Related
Hey guys... I am brand new to all of this... just got my samsung vibrant a couple of months ago and love it. I have since always wanted to root my phone, but am scared of doing so because I don't want to void my manufacturer's warranty on it (and i'm paying for an extended warranty). I was reading through the "guide - tips - tricks" post and found a LOT of good information. But it did not really answer my questions due to me being so new, so anyway, here they are:
1. Do I need to create a back-up of my system the way it is before I root? if so, how do i do it (in beginner's language w/ step by step instructions pls). I saw where I can down load the "ROM Manager App." But I don't even understand what "Flashing" the Rom means?
2. I didn't understand the post about returning your system back to a "factory OS" the way it was when you received your phone... (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728471 )In this post he explains supposedly how to do it, but I don't understand entering that stuff in a "terminal" on your computer... could someone explain in noob terms w/ step by step instructions?
Just to make sure... in theory, I can make a back up of my system before I root. Then I can root my phone. But if I ever want to "unroot" it, then I would have to follow the instructions in the link above, and then afterwards do a recovery of my nandroid backup to put me back to where I originally was? thanks guys
Rooting your phone will change nothing (meaning you lose nothing).
So, after you root, simply download Rom Manager, open it, click on flash recovery, then reboot into recovery (at this point you can make a backup of your phone).
Once you have root, you can also use titanium backup (in the market also) to backup all of your apps.
flash = install a rom *you do this in recovery, see above*
If you know nothing about this the best advice is to read the very first thread in this section. It walks you step by step from "hey I want to root" to "I'm rooted, Now what?" to "Hey I F'd up, can I fix this" and so on. And on the "Hey I f'd up" note apparently the Vibrant likes to brick, meaning it won't turn on and you'll think you broke it, so you need to be familiar with ODIN which you'll find out more about in the three threads I refer to. Also the first two threads in the Development section are also must reads. All of the answers are here. A lot of people here will be very helpful in giving guidance or pointing you to the answer your looking for but there are quite a few that will flame you for not searching.
You'll be much happier and more comfortable after reading these three threads. Good Luck.
Answer to question 1 can be found here. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7324731&postcount=1
Answer to question 2 can be found here. The terminal you speak of is ODIN. Kind of a fail safe if you will. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734475
A "I need to send this back for warranty repairs" backup isn't critical since you can just load up Odin and flash it back to stock with that. No need for you to be hyper critical on that.
With this phone, pretty much anything you can mess up can be fixed with Odin (short of flashing things that aren't meant for this phone).
While I wouldn't volunteer to be the first to flash an image, I wouldn't be too scared of it either.
Rooting your phone will add a few files (superuser, busybox) and otherwise leave your system intact. If something breaks later & you need to sent it back to TMO/Samsung, you'd just Odin it back to stock and give them a "blank slate" which is actually something you'd want to do anyways (you don't want them having access to your gmail for example...when I send a laptop back for repairs, I always image it back to stock as well).
I would suggest you read through the Vibrant Bible and just poke around. When you see something that shows/tells you how to do things like flash, follow along (load up the software and do as much as you can without actually doing anything [if that makes any sense]).
Never EVER flash anything that wasn't meant for your phone (a few people bricked their vibrants by accidentally flashing the SPLs from their G1s...how they make that mistake I don't know, but it's happened). Be careful, follow directions & you'll be good to go.
There are youtube videos showing how to use Odin and get back to stock (I believe the bible has links) and there are probably also youtube videos showing how to do other things as well.
For root, all you have to do is download "RyanZA's OCLF 2.0" from the market and click the root button. Follow its directions & you are good to go.
For many of us, that's not good enough. You'll want to then install ROM Manager and have it download the new Recovery.
From there, the world is open, find a ROM and flash away! I'm partial to Bionix, but have recently started to like the Axura froyo ROM as well.
So, I lurked a couple different sites for android for a while. I just like to read the whats happening and such with tech, and I always read about root and how rooting pretty much makes a phone/tablet a whole different device, so today I rooted it (my Nexus 7)...
Well, I can't remember exactly what I did, because I have been searching every place on the internet to figure out exactly what I did and how to fix it.
Oh and I rooted it by manually doing it (with cmd and such)
When I try and get into recovery I get a android green dude laying down on his back with a red triangle with a ! in the middle that says "no command" below it. I have wiped and cleared cache. I have read a bit about this from searching the internet, but I have yet to find a way that works. I was thinking about trying to undo everything then reroot it, but I really no idea what to do. I did root it correctly (I believe), but I may have tried to update the recovery (maybe) and that may have done it. But like I said I can't remember what I did since it has been so long and I have read so much other stuff.
I can provide anymore info for anyone who wants to try and help.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I read that putting a new recovery on would probably take care of it, but when I try I get a message saying "installation aborted". How or why, I do not know.
Sorry, for rambling and the not too hot spelling and grammar. Been a while since I have posted on any forum.
I just keep forgetting things. I can still turn it on and do somethings. Things like the home softbutton/key (not sure what they are called) doesn't work, the notification bar only scrolls down on the one side, and no notifications show up there, I still have root according to the root checker app I used, so yeah.
Thanks.
The android dude lying on his back is the stock recovery.
Put your tablet in bootloader mode and
Code:
fastboot flash recovery name-of-your-custom-recovery-image-file.img
and proceed from there.
If you don't know what the above means you need to do some more reading - perhaps the fastboot/return to stock sticky thread.
PS: you should define what exactly you mean by "manually" as there are now two different rooting paths... my answer above presumes you rooted by unlocking the bootloader via fastboot. Up until recently, that was the most common method.
bftb0 said:
The android dude lying on his back is the stock recovery.
Put your tablet in bootloader mode and
Code:
fastboot flash recovery name-of-your-custom-recovery-image-file.img
and proceed from there.
If you don't know what the above means you need to do some more reading - perhaps the fastboot/return to stock sticky thread.
PS: you should define what exactly you mean by "manually" as there are now two different rooting paths... my answer above presumes you rooted by unlocking the bootloader via fastboot. Up until recently, that was the most common method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK.
I did that and I was able to get into clockwork, but I am still stuck with a non working home key and a notification bar that isn't working right. I think I would like to just go back to stock until I figure this out better, I thought I knew enough to root, but I guess I don't.
I did it that way (bootloader via fastboot). I just see people doing toolkits and stuff and I wanted to say I didn't use them, so people knew.
Thank you for the help.
Also, what sticky are you talking about? I'm not sure where it (the sticky) is located. If you could direct me to it or post a link, that would be awesome. I think I am going to hold off on the root. Just once I can get this back to stock.
Once again, thanks.
OK, I found the guide I used to help me along with rooting and I was going over it to redo the root, but during step 9 of it I got a problem.
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.1
-grouper.img
unknown partition 'recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.1-grouper.img'
error: cannot determine image filename for 'recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.1-gro
uper.img'
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>
I am actually getting 2 errors it appears:
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-6.0.
3.1-grouper
error: cannot load 'recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-grouper': No error
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-6.0.
3.1-grouper.img
error: cannot load 'recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-grouper.img': No error
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>
I can't post a link until I get 10 posts, so once I get 10, I will post it.
I found the guide to get back to stock, so I think I will try that.
[GUIDE] Flashing a Factory Image with fastboot / return to stock Is what I found and I will try.
During the erase userdata part, it seems it has gotten stuck.
> fastboot erase boot
> fastboot erase cache
> fastboot erase recovery
> fastboot erase system
> fastboot erase userdata
> fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-grouper-4.18.img
> fastboot reboot-bootloader
> fastboot -w update image-nakasi-jdq39.zip
So, I stopped the stalled cmd and I started another to try and get the userdata erased.
So, I skipped the step to erase userdata and went on to the next one and I got this:
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-grouper-4.
18.img
error: cannot load 'bootloader-grouper-4.18.img': No error
C:\adt-bundle\sdk\platform-tools>
I cannot seem to find a way around this error I have gotten a bunch of times.
All taken care of, someone over at Androidcentral helped me out.
So, thanks for the bit of help and this thread is done.
Welldang said:
All taken care of, someone over at Androidcentral helped me out.
So, thanks for the bit of help and this thread is done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would reccomend if you get any future issues use wugfresh nexus root toolkit.. I have used this many times to revert back to stock / full wipe or re root etc. Glad you sorted it dude. I hate it when something goes wrong but then learnng new stuff to do is always fun
I stepped out (it's the weekend!) so I just saw your posts now.
Congrats on getting it fixed.
The trouble you had with fastboot was that you did not use the correct number of arguments; the correct format is:
fastboot flash partition_name source_file
and you forgot to give the partition_name ("recovery")
In the future, I would recommend that you strictly avoid flashing the bootloader (not the "boot" partition, but the "bootloader" partition) unless it is absolutely, positively necessary. It is simply too dangerous - a mistake made here will cause a hard brick of your device.
cheers
Hey guys, I've run into an issue while attempting to flash a custom rom to my i337. First off, I was successfully able to obtain root and have verified that I have su privileges. My issue is happening when I try to install any type of boot loader. I've tried the following methods to install a bootloader:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2314494 (step 3- both methods)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2297033
using odin to flash .img recoveries using this conversion method http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2281287
Whenever I install any recovery and I try to boot into it, I boot into odin/download mode. After this happens I am unable to boot into the stock rom (or any rom for that matter) until I use this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2360859) method to restore my current rom.
Additionally, I have been unable to perform a factory or soft restore since I've had this issue. I can't boot into recovery so I can't do a hard reset, but every time I attempt to restore within the android OS, I boot into odin mode....
It's become quite frustrating and I'm unsure of where to go next.
Additionally, additionally, I do believe that I have the MF3 update installed. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty confident I do.
I just got this phone a few weeks ago and I'm still learning the ropes here... so forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the subject
Thanks in advance for any input
If you have mf3 you can not flash roms or put on a custom recovery. In fact you'll lucky you haven't bricked your phone. Don't try any more until an exploit is found.
Edit, in the mean time, do some more reading and research. You need to know a lot more before you are ready to flash anything if the devs find away to put a custom recovery on.
I just don't understand why people that don't even have a basic concept of how their phone works would do something to it that could (and probably will) turn it into an expensive brick? Is it really to difficult to do a little reading first? It's forum rules, it's common sense, and it can save you a lot of time and trouble. I'm not trying to bust the OP's balls, but if you don't take a little time to be responsible for your own actions (searching and reading and reading some more), you get what you deserve. Being "new" is never an excuse, it's just more reason to do some reading. Everyone, don't touch your phone until you learn about what it is you are doing to it first!
Good luck to the OP, I hope you decide to read (at least) the pinned threads in the General section (and hopefully a lot more) before you do anything else to your phone.
Sad but true
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
So here's my story,
I bought this Zte phone off someone on craigslist a couple of weeks ago, and I've loved it every since. In fact, I have yet to turn it off, I've kept it on the entire time. Today the new update 29 came out for the US, and I tried downloading. To my dismay when the phone restarted I was greeted with a bootloader screen, and then a TWRP screen. I freaked out and panicked and emailed the guy I bought the phone from since I heard that unlocking bootloader on your phone voids the warranty. He told me he had done it in such a way OTA framework that it didn't void the warranty and also I can always relock the phone but be careful because I might brick it. I'm not a very tech savvy person and have no idea what to do to relock the phone so I can download this new update. Could someone please help me out and walk it out with me step by step so I know what to do. Thanks so much guys!
Look in the section rooms, recoveries,etc... look for one the says roms update stock DrakenFX
Since you are not tech savvy, you could just keep it unlocked and use those twrp flashable files to update B29.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68873482&postcount=2
credit: @DrakenFX
However If you will wish to restore to locked state without twrp, I will be happy to guide you but you'll have many more steps to do.
Nik2424 said:
Since you are not tech savvy, you could just keep it unlocked and use those twrp flashable files to update B29.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68873482&postcount=2
credit: @DrakenFX
However If you will wish to restore to locked state without twrp, I will be happy to guide you but you'll have many more steps to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would much rather just restore to locked state without twrp so I don't have to worry about this situation again. I don't need bootloader or twrp and just wanna remove both. Would you please guide me through this?
ctran1996 said:
I would much rather just restore to locked state without twrp so I don't have to worry about this situation again. I don't need bootloader or twrp and just wanna remove both. Would you please guide me through this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/b20-factory-image-posted-t3492552 click the link in this post. It will take you to the ZTE site with the official B20 firnware. You flash this in stock recovery and you will have a fully locked Axon 7.
tabletalker7 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/b20-factory-image-posted-t3492552 click the link in this post. It will take you to the ZTE site with the official B20 firnware. You flash this in stock recovery and you will have a fully locked Axon 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I flash to stock recovery with teamwin keeps popping up and restarting and not allowing me to flash it?
ctran1996 said:
I would much rather just restore to locked state without twrp so I don't have to worry about this situation again. I don't need bootloader or twrp and just wanna remove both. Would you please guide me through this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not tech savvy, you probably don't want to do this. It's not simple and for whatever reason, some people (who would consider themselves more tech savvy) have had some issues.
Your best bet is to copy all of your data from internal memory (just in case), flash a new copy of TWRP (recovery only, you don't need to do boot) using tenfar's tool (http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/wip-axon-7-root-bootloader-unlokced-t3441204), then follow the steps in DrakenFX's thread to get B29: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68873482&postcount=2
I'm happy to write you a guide for getting back to bone stock, but I'm not going to do it until next week when I have time at work and as I said earlier, some folks have had issues. For what it's worth, you likely won't hard brick the phone. So far, we've only seen soft bricks AFAIK.
rczrider said:
if you're not tech savvy, you probably don't want to do this. It's not simple and for whatever reason, some people (who would consider themselves more tech savvy) have had some issues.
Your best bet is to copy all of your data from internal memory (just in case), flash a new copy of TWRP (recovery only, you don't need to do boot) using tenfar's tool (http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/development/wip-axon-7-root-bootloader-unlokced-t3441204), then follow the steps in DrakenFX's thread to get B29: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=68873482&postcount=2
I'm happy to write you a guide for getting back to bone stock, but I'm not going to do it until next week when I have time at work and as I said earlier, some folks have had issues. For what it's worth, you likely won't hard brick the phone. So far, we've only seen soft bricks AFAIK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are they really hard to follow?? I mean my guides?
If I could I love to redo Tenfar tool guide ,but don't think he will allow me recreate that thread in a more clean way (guide wise)
ctran1996 said:
How do I flash to stock recovery with teamwin keeps popping up and restarting and not allowing me to flash it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.mediafire.com/file/1jw9b24glt5fd7t/recovery.img put this on your SD card
Boot to TWRP
Push Install (top left)
Push Install Image (bottom right)
find the recovery.img and push it - TWRP will install it for you.
Then reboot into recovery.
You will now be in stock recovery and can use it to install update from SD card and install the B20 firmware from ZTE
BE WARNED - THIS WILL FACTORY RESET YOUR PHONE WHEN YOU ARE DONE!!!!!
DrakenFX said:
Are they really hard to follow?? I mean my guides?
If I could I love to redo Tenfar tool guide ,but don't think he will allow me recreate that thread in a more clean way (guide wise)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah, no, your guides are not hard to follow. They're great
I think the bigger problem is that there are a lot of threads to wade through and there are various posts within in each thread that address specific issues users have run into. If someone who claims not to be "tech savvy" doesn't understand something in your thread (not because it's unclear but because they have zero experience with this and need some hand-holding) and then happens to read something else in the thread and tries that, it can get messy.
rczrider said:
Hah, no, your guides are not hard to follow. They're great
I think the bigger problem is that there are a lot of threads to wade through and there are various posts within in each thread that address specific issues users have run into. If someone who claims not to be "tech savvy" doesn't understand something in your thread (not because it's unclear but because they have zero experience with this and need some hand-holding) and then happens to read something else in the thread and tries that, it can get messy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is my problem entirely! I AM tech savvy as I have worked as a Microsoft/VMware Systems engineer for over 20 years and when I try to make heads or tails of doing some of the things necessary to flash a ROM, or root, or unlock the bootloader.... after my eyes glaze over I just stick with Nova Prime and hope the original manufacturers get everything worked out. What's really needed is a well written manual detailing step-by-step basics on what all these various things do as well as how to do them. Then more specific guides on a per phone basis. I know, it's asking too much! LOL :silly:
ctran1996 said:
So here's my story,
I bought this Zte phone off someone on craigslist a couple of weeks ago, and I've loved it every since. In fact, I have yet to turn it off, I've kept it on the entire time. Today the new update 29 came out for the US, and I tried downloading. To my dismay when the phone restarted I was greeted with a bootloader screen, and then a TWRP screen. I freaked out and panicked and emailed the guy I bought the phone from since I heard that unlocking bootloader on your phone voids the warranty. He told me he had done it in such a way OTA framework that it didn't void the warranty and also I can always relock the phone but be careful because I might brick it. I'm not a very tech savvy person and have no idea what to do to relock the phone so I can download this new update. Could someone please help me out and walk it out with me step by step so I know what to do. Thanks so much guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. Step by Step to get it back to B20
1) Move anything you want to save off your internal storage to your sd card or computer.
2) Download B20 image button.
3) Save file to SD card
4) Boot into Recovery by shutting it down and then push Volume Up Button+Power Button
5) When screen comes up boot into Recovery
6) in TWRP click Install, choose Select Storage, Choose Micro SDCard, Locate your update.zip file and click it
7) Swipe to confirm flash
WARNING: This will clean out your phone and turn it to B20. @DrakenFX can tell you how to not wipe the internal storage if you want to edit the update.zip file.
Hope this helps.
Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for. However, when I tried this the other day, it reset my phone as planned, but TWRP and bootloader were still on there. Any way of getting them off?
swehes said:
OK. Step by Step to get it back to B20
1) Move anything you want to save off your internal storage to your sd card or computer.
2) Download B20 image button.
3) Save file to SD card
4) Boot into Recovery by shutting it down and then push Volume Up Button+Power Button
5) When screen comes up boot into Recovery
6) in TWRP click Install, choose Select Storage, Choose Micro SDCard, Locate your update.zip file and click it
7) Swipe to confirm flash
WARNING: This will clean out your phone and turn it to B20. @DrakenFX can tell you how to not wipe the internal storage if you want to edit the update.zip file.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After using the megapixel rom. I tried flash back to stock with root tool kit.
During the process it told me I had to manual boot in recovery to a factory restore. That would not work so I ended up soft bricking my phone. I was able to side load twrp and the latest build and flash it (thank god). No when I do oem lock boot loader, my nexus 6p won't boot. As soon as I oem unlock, it will boot. Any ideas what could be cause that?
If you did not restore the recovery it probably throws a flag and says the configuration is invalid. You need to restore completely (recovery, boot, system, vendor, etc) through fastboot so that it is truly stock.
Cheers,
B.D.
This is a perfect time to remind folks that "locking" the bootloader is something that should be done with great care. There are dozens, if not hundreds of "my phone is bricked" threads centered around locking their bootloader without understanding the requirements and risks. If you don't have a reason to do it, leave it unlocked. If I need to do it, I flash 100% back to stock using a full factory image before locking.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
BostonDan said:
If you did not restore the recovery it probably throws a flag and says the configuration is invalid. You need to restore completely (recovery, boot, system, vendor, etc) through fastboot so that it is truly stock.
Cheers,
B.D.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you wouldn't recommend using the Nexus toolkit to flash factory? Can you give me the string in order that I would use to flash factory via fastboot? Fast boot is also hit or miss with the commands for me.
Blackfish77 said:
So you wouldn't recommend using the Nexus toolkit to flash factory? Can you give me the string in order that I would use to flash factory via fastboot? Fast boot is also hit or miss with the commands for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense intended, but this always irks me quite a bit.
Absolutely DO NOT use toolkits for anything at all, ever. They're not easier, they're not faster. It's just doing fastboot / adb with a UI that has buttons you can click instead of typing in fastboot.
This. This is the exact reason you shouldn't use toolkits. Especially if you don't know the manual way. It borks something up and now you need to wait possibly hours to get a working phone again when the solution would only take about 15 seconds to fix.
You need to fully familiarize yourself with this guide here;
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928
ADB/Fastboot is absolutely not "hit or miss." If you have trouble with it then you need to make sure that your drivers are properly installed and you're entering commands correctly. Also make sure to ALWAYS keep your ADB & fastboot drivers up to date via the Android SDK. All of this is covered in the link above.
As far as your bootloader issue. You cannot return to a locked bootloader with anything other than 100% complete unadulterated stock factory images. No TWRP, no root, no Xposed, no Magisk, no build.prop edits etc., ...Nothing.
Use fastboot to flash your factory images you downloaded. You can use the flash all bat file or individually flash each separate. Again it's all covered in the link I posted above.
Also, what do you mean you couldn't wipe/reset from stock recovery? When you flash stock recovery and boot to it, you will see an Android on its back with an exclamation mark in a red triangle. You may or may not see text that reads "No Command". Either way, from that point hold down the power button and then press and release volume up. You will boot to stock recovery where you can wipe your data.
Not for nothing, but as mentioned above, people have hard bricked their 6P from locking bootloader's on combos besides stock. You got extremely lucky you didn't as well. Please take some time to read and fully understand what you're doing with your ~600$ device.
This is also, for the most part, pretty standard stuff as far as flashing / modding goes. At least since 2010 when I got into it. If you want to know the exact string of fastboot commands please read and use the guide I linked. It teaches you literally everything. There's nothing it doesn't cover and once you get used to it you will never use a toolkit again.
Hope I didn't come off rude, but basically since 2010 when I got into this across all my devices I try to help out in the Q+A sections. I've probably participated in hundreds and hundreds of "help, I used a toolkit and my phone is bricked and I have no idea how to fix it, I just wanted cool stuff on my phone" threads. They're absolutely 100% not worth the trouble and headaches from them. Especially if you have no idea what they're doing on the back end. Know Fastboot and ADB like the back of your hand and just prefer to use them? That's a different story, if something fails then you fix it yourself in 10 seconds. But for the love of God, please please please please please stop using toolkits if you don't know how to fix issues on your own. You will eventually hard brick. I've seen it happen dozens of times. Thread turns into a circlej*rk about whether toolkits are bad or not, OP hard bricks their phone and commits fraud, which is illegal by trying to RMA it. Just don't use them. It's simple enough without them. Why reinvent the wheel when it works just fine?
You should only lock bootloader when you are on stock factory image from nexus developers site. Either use flash_all script or flash everything manually. As others said keep away from toolkits.. You never know what can go wrong or what they re doing in background.
As I understand you restored TWRP and Megapixel rom and tried to lock the bootloader when you had that combination installed on your phone? That can not be done. You are either full stock (rom, kernel, recovery...) and locked bootloader or unlocked bootloader and any combo of kernel, rom, recovery that you want.
RoyJ said:
No offense intended, but this always irks me quite a bit.
Absolutely DO NOT use toolkits for anything at all, ever. They're not easier, they're not faster. It's just doing fastboot / adb with a UI that has buttons you can click instead of typing in fastboot.
This. This is the exact reason you shouldn't use toolkits. Especially if you don't know the manual way. It borks something up and now you need to wait possibly hours to get a working phone again when the solution would only take about 15 seconds to fix.
You need to fully familiarize yourself with this guide here;
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928
ADB/Fastboot is absolutely not "hit or miss." If you have trouble with it then you need to make sure that your drivers are properly installed and you're entering commands correctly. Also make sure to ALWAYS keep your ADB & fastboot drivers up to date via the Android SDK. All of this is covered in the link above.
As far as your bootloader issue. You cannot return to a locked bootloader with anything other than 100% complete unadulterated stock factory images. No TWRP, no root, no Xposed, no Magisk, no build.prop edits etc., ...Nothing.
Use fastboot to flash your factory images you downloaded. You can use the flash all bat file or individually flash each separate. Again it's all covered in the link I posted above.
Also, what do you mean you couldn't wipe/reset from stock recovery? When you flash stock recovery and boot to it, you will see an Android on its back with an exclamation mark in a red triangle. You may or may not see text that reads "No Command". Either way, from that point hold down the power button and then press and release volume up. You will boot to stock recovery where you can wipe your data.
Not for nothing, but as mentioned above, people have hard bricked their 6P from locking bootloader's on combos besides stock. You got extremely lucky you didn't as well. Please take some time to read and fully understand what you're doing with your ~600$ device.
This is also, for the most part, pretty standard stuff as far as flashing / modding goes. At least since 2010 when I got into it. If you want to know the exact string of fastboot commands please read and use the guide I linked. It teaches you literally everything. There's nothing it doesn't cover and once you get used to it you will never use a toolkit again.
Hope I didn't come off rude, but basically since 2010 when I got into this across all my devices I try to help out in the Q+A sections. I've probably participated in hundreds and hundreds of "help, I used a toolkit and my phone is bricked and I have no idea how to fix it, I just wanted cool stuff on my phone" threads. They're absolutely 100% not worth the trouble and headaches from them. Especially if you have no idea what they're doing on the back end. Know Fastboot and ADB like the back of your hand and just prefer to use them? That's a different story, if something fails then you fix it yourself in 10 seconds. But for the love of God, please please please please please stop using toolkits if you don't know how to fix issues on your own. You will eventually hard brick. I've seen it happen dozens of times. Thread turns into a circlej*rk about whether toolkits are bad or not, OP hard bricks their phone and commits fraud, which is illegal by trying to RMA it. Just don't use them. It's simple enough without them. Why reinvent the wheel when it works just fine?
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I ended up using fastboot to flash factory. I then re locked bootloader and everything booted without and issue. I was happy about that. I re rooted and everything is working great. :good:
I can say I learned a lot from this experience. Thanks to everyone for your advice. I am now comfortable using the fastboot method. Almost bricking my phone was scary but it taught me a lesson. Cheers everyone.