Excellent news and a solution i havent found anywhere else yet!
Follow up from - https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/help/restore-imei-attempt-stock-rom-flash-t3802527
TL;DR attempted to re-root as soon as the bootloader unlocked. It all seemed to stick again, and got the big red message of doom again.
"Official Binaries Only" - Last time i was able to restore to at least switch on the phone to run down the rmm state timer to zero to flash again.
Tried the several methods of flashing through a locked bootloader (old BL file, quickly restart download mode and spam start on odin, etc) - literally nothing would allow me to flash anything that included the BL file. IMEI and baseband remained unknown. Phone went in drawer for a few days.
Just went and downloaded the latest XSA (Australia, Unbranded) build - https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8/SM-G950F/XSA/ and guess what boys and girls?
This sucker flashes straight away with Odin 3.13.1
It has completely restored my IMEI and baseband, i now have full Cell connectivity again, and its all back and working again. OEM unlock is still disabled, Samsung Pay still locked out which is fine, but otherwise, i have gone from brick to fully working Exynos S8 again.
TL;DR IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH A BRICKED PHONE BECAUSE IT WONT LET YOU FLASH ANY STOCK ROMS TRY THAT ONE.
Thanks for the replies to my other threads trying to help out with this. Much appreciated.
Peace out.
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
kratosjohn said:
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive had a few cracks at this now but the date keeps resetting itself when you reset the phone despite having the automatic update option switched off.
Thanks for the info tho ill keep trying.
kratosjohn said:
For heads up for other after this, how to get OEM unlock to pop up again.
Go-to date and time, change the date to 8 days prior, disable automatic update of time.
Reboot phone and it may take a few tries, but OEM unlock should pop up again in developer settings.
Just went through all this without any help and it sucked lol. Thanks for making this thread for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
Ah I should have also mentioned I also did the same, flashed the same firmware when I was desperate and after some bit I also noticed prenormal change to official in download mode (the tell tale). I had OEM unlock on always, just was stuck in prenormal mode and couldn't flash anything.
To speed up the OEM unlock trial and error process do this as well:
1. After setting time/date back 8 days (and auto update time off). Go-to updates in settings, select manual update and check the server (it will error probably but that sets a check on their server to allow the RMM state to change next time it's connected properly).
2. Do this quite a few times, with reboot and constantly fighting the date auto update.
3. Flash the CRED firmware mentioned, boot it and setup once. Then reboot and go-to download mode.
4. You should see official as the RMM state now and you can happily OEM and flash away!
kratosjohn said:
Ah I should have also mentioned I also did the same, flashed the same firmware when I was desperate and after some bit I also noticed prenormal change to official in download mode (the tell tale). I had OEM unlock on always, just was stuck in prenormal mode and couldn't flash anything.
To speed up the OEM unlock trial and error process do this as well:
1. After setting time/date back 8 days (and auto update time off). Go-to updates in settings, select manual update and check the server (it will error probably but that sets a check on their server to allow the RMM state to change next time it's connected properly).
2. Do this quite a few times, with reboot and constantly fighting the date auto update.
3. Flash the CRED firmware mentioned, and reboot and go-to download mode.
4. You should see official as the RMM state now and you can happily OEM and flash away!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have just flashed TWRP, used the Comsy version to be safe (3.13.1 fine for the stock rom flash) - I used comsy as it is mentioned in hte post OREO S8 update. It allows TWRP to be flashed but maybe thats whats breaking everything else. Ill try magisk next.
Fire up TWRP and enable system changes. FIRST - Advanced wipe and format system (Im 99% sure this is what screwed my last couple of roots), hit yes and do it. Reboot into recovery again.
Flash no-verity, then SuperSU (or your preferred root, i use Aroma installer first, THEN you have to flash the SuperSU binary with that)
Wipe dalvik etc. Reboot into system. As i type this its now in the 'Welcome' screen. Gimme a minute and ill check all is good.
UPDATE - Everything restored installed titanium backup root held. Rebooted phone aaaaaaaaand - "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed" - Back to square one. Will attempt same reflash now, but the root procedure kills everything. Back in download mode again. RMM State: Prenormal returned.
It is now succesfully flashing the stock rom in Odin 3.13.1 - Accidentally started it with Comsy and it DID NOT WORK. You MUST use the normal version to flash the rom im using.
Looks like we def have a stable way to refire up the phone again, and get around RMM state prenormal nice and quickly, so ill go ahead now and try and find whats going on with things breaking afterwards!
Thanks again guys.
Did nearly the same as you, dejavu.
I use magisk though. Be sure to flash a rom or kernel with RMM state fixed lol, or you'll be back here soon.
Funkmonkey said:
Have just flashed TWRP, used the Comsy version to be safe (3.13.1 fine for the stock rom flash)
Fire up TWRP and enable system changes. FIRST - Advanced wipe and format system (Im 99% sure this is what screwed my last couple of roots), hit yes and do it. Reboot into recovery again.
Flash no-verity, then SuperSU (or your preferred root, i use Aroma installer first, THEN you have to flash the SuperSU binary with that)
Wipe dalvik etc. Reboot into system. As i type this its now in the 'Welcome' screen. Gimme a minute and ill check all is good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone should clean this up and get it stickied.
I imagine there are alot of users here with this same issue, after the CRED update we can't downgrade our bootloader, and in a panic you can get stuck here.
kratosjohn said:
Did nearly the same as you, dejavu.
I use magisk though. Be sure to flash a rom or kernel with RMM state fixed lol, or you'll be back here soon.
Looks like that wont be an issue any more to be honest this phone is now a backup thankfully so i can play around with it to my little hearts desire.
Im about to try the magisk install. SuperSU/Aroma definately breaking something somewhere. Or verity. I dont know but rooting the phone at the moment is killing it again.
Also, i have NOT lost IMEI or baseband this time. At the very least for Australian SN-G950F phones, this is a 100% flashable stock rom regardless of your RMM or phone status. I cannot say this for any other model in any other country on any other carrier, but this is all working for a carrier free Exynos S8.
Maybe y'all better archive the actual stock somewhere before someone realises theyve made a mistake somewhere and it gets pulled. Im definantly backing it up.
I just got that oem unlock trick to happen in 2 shutdown/restarts NOT reboots. BUT. I did NOT enable developer mode until i had disabled automatic time updates and turned the date back 8 days. The option came up instantly. Is something comparing a hardware clock deep in the system to a software clock in the os to and developer mode comparing something in between? Either way, on to reflash TWRP again now. This is a good day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hokay so - From a factory refresh, to the OEM unlock trick -
Flashing TWRP with 3.13.1 and allowing the phone to reboot - Phone will reboot as normal, TWRP doesnt stick. Shutdown and reboot into recovery gives you stock recovery.
Flashing but ensuring phone reboots directly into recovery gives you TWRP. A format data and reboot directly into twrp again lets me install no-verity.
- AFTER DOING THIS I AM GETTING THE RED LINE OF DEATH - Something in the system isnt letting the modifications stick.
Reflashing with the Home_CSC still seems to work as normal and i havent had to go through the welcome stuff this time...
Funkmonkey said:
Hokay so - From a factory refresh, to the OEM unlock trick -
Flashing TWRP with 3.13.1 and allowing the phone to reboot - Phone will reboot as normal, TWRP doesnt stick. Shutdown and reboot into recovery gives you stock recovery.
Flashing but ensuring phone reboots directly into recovery gives you TWRP. A format data and reboot directly into twrp again lets me install no-verity.
- AFTER DOING THIS I AM GETTING THE RED LINE OF DEATH - Something in the system isnt letting the modifications stick.
Reflashing with the Home_CSC still seems to work as normal and i havent had to go through the welcome stuff this time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you found and used this after getting your phone setup right (w/twrp)?
I think you should flash magisk, then this after.
After I had this "panic" I flashed the custom rom I was aiming for (once RMM: Official). That rom has a kernel with the RMM state fixed/locked.
Maybe look for a custom kernel if you want root, I believe this is the fight we have to put up even on stock w/root.
Download the Australian stock rom and install it but do not recover IMEI or coverage. I think it's because my G950F (singlesim) cell phone thinks it's G950FD (double sim). This causes the cell phone to get confused and not recognize any imei or sim. Does anyone know how to fix it?
Funkmonkey said:
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do we need to factory rest or just reboot phone after we change date?
Funkmonkey said:
Sunuva....
I havent been inside since i replied to you before. Gave up trying to fix that and was doing other things. Just reset both the s8 and s8+ to look at download mode... noticed the rmm flag was GONE rebooted and sure enough OEM Unlock is done.
You genius.
So - Anyone actuallly reading this -
Lost root, reflashed and cant install TWRP etc, "OFFICIAL BINARIES ONLY" crash, cant replace bootloader, missing IMEI/Unknown baseband -
TRY FLASHING XXU2CRED stock rom from 18/6/18 or later. This will flash despite a locked bootloader.
Once up and running set up the phone for use. Reboot as normal. Then turn off automatic time and date set date to 8 days prior, reset phone a couple of times. Get annoyed because you keep having to reset the date backwards. Reboot phone again and set automatic tin me and date again. Reboot. Bamf unlocked and completely restored SN-G950F.
Courtesy of Funkmonkey and @kratosjohn (the little legend)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
Smartphones13 said:
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was stuck here too, flash the latest CRED firmware he linked.
Then boot it one time (setup til you see launcher).
Do the OEM unlock method.
You can follow the steps after if you want root.
I suggest magisk and a custom ROM, that had RMM state fixed (so you won't get locked again).
Good luck!
Smartphones13 said:
Can you please help me? so when you say reset phone you are talking about restarting it? I have tried this a few times and not working for me. My oem has always been unlocked, but still have prenormal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry i missed your reply i hope you got it fixed if not post again and ill see if i can help. Ive definantly gotten that oem unlock trick working which is awesome but its fiddly. I dont think it works if you turn on flight mode and you have to let the phone fight you between 'no automatic date and time' and the network forcing the time.
Of course now i cant get the oem unlock trick working...
RE the dual sim issue... i think you would need the stock rom specific to your model try sammobile, see if there is a CRED release for your model. I cant guarantee it will work tho.
kratosjohn said:
I was stuck here too, flash the latest CRED firmware he linked.
Then boot it one time (setup til you see launcher).
Do the OEM unlock method.
You can follow the steps after if you want root.
I suggest magisk and a custom ROM, that had RMM state fixed (so you won't get locked again).
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help, I am on the latest firmware now and into my Google and Samsung accounts. I am a little confused on the wording in the oem steps. I have tried it a bunch of times. Prenormal is still there, I already have the OEM unblocked, I can toggle OEM on and off but it doesn't change my rmm status. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Smartphones13 said:
Thank you for your help, I am on the latest firmware now and into my Google and Samsung accounts. I am a little confused on the wording in the oem steps. I have tried it a bunch of times. Prenormal is still there, I already have the OEM unblocked, I can toggle OEM on and off but it doesn't change my rmm status. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly what im now struggling with. It absolutely did work twice but i cant get it to go now.
Heres the thing - both times i did it before, i would turn off automatic time and date and set the date backwards, then reboot the phone, when it reboots, automatic time and date were rechecked, and the date reset to now (hence the 'fighting with the date' comments) ... i think thats important, because now when i try it, automatic time and date stay OFF, the date does not reset, and i cant get the trick to work anymore. No amount of wifi/airplane/mobile data on/off seems to change owt.
If anyone reading has any ideas it would help.
Funkmonkey said:
Thats exactly what im now struggling with. It absolutely did work twice but i cant get it to go now.
Heres the thing - both times i did it before, i would turn off automatic time and date and set the date backwards, then reboot the phone, when it reboots, automatic time and date were rechecked, and the date reset to now (hence the 'fighting with the date' comments) ... i think thats important, because now when i try it, automatic time and date stay OFF, the date does not reset, and i cant get the trick to work anymore. No amount of wifi/airplane/mobile data on/off seems to change owt.
If anyone reading has any ideas it would help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, so you suppose to set date back 8 days and turn off auto time and date and restart phone? When it comes back on to and set the date back to 8 days again? I thought you have to check the software? And then do those steps? So after I change the date back after that first restart, then what? Do I just turn OEM lock on and check download mode to see what the status is? I am not trying to be a pain o am just confused a little on the steps. Thank you for all your help
Smartphones13 said:
I see, so you suppose to set date back 8 days and turn off auto time and date and restart phone? When it comes back on to and set the date back to 8 days again? I thought you have to check the software? And then do those steps? So after I change the date back after that first restart, then what? Do I just turn OEM lock on and check download mode to see what the status is? I am not trying to be a pain o am just confused a little on the steps. Thank you for all your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we might be looking at different issues.
This is to fix a semi bricked phone that has locked up its bootloader. In the past to resurrect a samsung all you had to do was flash twrp and your new rom but since Oreo some funkiness has been added to the system which only lets you flash a stock rom, (i.e. restoring a phone to factory settings and software) via ODIN/HEIMDALL then it locks up the bootloader for a week so you CANNOT flash anything into the phone that modifies the bootloader (i.e. TWRP OR *any* rom) until its timer runs out. This is most likely an anti theft feature esp with samsung and google pay use as it means there is no way to easily break into a stolen phone and use it as normal, and reflashing breaks all of the security features of the phone (e-fuse) - no knox no samsung or google pay no samsung pass as your device is insecure and could spoof false banking details etc.
The rom i linked to is important as it is a new AUSTRALIAN unbranded STOCK rom, that for some reason you can flash OVER a locked bootloader, meaning you can resurrect (australian at the very least) SN-G950F phones (exynos)
If you already have a working phone and can get to your developer settings then most of this thread is irrelevant to you.
Now - OEM unlock - You just bought a brand new galaxy from samsung (or youre me and you bought a MINT second hand one from cash converters for $700 less) - your phone is factory standard and schmicky. THE BOOTLOADER IS LOCKED. THE RMM STATE SHOULD NOT be triggered. If right now you went to flash something it would fail.
So you go to about phone - software information and you tap 'build number' seven times to unlock developer mode. Hit back twice and developer mode will be at the bottom of settings.
Click into this and you should see without swiping down 'OEM UNLOCK' - If you enable this, you can then reboot straight into download mode (power vol down and bixby) and flash twrp or whatever rom.
If you dont see this option, you either have a snapdragon model (youre **** outta luck permanently) or RMM is PRENORMAL and you either have to try the unlock trick(s) or leave your phone SWITCHED ON for 1 week and it will unlock itself.
The biggest issue at the moment is that i keep breaking something after i attempt to root so not sure whats happening there so use major caution.
Now as i said the trick posted above to unlock without having to wait a week (which i think youre asking about) im now not sure how it works because i cant get it to work any more.
Automatic time and date off, set date back 8 days, reset the phone. Do this a couple of times, then turn on automatic date and time again. HERE THERE BE ISSUES. When i first did it - i switch off time and date and change then reset, when the phone came on, auto date and time was on again. Turn off, change date, reset. Again, its back on. Turn off, change date, reset. Its back on. I give up and leave it, and notice later the option was available, so it worked. I broke the phone, reflashed again, did the trick in ONE reboot. Fcked something again, reflashed, now auto time and date stays off and the trick wont work so i cant help you with that until someone comes up with more info im sorry! Its a bit zarbis.
Im not going too nuts trying to fix it as i now have a fully working stock backup phone that sits on DeX plugged into my bedroom tv full time and im not into custom roms, root keeps breaking the phone, and ive sonce replaced it with a mint S8+ that im not even THINKING about considering rooting until its replaced maybe next year. Its not as easy to get around anymore and thankfully a) picasa and hangouts are no longer stock apps and can be banished and b) you can now disable all the other built in apps natively so its now a lot more bearable with a totally stock phone.
Hello yall!
So I am at a complete loss on how to fix the issues with my Essential device.
So I decided to post here in as much detail as I can and hopefully receive some answers.
I purchased my phone used from eBay about a month ago.
According to the listing it was factory unlocked.
I have AT&T prepaid.
Everything was running smoothly for about a week until I receive the notification for the Android Pie OTA.
(At this time my bootloader was not yet unlocked nor was I rooted).
Again everything was fine UNTIL I installed the security patch update.
As soon as I installed and rebooted my sim read as invalid.
I rebooted, tried to mess with network settings, factory reset, etc.
Turning to Google, I realize this is a common issue with the Sprint variant of this device (of course my luck would be for me to unknowingly purchase the Sprint variant not knowing there was any issues) and the pie update.
The main fix for this issue would be of course to downgrade back to Android 8.
Here's my issues...
I unlock my bootloader.
Install the Android 8 firmware from the official Essential site. (made sure to install the one for Sprint variant).
Flash.
The touch screen is not functional. At all.
Flash back to Android Pie and install TWRP
Flash Android 8 custom ROM.
Touch screen still not functional.
So I'm back on Android Pie and touch screen is working, but sim is still invalid.
How are other essential users successful in downgrading the software?
HELP.
stephxo said:
Hello yall!
So I am at a complete loss on how to fix the issues with my Essential device.
So I decided to post here in as much detail as I can and hopefully receive some answers.
I purchased my phone used from eBay about a month ago.
According to the listing it was factory unlocked.
I have AT&T prepaid.
Everything was running smoothly for about a week until I receive the notification for the Android Pie OTA.
(At this time my bootloader was not yet unlocked nor was I rooted).
Again everything was fine UNTIL I installed the security patch update.
As soon as I installed and rebooted my sim read as invalid.
I rebooted, tried to mess with network settings, factory reset, etc.
Turning to Google, I realize this is a common issue with the Sprint variant of this device (of course my luck would be for me to unknowingly purchase the Sprint variant not knowing there was any issues) and the pie update.
The main fix for this issue would be of course to downgrade back to Android 8.
Here's my issues...
I unlock my bootloader.
Install the Android 8 firmware from the official Essential site. (made sure to install the one for Sprint variant).
Flash.
The touch screen is not functional. At all.
Flash back to Android Pie and install TWRP
Flash Android 8 custom ROM.
Touch screen still not functional.
So I'm back on Android Pie and touch screen is working, but sim is still invalid.
How are other essential users successful in downgrading the software?
HELP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the guide section and read the post that says uicc unlock there is a solution outlined.just follow it and your phone will be back in service
stephxo said:
Hello yall!
So I am at a complete loss on how to fix the issues with my Essential device.
So I decided to post here in as much detail as I can and hopefully receive some answers.
I purchased my phone used from eBay about a month ago.
According to the listing it was factory unlocked.
I have AT&T prepaid.
Everything was running smoothly for about a week until I receive the notification for the Android Pie OTA.
(At this time my bootloader was not yet unlocked nor was I rooted).
Again everything was fine UNTIL I installed the security patch update.
As soon as I installed and rebooted my sim read as invalid.
I rebooted, tried to mess with network settings, factory reset, etc.
Turning to Google, I realize this is a common issue with the Sprint variant of this device (of course my luck would be for me to unknowingly purchase the Sprint variant not knowing there was any issues) and the pie update.
The main fix for this issue would be of course to downgrade back to Android 8.
Here's my issues...
I unlock my bootloader.
Install the Android 8 firmware from the official Essential site. (made sure to install the one for Sprint variant).
Flash.
The touch screen is not functional. At all.
Flash back to Android Pie and install TWRP
Flash Android 8 custom ROM.
Touch screen still not functional.
So I'm back on Android Pie and touch screen is working, but sim is still invalid.
How are other essential users successful in downgrading the software?
HELP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you unlock your critical partitions along with the bootloader?
arjunv said:
Go to the guide section and read the post that says uicc unlock there is a solution outlined.just follow it and your phone will be back in service
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think you could link that post for me? I can't seem to find it.
I also don't see any uicc option on my debice. (Not sure or that matters though)
If it's Sprint you need to wait 50 days before you can unlock it. CDMA phones are a pain in the ass to unlock, always buy International if possible!
This thread has some information that might be useful:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/help/unlock-sprint-version-t3720727
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA Labs
SuperBrolySSJ said:
Did you unlock your critical partitions along with the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is required for the touch screen firmware to be flashed and OP needs to see this.
I purchased 3 PH-1's off Amazon during the last few months, right before they skyrocketed in price. One i use for loading stuff like elemental-x kernals and magisk modules/systemizer, aka my test phone. Today i noticed the bottom half of the screen has 3-4 small light spots visible on dark screen applications. The phone in question is still returnable to Amazon since its not even 30 days old.
So the question is do i send it back, as is, with expressed knowledge that the software is fine but the screen itself is defective? Will they get it back and boot it up and see the unlocked bootloader screen and void warranty? Should i attempt to relock the phone?
Its rooted on oct. pie update with 3.09 elemental x on it. If i restore OEM kernal via the backup, uninstall magisk and reflash stock boot image, factory reset the phone and then flashall oct. 9.0 fastboot files again, does anyone believe i'll have a issue relocking it after all that? I've spent a boat load of time reading XDA and I've unlocked/flashed/relocked my wifes PH-1 when i first got it and it went fine but im wondering if ive gone to far on this one and will Amazon even care if its unlocked when returned? Chance calling Amazon and asking? Hate for it to count against my amazon return history.
Thoughts? Edit* its barely noticeable unless its a black, lit screen. Opinions on if it is even worth it to chance relocking/bricking or sending it back unlocked? TWRP has never been loaded on the phone btw.
Twowong4words said:
I purchased 3 PH-1's off Amazon during the last few months, right before they skyrocketed in price. One i use for loading stuff like elemental-x kernals and magisk modules/systemizer, aka my test phone. Today i noticed the bottom half of the screen has 3-4 small light spots visible on dark screen applications. The phone in question is still returnable to Amazon since its not even 30 days old.
So the question is do i send it back, as is, with expressed knowledge that the software is fine but the screen itself is defective? Will they get it back and boot it up and see the unlocked bootloader screen and void warranty? Should i attempt to relock the phone?
Its rooted on oct. pie update with 3.09 elemental x on it. If i restore OEM kernal via the backup, uninstall magisk and reflash stock boot image, factory reset the phone and then flashall oct. 9.0 fastboot files again, does anyone believe i'll have a issue relocking it after all that? I've spent a boat load of time reading XDA and I've unlocked/flashed/relocked my wifes PH-1 when i first got it and it went fine but im wondering if ive gone to far on this one and will Amazon even care if its unlocked when returned? Chance calling Amazon and asking? Hate for it to count against my amazon return history.
Thoughts? Edit* its barely noticeable unless its a black, lit screen. Opinions on if it is even worth it to chance relocking/bricking or sending it back unlocked? TWRP has never been loaded on the phone btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I myself have locked bootloader 4 times...just run a oct bts and let it boot up..then if it's boots reboot to bootloader and relock it
Twowong4words said:
I purchased 3 PH-1's off Amazon during the last few months, right before they skyrocketed in price. One i use for loading stuff like elemental-x kernals and magisk modules/systemizer, aka my test phone. Today i noticed the bottom half of the screen has 3-4 small light spots visible on dark screen applications. The phone in question is still returnable to Amazon since its not even 30 days old.
So the question is do i send it back, as is, with expressed knowledge that the software is fine but the screen itself is defective? Will they get it back and boot it up and see the unlocked bootloader screen and void warranty? Should i attempt to relock the phone?
Its rooted on oct. pie update with 3.09 elemental x on it. If i restore OEM kernal via the backup, uninstall magisk and reflash stock boot image, factory reset the phone and then flashall oct. 9.0 fastboot files again, does anyone believe i'll have a issue relocking it after all that? I've spent a boat load of time reading XDA and I've unlocked/flashed/relocked my wifes PH-1 when i first got it and it went fine but im wondering if ive gone to far on this one and will Amazon even care if its unlocked when returned? Chance calling Amazon and asking? Hate for it to count against my amazon return history.
Thoughts? Edit* its barely noticeable unless its a black, lit screen. Opinions on if it is even worth it to chance relocking/bricking or sending it back unlocked? TWRP has never been loaded on the phone btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the various laws an unlocked boot loader cannot be used to deny a hardware warranty.
On the other hand just install the stock ROM and lock the BL.
What is BTS ?
I myself have locked bootloader 4 times...just run a oct bts and let it boot up..then if it's boots reboot to bootloader and relock it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I obtained an unlocked Moto E4 XT1768 from an independent retailer and rooted it using magisk and following these instructions. https://youtu.be/Pjd74W9IqHU However, I'm not happy with it as for some reason eligible apps can no longer be moved to the SD card without formatting it as an internal and was not aware it would hang on startup with an N/A message. There are other irritating issues. I also wonder if the security is less being rooted. So being a nube have nube questions related to this thread. Motorola keeps asking me to update the system software, I assume to Android 8 oreo. Is that a good idea or will it wipe out the root? Will it install properly? Can I factory reset it back to defaults by following the steps in reverse?
WXSky said:
I obtained an unlocked Moto E4 XT1768 from an independent retailer and rooted it using magisk and following these instructions.
However, I'm not happy with it as for some reason eligible apps can no longer be moved to the SD card without formatting it as an internal and was not aware it would hang on startup with an N/A message. There are other irritating issues. I also wonder if the security is less being rooted. So being a nube have nube questions related to this thread. Motorola keeps asking me to update the system software, I assume to Android 8 oreo. Is that a good idea or will it wipe out the root? Will it install properly? Can I factory reset it back to defaults by following the steps in reverse?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't accept the update; it won't apply correctly on rooted device; likely end-up in a bootloop that can be challenging to fix w/o a backup image. Probably just a security update. No Oreo for the E4...at least not from Moto.
What about restoring it to factory? Can I relock the bootloader to remove the N/A or speed up the boot?
WXSky said:
What about restoring it to factory? Can I relock the bootloader to remove the N/A or speed up the boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can restore stock via RDSLite (Moto's partition maintenance tool) with some effort. There are a few threads floating around the E4 forums with general guidance but no step-by-step guidance. Not that difficult; attention to detail is key.
Relocking the bootloader is harder with variable outcomes. Some claim success while others never get there. Doing so will not speed up boot times; you'll just see the Moto logo longer. Replacing the boot animation effectively hides the 'N/A'; fairly easy task. Look for appropriately titled threads In the E4 themes section.
In your shoes I would focus on understanding/fixing the problem vs trying to relock the device. XT1768 is the cream-of-the-crop when it comes to E4s. It's the model I own and the only one you want if given a choice. Ya just need to do some reading to come up to speed on tools & techniques.
WXSky said:
What about restoring it to factory? Can I relock the bootloader to remove the N/A or speed up the boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does that instead of the bootlogo. It's just the way it is for Moto. All motos. Flash a new bootlogo if you want, but it will not reduce boot time. Live with it.
The annoying boot animation still appears. Eliminating that and speeding up the boot were two of my goals after rooting it. Now it is worse. It also hangs on the N/A a lot longer than it hung on the logo.
WXSky said:
The annoying boot animation still appears. Eliminating that and speeding up the boot were two of my goals after rooting it. Now it is worse. It also hangs on the N/A a lot longer than it hung on the logo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It actually doesn't. We have two E4s in the household; one unlocked, the other stock. Boot times are similar.
As mentioned, change your boot logo to obsecure the N/A. On my phone it is hardly noticable. You find a representative sample in the themes thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e4/themes
Just wanted to do a quick update to this in case it is valuable to anyone. I was not able to do a system update but it did not fall into a loop either. It just would not take. If I had done it before unlocking it would it have updated to Nougat 7.1.2?
However, I was able to do a factory reset on it and it reset successfully but it remained bootloader-unlocked and rooted.
Hi, I get a notification to update magisk. then I update it and use the recommended action to update it. After that it asks me to reboot the device. After rebooting the device it goes to fastboot only. And I see the device now changes to US996 while what I have is H990DS.
Can someone explain to me what's wrong and how to fix it without losing all my data?
thanks...
Hi there,
all I can say is that is happened exactly the same to me just some minutes ago, I installed latest magisk update like I've been doing with no problems, just that today, after reset, its always booting stuck into fastboot mode.
I have a H910 and I also see the message about US996, maybe this is related to the method used to root the phone, If I recall correctly it had something to do with installing a US996 modified bootloader.
I still haven't found a way to get my phone back to life. All I can say is that I do manage to boot into recovery (TWRP, via the appropriate key combination at power on), so I guess I'll manage to flash something to fix this and return it back to life I hope
aliks00 said:
Hi there,
all I can say is that is happened exactly the same to me just some minutes ago, I installed latest magisk update like I've been doing with no problems, just that today, after reset, its always booting stuck into fastboot mode.
I have a H910 and I also see the message about US996, maybe this is related to the method used to root the phone, If I recall correctly it had something to do with installing a US996 modified bootloader.
I still haven't found a way to get my phone back to life. All I can say is that I do manage to boot into recovery (TWRP, via the appropriate key combination at power on), so I guess I'll manage to flash something to fix this and return it back to life I hope
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's common knowledge that if you root your phone you never apply an OTA
Sent from my LG-H910 using XDA Labs
cnjax said:
It's common knowledge that if you root your phone you never apply an OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but who said I ever applied an OTA? It was magisk that wanted to update itself, I've been performing magisk updates regularly for quite some time and never had a problem, in fact I can't even perform an OTA phone update as I have AT&T variant but with a different sim...
Other times, when updating magisk, I lost root but never lost the ability to boot...
I was running alpha-omega oreo with mk2000 kernel and updating rom, kernel and magisk regularly through TWRP (or direct install in case of magisk though magisk app) and never had this problem before... at least I can manage to boot from recovery/TWRP so hopefully I will soon manage to get things working again... that is, if I can copy some images to my SD card that windows insists that is corrupted but that's another story...
I ended up flashing whole rom again and everything is back to normal