader is then commanded to boot slot B on the next reboot
When user reboots device, bootloader marks slot B as active and attempts to boot from that slot. There are a couple of markers here - a slot can be marked active, bootable, and successful.
Once boot proceeds past a certain point, the slot is now marked bootable. Once loaded into Android system, the boot is marked successful.
If for any reason slot B fails to boot, or crashes at a certain point, the device should automatically reboot back to slot A, and upon successful boot of Android, notify the user that the update failed.
I don't know why it failed to do that in this case. Apparently it thought slot B was both bootable and successful, and the failure didn't occur early enough to recycle back to slot A.