Related
I had 6p since release. I didn't want to root while still getting OTA updates. I figured Oreo may be last I will get so I rooted with Skipsoft Toolkit and all went well. Now onto Roms. My main question is, can I flash any ROM regardless of the Android version? As I'm on Oreo, can I flash Pure Nexus running 7.1.2, or must I only flash Oreo Roms?
It's more the custom recovery u need than being rooted.
If your bootloader is unlocked and you got TWRP as recovery installed u can flash any custom rom u want to.
If you like to stay up to date with security patches you should flash Oreo roms in the future.
cigator said:
I had 6p since release. I didn't want to root while still getting OTA updates. I figured Oreo may be last I will get so I rooted with Skipsoft Toolkit and all went well. Now onto Roms. My main question is, can I flash any ROM regardless of the Android version? As I'm on Oreo, can I flash Pure Nexus running 7.1.2, or must I only flash Oreo Roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's inadvisable to jump to a custom ROM based on a different version of Android. So, if you were on stock Oreo and you wanted to flash a custom Nougat ROM, you'd be better to revert to the factory Nougat images and then flash an N-based ROM. Regardless of what you try though, make sure you have the latest TWRP and have a full backup (also referred to as a Nandroid backup) before you flash any modifications. If you end up borking things then you can simply restore your device to it's last stable state.
When it comes to rooting, recoveries and flashing ROMs, I'd highly recommend you become familiar with, and follow, the guide at https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928 as it's very clear to how you do most modifications to your device.
Happy flashing.
ultyrunner said:
It's inadvisable to jump to a custom ROM based on a different version of Android. So, if you were on stock Oreo and you wanted to flash a custom Nougat ROM, you'd be better to revert to the factory Nougat images and then flash an N-based ROM. Regardless of what you try though, make sure you have the latest TWRP and have a full backup (also referred to as a Nandroid backup) before you flash any modifications. If you end up borking things then you can simply restore your device to it's last stable state.
When it comes to rooting, recoveries and flashing ROMs, I'd highly recommend you become familiar with, and follow, the guide at https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928 as it's very clear to how you do most modifications to your device.
Happy flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that link. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I see I already screwed up, because I installed TWRP and rooted. Set phone the way I wanted and made a Nandroid. I never made a Nandroid of my stock Oreo set up. Damn. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me.
cigator said:
Thanks for that link. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I see I already screwed up, because I installed TWRP and rooted. Set phone the way I wanted and made a Nandroid. I never made a Nandroid of my stock Oreo set up. Damn. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as the setup is working and mostly the way you want it, that's what you want the nandroid for. Most people will just ensure they have a working ROM for a backup before they begin flashing other stuff. I'd also recommend moving a copy to your computer. If you ever do a 'complete' wipe that includes your sd card, your backups will be gone too.
The one thing to be aware of with nandroid backups is, if you have any kind of screen PIN/security, when you restore it, you're temporarily locked out as the PIN doesn't work. If this happens to you, it's not the end of the world, but you have to boot into TWRP, go into your system files and delete the three lockscreen db files, then you'll effectively have an unlocked screen and can reset your PIN, pattern and fingerprint. The easiest thing to do (which I never remember) is to remove lockscreen security before you make the backup.
My only question, why do all these people keep hard bricking their phones? Please, your first step after unlocking your bootloader should be a full Nandroid backup, and download of the stock recovery. That way you have the full stock system, kernel and recovery in case of any mistake, OTA, or any other reason to go back to pure stock. If you need to back to stock, restore your backup, then flash the stock recovery in fastboot. Boom, pure stock, able to accept OTA updates, no issues. Please, for the love of God, make a backup before you make any modifications to your phone. Rant over, thanks for your patients.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
riggerman0421 said:
My only question, why do all these people keep hard bricking their phones? Please, your first step after unlocking your bootloader should be a full Nandroid backup, and download of the stock recovery. That way you have the full stock system, kernel and recovery in case of any mistake, OTA, or any other reason to go back to pure stock. If you need to back to stock, restore your backup, then flash the stock recovery in fastboot. Boom, pure stock, able to accept OTA updates, no issues. Please, for the love of God, make a backup before you make any modifications to your phone. Rant over, thanks for your patients.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I also flash the same fastboot ROM on which my device was while on stock (considering I was on the latest update and was trying to flash the fastboot ROM of the same version) if I forgot to make a nandroid backup?
psychopac said:
Can I also flash the same fastboot ROM on which my device was while on stock (considering I was on the latest update and was trying to flash the fastboot ROM of the same version) if I forgot to make a nandroid backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That should be okay, though be aware that doing so may erase your data in the process. If you need to, make a backup of your device as it currently is in nandroid/TWRP and move it off your device. That way, if anything happens, then you may be able to copy the TWRP backup back and restore your device.
---------- Post added at 05:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 AM ----------
riggerman0421 said:
My only question, why do all these people keep hard bricking their phones? Please, your first step after unlocking your bootloader should be a full Nandroid backup, and download of the stock recovery. That way you have the full stock system, kernel and recovery in case of any mistake, OTA, or any other reason to go back to pure stock. If you need to back to stock, restore your backup, then flash the stock recovery in fastboot. Boom, pure stock, able to accept OTA updates, no issues. Please, for the love of God, make a backup before you make any modifications to your phone. Rant over, thanks for your patients.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, in the majority of hard brick cases, a backup won't save your device, as it's not the system side of things that causes headaches, it's the underlying bootloader.
The main reason is, from what I've observed, is users flashing either the wrong firmware for their device (e.g. US firmware on an Indian device or vice versa) or attempting to downgrade their firmware. Either method can leave you with a mismatched bootloader and system. OTA updates check what system you have for installation purposes, but appear to assume the bootloader is the same patch level as your system. (Should they check for bootloader as well? That check would go some way to preventing hard bricks, but appears Motorola assumes you wouldn't flash firmware not intended for your device or downgrade...)
Thus, because you have a mismatched bootloader and system patch level, you can run into hard bricks when users attempt to subsequently take OTA updates, especially with bootloaders updated to May 2017 or newer.
E.g. a user flashed the US retail NPNS25.137-35-5 with May 2017 firmware onto their device, but wanted to revert back to the Indian firmware. They flashed back to NPN25.137-15 (Jan 2017 security patch) without being able to flash the bootloader, since bootloaders do not permit downgrading of bootloaders generally, and especially after the May 2017 patch. So you have a May 2017 bootloader but a Jan 2017 system. The OTA update downloads and begins flashing believing that your system is Jan 2017 and applies updates to your bootloader thinking it too is at the Jan 2017 patch level too. Of course, it's not - it's May 2017 - and thus causes a hard brick.
The current resolution for hard bricks is blankflashes to reset the bootloader. The only other resolution is that users do not downgrade their firmware, and are very careful with what they flash, and only flash the same firmware as they had or newer firmware that is a direct update of their existing firmware. Alternatively, flashing TWRP images of stock ROMs may be preferable, as these images only flash the system side of things (like a TWRP nandroid backup), so do not affect the bootloader.
echo92 said:
That should be okay, though be aware that doing so may erase your data in the process. If you need to, make a backup of your device as it currently is in nandroid/TWRP and move it off your device. That way, if anything happens, then you may be able to copy the TWRP backup back and restore your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's absolutely okay with me as I always like to clean flash ROMs and I don't mind the data partition being erased.
echo92 said:
That should be okay, though be aware that doing so may erase your data in the process. If you need to, make a backup of your device as it currently is in nandroid/TWRP and move it off your device. That way, if anything happens, then you may be able to copy the TWRP backup back and restore your device.
---------- Post added at 05:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 AM ----------
Unfortunately, in the majority of hard brick cases, a backup won't save your device, as it's not the system side of things that causes headaches, it's the underlying bootloader.
The main reason is, from what I've observed, is users flashing either the wrong firmware for their device (e.g. US firmware on an Indian device or vice versa) or attempting to downgrade their firmware. Either method can leave you with a mismatched bootloader and system. OTA updates check what system you have for installation purposes, but appear to assume the bootloader is the same patch level as your system. (Should they check for bootloader as well? That check would go some way to preventing hard bricks, but appears Motorola assumes you wouldn't flash firmware not intended for your device or downgrade...)
Thus, because you have a mismatched bootloader and system patch level, you can run into hard bricks when users attempt to subsequently take OTA updates, especially with bootloaders updated to May 2017 or newer.
E.g. a user flashed the US retail NPNS25.137-35-5 with May 2017 firmware onto their device, but wanted to revert back to the Indian firmware. They flashed back to NPN25.137-15 (Jan 2017 security patch) without being able to flash the bootloader, since bootloaders do not permit downgrading of bootloaders generally, and especially after the May 2017 patch. So you have a May 2017 bootloader but a Jan 2017 system. The OTA update downloads and begins flashing believing that your system is Jan 2017 and applies updates to your bootloader thinking it too is at the Jan 2017 patch level too. Of course, it's not - it's May 2017 - and thus causes a hard brick.
The current resolution for hard bricks is blankflashes to reset the bootloader. The only other resolution is that users do not downgrade their firmware, and are very careful with what they flash, and only flash the same firmware as they had or newer firmware that is a direct update of their existing firmware. Alternatively, flashing TWRP images of stock ROMs may be preferable, as these images only flash the system side of things (like a TWRP nandroid backup), so do not affect the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the point of having a backup. You don't have to flash anything in fastboot. You have your OWN firmware backed up on YOUR OWN DEVICE and don't have to worry about any mismatch issues.I have been rooting and flashing custom ROMs for 5 years on 7 different devices( this is the first phone I have not rooted...yet). The first thing I always do after installing a custom recovery is make a full backup. That way if I do something wrong, I always have the stock ROM to go back to. I firmly believe all unlocking and rooting guides should have this step included and not listed as optional but as required. This would help prevent a lot trouble from users flashing the wrong firmware on their phones.
For what it is worth, I have rooted and ROMed: LG Optimus V, Nexus 7 (WIFI tablet), HTC One V, Samsung Galaxy 3, HTC Desire 820, Asus Transformer TF101 (tablet) and Motorola Moto G3. On all these devices I had a full backup of the stock system.
riggerman0421 said:
That is the point of having a backup. You don't have to flash anything in fastboot. You have your OWN firmware backed up on YOUR OWN DEVICE and don't have to worry about any mismatch issues.I have been rooting and flashing custom ROMs for 5 years on 7 different devices( this is the first phone I have not rooted...yet). The first thing I always do after installing a custom recovery is make a full backup. That way if I do something wrong, I always have the stock ROM to go back to. I firmly believe all unlocking and rooting guides should have this step included and not listed as optional but as required. This would help prevent a lot trouble from users flashing the wrong firmware on their phones.
For what it is worth, I have rooted and ROMed: LG Optimus V, Nexus 7 (WIFI tablet), HTC One V, Samsung Galaxy 3, HTC Desire 820, Asus Transformer TF101 (tablet) and Motorola Moto G3. On all these devices I had a full backup of the stock system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with what you wrote, a backup in TWRP and having the same stock ROM is essential to a safe and working device... A stock ROM is always useful in flashing the stock recovery and other stock firmware prior to taking an OTA update. With TWRP backups, you now have to be careful not to allow modifications before you take the backup, else the OTA detects the system partition is no longer readonly, if I recall.
Course, this would be much easier if Motorola/Lenovo released the stock firmware rather than having to depend on leaks, but I'm guessing they don't want to deal with users that flash the incorrect firmware for their device.
I have never flashed a phone before.
It seems I have a virus/malware that's inserted itself into the ROM on my phone. I perform a factory wipe and reset but the malware is there on the fresh install, redirecting webpages to a pop-up about Amazon or Walmart gift cards. Backing up the stock ROM seems not an option for me. Is it possible to download a stock ROM somehow?
vantastic415 said:
I have never flashed a phone before.
It seems I have a virus/malware that's inserted itself into the ROM on my phone. I perform a factory wipe and reset but the malware is there on the fresh install, redirecting webpages to a pop-up about Amazon or Walmart gift cards. Backing up the stock ROM seems not an option for me. Is it possible to download a stock ROM somehow?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have all the stock firmwares posted here...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/g5-plus/how-to/stock-firmware-npn25-137-67-5-fastboot-t3694738
And TWRP flashable stock ROMs here...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/g5-plus/development/rom-twrp-flashable-stock-builds-t3675616
So, we all know Motorola will eventually (aka never) release Oreo for the G5 Plus.
I am way too anxious so I am going to flash a Custom ROM until they deliver it. However I am quite afraid about something.
I plan to use Lineage 15.1 until Oreo comes out for the G5 Plus. However, I am kind of afraid that I may screw things up when the OTA comes out.
I have recently hard bricked my Moto G 2014 because of OTAs and Bootloader.
So, Oreo releases...
Will it be fine to install the OTA (through normal System Update check) having the latest Stock ROM Firmware for my region installed? (I would erase Lineage 15 and use fastboot to flash Stock again)
Or will I instead need to wait for someone to post the system images and flash it through fastboot instead? (I assume I would need to install the OTA through normal methods because of bootloader changes but still...)
I just don't want this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/g5-plus/help/moto-g5-plus-hard-bricked-t3694119
To happen.
You won't get system updates when you are on a custom ROM like Lineage OS or any other custom ROM. The only system updates you might get are ROM updates if the ROM maintainer has that feature built in.
If official Oreo comes out and you are on the correct stock firmware for your model and region, everything should work fine.
Before flashing custom roms you should backup your efs partition using twrp else you could lose your imei(recoverable) / volte(not recoverable till now) when flashing fastboot firmwire.
You need to flash fastboot firmwire to receive oreo ota.
If you want to avoid hard bricking, then you must flash the same stock ROM or newer onto your device when you revert back to stock firmware.
I imagine your Moto G 2014 got bricked when you took an OTA update? That could have occurred if firmware older than what was present on your device was flashed (bootloaders cannot be downgraded), and like in that thread you linked, attempting to use OTA updates would corrupt your newer bootloader with the older OTA patches, leading to a hard brick.
As mentioned above, if you revert to the correct build for your region and matching your current build at least, you should be okay to receive OTA updates (should also include up to Oreo). Alternatively, you could wait for the Oreo fastboot ROM to be safe, or the Oreo TWRP flashable for a near stock ROM experience (since TWRP flashables shouldn't care about your bootloader or GPT partitions, do it'd be difficult to brick your device. However, TWRP flashable stock ROMs aren't OTA compatible).
Before you unlock your bootloader and flash TWRP/custom ROMs, make a note of your current build version and see if you can find a stock ROM leaked of that build, so you can be sure that you're reverting to the right build for your device.
Just do not flash older stock Motorola firmware to your device or if you do, do not use OTA updates.
Yeah, I did some research and now I understand what happened. Thanks for the comments.
I am not responsible for your bricked phone or pigeon poo on your toupe. Do at your own risk.
Many thanks to @SupahCookie for idea and motivation!
INTENTIONALLY DOES --NOT-- LOCK BOOTLOADER!!!
Get factory images here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mo...ock-images-t3736767/post75236696#post75236696
THIS GUIDE IS FOR FACTORY/STOCK ROMs - NOT YOUR AVERAGE CUSTOM ROM which may not have bootloaders!!! (thanks!!!!! @echo92 )
FIX:
IF YOU ARE ABLE TO GET TO FASTBOOT THIS SHOULD WORK.
IF YOU HAVE 8.x bootloaders AND ARE DOWNGRADING TO 7, use "Alternative to RSDlite" below.
1 boot to win - 7 or 10 works fine.
2 boot phone to fastboot, and connect phone to computer.
3 start RSDlite
pick a ROM. I believe I used a 7.1.1 rom
3Nov9-ADDISON_NPNS26.118-22-2-8_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip
RSDlite installed it and fixed the problem.
- -
I was then able to use RSDlite to install @rafikowy 's signed 8.0 . - going up from 7 to 8.
- -
- -
If you are on 8.x bootloaders and want to go to 7.x bootloaders, use this (RSDlite throws an error and stops):
ALTERNATIVE TO RSDlite:
1 I used 7zip to extract that 7.1.1 zip (or any ROM zip) into a folder x,
2 add all the adb and fastboot junk to folder x,
3 add the attached file (rename it to flash.bat) to folder x.
4 boot phone to fastboot and connect to computer.
5 click on flash.bat - it throws a lot of "slot" errors but works just fine.
6 reboot your phone if it hasn't already and go through the 7.x install stuffs.
7 you will not show an IMEI if you are coming from an 8.x bootloader. However, it IS there.
NOTE: you may need to add a line to the flash.bat if there are more/less sparsechunk's in your FACTORY/STOCK ROM...
THIS IS NOT FOR CUSTOM ROMs!!!!!!!
EDIT: 3-8-19: I just did this myself to go back very briefly to 7.1 - be sure you don't flash TWRP to it if your going to take OTAs - it will brick it. boot to TWRP if you need TWRP briefly: fastboot boot twrpimg.img
----------
If you can boot to fastboot screen, you can do anything.
Never OTA a ROM if you have modified recovery (TWRP, etc) or if magisk is present.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mo...p-flashing-t3813498/post77011495#post77011495
I changed the attached file to add pause and reboot and exit to make it slightly more automated.
I have successfully used this many times going back and forth. If you can boot to fastboot screen, you can save your phone and flash anything you want.
You may wish to advise users that if they downgrade to Nougat not to use Nougat OTA updates. The reason being that a downgraded stock Oreo device may still have the Oreo bootloader on it. Thus, attempting to use Nougat OTA updates may hard brick their device (as the bootloader is likely corrupted, meaning no fastboot).
Users could either use the Feb 2018 NPN26.118-22-2-17 firmware from your link https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/addison/official/RETAIL/ as that was the last Nougat firmware (and thus no Nougat OTA updates) or avoid using OTA updates whilst downgraded.
echo92 said:
You may wish to advise users that if they downgrade to Nougat not to use Nougat OTA updates. The reason being that a downgraded stock Oreo device may still have the Oreo bootloader on it. Thus, attempting to use Nougat OTA updates may hard brick their device (as the bootloader is likely corrupted, meaning no fastboot).
Users could either use the Feb 2018 NPN26.118-22-2-17 firmware from your link https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/addison/official/RETAIL/ as that was the last Nougat firmware (and thus no Nougat OTA updates) or avoid using OTA updates whilst downgraded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I used the above GUIDE to go up and down a number of times on my phone (about 20 total) , installing and running on both 7 and 8, and then went down to a Nov 7.1.1 and let it ota all the way up to 8.0 and that is what I am using now. I found that when i used a factory zip, and the above procedure, it corrected the bootloaders to the appropriate version that i was flashing - either RSDlite or the more manual path which ignores the errors worked for me.
Using the above procedure , you get the correct bootloaders, which are in the zip.
Please correct me if i am wrong!
KrisM22 said:
Interesting. I used the above GUIDE to go up and down a number of times on my phone (about 20 total) , installing and running on both 7 and 8, and then went down to a Nov 7.1.1 and let it ota all the way up to 8.0 and that is what I am using now. I found that when i used a factory zip, and the above procedure, it corrected the bootloaders to the appropriate version that i was flashing - either RSDlite or the more manual path which ignores the errors worked for me.
Using the above procedure , you get the correct bootloaders, which are in the zip.
Please correct me if i am wrong!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's intriguing - we saw previously on Z Play that users downgrading their stock firmware (e.g. https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/help/hard-brick-moto-z-play-patch-abril-t3782927 )and then using OTA updates hard bricked their device (hence the number of users asking for a blankflash, as fastboot no longer works). I don't know if these users hard bricked by downgrading their firmware too far and then flashed an OTA radically different to their previous firmware, or whether it's a risk that's taken by any downgrading of firmware.
When you used fastboot, did you see any 'security downgrade errors' when you flashed the bootloader, and is your bootloader version now C180, as you've flashed the Oreo OTA?
echo92 said:
That's intriguing - we saw previously on Z Play that users downgrading their stock firmware (e.g. https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/help/hard-brick-moto-z-play-patch-abril-t3782927 )and then using OTA updates hard bricked their device (hence the number of users asking for a blankflash, as fastboot no longer works). I don't know if these users hard bricked by downgrading their firmware too far and then flashed an OTA radically different to their previous firmware, or whether it's a risk that's taken by any downgrading of firmware.
When you used fastboot, did you see any 'security downgrade errors' when you flashed the bootloader, and is your bootloader version now C180, as you've flashed the Oreo OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES - that's why I wrote these 3 guides - before, it was quite possible to wind up with a bootloader mix - esp depending on the zip you use! - factory/stock only!!!
I added a line to the guide saying that it is only intended to be used for the factory/stock zips as these have (I believe) the bootloaders appropriate to the ROM.
Many thanks for pursuing this! - I wonder if we'll have to exclude certain ROMs that are in the factory lists?????
echo92 said:
That's intriguing - we saw previously on Z Play that users downgrading their stock firmware (e.g. https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/help/hard-brick-moto-z-play-patch-abril-t3782927 )and then using OTA updates hard bricked their device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have TWRP (or I assume any custom recovery) present when you try to ota, it can download just fine and then reboot to the update. I had TWRP and wound up in a situation where my phone would only boot to twrp no matter what I flashed or restored. I booted phone to fastboot, RSDlite'ed that 11-09-17 factory zip and all was well. In that particular case I did not fully install 7.x but immediately RSDlite'ed rafikowy's 8.0 signed stock and went on with my testing. Since then I always boot to TWRP rather than intalling it and do my thing. (thanks @jceballos )
When you used fastboot, did you see any 'security downgrade errors' when you flashed the bootloader, and is your bootloader version now C180, as you've flashed the Oreo OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry - since it throws a million errors I never look at it if it works.
The particular build I am on at the moment - is BL: C1.82
This one started from that Nov '17 build and ota'ed all the way to 8.0 Apr.
I root and unroot as needed per rafikowy's method but using a boot to TWRP - never an install TWRP.
I'll put up a new guide ref ota and recovery and brick.
KrisM22 said:
If you have TWRP (or I assume any custom recovery) present when you try to ota, it can download just fine and then reboot to the update. I had TWRP and wound up in a situation where my phone would only boot to twrp no matter what I flashed or restored. I booted phone to fastboot, RSDlite'ed that 11-09-17 factory zip and all was well. In that particular case I did not fully install 7.x but immediately RSDlite'ed rafikowy's 8.0 signed stock and went on with my testing. Since then I always boot to TWRP rather than intalling it and do my thing. (thanks @jceballos )
Sorry - since it throws a million errors I never look at it if it works.
The particular build I am on at the moment - is BL: C1.82
This one started from that Nov '17 build and ota'ed all the way to 8.0 Apr.
I root and unroot as needed per rafikowy's method but using a boot to TWRP - never an install TWRP.
I'll put up a new guide ref ota and recovery and brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) If you have TWRP, then using an OTA will fail - as you've not got stock recovery (and likely other modifications, including possibly a system partition set to read-write status). As you noted, having TWRP seems to cause a bootloop when rebooting - I'm not sure if the OTA sets a boot flag to stay in recovery until the update is completed. For the G4/Plus, there's a possible solution by wiping the misc partition but I don't know if there's a similar partition for Z Play devices: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4/help/troubleshooting-twrp-boot-loop-ota-t3714325
The only other solution I've seen is a clean flash of the stock ROM to get your device booting properly.
Booting to TWRP rather than flashing would mean your stock recovery is still present on your device. The only downside is if you need to make modifications, you'd need your computer to boot to TWRP.
2)BL C1.82 seems to be the bootloader provided by the Oreo April 2018 security patch update, so your device looks to be on the right bootloader. It's still curious that the Nov 2017 firmware worked whereas countless other 'factory' stock ROMs caused hard bricks when downgraded to and then OTA updates were installed.
As you mentioned, custom ROMs don't have bootloaders and thus don't care about your bootloader version usually (though I've seen some ROMs require a certain bootloader). However, stock ROMs and stock OTA updates do have bootloaders, which is why downgrading can be risky.
echo92 said:
1) If you have TWRP, then using an OTA will fail - as you've not got stock recovery (and likely other modifications, including possibly a system partition set to read-write status). As you noted, having TWRP seems to cause a bootloop when rebooting - I'm not sure if the OTA sets a boot flag to stay in recovery until the update is completed. For the G4/Plus, there's a possible solution by wiping the misc partition but I don't know if there's a similar partition for Z Play devices: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4/help/troubleshooting-twrp-boot-loop-ota-t3714325
The only other solution I've seen is a clean flash of the stock ROM to get your device booting properly.
Booting to TWRP rather than flashing would mean your stock recovery is still present on your device. The only downside is if you need to make modifications, you'd need your computer to boot to TWRP.
2)BL C1.82 seems to be the bootloader provided by the Oreo April 2018 security patch update, so your device looks to be on the right bootloader. It's still curious that the Nov 2017 firmware worked whereas countless other 'factory' stock ROMs caused hard bricks when downgraded to and then OTA updates were installed.
As you mentioned, custom ROMs don't have bootloaders and thus don't care about your bootloader version usually (though I've seen some ROMs require a certain bootloader). However, stock ROMs and stock OTA updates do have bootloaders, which is why downgrading can be risky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downgrading is a piece of cake if you don't use RSDlite - it throws an error and stops. Using the bat file it can happily throw all the errors it wants and all I care is at the end I have what I want.
It does indeed change the entire environment when you bat file the zip contents. You can bat file to get from 8 to 7 and then use RSDlite to flash a different 7 OR 8 zip file. There is no resulting difference in whether you RSDlite it or bat file it - the bat file simply comes from the .xml file that is within the zip. There is very little or no difference between that among addison factory/stock zips. Other zips are different (custom ROMs.)
Grab any factory/stock zip for addison and expand it and you will see modems, bootloaders, indeed absolutely everything you would find on that phone if you went to a store and bought it. SupahCookie simply added a couple lock command lines because it was intended for folks who somehow thought that if phone was locked they could take it back to the store and get their money back. Or some such. I found that ATT folk didn't care if you were on CM or whatever if you just needed to swap SIMs or whatever.
I DON'T want to lock the phone as it prevents me from modifying forever. Oh yeah that reminds me I was going to post the obligatory guide (again) about how to flash a white boot logo so you don't get that message - it's still there LOL but since the font is in white, you can't see it.
I have a Moto Z2 Play and used this to get out of a rather sticky situation.. My IEMI shows 0 now and I'm curious if there's a way to fix this? Also, You say you've done OTA updates? My phone is telling my I have some, is it safe to try?
Necrowr said:
I have a Moto Z2 Play and used this to get out of a rather sticky situation.. My IEMI shows 0 now and I'm curious if there's a way to fix this? Also, You say you've done OTA updates? My phone is telling my I have some, is it safe to try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for feedback and great on success.
IMEI will show zero if using oreo, It will show again if using N. Remember that if you go from O to N you need to use the "Alternative to RSD" as RSD will simply throw an error and stop.
If you have TWRP and/or Magisk you must get rid of them before ota - if twrp present you will soft brick and have to do alternative again - flash a stock recovery. Simply uninstalling/flash magisk will probably not be enough - it will likely d/l but error part way through update. If you are sitting on rafikowy's stock oreo, and haven't modified it, you should be fine. I know Apr and June are out there. I flashed his stock 8.0 and took June fine. Z2 should be no different though of course I can't guarantee it
If you have success, let us know what you have done so others looking in will know. Thanks!
KrisM22 said:
Thanks for feedback and great on success.
IMEI will show zero if using oreo, It will show again if using N. Remember that if you go from O to N you need to use the "Alternative to RSD" as RSD will simply throw an error and stop.
If you have TWRP and/or Magisk you must get rid of them before ota - if twrp present you will soft brick and have to do alternative again - flash a stock recovery. Simply uninstalling/flash magisk will probably not be enough - it will likely d/l but error part way through update. If you are sitting on rafikowy's stock oreo, and haven't modified it, you should be fine. I know Apr and June are out there. I flashed his stock 8.0 and took June fine. Z2 should be no different though of course I can't guarantee it
If you have success, let us know what you have done so others looking in will know. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually flashed to this: ALBUS_C_7.1.1_NPS26.118-24_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip Which is a 7.1.1 variant and it is showing 0 when I check settings and when I dial *#06#. However upon connecting to the computer and running mfastboot getvar imei it returned a value. I only did the steps above which would mean I don't have TWRP or Magisk (when I fastboot and click recovery I get "no command")
****** Additional information *********
XT1710-01 Duel Sim Variant
I started your steps, only being able to access fastboot. The device would throw an error (I don't recall exactly but it ended up showing me them in the bootloader logs) whenever I tried to start it, or go to recovery. #DefinitelyThoughtItWasDead
Necrowr said:
I actually flashed to this: ALBUS_C_7.1.1_NPS26.118-24_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip Which is a 7.1.1 variant and it is showing 0 when I check settings and when I dial *#06#. However upon connecting to the computer and running mfastboot getvar imei it returned a value. I only did the steps above which would mean I don't have TWRP or Magisk (when I fastboot and click recovery I get "no command")
****** Additional information *********
XT1710-01 Duel Sim Variant
I started your steps, only being able to access fastboot. The device would throw an error (I don't recall exactly but it ended up showing me them in the bootloader logs) whenever I tried to start it, or go to recovery. #DefinitelyThoughtItWasDead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What rom was on phone when you got it and what have you done to it? Has it ever run 8.x?
original country of phone?
The bat file will always throw a lot of slot errors.
https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/albus/official/RETUS/
or
https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/albus/official/RETAIL/
might have some stock ROMs of interest...
KrisM22 said:
What rom was on phone when you got it and what have you done to it? Has it ever run 8.x?
original country of phone?
The bat file will always throw a lot of slot errors.
might have some stock ROMs of interest...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It had 7.1.1 stock. I rooted it, and then flashed Resurrection Remix (which was yes 8.1 I believe) and the upgraded bootloader. I then found out my service wouldn't work with that.. so I attempted to flash back to stock which gave me a flurry of issues.. eventually getting to nothing but fastboot working. Flashed back to working with your guide to 7.1.1
If it helps in in fastboot it tells me BL: C0.CD
Necrowr said:
It had 7.1.1 stock. I rooted it, and then flashed Resurrection Remix (which was yes 8.1 I believe) and the upgraded bootloader. I then found out my service wouldn't work with that.. so I attempted to flash back to stock which gave me a flurry of issues.. eventually getting to nothing but fastboot working. Flashed back to working with your guide to 7.1.1
If it helps in in fastboot it tells me BL: C0.CD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom ROMs won't usually update the bootloader (even if they are newer) as stock ROMs typically only have the bootloader firmware.
You could look into flashing the stock Oreo albus 8.0 ROM https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/fastboot-rom-oreo-retail-via-fastboot-t3786153 or the 8.0 June 2018 firmware https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/fastboot-rom-albusretail8-0-0opss27-76-t3822195 but please check that firmware has been released for your device variant.
I don't know if updating your baseband to stock Oreo formally may fix your IMEI issue.
Necrowr said:
It had 7.1.1 stock. I rooted it, and then flashed Resurrection Remix (which was yes 8.1 I believe) and the upgraded bootloader. I then found out my service wouldn't work with that.. so I attempted to flash back to stock which gave me a flurry of issues.. eventually getting to nothing but fastboot working. Flashed back to working with your guide to 7.1.1
If it helps in in fastboot it tells me BL: C0.CD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"BL: C0.CD" even right after flashing that albus 7.1.1 using "alternative" above?
What happens if you flash one of the oreo roms from the links I gave you above?
Yeah, RR wouldn't change bootloaders... so you upgraded bootloaders independendently?- that could easily lead to a soft brick... -
I read RR on Z2 and it says nothing about bootloaders even though it says 8.1 based, so i wonder if it needs 7.x bootloaders? I did not read entire thread...
In a reverse, I would wonder if you put an 8 on there if you wouldn't see your IMEI. (On the Z if you flash 8 You won't see the IMEI until you return to 7.)(wondering if z2 is reversed)
KrisM22 said:
"BL: C0.CD" even right after flashing that albus 7.1.1 using "alternative" above?
What happens if you flash one of the oreo roms from the links I gave you above?
Yeah, RR wouldn't change bootloaders... so you upgraded bootloaders independendently?- that could easily lead to a soft brick... -
I read RR on Z2 and it says nothing about bootloaders even though it says 8.1 based, so i wonder if it needs 7.x bootloaders? I did not read entire thread...
In a reverse, I would wonder if you put an 8 on there if you wouldn't see your IMEI. (On the Z if you flash 8 You won't see the IMEI until you return to 7.)(wondering if z2 is reversed)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, right after flashing that is the BL that fastboot is showing me. I don't recall updating the bootloader so to speak, however RR did require an updated variant of twrp which I flashed 3.2.2 I believe to get (unsure if that would have changed the bootloader or not). I also tried flashing a stock Oreo (which you've stated stock Roms usually only have the bootloaders so maybe somewhere during this process I updated it?). I wish I had all the notes for what I did to give more precise information, but I'm in a position where I really need my phone so I kinda just panicked and started flashing things when my service wouldn't work.
I'm highly considering trying to run an OTA (though very afraid of bricking). - On a side note though, it wouldn't even tell me I had OTA's until I did the steps in the original post here (doing the different 7.1.1. and 8.0 flashes, it wouldn't ever tell me I had updates, and now it does).
*** Edit ***
Looks like I'm able to enter stock recovery, which makes me believe everything is stock at the moment.
Necrowr said:
Yes, right after flashing that is the BL that fastboot is showing me. I don't recall updating the bootloader so to speak, however RR did require an updated variant of twrp which I flashed 3.2.2 I believe to get (unsure if that would have changed the bootloader or not). I also tried flashing a stock Oreo (which you've stated stock Roms usually only have the bootloaders so maybe somewhere during this process I updated it?). I wish I had all the notes for what I did to give more precise information, but I'm in a position where I really need my phone so I kinda just panicked and started flashing things when my service wouldn't work.
I'm highly considering trying to run an OTA (though very afraid of bricking). - On a side note though, it wouldn't even tell me I had OTA's until I did the steps in the original post here (doing the different 7.1.1. and 8.0 flashes, it wouldn't ever tell me I had updates, and now it does).
*** Edit ***
Looks like I'm able to enter stock recovery, which makes me believe everything is stock at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flashed a stock O that would have changed bl to O, but doing the above with the stock 7.1.1 would have changed them back to N. No matter (other than academic) that you don't remember the path - flashing a stock anything reverts it to that point in time. However, IMEI may have been moved - don't know. It will likely show on EITHER 7.x or 8.x stock - just don't know which.
If you flash a stock 8.x from those links I gave you above, it should offer you ota, ASSUMING there are any at this point in time(Z has 2). Adding Magisk at any point seems to hose you for receiving any more ota's - don't understand why, even with magisk uninstall, so that would mean going back to the latest stock and losing what you have (which is why I try to take a TBPro and copy that backup to PC (because re-flashing 8.x stock will likely reset internal storage.).
yes, if you enter stock recovery, you are likely at stock, though you could reflash the latest 7 or 8 stock to be sure, depending on which you want to use as base. Since 8 is having security fixes released, I choose 8 and will likely have no more interest (no time!) in 7.
So, ran the OTA and it was fine running the update and staying on N. I also downloaded the OTA for Oreo, when trying to update the recovery error'd out. It looked like the error said "Error in modem unexpected results" or something similar.
Necrowr said:
So, ran the OTA and it was fine running the update and staying on N. I also downloaded the OTA for Oreo, when trying to update the recovery error'd out. It looked like the error said "Error in modem unexpected results" or something similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did it offer to let you d/l it again? you could try that.
However, there exist O stock zips in those links I gave you so you could just flash the latest...
First of all why did this happen, presumably I wasn't doing anything wrong or uninformed. I just unlocked the bootloader successfully, afterward as many threads claimed I flashed twrp-3.3.1-2-davinci-fix, and now it simply wont boot neither to system nor twrp. Why did this happen?
Does anyone know how to fix this? Thank you!
Mi 9T (M1903F10G)
Did you try to power off and then turn back on holding power and volume up? I had this issue yesterday but doing the vol up and power got me to twrp then did format and it booted up
cmlucht said:
Did you try to power off and then turn back on holding power and volume up? I had this issue yesterday but doing the vol up and power got me to TWRP then did format and it booted up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply. You can't even power off, it will simply bootloop forever into fastboot. Nonetheless I managed to fix it by flashing fastboot ROM using MIFlash, but man, didn't expect root solutions to be this complicated, unstable, and outdated for our beloved Mi 9T. I simply want to achieve root in the stock rom, and wasted 7 hours yesterday and still got nowhere. I come from a classic LG G2, when things were much simple and straight forward back then. You can stop reading here, but now I had to:
Wait 1 week for bootloader unlock.
Flash TWRP, which soft bricked my phone right away. Why on earth, a recovery image provided in many reliable tutorials from multiple sources cause soft-brick in the second step is beyond my comprehension. I am still genuinely curious why did this happen, and why such a broken image is still circulating here?
Then I had to inform myself all about Anti Rollback, in order to prevent it happening, and concluded that MiFlash is safe, so I got MiFlash and a fastboot rom.
Apparently Mi Flash is terribly buggy and kept showing .net error exceptions because a "LOG" folder was missing in root folder, so let's waste one hour scratching our heads what the hell is happening because the developer missed a simple MkDir line during development.
After creating LOG folder, and installing drivers, couldn't flash any fastboot ROM because my 9T antiroll back number is 1 while fastboot rom ARB index was 0.
Then it appears that this error has actually nothing to do with ARB, but it is because I had to a) start MiFlash from C:\, b) remove name spaces in target address and c) shorten fastboot ROM folder name. So I had to get all these 3 variables right in order to resurrect my phone. MiFlash terrible programming didn't stop at step 4) but it extends into showing entirely confusing ARB errors that have nothing to with the real problem, rather petty programming bugs such as folder naming.
Finally managed to boot up 9T, and we're back at square one.
Afterward successfully flashed mauronofrio TWRP including vbmeta and got recovery working.
I decided to try out few custom ROMs since all my data were erased anyway, but it appears my system was encrypted and TWRP showed encrypted alphanumeric characters, so I had to format data in order to flash files.
Now every-time I flash stock ROM .zip I lose TWRP, and every-time I reflash mauronofrio TWRP I end up in recovery bootloop, and so I can't manage to have both at same time in order to move with the Magisk flash.
10 steps and 7 hours later and still got nowhere, just risked bricking my phone.
Now we have to deal with
a) bootloader wait,
b) twrp encryption mess,
c) anti roll back risk,
d) buggy MiFlash
e) safety net measures
f) no custom ROMs that are pre-rooted and simple
g) dependency of stock ROM files - meaning you can't wipe everything including system and just flash custom ROM .zips, like I used to do with 5 android phones before this one. Now you are somehow dependent on original ROM files which probably means you will have to base install stock MI before you flash anything Xiaomi.EU, Evolution X, PixelExperience etc. When did things get so complicated? It seems every year new limitations are introduced and the sheer combination to get them all right give headaches.
Anyway, all I want is to install latest stock ROM from TWRP and keep TWRP so I can also flash Magisk. In other words, how to simply have a rooted stock?
Your mistake is to not use Official TWRP instead of an old TWRP version...
Micdu70 said:
Your mistake is to not use Official TWRP instead of an old TWRP version...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply! Yes, that must have been it. Those outdated tutorials should be removed.
Now I flashed miui_DAVINCIEEAGlobal_V11.0.4.0.QFJEUXM through latest TWRP, but it removed TWRP. When I reflash latest TWRP then it ends up in bootloop.
EDIT: Ended up reflashing all over again using MiFlash. Now the only problem remaining is which version of Magisk is compatible with miui_DAVINCIEEAGlobal_V11.0.4.0.QFJEUXM?
What are you flashing with? I am now using xiaomitools v2 and it installed twrp and magisk with no problems.
I flashed the EU custom stable, I was global but I wanted to compare the 2 and I like the EU better.
I came from a non rootable lg g7.
I have not flashed custom ROMs since my old Galaxy note days.
cmlucht said:
What are you flashing with? I am now using xiaomitools v2 and it installed twrp and magisk with no problems.
I flashed the EU custom stable, I was global but I wanted to compare the 2 and I like the EU better.
I came from a non rootable lg g7.
I have not flashed custom ROMs since my old Galaxy note days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard of XiaomiTools v2, it seems like a great alternative. I used buggy MiFlash to flash fastboot ROM, flashed TWRP, then got a bootloop, formatted data from TWRP and flashed Magisk. It seems everything is working fine now, but in the future I'll make sure to check XiaomiTools v2.
I never used stock ROMs in any of my past phones, first thing I did when I bought a new phone is unlock bootloader and install Lineage or Cyanogenmod back in the days. But somehow I like MIUI so all I needed was root.
It is hard to believe that there are actually phones that have no root at all.
blackmatrix64 said:
Thank you for your reply. You can't even power off, it will simply bootloop forever into fastboot. Nonetheless I managed to fix it by flashing fastboot ROM using MIFlash, but man, didn't expect root solutions to be this complicated, unstable, and outdated for our beloved Mi 9T. I simply want to achieve root in the stock rom, and wasted 7 hours yesterday and still got nowhere. I come from a classic LG G2, when things were much simple and straight forward back then. You can stop reading here, but now I had to:
Wait 1 week for bootloader unlock.
Flash TWRP, which soft bricked my phone right away. Why on earth, a recovery image provided in many reliable tutorials from multiple sources cause soft-brick in the second step is beyond my comprehension. I am still genuinely curious why did this happen, and why such a broken image is still circulating here?
Then I had to inform myself all about Anti Rollback, in order to prevent it happening, and concluded that MiFlash is safe, so I got MiFlash and a fastboot rom.
Apparently Mi Flash is terribly buggy and kept showing .net error exceptions because a "LOG" folder was missing in root folder, so let's waste one hour scratching our heads what the hell is happening because the developer missed a simple MkDir line during development.
After creating LOG folder, and installing drivers, couldn't flash any fastboot ROM because my 9T antiroll back number is 1 while fastboot rom ARB index was 0.
Then it appears that this error has actually nothing to do with ARB, but it is because I had to a) start MiFlash from C:\, b) remove name spaces in target address and c) shorten fastboot ROM folder name. So I had to get all these 3 variables right in order to resurrect my phone. MiFlash terrible programming didn't stop at step 4) but it extends into showing entirely confusing ARB errors that have nothing to with the real problem, rather petty programming bugs such as folder naming.
Finally managed to boot up 9T, and we're back at square one.
Afterward successfully flashed mauronofrio TWRP including vbmeta and got recovery working.
I decided to try out few custom ROMs since all my data were erased anyway, but it appears my system was encrypted and TWRP showed encrypted alphanumeric characters, so I had to format data in order to flash files.
Now every-time I flash stock ROM .zip I lose TWRP, and every-time I reflash mauronofrio TWRP I end up in recovery bootloop, and so I can't manage to have both at same time in order to move with the Magisk flash.
10 steps and 7 hours later and still got nowhere, just risked bricking my phone.
Now we have to deal with
a) bootloader wait,
b) twrp encryption mess,
c) anti roll back risk,
d) buggy MiFlash
e) safety net measures
f) no custom ROMs that are pre-rooted and simple
g) dependency of stock ROM files - meaning you can't wipe everything including system and just flash custom ROM .zips, like I used to do with 5 android phones before this one. Now you are somehow dependent on original ROM files which probably means you will have to base install stock MI before you flash anything Xiaomi.EU, Evolution X, PixelExperience etc. When did things get so complicated? It seems every year new limitations are introduced and the sheer combination to get them all right give headaches.
Anyway, all I want is to install latest stock ROM from TWRP and keep TWRP so I can also flash Magisk. In other words, how to simply have a rooted stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm facing the same issue you faced here. Waited 7 days to unlock bootloader, after unlocking it, flashed a twrp i found on one of the youtube tutorials. Immediate bootloop. Im fairly new to all of this, and dont understand what certain words even mean tbh. Do you mind guiding me in fixing my phone? Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.
blackmatrix64 said:
Never heard of XiaomiTools v2, it seems like a great alternative. I used buggy MiFlash to flash fastboot ROM, flashed TWRP, then got a bootloop, formatted data from TWRP and flashed Magisk. It seems everything is working fine now, but in the future I'll make sure to check XiaomiTools v2.
I never used stock ROMs in any of my past phones, first thing I did when I bought a new phone is unlock bootloader and install Lineage or Cyanogenmod back in the days. But somehow I like MIUI so all I needed was root.
It is hard to believe that there are actually phones that have no root at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i miss the Cyanogenmod days