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I recently had to replace the motherboard on my Nexus 6. I could only find refurbished ones, and bought one on AliExpress, with item description clearly specifying as unlock. I installed it, and it appears it is actually locked status 2. Looks like demo version used in T-Mobile retail network. Some settings inaccessible u such as developer mode or Apps. Trying to get refund but both AliExpress and the vendor are in denial mode.
I have 7.0, NBD92G installed. Very hard to unlock as I cannot access developer mode to allow usb debug. Pressing build nr several times won't help. I get message "you're already a developer" but actually usb debug does not work.
Anybody can help?
Go download factory image from Google and flash it manually by using the command prompt.
@ShernDog: He can't as his bootloader is locked. He can however download an OTA and sideload it.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@ShernDog: He can't as his bootloader is locked. He can however download an OTA and sideload it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. You are right, bootloader is locked too. Would there be any instructions somewhere on your proposed solution (sorry I am rather inexperienced user).
FYBRU said:
Thanks. You are right, bootloader is locked too. Would there be any instructions somewhere on your proposed solution (sorry I am rather inexperienced user).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I figured out how to do this but the other question is whether I won't be stuck afterwards being requested to enter the only registered user's login which I do not have (I cannot register a second user, as this setting screen is locked too). Do I need to sideload the OTA corresponding to current version / build or can I sideload an older one?
Download the oldest OTA available, as long as it is a full system OTA (easily detectable by size). You're going to have to bypass Factory Reset Protection to be able to resolve this, and the older the OTA, the better.
If this doesn't work, you're going to have to fight with the place you got the motherboard from, and file a chargeback with your credit card company if need be.
Ultimately I can go for the refund, but there is no place where I can find 64 GB MBs outside China, which means I'll have to wait again for something like 3 weeks with poor backup device, and with no certainty I don't receive again a locked MB.
I tried with 6.0 OTAs (page with instructions I followed: https://developers.google.com/android/ota#shamu) and even with just older versions of 7.0, I got every time abortion after about 45% installation, with the msg that I cannot update with older versions.
I am a bit confused now, I just tried to install same build as what I had installed (https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/shamu-ota-nbd92g-2b65257b.zip), it worked but it looks like absolutely nothing has changed on my phone. I thought it would have erased pretty much everything. Am I missing something?
OTA updates don't wipe system. That's why nothing changed.
Ultimately, I think you're going to have to go for the refund and take the risk that the next motherboard you get is going to be locked. Unless the version of Android you're on can have its FRP bypassed - and I don't think it can - you're stuck.
Thanks, bad news. Would it be worth trying wipe data / factory reset accessible from the recovery mode + power/volume up menu ?
You can try it, but it won't help. Doing a factory reset will cause Factory Reset Protection to kick in, meaning you'd need to know the original owner's account information.
Surprisingly it worked. I could log in with the google account I used before the reset. Everything works, but indeed I was expecting some more difficulties
@FYBRU: This is one of those times where I'm pleased to be wrong. LOL.
Glad you got it resolved.
I have never had a phone that has caused headaches like this one!!!
I have a jeter xt1922-2 and for nearly a month now.....suffered problems galore..... Ill explain....so take a seat.....and listen
I unlocked the bootloader the official way, all went swimmingly, then i followed quiksilvers guide to twrp....etc
but suffered problems with the phone in a reboot loop....
so, i thought, as its early days, i will flash a stock rom (i could only find a ALIJETER image, which was the only firmware i could find.....
So i did all the fastboot commands but the bootloader.img and partition thing said fail (phone said BAD KEY) but phone booted, after encrypting......
so for a week or so, I disabled a lot of items, and used non-root adblocker......was enjoying using the phone...
after a bit more time....I thought i would do the ota.....well that installed, and funnily enough, my OEM locking in dev settings was usable again.....so i did that, and installed twrp and root (phone now saying N/A), and had the phone purring like a cat.....but.......
i started to see firmware images becoming available, including JETER firmware, so naturally i downloaded the only one for my region - the UK.... file name : JETER_RETAIL_8.0.0_OPP27.91-35_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip
so i tried flashing, but after the same sort of errors as before, it booted into the blue moto screen, and stayed there...
I saw somewhere, that if you relocked bootloader, it should be okay.....
so i tried fastboot oem lock ......... it gave a lot of errors and didnt lock........so i read a few more forums
and was told to try 'fastboot flashing lock' ......... and it worked.....locked again! but when trying to flash anything it failed.....so i tried everything to unlock again, but spent 6 hours trying to sort it, no luck....so i went to bed....
this morning, i thought to myself.........try unlocking via the way i did before, get code from motorola, so did all that, still not unlocked, and thought i would try fastboot flashing unlock .... it unlocked again!!!
and that brings me to the present time.......
tried the jeter firmware.....still the same as before........
tried the original alijeter firmware as i first tried, it boots and works, albeit with the BAD KEY message.....
How did i get that OEM option NOT GREYED OUT in dev settings???
How can i get the OTA to update again, as when i try again, it downloads, but when updating, it goes straight to the BOOTLOADER ...... ?!?!?!
I just want the phone to get back to normal......working twrp, root....etc like i did have it....
Fellow Moto G6 play users....please help a old man!!!!
biggary said:
I have never had a phone that has caused headaches like this one!!!
I have a jeter xt1922-2 and for nearly a month now.....suffered problems galore..... Ill explain....so take a seat.....and listen
I unlocked the bootloader the official way, all went swimmingly, then i followed quiksilvers guide to twrp....etc
but suffered problems with the phone in a reboot loop....
so, i thought, as its early days, i will flash a stock rom (i could only find a ALIJETER image, which was the only firmware i could find.....
So i did all the fastboot commands but the bootloader.img and partition thing said fail (phone said BAD KEY) but phone booted, after encrypting......
so for a week or so, I disabled a lot of items, and used non-root adblocker......was enjoying using the phone...
after a bit more time....I thought i would do the ota.....well that installed, and funnily enough, my OEM locking in dev settings was usable again.....so i did that, and installed twrp and root (phone now saying N/A), and had the phone purring like a cat.....but.......
i started to see firmware images becoming available, including JETER firmware, so naturally i downloaded the only one for my region - the UK.... file name : JETER_RETAIL_8.0.0_OPP27.91-35_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip
so i tried flashing, but after the same sort of errors as before, it booted into the blue moto screen, and stayed there...
I saw somewhere, that if you relocked bootloader, it should be okay.....
so i tried fastboot oem lock ......... it gave a lot of errors and didnt lock........so i read a few more forums
and was told to try 'fastboot flashing lock' ......... and it worked.....locked again! but when trying to flash anything it failed.....so i tried everything to unlock again, but spent 6 hours trying to sort it, no luck....so i went to bed....
this morning, i thought to myself.........try unlocking via the way i did before, get code from motorola, so did all that, still not unlocked, and thought i would try fastboot flashing unlock .... it unlocked again!!!
and that brings me to the present time.......
tried the jeter firmware.....still the same as before........
tried the original alijeter firmware as i first tried, it boots and works, albeit with the BAD KEY message.....
How did i get that OEM option NOT GREYED OUT in dev settings???
How can i get the OTA to update again, as when i try again, it downloads, but when updating, it goes straight to the BOOTLOADER ...... ?!?!?!
I just want the phone to get back to normal......working twrp, root....etc like i did have it....
Fellow Moto G6 play users....please help a old man!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad key is on all Moto devices after you unlock the bootloader. Once you get rid of dmverity it should change to n/a. Don't know why you keep flashing things like that. Your lucky the bootloaders didn't flash.
Every since accepting and updating my Moto G6 (US Retail) to 9.0 (PPS29.118-11-1), it has been laggy. The lags seem to happen mostly when there is some type of I/O operation (like opening an app), or when a background app is doing something on the network - email getting delivered, etc. I've rebooted to recovery, and wiped the cache, but now I am considering doing a factory reset. Anyone else experiencing this? Anyone got any ideas that don't involve me reloading all my apps and data?
Thanks in advance.
-Chris
yeah, i'm also getting some lagginess. it's mostly when i unlock my phone using the fingerprint reader. the transition takes a super long time. i feel it's mostly the animation that's causing the ton of lag. initially after i updated to 9, opening and closing apps would take forever as well. but changing the animation with nova launcher made it a bit snappier; although it's still slower than 8.
No lag here
You guys might want to do a clean firmware install, I don't have any lag on this version I didn't take the OTA just flashed the firmware.
I think I may have resolved at least some of the issue. First, I use a SD card to hold some pictures, and videos, and other data (no apps). I reformated the card from android, and this resolved about 80% of my lag issues. Not sure if there is some kind of disk polling that is done, but with the clean format on the SD card, things most run smoothly now. The other area I'm still seeing a little lag is when scrolling over something in apps like google news where it is trying to pull a video or large image file and there seems to be some delay in the network. At this point, I think the issue is in my wifi network, not my phone (although I'm still no ruling it out). But at least it is better.
kc6wke said:
You guys might want to do a clean firmware install, I don't have any lag on this version I didn't take the OTA just flashed the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dead on. While I was able to make my G6 better, it was still laggy at times. Yesterday, I bite the bullet, backed up my data, and did a clean flash of the current firmware. Now the phone is smooth as glass. Good call.
Thanks,
-Chris
Noticed the same thing. Reflashed for some other reason and instantly saw the lag that had been getting more and more noticeable disapear.
What do you mean by 'reflashing'? Is that the same as 'restore to factory settings?'
I've read a thread on the Motorola forum where users have done that, with no noticeable results.
Nightwing-1 said:
What do you mean by 'reflashing'? Is that the same as 'restore to factory settings?'
I've read a thread on the Motorola forum where users have done that, with no noticeable results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I literally reflashed the ROM.
I downloaded the current official ROM from here:
https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/ali/official/RETUS/
(note the link is for the US Retail channel distribution, if your phone is not RETUS channel, find the matching ROM for the channel your phone is.)
Once downloaded, I used the RSD lite app to flash the phone.
http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html
You can google exact directions to use the tool, but basically, you reboot your phone to the bootloader, start RSD Lite, connect the USB cable (I had to use the factory cable on a USB 2.0 port to make this work), select the ROM file, and press Start.
Note: This will wipe your phone! So make a backup of your data.
I'm not familiar with flashing ROMs etc. And I don't want to mess up my phone any further.
Despite the fact that Motorola insist that there is no problem, I'm hoping their forum will convince them that there is.
Thanks for the help, but I'll keep it as it is. Meanwhile I'll be looking around for a dependable Android One phone.
I found one thing that helped:
Go in to 'Settings', 'system', 'Motorola privacy'' and uncheck both the slides in the menu. And I disabled the Google feed on my start screen (Swipe access).
The restart your phone.
The phone is a lot less laggy after that.
update! the August security patch update kind of helped with the lock screen lag I was experiencing.
blueberryapple said:
update! the August security patch update kind of helped with the lock screen lag I was experiencing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just did a check on my phone, and there is an update on the RETUS channel.
PPS29.118-15-11 / Security patch level: August 1,2019
A few questions about this. Through pure dumb luck, I didn't accept the Pie update, and have turned off automatic system updates in the Developer's options. It gives me a notice of new firmware a few times a day, which I decline, but so far has not updated without my consent. I realize it may do that at any moment regardless of the Developers setting.
So I'm still on Android 8, and would be delighted to stay there. But, if I'm forced to go to 9, would I be able to flash 8 again using the files here? Would that accomplish anything, or would it still insist on going to 9 after I had flashed 8?
The earlier reference to the "current official" rom - does that mean the latest 9 rom?
Why would installing the same v9 rom over again produce any different result from the OTA update to that rom?
Is there any way to turn off the firmware update notices? I've tried lots of things, but they still come.
Just trying to figure out what my options are, and what I should do. There's a 42-page thread on the Lenovo forum about this problem, with no indication that Lenovo/Motorola will lift a finger to fix it, apparently being content to see some unknown number (perhaps all) of the G6's ruined by the update to 9. I called Moto CS, and they blamed Google for the problem. Obviously, I bought the wrong brand of phone. Actually, it's my first smart phone. It seems beginners luck is a myth. At least I know better than to buy a Lenovo computer when Windows 7 becomes dangerous in January.
Anyway, I would appreciate any comments on the G6 thing.
Hello, is it required to have unlocked bootloader when doing re-flashing the official rom?
ici0606 said:
Hello, is it required to have unlocked bootloader when doing re-flashing the official rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted this in another related thread:
-------------------------------------------------------
JimmiH on the Lenovo forum has found "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant", a new utility from Motorola, which is installed on your PC (Win 7 or 10). Included in the utility is a "rescue" function which appears to do the same thing as RSD Lite - resurrect a phone from any software issues. It downloads the correct official rom and reflashes it to the phone. JimmiH will be reporting back over the next few weeks as to whether the rescue has permanently solved his Pie lagginess issues.
The advantage of this LMSA over RSD Lite is that it runs on Windows 10, and presumably works with USB3 ports, while apparently neither was the case with RSD Lite. And of course you don't have to go hunting for the right rom.
----------------------------------------------------------------
My understanding is that this utility does not require unlocking, and it does not root the phone.
Hello, I tried LMSA for flashing, but it says not supported device, I have model XT1925-4.
ici0606 said:
Hello, I tried LMSA for flashing, but it says not supported device, I have model XT1925-4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RSDLite will work on Windows 10, I have been using it, even on the newest Windows 10 version 1909. It will not work on usb 3 ports though. If you have any USB 2 ports available, plug the cable into one of those and it will work.
xfrobex said:
RSDLite will work on Windows 10, I have been using it, even on the newest Windows 10 version 1909. It will not work on usb 3 ports though. If you have any USB 2 ports available, plug the cable into one of those and it will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm I have just USB 3 on my PC, ok will try on some older one.
But is it required to unlock bootloader, when using RSD Lite?
Thanks.
ici0606 said:
Hm I have just USB 3 on my PC, ok will try on some older one.
But is it required to unlock bootloader, when using RSD Lite?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. RSDLite doesn't require unlocked bootloader.
Peabody424 said:
I posted this in another related thread:
-------------------------------------------------------
JimmiH on the Lenovo forum has found "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant", a new utility from Motorola, which is installed on your PC (Win 7 or 10). Included in the utility is a "rescue" function which appears to do the same thing as RSD Lite - resurrect a phone from any software issues. It downloads the correct official rom and reflashes it to the phone. JimmiH will be reporting back over the next few weeks as to whether the rescue has permanently solved his Pie lagginess issues.
The advantage of this LMSA over RSD Lite is that it runs on Windows 10, and presumably works with USB3 ports, while apparently neither was the case with RSD Lite. And of course you don't have to go hunting for the right rom.
----------------------------------------------------------------
My understanding is that this utility does not require unlocking, and it does not root the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Count me among those watching this thread, in particular looking for evidence that LMSA (or RSD Lite) actually eliminates the lag problem for more than a few days. My phone is a bone stock model XT1925-6 running Android 9, PPSS29.118-15-11-2. Lag improved after the October update but returned in about a week.
I appreciate the efforts of this group in trying to resolve this problem.
My sister-in-law recently switched to TMo and ended up with a "free" G7 Power running Android 9. It's very smooth with no lag at all, so Moto apparently knows how to resolve this problem, they're just not helping us with the G6.
I need help too. So, I own a Moto G5s plus sanders. I unlocked its bootloader the day I got it. Didn't keep any backup and rooted it. I Also installed dot os based on android 11. But my 4G Volte connection was finicky. So, I decided to use a Volte zip patch. But, anyways I flashed the zip via TWRP and tried to reboot. But the phone didn't turn on after that. After a few minutes to my shock I understood that I hardbricked my mobile. No button combos, nothing worked. Anyways in my desperation I found a YouTube video showing the use of blankflash to revive a phone and lo and behold I used the procedure to again restore my device. It booted to the fastboot interface. But my happiness was short lived. My baseband was unknown at this point and the bootloader was I dunno downgraded to 0.5 inplace of 2.12. But, more importantly the unlock status was lost. I unlocked it again and all went well. I could even flashed TWRP. but then I realised I couldn't upgrade my bootloader. I couldnât do anything. It's always gives a "security downgrade", "preflash validation failed" and "permission denied" error. I even tried RSA official rescue tool from Lenovo but even it was unsuccessful. It was never unsuccessful before that. Not even with a unlocked bootloader. I researched for days and tried custom ROMs. I flashed stock images. Nothing brought back my baseband and IMEI. When I type "fastboot oem unlock critical" it gives me permission denied error with a message. "Need OEM signed bootloader." I think the blankflash bootloader is the root of all evil. I need to change it and therefore I need to enter the edl mode. I have tried all adb commands and fastboot commands. The phone reboots okay after those commands but never goes into edl mode whatsoever. I am also ready to do a controlled hardbrick of my device to go into the edl mode so that I can use my device again with a proper bootloader and a properly working fastboot. Please help
i think this vid will help
Greetings everyone. Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum. Please move this in appropriate forum if I made a mistake. Believe me, for the last 7 days I have searched all of xda and internet, followed innumerable guides, FAQs and workarounds and none worked. So, as a last resort I am starting this thread
Device: Motorola Moto G5s Plus XT1804 ......4GB _64GB variant
Problem: 1) Baseband not found (unknown) Original Baseband: M8953_52.61.07.98R SANDERS_INDIADSDS_CUST
2) IMEI 0 (Sim cards are not detected).
I bought this refurbished phone about an week ago after my last LG went kaput. I was happy by the build quality of the phone. But it only ran Android 8.1 Oreo. So, I decided to put a custom ROM in it. I am not exactly a newbie to the world of CyanogenMods, Lineage OSes and Pixel Experiences. Or, so I thought. Anyways, after a lot of searching I finally decided on Dot OS 5.2 Official Android 11 version. The ROM looked very pleasing and the reviews looked positive. So, I got the unlock key from Motorola website, unlocked the bootloader, put in official TWRP recovery in it. Everything went like a breeze and in all that excitement I forgot to take a backup of the persist, efs and other partitions. A very costly mistake it seems. DotOS booted fine and looked really fresh till I found that there is a small cross near the SIM card network signal triangle up righthand side corner and the signal is only LTE and not VOLTE. I was using a Vodafone Sim card at the time. Although VOLTE option was enabled in SIM settings. To confirm my doubts regarding VOLTE I switched to a JIO Simcard and alas I was not able to make a call without redirecting through the horrid JIO calling app. VOLTE was indeed not working. So, I looked up for a fix and I found a Volte ZIP file from here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...0QFnoECBAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0YgJvCjQWXXV8WQSJkxBOK . This was the starting of my troubles. I flashed the universal VOLTE fix zip from TWRP and it flashed fine. On rebooting, I found to my shock that my phone was not turning on. I pressed and held the power key and there was no sign of life. I couldnât go to the fastboot bootloader or recovery. Only the white led blinked at the top when connected to the charger. My phone was apparently hard bricked. I searched frantically for a solution in this forum and YouTube wherein I found that one can bring it back to life by doing a blankflash. Found the blankflash file here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...wQFnoECAsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1eVdBWGVFr8aiqLdP-ZkeT followed the instructions and it flashed my bricked device back to fastboot. I was relieved for a moment but the next I found that the Bootloader version has downgraded from BL C2 07 to BL C0 05. I knew something was wrong as bootloader downgrade shouldn't be possible. Also the unlock and rooted status were also lost and the baseband was unknown at this point. Anyways the device was recognised as a fastboot device and I tried to flash the stock ROM latest version using the fastboot. But, only then I realised there was something wrong with the bootloader. It gave errors like security downgrade, permission denied, preflash validation failed, remote command failed. At this point I was truly confused and worried. Why would it think the latest bootloader to be a security downgrade to a supposedly old bootloader and prevent me from flashing it. However it did flash the other files like gpt.bin for partition, oem.img, boot.img, system.img sparsechunks and everything else. I booted back to Android 8.1 Oreo and everything seemed working except my IMEI now read zero and my Simcard was not recognised by the device. After that I again unlocked my bootloader. Somehow the original unlock key worked and the bootloader screen said flashing unlocked but the bootloader didn't behave like an unlocked bootloader. The TWRP installed fine but couldnât install the latest Pixel Experience. The flash screen said PE 11 was for Sanders and my device is (blank no name). I tried both the normal and plus and both behaved similarly. Lineage OS unofficial builds behaved similarly. I again tried Dot OS and Arrow OS and both installed fine except there was no signal. For a moment I tried to forget about the bootloader but concentrated on recovering my IMEI and Baseband but I couldnât. For nearly 5 days I tried different guides including a detailed guide using Validus Sanders ROM but none worked. My EFS folder has files around 12 megabytes but my Persist seems deleted at zero bytes. The IMEI keeps changing between null, zero and unknown depending on the 20 something ROMs I tasted on this device. At this point, I am at a loss. This was to be my main phone and I am financially crunched. I can't buy another phone right now. I think that blankflash bootloader is corrupted and it is giving me permission denied errors. Even Magisk won't work properly. I even tried using the official rescue and smart assistant tool by Lenovo and it failed at 47 percent. I tried in different computers and Win7 to Win 11 OSes but it was of no use. I also tried getting a QCN file but I couldnât get one for the device to recover the IMEI. Please suggest something if anyone of you can save this poor device of mine. Thanks in advance
Raghaov said:
i think this vid will help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply but my phone is soft bricked now. It was hardbricked and I uses a faulty blankflash bootloader to bring it back to life. My device is softbricked now. I have lost my baseband and I have no IMEI. I cannot take calls and no mobile data. Can you show me a way to go to edl mode in my device. Thanks again.
can your phone turn on if yes can you root it with magisk
if yes then pls tell me i will tell you
I can do everything except calling and mobile data. Yes, I have rooted with Magisk and have root access. But my baseband is unknown and my IMEI is showing zero. I can't call or access mobile data. Although I can use wifi
I have tried what is shown in this video already. Didn't work
I think the blank flash bootloader was corrupt or of a different region.
so go to magisk manager and on top-right corner you will see setting click the button right next to it and click on reboot to edl
I didn't even knew that. Trying asap. Will update
Doesnât work. Reboots back to system.
Updated Magisk to latest and tried both edl and download mode like you said brother. Everytime boots back to system. Am I missing something. The phone was not connected to the PC at the time
I am on stock Oreo now. Rooted and twrp installed
An interesting observation while installing Xposed, it gave an error that the device is not rooted properly
I have an untouched dump file for my model. The whole thing. Could you please guide me how I can restore my smartphone from that.
can you flash it through adb sideload fastboot twrp etc
I don't know but I sold the device. I bought a new one. Thanks @Raggaov for the help.
you're welcome
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.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
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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.