Related
I searched through the forums for hours and didn't find an example quite like mine (some were close)
Verizon HTC Eris. It's a hand me down.
My friend gave it to me because on normal start up it loads into the 3 Skating Androids screen and goes no further. I don't know how it ended up like that. I wanted to see if I could fix it. All the key combos work (soft boot reset, FASTBOOK start up, HBOOT start up, etc.)
Info:
PB00100 XC SHIP S-ON
MICROP-0111
TOUCH PANEL-MELFAS_45_17
RADIO-2.42.01.04.27
Feb 8 2010, 00:08:56
I can get the phone into stock recovery, don't know if it has the Amon_RA recovery installed.
HBOOT doesn't recognize the PB00IMG.zip (I downloaded the Eris_RootROM_v2.19.605.1_PB00IMG.zip, copied it to my sd and renamed it PB00IMG.zip) and can't get it to load.
I tried SDK but command line "adb devices" list nothing. "adb shell" doesn't work either.
I can run RUU_Desire_C_Verizon_WWE_2.36.605.1_release_signed_with_driver when my phone is in FASTBOOT mode. It's says I have 2.37.605.4 ROM on my phone but will not go any further than that.
When I hook the USB up to my computer, it makes the "USB attached" noise, but I can't see it listed in the removable drives.
Is this a brick??
Again, I searched and read, and searched some more for threads on this problem. Didn't wanna violate the noob rule, because I am a noob.
No Help from anyone? I'm really trying to bring this thing back from the dead
You don't mention if the HBOOT version is 1.49.0000, but I suspect that it is. If memory serves me well, I believe this is why the root ROM PB00IMG file will not load - it will only install over 1.46.0000 or 1.47.0000.
Since you S-ON, Fastboot mode isn't going to help you with much that's useful. That requires S-OFF (which, of course, the root ROM would give you, if you could install it.)
The RUU would not install, I think, because it recognized that you have a newer version of the Eris already installed. This is probably a good sign, though.
I assume that you tried the hard reset of the Eris? http://www.technipages.com/hard-reset-htc-droid-eris.html
With the phone turned off, press and hold the Volume Down, Send (green phone) and Power buttons. The device will turn on. Keep holding down the keys unto you see a screen to clear storage.
Press the track ball.
Follow the instructions to complete the hard reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See if that works.
doogald said:
You don't mention if the HBOOT version is 1.49.0000, but I suspect that it is. If memory serves me well, I believe this is why the root ROM PB00IMG file will not load - it will only install over 1.46.0000 or 1.47.0000.
Since you S-ON, Fastboot mode isn't going to help you with much that's useful. That requires S-OFF (which, of course, the root ROM would give you, if you could install it.)
The RUU would not install, I think, because it recognized that you have a newer version of the Eris already installed. This is probably a good sign, though.
I assume that you tried the hard reset of the Eris?
See if that works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did as instructed and got the following:
PB00100 XC SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-1.49.0000 (PB0010000)
MICROP-0111
TOUCH PANEL-MELFAS_45_17
RADIO-2.42.01.04.27
Feb 8 2010, 00:08:56
CLEARSTORAGE
Delete all user data?
<Action>Yes
[I pressed trackball]
Clear.....
Restore NV Okay.
Done
Reboot after 5 seconds
black screen (2 seconds or so)
Restart back to 3 skating androids..that it
I'm not sure if this will work, but in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=909921
Find the PB00IMG.zip file for "[ 2.36.605.1 ] a.k.a. "Leak-V3" (or MR3/"Official" RUU)" (not the RUU, but the Eris_LeakV3_v2.36.605.1_PB00IMG.ZIP. Rename it to PB00IMG.zip, copy to the SD card, start HBOOT (hold VolDn while starting up - but I think you know how to do this already) and see if that installs. Since you have a later version on the phone already, it may not.
doogald said:
I'm not sure if this will work, but in this thread:
Find the PB00IMG.zip file for "[ 2.36.605.1 ] a.k.a. "Leak-V3" (or MR3/"Official" RUU)" (not the RUU, but the Eris_LeakV3_v2.36.605.1_PB00IMG.ZIP. Rename it to PB00IMG.zip, copy to the SD card, start HBOOT (hold VolDn while starting up - but I think you know how to do this already) and see if that installs. Since you have a later version on the phone already, it may not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like this one worked...or it got me farther than I've been before. I used the file above and got the progress bar to show up on the top left side. That's never happened before.
You were correct that the version above was too old.But there's good news. The update failed. I tried three (3) fixes:
1) Renamed the 2.36.605.1 file PB00IMG (load it on my laptop using SD adapter, then just rename it), and tried to use HBOOT. It started the blue progress bar in the top left (that's never happened for me so YAY), finished. But, when it was "Checking PB00IMG.zip", it said "Update Failed" and "Version Too Old" or something like that.
2) I tried using
#13 [ Converts 2.37.605.4 -> 2.41.605.6 ] - 5th Eris OTA
ba92bb2e5034.OTA_Desire_C_Verizon_WWE_2.41.605.6-2.37.605.4_release.zip
I renamed this file PB00IMG (did laptop rename process) and got the progress bar in the top left again, and the process finished. This time it went to "Checking PB00IMG" and finished no problem. The bar in the top left disappears, but it stays on the same screen with:
<SEND> FastBoot Mode
<VOL UP> Recovery
I didn't know what to do from here. So just pulled the battery and tried fix #3
3) Renamed the #13 File from Fix 2 above "update" (using laptop rename process). With phone off, held "VOL DWN" and "PWR" button to get into stock recovery mode. I navigated to "install sd update.zip", started it, and got this message:
E: can't open cache/recovery/command
--Install from sdcard...Finding update package...opening update package...verifying update package...installing update...file_getprop: failed to stat "/system/build.prop":No such file or directory
E:error in sdcard/update.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted
Do you think I just need a ROM file or something on the sd card too (besides just the PB00IMG file)? Or should it automatically load something after the PB00IMG status bar and check finishes?
Neither method worked, but I at least got something different. It's getting me farther than I had gotten before. So thanks for the recommendations. Ready to try your next suggestion when you get time.
Still needing help....is the tereg recovery the best shot...and how do you do that...
Cap'nO said:
Still needing help....is the tereg recovery the best shot...and how do you do that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try getting the S-OFF bootloader installed using SoSicWiTiT's RUU+"rom.zip" swap-out trick
From there, flash a custom (Amon_RA or variant) recovery to the phone (using the fastboot utility from a PC), and try a ROM install.
BTW, using OTA update files will certainly never work renamed to PB00IMG.zip, and in general they will only work from a stock recovery as "update.zip" IF and ONLY IF the phone is in good working condition and with a precise stock OS version pre-existing on the phone. They can NEVER be used to "repair" a phone, as they are "patch kits" for a specific prior release - not a full installation.
bftb0
Yeah OTA updates are typically overlays for a previous update in order to keep the size down. I think you'll see a lot of patch files which is sort of like a .diff file and patches the differences.
The RUU when decompressed with a utility like universal extractor will have a real usable zip in it.
Don't worry about the radio at this point unless you suspect you have a damaged radio firmware which you probably shouldn't mess with unless your 110% sure.
Thanks bftb0..i thought no one would get back to me. I'm going to try your solution now. Full disclosure, I read it but will need some time to decipher it. I'm a self-admitted noob, but trying to become more proficient.
Cap'nO said:
Thanks bftb0..i thought no one would get back to me. I'm going to try your solution now. Full disclosure, I read it but will need some time to decipher it. I'm a self-admitted noob, but trying to become more proficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scary_Alien posted a great step-by-step over at AndroidForums.com here: http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/440288-eris-half-brick.html#post3423263
bftb0 said:
You could try getting the S-OFF bootloader installed using SoSicWiTiT's RUU+"rom.zip" swap-out trick
From there, flash a custom (Amon_RA or variant) recovery to the phone (using the fastboot utility from a PC), and try a ROM install.
BTW, using OTA update files will certainly never work renamed to PB00IMG.zip, and in general they will only work from a stock recovery as "update.zip" IF and ONLY IF the phone is in good working condition and with a precise stock OS version pre-existing on the phone. They can NEVER be used to "repair" a phone, as they are "patch kits" for a specific prior release - not a full installation.
bftb0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may be funny, but I'm still trying to fix this thing. Trying the "swap method" you mention above. What's the exact file name (2.1) I'm using for this?
Possible solution (Troubleshooting)
Cap'nO said:
Looks like this one worked...or it got me farther than I've been before. I used the file above and got the progress bar to show up on the top left side. That's never happened before.
You were correct that the version above was too old.But there's good news. The update failed. I tried three (3) fixes:
1) Renamed the 2.36.605.1 file PB00IMG (load it on my laptop using SD adapter, then just rename it), and tried to use HBOOT. It started the blue progress bar in the top left (that's never happened for me so YAY), finished. But, when it was "Checking PB00IMG.zip", it said "Update Failed" and "Version Too Old" or something like that.
2) I tried using
#13 [ Converts 2.37.605.4 -> 2.41.605.6 ] - 5th Eris OTA
ba92bb2e5034.OTA_Desire_C_Verizon_WWE_2.41.605.6-2.37.605.4_release.zip
I renamed this file PB00IMG (did laptop rename process) and got the progress bar in the top left again, and the process finished. This time it went to "Checking PB00IMG" and finished no problem. The bar in the top left disappears, but it stays on the same screen with:
<SEND> FastBoot Mode
<VOL UP> Recovery
I didn't know what to do from here. So just pulled the battery and tried fix #3
3) Renamed the #13 File from Fix 2 above "update" (using laptop rename process). With phone off, held "VOL DWN" and "PWR" button to get into stock recovery mode. I navigated to "install sd update.zip", started it, and got this message:
E: can't open cache/recovery/command
--Install from sdcard...Finding update package...opening update package...verifying update package...installing update...file_getprop: failed to stat "/system/build.prop":No such file or directory
E:error in sdcard/update.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted
Do you think I just need a ROM file or something on the sd card too (besides just the PB00IMG file)? Or should it automatically load something after the PB00IMG status bar and check finishes?
Neither method worked, but I at least got something different. It's getting me farther than I had gotten before. So thanks for the recommendations. Ready to try your next suggestion when you get time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you get this kinda of message that the file_getprop then the update zip is corrupt. or its not compatible with the phone you are trying to mount. It took me a bit but I was able to find a good set up. Just take a breathe. If you can install from sdcard from recovery then your recovery is fine. if you can boot it up and at least get a splash screen your boot.img is right. I stress that you dont change those two if you are able to do both of those. All you need is a Good rom that is 1 compatible with your cell and 2 works with both your boot.img and recovery.img. I am guessing you forgot to backup your original settings. MIUI roms are really good and thats what i settled on.
Thanks for the reply. I actually got the phone working. Took a while but yes, the ROM was corrupt. And yup, it wax never backed up and was stock in the loop.
Not anymore
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app
Did my best to avoid having to ask for help, but looks like I've run out of ideas. I've got a 7840 that currently refuses to boot past the recovery screen, thanks (probably) to my own incompetence. Here's what happened along the way to this point:
First, probably important to note: my tablet is a Chinese-released 7840 running 5.0.2 Lollipop. The hardware is identical from what I can tell, but the software was definitely a bit tweaked as there were no Google services installed. (And sideloading any of the Google services always failed no matter how I went about it.) This is basically why I decided to start messing around with things.
Attempted to load the developer firmware. Wound up in the dreaded "Intel Inside" bootloop, but thanks to @xBIGREDDx and his unbrick.zip (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60663442&postcount=2) I was able to return to normal booting. No matter how many times I attempted to flash the open source firmware, I always got stuck in the bootloop and had to flash the unbrick.zip to be able to do anything. No ability to exit the bootloop in order to reach the bootloader meant this was a big impasse.
I then decided to use the tethered CWM method to root the device for the purposes of giving sideloading the Play Store another try. That worked just fine and I was able to root my 7840 without a hitch. I then created a nandroid backup (which suspiciously didn't generate an MD5 file) in case I managed to really screw things up trying to sideload the Google Services.
That's when I thought wiping and recovering the 4.4.4 Kit Kat nandroid backup might be a good idea. This of course didn't work, so I wiped and restored my own 5.0.2 backup. However, at this point things wouldn't boot no matter what I did. I would see the boot screen with the Dell logo and the Lollipop-style ANDROID text, but after a couple of minutes everything would reboot and after a couple of tries the device would boot to recovery and just sit.
After fiddling around with trying different restore methods, I decided to see if I could flash the developer firmware to no avail. (Unable to write to OSIP, security error, etc.) Then I gave @anggusss's 5.0.1 OTA update.zip a try. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60632439&postcount=21) That gave me a different error:
"Can't install this package (Fri Apr 24 13:29:34 CST 2015) over newer build (Fri Apr 24 13:58:18 CST 2015)."
Frustrating to see that a build a half hour newer might be all I need. So, if any of you happen to have captured the 5.0.2 OTA build (or can help me tweak the 5.0.1 build to report itself as newer), would you mind giving me a hand? Would be most appreciative. I've written to Dell open-source support but don't expect to hear back for another week or so. It'd be nice to not be using the Venue as a paperweight for a week.
wirebook said:
No matter how many times I attempted to flash the open source firmware, I always got stuck in the bootloop and had to flash the unbrick.zip to be able to do anything. No ability to exit the bootloop in order to reach the bootloader meant this was a big impasse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of interest, how was the tablet booted when you flashed the unbrick.zip (did you volup + power or just regular boot?) ?
Going back to the open-source firmware won't help, because they 4.x to 5.x transition included a re-partitioning, and the bootloader in the 4.x firmware doesn't understand the new partition scheme.
If you boot with the vol. down key held, do you get into fastboot mode? If you can, then you should be able to flash a system image and boot image. I have those pulled from my device; I can post them for you to try later tonight.
anggusss said:
Out of interest, how was the tablet booted when you flashed the unbrick.zip (did you volup + power or just regular boot?) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never gotten vol. up + power to do anything, is that normal? Only vol. down + power, and that'll get me into fastboot mode.
xBIGREDDx said:
Going back to the open-source firmware won't help, because they 4.x to 5.x transition included a re-partitioning, and the bootloader in the 4.x firmware doesn't understand the new partition scheme.
If you boot with the vol. down key held, do you get into fastboot mode? If you can, then you should be able to flash a system image and boot image. I have those pulled from my device; I can post them for you to try later tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, well this sounds like it's my problem, then. If you can get those images to me to try I'd be most appreciative! Should be able to give it a shot as I'm still able to get into fastboot.
wirebook said:
Ah, well this sounds like it's my problem, then. If you can get those images to me to try I'd be most appreciative! Should be able to give it a shot as I'm still able to get into fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
system.img
This is inside a .zip file because I don't know how to get only the important bits, so I got the whole /system partition. Just unzip then 'fastboot flash system system.img'
boot.img
This is straight from the OTA zip.
You will be pre-rooted. Let me know if this goes well. :good:
xBIGREDDx said:
system.img
This is inside a .zip file because I don't know how to get only the important bits, so I got the whole /system partition. Just unzip then 'fastboot flash system system.img'
boot.img
This is straight from the OTA zip.
You will be pre-rooted. Let me know if this goes well. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for those! Flashed both boot and system, though the system gave me some sort of error on my machine ("Invalid sparse file format at header magi") and then continued to flash something ("sending sparse 'system'"). I saw the red text of some sort of error on the tablet but wasn't able to read it fast enough. The system flash did seem a bit suspiciously fast, though...
Anyway, now waiting to see if anything boots. Been sitting on the Dell/Powered By Android screen for a couple of minutes, though, so if nothing else it looks like I've at least found myself in a new place. Will try reflashing if no improvement and then get back with results!
Sorry if this is considered spamming my own thread, but didn't seem right to just edit my earlier post.
Couldn't get the system image to flash. First got the error about needing to flash as a sparse system, which seemed to be fine. But when the device tried to write the sparse chunk to the partition, it threw an error. ("remote: flash_cmds error!") Thought this might've been a bug of my particular version of adb/fastboot, but updating or trying a different version didn't work any better. In fact, things got worse as I can't even run fastboot on my machine (Windows) anymore without the program crashing on me.
Jumped over onto my Mac and things seemed to be going better, but no progress was made. Still threw that error whenever it came time to write that first sparse chunk. Might my partition table be totally out of whack? (If so, how do I go about fixing it without easy access to an adb shell?)
In other news, I realized the back of the tab has "Venue 8 784001" engraved on it, so there might be hardware / bootloader changes that I can't beat...
Well, I'm not 100% sure it's going to be able to flash the system.img correctly, I thought I could just pull it from my device and it would flash fine, but apparently not. It would be interesting to see what your partition table looks like, but I don't know of a way to get that without having a root shell.
If you have a hex editor or know how to use dd, try chopping off like 200 MB from the end of the image (I think it's all zeroes for at least that much) and see if it flashes then.
If you don't know how to do that, I could upload a modified image for you.
xBIGREDDx said:
Well, I'm not 100% sure it's going to be able to flash the system.img correctly, I thought I could just pull it from my device and it would flash fine, but apparently not. It would be interesting to see what your partition table looks like, but I don't know of a way to get that without having a root shell.
If you have a hex editor or know how to use dd, try chopping off like 200 MB from the end of the image (I think it's all zeroes for at least that much) and see if it flashes then.
If you don't know how to do that, I could upload a modified image for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wirebook said:
Sorry if this is considered spamming my own thread, but didn't seem right to just edit my earlier post.
Couldn't get the system image to flash. First got the error about needing to flash as a sparse system, which seemed to be fine. But when the device tried to write the sparse chunk to the partition, it threw an error. ("remote: flash_cmds error!") Thought this might've been a bug of my particular version of adb/fastboot, but updating or trying a different version didn't work any better. In fact, things got worse as I can't even run fastboot on my machine (Windows) anymore without the program crashing on me.
Jumped over onto my Mac and things seemed to be going better, but no progress was made. Still threw that error whenever it came time to write that first sparse chunk. Might my partition table be totally out of whack? (If so, how do I go about fixing it without easy access to an adb shell?)
In other news, I realized the back of the tab has "Venue 8 784001" engraved on it, so there might be hardware / bootloader changes that I can't beat...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you dump an image is raw.ext4 it has to be converted to sparse image format for android 5.0.2
social-design-concepts said:
When you dump an image is raw.ext4 it has to be converted to sparse image format for android 5.0.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I found the source for img2simg but it won't do me much good... you wouldn't happen to have a pre-built tool handy would you?
xBIGREDDx said:
Well I found the source for img2simg but it won't do me much good... you wouldn't happen to have a pre-built tool handy would you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the image you passed me already employed some kind of compression on it, as I was getting errors about an invalid sparse data header or something like that. (The size on the disk was also less than the reported image size.) Unfortunately I'm unable to mount or convert it on any of my machines so I'm a bit useless.
Thanks everyone for all the help you've been, by the way!
wirebook said:
I think the image you passed me already employed some kind of compression on it, as I was getting errors about an invalid sparse data header or something like that. (The size on the disk was also less than the reported image size.) Unfortunately I'm unable to mount or convert it on any of my machines so I'm a bit useless.
Thanks everyone for all the help you've been, by the way!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just a dump straight from my system partition. I don't have my tablet with me so I'm not certain on file paths but essentially I did:
dd if=/dev/block/by-name/system of=/storage/sdcard1/system.img
So it's a raw dump of the system partition, whatever happened to be in there.
I think the fastboot command tries to sparse things on its own, but fails?
If you want to try re-partitioning (could be dangerous, could be harmless), try these commands with the partition file from the OTA package:
EDIT: For anyone else coming along, don't do this, it didn't work out well for wirebrook. /EDIT
Code:
fastboot oem start_partitioning
fastboot flash /tmp/partition.tbl kk2lp_partition.tbl
fastboot oem partition /tmp/partition.tbl
fastboot erase system
fastboot erase cache
fastboot oem stop_partitioning
You may also want to erase data while you're in there.
xBIGREDDx said:
It's just a dump straight from my system partition. I don't have my tablet with me so I'm not certain on file paths but essentially I did:
dd if=/dev/block/by-name/system of=/storage/sdcard1/system.img
So it's a raw dump of the system partition, whatever happened to be in there.
I think the fastboot command tries to sparse things on its own, but fails?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That must be what's happening. I'll fiddle with things a bit more later on. It's a bummer there aren't any custom ROMs I could simply flash as an alternative to getting stock up and running...
xBIGREDDx said:
Well I found the source for img2simg but it won't do me much good... you wouldn't happen to have a pre-built tool handy would you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xBIGREDDx said:
It's just a dump straight from my system partition. I don't have my tablet with me so I'm not certain on file paths but essentially I did:
dd if=/dev/block/by-name/system of=/storage/sdcard1/system.img
So it's a raw dump of the system partition, whatever happened to be in there.
I think the fastboot command tries to sparse things on its own, but fails?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's looking for the sparse magic header that's not there I can when I get home you could also try to use 7zip to compress it to a .gz but I believe Intel stopped support for that format in 4.4.4.
I'm at work I have it at home if your on Linux and want to convert it.
social-design-concepts said:
It's looking for the sparse magic header that's not there I can when I get home you could also try to use 7zip to compress it to a .gz but I believe Intel stopped support for that format in 4.4.4.
I'm at work I have it at home if your on Linux and want to convert it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure this'll be useful for me any more because... (see below)
xBIGREDDx said:
If you want to try re-partitioning (could be dangerous, could be harmless), try these commands with the partition file from the OTA package:
Code:
fastboot oem start_partitioning
fastboot flash /tmp/partition.tbl kk2lp_partition.tbl
fastboot oem partition /tmp/partition.tbl
fastboot erase system
fastboot erase cache
fastboot oem stop_partitioning
You may also want to erase data while you're in there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gave this a shot and partitioning seemed to work just fine. Flashing the OTA boot.img worked just fine, and attempting to flash your system.img once again threw an error at me. Thought I'd perform a reboot at this point (bad idea!) to see what I was working with and then I found myself with @anggusss' USB screen. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60675581&postcount=5) Probably should've tried flashing a something else just to see if that did anything.
Guessing I've now got a brick, because I'm no longer able to get it to register with Fastboot. I can, however, flash the open-source firmware and the unbrick.zip firmware, which reacts exactly like when @anggusss did it. We'll have to see if Dell ever gets back to my original query for help, otherwise might have to look into contacting Dell for a replacement.
You might have better luck, just using one of the tethered TWRP recoveries, If someone with a working system backups up system via TWRP recovery and shares it you could use the TWRP recovery to restore it.
I have Linux version tethered TWRP up and SDC has Windows version of tethered TWRP up.
Linux version
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075
Windows Version
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096
vampirefo said:
You might have better luck, just using one of the tethered TWRP recoveries, If someone with a working system backups up system via TWRP recovery and shares it you could use the TWRP recovery to restore it.
I have Linux version tethered TWRP up and SDC has Windows version of tethered TWRP up.
Linux version
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/linux-version-twrp-2-8-6-0-tethered-t3123075
Windows Version
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the thought, but if I can't get into Fastboot mode (or get the computer to recognize the device as being in Fastboot mode)... kinda unable to use it.
wirebook said:
Gave this a shot and partitioning seemed to work just fine. Flashing the OTA boot.img worked just fine, and attempting to flash your system.img once again threw an error at me. Thought I'd perform a reboot at this point (bad idea!) to see what I was working with and then I found myself with @anggusss' USB screen. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60675581&postcount=5) Probably should've tried flashing a something else just to see if that did anything.
Guessing I've now got a brick, because I'm no longer able to get it to register with Fastboot. I can, however, flash the open-source firmware and the unbrick.zip firmware, which reacts exactly like when @anggusss did it. We'll have to see if Dell ever gets back to my original query for help, otherwise might have to look into contacting Dell for a replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh man, sad to hear, I've done that successfully in the past, they must have changed something in the process. I check just about every day for an update to the dev. firmware. Last time around it took them just over two months from release, so maybe, end of June?
xBIGREDDx said:
Oh man, sad to hear, I've done that successfully in the past, they must have changed something in the process. I check just about every day for an update to the dev. firmware. Last time around it took them just over two months from release, so maybe, end of June?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fingers shall stay crossed till the end of the month, then! Contacted Dell Support and- just as I predicted- they don't want to help out. Something about being unable to do anything at all for Dell products purchased outside of their support areas (US and Canada). What a joy of a phone call that was...
An internet search landed me on guides for unbricking the Asus Zenfone displaying a similar USB symbol. They used the xFSTK Downloader to flash a set of files which then gave them renewed access to the bootloader (and thus fastboot). Played around with the xFSTK-Downloader and Manufacturing Flash Tool apps and can see the 7840 and even flash the (open-source and unbrick.zip) firmware, however I'm at a loss for what I might use for the Operating System flash files. Anybody have any thoughts?
Feel like I'm so close to getting this thing unbricked. If I could just figure out where to find the .bin "OS Image" that the tool wants...
Edit: Would also need the droidboot binary. FIngers crossed for Dell to release all of this soon...
I have the LG v10 from T-Mobile. I bought the phone a few weeks ago and it had Marshmallow installed. Somehow I managed to install TWRP/SuperSU, but then had issues and flashed the official/stock MM image with LGUP. Afterwards I discovered that MM for this device is not currently rootable, and TWRP cant be flashed via fastboot because MM blocks it. So I returned the device to T-Mo store, lied and said it force-upgrade to MM and had began freezing up. They did an in-store trade for an identical model that had 5.1.1 Lollipop.
The device is currently still in factory condition in every way, with the exceptions that I unlocked the bootloader via fastboot and installed TWRP. Nothing else is modified yet and no custom ROMs have been flashed.
I recently became aware that there is no stock LP image for the T-Mo v10, only MM images are available. After all the issues I've had, I'm now paranoid and want to have a complete dump of the phone's entire contents (partitions, bootloader, system, etc) that is in KDZ or TOT format, and can be reflashed with the standard tools available. Since there is nothing official then I would have to do this myself. This would be useful in the event that I run into lots of issues and need to do a emergency stock restore.
I found a thread by XDA user @tungkick, in which he created a modified dump of the device while it was running LP. However, because it was unofficial and he didn't disclose this upfront, his thread was shut down. His file bricked multiple MM users. I assume it would work if one was still on LP and hadn't upgraded to MM. Not to mention that I cant seem to find his file anywhere. So I figure the safest way is to do this myself. I would be willing to make this file available to the community when finished, with full disclosure that it is unofficial. But the problem is, I don't know how.
I know that the Linux dd command can be used to dump images of various things, and I have read that this can be done on PC by connecting to the device via ADB or fastboot. This would hopefully result in an image file that contained the contents of all the device's partitions.
But another issue would be converting it to KDZ or TOT. And it would have to be done in such a way that it would be flashable with the standard tools.
Can someone please give me a technical understanding of the tools and knowledge I would need to undertake this? Would it be too complicated for someone like myself that has little Android/Linux experience (but is generally competent with computers/technology)?
Thanks for any advice!
Noone can help me with this?
To the mods/admins: I think maybe I posted this in an area where it is unlikely to get any useful answers. Can someone move the thread to the Help& Troubleshooting area of the general LG v10 forum (not here in the T-Mobile subforum)? Thanks!
I think it's just that if that could. have been done someone would have done it already. Even tungkick didn't make one for tmobile for some reason. I think because he made his root injected files from official lg files and lg has not released a kdz or tot for tmobile LP.
Just my observation... I could be wrong.
Sent from my pretty nifty brand new LG V10
@ planetbeen: I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. Linux's dd program can dump almost any connected device that it can see. But then it needs to be converted into a standard TOT/KDZ that can be flashed with any standard software. Which is why I want to create an unofficial backup of the entire phone before modifying it further, so I can do an emergency restore if necessary. I just need the right instructions from people who have the technical expertise.
I had trouble with my old LG v10, I had used LG's LGUP program to flash it to Marshmallow from my PC, only to realize that it couldn't be rooted or have a custom recovery. And I also discovered that I couldn't downgrade to Lollipop. So I returned the phone to the store and exchanged it for an identical model that still had LP. I just told them it had auto-upgraded to MM and started crashing. They exchanged, no questions. Before this I had various issues, like GPS crashing randomly when turning it on, Bluetooth also doing the same thing, and the Settings app also crashed sometimes when accessing the Security menu. I had flashed multiple ROMs, but stock-based and CM/AOSP-based, but kept running into issues, oftentimes the same ones. So I figured that something in the phone had become corrupt and figured that flashing stock MM would fix everything. Big mistake. I'll never let this phone upgrade again until MM is solidly hacked, which from what I've read may be a long time away. I paid enough for this phone and I really value hackability. I'm not the average Joe that just uses my phone for Facebook, etc. To me, if a phone cant be hacked, then buying/owning it is a waste of time/money. Same thing with every computer/electronics device I've ever owned.
Thanks again!
It looks like I'm going to have problems getting answers from knowledgable people, so instead of waiting, I'm going to take a little initiative and at least try to do the dump with dd. I found a post by @tungkick that says to enable USB debugging and make a backup file via dd with the 'adb shell' and 'su' commands. Is the following syntax correct?
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/H901.bin bs=1024 count=6291456
Do I run these commands from a PC via command line while connected via USB? Or directly on the device in a terminal emulator? Or do I need to run the command while in fastboot/bootloader mode, while Android is powered down?
Thanks again!
Stock use tool extract kdz then choose file dz (use lgup)
remember can not flash if phone update 6.0
Never downgrade because phone brick now.
version 5.1.1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Hol5T47S-bQkJVemgzMDV0Nzg/view?usp=sharing
@ tungkick: Thanks for the info. I had used the dd command to dump my phone to external SD before, but the file was 6GB! I was unable to use Tool KDZ Extract to extract the *.dz from the *.kdz file you provided. I was able to flash your KDZ with LGUP, but it boots me into TWRP recovery near the end.
Do you mind if I publicly distribute a mirror copy of your file on my Dropbox, so that it will be available to others that need the stock LP firmware for this device?
Thanks again!
I just wanted to say that flashing your KDZ has possibly screwed up my device permanently. Your image has TWRP, not the stock recovery, and is pre-rooted with SuperSU. Normally this would be good but...............
Near the end of LGUP, the device boots into TWRP. System and MicroSD are mounted, but nothing else (data, cache, dalvik, etc). I was able to obtain a stock recovery *.img, then copied it over to my MicroSD while in recovery. Then I flashed it, booted the phone into stock recovery, and performed a factory reset. Afterwards I booted into system, and all looked good, until it got to the "Checking connection" screen, then a lot of apps started force-closing repeatedly. Because of this I can't get to the Home screen, and no amount of factory reset is working. It just keeps happening over and over again.
How to get out of this mess, anyone?
Help please!!!
Still looking for a solution and would really appreciate any help!
My theory is that the /cache and /data partitions somehow got corrupted during the flash. So I tried booting into FastBoot mode and issueing the commands:
fastboot erase cache
fastboot format cache
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot format userdata
It just says something something along the lines of "remote: cant format/erase in an unlocked state". If I relock the bootloader, it says that it cant erase/format in a locked state.
TWRP still cant read those partitions (they won't mount and cant be mounted), and the apps still start force-closing almost immediately after rebooting into system, before I can complete the setup, preventing me from getting to the home screen.
@ tungkick: Is there any possibility we can arrange a TeamViewer meeting to fix this?
Thanks!
I picked up a G Pad during the free promo. Used it for a couple months, then for various reasons turned off the data plan and tossed it in a drawer. Pulled it out to gift to a friend who thinks rooting is part of gardening, and since I was running rooted stock (there were no ROMs for it last I used it) I wanted to revert it to stock. Factory reset went fine, but since it was still on a very old system and wouldn't take factory updates with TWRP I tried to fully restore stock with LGUP and the kdz I used to root. Flash seemed to go fine but then it wouldn't boot past TWRP. Various fiddling revealed that all partitions are at 0 size, adb only sometimes recognizes it when in TWRP, inserting a USB drive does show it normally and I can try to install a ROM from there but it will fail, and reboot bootloader does take it to fastboot. Formatting partitions fails. I've spent the last week trying to resurrect it, and my friend has given up and gotten herself a Galaxy tab, so I don't care what I get on it as long as it runs.
Tl;dr out of practice, tried to flash from memory and old files, now TWRP sees my partitions as 0 mb and I can't boot to system. Help?
pikacane said:
I picked up a G Pad during the free promo. Used it for a couple months, then for various reasons turned off the data plan and tossed it in a drawer. Pulled it out to gift to a friend who thinks rooting is part of gardening, and since I was running rooted stock (there were no ROMs for it last I used it) I wanted to revert it to stock. Factory reset went fine, but since it was still on a very old system and wouldn't take factory updates with TWRP I tried to fully restore stock with LGUP and the kdz I used to root. Flash seemed to go fine but then it wouldn't boot past TWRP. Various fiddling revealed that all partitions are at 0 size, adb only sometimes recognizes it when in TWRP, inserting a USB drive does show it normally and I can try to install a ROM from there but it will fail, and reboot bootloader does take it to fastboot. Formatting partitions fails. I've spent the last week trying to resurrect it, and my friend has given up and gotten herself a Galaxy tab, so I don't care what I get on it as long as it runs.
Tl;dr out of practice, tried to flash from memory and old files, now TWRP sees my partitions as 0 mb and I can't boot to system. Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried wiping data? The kind that asks you to swipe "yes". That has worked for me before when twrp is unable to mount system.
Or just reboot bootloader and kdz 20f.
I've wiped data a number of times, no luck. I'm trying to flash a kdz, but LGUP doesn't recognize the device and the flash tool doesn't seem to either although it's much harder to tell (it also gives me a zillion Milky Way error pop-ups). It tells me "(S) failed to load." Is there a way to flash a kdz with fastboot that I've missed?
pikacane said:
I've wiped data a number of times, no luck. I'm trying to flash a kdz, but LGUP doesn't recognize the device and the flash tool doesn't seem to either although it's much harder to tell (it also gives me a zillion Milky Way error pop-ups). It tells me "(S) failed to load." Is there a way to flash a kdz with fastboot that I've missed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this page https://forum.xda-developers.com/g-...-v521-guide-to-update-v521-lg-t3533338/page28
pikacane said:
I picked up a G Pad during the free promo. Used it for a couple months, then for various reasons turned off the data plan and tossed it in a drawer. Pulled it out to gift to a friend who thinks rooting is part of gardening, and since I was running rooted stock (there were no ROMs for it last I used it) I wanted to revert it to stock. Factory reset went fine, but since it was still on a very old system and wouldn't take factory updates with TWRP I tried to fully restore stock with LGUP and the kdz I used to root. Flash seemed to go fine but then it wouldn't boot past TWRP. Various fiddling revealed that all partitions are at 0 size, adb only sometimes recognizes it when in TWRP, inserting a USB drive does show it normally and I can try to install a ROM from there but it will fail, and reboot bootloader does take it to fastboot. Formatting partitions fails. I've spent the last week trying to resurrect it, and my friend has given up and gotten herself a Galaxy tab, so I don't care what I get on it as long as it runs.
Tl;dr out of practice, tried to flash from memory and old files, now TWRP sees my partitions as 0 mb and I can't boot to system. Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this is the same problem I was just now having and solved. But here... https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=70851933&postcount=39 Hopefully, its the same issue as mine and works for you.
Were you able to solve this issue? I'm having the same problem. I've tried the dd commands and both say "Not enough space" probably because the internal storage is showing 0MB. I've attempted a change of drivers, but in Windows, it's being identified as "Android Composite ADB Interface" and LGUP through uppercut won't recognize it. I posted a new thread before finding this one here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/g-pad-x-80/help/internal-storage-mounting-t3835972
---------- Post added at 01:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 PM ----------
Figured it out thanks to @cookiemonster79!
hi all,
i'm somewhat nervously attempting to root my moto edge 20 fusion, and i have a few questions please.
my most recent experience with rooting a phone was an older moto phone about 5 years ago, which i managed with the help of these forums (as a lurker).
anyway, my edge 20 fusion bootloader is already unlocked. this is confirmed with 'fastboot getvar all' showing 'securestate: flashing_unlocked'.
the phone is booting fine and running fine with the stock rom. android 11, security patch 2022-01-01, software channel retapac, build number RRKS31.Q3-19-97-3.
after reading as much as i could find in the forums here, i've made this pastiche of notes below and added my questions to it:
step 1: obtain the boot.img
- i have obtained a boot.img (size 41,943,040 bytes, last modified 2021-12-30) from the unzipped 'stockrom.net_KYOTO_RETAIL_RRKS31.Q3-19-97-3_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml' (2022-01-21 version downloaded from https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=17825722713688274049) is that the right file i need?
- does the region of the retail rom above matter for this rooting process? i'm not sure how to determine the region of that rom from that website or from the files themselves. i'm in australia using a locally bought variant of edge 20 fusion, if it matters.
i also found this comment: 'find boot.img under "C:\ProgramData\LMSA\Download\RomFiles\" or "C:\ProgramData\RSA\Download\RomFiles\"'
- i'm guessing i don't need to worry about that since i already have a boot.img file from the previous step? although i'm also wondering if this means i should have the LMSA software tool installed already, or if it means i will need to use it somewhere along the rooting process?
step 2: install magisk
- do i just follow this guide? https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html
- which version of magisk should i install? i'd heard that some of the newer versions don't have the hide function anymore, is there a recommended version number to use in order to best pass safetynet?
- should i install magisk on the phone itself or should i add an sd card first and install it on that?
- i'm guessing the magisk home screen once installed should read "ramdisk: yes"?
- looking inside the stock rom zip where i found the boot.img i can also see vbmeta.img, although it's only 4kb in size. does that mean i should also patch the vbmeta partition as per the magisk install guide?
step 3: patch boot.img with magisk on the edge 20 fusion
- should i check the "patch vbmeta in boot image" or not?
step 4: copy the 'magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img' to the pc via adb
- do i do this while still loaded in the android OS? or do i reboot to fastboot to do this?
- should i backup anything at this point to help with rescue / restoring later on if something goes wrong? i remember from rooting an old moto phone that i needed to back up the 'persist' folder as it would be very hard to recover from a mistake without it.
- will the next step cause any data loss from formatting, similar to how unlocking the bootloader does?
step 5: flash to boot_a and boot_b in fastboot
'fastboot flash boot_a magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img'
'fastboot flash boot_b magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img'
'fastboot reboot'
- is it the exact same file that gets flashed to both boot_a and boot_b, without any changes at all? just like a mirrored backup?
and then it should all be done, right? after that it's only setting up magisk from within android OS to be hidden, and enable zygisk, and check safetynet?
sorry for all the questions, i know most of these answers will probably seem obvious to many others here but i just want to be on the safe side. maybe it will help some others too who like me aren't as experienced! with my last phone 5 years ago i didn't do the magisk setup correctly, and google pay would not work. hoping to learn from my mistakes.
p.s. the above info all mostly came from these threads:
Great Device for the price (Root Acheived too)
Hey All, had this device for a week now - and I am quite impressed. I was finally able to allow OEM Unlocking in Developer settings after 3 long days, during which; I requested my unlock code found my firmware to download online, from where I...
forum.xda-developers.com
Root Possibilities? - What has been tried and tested...
Hi All. Yesterday I bought this thing and as with everything, I immediately attempted to begin rooting the damn thing. Update: 6th of November 2021 I re-enabled Developer Options and OEM Unlocking became selectable. Don't know how. NOTE #1...
forum.xda-developers.com
and @sd_shadow 's thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-unlocked-bootloader-non-twrp-method.4222583/
trevtdogg said:
hi all,
i'm somewhat nervously attempting to root my moto edge 20 fusion, and i have a few questions please.
my most recent experience with rooting a phone was an older moto phone about 5 years ago, which i managed with the help of these forums (as a lurker).
anyway, my edge 20 fusion bootloader is already unlocked. this is confirmed with 'fastboot getvar all' showing 'securestate: flashing_unlocked'.
the phone is booting fine and running fine with the stock rom. android 11, security patch 2022-01-01, software channel retapac, build number RRKS31.Q3-19-97-3.
after reading as much as i could find in the forums here, i've made this pastiche of notes below and added my questions to it:
step 1: obtain the boot.img
- i have obtained a boot.img (size 41,943,040 bytes, last modified 2021-12-30) from the unzipped 'stockrom.net_KYOTO_RETAIL_RRKS31.Q3-19-97-3_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml' (2022-01-21 version downloaded from https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=17825722713688274049) is that the right file i need?
- does the region of the retail rom above matter for this rooting process? i'm not sure how to determine the region of that rom from that website or from the files themselves. i'm in australia using a locally bought variant of edge 20 fusion, if it matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The boot.img needs to be the exact same that's currently on the device.
Same Device Model #, Codename, and Software Channel.
The safest way to do this is to Use LMSA's flash rescue option
Flash the firmware with LMSA, then find the boot.img and patch it with Magisk.
trevtdogg said:
i also found this comment: 'find boot.img under "C:\ProgramData\LMSA\Download\RomFiles\" or "C:\ProgramData\RSA\Download\RomFiles\"'
- i'm guessing i don't need to worry about that since i already have a boot.img file from the previous step? although i'm also wondering if this means i should have the LMSA software tool installed already, or if it means i will need to use it somewhere along the rooting process?
step 2: install magisk
- do i just follow this guide? https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html
- which version of magisk should i install? i'd heard that some of the newer versions don't have the hide function anymore, is there a recommended version number to use in order to best pass safetynet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are other Hide Mods for Magisk, just use the current version of the app.
trevtdogg said:
- should i install magisk on the phone itself or should i add an sd card first and install it on that?
- i'm guessing the magisk home screen once installed should read "ramdisk: yes"?
- looking inside the stock rom zip where i found the boot.img i can also see vbmeta.img, although it's only 4kb in size. does that mean i should also patch the vbmeta partition as per the magisk install guide?
step 3: patch boot.img with magisk on the edge 20 fusion
- should i check the "patch vbmeta in boot image" or not?
step 4: copy the 'magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img' to the pc via adb
- do i do this while still loaded in the android OS? or do i reboot to fastboot to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The patched boot.img will just on the device like other user files, just make a note of the name and location.
Connect the device to the PC and look for it with file explorer.
trevtdogg said:
- should i backup anything at this point to help with rescue / restoring later on if something goes wrong? i remember from rooting an old moto phone that i needed to back up the 'persist' folder as it would be very hard to recover from a mistake without it.
- will the next step cause any data loss from formatting, similar to how unlocking the bootloader does?
step 5: flash to boot_a and boot_b in fastboot
'fastboot flash boot_a magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img'
'fastboot flash boot_b magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img'
'fastboot reboot'
- is it the exact same file that gets flashed to both boot_a and boot_b, without any changes at all? just like a mirrored backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
trevtdogg said:
and then it should all be done, right? after that it's only setting up magisk from within android OS to be hidden, and enable zygisk, and check safetynet?
sorry for all the questions, i know most of these answers will probably seem obvious to many others here but i just want to be on the safe side. maybe it will help some others too who like me aren't as experienced! with my last phone 5 years ago i didn't do the magisk setup correctly, and google pay would not work. hoping to learn from my mistakes.
p.s. the above info all mostly came from these threads:
Great Device for the price (Root Acheived too)
Hey All, had this device for a week now - and I am quite impressed. I was finally able to allow OEM Unlocking in Developer settings after 3 long days, during which; I requested my unlock code found my firmware to download online, from where I...
forum.xda-developers.com
Root Possibilities? - What has been tried and tested...
Hi All. Yesterday I bought this thing and as with everything, I immediately attempted to begin rooting the damn thing. Update: 6th of November 2021 I re-enabled Developer Options and OEM Unlocking became selectable. Don't know how. NOTE #1...
forum.xda-developers.com
and @sd_shadow 's thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-unlocked-bootloader-non-twrp-method.4222583/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for the reply and answers!
sd_shadow said:
The safest way to do this is to Use LMSA's flash rescue option
Flash the firmware with LMSA, then find the boot.img and patch it with Magisk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm doing this now. just to check, i'm assuming i don't really need to flash the firmware to my phone at this step... did you mean instead just download it using the rescue option, get the boot.img to patch from the rom that way and then continue - without flashing my phone?
trevtdogg said:
thank you for the reply and answers!
i'm doing this now. just to check, i'm assuming i don't really need to flash the firmware to my phone at this step... did you mean instead just download it using the rescue option, get the boot.img to patch from the rom that way and then continue - without flashing my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The biggest issue with rooting moto devices with a patched boot.img is a mismatched boot.img.
The easiest way to avoid that is just by flashing the full firmware before flashing the patched boot.img
It's not required, if you have the correct boot.img, but it's pretty easy to use the wrong version.
i understand.
so i just used the LMSA rescue option to download the correct rom, edited the flashfile.xml to take out the erase userdata option, flashed the firmware. LMSA said success, phone rebooted by itself, but is stuck in bootloop.
should i try flashing it again with the erase userdata back in? but i can't remember exactly which line it was, either before or after the erase metadata line i think...
edit - i ran a getvar all and compared it to the one i saved from before i flashed the rom. the only differences i can see are:
old-
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: yes
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: yes
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: Yes
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: Yes
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: 1
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: 1
now-
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: no
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: no
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: No
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: Yes
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: 0
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: 6
does that help work out what happened?
edit 2 - tried it again with erase userdata added after erase metadata, still got boot loop after successful flash. getvar now shows this:
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: no
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: no
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: Yes
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: Yes
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: 2
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: 7
edit 3 - tried a third time with erase userdata before erase metadata, and it worked! booted fine. getvar shows this now:
(bootloader) slot-successful:_a: yes
(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: no
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_a: Yes
(bootloader) slot-bootable:_b: Yes
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_a: 1
(bootloader) slot-retry-count:_b: 7
does the parts not yet restored to the original settings mean i still need to flash it 'properly'?
not sure if erase userdata position or inclusion had anything to do with it or not, maybe it just wasn't properly flashing and had some files not copied properly?
maybe i should get a new pc data cable? the phone didn't come with one (only came with a usb-c to usb-c cable), so i'm using a pc to usb-c cable that came with some bluetooth headphones for charging them.
edit 4 - bought a new cable, re-flashed it, same result as in edit 3. it boots and appears to run fine, but 'fastboot getvar all' still shows '(bootloader) slot-successful:_b: no".
despite slot b showing unsuccessful in 'fastboot getvar all' (though still bootable), and with no further warnings or advice from others here, i went ahead with the steps and rooted with magisk.
all done! google pay looks like it will work (i'll test it later today) worked, and YASNAC shows all tests passing
slot b still shows the error as above on fastboot, but the phone appears to be working fine. i followed this guide for setting up magisk and it worked great! https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/discussion-magisk-the-age-of-zygisk.4393877/post-86321923
thank you @zgfg, @sd_shadow, @CFKod, @TakaSZK, and @AshleyJackson your posts helped a lot! and hopefully this all might help other inexperienced people like me who try to do the same.
a magisk update has come out, 25.1 (i'm still on 24.3).
are there any special steps i need to take to safely update magisk while rooted, or do i just press the big update button and follow the prompts?