I got two brand new Pixel 4a (5G) for my girlfriend and me. Mine worked perfect, hers was freezing and rebooting all the time. To solve this, I wanted to reflash the factory image.
I messed up the two devices and didn't notice, that the bootloader on hers wasn't unlocked yet. So I ran flash-all.sh on locked bootloader. Now the Pixel says "Can't find valid operating system." and I'm stuck in fastboot-mode with locked bootloader. Neither can start Rescue-, nor Recovery mode.
After I'm not able to unlock bootloader (because I never allowed it on her phone), I will bring it back to the shop tomorrow and ask for an exchange/repair.
But how can that be? Shouldn't a locked bootloader protect the device from a brick like that? I mean the flash-all.sh runs some "fastboot flash" and a "fastboot update" command, and they should just fail on locked bootloader, shouldn't they?
Weltraumpenner said:
I got two brand new Pixel 4a (5G) for my girlfriend and me. Mine worked perfect, hers was freezing and rebooting all the time. To solve this, I wanted to reflash the factory image.
I messed up the two devices and didn't notice, that the bootloader on hers wasn't unlocked yet. So I ran flash-all.sh on locked bootloader. Now the Pixel says "Can't find valid operating system." and I'm stuck in fastboot-mode with locked bootloader. Neither can start Rescue-, nor Recovery mode.
After I'm not able to unlock bootloader (because I never allowed it on her phone), I will bring it back to the shop tomorrow and ask for an exchange/repair.
But how can that be? Shouldn't a locked bootloader protect the device from a brick like that? I mean the flash-all.sh runs some "fastboot flash" and a "fastboot update" command, and they should just fail on locked bootloader, shouldn't they?
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Try fastbooting the newest ota instead of the full factory image. Also, try going to Android recovery and hitting the factory reset inside the menu there. I believe to access the recovery through fastboot you wait for the dead Android guy and then press volume up and power at the same time.
Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
Did you ever figure this out? Google had a chrome extension flag tool. Instead of cmd/cli adb.
Related
i have searched high and low for help on this one and can't find anything similar.... Though I found one thread that suggests I attempt the HTVDEV unlock code 5 times in a row.. Which did not work.
I returned my phone to stock several weeks ago. Locked the boot loader (see pic#1) Then I had something weird happen , where The phone rebooted to a "enter password to decrypt"??? I never encrypted my phone. So I read the only way around this was to do a factory reset. So, I rebooted the phone into bootloader and attempted a factory reset. The phone then rebooted and is frozen on the HTC splash screen. See pic#3
I have attempted to unlock the bootloader so I can flash a good recovery (which I cannot access, then will just reboot)
So basically I only have access to fastboot. When I plug in the phone into windows, I cannot access through ADB. (Same thing in Linux)
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Have you attempted an RUU?
sauprankul said:
Have you attempted an RUU?
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I could not get an ADB connection. I attempted to flash a new recovery, but of course with no root, s-on and bootloader locked... no dice.
charlesairman said:
I could not get an ADB connection. I attempted to flash a new recovery, but of course with no root, s-on and bootloader locked... no dice.
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Can you get into fastboot?
sauprankul said:
Can you get into fastboot?
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fasboot yes for me. i can get to the point to unlock the bootloader, but it freezes when i tap "yes"
Gentleman, any luck on this?
preslav88 said:
fasboot yes for me. i can get to the point to unlock the bootloader, but it freezes when i tap "yes"
Gentleman, any luck on this?
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Click to collapse
Yeah and all you can do from fastboot with those restrictions is, erase cache. Erase it like 3 times in a row and see if it works, who knows. I flashed cwm recovery which sometimes gets me into recovery, like 1 out of 10 recovery flashes. then you are allowed to finally use adb commands
Basically, I tried to flash the latest 5.1 image but unsuccessfully as the system.img wasn't extracted. For some reason I locked the bootloader and now I can't boot into a working system, and I can't reflash anything as the bootloader is locked. When attempting to unlock, it is telling me to go into dev settings to allow unlock.
Is there anything I can do?
Few threads about this today. Seems a regular user error. Can't think of a fix right now..
rootSU said:
Few threads about this today. Seems a regular user error. Can't think of a fix right now..
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Hmm, thanks anyway. I think this means I'm bricked. Moto E time I think.
boot to bootloader, fastboot oem unlock from fastboot command console on computer.
TheAmazingDave said:
boot to bootloader, fastboot oem unlock from fastboot command console on computer.
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Can't be done.
Have the same problem and try to solve it with Motorola. No luck at the moment.
lee.jarratt said:
Basically, I tried to flash the latest 5.1 image but unsuccessfully as the system.img wasn't extracted. For some reason I locked the bootloader and now I can't boot into a working system, and I can't reflash anything as the bootloader is locked. When attempting to unlock, it is telling me to go into dev settings to allow unlock.
Is there anything I can do?
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Click to collapse
try flashing the factory img via your bootloader/fastboot
simms22 said:
try flashing the factory img via your bootloader/fastboot
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Click to collapse
Can't. Boot loader is locked and requires a setting in android to be changed but android can't boot. Catch 22
rootSU said:
Can't. Boot loader is locked and requires a setting in android to be changed but android can't boot. Catch 22
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Are you positive? I just flashed a Nexus 7 from 5.0.2 to 4.4.4 with fastboot. fastboot oem unlock worked without checking that box.
TheAmazingDave said:
Are you positive? I just flashed a Nexus 7 from 5.0.2 to 4.4.4 with fastboot. fastboot oem unlock worked without checking that box.
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That's what all the threads about this today are saying... Including the op of this thread.
rootSU said:
That's what all the threads about this today are saying... Including the op of this thread.
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Click to collapse
Damn, that's really lame...
Wow this craps really ticking me off with this update and all. I have been rooting modding for years and every damn time I get a device that uses fastboot I get nothing but trouble. I hard bricked three devices in the past with fastboot and it seems over the years fastboot hasn't gotten any better or easier. What a shame I love the nexus 6 but I'm seriously starting to reconsider and going back to the good old Odin devices.
I'm an idiot.
I made the mistake of trying to update my Nexus 6 (Stock 5.0 encrypted, rooted, Xposed) while talking to AT&T customer service on my other phone. Distracted flashing is a bad idea. I am sure I made SEVERAL mistakes.
I too was trying to flash the new 5.1 image and got an error when running ./flash-all.sh (I'm on a Macbook). Friend suggested I try to do it by flashing the boot.img recovery.img and then system.img manually. Got the boot to flash. Recovery flashed. System failed. Unfortunately I have closed the terminal windows and don't have the errors anymore. When it failed it said something about insufficient space. So (I'm assuming this is where I f**ked up) I hit start from the boot loader screen to boot into the system and delete some things even though I had plenty of space (over 20gb). It booted fine. When I went to reboot into bootloader, I accidentally selected recovery. It booted back into TWRP which confused me. I thought best bet would be to wipe the device and start over fresh. I wiped everything and booted back into bootloader... blackness. Now I have no response from the device at all. Nothing. No response from the power button. Nothing when I plug to a charger. Just blackness. Just a pretty, 2 day old Nexus 6 (warranty replacement from T-Mobile on Tuesday).
You wiped the boot partition too? Ouch...
Last time I did that, it was with my Nook Color. Thankfully that was able to boot from SD cards...
I have a similar problem with another Nexus 7 right now. Flash went corrupt, won't boot at all. No bootloader, no Google logo, nothing.
My only hope is that the device still talks to the computer, it shows up as a Qualcomm device under Ports in Windows Dev Manager. QPST picks it up and says it's in download mode. If I can source the hex files to flash, I think I can bring it back. I'm only sharing that because it might be your only hope too. Godspeed, sir.
beachbum40 said:
Wow this craps really ticking me off with this update and all. I have been rooting modding for years and every damn time I get a device that uses fastboot I get nothing but trouble. I hard bricked three devices in the past with fastboot and it seems over the years fastboot hasn't gotten any better or easier. What a shame I love the nexus 6 but I'm seriously starting to reconsider and going back to the good old Odin devices.
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lol, whats so hard with fastboot? fastboot oem unlock is rocket science? how about fastboot flash recovery recname.img? only way to hardbrick with fastboot is to flaah something to your device that doesnt belong there, or flash something into the wrong partition. how did you "hard brick" with fastboot???
simms22 said:
lol, whats so hard with fastboot? fastboot oem unlock is rocket science? how about fastboot flash recovery recname.img? only way to hardbrick with fastboot is to flaah something to your device that doesnt belong there, or flash something into the wrong partition. how did you "hard brick" with fastboot???
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The problem is that bootloader got relocked, and the OP is unable to get to the setting to enable oem unlock. Fastboot is errors out saying to Check "Allow OEM unlock", and FAILED (remote failure).
I would find it hard to believe that there is no solution to this. With all the bright minds here on XDA, I'm sure it can be figured out. The unlock setting must be stored somewhere, and it should be accessible.
When I first got my Nexus 6, I booted into the bootloader right after taking it out of the box (i.e., without booting into Android), and I was able to unlock the bootloader without having checked "Allow OEM unlock" in developer options. This could mean that the setting could potentially be located in /data somewhere.
OP, have you tried a factory reset in recovery? Have you tried playing around with the other bootloader menu items (e.g., "Factory", etc.)?
efrant said:
I would find it hard to believe that there is no solution to this. With all the bright minds here on XDA, I'm sure it can be figured out. The unlock setting must be stored somewhere, and it should be accessible.
When I first got my Nexus 6, I booted into the bootloader right after taking it out of the box (i.e., without booting into Android), and I was able to unlock the bootloader without having checked "Allow OEM unlock" in developer options. This could mean that the setting could potentially be located in /data somewhere.
OP, have you tried a factory reset in recovery? Have you tried playing around with the other bootloader menu items (e.g., "Factory", etc.)?
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Thank you for taking a look at my post. I have tried all the options in the bootloader menu with no dice. Things aren't looking promising for me...
You're all using the newest fastboot?
flash the factory img
edit.. nevermind, i see ive already said that
So I picked up a nexus 6 that was said to be bricked. It was cheap so I figured what the hell. Anyway it's stuck in fastboot. No matters options it goes back to the fastboot screen. In logs it says "invalid boot image header." device is locked status code 2. What chances do I have of getting this back up and running?
Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
Locked code status 2 = bootloader locked right?
Paperweight.
So there is nothing possible to do? I was under the impression is was almost impossible to hard brick a nexus 6. I guess i was ignorant. lol
the N6 and N9 was when they started having the oem unlock enabler in developer settings menu and without the ability to boot and enable that setting its just as screwed as any other locked phone.
Are you talking about bootloader mode?
Locked bootloader+stock recovery (no TWRP) =bricked.
I've read where others have typed "fastboot erase bootloader" which has removed the bootloader so the phone won't even start.
If you have an unlocked bootloader and TWRP then you can recover from most issues. I've formatted my phone with no OS before. You can adb pull a zip in or flash via OTG. Locking the bootloader with no custom recovery or ROM prevents you from installing anything
I was gifted a Nexus 6 after my 5X died. As far as I know the device has never been OEM unlocked, much less flashed with anything. I've unlocked developer options and allowed USB debugging and OEM unlock but when I try to use power+Vol(-) to get into fastboot mode nothing happens, the screen is just black. When I bridged the device using ADB I could see the serial number and tried using the boot into recovery mode command and it rebooted to the same black screen. When I used fastboot commands on the black screen I could see the device and tried running fastboot oem unlock, it did something but wasn't successful in unlocking it. I'm not prepared to just start running fastboot commands blind like that without being able to see what's happening on the device's screen.
It's a curious problem, has anyone ever heard of it happening before? I can't find anything similar when I google it.
All I really want to do is clear the Dalvik cache and flash the latest factory image because currently, even after doing a factory reset, the device is very slow and laggy.
Is there anyway I could clear all the caches etc without going into fastboot mode or does anyone know of any fixes I could use so I can see the recovery menu?
If you boot to bootloader mode, then "fastboot boot <TWRP.img>" you might be able run twrp on your pc and clear caches. If it works, I'd consider factory resetting. You can get twrp here: https://dl.twrp.me/shamu/
I have considered that. But that requires OEM unlock, no? I still haven't managed to unlock it yet. The first time I tried, I said yes to unlock (it involves using the rocker to select a response, which I can't see the options for) but in the command window it said it failed (can't remember the error message though). I was going to try again today but because I couldn't see the options when I tried it said I'd cancelled the operation and I was too scared to try again in case something went wrong.
But, do you think I should try the fastboot oem unlock command again? I definitely need OEM unlock to install TWRP, right?
connorjolley said:
I have considered that. But that requires OEM unlock, no? I still haven't managed to unlock it yet. The first time I tried, I said yes to unlock (it involves using the rocker to select a response, which I can't see the options for) but in the command window it said it failed (can't remember the error message though). I was going to try again today but because I couldn't see the options when I tried it said I'd cancelled the operation and I was too scared to try again in case something went wrong.
But, do you think I should try the fastboot oem unlock command again? I definitely need OEM unlock to install TWRP, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To install twrp yes, you need an unlocked bootloader. This doesn't install twrp on the device. I believe it should work. It certainly shouldn't hurt. I've been unlocked since the N6 came out so I can't double check for you.
If it doesn't work, I'd be a bit inclined to just flash a factory image thus ensuring everything is stock and current. You might want to wait for others to chime in, but it's what I would do.
You may consider downloading Nexus Root Toolkit, works like a charm : ).
I can't just flash the stock bootloader without OEM unlock, right?
connorjolley said:
I can't just flash the stock bootloader without OEM unlock, right?
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Click to collapse
Correct, you need to be unlocked to flash a factory image, that includes the bootloader. See Google's instructions. Don't get confused by the "fastboot oem unlock"
vrs "fastboot flashing unlock" we are an older device and use oem unlock. The other is for the 6P and newer devices.
ktmom said:
Correct, you need to be unlocked to flash a factory image, that includes the bootloader. See Google's instructions. Don't get confused by the "fastboot oem unlock"
vrs "fastboot flashing unlock" we are an older device and use oem unlock. The other is for the 6P and newer devices.
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Click to collapse
Successfully unlocked. TWRP didn't help, still can't see the bootloader menu to access the recovery. I'm flashing the factory image now, hopefully a new bootloader will fix it. If not, is there anyway to clear the Dalvik cache using fastboot commands now the phone is unlocked?
UPDATE
Still a black screen even with a new bootloader flash. I'm assuming now this must be a hardware problem
connorjolley said:
Successfully unlocked. TWRP didn't help, still can't see the bootloader menu to access the recovery. I'm flashing the factory image now, hopefully a new bootloader will fix it. If not, is there anyway to clear the Dalvik cache using fastboot commands now the phone is unlocked?
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Click to collapse
I think the command is "fastboot erase cache". Also, unlocking will have wiped the device.
connorjolley said:
UPDATE
Still a black screen even with a new bootloader flash. I'm assuming now this must be a hardware problem
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Click to collapse
Why not just flash the entire factory image you got the bootloader from? What can it hurt? It would be really odd for this to be hardware if you can boot into the ROM and the screen works.
Greetings, friends. I really love my phone but in the process of wanting to unlock my bootloader and root my phone... TL;DR at bottom.
I unlocked the bootloader, with help, but my friend was helping me navigate the complexities of installing TWRP and while trying to re-flash the v35 bootloader somewhere, he locked the bootloader. He said it was weird "fastboot oem unlock" had an error message that prompted him to see if locking it would yield the same result, which wasn't the case at all. It locked, and we couldn't unlock it again.
I'm willing to pay to restore my phone to working order; is there anything that can be done? Please and thank you kindly.
LG V40, Sprint variant, was running Android 8.1.0.
No bootable slots, red triangle, LG UP isn't detecting and can't seem to enter 9008 mode. Can enter download mode, but nothing picks it up.