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P9 lite custom rom setup troubles + softbrick

Hi everyone,
i hope someone has time to help me on this. I had some experience with flashing custom roms with Lenovo a6000 and some Samsung phones, but it seems there's some things that are different with p9 Lite (L21), or some things i don't understand.
First things first, i've followed steps on how to install LineageOS (LineageOS-14.1-20171228-hi6250-UNOFFICIAL-HassanMirza01) over stock Nougat rom (B381), so i've unlocked the bootloader, flashed Revolution recovery via fastboot, and then installed the rom, gapps, magisk... What happened after installing magisk is a sudden restart, and after that, i got stuck at the LineageOS boot logo (i've let it work for over an hour until i gave up)... Thinking magisk was a problem, i also tried SuperSU, but had the same situation - restart before it finnished. Afterwards i've tried flashing EliteTWRP and after success, i've flashed the Omni-7.1.2-20171201-hi6250-HOMEMADE-HassanMirza01.zip, which also got stuck at the Omni boot logo, but i was able to do installation both with magisk and then again with supersu. Reading through XDA gave me some suggestions, one of them being to format userdata, which gave me a message that the command is not allowed.
Then i made a huge mistake of accidentally formatting internal dalvik+cache+data+system+INTERNAL STORAGE via recovery... After that, the Omni boot logo stopped showing, and i've been trying to repair it since then.
What i've tried so far is:
- fastboot flash boot, recovery (stock), system:
from what i've read there's also a CUST.img that i need to flash, but when i extract update.app that i had installed before all this, it doesn't contain it. I've tried flashing cust.img from another package, but it gives an error.
- after flashing boot, recovery and system.img, i've tried copying various update.app versions to dload on sdcard, then forcing update via pwr+volup+voldown, but every single one gives me "Software install failed - incompatibility with current version - please download the correct update package"... the same happens with downgrade package update.app.
It seems that only B381 update.app, when copied to sdcard and executed in the same way, gives a somewhat different message, instead of "incompatibility with current ver..." it says "Get help from http:..."
- adb shell dd if=/external_sd/oeminfo of=/dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/oeminfo // re-locked my bootloader
- i can unlock the bootloader and install twrp again via fastboot oem unlock *************** and fastboot flash recovery
- i've also tried unbricking options via P9 Lite Toolkit app, no success.
- HiSuite recovery option says device is not supported for system recovery
Any suggestions ?

hexahive said:
Hi everyone,
i hope someone has time to help me on this. I had some experience with flashing custom roms with Lenovo a6000 and some Samsung phones, but it seems there's some things that are different with p9 Lite (L21), or some things i don't understand.
First things first, i've followed steps on how to install LineageOS (LineageOS-14.1-20171228-hi6250-UNOFFICIAL-HassanMirza01) over stock Nougat rom (B381), so i've unlocked the bootloader, flashed Revolution recovery via fastboot, and then installed the rom, gapps, magisk... What happened after installing magisk is a sudden restart, and after that, i got stuck at the LineageOS boot logo (i've let it work for over an hour until i gave up)... Thinking magisk was a problem, i also tried SuperSU, but had the same situation - restart before it finnished. Afterwards i've tried flashing EliteTWRP and after success, i've flashed the Omni-7.1.2-20171201-hi6250-HOMEMADE-HassanMirza01.zip, which also got stuck at the Omni boot logo, but i was able to do installation both with magisk and then again with supersu. Reading through XDA gave me some suggestions, one of them being to format userdata, which gave me a message that the command is not allowed.
Then i made a huge mistake of accidentally formatting internal dalvik+cache+data+system+INTERNAL STORAGE via recovery... After that, the Omni boot logo stopped showing, and i've been trying to repair it since then.
What i've tried so far is:
- fastboot flash boot, recovery (stock), system:
from what i've read there's also a CUST.img that i need to flash, but when i extract update.app that i had installed before all this, it doesn't contain it. I've tried flashing cust.img from another package, but it gives an error.
- after flashing boot, recovery and system.img, i've tried copying various update.app versions to dload on sdcard, then forcing update via pwr+volup+voldown, but every single one gives me "Software install failed - incompatibility with current version - please download the correct update package"... the same happens with downgrade package update.app.
It seems that only B381 update.app, when copied to sdcard and executed in the same way, gives a somewhat different message, instead of "incompatibility with current ver..." it says "Get help from http:..."
- adb shell dd if=/external_sd/oeminfo of=/dev/block/platform/hi_mci.0/by-name/oeminfo // re-locked my bootloader
- i can unlock the bootloader and install twrp again via fastboot oem unlock *************** and fastboot flash recovery
- i've also tried unbricking options via P9 Lite Toolkit app, no success.
- HiSuite recovery option says device is not supported for system recovery
Any suggestions ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.meticulus.co.vu/p/hi6250-custom-rom-installation.html

Thanks.
I've managed to revert to stock by following one thread here on XDA. What I did was install L21C432oemInfo-DS.zip, then wipe everything via TWRP, and finally copy the L21C432B130 update app to dload folder on sd card, then the setup went without any problems.
I am now doing a full backup via Meticulus TWRP before i do anything.
There's one thing i dont understand about AOSP and RessurectionRMX roms, it says they're EMUI5 based - does that mean i'd have to update to EMUI5 based stock rom before i try installing it (prerequisites don't mention anything emui related) or that simply means the rom contains EMUI5 ?

hexahive said:
Thanks.
I've managed to revert to stock by following one thread here on XDA. What I did was install L21C432oemInfo-DS.zip, then wipe everything via TWRP, and finally copy the L21C432B130 update app to dload folder on sd card, then the setup went without any problems.
I am now doing a full backup via Meticulus TWRP before i do anything.
There's one thing i dont understand about AOSP and RessurectionRMX roms, it says they're EMUI5 based - does that mean i'd have to update to EMUI5 based stock rom before i try installing it (prerequisites don't mention anything emui related) or that simply means the rom contains EMUI5 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must already be on EMUI 5 to install EMUI5 based ROMs.

android 10 root

I just updated to android 10 oxygen os 10 but can't seem to flash twrp the usual way anyone got some advice? I've saw some tutorials online about extracting boot.img patching with magisk then flashing twrp installer as a module. Is that the only way just now or has someone got an easier way ?
Cheers
Thanks for the replies, I am already on A10 and got the update from Oxygen Updater app. I am using the boot IMG from the update file and patching it through magisk however when I flash it through fastboot method the phone is constantly on the boot animation stage. The only way for me to boot my phone again is to flash the original boot image.
I saw others were having positive results using this method does anyone know why it might not be working for me even though I'm following the same process?

I had some problems with twrp and android 10, so I wouldn't recommend it. I personally wait for the official support for android 10 and then flash twrp.
I downloaded the recovery from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/on...overy-unofficial-twrp-touch-recovery-t3861482
And did this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=79489698&postcount=2538
But yeah, I still wouldn't recommend it. And I'm not sure if I did everything right. So it's your choice.

There is a pretty good way but you have to be coming from rooted 9.0.17. If you're already on 10 then I'm not sure. There is a parched boot img but I couldn't get everything working properly using it. That's probably my fault as I screwed up getting to A10 with decryptable twrp and magisk many times.

Thanks for the replies

Factory reset your phone from within stock recovery to get rid of any previous configuration. Then fastboot flash patched IMG again.
Evidently backup everything before on a computer

Stuck in Bootloop no OS, please help.

Hi guys,
I have been reading similar threads and trying to find a solution but could not find what could help and ran into other issues. Hope someone can help me fix this.
I was trying to flash a custom ROM. had the device unlocked and installed twrp using adb.
It was a mistake to not back up. I tried to flash the firmware + extendedUI rom + magisk. Only magisk gave some error.
tried to reboot and got stuck in bootloop. Entered Twrp tried to do it again so wiped data,system,cache and then realised my folder with the rom disapeared. So now no OS and not sure what to do.
I was trying to use adb sideload to push the new zips on the device but the sideload just disconnects at 8% Understood that might drivers might be at fault. . Been trying to find and update drivers and might have done some mistakes there, as chose to update unknown device automatically with device manager and now it disappeared as well.
I read about recovering with Miflashtool but got confused whether thats the right way.
I would prefer to install a custom rom like the ExtendedUI or AOSPextended.

FuzzEdgar said:
Hi guys,
I have been reading similar threads and trying to find a solution but could not find what could help and ran into other issues. Hope someone can help me fix this.
I was trying to flash a custom ROM. had the device unlocked and installed twrp using adb.
It was a mistake to not back up. I tried to flash the firmware + extendedUI rom + magisk. Only magisk gave some error.
tried to reboot and got stuck in bootloop. Entered Twrp tried to do it again so wiped data,system,cache and then realised my folder with the rom disapeared. So now no OS and not sure what to do.
I was trying to use adb sideload to push the new zips on the device but the sideload just disconnects at 8% Understood that might drivers might be at fault. . Been trying to find and update drivers and might have done some mistakes there, as chose to update unknown device automatically with device manager and now it disappeared as well.
I read about recovering with Miflashtool but got confused whether thats the right way.
I would prefer to install a custom rom like the ExtendedUI or AOSPextended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The zip files are to big to push them through adb sideload.
Just connect the cellphone to the pc while in twrp and mount otg

Stuck at bootloader--HELP!

Let's get this out of the way. I don't have much experience flashing ROMs. I've done it on a few phones, but I can't say I really understood what I was doing. I'm just good at following directions. So, I know about enough to get into trouble.
And ...I've gotten into trouble. My goal is to install LineageOS on my brother's Essential Phone. Based on directions I found here, I determined the active slot was b, so I installed TWRP on slot a. TWRP worked in recovery, but without touch. I then flashed twrp-3.2.3-0-mata.img to the non-active slot. Lastly, I sideloaded twrp-installer-mata-3.2.3-0.zip. I then changed the active slot back to b and rebooted. It now boots only to the bootloader and not to the OS. No matter what option I select--Start, Bootloader, Recovery--it reboots to the bootloader.
Any help to get out of this would be greatly appreciated.

Lineage can be installed more easily using Lineage's own Recovery rather than using TWRP. The Lineage Recovery is a pre-built replacement for your boot.img file.
Links for Lineage OS 17.1 (mata) and its corresponding Recovery (mata):
https://download.lineageos.org/mata
Link for Installation using Lineage Recovery:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/mata/install
Hope this helps

MuddyDog said:
Lineage can be installed more easily using Lineage's own Recovery rather than using TWRP. The Lineage Recovery is a pre-built replacement for your boot.img file.
Links for Lineage OS 17.1 (mata) and its corresponding Recovery (mata):
https://download.lineageos.org/mata
Link for Installation using Lineage Recovery:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/mata/install
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. I had actually already tried that. That's when I got desperate and tried generic TWRP. When I try to flash the Lineage recovery image I get a "No such partition" error, no matter which partition is active. I read somewhere that the flash boot_[letter] command might work, but I get "Couldn't parse partition size '0x'.

mcmc08 said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I had actually already tried that. That's when I got desperate and tried generic TWRP. When I try to flash the Lineage recovery image I get a "No such partition" error, no matter which partition is active. I read somewhere that the flash boot_[letter] command might work, but I get "Couldn't parse partition size '0x'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try:
Fastboot flash:raw boot_slot recovery.img

So, I found a solution. In order to overcome the errors I was getting, I had to use the raw command. So it was fastboot flash:raw boot [image file]. Once Lineage recovery was installed, I could boot to recovery and sideload Lineage.

MuddyDog said:
Try:
Fastboot flash:raw boot_slot recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess our replies crossed. At any rate, the raw command did the trick. Thanks for your help.

I'm having the same problem, and the raw command doesn't seem to help. Trying to install twrp causes it to be stuck in the bootloader. I somehow was able to install the lineage recovery, then to install the lineage OS. Because I am thinking of trying other ROMs, I decided to go back to trying the TWRP install. Now everything seems broken. When I use the a slot (where I installed TWRP), I'm stuck in the bootloader. When I shift to the b slot, I'm stuck on the Lineage splash page.
(By the way, while I was in the Lineage recovery at some point in the middle of all this, I also sideloaded the TWRP install zip.)
I've tried flashing the TWRP numerous times, and it always seems to work, but the result still is the same.
Any help would be appreciated.
Edit: I was able to get out of the loop by reflashing the Lineage Recovery, booting into that recovery, then doing a factory wipe. I was able to boot into Lineage. But why can't I successfully install TWRP? Or, I guess, alternately, is it possible to use the Lineage Recovery to flash different ROMs? (Sorry if this goes beyond the scope of the original question.)

Is Lineage using an Android 10 security update after January? January is the last update for Android 10 that TWRP worked with. Once Essential went belly up the TWRP devs just stopped updating when it broke with February security update. Anyway, I just thought I would mention it.

rocketrazr1999 said:
Is Lineage using an Android 10 security update after January? January is the last update for Android 10 that TWRP worked with. Once Essential went belly up the TWRP devs just stopped updating when it broke with February security update. Anyway, I just thought I would mention it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Lineageos directly on the february android stock version. (which is the last one from Essential)
Simply by following the tutorial on the LineageOS website.
Everything worked the first time.
So there is no need to switch back to the January android stock version. The image recovery provided by Lineage works very well.
And for your information LineageOS is updated almost every Monday.
Moreover the developers of the TWRP are not the developers of Essential. Company which closed at the end of February.
---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 AM ----------
KJannot said:
I'm having the same problem, and the raw command doesn't seem to help. Trying to install twrp causes it to be stuck in the bootloader. I somehow was able to install the lineage recovery, then to install the lineage OS. Because I am thinking of trying other ROMs, I decided to go back to trying the TWRP install. Now everything seems broken. When I use the a slot (where I installed TWRP), I'm stuck in the bootloader. When I shift to the b slot, I'm stuck on the Lineage splash page.
(By the way, while I was in the Lineage recovery at some point in the middle of all this, I also sideloaded the TWRP install zip.)
I've tried flashing the TWRP numerous times, and it always seems to work, but the result still is the same.
Any help would be appreciated.
Edit: I was able to get out of the loop by reflashing the Lineage Recovery, booting into that recovery, then doing a factory wipe. I was able to boot into Lineage. But why can't I successfully install TWRP? Or, I guess, alternately, is it possible to use the Lineage Recovery to flash different ROMs? (Sorry if this goes beyond the scope of the original question.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Rom would you like to install instead of Lineage?

groovebox said:
Which Rom would you like to install instead of Lineage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm of two minds; one is just to go with something stock android-ish, which leads me to Evolution X or Pixel Experience. The other is to cut myself from Google entirely, which leads me to /e/. I'm also looking at Paranoid, just because it looks like it's stable. Any thoughts on any of those?
I had updated Essential to the February update; would that be why TWRP would not successfully install on my phone?
Would that still be true if I had flashed Lineage?

KJannot said:
I'm of two minds; one is just to go with something stock android-ish, which leads me to Evolution X or Pixel Experience. The other is to cut myself from Google entirely, which leads me to /e/. I'm also looking at Paranoid, just because it looks like it's stable. Any thoughts on any of those?
I had updated Essential to the February update; would that be why TWRP would not successfully install on my phone?
Would that still be true if I had flashed Lineage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Paranoid Android: What I heard is VoLTE broken, if you enable it, SMS/MMS might not work properly.
Evolution: No update in Android 10 since August, not sure they contine to support Essential phone for Android 11
Pixel Experience: I don't think they Anroid 10 for Essential phone, only official Anroid 9 which is too old
TWRP issue: You need to go back to Jan stock rom before going to any rom if you just flashed LOS
What current stable rom with Nov security update: I'm using crDroid 6.12 (unofficial release but from XDA reliable source)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/development/rom-crdroid-v6-7-t4129739

Why am I unable to flash a custom ROM?

Hi there,
I am using a OnePlus 8 Pro on Oxygen OS 11, Global variant. I have been working on this for at least 10 hours now. I bought the OnePlus 8 Pro orginally running Oxygen OS 12, and when I flashed the recovery (TWRP) for the first time to two slots via this explanation
, I bricked the phone so the only tool accessible to me was fastboot.
Hmm okay, I'll just use MSM tool (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...l-to-restore-your-device-to-oxygenos.4084953/) to revert back to oxygen OS so I can continue my mission.
I am trying to install the latest CRDROID from their official website after follow their instructions on here. I get as far as being in fastboot mode with the OEM unlocked, and then I try to flash the recovery they provided. It doesn't work. When I select boot into recovery, I get sent back to fastboot, however, when I flashed the original recovery img for Oxygen OS 11 I took from the payload dumper, it loads fine.
OKAY so now I am thinking that perhaps there is a problem with the recovery provided. That is fine so I choose to use TWRP to flash the custom ROM. Thankfully, it does work, and I am able to load into it through recovery, however when I tried to flash the rom through ABD sideload, from the PC whilst in TWRP, it doesn't load! It gets halfway and stops. I tried this several times to no avail.
I choose to then (after having bricked the phone several times by now and having to revert to factory settings with MSM tool), try to flash the custom ROM from the internal storage of the phone via TWRP. That still does not work. I have also tried this with Project Elixir. No success.
I don't know what to do guys. I have followed the instructions provided, but I don't understand why the phone is not accepting other custom recoveries or allowing me to flash a custom ROM.
All help is very much appreciate.

You have to make sure that you are on OOS11 on BOTH slots.
What i would do now:
Use MSM Tool to go to 11.0.4.4.
Boot the phone and flash 11.0.11.11 via local upgrade TWICE (to ensure its on both slots)
Follow the instructions of CRDROID etc.
Edit: Dont use TWRP on Android12 now.
Read this carefully before you do anything: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ro-8t-9r-with-oxygenos-12-coloros-12.4426167/

josephxdaForum said:
Hi there,
I am using a OnePlus 8 Pro on Oxygen OS 11, Global variant. I have been working on this for at least 10 hours now. I bought the OnePlus 8 Pro orginally running Oxygen OS 12, and when I flashed the recovery (TWRP) for the first time to two slots via this explanation
, I bricked the phone so the only tool accessible to me was fastboot.
Hmm okay, I'll just use MSM tool (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...l-to-restore-your-device-to-oxygenos.4084953/) to revert back to oxygen OS so I can continue my mission.
I am trying to install the latest CRDROID from their official website after follow their instructions on here. I get as far as being in fastboot mode with the OEM unlocked, and then I try to flash the recovery they provided. It doesn't work. When I select boot into recovery, I get sent back to fastboot, however, when I flashed the original recovery img for Oxygen OS 11 I took from the payload dumper, it loads fine.
OKAY so now I am thinking that perhaps there is a problem with the recovery provided. That is fine so I choose to use TWRP to flash the custom ROM. Thankfully, it does work, and I am able to load into it through recovery, however when I tried to flash the rom through ABD sideload, from the PC whilst in TWRP, it doesn't load! It gets halfway and stops. I tried this several times to no avail.
I choose to then (after having bricked the phone several times by now and having to revert to factory settings with MSM tool), try to flash the custom ROM from the internal storage of the phone via TWRP. That still does not work. I have also tried this with Project Elixir. No success.
I don't know what to do guys. I have followed the instructions provided, but I don't understand why the phone is not accepting other custom recoveries or allowing me to flash a custom ROM.
All help is very much appreciate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And just do payload dump and flash .img in fastboot ROM installer