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For the last two weeks, I've tried pretty much everything I can think of to get my TPT booted again. Symptoms of its current illness include:
Lots of error messages when booting into CWM recovery ("E:Can't mount /sdcard" for example)
If I attempt to boot normally, I get stuck on the Lenovo logo screen.
Randomly I'll boot into CWM recovery and get its logo on the screen, and a line of text, but no menus.
Other times I'll attempt to boot into CWM recovery, and just get a blank screen
So last night I used nvflash to put a new CWM recovery into partition 6: after which I was able to boot into CWM with no errors. (Yay) However, when I tried to reinstall CynogenMod (whose zip file was sitting on my external sd card), it hung during the installation. I rebooted anyway; this time it got as far as the CyanogenMod spinning logo and hung there. I went to bed, and seven hours later it was still spinning away.
Then I rebooted into CWM (without errors) and managed to install CM ROM this time also with no errors. However, again I can't boot. I get as far as the Lenovo logo, and if I boot into CWM recovery I have all the mount errors again.
Along the way I've erased the cache; done a factory reset, etc.
So: nvflash, new CWM recovery (but still errors), reinstalled CM ROM, but can't boot into it.
Any suggestions? Has this machine packed it in - is its hardware faulty in some way? Or is there something I could try which I haven't already?
Thanks folks - I think I've reached the limits of my fixing ability, and would be very gratefiul of some advice.
Thanks again,
Al
In CWM check to see if your /System folder is mounted with read-write privileges or only with read-only. If the former, then your bootloader may have locked itself. Also, what is your device model? If you have a have a US device then it cannot be unlocked as it has been encrypted by Lenovo...
Sent from my ThinkPad Tablet using Tapatalk
Thanks - it's not a US model (I bought it in Australia, where I live). I thought the bootloader was unlocked because I could use nvflash. When I boot into CWM recovery, I can't mount /system: if I try I get the error "Error mounting /system", along with other errors about not being able to mount or open /cache/recovery/{command, log, last_log}. And since I can't mount anything, I can't install zip files.
I can't remember the device model, although I suppose I could use nvflash to trawl through the partitions somehow. (Since I can't boot the device I can't do the usual thing of checking out the system settings.)
Anyway, at the moment it won't boot beyond the Lenovo logo, even after putting on a new CWM recovery (with nvflash - but as we see above this new recovery is still not working) and reinstalling a ROM (with CWM recovery, which I managed to do on the one occasion I could boot into CWM without mounting errors). It's a right pain, that's what it is.
amca1960 said:
Thanks - it's not a US model (I bought it in Australia, where I live). I thought the bootloader was unlocked because I could use nvflash. When I boot into CWM recovery, I can't mount /system: if I try I get the error "Error mounting /system", along with other errors about not being able to mount or open /cache/recovery/{command, log, last_log}. And since I can't mount anything, I can't install zip files.
I can't remember the device model, although I suppose I could use nvflash to trawl through the partitions somehow. (Since I can't boot the device I can't do the usual thing of checking out the system settings.)
Anyway, at the moment it won't boot beyond the Lenovo logo, even after putting on a new CWM recovery (with nvflash - but as we see above this new recovery is still not working) and reinstalling a ROM (with CWM recovery, which I managed to do on the one occasion I could boot into CWM without mounting errors). It's a right pain, that's what it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there may be hope yet as I understand (not sure) that only the US models shipped with a locked bootloader. My US model locked itself and after some research I eventually replaced the motherboard with one from eBay. There are threads around here regarding the bootloader that might have a few "options" for you to try. On the other hand I read on the Lenovo forums that Lenovo actually replaced motherboards (during the warranty period) due to failures which caused the nand to lock read-only. If the "options" don't work then the latter may be the case and you might want to consider my approach or just move on to a newer device. Good look...
eKeith said:
Well there may be hope yet as I understand (not sure) that only the US models shipped with a locked bootloader. My US model locked itself and after some research I eventually replaced the motherboard with one from eBay. There are threads around here regarding the bootloader that might have a few "options" for you to try. On the other hand I read on the Lenovo forums that Lenovo actually replaced motherboards (during the warranty period) due to failures which caused the nand to lock read-only. If the "options" don't work then the latter may be the case and you might want to consider my approach or just move on to a newer device. Good look...
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Click to collapse
I never thought of replacing the motherboard! I'm happy to try it, though, given instructions, and the correct (ROW; ie non-US) motherboard. Is it hard to do - and where can I find out how to do it? And how do I find out exactly what model I have?
Thanks for this - I'd really like to get this beastie working again.
amca1960 said:
I never thought of replacing the motherboard! I'm happy to try it, though, given instructions, and the correct (ROW; ie non-US) motherboard. Is it hard to do - and where can I find out how to do it? And how do I find out exactly what model I have?
Thanks for this - I'd really like to get this beastie working again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense intended but you are somewhat peculiar as you are familiar with NVFlash, can determine which partitions to flash with the correct images but you don't have a record of, or can't find your device's model number? Check on your SD Card port flap (or your invoice). Then check out this page for details.
However if you decide to replace the motherboard then search eBay for "thinkpad tablet motherboard" and choose either of the 1838 or 1839 options. Any will fit and work but you probably won't get your (non-US) choice of replacement motherboard so will probably just have to get what's available.
See here for some basic dis-assembly instructions. Then just take you time and the rest will be obvious. Good luck!
Thanks for that! I tried responding earlier, but my post was blocked by the system. Anyway, I'll check for a new motherboard and have a go installing it. Do you know how I might prevent this from happening again?
amca1960 said:
Thanks for that! I tried responding earlier, but my post was blocked by the system. Anyway, I'll check for a new motherboard and have a go installing it. Do you know how I might prevent this from happening again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem at all.
"I'm in the same boat": I replaced my motherboard with another US version about 6 weeks ago, rooted, installed CWM recovery and steady so far... "with fingers crossed"...
Let us know how it goes...
Some basics - About bootloader, kernel, recovery, rom, /system and some other partitions.
There are many noobs out there and sometimes even I am one. Two days ago @Closed Force asked me, where I know my stuff from and why things are like they are... So I finally decided to write this little guide about how Android devices basically work and what are the special things about our G2.
If you find wrong facts or any other mistakes (grammatical, language, contentwise), please bear with me. That's how I read it in the forums. And of course not everything written on XDA is correct. So please tell me by PM, or by posting in this thread if you have additions, corrections or any other concerns about this OP.
Where I got to know all this stuff? Reading, reading, reading. I first started modding my old HTC desire like 4 years ago. Since then and even before I'm reading. Mainly here on XDA but also on some german forums and wikis. It might have taken me easily 200 hours or more. So the only way to learn for a newbie (and everyone else too) is reading.
Personally I own a D802 variant. I know about some things that were different in details for the US variants, but things should be right as they are.
Finally thanks to
@d00lz for some extra research/additions and a quick read through.
@Art Vanderlay for some additions.
So let's get started:
When you press the power button, your device will load the Bootloader. The Bootloader afterwards wil load either the Recovery Image (recovery.img), the Kernel (boot.img) or the Download Mode Bootloader (laf.img), depending on the keys you press. At the moment there are three different bootloaders; The Jellybean one, the KitKat one, and the new Lollipop one. Not one of these Bootloaders can be unlocked yet, so there are workarounds which allow us to boot custom ROMs (specifically Kernels, but more about that later) and custom Recoverys. At the beginning there was the Jellybean Bootloader. The Developers (sorry, I don't know which ones) found out how to get around the locked Bootloader pretty early. They called this workaround Loki. It's intergrated into nearly every ROM except the ones which require the KitKat Bootloader (but that's usually not the reason they don't support the JellyBean one). Anyways, soon the KitKat update came and so did the new KitKat Bootloader. Sadly, LG patched the Loki exploit with this new update. However, the Developers found a new way to get the Bootloader booting files which weren't signed by LG. They called this workaround Bump. Bump basically imitates the LG signature so the bootloader thinks this file was really signed by LG. Obviously this workaround works with the JellyBean Bootloader too. In the Lollipop Bootloader this exploit has been closed and no one knows how to get around the new Bootloader, yet. In conclusion to Bootloaders, as long you have a working Bootloader, your device is not dead. You can usually recover it in some way.
The G2 has about 30 partitions (for a more detailed explanation, look here, thanks @d00lz). Each partition has its own purpose. One of them is the Recovery partition. Imagine: A Recovery partiton and a working Bootloader are everything you need to keep your phone working. It's kind of an Operating System in itself, completely independent from Android or anything else stored on your Mobile. The great thing about the Recovery partition is that it's so small that it can be run directly in the RAM. This means it's capable of modifing EVERY goddamn partition on your Mobile, including the Bootloader and the Recovery partition itself (means you can flash a new recovery.zip in your current recovery). Attention: if you are using the Recovery with a 4.4 KitKat Bootloader, it needs to be a Bumped Recovery. If it isn't bumped the Bootloader realizes that the Recovery is not genuine and generates a "Secure Boot Error".
Same thing goes for the Kernel. The Kernel is located in your /boot partition (found gzipped inside your boot.img) and is loaded by the Bootloader when you only press the Power Button and you let your Mobile boot normally. This is the reason why your Kernel also needs to be Bumped if you want to get your system booting on a KitKat Bootloader. When 4.4 KitKat came out, most Developers switched over to using LG's 4.4 KitKat sources for their projects. After a while it was realized that 4.2 JellyBean sources were a lot more reliable for AOSP baed ROMs. This is why most AOSP ROMs use the 4.2 JellyBean Bootloader and the 4.2 JellyBean Kernel sources while Stock based ROMs use the 4.4 KiKat Bootloader and 4.4 KitKat Kernel. There are different Kernels for AOSP ROMs and for Stock based ROMs. This is because Stock Kernels support some ROM functionalities that AOSP ROMs don't have, for example; Knock Code. (Note: Knock Code isn't open source, which is also another big reason why it isn't available for AOSP ROMs.) So there are huge differences between Stock and AOSP based ROMs/Kernels. The Kernel (without factoring in the AOSP and Stock issue) can be switch at anytime you want.
Now about the /data partition... All your personal stuff, including Apps, System Settings, App Data and so on will be stored there. The reason why you should clear it every time you change the ROM is that there are many variables set by the ROM you are coming from. Your current ROM may have some tweaks the new one doesn't have which means the new ROM doesn't know how to handle them which leads to crashes and instability.
Now let's get to the ROM... Having a 4.2 JellyBean Bootloader and a 4.2 JellyBean Kernel doesn't mean the top layer has to be 4.2 too. Most of the AOSP based ROMs are based on Googles KitKat or Lollipop sources. And this is true KitKat or Lollipop, with all its functionalities. Those huge version differences cause some problems in development. No wonder some things do not work properly today, but it's still the best working combination at the moment. It's kind of a wonder how it works as it is, but let's be happy with it. I'm very curious how AOSP ROMs with Lollipop Kernel sources will work. Your ROM and your entire existing Operating System is found in the /system partition. This is why it's the main partition which is modified while flashing. Which partitions will be modified and (how) is written in the updater-script file of the file you're going to flash. Theoretically, running a updater-script of a ROM which changes the Bootloader (/aboot partition) can brick your device. That's also the reason why you should only flash stuff made for your device only!
As already said an updaterscript can modify every partition through the recovery. All ROMs bring their own kernel, so you basically don't have to care about it, except you want to use a non-bumped ROM (with kernel) together with the KitKat bootloader.
Finally something about the baseband/modem (these terms are interchangeable). I noticed that the Developers or rather the Original Posters sometimes don't know which baseband the user should use with the ROM. In earlier days the wrong baseband could make the ROM bootloop. Today most ROMs work with most basebands. It's obviously best if you stay on the one you currently are on and just flash another one if something doesn't work (auto-rotation for example). The baseband can be flashed at any time and is on it's own partition.
Okay Download Mode time. It's part of the laf partition (laf.img). This partition is used by LG and it's PC software to recover the phone and bring it back to Stock. It's a partition in itself, but not completely independent of the Bootloader. It's because of this that you can of course have a fully working Bootloader, but a dead Download Mode. This means you will not be able to flash a .KDZ/.TOT file the next time you are in big trouble! ^^
Okay to wrap up I should mention the EFS partition. The EFS partition stores your device's IMEI (and the serial number as far as I know) of your device. NEVER wipe it. With a empty EFS partition you can use your mobile as a brick, ok maybe you can use it as a media tablet, but that's it (WiFi still works, @Art Vanderlay tested; see below).
Again: if you got questions/additions/correction or see a mistake, post below, or PM me, I'll edit this post...
reserved
Great post. A thread like this should be the first thread you read as soon as you enter the LGG2 sub forum.
Expect a private message soon.
Also, reserved for possible future additions .
d00lz said:
Great post. A thread like this should be the first thread you read as soon as you enter the LGG2 sub forum.
Expect a private message soon.
Also, reserved for possible future additions .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you could modify your signature now^^
Sunandroid said:
And you could modify your signature now^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice write up Sunny. You can credit Dan Rosenburg for creating loki. I can also confirm that wifi still works without modemst1 and modemst2 aka efs. My phone suffers for this thread.
@Sunandroid
Perfect! This was all I was looking for. Now I finnaly understand how my G2 works and I'll most likely not need to ask more "noob questions" in this matter.
But I would like to ask some questions because I've left with doubts after reading the OP.
As long as I have /recovery/ and /aboot/ working, I can recover my device exclusively with software. Is this right?
I've concluded that you need /aboot/ to be able to enter in /recovery/ and with recovery you can mess up with any other partition.´
How can I tell if /modem/ found here is compatible with my device? Are all /modem/ partitions the same in the same models? For example, I'm from Portugal so I have a Portuguese D802 LG G2 (if I type its IMEI in a site, it recognizes it as portuguese). If I flash a German D802 modem or English or even American, considering that they are all from D802 would they work flawlessly with my device?
Why does /modem/ cause auto-rotation to work? What exactly is /modem/?
I have a backup of all the partitions in my laptop (made via TWRP). But what happens if I accidentaly lose my /efs/ partition? Can I flash another phone's /efs/?
Rayaxe said:
@Sunandroid
Perfect! This was all I was looking for. Now I finnaly understand how my G2 works and I'll most likely not need to ask more "noob questions" in this matter.
But I would like to ask some questions because I've left with doubts after reading the OP.
As long as I have /recovery/ and /aboot/ working, I can recover my device exclusively with software. Is this right?
I've concluded that you need /aboot/ to be able to enter in /recovery/ and with recovery you can mess up with any other partition.´
How can I tell if /modem/ found here is compatible with my device? Are all /modem/ partitions the same in the same models? For example, I'm from Portugal so I have a Portuguese D802 LG G2 (if I type its IMEI in a site, it recognizes it as portuguese). If I flash a German D802 modem or English or even American, considering that they are all from D802 would they work flawlessly with my device?
Why does /modem/ cause auto-rotation to work? What exactly is /modem/?
I have a backup of all the partitions in my laptop (made via TWRP). But what happens if I accidentaly lose my /efs/ partition? Can I flash another phone's /efs/?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I could help you this way...
about /aboot and /recovery: yes you are right. It is even better, if you have an intact laf too. That's the download mode. But as long the other two work, you can fix the laf partition easily. But if you get into the situation, that only those two are working, better don't flash a bootloader (=/aboot). If it's the wrong one your device is bricked.
Aboot is the key to your device. Everything else is fixable. At least with a little bit of knowledge and time. But better don't try it out.
No, the modems are not all the same. There are (sometimes depending on the branding) extremely small differences between the basebands/modems. I personally never had the problem, that I couldn't get any connection at all. But that's not fatal. Just flash another one and try again if it works. Btw: I once made a test in some german forums with different KK basebands. I'm not sure anymore, but the differences were minimal and I think killed my connection totally.
If you loose your efs stuff, your device is a brick with extended functionalities. The IMEI and some other data stored in the efs partition is worldwide unique. So you can't just pick the one of another phone (except the other G2 is bricked or whatever). You need the IMEI for general network connection. So it will still boot up, but you won't be able to text or call anyone with this phone.
Okay ^^
So this is a full backup of all the needed partitions right? http://prntscr.com/76edu4
Should I convert these files to something like .img to be able to flash in the phone just in case I get something that disables my TWRP access?
Rayaxe said:
Okay ^^
So this is a full backup of all the needed partitions right? http://prntscr.com/76edu4
Should I convert these files to something like .img to be able to flash in the phone just in case I get something that disables my TWRP access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess so. As long as you ticked everything when you backed up (with blastagators TWRP!; the official one doesn't allow to backup the efs stuff), this should be fine.
Well you could. But tbh I have no idea how to convert those files into .img files. But it isn't necessary anyways: It's unlikely that you loose the efs data on your phone unless you brick it somehow. If the phone stays recoverable, The first thing you are going to do is: flashing bootloader, laf and boot.img. Then you will go back to stock through the download mode. Once you've done this it's an easy one to install twrp again and restore the efs backup. No one is gonna flash ~32 partitions by hand. There are "easier" and more usefull ways to recover the device.
Oh and btw: no backup contains the bootloader, laf and boot (recovery developer don't implement this for some reasons). But this doesn't matter. The only thing you really need is the efs backup (which partitions exactly you can see here). Everything else isn't unique and can be extracted out of kdz files and restored this way.
Edit: the two partitions mentioned here are
Sunandroid said:
Okay Download Mode time. It's part of the laf partition (laf.img). This partition is used by LG and it's PC software to recover the phone and bring it back to Stock. It's a partition in itself, but not completely independent of the Bootloader. It's because of this that you can of course have a fully working Bootloader, but a dead Download Mode. This means you will not be able to flash a .KDZ/.TOT file the next time you are in big trouble! ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My PC doesn't install any driver when my phone is on download mode,
On recovery mode (twrp) i have MTP access but on download mode i'm not having any access,
does that mean my download mode is dead?
GoPogoOreo! said:
My PC doesn't install any driver when my phone is on download mode,
On recovery mode (twrp) i have MTP access but on download mode i'm not having any access,
does that mean my download mode is dead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has nothing to do with this thread here. The issue is different. But I have no clue what it might be... If I can elaborate a maybe working answer I'm gonna answer you in the noob thread.
Sunandroid said:
This has nothing to do with this thread here. The issue is different. But I have no clue what it might be... If I can elaborate a maybe working answer I'm gonna answer you in the noob thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh btw i tried your (noob friendly) no download mode, no recovery mode ..... using slax,
when i typed ls /dev/sd* it's only showed my PC (only one sda) and there is no sdb, not even one
Weirdly i can access TWRP, but i can't make any custom rom boot,
Man this is frustating
I have a phone, G2 D802 Int., which probably has a corrupt EFS partition. I guess the owner broke it flashing incompatible things into it. As a result of the corruption, ESN/IMEI is lost. It shows null. But very interestingly, the EFS partition mustn't have been wiped because by chance of a boot among a hundred, it shows up the ESN. If by chance you come across to ESN, everything operates normally. And if you reboot the phone, ESN is gone again..
I managed to make recovery work again, by upgrading the phone to lollipop. (It was another time I came across ESN.) But no download mode, USB is never identified (unkonwn usb device), USB modes cannot be changed, unless by chance you come across, USB debugging is no more either.
I was thinking to backup some necessary partitions from a working phone of the same variant, but since it's "unknown device", I cannot query it as a disk. Neither it works in Ubuntu. ls /dev/sd* doesn't show the phone. It even doesn't show the working phone.
Any idea about how I can fix the corrupted EFS partition?
pisisler said:
I have a phone, G2 D802 Int., which probably has a corrupt EFS partition. I guess the owner broke it flashing incompatible things into it. As a result of the corruption, ESN/IMEI is lost. It shows null. But very interestingly, the EFS partition mustn't have been wiped because by chance of a boot among a hundred, it shows up the ESN. If by chance you come across to ESN, everything operates normally. And if you reboot the phone, ESN is gone again..
I managed to make recovery work again, by upgrading the phone to lollipop. (It was another time I came across ESN.) But no download mode, USB is never identified (unkonwn usb device), USB modes cannot be changed, unless by chance you come across, USB debugging is no more either.
I was thinking to backup some necessary partitions from a working phone of the same variant, but since it's "unknown device", I cannot query it as a disk. Neither it works in Ubuntu. ls /dev/sd* doesn't show the phone. It even doesn't show the working phone.
Any idea about how I can fix the corrupted EFS partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I luckily never had to try it, but scroll down a bit over here: http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-backup-and-restore-lost-imei-on-lg-g2/
I wish you luck!
Sunandroid said:
I luckily never had to try it, but scroll down a bit over here: http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-backup-and-restore-lost-imei-on-lg-g2/
I wish you luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know that, but since I cannot take the device to USB debugging mode, it's not the first step I could take. "USB device descriptor is failed", this is what I get when I plug the phone.
pisisler said:
Yes I know that, but since I cannot take the device to USB debugging mode, it's not the first step I could take. "USB device descriptor is failed", this is what I get when I plug the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the current state of your phone? You have twrp installed. Can you push stuff through adb when you are in the recovery (this is pretty important, since we maybe can fix the download mode this way)? Does it boot into android?
@Sunandroid, device operates normally except the voice call & data, since these depend on IMEI. The phone boots normally, and everything is working, only the IMEI shows as "null". Additionaly, cannot enter to download mode, no recovery installed, original recovery is working, which is used to do a factory reset only. No USB debugging, it says "USB device descriptor failed". Thus no adb.
pisisler said:
@Sunandroid, device operates normally except the voice call & data, since these depend on IMEI. The phone boots normally, and everything is working, only the IMEI shows as "null". Additionaly, cannot enter to download mode, no recovery installed, original recovery is working, which is used to do a factory reset only. No USB debugging, it says "USB device descriptor failed". Thus no adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read about this issue (device descriptor...) just now, it is not software but hardware related.
I've heard of people solving that issue but I couldn't manage to do. Gave the phone to my customer back after 4 days. Importer service put the phone out of warranty and offered him a motherboard replacement for 75 $ and it's pretty fair I think. After all it comes funny when he says he's gonna file a case about returning the phone and take his money back. Well, it's up to him to end up with nothing in hands after months of waiting for a case.
Shortly, this file has been closed without a reasonable solution.
Thanks for your effort @Sunandroid.
pisisler said:
I've heard of people solving that issue but I couldn't manage to do. Gave the phone to my customer back after 4 days. Importer service put the phone out of warranty and offered him a motherboard replacement for 75 $ and it's pretty fair I think. After all it comes funny when he says he's gonna file a case about returning the phone and take his money back. Well, it's up to him to end up with nothing in hands after months of waiting for a case.
Shortly, this file has been closed without a reasonable solution.
Thanks for your effort @Sunandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear that. Hitting the thanks button doesn't hurt.
Hi.. Im new here with this device i read almost every single post here but there are quite a few things that I don't get it..
What is bootloader? Should i unlock it before rooting the device? And recovery here is in Chinese so shall i get TWRP instead? Also about the flashing Roms issue that erase imei and SN.. why would that happen? And How can i take a backup for these in case i lose them.. Some people mentioned SN writing tools but some people says its not working so im abit confused.. And has anyone noticed that the flashlight of the mobile is actually yellow that affects camera's captures? I would be really grateful if someone helps
1. What is a Bootloader?
Hboot, or we may call it Boot-loader, is like BIOS to windows. It is the first thing that runs when you boot up your Android device. It packages the instructions to boot operating system kernel and most of them are specifically designed to run their own debugging or modification environment.
Every Android phone has a boot-loader that instructs the operating system kernel to boot normally. But you need to understand one thing here that as Android OS is an open source OS and is available on a variety of different hardware, every manufacturer has their own version of bootloader specific for the hardware present in it’s environment.
2. Should you unlock it before rooting the device?
It solely depends on you whether you want to unlock it or not. Unlocking bootloader will give you access to installing custom recoveries on your phone and also you can use custom kernels to boost up phone's performance or simply get more battery juice. Since our K4 note doesn't have any custom kernels so good luck with that.
Warning: Unlocking Boot-loader voids phone's warranty
3. Why does IMEI/SN erases while flashing ROM's
People don't read the tutorial properly. They blame the OP instead when they do something wrong and loose their IMEI/SN.
What basically happens is, when flashing ROM's through SP flash tools, They should flash it in "DOWNLOAD" mode only and not in "Format ALL" mode. People who all lost their IMEI basically did this mistake.
4. How to Backup and Restore your IMEI/SN (NVRAM)
All the device specific details such as IMEI, SN, MAC addresses are stored in a partition called as NVRAM. So backing it up will indirectly be referring to backing up your IMEI/SN. Here is how you can do it.. LINK
5. How to install Recovery?
if you are on Marshmallow then you will be able to install recovery through this thread. LINK
6. Yellow Flashilight problem?
This bug is introduced in Android V6.0 that is marshmallow. Actually this is not truly a bug. Unlike on Lollipop which had only one LED light enabled during Camera operations, Lenovo decided to enable both of the LED's (That is white and yellow) to give the images a more true LIVELY appeal.
But terming this as bug here because nobody liked it and users were pissed off straightaway. Hopefully, Lenovo will fix it soon.
Hit Thanks if i helped..
Krishnas096 said:
1. What is a Bootloader?
Hboot, or we may call it Boot-loader, is like BIOS to windows. It is the first thing that runs when you boot up your Android device. It packages the instructions to boot operating system kernel and most of them are specifically designed to run their own debugging or modification environment.
Every Android phone has a boot-loader that instructs the operating system kernel to boot normally. But you need to understand one thing here that as Android OS is an open source OS and is available on a variety of different hardware, every manufacturer has their own version of bootloader specific for the hardware present in it’s environment.
2. Should you unlock it before rooting the device?
It solely depends on you whether you want to unlock it or not. Unlocking bootloader will give you access to installing custom recoveries on your phone and also you can use custom kernels to boost up phone's performance or simply get more battery juice. Since our K4 note doesn't have any custom kernels so good luck with that.
Warning: Unlocking Boot-loader voids phone's warranty
3. Why does IMEI/SN erases while flashing ROM's
People don't read the tutorial properly. They blame the OP instead when they do something wrong and loose their IMEI/SN.
What basically happens is, when flashing ROM's through SP flash tools, They should flash it in "DOWNLOAD" mode only and not in "Format ALL" mode. People who all lost their IMEI basically did this mistake.
4. How to Backup and Restore your IMEI/SN (NVRAM)
All the device specific details such as IMEI, SN, MAC addresses are stored in a partition called as NVRAM. So backing it up will indirectly be referring to backing up your IMEI/SN. Here is how you can do it.. LINK
5. How to install Recovery?
if you are on Marshmallow then you will be able to install recovery through this thread. LINK
6. Yellow Flashilight problem?
This bug is introduced in Android V6.0 that is marshmallow. Actually this is not truly a bug. Unlike on Lollipop which had only one LED light enabled during Camera operations, Lenovo decided to enable both of the LED's (That is white and yellow) to give the images a more true LIVELY appeal.
But terming this as bug here because nobody liked it and users were pissed off straightaway. Hopefully, Lenovo will fix it soon.
Hit Thanks if i helped..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahaaaaa Thanks Alot now it get it all.. Hope they fix that soon.. And i read that some devs here is willing to make a custom kernel i guess.. thanks again and sorry for wasting ur time.. Btw have u noticed that the sound on headset and Bluetooth is also abit lower than other devices?
Lenovo A7010 - CM13.0 Android 6.0 on lenovo-forums.ru
What would be the PC equivalent of Custom Recovery software like TWRP?
Would it be something like Acronis TrueImage ?
Also, would it make sense to say that a locked bootloader in a phone (PS: Notice I won't say 'Android Device', because the bootloader comes into play BEFORE the Android OS) is the equivalent of having 'secure boot' enabled in UEFI in a Windows PC? Thereby implying that the process of disabling Secure Boot in UEFI in a PC is the same as unlocking the bootloader in phones?
BIG_BADASS said:
What would be the PC equivalent of Custom Recovery software like TWRP?
Would it be something like Acronis TrueImage ?
Also, would it make sense to say that a locked bootloader in a phone (PS: Notice I won't say 'Android Device', because the bootloader comes into play BEFORE the Android OS) is the equivalent of having 'secure boot' enabled in UEFI in a Windows PC? Thereby implying that the process of disabling Secure Boot in UEFI in a PC is the same as unlocking the bootloader in phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't think you get how phones work bro. Unlocking a bootloader can only be done by manufacturing or through more aggressive means when possible. The H812 still hasn't had its bootloader unlocked by lg and at this point probably never will
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
I really don't think you get how phones work bro. Unlocking a bootloader can only be done by manufacturing or through more aggressive means when possible. The H812 still hasn't had its bootloader unlocked by lg and at this point probably never will
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't answer my question. I asked the theoretical side, not practical.
Before you do anything, you must understand the FULL boot sequence and structure of Smartphone with ARM chipset, and compare it to Intel x86 Chipset..... and know the relationships well... THEN only you can safely say "I know this" ... THEN only you can safely play around and tinker with the smart phones.....
I thought I knew alot.. but turns out I know NOTHING.... so I go back to square 1 and learn EVERYTHING from scratch again.....
Before I do anything, I must familiarize WHAT is TWRP.. You can say "TWRP is custom recovery", okay, 'WHAT IS CUSTOM RECOVERY' ? You must be able to clearly explain what it is, what parts of the boot sequence it affects.... what is the equivalent in an Intel x86 PC of TWRP or custom recovery????
WHat is a ROM? We all know ROM in smartphone world is more than just the operating system... So what other components does it replace besides the operating system???
We have to think like this and analyze EVERYTHING, all the relationships between all the entities.....
I am now learning about EMBEDDED LINUX ... and the boot sequence of it... as smartphone is just another version of embedded linux......
This is what I'm doing now... when I am familiar with EVERYTHING.... then I will tinker....
BIG_BADASS said:
That doesn't answer my question. I asked the theoretical side, not practical.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Secure boot on windows acts as a UEFI (modernized motherboard BIOS meant to work better and faster with x64 and newer systems)
Locker to prevent UEFI from booting into unsigned/unrecognized system images (as far as I know, anybody feel free to correct me)
Bootloaders on smartphones would be the equivalent of a UEFI for the arm architecture. Meant to guide the system into booting from a specified mount. Bootloaders are coded by the manufacturer, either locked or unlocked. Unlocked bootloaders provide a way for users to enter recovery mode and potentially flash unsigned/custom images. If the manufacturer decides to lock the bootloader, the only options are wait for a way to unlock from manufacturer or find a way to crack it if you have the know how
Some manufacturers use the same bootloader for all or most variants of one phone, or can use a different bootloader for each variety of a phone, choosing which bootloaders to unlock or leave locked
For example with the Lg G4, the international variant H815 I believe is unlocked, while the H812 is still to this day locked, while unfortunately their has not been enough interest in trying to reverse engineer or find a loophole if even possible
SpyderAByte said:
Secure boot on windows acts as a UEFI (modernized motherboard BIOS meant to work better and faster with x64 and newer systems)
Locker to prevent UEFI from booting into unsigned/unrecognized system images (as far as I know, anybody feel free to correct me)
Bootloaders on smartphones would be the equivalent of a UEFI for the arm architecture. Meant to guide the system into booting from a specified mount. Bootloaders are coded by the manufacturer, either locked or unlocked. Unlocked bootloaders provide a way for users to enter recovery mode and potentially flash unsigned/custom images. If the manufacturer decides to lock the bootloader, the only options are wait for a way to unlock from manufacturer or find a way to crack it if you have the know how
Some manufacturers use the same bootloader for all or most variants of one phone, or can use a different bootloader for each variety of a phone, choosing which bootloaders to unlock or leave locked
For example with the Lg G4, the international variant H815 I believe is unlocked, while the H812 is still to this day locked, while unfortunately their has not been enough interest in trying to reverse engineer or find a loophole if even possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you bro... now we're getting somewhere....
So PCs also have a bootloader.... but the way I understand, "Bootloader" in the smartphone is a combination of BIOS and MBR in the pc world, right? It is all combined into one entity called "Bootloader"...
Also, the MBR usually has a Stage 1 bootloader, which points to a stage 2 bootloader, which is installed somewhere in the permanent memory (hard disk in PC).... but this structure is not the same in smartphone I believe?
The arm architecture is completely different than the x86 or x64 architectures.
As Asus and MSI and acer etc have their own bios,
Samsung, lg, HTC Huawei Google etc have their own bootloaders. Twrp for example is a custom open source bootloader that anybody can get the source and add to. Phone companies do not give out the source code for their bootloaders usually and it is in their own power to lock and unlock them
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
Maybe just get an unlocked international variant of your next phone and let the big boys do the work for you
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that would be the easy way around...
I have the H815 now which I got in exchange for H812... anyways.... if I didn't have it the hard way, I wouldn't learn anything..... If I had the unlockable H815 from day 1, I wouldn't be this curious... therefore I wouldn't learn.. I'd just be living in ignorance thinking I know everything there is to know .....
Why don't you start by finding the twrp out for the h815 and tinkering with it, making it your own. Try finding a stock ROM and tinkering with that building your own. Plenty of guides around the internet. Learn java and take flight bud
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
The arm architecture is completely different than the x86 or x64 architectures.
As Asus and MSI and acer etc have their own bios,
Samsung, lg, HTC Huawei Google etc have their own bootloaders. Twrp for example is a custom open source bootloader that anybody can get the source and add to. Phone companies do not give out the source code for their bootloaders usually and it is in their own power to lock and unlock them
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SpyderAByte said:
The arm architecture is completely different than the x86 or x64 architectures.
As Asus and MSI and acer etc have their own bios,
Samsung, lg, HTC Huawei Google etc have their own bootloaders. Twrp for example is a custom open source bootloader that anybody can get the source and add to. Phone companies do not give out the source code for their bootloaders usually and it is in their own power to lock and unlock them
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, in the x86 world they do have different motherboard architectures, hence different BIOS's ... but the rest of the boot sequence follows the same order......
So that brings me to my next question... why is it that we can hard brick a phone, but not a PC? I mean.. technically it is possible to brick a PC if you screw up a bios flash.... but that just leads me to believe a "ROM" in smartphone world actually consists of BIOS + OS ...
So that leads me to wonder.. what else has combined functionality? What is the BIOS equivalent in Android? I mean.. technically it is possible to brick a PC if you screw up a bios flash.... but that just leads me to believe a "ROM" in smartphone world actually consists of BIOS + OS ...
So that leads me to wonder.. what else has combined functionality? What is the BIOS equivalent in Android?
The bootloader partition/iso and the data/android partition/ROM are 2 different things
You can independently swap your recovery if it's unlocked and keep your data. Or you can independently change ROMs and keep your bootloader. You don't seem to understand this pretty basic concept
You can brick a phone flashing the bootloader incorrectly or by flashing the ROM incorrectly
Likewise on a PC if you flash the bios/UEFI incorrectly you can brick your motherboard, and corrupting your OS installation can cause issues
The reason you've bricked phones more than you've bricked computers - when was the last time you tried flashing a custom bios or UEFI? Or a version of Linux/windows that your bios won't allow
Computers are usually pretty plug and play so you can swap HDDs/ram/processors and simply upgrade needed drivers to works
Smartphones are greasy and closed source and the manufacturer usually wants it their way, that's why you see them blocking root access and custom roms
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
The bootloader partition/iso and the data/android partition/ROM are 2 different things
You can independently swap your recovery if it's unlocked and keep your data. Or you can independently change ROMs and keep your bootloader. You don't seem to understand this pretty basic concept
You can brick a phone flashing the bootloader incorrectly or by flashing the ROM incorrectly
Likewise on a PC if you flash the bios/UEFI incorrectly you can brick your motherboard, and corrupting your OS installation can cause issues
The reason you've bricked phones more than you've bricked computers - when was the last time you tried flashing a custom bios or UEFI? Or a version of Linux/windows that your bios won't allow
Computers are usually pretty plug and play so you can swap HDDs/ram/processors and simply upgrade needed drivers to works
Smartphones are greasy and closed source and the manufacturer usually wants it their way, that's why you see them blocking root access and custom roms
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically, the ROM is more than just the operating system, no? Flashing a rom in smartphone is NOT exactly the same as installing Ubuntu or Debian in a PC, right? There's something else you're replacing, am I right?
Also.. the way I understand... Bootloader is the very first software that runs once you power on the smartphone? (equivalent of BIOS) ?
BIG_BADASS said:
So basically, the ROM is more than just the operating system, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ROM is the operating system, the included apps and packages and any other information that android needs to run after the bootloader
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
The ROM is the operating system, the included apps and packages and any other information that android needs to run after the bootloader
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So when you flash a rom, you're not replacing the original bootloader? Or BIOS?
No as I stated in my previous post. You can use your bootloader or a PC through fastboot to flash ROMs as long as your bootloader is unlocked
On a galaxy for instance you could first install twrp if possible leaving your stock touchWiz ROM perfectly intact but now you have twrp
Then later you can use twrp to install paranoid Android or CM for instance, replacing your stock touchWiz ROM, but leaving your newly installed twrp untouched
I used to have a galaxy s4 Canadian variant, and the bootloader was locked and still is to this day. The only way to flash a custom ROM was to bypass the stock bootloader using a method found by someone experienced with Samsung bootloaders (a rogue Samsung employee iirc)
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
Bootloaders on smartphones would be the equivalent of a UEFI for the arm architecture. Meant to guide the system into booting from a specified mount. Bootloaders are coded by the manufacturer, either locked or unlocked. Unlocked bootloaders provide a way for users to enter recovery mode and potentially flash unsigned/custom images. If the manufacturer decides to lock the bootloader, the only options are wait for a way to unlock from manufacturer or find a way to crack it if you have the know how
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The final outcome is the same, yes, but bootloader and BIOS/UEFI are completely separate, right? X86 PCs have a bootloader called NTLDR and it comes into play after the BIOS has finished POST and given control to the MBR....
BIOS > MBR (contains stage 1 bootloader) > Stage 1 bootloader points to Stage 2 bootloader in the HDD
Or is the functionality of bootloader and bios combined into one unit in the smartphone?
---------- Post added at 07:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 AM ----------
SpyderAByte said:
No as I stated in my previous post. You can use your bootloader or a PC through fastboot to flash ROMs as long as your bootloader is unlocked
On a galaxy for instance you could first install twrp if possible leaving your stock touchWiz ROM perfectly intact but now you have twrp
Then later you can use twrp to install paranoid Android or CM for instance, replacing your stock touchWiz ROM, but leaving your newly installed twrp untouched
I used to have a galaxy s4 Canadian variant, and the bootloader was locked and still is to this day. The only way to flash a custom ROM was to bypass the stock bootloader using a method found by someone experienced with Samsung bootloaders (a rogue Samsung employee iirc)
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So TWRP comes into play before the operating system is loaded, correct? Meaning if you flash a corrupt operating system, you can still format the drive, because TWRP is on a lower layer?
So you can think of TWRP as those Windows Recovery disks?
Do you understand how partitions work? (Not attacking, honest question)
Your bootloader would sit on one partition of the phone emmc(like a small solid state drive/kind of like an sd card chip)
So your partition table would look kind of like this
Emmc1 - /boot (bootloader tells android to boot into recovery, download, fastboot, or android rom
Emmc2 - /recovery (recovery partition. User interface of twrp for example)
Emmc3 - /download mode (used to flash zips)
Emmc4 - /data (android rom that you install
Emmc5 - / (the root folder of your phone, where your storage starts
If you remember getting a 16gb iPhone or iPod and wondering why you only got 9-11gb when you have 100% free space, it's because the emmc is rated for 16gb but the data/ROM uses 5-7gb
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
SpyderAByte said:
Do you understand how partitions work? (Not attacking, honest question)
Your bootloader would sit on one partition of the phone emmc(like a small solid state drive/kind of like an sd card chip)
So your partition table would look kind of like this
Emmc1 - /boot (bootloader tells android to boot into recovery, download, fastboot, or android rom
Emmc2 - /recovery (recovery partition. User interface of twrp for example)
Emmc3 - /download mode (used to flash zips)
Emmc4 - /data (android rom that you install
Emmc5 - / (the root folder of your phone, where your storage starts
If you remember getting a 16gb iPhone or iPod and wondering why you only got 9-11gb when you have 100% free space, it's because the emmc is rated for 16gb but the data/ROM uses 5-7gb
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry man, I'm from the PC world.. this makes no sense to me.... please relate all the functionality to it's PC equivalent...
Also, what is the boot sequence of the smartphone? Does it have a BIOS? MBR? Hard Drive? RAM?
If smartphone doesn't have all these parts, then what part of the phone does the job of the BIOS, MBR, Hard drive, RAM, bootloader, etc?
---------- Post added at 07:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 AM ----------
Maybe my approach here is wrong, maybe I shouldn't try to relate everything 1 to 1 ?
---------- Post added at 07:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:27 AM ----------
SpyderAByte said:
Do you understand how partitions work? (Not attacking, honest question)
Your bootloader would sit on one partition of the phone emmc(like a small solid state drive/kind of like an sd card chip)
So your partition table would look kind of like this
Emmc1 - /boot (bootloader tells android to boot into recovery, download, fastboot, or android rom
Emmc2 - /recovery (recovery partition. User interface of twrp for example)
Emmc3 - /download mode (used to flash zips)
Emmc4 - /data (android rom that you install
Emmc5 - / (the root folder of your phone, where your storage starts
If you remember getting a 16gb iPhone or iPod and wondering why you only got 9-11gb when you have 100% free space, it's because the emmc is rated for 16gb but the data/ROM uses 5-7gb
Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, lets say you format the entire memory of the phone, and reinstall Android.... will it automatically create all these partitions?
Holy **** man you say you know computers but it's almost the same as Linux. Android uses Linux at its absolute core so alot of it is pretty close. Look up a healthy Linux partiton setup and compare to my half assed partition table above and you'll see it's almost identical.
A HDD, SSD, or a memory block (phone internals, usb drives, sd cards) all can have seperate "partitions" which are basically seperate simulated drives, and all have a master boot record telling the device where to start.
There is a boot partition on the memory block which holds the core bootloader files and tells the phone what to do first.
If you hold down the recovery button it will tell the phone to boot to the recovery partition. If you hold down the download buttons it will tell the phone to boot into the download partition. If you allow the phone to boot regularly it will tell the phone to boot to the android /system partition which is where the android operating system is held
I can't explain how this works compared to windows because windows does its own thing in regarding to booting and it is not in my spectrum
The paranoidAndroid.iso file system you would try to flash for example would hold the
/system(android os)
/Data (user data and apps)
/ Or /root (main read/write accessable storage for user)
/Root would require root access to be able to get into and from there you can access the /system and /data mountpoints to modify system files, without root access you are usually not even able to view these folders
SpyderAByte said:
Holy **** man you say you know computers but it's almost the same as Linux. Android uses Linux at its absolute core so alot of it is pretty close. Look up a healthy Linux partiton setup and compare to my half assed partition table above and you'll see it's almost identical.
A HDD, SSD, or a memory block (phone internals, usb drives, sd cards) all can have seperate "partitions" which are basically seperate simulated drives, and all have a master boot record telling the device where to start.
There is a boot partition on the memory block which holds the core bootloader files and tells the phone what to do first.
If you hold down the recovery button it will tell the phone to boot to the recovery partition. If you hold down the download buttons it will tell the phone to boot into the download partition. If you allow the phone to boot regularly it will tell the phone to boot to the android /system partition which is where the android operating system is held
I can't explain how this works compared to windows because windows does its own thing in regarding to booting and it is not in my spectrum
The paranoidAndroid.iso file system you would try to flash for example would hold the
/system(android os)
/Data (user data and apps)
/ Or /root (main read/write accessable storage for user)
/Root would require root access to be able to get into and from there you can access the /system and /data mountpoints to modify system files, without root access you are usually not even able to view these folders
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know Linux... but there is a HUGE difference between Embedded Linux and GNU/Linux you run on PC.....
If you were to completely wipe the phones internal memory, formatting each seperate partition into one blank one. You would need to find a way to recreate the partition table, install the bootloader onto its proper partition
Then you would use the bootloader to either recreate the partitions for the android rom, OR the ROM could self unpack and create it's needed /system, /data, and /root partitions
Hello, thank you very much for reading, I hope you can help me. I need one or more files to be able to recover my phone: Samsung Galaxy S7 Active.
These are the files that I need:
prog_emmc_firehose_8996.mbn (.elf)
rawprogram0.xml
patch0.xml
I do not know if I would also need these:
MPRG8996.hex
rawprogram_unsparse.xml
I think these files are the same as prog_emmc_firehose_8996.mbn (.elf):
8996_msimage.mbn
MSM8996.mbn
How did I make a brick my phone? Installing the first official version:
SM-G891A_G891AUCU1APG7_ATT_Full_Repair_Frimware
Previously I used this version without any problem:
G891AUCS2API2_CL8737252_QB10881022_REV02_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT
I wish someone could help me, I have read more than 50 pages, but I have not been able to solve the problem.
Please.
Can anybody help me?
hey.... i'm on the same situation..
i need zuk Z2 pro/ prog_ufs_firehose_8996_ddr_zuk.mbn but i only have elf....
it's to remove this stupid frp lock from someone who forgot his first mail... :/
keep going we are going to find out the solution
yakine13 said:
hey.... i'm on the same situation..
i need zuk Z2 pro/ prog_ufs_firehose_8996_ddr_zuk.mbn but i only have elf....
it's to remove this stupid frp lock from someone who forgot his first mail... :/
keep going we are going to find out the solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope someone helps us.
HEY!
I found a way!!!
...for me:/
why you want this emmc_firehose_8996.mbn?
actually, i think that you don't need that file especially, it doesn't exist from where i've searched.
if it's to flash your phone all you need is odin and a flashable file of your phone firmware
i had a zuk z2 pro and was locked with frp when i wanted to setup custom rom AOSP 9.0.0 for example.
but i managed to unlock it by flashing a custom rom without gapps in the first place to no get locked out.
tell me how your phone is reacting, what do you have access to, and your initial step before brick
yakine13 said:
hey.... i'm on the same situation..
i need zuk Z2 pro/ prog_ufs_firehose_8996_ddr_zuk.mbn but i only have elf....
it's to remove this stupid frp lock from someone who forgot his first mail... :/
keep going we are going to find out the solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yakine13 said:
HEY!
I found a way!!!
...for me:/
why you want this emmc_firehose_8996.mbn?
actually, i think that you don't need that file especially, it doesn't exist from where i've searched.
if it's to flash your phone all you need is odin and a flashable file of your phone firmware
i had a zuk z2 pro and was locked with frp when i wanted to setup custom rom AOSP 9.0.0 for example.
but i managed to unlock it by flashing a custom rom without gapps in the first place to no get locked out.
tell me how your phone is reacting, what do you have access to, and your initial step before brick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, sorry for my bad English. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active (SM-G891A). I will try to explain what happened.
I had this version of Android 6 installed (via Odin) on the phone:
G891AUCS2API2_CL8737252_QB10881022_REV02_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT
With that version my phone was fine, but then I tried to install the first version of Android 6 (official) via Odin:
SM-G891A_G891AUCU1APG7_ATT_Full_Repair_Frimware
When the installation was completed (Odin said the installation was successful), the phone never restarted. There is no way to turn it on with any combination of buttons, nor with a microSD with a debrick.img. A USB JIG has not worked for me either.
Windows detects my phone in Qualcomm 9008 mode. Odin does not detect it.
did you find a solution?
actually it look like to be a hard brick but as it's snapdragon 820 you can recover from it
I'm waiting for the day when noobs and half-noobs (no offense, all of us have been there) will start reading before writing and stop assuming that their 1st aid kit will revive a kitten ran over by a train.
It's okay not to know, but before writing a spam reply, just consider for a second that the user already tried your solution and is already a step ahead.
Listen guy, go to Halab Tech. They have certain firmwares for what you need, but they ask money.
Those type of firmwares have a prefix "DEBUG_EMERGENCY_DOWNLOAD_FA....'
In my case it's "DEBUG_EMERGENCY_DOWNLOAD_FA70_G955U1SQU6ASG1_CL12542406_QB24669289_REV00_user_mid_noship_MULTI_CERT.tgz"
As I consider that a bastard move (since they are selling Samsung's intellectual property as their own, stuff that should be public in the first place), I encourage you to share the files if you buy them, so that we can all use them and screw over these monopoly playing-intellectual property stealing bastards.
I'm now working on a recovery of my G955U1 (S8+ Qualcomm USA). I paid $25 for a god damn firmware and I'm gonna post it in next couple of days.
I'm personally having trouble of flashing the firmware (because not many flash tools support flashing .elf flash loaders), but I used one FRP tool (Octoplus FRP tool) to check the loader and it managed to send it, receive the "hello" packet, read partitions and erase the FRP partition (I assume it worked by the log), but I don't have a way to flash other partitions yet.
You people should have in mind one thing: even though certain devices have the same chipset, doesn't mean that you can use the same firehose flash loader, since manufacturers create different loaders for them and write their digital signatures into the chip (don't know is it hardwired or flashed), meaning that you cannot use Xiaomi's prog_ufs_firehose_8998_ddr.elf (just an example) to flash a Samsung device with MSM8992 chipset.
In fact, I think that each phone model and possibly even it's different firmware revisions have unique loaders, since I didn't manage to get a successful response from my G955U1 by sending G955U2 loader, and the loader which I managed to send is actually stated to be for G955U1U6 (U6 is the bootloader revision number, while U1 is the part of the model number).
Best of luck, contact me if you need help.