P20 Lite bricked, no eRecovery - Huawei P20 Lite Questions & Answers

Hi,
Yesterday while I was browsing normally, the phone suddenly froze and I couldn't do anything, not even turn off the screen. Then after like 3 mins the screen went blank. (it was turned on, but blank)
Some background,
this problem with the screen happened a few times before, at first it would happen randomly when trying to turn on the screen, it would turn on, be blank, flash a few times and turn off again, but a reboot would fix it. This happened like once a month.
Then it stopped happening when trying to turn on the screen, instead it started happening everytime I try to reboot. The Huawei logo and animation would show, but instead of showing the lockscreen it would again be blank, flash and turn off. It would be back to normal after a few hrs and/or after a reboot or two.
THEN the only thing that changed is that it would be blank even when booting up. The Huawei logo wouldn't show up.
However, the phone worked, sometimes the screen, instead of flashing, would stay turned on then dim down and turn off like it would normally do on the lockscreen. The touchscreen also worked because I managed one time to shut the phone down. I would also hear that startup sound after rebooting. At this point I thought it's a hardware issue, something with the display.
Now back to what happened yesterday, I think I rebooted the phone some time after it went blank, but now I couldn't hear the startup sound anymore, and I still couldn't turn off the screen.
I left it like that until the battery died, then when I plugged the charger the red led turned on, I waited for it to charge a bit, then when I tried to turn it on the red led started flashing. And maybe I'm paranoid but the flashing was a bit off, it wasn't the normal flashing you get when you have a notification for example.
I was tired so I went to sleep and left it like that overnight.
In the morning the screen was still blank, the red led was still flashing, and after I rebooted the screen went back to normal and I finally saw that the phone is stuck on this screen:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(image taken from a yt video)
I tried Power + Volume Up to try to go into recovery, it didn't work. It just reboots and stays stuck on that screen. Actually the only thing that worked was going into fastboot. (with Power + Volume Down)
The bootloader and FRP are both locked.
Some info from fastboot:
Code:
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot oem get-build-number
(bootloader) :ANE-LX1 9.1.0.401(C432E13R1P7)
OKAY [ 0.006s]
Finished. Total time: 0.007s
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot oem get-product-model
(bootloader) ANE-LX1
OKAY [ 0.007s]
Finished. Total time: 0.008s
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot getvar vendorcountry
vendorcountry: hw/eu
Finished. Total time: 0.006s
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot oem oeminforead-CUSTOM_VERSION
(bootloader) :ANE-LX1-CUST 9.1.0.13(C432)
OKAY [ 0.006s]
Finished. Total time: 0.007s
I was thinking maybe I can unlock the bootloader using the hardware testpoint method, with PotatoNV, then install TWRP and try to backup the data at least. (I never used TWRP, I just saw there's a Backup button, idk how/if it works)
But since it can't go into recovery, I wonder if I would be stuck on some screen again.
What should I do?

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jdxgfty said:
I was thinking maybe I can unlock the bootloader using the hardware testpoint method, with PotatoNV, then install TWRP and try to backup the data at least. (I never used TWRP, I just saw there's a Backup button, idk how/if it works)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's possible, using build-in File manager (Advanced > File manager > sdcard ) .
jdxgfty said:
But since it can't go into recovery, I wonder if I would be stuck on some screen again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question...
Have you made any software modifications? (build.prop editing etc.)
Edit.:I mean, wrongly editing build.prop or systemUI can also cause similar screen issues.

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-Alf- said:
Have you made any software modifications?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I don't think so.

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I forgot to mention, I tried this command at one point: fastboot getvar rescue_enter_recovery
And it gave me this error: FAILED (remote: 'FAIL:need all image flashed!')
Does this help with anything?
Edit: Also when I held the Power + Volume Up buttons, the logo would take slightly longer to appear. Not a big difference, but it seemed like it was longer compared to just holding the power button.

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jdxgfty said:
fastboot getvar rescue_enter_recovery
And it gave me this error: FAILED (remote: 'FAIL:need all image flashed!')
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is normal, it's not related to your problem.
If you want to try to save data from the phone, in your case you have only one chance - the mentioned method with TWRP.
Any method of restoring the software in your case means the loss of your data.
Personally, I would try replacing the battery first. If nothing else, you will have your phone ready for the test point .

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-Alf- said:
I would try replacing the battery first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why's that?
I have some questions about the testpoint method..
How do I glue the back cover after taking it off?
And on PotatoNV's readme it says I need some conductive tweezers, but I don't think I have any. Can I use something else?
Edit: To be more clear. Do you think the battery might've caused the issue? Recently I started seeing this type of notification, which I didn't see before:
Edit2: Ok, I'm sorry but I keep having questions..
I saw that fastboot has an option to boot from an image file, do I have more chances with this if flashing doesn't work?
And what if do the other way around, try the TWRP method first then replace the battery if that doesn't work?

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jdxgfty said:
And what if do the other way around, try the TWRP method first then replace the battery if that doesn't work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't know, but logic tells me that if there is a problem with the battery, it is not certain that the TWRP method will work. Or other processes.
The battery thing is just a theory, you can ignore it. I'm not a specialist, I'm just a hobbyist.
jdxgfty said:
I saw that fastboot has an option to boot from an image file,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly do you mean by that?

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-Alf- said:
What exactly do you mean by that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw this command somewhere: fastboot boot recovery twrp.img (or without the recovery)

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jdxgfty said:
I saw this command somewhere: fastboot boot recovery twrp.img (or without the recovery)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that command doesn't work on Kirin devices.
Your priority is to save data, right? The methods of reviving the phone will come later.
For example this one
(of course, assuming TWRP is successfully installed and if there really is a software problem).

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Hi @-Alf-
I unlocked the bootloader, but FRP is still locked. FB lock is disabled.
Code:
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot oem get-bootinfo
(bootloader) unlocked
OKAY [ 0.000s]
Finished. Total time: 0.001s
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot oem lock-state info
(bootloader) FB LockState: UNLOCKED
(bootloader) USER LockState: LOCKED
OKAY [ 0.002s]
Finished. Total time: 0.003s
Flashing TWRP fails:
Code:
Z:\adb\platform-tools>fastboot flash recovery_ramdisk Z:\TWRP-9.1.img
Warning: skip copying recovery_ramdisk image avb footer (recovery_ramdisk partition size: 0, recovery_ramdisk image size: 31006720).
Sending 'recovery_ramdisk' (30280 KB) OKAY [ 0.812s]
Writing 'recovery_ramdisk' FAILED (remote: 'flash write failure')
fastboot: error: Command failed
Is it because of the FRP lock? What should I do from here?
On this video, the pinned comment says:
if you want to unlock the bootloader without wiping data, just check the "DISABLE FBLOCK (not recommended)" option, then no command needs to be used "fastboot oem unlock".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand if I'm supposed to not use any command (I didn't) or if I'm supposed to use fastboot oem unlock without the unlock code.
Also wanna note that now the "You device has been unlocked and can't be trusted" screen shows up and it's stuck on "Your device is booting now..."

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jdxgfty said:
Is it because of the FRP lock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fastboot mode PHONE Unlocked and FRP Unlock?
(both red?)

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-Alf- said:
In fastboot mode PHONE Unlocked and FRP Unlock?
(both red?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, FRP is locked, in green. Phone is unlocked, in red.
That's why I asked about the commands, I didn't wanna use any and mess up something.

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jdxgfty said:
No, FRP is locked, in green. Phone is unlocked, in red.
That's why I asked about the commands, I didn't wanna use any and mess up something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, there are two types of bootloader blocking:
User lock:
This lock is managed using the "fastboot oem unlock <bootloader code>" command.
With such an unlock, it becomes possible to flash part of the partitions from fastboot. But not all. And of course, this procedure automatically triggers a factory reset on A7 and above.
FB Lock:
This lock is controlled using the "fastboot oem hwdog certify set <0 or 1>" command . For this command to work, FB Lock must already be disabled. In fastboot, which is launched through a testpoint!
With this unlock, it becomes possible to flash almost all partitions from fastboot, without wiping data.
When FB Lock is unlocked, the User Lock state is ignored. The phone behaves like it is completely unlocked.
As for this problem:
Warning: skip copying recovery_ramdisk image avb footer (recovery_ramdisk partition size: 0
- I saw the same one on another forum with the Honor 9lite, there was the cause locked BL, I don't know how it turned out in the end...
I personally have no experience with potatonv. And I don't want to give you any advice that would cause data loss.

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jdxgfty said:
Is it because of the FRP lock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that were the cause, you would get the "command not allowed" error, imo.