I am trying to fix my soft-bricked phone that's stuck in a bootloop. Phone was rooted and working fine until I flashed an incompatible TWRP recovery through Flashify and rebooted. I've Googled for weeks and put up a few other related posts here asking for help but haven't gotten much traction. I do have a backup of the stock recovery in .IMG format, as well as a complete Nandroid system image, also in .IMG format.
With those, I figure I should be able to re-flash it and be done, but that would be too simple. ADB debugging was enabled on the phone before it broke, but ADB commands are out since it doesn't make it far enough in the bootloop to connect to my PC. Fastboot works. If I remove the battery from the phone and plug in the USB it boots directly into fastboot. Device manager lists it under Android phone: Android ADB interface, and some fastboot commands work. fastboot devices returns my phones info, and fastboot reboot bootloader will reboot the phone back into fastboot. Anything else however, is a no-go. I've tried fastboot erase recovery, fastboot boot recovery.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, etc.
All either hang (i've waited up to an hour) or give me the error "command write failed (no error)". I've tried Googling the error and haven't found a concrete answer on what it means or how to fix it.
So far I have tried:
Running fastboot from a command window with admin privileges.
Five different USB cables.
Used every USB port on my PC (at least two, if not all of them are USB 2.0. I know fastboot doesn't like 1.0 or 3.0 ports.)
Using the latest version of fastboot.
Tried a slew of different drivers for the phone (at least seven).
Tried using three different OS's (Win 8, Win 8.1, and Ubuntu).
Tried a few different fastboot GUIs just to make sure I was getting the commands right.
All to no avail. The only thing I haven't tried is another PC and that's only because I din't have one. So, bottom line, the only two ways to unbrick the phone without some special piece of hardware are ADB commands or something that relies on ADB connectivity like SP phone tool or QFIL, or by fastboot comands. ADBs out and fastboot won't play nice. At this point i'm tempted to have a round of phone V. blender. Seriously though, i'm out of ideas. If anyone sees anything I haven't thought of please let me know.
Jesseb342 said:
I am trying to fix my soft-bricked phone that's stuck in a bootloop. Phone was rooted and working fine until I flashed an incompatible TWRP recovery through Flashify and rebooted. I've Googled for weeks and put up a few other related posts here asking for help but haven't gotten much traction. I do have a backup of the stock recovery in .IMG format, as well as a complete Nandroid system image, also in .IMG format.
With those, I figure I should be able to re-flash it and be done, but that would be too simple. ADB debugging was enabled on the phone before it broke, but ADB commands are out since it doesn't make it far enough in the bootloop to connect to my PC. Fastboot works. If I remove the battery from the phone and plug in the USB it boots directly into fastboot. Device manager lists it under Android phone: Android ADB interface, and some fastboot commands work. fastboot devices returns my phones info, and fastboot reboot bootloader will reboot the phone back into fastboot. Anything else however, is a no-go. I've tried fastboot erase recovery, fastboot boot recovery.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, etc.
All either hang (i've waited up to an hour) or give me the error "command write failed (no error)". I've tried Googling the error and haven't found a concrete answer on what it means or how to fix it.
So far I have tried:
Running fastboot from a command window with admin privileges.
Five different USB cables.
Used every USB port on my PC (at least two, if not all of them are USB 2.0. I know fastboot doesn't like 1.0 or 3.0 ports.)
Using the latest version of fastboot.
Tried a slew of different drivers for the phone (at least seven).
Tried using three different OS's (Win 8, Win 8.1, and Ubuntu).
Tried a few different fastboot GUIs just to make sure I was getting the commands right.
All to no avail. The only thing I haven't tried is another PC and that's only because I din't have one. So, bottom line, the only two ways to unbrick the phone without some special piece of hardware are ADB commands or something that relies on ADB connectivity like SP phone tool or QFIL, or by fastboot comands. ADBs out and fastboot won't play nice. At this point i'm tempted to have a round of phone V. blender. Seriously though, i'm out of ideas. If anyone sees anything I haven't thought of please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your computer must not be properly communicating with your device, Have you tried ANY other fastboot commands other then what you mentioned?
Can you provide a screenshot of your fastboot commands failing? Perhaps something else is going on other then what you've provided. You never know.
As mentioned in the post #2, uninstall any drivers you have and install the latest fastboot and adb drivers v1.4.2
(here) and the drivers given by your OEM, followed by a reboot and then type these:
Code:
fastboot devices
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase customize
Flash the stock boot.img
Code:
fastboot flash boot filename.img
Then boot into your recovery:
Code:
fastboot boot filename.img
Then perform a factory reset from the recovery itself.
Sent from Lord Tywin's athene (xt1643)
tywinlannister said:
As mentioned in the post #2, uninstall any drivers you have and install the latest fastboot and adb drivers v1.4.2
(here) and the drivers given by your OEM, followed by a reboot and then type these:
Code:
fastboot devices
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase cache
fastboot erase customize
Flash the stock boot.img
Code:
fastboot flash boot filename.img
Then boot into your recovery:
Code:
fastboot boot filename.img
Then perform a factory reset from the recovery itself.
Sent from Lord Tywin's athene (xt1643)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I picked up a new cable today just to be absolutely sure that wasn't the cause of my problems. I've tried several already, but most of those were dollar store cables and iffy at best. No luck though, even with a brand new semi-good quality cable (Duracell) it still doesn't work.
I followed all the above steps. First I made sure the correct OEM drivers were installed. Device manager shows "Android phone: Coolpad Android ADB Interface" when I plug the phone in. I'm not 100% sure that this is the correct driver for my phone, though it is a Coolpad, and I know there is some universality between drivers. I've used both ADB and fastboot commands on my Kindle fire many times with only the generic Google ADB / fastboot driver and never had a problem. Also, the Coolpad driver I found was on a Chinese file sharing website (Baidu) listed under the Coolpad section and was just titled phone driver.rar so i'm guessing it's universal for Coolpads. That, and the fact that the phone does respond to some commands makes me think that the driver isn't the issue either. Next, I followed the posted link and downloaded the latest ADB and fastboot files and installed them. I then moved my recovery.img and my 801es.img (nandroid backup) to the ADB / fastboot folder and opened an admin command window. Here are the results:
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot devices
1edf2f7a fastboot
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot reboot bootloader
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [ 0.016s]
finished. total time: 0.017s
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>
These would seem to indicate that fastboot is working properly, but upon trying your suggestions I don't get past the second command.
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot erase userdata
erasing 'userdata'...
Then nothing. I've waited 10 minutes and no change. I get similar results trying to erase recovery, boot the recovery.img, and flash the recovery.img.
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot erase recovery
erasing 'recovery'...
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot boot recovery.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
target didn't report max-download-size
sending 'recovery' (10240 KB)...
All these net a similar response. Waiting 10 to 15 minutes after each command and still no activity.
I'm stumped.
Just a minor update. I got a second-hand Kindle fire for my son. I thought it was one of the 50 dollar ones they're selling now since it was in plastic behind glass in a locked case and all it said was Kindle fire 7 inch. Dated 1-3-17. For 20 bucks I thought what the heck. Well, upon getting it home and tinkering with it, I quickly discovered it was a Kindle fire 2nd gen from 2012. Still not bad for 20 bucks as the thing was pristine, but I hated the UI. After a little bit of digging, I discovered that you could easily install TWRP, Gapps, and Cyanogenmod 11 on it. All info I found here (surprise surprise, I love this site.) Now that's done and my son loves his tablet. It's just like a proper Android tab.
Anyway, anyone who's tinkered with older Kindle devices knows about fastboot cables (and yes, I did need one, dang bootloops!). I thought I would try the fastboot cable on the stubborn Coolpad. Still no go. So at this point, either the images I have are invalid and I can't get new ones (weeks of Google searches have turned up zip as far as a stock rom for this phone), or the phone is locking me out due to some non-standard security feature. I'm thinking the second. I can understand if the images I have are bad, but that shouldn't affect things like querying the lock status of the bootloader, or trying to erase the boot partition and not getting a response.
I'm out of ideas. If anyone knows anything about this, specifically if this is unique to Coolpads, please let me know. Otherwise, the phone is going to end up in a drawer, probably forever. Thanks.
Jesseb342 said:
I am trying to fix my soft-bricked phone that's stuck in a bootloop. Phone was rooted and working fine until I flashed an incompatible TWRP recovery through Flashify and rebooted. I've Googled for weeks and put up a few other related posts here asking for help but haven't gotten much traction. I do have a backup of the stock recovery in .IMG format, as well as a complete Nandroid system image, also in .IMG format.
With those, I figure I should be able to re-flash it and be done, but that would be too simple. ADB debugging was enabled on the phone before it broke, but ADB commands are out since it doesn't make it far enough in the bootloop to connect to my PC. Fastboot works. If I remove the battery from the phone and plug in the USB it boots directly into fastboot. Device manager lists it under Android phone: Android ADB interface, and some fastboot commands work. fastboot devices returns my phones info, and fastboot reboot bootloader will reboot the phone back into fastboot. Anything else however, is a no-go. I've tried fastboot erase recovery, fastboot boot recovery.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, etc.
All either hang (i've waited up to an hour) or give me the error "command write failed (no error)". I've tried Googling the error and haven't found a concrete answer on what it means or how to fix it.
So far I have tried:
Running fastboot from a command window with admin privileges.
Five different USB cables.
Used every USB port on my PC (at least two, if not all of them are USB 2.0. I know fastboot doesn't like 1.0 or 3.0 ports.)
Using the latest version of fastboot.
Tried a slew of different drivers for the phone (at least seven).
Tried using three different OS's (Win 8, Win 8.1, and Ubuntu).
Tried a few different fastboot GUIs just to make sure I was getting the commands right.
All to no avail. The only thing I haven't tried is another PC and that's only because I din't have one. So, bottom line, the only two ways to unbrick the phone without some special piece of hardware are ADB commands or something that relies on ADB connectivity like SP phone tool or QFIL, or by fastboot comands. ADBs out and fastboot won't play nice. At this point i'm tempted to have a round of phone V. blender. Seriously though, i'm out of ideas. If anyone sees anything I haven't thought of please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, the information contained in your post doesn't really gives anybody a clue on how to help you. Phone model, previously working android version, rooted or stock etc. That would be a good place to start
Iamst.ralph said:
First off, the information contained in your post doesn't really gives anybody a clue on how to help you. Phone model, previously working android version, rooted or stock etc. That would be a good place to start
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is a Yulong Coolpad model 801 ES. I was running stock 4.1.2 JB ROM rooted with Kingroot. Developer options were unlocked and allow ADB debugging was checked. ADB and Fastboot drivers were installed and working properly as I was able to make a backup of my recovery partition and a "Nandroid" image. Note, the Nandroid image wasn't made using a custom recovery, it was made using DFS Evolution phone tools. It said Nandroid backup, and it did generate a file named 801es.img that's roughly 248 mb. I can't tell what partition it is since it has a non-standard header. Every image kitchen I've tried to use tells me bootmagic is missing when it tries to unpack.
The phone was working fine until I flashed an incompatible TWRP recovery. Now I'm stuck in a bootloop. I can get into fastboot mode, but every command I send other than fastboot devices and fastboot reboot ( like fastboot boot recovery.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, fastboot erase recovery, fastboot flashing unlock, ...) just hang. I've waited for over an hour on some and they still didn't complete. I've tried every USB port on my PC, 6 different cables, three different OS's (Win 8, WIn 8.1, and Ubuntu), and a second PC (my laptop) to try and eliminate all possible problems. All that and still no luck. This phone just will not respond to fastboot commands like it should and I have no idea why.
Hopefully that answers all your questions. Maybe you have some ideas.
Your phone is obviously a MTK phone hence fastboot commands get stuck. Search for the firmware of your phone on Google and download it, download Sp flashtool. When you're done downloading, post here
I have similar issues with a Coolpad Defiant 3632A. All commands except for [fastboot devices] and [fastboot getvar] everything else returns - "FAILED (remote: unknown command)".
My fastboot has a Secure Phone text in white at the bottom left of the screen when im in the bootloader. Not long back this was not the case and i'm not sure what is causing it.
GETVAR Results
C:\WINDOWS\system32>fastboot getvar all
(bootloader) version:0.5_emmccid_secureboot
(bootloader) battery-soc-ok:yes
(bootloader) battery-voltage:4082000
(bootloader) variant:MTP eMMC
(bootloader) secure:yes
(bootloader) version-baseband:
(bootloader) version-bootloader:
(bootloader) display-panel:
(bootloader) off-mode-charge:0
(bootloader) charger-screen-enabled:0
(bootloader) max-download-size: 0x1ff00000
(bootloader) partition-type:cache:ext4
(bootloader) partition-size:cache: 0x10000000
(bootloader) partition-type:userdata:ext4
(bootloader) partition-size:userdata: 0x10dffbe00
(bootloader) partition-type:system:ext4
(bootloader) partition-size:system: 0x80000000
(bootloader) serialno:1f59cc3d
(bootloader) kernel:lk
(bootloader) product:QC_REFERENCE_PHONE
all:
finished. total time: 0.100s
I just waited 360 hours and unlocked a new Mi8 dipper as I have done with 5 Xiaomi phones previously. Everything looks normal. MiUI v10 says it is unlocked. With USB debugging activated the device code shows up with the 'adb devices' command. However when it comes to actually modifying the bootloader in Fastboot mode things look very locked in place. In the terminal console 'abd devices' command shows no devices. Similarly when trying to load TWRP with 'fastboot flash recovery TWRP. img' command it searches to find no device and ends with a fault. I have tried with 3 different USB-C cables on three different PC's. Two with Windows 10 with ADB tools and another on current ArchLinux with 4.20 kernel and ADB tools.
Incidentally, my wife has an untouched and therefore unlocked Pocophone F1. It does the same thing as above.
Has anyone heard of such a tbing? Is it possible that Xiaomi thinks this phone has been unlocked when in fact the bootloader is still locked?
As far as a fix goes,the unlock tool says its locked and won't try again to unlock it. This would be utterly painful were it not for Lawnchair launcher coming to the user experience rescue.
It is your computer, try to reinstall adn, driver, etc,..
If bootloader is locked, you still can type fastboot devices, but cannot flash anything with the error that you dont have permission to edit partiton.
khanhdx said:
It is your computer, try to reinstall adn, driver, etc,..
If bootloader is locked, you still can type fastboot devices, but cannot flash anything with the error that you dont have permission to edit partiton.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Will try again in different variations. A few questions:
1. Is it advisable or not advisable to use a USBv3 or 3.1 port instead of USBv2 ?
2. I have tried a few different Windows 10 drivers from various sources. Can you recommend any specific driver for Xiaomi?
Thanks for helping. I will be very disappointed if I can't mod this phone.
p-we said:
Thanks. Will try again in different variations. A few questions:
1. Is it advisable or not advisable to use a USBv3 or 3.1 port instead of USBv2 ?
2. I have tried a few different Windows 10 drivers from various sources. Can you recommend any specific driver for Xiaomi?
Thanks for helping. I will be very disappointed if I can't mod this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think no different between USB2 and USB3 in this case.
Try uninstall all driver and app related to xiaomi.
Then Disable Signed Driver Enforcement.
Then install latest Miflash: http://en.miui.com/a-234.html (file at step 1)
Then open Mi Unlock folder (the one u found MiUnlock.exe), hold Shift + right click, select open PowerShell here.
Type cmd, enter.
Reboot phone to fastboot, connect to pc.
Type fastboot devices, enter.
khanhdx said:
I think no different between USB2 and USB3 in this case.
Try uninstall all driver and app related to xiaomi.
Then Disable Signed Driver Enforcement.
Then install latest Miflash: http://en.miui.com/a-234.html (file at step 1)
Then open Mi Unlock folder (the one u found MiUnlock.exe), hold Shift + right click, select open PowerShell here.
Type cmd, enter.
Reboot phone to fastboot, connect to pc.
Type fastboot devices, enter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'm close. I installed MIFlash and installed drivers. I now see the device ID in Windows PowerShell in fastboot mode which I did not have before:
C:\Users\wdirk\Downloads\miflash_unlock-en-3.3.827.31\miflash_unlock_en_3.3.827.31>fastboot devices
46265bfe fastboot
But when I enter 'fastboot flash recovery twrp.img' (the twrp.img file is in the same directory), the phone immediately goes to another mode (no fastboot logo with very small text on top left of screen) and nothing happens. So fastboot sees the device but will not write twrp recovery. Ideas?
So I tried Minimal ADB and Fastboot again. Positive that the device shows up:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot devices
46265bfe fastboot
But goes into blank screen with very small text on top left with more inforation this time:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target didn't report max-download-size
sending 'recovery' (41796 KB)...
FAILED (command write failed (No error))
finished. total time: -0.000s
p-we said:
I think I'm close. I installed MIFlash and installed drivers. I now see the device ID in Windows PowerShell in fastboot mode which I did not have before:
C:\Users\wdirk\Downloads\miflash_unlock-en-3.3.827.31\miflash_unlock_en_3.3.827.31>fastboot devices
46265bfe fastboot
But when I enter 'fastboot flash recovery twrp.img' (the twrp.img file is in the same directory), the phone immediately goes to another mode (no fastboot logo with very small text on top left of screen) and nothing happens. So fastboot sees the device but will not write twrp recovery. Ideas?
So I tried Minimal ADB and Fastboot again. Positive that the device shows up:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot devices
46265bfe fastboot
But goes into blank screen with very small text on top left with more inforation this time:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target didn't report max-download-size
sending 'recovery' (41796 KB)...
FAILED (command write failed (No error))
finished. total time: -0.000s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never face any case like this. So maybe i can help you.
Try install different version of TWRP maybe can help..
ShafiX94 said:
Try install different version of TWRP maybe can help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very strange but I followed your steps on another PC in exactly the same way and now it has flashed TWRP successfully. It did require using blue USB3 port
Thank-you! :good:
Glade to hear you solved it.
For the record: I had the exact same problem as yours. If I recall correctly, the only thing I had to do was to rename the recovery file to: recovery.img then wait a minute or so. Which is strange, but worked.
First tried to boot Pitchblack recovery when it succeeded then tried it with TWRP (recovery.img).
If anyone finds themselves here. Go to https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-8/how-to/guide-to-issues-flashing-unlocked-mi8-t3911389
p-we said:
If anyone finds themselves here. Go to https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-8/how-to/guide-to-issues-flashing-unlocked-mi8-t3911389
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am glad that you sorted your issue.
But I can assure you that the issue was strictly caused by your PC. It truly should not matter which USB port you use. We have 3 Mi8 in our house and I have unlocked 2 of them using an older laptop with a broken usb 3.0 port.
For the benefit of others who may experience this issue.
Always. remove peripheral devices from the PC such as an external hard drive, when perform tasks such as unlocking the bootloader or unbricking a phone.
Windows should be up to date and I can tell you that professionally, we absolutely require that people temporarily disable windows defender and antivirus when attempting to resolve these kinds of issues, as you are indeed affecting the bootloader of the device.
Windows antivirus will often remove files that it miscategorises as a virus. In example, if you attempt to download and install the All In One Tool, windows defender will neuter the software 90% of the time.
I can use adb commands no problem, but with the phone being in fastboot, fastboot commands like
Code:
fastboot devices
don´t show anything.
I want to unlock the bootloader but I am stuck with
Code:
waiting for device
after the
Code:
fastboot flashing unlock
command.
Why is it that every time I try to follow a tutorial, I do the exact same things and it doesn´t work for me?
Anyways, I installed all drivers from here and Device Manager shows an Android ADB Interface with a yellow triangle when I connect my phone in fastboot mode.
Hi, just got a brand new Armour x5, bought unlocked. It has Android 10 on it. First, I would like to back up entire phone without installing any apps at all, adb or fastboot commands to do so would be appreciated.
I tapped developer options 7 times, enabled adb, and OEM unlocking. I then adb reboot fastboot after allowing pc to connect, and in fastboot I try:
fastboot oem unlock
and
fastboot flashing unlock
C:\adb>adb devices
List of devices attached
3082SH1001004262 device
C:\adb>adb reboot recovery
C:\adb>fastboot devices
3082SH1001004262 fastboot
C:\adb>fastboot oem unlock
...
FAILED (remote: Command not supported in default implementation)
finished. total time: 0.010s
C:\adb>fastboot flashing unlock
...
FAILED (remote: Unrecognized command flashing unlock)
finished. total time: 0.010s
to no avail, fastboot just looks blackscreen and the tiniest of fonts lol... yes drivers are installed.
So I reboot, and try the Armour 6 tut, but Magisk manager has no option to patch the boot.img I extracted from stock firmware, it also has a distinct lack of advanced settings, most likely due to my not yet having flashed a twrp or magisk-20.4 due to still unable to find out about dm-verity, (is dm-verity different between android 9 + 10?) meaning I wont flash anything that will brick the fone before i even put a sim into it.
Any help appreciated. Google sux.
Edit: Well after 12 or so hours I can honestly say that rooting is all gone downhill, does anyone actually know what they are doing nowadays?
I read all 5 copies of the rooting procedure for this phone, none of which is anywhere near complete, and so very wrong. What might have worked years ago does not work now.
In the Armour x5, when rebooting into fastboot using adb reboot fastboot, we are taken to a black screen with the smallest of txt saying fastboot. This fastboot does not ****in work ('scuse the swearing) so dont tell people to do this, it wont work. Nothing works in this fastboot mode. What you have to do is go into ANOTHER fastboot, by going into what we call recovery, by pressing power and volume up button, then choosing fastboot, ONLY then will fastboot commands kind of work. I say kind of, because most of the fastboot commands do nothing anyway, but at least show some output proving that booting into fastboot from adb is useless now.
For instance, in the pure black screen fastboot, nothing is found in adb or fastboot shell, no 'null' (needing activation), no waiting, just black nothingness. But in the recovery version of fastboot, we see fastbootd at the top of the screen, this is the fastboot that recognises at least partial commands. But none I have actually tried re finding bootloader lock status etc, nada.
I also noticed, I do have shell access when in adb, but not recovery, so if anyone knows how to flash a twrp for android 10 using shell with no root, I'll try it on my not so shiney brand spankin blank fastbootin fone
Getting super frustrated!
Using ADB Debuging. Here are my steps.
1. adb devices
2. adb reboot bootloader
3.fastboot devices.
4. fastboot oem unlock
Then I get this...
FAILED (remote: unknown command)
finished. total time: 0.005s
after so many attempts I finally check adb devices and nothing shows up! It's like it automatically disconnects with adb debugging but it does not. Because I am able to to put fastboot reboot.
Can someone please help me with this! Thank you!
Use the fast boot command
Fastboot flashing unlock
Only this works on A12 devices
fastboot flashing unlock
oem unlock has been deprecated for awhile, manufacturers were just slow to implement changes.