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[Solved] Unable to boot into custom rom after device crash

So I my A2017G had RR-20170314 with TWRP 3.1.0-0 and AX7 R6 installed. Everything was working fine until today my phone rebooted while it was in my pocket. I didn't change anything before and haven't used it for some time and only noticed this through 2 short vibrations. Since then the phone refused to boot into system, TWRP was still accessible though. Three short blinks by the led directly after the bootloader screen and then the phone shut itself down.
Back in recovery I made a full backup and tried booting with deleting cache etc and installing the latest RR. Nothing worked.
When I went back to stock I was finally able to boot. Flashed TWRP 3.1.0-0 through axon7tool and installed RR again. And again only those 3 led blinks
Used "disemmcwp" to make sure write protection is disabled and noticed that when I rebootet the recovery got replaced by the stock one. Only if I enable write protection through "emmcwpenab" the recovery isn't replaced
Just checked the status of the bootloader and it still says unlocked.
I found two threads with a similiar issue but unfortunately nothing helped:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/boot-recovery-boot-t3569364
https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/help/3-flashes-reboot-phone-shuts-off-t3574324
Never experienced such a thing before. Any help is really appreciated ?
I'm really out of ideas what to do. And stock isn't really a permament solution

Are you using latest G bootstack? Is the device in dfu, or edl mode (check device manager on pc)?
Be very careful with that G version.

Yes since I was on RR before. Using the stock bootstack nor the one provided in the Los thread makes a difference.
Fortunately I'm not stuck in DFU mode. Booting to stock works, so does edl and twrp. But twrp only without using disemmcwp

I would try using older twrp. I've encountered this before but usually a reboot fixes it. I have not gone to twrp 3.1 yet, i think 3.0.4 was the one before.

lafester said:
I would try using older twrp. I've encountered this before but usually a reboot fixes it. I have not gone to twrp 3.1 yet, i think 3.0.4 was the one before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried it with TWRP 3.04-1 and it's the same result.
Reboot diseemcwp -> recovery gets replaced by stock recovery after reboot
Reboot emmcwpenab -> recovery gets not replaced
In both cases I am unable to boot with a modified system or kernel.
Seems like the write protection is screwed up

Cyb3rzombi3 said:
Tried it with TWRP 3.04-1 and it's the same result.
Reboot diseemcwp -> recovery gets replaced by stock recovery after reboot
Reboot emmcwpenab -> recovery gets not replaced
In both cases I am unable to boot with a modified system or kernel.
Seems like the write protection is screwed up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you disable write protection you inadvertently end up tripping dm-verity, which causes the device not to boot (security feature).
The reason you feel that disabling system write protection through TWRP causes TWRP to get overwritten by the stock recovery, could be because of the reboot rather than anything else.
I.e. When you install the stock system and reboot, the system overwrites the recovery partition, installing the stock recovery.
My suggestion:
- Make a backup.
- Wipe dalvik cache, cache, system, and data through recovery (under Wipe-> Advanced Wipe).
- Check that the filesystem of the partitions are ext4 (through the "file system" button under Wipe->Advanced Wipe menu), and change them if necessary.
- Reboot recovery.
- Don't swipe to allow system modifications.
- Install the stock bootstack, stock system (I'm assuming that you are using DrakenFX's image zips), and reboot.
- If it fails to install, just reboot recovery, and try to install once again.
Let me know if this works for you.

Erahgon said:
If you disable write protection you inadvertently end up tripping dm-verity, which causes the device not to boot (security feature).
The reason you feel that disabling system write protection through TWRP causes TWRP to get overwritten by the stock recovery, could be because of the reboot rather than anything else.
I.e. When you install the stock system and reboot, the system overwrites the recovery partition, installing the stock recovery.
My suggestion:
- Make a backup.
- Wipe dalvik cache, cache, system, and data through recovery (under Wipe-> Advanced Wipe).
- Check that the filesystem of the partitions are ext4 (through the "file system" button under Wipe->Advanced Wipe menu), and change them if necessary.
- Reboot recovery.
- Don't swipe to allow system modifications.
- Install the stock bootstack, stock system (I'm assuming that you are using DrakenFX's image zips), and reboot.
- If it fails to install, just reboot recovery, and try to install once again.
Let me know if this works for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already did those steps but instead of using DrakenFX's files I used the official stock zip.
Shouldn't make a difference right?
Gonna try it once more...
Edit:
I'm stock now, TWRP installed without allowing system modifications.
Edit2:
Just rebootet and the recovery is gone again. This happened after I dlashed the recovery again after reverting to stock.
Edit3:
So what I tried so far after reverting to stock after each fail:
- flash SuperSU 2.65 -> unable to boot
- flash SuperSU 2.97 -> unable to boot
- flash Magisk 11.6 -> boot successful, Magiks installed and showing root but unable to request root permissions
- flash latest Los -> unable to boot
- flash latest RR -> unable to boot
- flash latest tool to disable dm-verity (from TWRP thread: https://build.nethunter.com/android-tools/no-verity-opt-encrypt/) -> unable to boot
- flash AX7 R1 -> unable to reboot
Did the above steps with allowing system modifications and without.
Same for rebooting with disemmcwp and reformatiing partitions.
Tried using the universal bootloader from Los thread and still wasn't able to boot except using the stock rom.
I'm really out of ideads what I could try next.
Recovery seems to stick for now.
Could it be that the problem is not dm-verity but something else?
When I rooted the device I encountered no problem with that security mechanism. Custom roms and kernels worked as well without ever having to worry abou that.

Finally managed to boot into RR!
Here is what I did:
1. Went back to B10
2. Relocked bootloader
3. Booted into system -> developer settings -> Oem Unlock
4. Unlocked bootloader
5. Flashed recovery through fastboot
6. Booted directly into TWRP (when I did a restart it was overwritten immediately that's why I booted directly into it one the second try)
7. Allowed system modifications inside TWRP and flashed SuperSU 2.65
8. Successfully booted into system and had root
9. Flashed Universal Bootloader and Modem from Los thread
10. Flashed RR + Gapps
I really don't know which step the crucial one was but I hope if someone else manages to get into the same situation as I did those steps will help.
Thank you guys for helping me out

Can't Boot after OTA Open Beta 5 -> 6

Hi, I just dirty flashed my phone through OTA from OB5 to OB6. I currently can't boot into my phone, but recovery and everything works.
I'm using twrp 3.2.1.0 codeworx. I can boot into my lockscreen but the moment it loads it says "Shutting down". If I install Magisk 16.0 it just tries to boot, then fails and jumps to recovery.
At least my data isn't encrypted anymore, but what can I do about this? When I try to sideload the OB5 ROM it says can't read zip.
Also it's interesting how my recovery gets reset every time that happens.

From my knowledge you should make clean flash as android 8.0 and 8.1 are different versions

You didn't removed all the overlays from substratum, navigate with twrp's file manager into /data/system and delete overlays.xml

SventraPopizz said:
You didn't removed all the overlays from substratum, navigate with twrp's file manager into /data/system and delete overlays.xml
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. I also feel a feeling that it's substratum because I made the mistake of updating with layers still installed. I tried flashing the substratum rescue zip, both legacy and non-legacy, and also deleting the file as you suggested but I'm still getting that immediate "shutting down" error.

chazarss said:
From my knowledge you should make clean flash as android 8.0 and 8.1 are different versions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my personal experience, I took the OTA and had no problems rebooting. I'm also fully stock with no root or custom recovery; I don't know if that affected my flash and reboot. I bought my OP5 used from Swappa. When I got it, I clean flashed the OB5 and then today I took the OTA for OB6.

I was on ob05, twrp 8.71. Received ota, full zip, on the phone. Dirty flash workt fine for me. Phone booted ok. Of course, recovery was gone. Reflash recovery. Reboot to recovery. Flash Magisk 16. All ok.

Bootloop was caused by https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-5/themes/op5-oos-oreo-official-fix-blue-3rd-t3727238/ for me. After disabling the module with https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-tool-magisk-manager-recovery-mode-t3693165 it's booting properly

Can't get custom ROM installed

I'm having a very difficult time getting this phone setup. I can get very, very close... but then it starts boot looping into recovery.
So starting at the beginning, here is what I did:
- Booted up phone, make sure it works and connects to wifi (I find out later that it got encrypted, even though I didn't set a PIN).
- Inside the OS on first boot, I install and use the official bootloader unlock APK from Asus.
- Rebooted into the bootloader and fastboot flashed TWRP.
- Rebooted into TWRP and flashed the Oreo modem, current unofficial Carbon OS 6.1, nano gapps, and magisk 16.6.
- Rebooted and the Carbon ROM logo comes up. It works for about 2-3 minutes, then reboots.
- After many attempts to decrypt (and a lot of help from the forum), I successfully restore the phone to "WW_ZE552KL_14.2020.1712.85_M3.10.47.15_Phone-user.raw.zip" with the Asus tool.
- Phone is fixed and booting again to the OS, but I'm back to square one.
Second attempt:
- Thinking I need to flash the raw Oreo ROM (instead of just the Oreo modem), I use the Asus tool to flash "WW_ZE552KL_15.0410.1803.55_M3.10.47.19_Phone-user.raw.zip"
- The phone works fine and is now an Oreo ROM with an Oreo modem
- It's still unlocked, so I rebooted into the bootloader and fastboot flashed TWRP.
- Rebooted into TWRP and flashed the current unofficial Carbon OS 6.1, nano gapps, and magisk 16.6.
- Rebooted and the Carbon ROM logo comes up. It works for about 2-3 minutes, then reboots.
- After the reboot, it goes to TWRP... whether I just let it boot on its own, or press power when it says: Start - Continue to boot >
What am I doing wrong?

You're having a rough go at this one eh.
I know we talked about this before, but did you try a factory reset and wiping cache/dalvik before rebooting?

Yes. As we discussed before, you can't wipe cache from TWRP. So I'd wipe dalvik from TWRP, then reboot to the bootloader to do a "fastboot format cache".

I'm going to try a different ROM later this afternoon. Maybe that will make a difference.

Flapjack said:
I'm going to try a different ROM later this afternoon. Maybe that will make a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! I've been able to boot any ROM by:
1. flashing TWRP
2. rebooting to recovery
3. installing the ROM zip
4. rebooting to bootloader
5. fastboot continue
But when I restart the phone, it always boots to recovery(TWRP), so I have to repeat steps 4 and 5 to boot the ROM, which is
Could you try and tell me if it works for you too?
I'm gonna take a moment to read about the boot process in depth, as it seems there is no straightforward solution to this out there.

junglesnake said:
Hello! I've been able to boot any ROM by:
1. flashing TWRP
2. rebooting to recovery
3. installing the ROM zip
4. rebooting to bootloader
5. fastboot continue
But when I restart the phone, it always boots to recovery(TWRP), so I have to repeat steps 4 and 5 to boot the ROM, which is
Could you try and tell me if it works for you too?
I'm gonna take a moment to read about the boot process in depth, as it seems there is no straightforward solution to this out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Flash Oreo RAW (can be downloaded from @Saktis_STi' s unlocking thread.
2) Boot till system
3) Flash TWRP
4) Flash ROM, Magisk, GApps
5) Reboot
The reason why it reboots to TWRP is because of 'encryption' thingy.

BootloaderBoi said:
1) Flash Oreo RAW (can be downloaded from @Saktis_STi' s unlocking thread.
2) Boot till system
3) Flash TWRP
4) Flash ROM, Magisk, GApps
5) Reboot
The reason why it reboots to TWRP is because of 'encryption' thingy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
many many thanks! I was able to get Ressurection Remix working by now
your steps were right, and I will detail them better to tell how I made it work for others reading this thread:
1) Flash Oreo RAW
1.1 - @Saktis_STi's thread is a bit outdated. I downloaded the newest firmware from Asus website.
1.2 - I also had to find a recent recovery.img, which I think I got it from here https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-3/how-to/original-recovery-img-boot-img-zenfone-t3572188
1.3 - I used the stock recovery's adb sideload to flash the stock ROM
2) Flash TWRP - all good here
3) Flash ROM, Magisk, GApps
3.1 - I wiped system, data, cache and dalvik.
3.2 - I flashed RR ROM, GApps and Magisk (EDIT 2: install all three before the first custom ROM boot, or GApps won't work)
3.3 - Performed a Factory Reset
4) REBOOTED TO GLORY!
For what it seems, the stock ROM encryption that is performed on the stock's first boot was the enemy.
Now one last thing... In Security -> Encription, my device is NOT encrypted.
Do I run the risk of ruining everything if I encrypt it?
EDIT: No, it didn't break, working fine

junglesnake said:
1) Flash Oreo RAW
1.1 - @Saktis_STi's thread is a bit outdated. I downloaded the newest firmware from Asus website
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lmao. His RAW firmware version is the latest version though
https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-3/development/updated-unlock-relock-bootloader-t3749456
Anyways, enjoy your phone running on custom ROM :good:

system keeps flashing stock recovery?

My phone was rooted for the longest time without any problems, but some time ago (I'm assuming after the Treble update) apps would not detect root, although any app that was already using root could continue doing so.
I checked Magisk, which said root was not installed. I booted my phone into recovery, and somehow my phone had the stock recovery flashed on it. I tried flashing TWRP on it again, and it worked. Except, when I rebooted my phone into recovery later again, it went back to stock recovery.
I have no idea what's going on, and would really appreciate some help.
(PS: I do know how to update my phone without the phone reverting to stock recovery, I've done it many times before, so that can't be the problem)

update: I tried flashing TWRP again (through bootloader), and this time I jumped straight to recovery. It showed all the directories as if my phone had just been completely wiped. Internal memory 0M. No files anywhere. Didn't even have a downloads folder.
In a panic, I rebooted my phone, but my phone was actually untouched, no data wipe whatsoever. I'm even more confused about what the hell is happening now.

The stock OOS will automatically reflash the stock recovery if it detects it has changed to something else.
You have to boot into TWRP right after installing it and either let it mount /system read-write (likely to cause problems later) or install something like Magisk that will prevent overwriting the recovery.
TWRP was not able to read your data partition, which can happen depending on which kind of encryption you have. Try the BlueSpark TWRP, it supposedly supports encryption better than the official one.

It's the version. If I use 3.2.3.0 or 3.2.2.0 I get no files. But 3.2.1.1 works for some reason. You can also install pie now. There is a link in the one plus 5 forums here to hydrogen os. It's Chinese version but that doesn't matter. It is in English. You will need to uninstall a few Chinese bloatware apps and flash gapps. But besides that I don't see much difference. If anything the hydrogen os looks nicer. I'll add some screenshots . Developer options was enabled from first boot, with the advanced reboot menu I noticed.

Also, if you have root the TWRP app can flash recovery from in the OS.

Fif_ said:
The stock OOS will automatically reflash the stock recovery if it detects it has changed to something else.
You have to boot into TWRP right after installing it and either let it mount /system read-write (likely to cause problems later) or install something like Magisk that will prevent overwriting the recovery.
TWRP was not able to read your data partition, which can happen depending on which kind of encryption you have. Try the BlueSpark TWRP, it supposedly supports encryption better than the official one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's frustrating for sure. Lol

Phone stuck at Decryption unsuccessful :crying:

I am stuck at encryption failed when I flash stock oreo rom. I tried formatting data using twrp and flashed no encryption file as well but nothing works.:crying::crying::crying:
I just want to use the stock oreo rom again with root.
Pls help:crying:

Which ROM did you try and flash / install?
Try upgrading your TWRP to the latest version too.

jl10101 said:
Which ROM did you try and flash / install?
Try upgrading your TWRP to the latest version too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used partition dl mode to flash the stock oreo rom over 7.0 to keep the root. Then i flashed custom kernal for stock 8.0 but it didnt work. I have done the same procedure before and it has worked like a charm. But it keeps on giving the encrytion error when i try it now

Deadmeat03 said:
I used partition dl mode to flash the stock oreo rom over 7.0 to keep the root. Then i flashed custom kernal for stock 8.0 but it didnt work. I have done the same procedure before and it has worked like a charm. But it keeps on giving the encrytion error when i try it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odd. If I had to guess anything, it would be that not all the partitions were flashed when going from Nougat to Oreo.
I once flash a Nougat ROM from an Oreo ROM and I had the same encryption issue and lost everything.
That was the last time I would trust myself again and not do a backup.

Flash stock recovery from KDZ through patched LGUP & do a factory reset .
After stock recovery completes the wipe do a battery pull, flash TWRP via fastboot, format data, flash Kernel & Magisk & you should be back on track...

Prowler_gr said:
Flash stock recovery from KDZ through patched LGUP & do a factory reset .
After stock recovery completes the wipe do a battery pull, flash TWRP via fastboot, format data, flash Kernel & Magisk & you should be back on track...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that as well. With stock recovery is says data is corrupted and doesn't do anything. I think it might be a problem with patched lg up because when i use normal lg up to flash oreo it works. But I cant root then.

I would try changing to 3.2.3-4 TWRP and then trying the procedure again. It seems that the 3.3.0 TWRP does not decrypt properly sometimes.

In the same boat as OP
scottyrick said:
I would try changing to 3.2.3-4 TWRP and then trying the procedure again. It seems that the 3.3.0 TWRP does not decrypt properly sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Looking for a way to keep TWRP and root ... any help appreciated
I've got a US996 with the same issue as the op. I have the latest TWRP 3.3.1-0. The phone was working fine until I upgraded twrp but I might have done a mistake resetting phone outside of twrp.
I can still get back into twrp but I haven't been able to install zip files without getting that decryption unsuccessful message when booting to system.
When getting back into TWRP using hardware buttons sometimes there is a prompt asking "keep system read only?" which I never chose and swipe to allow modification. I think this happens after
I pull the battery after getting the decryption unsuccessful message. There is a reset system that I could chose under the decryption unsuccessful message but I'm assuming that will make me lose twrp
...but if my phone is a us996 and is still
unlocked, would it matter if I did select it? Wouldn't I be able to reinstall twrp using adb again on a computer after Oreo is reinstalled?
To do Prowler_gr's suggestion which guide do I follow (sounds like I should do the second option)
"Flash stock recovery from KDZ through patched LGUP & do a factory reset .
After stock recovery completes the wipe do a battery pull, flash TWRP via fastboot, format data, flash Kernel & Magisk & you should be back on track... "
1-[GUIDE][UNBRICK] Patch LGUP to unlock features & unbrick V20 (Variant mismatch fix) to use lgup
or this guide
2-Ultimate guide to unbrick LG V20(Only Variants with .KDZ)[No OS Firmware Update Loop]
Thank you for any guidance on this...

There is a reset system that I could chose under the decryption unsuccessful message but I'm assuming that will make me lose twrp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't blame me if this goes wrong but I'm pretty much 100% certain that you mush press the rest button. This has happened to me a few times I'm sure. You won't loose twrp. Whatever resetting goes on in the background I don't think it's an actual Factory Reset.
Edit: Just to be clear you taking about a white screen with I think in dark blue or black text ENCRYPTION UNSUCCESSFUL and something like "reset phone" option directly under it, on the upper half of the screen?

Hi ezzony
Yes you are thinking of the right decryption unsuccessful page. I get it when booting to system
after installing Oreo and magisk 19 and having wiped everything (format data too). I will get the exact wording of it tonight
Thanks!

downgrade twrp i has same prob twrp 3.3.1 gives issues

ghet2rockuu said:
downgrade twrp i has same prob twrp 3.3.1 gives issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ghet2rockuu
I downgraded twrp and that got it working Thank You! see also Phoenix591 thread [Recovery][Unofficial for the moment]TWRP 3.3.1-0 : 2019-05-17 #625
Thank You !