Database Users

Just a warning

I have had my Maxx HD since launch and unlocked very soon after it became available,
Recently I downgraded from the last OTA with matgroffs 1.21 utility and enjoyed a wonderful clean slate experience but after a while (today) I went for the OTA to get prepared for KK coming soon hopefully, the install failed entirely and my bootloader is now back in a locked state the phone is stuck in fastboot and will not take a flash from any utility on here, 1.21, 1.3x 2.0 ext including rsd lite.(RSD will not even detect the phone)
Ive tried the utilities on Mac and Windows 7, nothing has worked so I broke down and called verizon and ordered a recertified razr HD for a discounted price.
So just a warning there is a way the bootloader can get relocked. will take a picture and load soon to show the screen of the phone incase someone can help. Just a side note my vibrate motor failed and I have been having 4g radio problems before I went back on matgroffs utility.

You tried house of moto to fastboot flash 98.30.1? Sux they found a way to relock them...
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

This only shows up when you get the GPT error. It will still be unlocked once you get this restored. This came up when the OTA was released. A few people with unlocked BL had this GPT error. There's a fix somewhere around here, just search for the error.

RikRong said:
This only shows up when you get the GPT error. It will still be unlocked once you get this restored. This came up when the OTA was released. A few people with unlocked BL had this GPT error. There's a fix somewhere around here, just search for the error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@AndroidGreg
There's a line in the fastboot xml file with gpt_main0.bin (somithing really similar to that, been a while since I flashed it...) and all that's necessary is removing that line and flashing the fastboot with rsd, or just manually flash the fastboot skipping that partition, either or will work and fix the problem. Even though the bootloader is unlocked, that particular partition IS still controlled by securtiy and is blocked from downgrading -- luckily for us the partition table never changed between rom versions so it's perfectly safe to flash or not to flash it.
I've never flashed with RSD, but IIRC, there's also two more lines in the fastboot's xml that need to be removed for it to properly flash. I've only flashed my phone with moto-fastboot from linux and used MythTools from windows -- MythTools is an interactive script for the Atrix HD to flash stock fastboots, root, unlock the bootloader, flash a custom recovery, boot logos, and soon different radios -- Similar to Mattlgroff's tool.
The Atrix HD has the exact same issue with that partition.

download the sbf file from http://sbf.droid-developers.org/phone.php?device=5
install these drivers https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/88481/action/auth
connect the phone in fastboot mode.
now extract the "fastboot_rsd.zip " to a folder.
extract the contents of the downloaded sbf/xml file into the fastboot_rsd.zip folder
execute "flash_fastboot_erase_userdata"
worth a shot.
always works for me..
good luck.

RSD does not detect the phone at all, only the quick utilities did and they failed. Verizon overnighted my new phone and its here already, not unlockable im just gona root and keep it for a while till I switch to strait talk with the nexus 5, I cant afford $100 a month anymore anyway.

First off, thanks to the OP for posting this. This was exactly my thought on getting the KK update when it arrived then building phone back up with the mods and apps I have currently - flash back using 1.21, update, use TiBu to reinstall everything. Sux to see that didn't work, but thank you for posting the warning to others.
Not that I'm hoping to see others attempt this and fail or somewhat ruin their phone, but has anyone else had this experience? Anyone verify this method isn't possible to keep unlocked bootloader and a fully working device?
If not possible, hopefully someone will build a flashable version of the OTA KK update when it FINALLY arrives. I'm way too unstock for the update to work OTA, that's a fact.

LifeAsADroid said:
First off, thanks to the OP for posting this. This was exactly my thought on getting the KK update when it arrived then building phone back up with the mods and apps I have currently - flash back using 1.21, update, use TiBu to reinstall everything. Sux to see that didn't work, but thank you for posting the warning to others.
Not that I'm hoping to see others attempt this and fail or somewhat ruin their phone, but has anyone else had this experience? Anyone verify this method isn't possible to keep unlocked bootloader and a fully working device?
If not possible, hopefully someone will build a flashable version of the OTA KK update when it FINALLY arrives. I'm way too unstock for the update to work OTA, that's a fact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only shows that his BL is locked because of the GPT error. I can assure you it is still unlocked. Many, many people updated and we still have unlocked BLs. Heck, I've flashed the latest OTA on my M and HD with RSD and am still good. He just needs to fix the error, but he have up and got another phone.

RikRong said:
It only shows that his BL is locked because of the GPT error. I can assure you it is still unlocked. Many, many people updated and we still have unlocked BLs. Heck, I've flashed the latest OTA on my M and HD with RSD and am still good. He just needs to fix the error, but he have up and got another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. The Atrix HD gives us this error if we flashed the stock Mexican firmware (our latest) and try to flash anything below it, or the Bell firmware (2nd newest) and anything below that, and so on and so forth. All that's necessary is to remove the gpt flashing line and go again....just like we have to remove the oem lines from the fastboot xml.
First time I had that error, I went WTF (the first flash after unlocking my bootloader if ya'll's curious), knew that GPT is a partition table from grub experience, figured that the partition table has never changed since stock ICS roms, removed the GPT line, flashed ICS, and I was happy.
I'd love to be able to combine all the data, system, cache, and any other partition that don't need a fixed place (like modem, etc) and be able to use ZFS or BTRFS volumes to maximize the amount of storage we can have -- I've always wondered why they don't do something like that already...

Ok 3 computers 1 xp and 2 windows 7, nothing, mac nothing, even made a factory cable because the battery just got to low, nothing, no computer will detect it, using any of the 3 motorola branded usb cables plugged directly into the laptops. Now the utilities from matgroff and the other guy (cant think of his name but he made the 2.0 utility) will not even try to flash the phone they say please plug a phone in that is in fastboot mode, I

Serious question, but have you tried Linux? My old Bravo wasn't detected by Windows (XP or 7, been 2 years now) after a bad RSD flash, but I was able to manually flash it from Linux (either Manjaro or Debian Testing). After that, to this day it'll flash with RSD, but it isn't detected properly. I still flash it, and almost everything else, from Linux because I don't trust flashing from Windows anymore. I made an exception recently to help with a tool and because my Linux partition was down for a month.

LifeAsADroid said:
First off, thanks to the OP for posting this. This was exactly my thought on getting the KK update when it arrived then building phone back up with the mods and apps I have currently - flash back using 1.21, update, use TiBu to reinstall everything. Sux to see that didn't work, but thank you for posting the warning to others.
Not that I'm hoping to see others attempt this and fail or somewhat ruin their phone, but has anyone else had this experience? Anyone verify this method isn't possible to keep unlocked bootloader and a fully working device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried doing the exact same thing as the OP - factory reset to "stock" and then flash back up in preparation for KK, after using TiBu to save everything and using SafeStrap to make a Nandroid (very thankful I did). I ended up with the identical screen that the OP had, even stating that my previously unlocked BL had been apparently "relocked." For me, RSD Lite did recognize my phone (I updated RSD to the latest version beforehand), however it would not flash anything for me (the flashing process would start and then immediately say "failed").
See my post for the details and the solution I used: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2674431.
I was completely freaked out for a couple of hours until I stumbled upon bweN diorD's GPT partition fix. And then everything was fine for me.
Hope this helps anyone who falls into the same trap.

AndroidGreg said:
I have had my Maxx HD since launch and unlocked very soon after it became available,
Recently I downgraded from the last OTA with matgroffs 1.21 utility and enjoyed a wonderful clean slate experience but after a while (today) I went for the OTA to get prepared for KK coming soon hopefully, the install failed entirely and my bootloader is now back in a locked state the phone is stuck in fastboot and will not take a flash from any utility on here, 1.21, 1.3x 2.0 ext including rsd lite.(RSD will not even detect the phone)
Ive tried the utilities on Mac and Windows 7, nothing has worked so I broke down and called verizon and ordered a recertified razr HD for a discounted price.
So just a warning there is a way the bootloader can get relocked. will take a picture and load soon to show the screen of the phone incase someone can help. Just a side note my vibrate motor failed and I have been having 4g radio problems before I went back on matgroffs utility.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this same problem when i tried to go back to stock a while back. You need to flash the gpt_main0.bin file to fix it. Here are the steps I used to fix the problem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47716278&postcount=57
Another user took my steps and edited a script so give this a shot if you want to run something thats automatic: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48587194&postcount=89

scoobaspeaz said:
I had this same problem when i tried to go back to stock a while back. You need to flash the gpt_main0.bin file to fix it. Here are the steps I used to fix the problem: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47716278&postcount=57
Another user took my steps and edited a script so give this a shot if you want to run something thats automatic: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48587194&postcount=89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@AndroidGreg, do you still have the phone?
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Bootloader Unlock issue

EDIT: Well after a few hours of bashing around at it I managed to get the bootloader unlocked. However I am having one wicked time trying to get twrp installed as my recovery, and to S-off my device.
When I got to run : fastboot flash recovery twrp.img I get the error "unable to load twrp.img" Now I know darn good and well it is prob some stupid error on my part, but this is driving me batty and help would be greatly appreciated.
Brad
OK..Maybe I'm dumb...but I'd rather post a question than screw around and brick my phone.
Admittedly it has been a couple years since I had an HTC device. (Just got a Bolt today) Been to HTC Dev unlock to try and unlock my bootloader however I am running into an issue when trying to run oem get_identifier_token. Getting 'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command. operable program or batch file.
Been thru this a couple times before on older HTC Devices (last one was an M8-HK Edition) and not had issues.
I installed everything it said to on the HTC site. But I'm stalled out at step 5 on the HTC Dev site. and can't seem to get any further than that. (and yes phone is in DL mode)
Anyone kind enough to help an old dummy out?

PodCulture said:
EDIT: Well after a few hours of bashing around at it I managed to get the bootloader unlocked. However I am having one wicked time trying to get twrp installed as my recovery, and to S-off my device.
When I got to run : fastboot flash recovery twrp.img I get the error "unable to load twrp.img" Now I know darn good and well it is prob some stupid error on my part, but this is driving me batty and help would be greatly appreciated.
Brad
OK..Maybe I'm dumb...but I'd rather post a question than screw around and brick my phone.
Admittedly it has been a couple years since I had an HTC device. (Just got a Bolt today) Been to HTC Dev unlock to try and unlock my bootloader however I am running into an issue when trying to run oem get_identifier_token. Getting 'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command. operable program or batch file.
Been thru this a couple times before on older HTC Devices (last one was an M8-HK Edition) and not had issues.
I installed everything it said to on the HTC site. But I'm stalled out at step 5 on the HTC Dev site. and can't seem to get any further than that. (and yes phone is in DL mode)
Anyone kind enough to help an old dummy out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. make sure you're in download mode, not bootloader
2. make sure twrp.img is in your sdktools folder
maybe a bad download of twrp?

The saga continues...
Now Im stuck in this weird loop after S-off getting this screen:
It says "your phone is encrypted" enter your lock screen password. I did and it said correct, but your data is corrupted. You must do a factory reset. I try that process, the phone reboots, comes back up to that same "your phone is encrypted"
PodCulture said:
EDIT: Well after a few hours of bashing around at it I managed to get the bootloader unlocked. However I am having one wicked time trying to get twrp installed as my recovery, and to S-off my device.
When I got to run : fastboot flash recovery twrp.img I get the error "unable to load twrp.img" Now I know darn good and well it is prob some stupid error on my part, but this is driving me batty and help would be greatly appreciated.
Brad
OK..Maybe I'm dumb...but I'd rather post a question than screw around and brick my phone.
Admittedly it has been a couple years since I had an HTC device. (Just got a Bolt today) Been to HTC Dev unlock to try and unlock my bootloader however I am running into an issue when trying to run oem get_identifier_token. Getting 'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command. operable program or batch file.
Been thru this a couple times before on older HTC Devices (last one was an M8-HK Edition) and not had issues.
I installed everything it said to on the HTC site. But I'm stalled out at step 5 on the HTC Dev site. and can't seem to get any further than that. (and yes phone is in DL mode)
Anyone kind enough to help an old dummy out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PodCulture said:
Now Im stuck in this weird loop after S-off getting this screen:
It says "your phone is encrypted" enter your lock screen password. I did and it said correct, but your data is corrupted. You must do a factory reset. I try that process, the phone reboots, comes back up to that same "your phone is encrypted"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, after s-off u have to format data

OMJ said:
yes, after s-off u have to format data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've no problem doing that, but teh phone isn't letting me do it.

PodCulture said:
I've no problem doing that, but teh phone isn't letting me do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you trying to format data?
Sent from my unknown using XDA Labs

Unlocked needs root and twrp
Honestly...I don't know where I screwed up. (in the various how-to's I read I didn't see a format data step) I took the phone to Sprint and they were kind enough to flash it for me...so I am back up and running. Booted into DL mode and verified that I'm still unlocked and S-off. But where to go from here I don't know. I'd love to flash twrp and SU, but paranoid about semi-bricking it again. I used to know how this crap worked but that was quite awhile ago. (a couple phones and a couple versions of Windows ago)
OMJ said:
How are you trying to format data?
Sent from my unknown using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PodCulture said:
Honestly...I don't know where I screwed up. (in the various how-to's I read I didn't see a format data step) I took the phone to Sprint and they were kind enough to flash it for me...so I am back up and running. Booted into DL mode and verified that I'm still unlocked and S-off. But where to go from here I don't know. I'd love to flash twrp and SU, but paranoid about semi-bricking it again. I used to know how this crap worked but that was quite awhile ago. (a couple phones and a couple versions of Windows ago)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
flashing twrp & SU isn't difficult...since you unlocked bootloader, you should already have the fastboot tools needed.
1. download latest twrp (3.1.1-0 as of now) https://dl.twrp.me/pme/twrp-3.1.1-0-pme.img
2. copy that img to your sdktools/fastboot folder
3. reboot into download mode
4. flash twrp: fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.1.1-0-pme.img
5. reboot to bootloader, then reboot to recovery
6. create a backup if u want
7. flash/install SuperSU https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/supersu/download/zip/SuperSU-v2.82-201705271822.zip

Thanks! Got everything back up and running now. Nice to have a phone I can use the way I want to again. TONS of bloat though.
OMJ said:
flashing twrp & SU isn't difficult...since you unlocked bootloader, you should already have the fastboot tools needed.
1. download latest twrp (3.1.1-0 as of now) https://dl.twrp.me/pme/twrp-3.1.1-0-pme.img
2. copy that img to your sdktools/fastboot folder
3. reboot into download mode
4. flash twrp: fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.1.1-0-pme.img
5. reboot to bootloader, then reboot to recovery
6. create a backup if u want
7. flash/install SuperSU https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/supersu/download/zip/SuperSU-v2.82-201705271822.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

How did u get s off

[GUIDE] Dual sim mod for single sim moto z play, persistent way

Warning: This is dangerous! Even if you do everything according to the following description, your phone may end up damaged! There are no warranties!!
As we know we could change the single sim z play to dual sim by mod the "persist.radio.multisim.config" in TWRP, like showing below:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/how-to/guide-to-enable-dualsim-singlesim-t3570601
However it will not be functional after you re-flash the firmware.
So inspired by the moto z dual sim mod thread of @benzinerwin:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z/how-to/guide-dual-sim-mod-signle-sim-moto-z-t3606528
I fingered out the same way on moto z play:
1, Pull the partition controls the "dualsim: false / true" flag:
Code:
adb shell "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p50 of=/tmp/mmcblk0p50.bin"
adb pull /tmp/mmcblk0p50.bin
2, Use a hex editor to change "6661 6C73 6500" to "7472 7565 0000":
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
3, Write the partition back:
Code:
adb push mmcblk0p50_edit.bin /tmp/mmcblk0p50_edit.bin
adb shell "dd if=/tmp/mmcblk0p50_edit.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p50"
adb reboot bootloader
4, Erase the partitions modemst1, modemst2 and cache, reboot again.
Code:
fastboot oem hw
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot erase cache
fastboot reboot
After all above steps you can relock the bootloader, go back to stock again, this mod is compatible with future moto OTAs, and it will stay no matter which firmware you have.
Enjoy!

Do you need to be root?
---------- Post added at 02:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 PM ----------
I'm on Android Oreo Soak, do you think it would work?

No need to root, but you need to unlock the bootloader, use TWRP to dump the partition, modify it, write it back.
Then you can relock the bootloader.
Yes I was on 8.0 soka also, it works.
Basically you're changing something out of the rom.
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

Just did this on my Moto Z Play, works great on Android Oreo!

tutorial
I would like to know where I find a guide or video guide to perform the procedure without making mistakes, because I would like to leave my motorola z play dual sim
me gustaría saber donde encuentro una guía o vídeo guía para realizar el procedimiento sin cometer errores, porque me gustaria dejar mi motorola z play dual sim

Anything to back up to make this safe and avoid chance of wiping out IMEI like the other thread?

ralphodog said:
... and avoid chance of wiping out IMEI like the other thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about? Why do you refer to another thread without linking it? Which wipe imei?
It just works fine. That's my experience. Did the mod, got two sim displayed.

Hi, @benzinerwin mentioned to backup the stock recovery partition in order to be able to flash the stock recovery after the modification.
I managed to unlock the bootloader and boot (not flash) into TWRP. However, the recovery partition is not among the partitions TWRP offers for backup.
Can anyone help?

will it restore everything after flash original firmware?

Thanks, this worked like a charm!
I didn't flash TWRP, just booted it from ram and then followed the guide
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.2-0-addison.img
Slightly off-topic, but could someone point me to a guide to re-lock the bootloader? I couldn't find anything that wouldn't require re-flashing a ton of images. I'm completely stock on Oreo, with this dual-sim mod being the only modification.

danton47 said:
..., but could someone point me to a guide to re-lock the bootloader? I couldn't find anything that wouldn't require re-flashing a ton of images. I'm completely stock on Oreo, with this dual-sim mod being the only modification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For relock you need signed images. Procedure is, you say "start relock", then flash all important partitions with images signed by Lenotorola, then say "end relock". If signature is fine, relock will succeed.
This means you need signed images you want to flash for relock. It's a bad idea to downgrade, especially Moto devices which like to hard brick on OTA after downgrade, so you would need signed Oreo files for relock.
The Dual-SIM mod should be fine and compatible with relock, but that is just a guess by me.
Why do you want to relock? Afterwards you won't be able to start twrp and do Nandroid backup or restore, you are aware of this feature loss?

tag68 said:
Why do you want to relock? Afterwards you won't be able to start twrp and do Nandroid backup or restore, you are aware of this feature loss?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason to relock would be to make some security-sensitive software like Google Pay happy. I'm using some corporate software which I thought might refuse to work on a device with an unlocked bootloader. Fortunately, this turned out not to be the case, so I'm good for now. Still, this may change with a future upgrade, so I'm a bit undecided. Maybe I should go through the pain of re-flashing/re-locking while signed images are still available for the OS version I'm currently running.
Anyway, thanks a lot for your detailed response, much appreciated!

You also may use Magisk and Magisk Hide which hides the unlocked state of your phone and usually makes SafetyNet (Pokemon Go, Google Pay etc.) happy. Your phone then is rooted, but if you never give any app the approval to make use of that power, it shouldn't do any harm.

danton47 said:
Thanks, this worked like a charm!
I didn't flash TWRP, just booted it from ram and then followed the guide
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.2-0-addison.img
Slightly off-topic, but could someone point me to a guide to re-lock the bootloader? I couldn't find anything that wouldn't require re-flashing a ton of images. I'm completely stock on Oreo, with this dual-sim mod being the only modification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I tried to do the mod the way danton47 did it, which means by only booting twrp instead of flashing it. However, I did not manage to pull the mmcblk0p50.bin file. This is what I did so far:
Starting point:
- the phone runs on Stock-Android 8.0.0, Build number OPNS27.76-12-22-3;
- The Stock recovery was still in place
- the phone was NOT rooted
- the bootloader was locked
What I did then was:
- installation of adb, fastboot and the USB drivers on my computer (I am operating on Windows 7)
- enabling of the "developer options", "USB debugging" and "OEM unlocking" in the stock OS settings of the phone
- unlocking of the bootloader using adb and fastboot and getting the unlock key from the motorola website
-> Having done all this I assume that my adb and fastboot setup is complete and fully functional - otherwise I wouldn't have come so far. Please let me know if I am wrong with that.
- Download of twrp
- copy of the twrp bin file into the same directory in which the adb and fastboot exe files are
- reboot of the phone into bootloader
- boot of twrp from ram
Here the problems started. Initially I tried to use TWRP to backup the (Stock-) recovery partition so that I can then flash twrp, execute the dual-sim modification and then go back to stock-recovery (for the same reason as danton47: the only modification I want ot do to this phone is to enable the dual sim feature).
However, twrp does not offer the recovery partition for backup. I made quite some reasearch for that issue but did not find any solution.
Therefore I was very happy to see that danton47 managed to unlock the dual-sim functionality without flashing twrp. As I understood it this means that the modification can be executed without changing anything else than the affected bin file. So I booted into twrp (same version as danton47 used) again:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.2-0-addison.img
However,
Code:
adb devices
does not show me any device! I also tried to enable the "adb sideleoad" in twrp, hoping that this would allow adb to access the phone while TWRP is running (just tell me if this is completely useless at this point). No success neither.
When activating the adb sideload, I get the options "Wipe Dalvik Cache" and "Wipe Cache". I didn't use these options as I don't know what would be wiped.
Can anyone help me with either
- getting twrp to backup my stock recovery so that I can try again by flashing twrp
or
- enabling adb to access the phone whil twrp is booted from ram?
Thanks in advance!

derBorg said:
- enabling adb to access the phone whil twrp is booted from ram?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For adb you do not start twrp. Just enter fastboot mode.

tag68 said:
For adb you do not start twrp. Just enter fastboot mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick response!
However, I don't get ahead with it. What I read so far is that adb is not used in fastboot mode (which is the same as the bootloader, right?), but when android (or eventually twrp) is running. Please correct me if I'm wrong. At least it didn't work when I tried right now. When the phone is in fastboot mode <adb devices> does not show any device, while <fastboot devices> does.
Here the code I entered with the output I got (serial number edited), starting with android booted, the usb connection established and usb debugging enabled:
Code:
adb devices
List of devices attached
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
ZY12345678 device
adb reboot bootloader
adb devices
List of devices attached
fastboot devices
ZY12345678 fastboot
adb devices
List of devices attached

Allright, I got it done. Now I want to close my issue on this thread and share my experience.
I could solve the problem that adb did not work in TWRP by hints I found in this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/help/adb-twrp-recovery-t1968989
Apparently it was some sort of driver issue (on Windows 7). When the stock Android was booted, the adb driver worked perfectly and in the device manager I got an entry "Android device/Motorola ADB Interface". After rebooting into bootloader and booting (without flashing) into TWRP using the command:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp-3.2.2-0-addison.img
The phone did not show up at the same place in the device manager any more. Instead, it appeared as "Andere Geräte/ADB Interface", which translates to something like "Further devices/ADB Interface" (I don't know for sure the exact english wording MS uses at this place). Moreover, "ADB Interface" could not be installed properly. This was the reason, why ADB did not work with TWRP booted.
To solve this issue, I pushed Windows to find a driver for the ADB interface. It also found one but not quite the correct one. It found a driver from Samsung and the phone with TWPR booted appeared as "SAMSUNG Android Phone/Android Composite ADB Interface". With this driver installed and TWRP booted "adb devices" finally found my phone. However, I wasn't really comfortable using a not completely adequate driver for modifying my phone, so I uninstalled the driver again an tried to find the corresponding motorola driver. Unfortunately, the only one I found was the driver I already had installed and which allowed me to run adb on Android, but failed on TWRP. Finally, I let windows install the Samsung driver again and (after making a final backup of my contacts and data) executed the dualsim modification described above, which finally was the easiest part of all.
Thanks again to lanyao1920 and benzinerwin for posting how to do the modification and thanks to danton47 to point out that it is not required to flash TWRP for this purpose!

I finally got around to doing this mod. Started last night, and was struggling with things not going quite as described. Couldn't get adb push/pull to behave, screwed around with chmod'ing the files, and some other random crap. Was able to get the mmcblk0p50.bin out and hex edited, but every time I tried dd'ing it back to dev/block/ it wouldn't write correctly. mmcblk0p50 was nearly blank when I looked at it in Xplore's hex viewer. Phone seemed to be functioning fine in this condition, however, albeit with only one sim.
It might have been the couple of imperial stouts I was having, but when I woke up this morning I tried again. And everything worked exactly as described with no issues.
What was I doing wrong? I'll tell you - I was trying to do the ADB commands with the device fully running last night, rather than in recovery.
There is a brief mention in post 2 that apparently didn't click with me last night (maybe cause beer?) that you need to be in recovery. I might have caught this a few years ago when I was messing around more, but I haven't done much of this stuff for a while. I'd like to recommend to OP to add a comment in the OP to make sure others are aware all the adb commands must be done from recovery. Or maybe not needed since I'm the only one who seems to have had issues.
My experience so far: I am US user, using a carrier unlocked device on August 2018 security patch of RETUS stock software. I'm bootloader unlocked, and rooted. I happen to already have a dual-sim tray for my device sold as single sim - I ordered it a couple years ago for travelling abroad, just to have a non-usable place to stash my US sim safely while I was using a local prepaid one on my trip. I have so far tested only my postpaid ATT sim. It appears to be working for both data and calling in both sim slot 1 and sim slot 2, even though slot 2, as advertised, indicates IMEI of 0. My only testing so far, however, has been on my ATT microcell, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. I was actually not expecting the device to connect to the microcell using slot 2, as all devices have to be manually registered to it using IMEI. I'll post back with any further info, as I've seen very limited info anywhere about what actually works and what doesn't in the US in this type of situation. I expect to be able to test a verizon sim and a freedompop sim shortly.
Big thanks to the OP for finding this solution!

For me it worked fine on first try, except that Dual SIM is not working as expected:
- If you activate "always use SIM1 for phone" - it still asks which SIM to use when calling someone
- If you click when calling "remember decision for this contact" when clicking SIM1, you STILL get asked which SIM to use on next call
- If you are using Android Auto and making a call, it displays the question which SIM to use on the phone display
I'm using Android 8.0.0 patch dated August 2018. Is there some possibility to correct the behavior?

tag68 said:
For me it worked fine on first try, except that Dual SIM is not working as expected:
- If you activate "always use SIM1 for phone" - it still asks which SIM to use when calling someone
- If you click when calling "remember decision for this contact" when clicking SIM1, you STILL get asked which SIM to use on next call
- If you are using Android Auto and making a call, it displays the question which SIM to use on the phone display
I'm using Android 8.0.0 patch dated August 2018. Is there some possibility to correct the behavior?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears that I am seeing the same behaviors so far. Not a huge deal in my use case, but I can see how that would be irritating in many use cases.
Complete wild guess here: firmware from an originally dual sim device might fix this? No idea if this would really work, or present other issues...

After Pie: Bootloader unlocked & TWRP install didn't work

Hi,
I was really unhappy with Pie and tried to prepare my device for Oreo downgrade.
What I did was
- unlock bootloader
- tried to install TWRP
- mixed something up in that processs
- realized TWRP cannot be installed apparently on Pie right now
- MiFlash seems to be not working as well when trying to install stock rom (says flashing but nothing happens)
Well Pie is running right now, but when trying to lock the bootloader again for future updates, the phones is only showing a black screen.
After that I am trying to unlock bootloader again (fastboot oem unlock) and everything works again, except when I try to boot into recovery ("the system is destroyed" or something like that).
Trying to "hotboot" into TWRP currently is also not working, "unable to mount..." and after that automatically reboots into the system itself.
Any idea how I can either put a standard Pie installation with working recovery and locked bootloader on?
Or how I can maybe install Oreo instead? As I said, the MiFlash tool doesn't do anything (tells me "flashing" but actually doesn't do anything).
Thanks for your help!

cyrrel said:
Hi,
I was really unhappy with Pie and tried to prepare my device for Oreo downgrade.
What I did was
- unlock bootloader
- tried to install TWRP
- mixed something up in that processs
- realized TWRP cannot be installed apparently on Pie right now
- MiFlash seems to be not working as well when trying to install stock rom (says flashing but nothing happens)
Well Pie is running right now, but when trying to lock the bootloader again for future updates, the phones is only showing a black screen.
After that I am trying to unlock bootloader again (fastboot oem unlock) and everything works again, except when I try to boot into recovery ("the system is destroyed" or something like that).
Trying to "hotboot" into TWRP currently is also not working, "unable to mount..." and after that automatically reboots into the system itself.
Any idea how I can either put a standard Pie installation with working recovery and locked bootloader on?
Or how I can maybe install Oreo instead? As I said, the MiFlash tool doesn't do anything (tells me "flashing" but actually doesn't do anything).
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-a1/development/treble-twrp-installer-treble-manager-t3793637

Hi,
I somehow managed to put 8.1 on and everything is back to normal.
Thanks

cyrrel said:
Hi,
I somehow managed to put 8.1 on and everything is back to normal.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you explain us the procedures that you have followed to downgrade. It would be really helpful. i have tried this
method but it didn't work for me. i am facing IMEI 0/no signal issues using this method.
Thanks

well I have done a lot of stuff that made my phone not working anymore because using a wrong .img file and didn'T understand the tutorial (same link you have provided) fully.
But at the end it was quite close to the link you have sent, the MiFlash tool I needed for example to try like 10 times per step until it worked, maybe a bad cable - I don't know.
But finally it was working, after March update without network signal, but with /boot & /efs partitions and Nov fastboot image, it was working.
If you need any more detail for a specific step, you can of course ask and I can check if there was anything special I can remember

cyrrel said:
well I have done a lot of stuff that made my phone not working anymore because using a wrong .img file and didn'T understand the tutorial (same link you have provided) fully.
But at the end it was quite close to the link you have sent, the MiFlash tool I needed for example to try like 10 times per step until it worked, maybe a bad cable - I don't know.
But finally it was working, after March update without network signal, but with /boot & /efs partitions and Nov fastboot image, it was working.
If you need any more detail for a specific step, you can of course ask and I can check if there was anything special I can remember
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are your imei & mac same as original? won't the imei/mac get affected by restoring someone else efs?

I don't know about mac, but imei is ok

For anyone having issues changing from CN to NA ROM on the 5S

There's a little story i needed to rant about before i wrote this guide so read if you'd like if not tldr; will be down below
NO ROOT OR BOOTLOADER OR ANY FORM OF CODING NEEDED FOR THIS FIX, THIS METHOD WE WILL BE USING OTG AND THE RENAMED STOCK NA 8.07 ROM FOR THE 5S GOING FROM CN 6.23
Requirements​ - NA 8.07 rom from the official redmagic website
- A Computer/laptop
- USB stick (mine was usb2.0)
- OTG adapter (if you have any old samsung phone boxes look in them there's usually one)
Hey guys! First of all im terrible with technology, i havent touched a computer in over 15 years before 4 days ago.. So i bought this phone 4 days ago as i needed a decent phone with a snapdragon soc (samsung uses trash exynos in Australia). The shop i bought it from didnt tell me it was the cn version and thought he would just have NA version as thats what it says australians will recieve on the official site.
So i did some research and found out we can easily change roms using the local update thingy so i dl'ed the 8.07 NA rom and it would load to 25% then freeze, reset and nothing would happen.
So i tried the OTG method, same thing again, 25% then crash and reset. So at this point im starting to get pissed, i downloaded the latest 5G NA rom and tried to otg method that rom to the phone. It loaded to 80%, crashed and hard bricked my phone to the point of where it was corrupt, couldnt get into recovery and couldnt factory wipe,
I was however, happy to see the boot logo had changed to english though so i didnt give up, 3 days, 3 f##ing days i was trying to research flash guides, recovery guides, root guides, downloaded about 100 usb drivers because i wasnt updating to the right drivers at the right times when plugging in and unplugging my phone, i tried unbrick tools and when trying to fastboot it was saying the password was incorrect (fastboot oem nubia_unlock NUBIA_NX659J is what worked for me to unlock fastboot. all the guides i read said the fastboot cmd was
fastboot oem nubia_unlock NUBIA NX659J) nothing worked. Luckily i had gone into dev options after reading a guide and unlocked oem unlocking and usb debugging before the phone bricked as this is what helped unbrick my phone. I had to individually flash each .img file from the CN rom back to the phone.
I didnt know how to code or do cmd thingys before i bought this phone. Now i could f## join anonymous im that good LOL but yeah i managed to unbrick, wipe, and flash the NA 8.07 rom to my CN 5S using OTG. You wanna know what i did to make it work? I can tell you right now it didnt need a f##ing 4 day crash course on hacking and coding.
TLDR; bought CN rom 5S brand new from shotty phone shop, i couldnt get the NA rom to load past 25% on the local update so i went through hell and back.
I highly highly recommend unlocking developer options in your phone, turn on oem unlocking and usb debugging before doing any updates or experiments with this phone, just incase anything goes wrong with any updates
Solution:
- Always back up your phone before anything you will need to do a factory wipe after doing this
- Change the name of the NA 8.07
NX659J-update.zip folder you downloaded to "update"
- Copy that update.zip folder to a freshly formatted fat32 USB stick, do not unzip and copy. It has to be the zipped folder then safely eject the usb from the PC
- Hold the Volume up button and the power button until the screen turns on, once the screen turns on release the power button and you should reach a blue screen with 2 language selection buttons, use the volume keys to navigate and the power button to interact.
- After choosing language you will see "choose a package" and some other buttons, this is recovery mode.
- select "choose a package" and plug in your OTG adaptor and USB stick
- Select OTG method
- Find your "update.zip" folder it should be right there
- Start update and keep an eye on the phone incase any errors pop up it should take about 5 minutes to update and it will stop at certain points (stopped at 80% for a good 30 seconds for me) for bigger files so dont stress if the numbers aren't moving. I was tapping the screen so fast with anxiety at 80% hahah
- After the update go back to recovery and wipe data/cache partition and reboot
- Enjoy your goog apps

unlocking dev options and using the oem unlock option is not necessary for our device.
Unlocking the bootloader also corrupts the fingerprint sensor data, making fingerprint break.
when you need to flash a rom and the normal method does not work, flashing though recovery normally works.
as you have a CN variant of the phone. note you cannot use the NFC function. as there is no NFC chip on CN variant devices.

Patrick Morgan said:
unlocking dev options and using the oem unlock option is not necessary for our device.
Unlocking the bootloader also corrupts the fingerprint sensor data, making fingerprint break.
when you need to flash a rom and the normal method does not work, flashing though recovery normally works.
as you have a CN variant of the phone. note you cannot use the NFC function. as there is no NFC chip on CN variant devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh i didn't know that! I was unable to flash the na rom through recovery until i renamed the zip folder lol but i wish i knew i had to rename it before i bricked my phone.
Im not sure how to relock my bootloader and fix the fingerprint sensor, i read somewhere theres a number to dial #xxx# for the calibration but i cant find it

Brae2 said:
Oh i didn't know that! I was unable to flash the na rom through recovery until i renamed the zip folder lol but i wish i knew i had to rename it before i bricked my phone.
Im not sure how to relock my bootloader and fix the fingerprint sensor, i read somewhere theres a number to dial #xxx# for the calibration but i cant find it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fastboot flashing lock or fastboot oem lock I think are the commands to relock your bootloader. which after a wipe should restore your fingerprint.
you can then follow my TWRP and ROOT guide on XDA here for the 5S and not have flashing problems again.

Patrick Morgan said:
fastboot flashing lock or fastboot oem lock I think are the commands to relock your bootloader. which after a wipe should restore your fingerprint.
you can then follow my TWRP and ROOT guide on XDA here for the 5S and not have flashing problems again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help! Im wondering if i should just return this phone and just buy the na version from the website, i find it a little annoying that the shop didnt mention it was the cn version, i dont know what else im missing apart from NFC aswel so im stressing

Brae2 said:
Thanks for the help! Im wondering if i should just return this phone and just buy the na version from the website, i find it a little annoying that the shop didnt mention it was the cn version, i dont know what else im missing apart from NFC aswel so im stressing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all 3 regions had the exact same hardware.
with the exception of the NFC chip on the CN units.
if you can live without NFC the phone should be the same and function correctly with any of the roms once you're able to flash them.
its just that there will be an NFC option in the rom, it just wont activate, since you dont have the actual hardware.
if you were to give the phone back look into buying it from redmagic directly. as Nubia's Warranty only covers direct sales, it does not cover any 3rd party website this includes places like Nubia store on Aliexpress. you won't get official warranty from there.
only the redmagi.gg or nubia homepage which normally directs you to redmagic.gg will support official warranty so this is something to consider.
but also, as you've unlocked the bootloader, flashed things and what not. if the seller knows or finds this out they can refuse a refund as you've modified the system.
good luck either way.

corrupt