Database Users

[Q] how brickable is the tab really?

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering, how risky it is to flash new firmware to the tab? Is it really brickable, I mean, is it possible to really really brick the tab to a point where it's not possible to fix it? I'm asking partly because I'm a rookie, but mostly because it seems that everyone who manages to brick their tab around here, is somehow able to restore it. Or am I mistaken?
Where I live, the tab has a starting price of $1100. And thats gotta be one of the most expensive bricks in xda history. And if I brick mine, I know I won't be able to resist buying a new one, which adds ut to a $2200 pricetag and a very VERY angry gf..
thanks btw to all of you who make this place what it is

As risky as any other device. Simple. The risk doesnt just lay on the devices shoulders, its the user and the rom maker.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Okay, I'm so confused with the brick-terminology being used here. In all posts regardig new firmware to the tab you'll see at least to guys saying that they bricked their tab. Only to say that they fixed it/unbricked it moments later.
I thought that if you bricked your device, whatever device it is, then it's dead, period. No more usefull than a brick like the ones you'll find in a brick wall, just a hell of a lot more expensive. Heck, the word "unbrick" shouldn't even exist by this definition.
So, let me rephrase:
If I brick my tab, can't I just unbrick it? And if not, why? Is it even possible for the tab to be totally and permanently bricked forever? Is the tab in any way safer to fool around with than other devices? Do we know anyone who have bricked their tab permanently? Should I be afraid of fooling around with my tabs firmware for real?

I think it's just a question of perception on the part of the person who "bricked" their device (the "brickie"? ). If you flash and find that you have what appears to be a dead device then you may well come on here and say "I've bricked my device!". You may then find that it's not bricked at all as there is a way (previously unknown to yourself) to recover. I remember in the old days on here people would pick up "bricked" phones on ebay etc, knowing that quite often they could recover them. It probably still happens...
But devices certainly can get permanently bricked too as you know. Personally, I would only flash if I had confidence in myself that it would work, having read up on the procedure and seen enough working examples. Others may just dive in and see what happens . Only you can decide if it's worth the risk or not, but these days I think it's quite rare to permanently brick a device if you fully understand the procedures and the risks. A stable recovery ROM makes a big difference. Not sure if the SGT has that yet.

paulshields said:
A stable recovery ROM makes a big difference. Not sure if the SGT has that yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's in the works, just not quite there yet.
As Paul said, there's always going to be a risk it COULD happen. But following documentation and fully understanding the task at hand before diving in helps to limit the risks to a minimum.

Thanks to all of you for enlightening me

When I was flashing the different files to get calling on my ATT Tab I managed to flash the wrong file and get the device not to boot up but there was still the "download mode" to go into and I was then able to flash the correct file. I find it is very rare to actually "brick" a device requiring the device to be replaced or cracked open & reprogrammed manually. Most of the time now when a device is described as a brick it just won't boot the OS like it is normally supposed to.

paulshields said:
I think it's just a question of perception on the part of the person who "bricked" their device (the "brickie"? ). If you flash and find that you have what appears to be a dead device then you may well come on here and say "I've bricked my device!". You may then find that it's not bricked at all as there is a way (previously unknown to yourself) to recover. I remember in the old days on here people would pick up "bricked" phones on ebay etc, knowing that quite often they could recover them. It probably still happens...
But devices certainly can get permanently bricked too as you know. Personally, I would only flash if I had confidence in myself that it would work, having read up on the procedure and seen enough working examples. Others may just dive in and see what happens . Only you can decide if it's worth the risk or not, but these days I think it's quite rare to permanently brick a device if you fully understand the procedures and the risks. A stable recovery ROM makes a big difference. Not sure if the SGT has that yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol @ "brickie" - I guess you have to be British to get that one?
As for "bricking" , quite right, the device isn't "bricked" if it can be fixed by the user.
People have gotten sloppy with the term, but really it means that you could build a house with it if it were fat enough, but it's no more useful than an expensive paperweight.
The worst you can do without bricking is boot-loop/no-boot which can usually be fixed. The point is, if the device shows any signs of life whatsoever, it's usually fixable.

I thought I bricked my tab, I got the infamous "phone-!-pc" screen
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Samsung_Galaxy_S_Black_Screen_of_Death.jpg
I thought I was screwed. However, I still had it connected via USB and Odin still running and I saw that the com port popped up. I though, hmmmm
clicky and bam, its flashing.
Got it back.
This was after a stupid botched flash attempt on my part.
So, I think you REALLY gotta mess it up to be proper "bricked"

I did a lots of tries and I thing that is not that easy to brick, but I can give a suggestion: Backup the EFS folder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I deleted by mistake with root explorer the nv_data and relatives backups, and I had a corrupted IMEI that is not a brick but I think is one of the bad things (and hard to recover if not impossible if you don't have a backup) because if the carriers ban double IMEI the phone (tab) will not work + is not legal
Forgot to say: seems that some SGS firmware upgrades corrupted the IMEI too, I didn't see something flashing the TAB, but restoring the EFS folder will fix (almost always) the problems

I have not tried to brick my GT, but the JM6 gave me a scare... I have been flashing it for a while now.
The one thing you have to give up for now is SWYPE. I se you have a norwegian flag... And norwegian is not included in any flash I have found. So if you ever decide to try flashing. Say goodbye to SWYPE in norwegian for now...

Yeah, the loss of the Norwegian keyboard is the only thing stopping me from flashing jm6. Lucky for me, I'm very patient.
Sent from my HeTC Desire using XDA App

Apparently, you can brick it. I succeeded !
I flashed with Odin and a custom made PDA package including boot.bin but no repartition.
Odin flashed without problems but the Tab did not reboot and simply 'died'.
Black screen all the time, no recovery/download mode, not seen by the PC, does not charge on ac/dc (neither the charger or the PDA ever gets hot, no sound on connection, ...).
I'm letting the battery discharge completely (but how long can that take when it's not using any energy...) to test again tomorrow but I will probably RMA it on monday.

One thing that concerns me is not being able to remove the battery to force the phone to shut down completely.
As an example when I originally 'bricked' my SGS using Kies, no matter how many times I powered the phone it simply refused to go into Recovery or Download mode. All it would do was show me the two icons on screen.
The only way I managed to totally shut the phone down was by removing the battery and wait 30 seconds before returning. Only then would the SGS allow me to access the 3-Button Recovery/Download Mode.
So..... has anyone come across a situation where you needed to remove the battery and if so how did you manage to recover?

Beards said:
One thing that concerns me is not being able to remove the battery to force the phone to shut down completely.
As an example when I originally 'bricked' my SGS using Kies, no matter how many times I powered the phone it simply refused to go into Recovery or Download mode. All it would do was show me the two icons on screen.
The only way I managed to totally shut the phone down was by removing the battery and wait 30 seconds before returning. Only then would the SGS allow me to access the 3-Button Recovery/Download Mode.
So..... has anyone come across a situation where you needed to remove the battery and if so how did you manage to recover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The worst I have done is get the device in the "Phone---!----PC" mode where you can't enter "Download Mode". It seems that simply flashing a new PIT file and then forcing it off, it will then enter download mode again.

alias_neo said:
The worst I have done is get the device in the "Phone---!----PC" mode where you can't enter "Download Mode". It seems that simply flashing a new PIT file and then forcing it off, it will then enter download mode again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A little un-nerving isn't it... I have deep thoughts of not being able to get the Tab to drop out of memory by not being able to remove the battery and flush.

Beards said:
One thing that concerns me is not being able to remove the battery to force the phone to shut down completely.
As an example when I originally 'bricked' my SGS using Kies, no matter how many times I powered the phone it simply refused to go into Recovery or Download mode. All it would do was show me the two icons on screen.
The only way I managed to totally shut the phone down was by removing the battery and wait 30 seconds before returning. Only then would the SGS allow me to access the 3-Button Recovery/Download Mode.
So..... has anyone come across a situation where you needed to remove the battery and if so how did you manage to recover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that when you leave/turn "USB Debugging" on in Applications -> Development, it is fairly save. As long as you are near a computer with adb installed and you have your usb cable within reach, you can reboot the device into recovery with adb reboot recovery or just reboot with adb reboot.
Another way is of course to let the battery run out of power, charge it and reboot.

appelflap said:
I think that when you leave/turn "USB Debugging" on in Applications -> Development, it is fairly save. As long as you are near a computer with adb installed and you have your usb cable within reach, you can reboot the device into recovery with adb reboot recovery or just reboot with adb reboot.
Another way is of course to let the battery run out of power, charge it and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying that the Tab will accept an "adb reboot" in it's unresponsive black screen state or some other? I'v not yet come across a state where just holding power didn't turn it off.

appelflap said:
I think that when you leave/turn "USB Debugging" on in Applications -> Development, it is fairly save. As long as you are near a computer with adb installed and you have your usb cable within reach, you can reboot the device into recovery with adb reboot recovery or just reboot with adb reboot.
Another way is of course to let the battery run out of power, charge it and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Running down the battery is an option... but it would take an age seeing as you're not doing anything with the phone except looking at two icons on a black screen.
alias_neo said:
Are you saying that the Tab will accept an "adb reboot" in it's unresponsive black screen state or some other? I'v not yet come across a state where just holding power didn't turn it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That thought passed me by as well.

alias_neo said:
Are you saying that the Tab will accept an "adb reboot" in it's unresponsive black screen state or some other? I'v not yet come across a state where just holding power didn't turn it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did . I was fooling around with the button definitions of the tab, I lost all my buttons so to speak (also the powerbutton) and couldn't get into the system. A simple adb reboot got me out of there without any problem.
Yes, I believe adb can connect with the Tab in very unresponsive states and still issue commands. I've seen it also with my old galaxy S. A bad flash and a blank screen still gave me access to the system shell with adb.
My lesson learned is: alway have "USB Debugging" turned on.

Ideos x5 totally bricked

Hi there,
My phone not turning on not without battery and SD not with home and volume+ and power button not with both volumes and power nothing at all not even vibrating when charging I am not sure if it's the battery but it was charged before I rebooted once rebooted it didn't turn back on I am on aurora ics and cwm.
I didn't have any problems with it partitions might of been wiped but I guess this would leave me with access to bootloader or anything or a vibrate on charge at least it happened as I was formatting another device but put the wrong sd on ubuntu so I started to think it might be the battery except it was charged unless it decided to leak all the charge in no time.
Also it doesn't do anything on usb or charge connection no vibrate no led no light buttons no nothing just nothing.

Sounds like my issue...
If in fact you did format the whole 3.69gb partition, then you wiped the phone.
So far, my only recourse has been to attempt a JTAG and install a bootloader.
I'm thinking that maybe I can try some form of "wire trick", like the ones used on the HTC Sensation, but I don't want to blow it up by shorting something unrepairable.
If you find another solution, please reply as it would be helpful to others.

PoXFreak said:
Sounds like my issue...
If in fact you did format the whole 3.69gb partition, then you wiped the phone.
So far, my only recourse has been to attempt a JTAG and install a bootloader.
I'm thinking that maybe I can try some form of "wire trick", like the ones used on the HTC Sensation, but I don't want to blow it up by shorting something unrepairable.
If you find another solution, please reply as it would be helpful to others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope i didnt format 3.96 gb it was 3 mb and it was shown as linux cd gadget also it worked afterwards until i rebooted next day then blackness the thing is i cant seem to find a battery to try with so i need to try everything first

The one I have here wouldn't start charging the battery until I force-fed the battery directly. (use a 4-5v charger and directly charge the battery for a couple of minutes).
Mine worked, but I made the mistake of formatting the entire partition (3.69gb), so now the phone does absolutely nothing.

PoXFreak said:
The one I have here wouldn't start charging the battery until I force-fed the battery directly. (use a 4-5v charger and directly charge the battery for a couple of minutes).
Mine worked, but I made the mistake of formatting the entire partition (3.69gb), so now the phone does absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a bit confused here so now when you plug it you can do something to it since it's charging? I guess I never did the 3.69 thingy if I am not mistaken..So lemme ask you if I tried the wall outlet for example instead of the USB to tv or laptop would that help to start it? I am thinking of replacing the battery and see what happens that's if I can find it here in Turkey the Turks always into the newest phones so this one is ancient to them to find a battery for...

Mine is in the same state. But I know that in my efforts to get it to start again I accidently wiped the the entire partition. Can't turn it on, can't get a pink screen, not a thing and haven't beenable to find any solution. So I guess all I can do is sit back and check the postings to see if anyone else has the same issue and knows of a way to restore the boot partition.

Burtrum57 said:
Mine is in the same state. But I know that in my efforts to get it to start again I accidently wiped the the entire partition. Can't turn it on, can't get a pink screen, not a thing and haven't beenable to find any solution. So I guess all I can do is sit back and check the postings to see if anyone else has the same issue and knows of a way to restore the boot partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking of trying to run MTTY 1.42 and talk directly with the qualcomm chip to send the boot files myself, but I need to know what I need and where it goes first.
I did this with the HTC Kaiser (AT&T Tilt) with some success.
That was on Windows XP though...not sure if it will run correctly on Win 7.

PoXFreak said:
I'm thinking of trying to run MTTY 1.42 and talk directly with the qualcomm chip to send the boot files myself, but I need to know what I need and where it goes first.
I did this with the HTC Kaiser (AT&T Tilt) with some success.
That was on Windows XP though...not sure if it will run correctly on Win 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
help me i have the same issue....

service
May be best option is to take it to service center.

Nexus 6p Won't Start (Suspected Hardware Failure)

My nexus 6p suddenly won't start, I've had my phone since May 2016 so more than a year now.
I've flashed a custom ROM onto it, I'm sure this isn't a software issue because it's been running fine since I bought it (and flashed it) and I followed all the instructions correctly.
I've read through this thread and tried the solutions there, hold the power button for longer than usual (a few minutes), hold the volume down button and power together, hold the volume down button then charge it, now hold the power button. I tried all 3 solutions which worked for many in that thread, but not me.
This all started 2 days ago, with no changes software-wise and using the same configuration as when I first flashed it, I opened the app HERE Maps and then my phone froze, totally stuck and unresponsive, restarting was no good, I had to go into TWRP and wipe the cache and dalvik cache, and it booted fine.
Today, same thing, I opened up HERE Maps and it got stuck again, I now notice that it takes longer than usual to start up via the power button, and wiping the cache and dalvik cache does not work anymore, it stucks on boot.
Now, my phone is not able to start at all. I think this is a hardware-related issue.
So quick recap:
1. Opened HERE Maps and gets frozen
2. Wiping cache and dalvik cache no longer works, stuck on boot.
3. Phone not able to start at all.
I am out of warranty period-wise, but I also custom it, so obviously my warranty is out the window. I need some insight from you guys here at XDA before I buy another costly phone.

someRandomSamaritan said:
...Now, my phone is not able to start at all. I think this is a hardware-related issue...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably correct. Since you are unlocked and have a working Recovery mode, you may be have some success with the 4 core fix/workaround. Have you attempted a factory reset? Formatted partitions and flashed a full ROM using the flash-all.bat script?

v12xke said:
You're probably correct. Since you are unlocked and have a working Recovery mode, you may be have some success with the 4 core fix/workaround. Have you attempted a factory reset? Formatted partitions and flashed a full ROM using the flash-all.bat script?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I really mean can't start it. Absolutely zero. I can't get it to boot, oddly enough it did work a few times until it doesn't respond at all.
How am I suppose to do anything software-related if there's no electricity? I have zero options, maybe there's something new I could try?
EDIT: I forgot to mention that my battery was 100% full charge when this happened. At this point I think either the battery suddenly died or the power button is broken

someRandomSamaritan said:
No, I really mean can't start it. Absolutely zero. I can't get it to boot, oddly enough it did work a few times until it doesn't respond at all.
How am I suppose to do anything software-related if there's no electricity? I have zero options, maybe there's something new I could try?
EDIT: I forgot to mention that my battery was 100% full charge when this happened. At this point I think either the battery suddenly died or the power button is broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you access recovery or bootloader mode?
If within warranty, contact google/Huawei depending on where you purchased the phone from.
You could try telling google that your phone is bootlooping for a potential out of warranty RMA.

someRandomSamaritan said:
No, I really mean can't start it. Absolutely zero. I can't get it to boot, oddly enough it did work a few times until it doesn't respond at all.
How am I suppose to do anything software-related if there's no electricity? I have zero options, maybe there's something new I could try?
EDIT: I forgot to mention that my battery was 100% full charge when this happened. At this point I think either the battery suddenly died or the power button is broken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it recognized at all when you plug a data cable to your PC? Your phone may be stuck in Qualcomm's EDL mode. Search.

No recovery mode, no TWRP, not within warranty, plug in data cable into PC not detected (makes sense, it's not powered on after all)
You could try telling google that your phone is bootlooping for a potential out of warranty RMA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a possible option..I'll try that tomorrow when it's morning
Anything else I could try? I think the most obvious methods are not available for me with this kinda situation

someRandomSamaritan said:
No recovery mode, no TWRP, not within warranty, plug in data cable into PC not detected (makes sense, it's not powered on after all)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your phone is in EDL mode, there is no indication the phone is on. No boot, no lights, no noise (except from the PC when the USB driver loads). You may want to try several long power button only holds (several minutes) with the phone plugged into your PC. I suppose it is also possible the power switch is bad, but you would be the first I've heard of. Unless you bought your phone directly through Google you will get nowhere with them. They will direct you to Huawei and you said you were out of warranty.

v12xke said:
If your phone is in EDL mode, there is no indication the phone is on. No boot, no lights, no noise (except from the PC when the USB driver loads). You may want to try several long power button only holds (several minutes) with the phone plugged into your PC. I suppose it is also possible the power switch is bad, but you would be the first I've heard of. Unless you bought your phone directly through Google you will get nowhere with them. They will direct you to Huawei and you said you were out of warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, this is helpful, you guys seems to think it is in EDL mode (which I haven't heard of until now), I'll try this and hopefully a driver loads or something
EDIT: nope, no drivers are loading, doesn't seem to be anything new in device manager, no device plug in sound, how sure are you that I'm in EDL mode?
It did work a few times yesterday (being able to boot into TWRP and wiping cache and dalvik cache), but now I'm not so lucky, it doesn't work anymore. I don't believe my phone is completely dead for some reason, I still do believe it can be saved. Hopefully I'm right :|

If I plan on buying a new phone, should I buy another 6p? I love the look and feel of it, and it's easy to mod. I can't really go and get another different phone because I prefer purenexus ROMs than any other, it's just simple and clean, problem is, what if another year from now my new 6p breaks? How can I trust that the new phone won't break the exact same way?
What if I end up buying a new 6p every 1 year or so? I'm starting to question the reliability of the 6p, is what I'm facing a very common issue?

someRandomSamaritan said:
If I plan on buying a new phone, should I buy another 6p? I love the look and feel of it, and it's easy to mod. I can't really go and get another different phone because I prefer purenexus ROMs than any other, it's just simple and clean, problem is, what if another year from now my new 6p breaks? How can I trust that the new phone won't break the exact same way?
What if I end up buying a new 6p every 1 year or so? I'm starting to question the reliability of the 6p, is what I'm facing a very common issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't recommend the nexus 6p. I would have a look at the latest pixel 2. They have project treble.
Your issue is different than most others. Most n6p with issues are bootlooping devices.

I have the same exact problem and have tried all sorts of fixes...
This is a serious problem most likely on Huawei's end. All I was doing was charging my phone and using facebook and my phone freezes...

BadBoy2K7 said:
I have the same exact problem and have tried all sorts of fixes...
This is a serious problem most likely on Huawei's end. All I was doing was charging my phone and using facebook and my phone freezes...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you managed to solve it in the end or ended up RMAing the phone away and getting a new one?

I wouldn't recommend the nexus 6p. I would have a look at the latest pixel 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pixel 2 is some expensive thing, out of my budget

someRandomSamaritan said:
Pixel 2 is some expensive thing, out of my budget
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you should look for alternatives. Perhaps OnePlus 5T, etc.

I think I'm out of luck, my phone seems to be dead
As a last resort, I do plan to take it to a phone repair shop and see if they could do something, maybe the battery died? Unlikely but it's worth trying
I tried what was suggested here, plug the phone to a PC and see if a drivers loads or if detected by device manager, or if hearing connect/disconnect sound. Nothing, no signs. Anything else to try by myself?

someRandomSamaritan said:
I think I'm out of luck, my phone seems to be dead
As a last resort, I do plan to take it to a phone repair shop and see if they could do something, maybe the battery died? Unlikely but it's worth trying
I tried what was suggested here, plug the phone to a PC and see if a drivers loads or if detected by device manager, or if hearing connect/disconnect sound. Nothing, no signs. Anything else to try by myself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Repairmen in China have been repairing nexus 5x and 6p by resoldering the cpu. I wish I knew a way to contact a reliable english speaking repair centre.

I was facing bootlooping problem with my Nexus 6P and bootloader was locked so was unable to flash ROM by any mean.
So I tried following few threads and did "fastboot continue" and my device is not showing any sign of power since then. When connected to PC then no USB connection is there.
Is there any suggestions that can solve issue?

someRandomSamaritan said:
Did you managed to solve it in the end or ended up RMAing the phone away and getting a new one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Unfortunately this happened to me last month and ive had the phone for almost 2 years now. Its sad because others are having the same issue and I think the hardware is faulty

I just called up a local phone repair and they said from their experience of repairing nexus 6p phones, most (if not all) of them had dead motherboards. The technician told me to get a new model of a phone and skip the 6p as it is a poorly built phone.
I consider saving up for a pixel..

NoobInToto said:
Repairmen in China have been repairing nexus 5x and 6p by resoldering the cpu. I wish I knew a way to contact a reliable english speaking repair centre.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive heard of people baking motherboard on Nexus 5x and many other phones to reflow the solder.

Unbrick your dead-boot lumia... WITHOUT JTAG!

Wondering where I was? me too.
Long time has passed since the start of this post (almost 4 years to be exact), so I decided to finalize this finally and release the fully fledged guide. Interesting how this all got here just because me, a dumbass, formatted his Lumia 920 in Mass-Storage Mode in 2016.
So let's start.
First of all, make sure your device isn't in QHSUSB_DLOAD. After all if it is, you can just flash with WDRT or Thor2, and not spend so much time on that (see my video on how to recover from QHSUSB_DLOAD).
Step 1
Disassemble your Lumia. You can use online video guides or just a service manual, doesn't really matter.
Step 2
Find the schematics of your device, most if not all are available online, afterwards, find R3209 resistor, yes, that legendary resistor which will force the device to QHSUSB_DLOAD.
Step 3
After finding it in schematics, find it on your device, approximately, since it is most likely under a metal shield, once found the approximate location, remove the shielding with heat, or if you are like me, start cutting it like death is coming.
Step 4
Now the interesting part, reconnect your phone's battery, this will ensure the phone isn't in any sort of state and is powered off. After, short the resistor to ground and connect your phone to PC while shorting, wait 2 seconds and remove the short.
Step 5
Voila!
Take a look at my video on how to recover from QHSUSB_DLOAD, and recover your Lumia using it.

Can you explain why you think this works?
I do this to Lumias that don't get detected but without cutting my USB cable. Pop the battery cable off the board and plug the cable into the phone. Then plug the battery cable ribbon back into the motherboard. Worked for me that way...

nate0 said:
Can you explain why you think this works?
I do this to Lumias that don't get detected but without cutting my USB cable. Pop the battery cable off the board and plug the cable into the phone. Then plug the battery cable ribbon back into the motherboard. Worked for me that way...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but there are Lumias in the wild that doesn't support that way of connection.
They just don't get connected.

gmirz2005 said:
Sorry, but there are Lumias in the wild that doesn't support that way of connection.
They just don't get connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, I get that.
My question is more about if you understand what is happening when you trigger it to cycle on this way?

nate0 said:
Right, I get that.
My question is more about if you understand what is happening when you trigger it to cycle on this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you make the edl cable and hold the button while turning the lumia on, the cable works like a short jig. As in every device, the CPU is "starting" first, there's command that is implemented in the CPU that switches the device to EDL mode but in this case, as the boot is dead, it switches to Qualcomm F006 Mode in other words, Qualcomm Modem Mode, which is normal for hard bricked devices.
I read a guide about unbricking a DragonBoard 410c but it's done using some base firmware files which we don't have.

gmirz2005 said:
When you make the edl cable and hold the button while turning the lumia on, the cable works like a short jig. As in every device, the CPU is "starting" first, there's command that is implemented in the CPU that switches the device to EDL mode but in this case, as the boot is dead, it switches to Qualcomm F006 Mode in other words, Qualcomm Modem Mode, which is normal for hard bricked devices.
I read a guide about unbricking a DragonBoard 410c but it's done using some base firmware files which we don't have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect! This is what I needed. Thanks.
My next question would be, how does this change for USB type c windows phone hardware or is it even applicable?
I'm assuming it should be in some way applicable, but it might depend on the device. So what might work for Lumias might not apply to Alcatel hardware etc. or vice versa.
I ask this because I have a few hard bricked devices either in QC USB modem mode or the like.
Another question would be can this method be used to boot a device into edl/USB modem mode even if it is not hard bricked yet?

nate0 said:
Perfect! This is what I needed. Thanks.
My next question would be, how does this change for USB type c windows phone hardware or is it even applicable?
I'm assuming it should be in some way applicable, but it might depend on the device. So what might work for Lumias might not apply to Alcatel hardware etc. or vice versa.
I ask this because I have a few hard bricked devices either in QC USB modem mode or the like.
Another question would be can this method be used to boot a device into edl/USB modem mode even if it is not hard bricked yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answering to your Question 1:
No, this is not applicable for USB Type C hardware Windows Phones, as they run completely differently (which I didn't do research about).
Answering to your Question 2:
No, this only works with Lumias with Bootloader Spec A, and not with other brand manufactured Lumias.
Answering to your Question 3:
Yes you can enter the QHUSB_DLOAD mode if the device is not even bricked.

hi dude, i have a problem my computer detects the phone as QHSUSB_BULK, do you think this tutorial can work? regards

Finsther said:
hi dude, i have a problem my computer detects the phone as QHSUSB_BULK, do you think this tutorial can work? regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know at this moment as I really screwed up my Lumia (battery blown).
But I think it will...

Could this work without disconnecting the battery? What is the reason for that?
I have a Lumia 1020 with the problems listed in this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78640119&postcount=830
thor2 seems to be useless with the same "authentication error" and WDRT also doesn't work.
Edit: Also, why is your battery blown? Is it because of this process?

Tiago117 said:
Could this work without disconnecting the battery? What is the reason for that?
I have a Lumia 1020 with the problems listed in this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78640119&postcount=830
thor2 seems to be useless with the same "authentication error" and WDRT also doesn't work.
Edit: Also, why is your battery blown? Is it because of this process?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Battery is blown due to incorrect removing (it was glued)
Yes you need to disconnect the battery so the device looses full power so then you can enter to DLOAD mode

gmirz2005 said:
My Battery is blown due to incorrect removing (it was glued)
Yes you need to disconnect the battery so the device looses full power so then you can enter to DLOAD mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you happen to know how to get the RDC files for Lumia phones? It looks like if I get that, I can fix my 1020 without openning it up.

Tiago117 said:
Do you happen to know how to get the RDC files for Lumia phones? It looks like if I get that, I can fix my 1020 without openning it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm...
I don't know

gmirz2005 said:
Umm...
I don't know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is as far as I've went: https://protobetatest.com/2018/08/2...ust-got-a-prototype-what-do-i-need-to-do-now/

Would my Lumia 1020 with JTAG eFuse blown and without RnD certification (UEFI secure boot is enabled) work with this method? Could this circumvent these issues and still flash my phone back to its original FFU?
Thanks.

Tiago117 said:
Would my Lumia 1020 with JTAG eFuse blown and without RnD certification (UEFI secure boot is enabled) work with this method? Could this circumvent these issues and still flash my phone back to its original FFU?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes

nate0 said:
few hard bricked devices
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Click to collapse
Ah, geez, man!.. No comment, heh; but, had to -just- comment!! Pfft.

kgbme said:
Ah, geez, man!.. No comment, heh; but, had to -just- comment!! Pfft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[emoji16]
Not anymore though. Sold every one of them . Except one. Even sold all my prototypes...

Trying it but not working. Phone still boots to same message of "Unable to find a bootable option".
Laptop not recognizing anything. Maybe the cable connections aren't correct.
Will try to directly short the green and black cables to one another with hands.
Also bought a new battery so should probably charge it fully first.
Edit: not working. Phone continues to boot to "Unable to find a bootable option".
The only difference is that with the short circuit between green and black, the laptop doesn't detect the phone.

Flash efiesp.bin partition from another phone using wpinternals.

Screen dead + Front camera keeps trying to open

Hey!
While I was calibrating my fingerprint, phone suddenly turned off and went to recovery with screen off.
I managed to reflash stock rom through fastboot and it boots to system fine, but the screen stays off and the front camera keeps trying to open while playing the MIUI camera sound (sometimes, while booting, the camera does manage to open once, kinda like it's calibrating). Some playing around with ADB and it seems that the SIM isn't recognized either.. antenna maybe?
I opened the phone up and checked everything, there's no visible issues with the electronics, however it could just be the inside of a cable that died?
Does anyone know what this could be? I noticed the screen, fingerprint reader and antenna are all connected to the same removable PCB, but the camera isn't so that's odd.

Aren't we moving way too fast here? Like wtf is happening rn?
First: Explain in detail from the beginning please if you want help.
Second: Please state exactly what is your issue, and the ROM version of your device.
I don't think what you just did is the cause of whatever problem you're facing, do you mind telling me the source from which you got this phone? Otherwise you might want to send it to a service center.

XDHx86 said:
Aren't we moving way too fast here? Like wtf is happening rn?
First: Explain in detail from the beginning please if you want help.
Second: Please state exactly what is your issue, and the ROM version of your device.
I don't think what you just did is the cause of whatever problem you're facing, do you mind telling me the source from which you got this phone? Otherwise you might want to send it to a service center.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a bit of a long one, so I didn't want to bother too much with the details if anyone knew what those specific issues could be caused by, here goes though:
I am on a Mi 9T bought on Amazon Italy in July 2019. I cannot comfortably send it to a repair center due to every authorized shop around here is just a drop-off point for Xiaomi RMA. I talked to them and, due to (>6 months old) glass damage to the screen and back of the phone, they intended to charge me way more than I can afford, as "solving issues covered by the warranty would require us to replace the accidentally damaged components"
As for what happened:
I was running LOS 17.1 with no issues for a few months. I went to unlock the phone and I heard the reboot vibration, which sent me to recovery (softbricked) but with no screen signal. I assumed it was just a software problem, so I flashed MIUI 12 (global, V12.0.7.0.QFJMIXM) to see what would happen.
As it completed, the phone rebooted itself, the MIUI logo popped up and it went to system (seemingly) without any issues.
I went through the initial wizard and played around with it. everything seemed fine and I even made sure the screen did work in recovery and fastboot. Later, when I went to setup the fingerprint reader, the screen went blank for half a second when I first touched it, and then the same screen death -> reboot to recovery.
The phone was softbricked again, though, this time, reinstalling MIUI didn't yield the same success. Now:
MIUI boots "normally" again
The screen isn't working at all
The front camera opens, as if it's calibrating, when system boots up
The front camera randomly tries to open again every now and then, failing to do so as if the motor is stuck, while MIUI plays the camera closing sound.
Meddling through ADB, the antenna doesn't seem to be working, but I can't be 100% sure due to the methods used
The power and volume buttons, speakers, and the charging light all work.
I have opened the phone up myself, thoroughly checked every cable, connection and PCB, but there is no sign of damage. I put it back together and the same issue continued.
My best guess is that something inside the fingerprint reader went bad and shorted something else.
What that something else is, I couldn't find out. Given the antenna, screen and FOD are all connected to the same little PCB which then runs a couple cables to the motherboard, I am now in the process of finding a couple replacement cables to see if that fixes anything.
As I mentioned before, repair centers are not an option due to the lack of anyone who's willing to help me for less than a good chunk of the price of the phone.

Interesting. So basically what happened is due to the initial soft brick and accordingly you flashed a global MIUI 12 ROM, which in return brought you to the second soft brick which caused some issues within the hardware of the device.
Now you're stuck with a faulty screen, a faulty camera and a faulty antenna.
I don't have the skills to play around with the motherboard and the phone circuit. And I don't care which youtube tutorial you saw, you should have NEVER done that - Of course unless you're actually experienced in that manner, then I apologize for speaking with such prejudice -
I can't help you if you messed up your phone circuit since I have no knowledge about android hardware, however I can safely assume that what caused your issue isn't related to hardware.
I think the issue is caused by an incomplete flashing of a ROM (In this case MIUI 12 global) OR flashing a different variation from your device.
e.g. you flashed only the ROM, but didn't flash the other components of the ROM.
Needless to say, flashing a variation of the ROM that isn't meant for you device can be a disaster recipe.
I recommend flashing LOS again, since you can't go back on Xiaomi devices due to rollback protection.

XDHx86 said:
I don't have the skills to play around with the motherboard and the phone circuit. And I don't care which youtube tutorial you saw, you should have NEVER done that - Of course unless you're actually experienced in that manner, then I apologize for speaking with such prejudice -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand why you'd think that and have seen people do similar stupid things, however I didn't watch any youtube video and know what I'm doing quite well.
I made sure I flashed the correct rom through fastboot to restore everything to stock. I did try to reflash LOS and whatever else (though it's kind of a pain with adb shell), but it doesn't fix the problem, sadly.
That's why I'm betting on a HW issue.
The fingerprint reader and everything else worked flawlessly in LOS for months, but it made the screen go blank and bricked the device in both LOS and fully functional, stock MIUI.
Currently, I'm battling with this damn thing to get USB debugging working while booted to system, so I can do a few things like cast the screen to my PC and see what works from there.
I have access to fastboot and recovery, but everything I know (editing build.prop or patching the boot image) didn't work so far. Do you have any idea what I could do to get that done?

angometry said:
Currently, I'm battling with this damn thing to get USB debugging working while booted to system, so I can do a few things like cast the screen to my PC and see what works from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the touch screen is dead then you can use mouse and OTG cable.
If it is completely black then you can get usb c to HDMI cable (Also usb c hub might work, like this one). Or you can use playstore on pc to download and install apps like (Screen stream over HTTP) on your device, just make sure your device is connected to the internet and you're signed in on your phone as well, you might have to type in the screen password if you have one.
angometry said:
I have access to fastboot and recovery, but everything I know (editing build.prop or patching the boot image) didn't work so far. Do you have any idea what I could do to get that done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why bother with build.prop unless you have the wrong fingerprint prop. Then you can get the correct one from your device's stock ROM, though I think this is irrelevant to your issue.
All I can think of is:
Wiping dalvik cache, though you might have already done that.
Trying other custom ROMs from here.
You may try to get your device rollback index and installing a MIUI ROM that has index higher than it, and see if that works.
That is as far as I can help, unfortunately.
I have zero knowledge when it comes to hardware, so I can only help with software issues. If none of my solutions worked then sorry for wasting your time :/

XDHx86 said:
If it is completely black then you can get usb c to HDMI cable (Also usb c hub might work, like this one).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, does it actually just automatically use it as a 2nd screen if I connect it via HDMI?
XDHx86 said:
I don't know why bother with build.prop unless you have the wrong fingerprint prop. Then you can get the correct one from your device's stock ROM, though I think this is irrelevant to your issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I didn't explain myself, I'm looking for a way to enable USB Debugging without a screen. Thinking that using adb in twrp is the best way, but I can't manage to do it. Do you have any ideas?
If I can get it on, I can then use things like scrcpy to get screen signal through USB.
Main problem with everything else is that the screen is 100% dead. Even with usb otg I don't know how I could possibly get through the setup wizard haha

angometry said:
Wait, does it actually just automatically use it as a 2nd screen if I connect it via HDMI?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried it myself, however it should detect it as a second monitor. Give it a try the cable isn't costly at all anyway.
angometry said:
I'm looking for a way to enable USB Debugging without a screen. Thinking that using adb in twrp is the best way, but I can't manage to do it. Do you have any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP has debugging mode on by default, however that strictly applies to recovery and fastboot modes only as debugging mode is pretty powerful and can cause security issues. So you better forget about it.
I saw one of my friends who owns an authorized service center use some cable connections to get the screen to display on another touch screen. If you have the capabilities and resources I recommed trying it, though don't mess too much with the motherboard.
Just a question though, can you confirm if the touch is working? If not then there's a chance - Although slight - that this is just a UI problem (Which is pretty common in MIUI ROMs for some reason). In that case deleting dalvik cache or completely reflashing the ROM might solve the issue.
I may not do much help but certainly someone there can help so it's better if you include "usb debugging" in the title and/or the tags. Like changing the title to "Enabling usb debugging without screen" or "Screen is dead, need help to flash ROM"
Using proper title and proper tags can get the right person to help.