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Lenovo A850 Bricked and cannot use USB

I have a bricked Lenovo A850 with a faulty USB connector, while it can charge it cannot connect to the computer. It goes into a bootloop and all I can access is the Android System Recovery 3e. Without a custom recovery installed and without the possibility to connect this phone via SP Flash Tool/ADB I feel clueless about what should I attempt. I ordered a replacement part, a dock charging board which I believe could bring back this phone to life. It is not a driver issue, I do not reach the point where I can see something in Device Manager or USBDeview. All I see in USBDeview is "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed). Meanwhile can anyone provide me some hints about what is possible to do.
Since the Android System Recovery can only load a update.zip file I have no idea if is possible to flash a stock ROM from the Android System Recovery. Without CWM/TWRP I feel totally lost. I tried to install some image file for CWM/TWRP, by renaming them to update.zip but I did not work. I got the impression that a stock phone does want us to push a custom recovery and flash a ROM. The fact that the Android System Recovery starts gives me some hope that it is not a hard brick yet.

René Droidz said:
I have a bricked Lenovo A850 with a faulty USB connector, while it can charge it cannot connect to the computer. It goes into a bootloop and all I can access is the Android System Recovery 3e. Without a custom recovery installed and without the possibility to connect this phone via SP Flash Tool/ADB I feel clueless about what should I attempt. I ordered a replacement part, a dock charging board which I believe could bring back this phone to life. It is not a driver issue, I do not reach the point where I can see something in Device Manager or USBDeview. All I see in USBDeview is "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed). Meanwhile can anyone provide me some hints about what is possible to do.
Since the Android System Recovery can only load a update.zip file I have no idea if is possible to flash a stock ROM from the Android System Recovery. Without CWM/TWRP I feel totally lost. I tried to install some image file for CWM/TWRP, by renaming them to update.zip but I did not work. I got the impression that a stock phone does want us to push a custom recovery and flash a ROM. The fact that the Android System Recovery starts gives me some hope that it is not a hard brick yet.
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I can only assume four things:
1. Your phone had OTA and you installed it, therefore ANY kind of flashing will not work before you flash stock.
2. You have the generic chinese (non-ROW) unit, therefore there is 2% success rate of flashing anything with the generic tools, not the specific tools made by Chinese devs.
3. In the USB department, your work does not end there, as there is few more steps you have to do, GreatApo made a post about that.
4. As I said, SPFlashtool is the wrong tool. Use the tool made specifically for MTK phones like the MTKDroidtools.
And FYI, this particular model (some units) does not support flashing via ADB commands, as those libs are removed by SOME manufacturer, well they want you to STICK WITH THEIR FLASHY STOCK ROM WHICH ISN'T PRACTICAL.

Thanks for shedding a bit of light on my dead Lenovo’s phone. I really appreciate your insight. :good:
I have a 15 years of experience as a Windows desktop application developer, while I love Android there are some issues on their platforms that sometime can be counter intuitive. I personally only had Samsung and HTC phones, was always a breeze to flash, root and maintain. This MTK phone is giving me headaches. If ADB libs were indeed removed I will need to go through a yoga sessions before I throw this phone on the wall! :silly:
This is my girlfriend’s phone, everything was stock, standard and unrooted. If OTA was installed, well I really don’t know for sure but it was certainly not her who install it.
If Chinese or ROW I got no idea. This phone was bought here in Vietnam from a reputable Lenovo authorized retailer and my girlfriend said it was "Chinese". I assume that the proximity with China’s market would point out to a non-ROW model. Android System Recovery 3e is posting some message at the bottom in Vietnamese, it really makes me wonder if it could be ROW? I wish there could be some kind of indication into the model/serial number to sort this out once for all. Anyway, I ran unto MTKDroidtools, looks interesting but it remains useless for the time being. I will try my 1st best shot at MTKDroidtools once I restore the USB connection.
The USB connector has been loose and had intermittent charging issues for very long time. For more than a year my girlfriend gave to it all sort of bending, twisting and tilting at every possible angles in order to fully charge her phone. She even played into the connector with some hair pins! I guess the charging board had enough beating and at 4$ a replacement part it may worth to replace it and pray for a miracle. :angel:
Beside the USB connectivity issues, for long time her phone was constantly out of internal storage and that was triggering all sort of problems. Removing applications was never freeing enough space to keep the phone functional long enough. She had this problem 18 months long, before even meeting me! Lenovo prevents to move apps to SD. With all those issues and with the battery draining bloatware I have seen enough of Lenovo’ crap. I was considering to schedule a full flash on this phone with possibly a custom ROM on her next day off in two weeks. I assumed her phone would hold it up till then. Meanwhile I finally managed to free a good chunk of memory by removing Viber’s pictures and logs, something like 300mb. I felt her phone was breathing and running smooth again, it did well for two weeks until the recent fatal boot loop incident happen. After I freed some space her phone went into many updates, I did not really pay attention to what needed to be updated. I guess after 18 months a lot of updates where pending. If firmware updates were pushed in her phone through OTA, I have no idea but it sounds plausible.
The one thing that puzzled me was the fact that this phone says it has two SD cards, one must be some kind of software emulation. I noticed that when her phone was still functional but I never had the time to dig into this. Even Android System Recovery is looking for updates.zip on two different SD, so it looks like some kind of low level partition to me. Was there something on that second SD that I could have deleted by accident that could have created this boot loops?
I will work more on my USB connectivity issues and I will share my findings about my outcomes!
Thank you so much!

René Droidz said:
Thanks for shedding a bit of light on my dead Lenovo’s phone. I really appreciate your insight. :good:
I have a 15 years of experience as a Windows desktop application developer, while I love Android there are some issues on their platforms that sometime can be counter intuitive. I personally only had Samsung and HTC phones, was always a breeze to flash, root and maintain. This MTK phone is giving me headaches. If ADB libs were indeed removed I will need to go through a yoga sessions before I throw this phone on the wall! :silly:
This is my girlfriend’s phone, everything was stock, standard and unrooted. If OTA was installed, well I really don’t know for sure but it was certainly not her who install it.
If Chinese or ROW I got no idea. This phone was bought here in Vietnam from a reputable Lenovo authorized retailer and my girlfriend said it was "Chinese". I assume that the proximity with China’s market would point out to a non-ROW model. Android System Recovery 3e is posting some message at the bottom in Vietnamese, it really makes me wonder if it could be ROW? I wish there could be some kind of indication into the model/serial number to sort this out once for all. Anyway, I ran unto MTKDroidtools, looks interesting but it remains useless for the time being. I will try my 1st best shot at MTKDroidtools once I restore the USB connection.
The USB connector has been loose and had intermittent charging issues for very long time. For more than a year my girlfriend gave to it all sort of bending, twisting and tilting at every possible angles in order to fully charge her phone. She even played into the connector with some hair pins! I guess the charging board had enough beating and at 4$ a replacement part it may worth to replace it and pray for a miracle. :angel:
Beside the USB connectivity issues, for long time her phone was constantly out of internal storage and that was triggering all sort of problems. Removing applications was never freeing enough space to keep the phone functional long enough. She had this problem 18 months long, before even meeting me! Lenovo prevents to move apps to SD. With all those issues and with the battery draining bloatware I have seen enough of Lenovo’ crap. I was considering to schedule a full flash on this phone with possibly a custom ROM on her next day off in two weeks. I assumed her phone would hold it up till then. Meanwhile I finally managed to free a good chunk of memory by removing Viber’s pictures and logs, something like 300mb. I felt her phone was breathing and running smooth again, it did well for two weeks until the recent fatal boot loop incident happen. After I freed some space her phone went into many updates, I did not really pay attention to what needed to be updated. I guess after 18 months a lot of updates where pending. If firmware updates were pushed in her phone through OTA, I have no idea but it sounds plausible.
The one thing that puzzled me was the fact that this phone says it has two SD cards, one must be some kind of software emulation. I noticed that when her phone was still functional but I never had the time to dig into this. Even Android System Recovery is looking for updates.zip on two different SD, so it looks like some kind of low level partition to me. Was there something on that second SD that I could have deleted by accident that could have created this boot loops?
I will work more on my USB connectivity issues and I will share my findings about my outcomes!
Thank you so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Human breathren, I see that thee art having a problem with thy phone, and I knoweth jump what thee hath felt. As such, alloweth me pray pardon me to thee what actually is going on.
Lenovo is technically a Chinese company, but the good one. They make great smartphones at such a price you can say "YEP, TOTALLY WORTH IT, 1080P SCREEN AT $100!", and that's a success Lenovo made. Because of that, unauthorized shippers ( and recently manufacturers) taking this advantage and gain money by "sideloading" units of their phones, that is SUPPOSEDLY for the country China only, to shippers who chooses to pay minimum shipping taxes, to WORLDWIDE.
Thus you may see Lenovo smartphones at 20% cheaper than original retail price plus taxes. These discounted phones are TOTALLY Chinese models that contain bloatwares that somewhat nonsense and useless.:silly::silly:
Chinese ROMs that come with it is really paced to straightforward users, that are not planning to customize their phone at framework level. So all bloatwares you see now is actually making sense for them, only, not for us power users.
First problem that I see now is your USB port. Well it's all about construction of the USB port opening (the plastic inner housing). The thing is, there is a significant little gap between the metal port and the housing, so for a long period of time, the metal housing bends thus damages the port until it becomes unusable. I lived with this, experienced this....it's so painful I know. See pic.
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Second problem I see is storage problems. This particular phone has TWO partitions of system storage, namely internal and USB storage, totals up your 4GB you are getting. The one that ALWAYS getting full is your internal or C drive or '/sdcard0' (That's why if you want to move apps to SD card, the option is 'Move to USB storage') . Only Chinese ROMs have these because the second partition can emulate the functionality of a real SD card, and the point you ask? Well, easy for them to bulk flash their modified Chinese ROMs, with their special type of recovery and kernel which TILL NOW I cannot understand HOW it works.
What is left is 300MB+ of space for your apps, appdata and appcache. Bummer right?
So my workaround is, getting root, remove most of the bloatwares via Uninstaller[Thats the app icon colour]. And also (in planning, because I do not want to take risks before I confirm it'll work), moving entire /data from /system to /sdcard1.
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.:victory:
huuhh.....
Source code for this phone just recently released. So I waiting a CM for this phone.:laugh::laugh:

Updates and problem solved!
UPDATES
After successfully replacing my charging board for 4$, I was finally able to flash a stock ROM and bring this phone back to life. Unfortunately, it wasn't smooth as I expected. I was challenged by two more issues:
1) MT65xx Preloader Problems: Dispite been able to update the driver to the right version "MediTek PreLoader USB VCOM Port" could not stay connected more than five seconds. I could clearly see in USBView that I could get a green connection but there was no obvious way that I could maintain it. Feeling hopeless, I started SP Flash Tool v3 1316, loaded the scatter file from a stock ROM and launched the download process knowing that nothing would happen since SP Flash Tool would be searching endlessly for a connection. Then I unplug/replug my phone, by some kind of magic the download process started and finished without a glitch! First boot went well and this phone was back in business. It seems that the USB connection could not stand being idle in Pre Loading, that some kind of command must be issue to keep the connection alive. After the first boot from a fresh Android, my computer correctly recognized my device as "Lenovo A850" without any issue.
2) Invalid IMEI. For some reasons I could not use my two SIM cards as previously since IMEI of both SIM slot were not identified by my new OS. I had to do some engineering tricks by using "Engineer Mode MTK Shortcut" and tutorial on Youtube. Lucky enough, my sticker inside my phone was still intact and could set those IMEI digits back on this phone. Everything seems to be functional now.
Will I buy a Lenovo phone again in my life? No! :crying: While the process of restoring this phone was interesting, the amount of time I spent on this phone was not worth it. My time is worth more than hours of trials and errors and having to deal with "Chinese customization" was not by cup of tea. I will get my girlfriend an Asus Zenfone 2 once this Lenovo gives up again.

René Droidz said:
UPDATES
After successfully replacing my charging board for 4$, I was finally able to flash a stock ROM and bring this phone back to life. Unfortunately, it wasn't smooth as I expected. I was challenged by two more issues:
1) MT65xx Preloader Problems: Dispite been able to update the driver to the right version "MediTek PreLoader USB VCOM Port" could not stay connected more than five seconds. I could clearly see in USBView that I could get a green connection but there was no obvious way that I could maintain it. Feeling hopeless, I started SP Flash Tool v3 1316, loaded the scatter file from a stock ROM and launched the download process knowing that nothing would happen since SP Flash Tool would be searching endlessly for a connection. Then I unplug/replug my phone, by some kind of magic the download process started and finished without a glitch! First boot went well and this phone was back in business. It seems that the USB connection could not stand being idle in Pre Loading, that some kind of command must be issue to keep the connection alive. After the first boot from a fresh Android, my computer correctly recognized my device as "Lenovo A850" without any issue.
2) Invalid IMEI. For some reasons I could not use my two SIM cards as previously since IMEI of both SIM slot were not identified by my new OS. I had to do some engineering tricks by using "Engineer Mode MTK Shortcut" and tutorial on Youtube. Lucky enough, my sticker inside my phone was still intact and could set those IMEI digits back on this phone. Everything seems to be functional now.
Will I buy a Lenovo phone again in my life? No! :crying: While the process of restoring this phone was interesting, the amount of time I spent on this phone was not worth it. My time is worth more than hours of trials and errors and having to deal with "Chinese customization" was not by cup of tea. I will get my girlfriend an Asus Zenfone 2 once this Lenovo gives up again.
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*cries with you*:crying:
Just..give up man. Lenovo A850 is an architectural failure for me. Just wait for K3 Note for the CM to be released. Mine's dead already because of the USB failure and I gave up.

[FIX] Pixel 3 QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx

Hi, I have a Pixel 3 that won't turn on, won't charge, won't get into recovery mode, and gets recognized as QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx when connected to a pc. I am an ignorant regarding phones, flashing, etc... Is there any way of getting this phone to work again?

aespinal said:
Hi, I have a Pixel 3 that won't turn on, won't charge, won't get into recovery mode, and gets recognized as QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx when connected to a pc. I am an ignorant regarding phones, flashing, etc... Is there any way of getting this phone to work again?
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if it doesnt power on then how are you connecting to the pc? i dunno about this but you might need to do some hard troubleshooting. replace the battery and if that doesnt work then you might have a bad motherboard.

droidbot1337 said:
if it doesnt power on then how are you connecting to the pc? i dunno about this but you might need to do some hard troubleshooting. replace the battery and if that doesnt work then you might have a bad motherboard.
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Click to collapse
I'm just connecting it through USB to my pc, I have never rooted it, it was in perfect condition, the battery was healthy, it just happened overnight.

aespinal said:
I'm just connecting it through USB to my pc, I have never rooted it, it was in perfect condition, the battery was healthy, it just happened overnight.
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Oh.... Okay. In that case, get into recovery by pressing vol+ and powering on. If that doesn't work, then get into fastboot and see if your pc detects your device.

aespinal said:
Hi, I have a Pixel 3 that won't turn on, won't charge, won't get into recovery mode, and gets recognized as QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx when connected to a pc. I am an ignorant regarding phones, flashing, etc... Is there any way of getting this phone to work again?
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Click to collapse
Interesting. I have the same problem and it started a few days back. Nothing would appear on screen, not even the charging sign if I plug it in. However, when i connect it to my PC, i get the same popup. It was a perfectly healthy phone until this. I have given it in to a repair shop here in Dubai as there's nothing much I could do with a black screen.

I have this same issue. I was able to install QFIL and the Qualcomm driver, but I can't located the firehose (.mdn of .elf?) files to complete the steps in this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-how-to-return-to-stock-flash-images-with-qfil.3901510/.
Am I on the wrong track? Should I use this as an excuse to get a 4a?

averaVT said:
I have this same issue. I was able to install QFIL and the Qualcomm driver, but I can't located the firehose (.mdn of .elf?) files to complete the steps in this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-how-to-return-to-stock-flash-images-with-qfil.3901510/.
Am I on the wrong track? Should I use this as an excuse to get a 4a?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this just happen to you today? I'm having the same issue. Wondering if google pushed an update or had a security breach or something that killed multiple phones.

Last night around 11pm (EST). The phone was charging, I went to unlock it and nothing, just a blank screen.

Sorry to necro this thread, but this literally just happened to me over night. Did anyone find any solutions or am I SOL?

twizted786 said:
Sorry to necro this thread, but this literally just happened to me over night. Did anyone find any solutions or am I SOL?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was SOL. The 4a is nice ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OK, this is really getting weird. My wife's phone just did the exact same thing. I've never seen anything like this so I thought it was an oddball thing, but this thread tells me otherwise. I wonder if the Pixel 3 is just a ticking time bomb or if we all did something to brick them. I know in my case, I just recently (2 weeks ago) replaced her charger with an Anker charger from Amazon. Figured maybe that could be part of the reason. Anyone else have any suspicions as to what might have caused the issue? I'm going to work on trying to bring it back to life or at the very least recover as much information from the device as possible, so if anyone's already working on that, please share with the group!

Another Pixel 3 here, same symptoms - died overnight last night, no visible signals on the device but plugging to a pc shows QUSB_BULK. Can't detect the device with adb. Attempts to power cycle don't seem to achieve anything.
As far as causes, no idea. It picked up the monthly update earlier in the week and was rebooted then. No change to the way it had been getting charged.

Same thing happened to my Pixel 3XL last night. Reached out to Google support and they said the only option was to get it repaired for $380. Ended up picking up a Pixel 5 today instead.

Wow! This has to be some kind of major update done by Google to brick people's phone like this. This happened on my POCO F1 phone after connecting to a OnePlus Dash Charger. Be careful guys just take warranty services and hope you will at least get a refund on the amount you have invested.

Oh wow this literally just happened to me today. I picked my phone up from my desk and checked my notifications, put it down and then picked it up 10 minutes later and it was completely bricked. This is what Device Manager shows:
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My phone was at 50-60%. I've tried everything. I guess next would be to let it die and see if it boots back up. I have some important data on this phone that wasn't backed up. I hope there's a fix .

Same thing happened to my Pixel 3 this morning. Everything was fine last night, woke up this morning and the phone won't turn on or reboot. Power button isn't responsive, Power button + Volume down to get into recovery mode is also not responsive. When I connect my phone to my PC I also get QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx_SN:xxxxxxxx.
I did some searching around and it sounds like the phone might be stuck in Emergency Download Mode? Anyone have a solution on how to fix this issue?

Phone is stuck in Qualcomm's Emergency Download (EDL) mode. We need a signed, model specific "firehose" programmer to be able to restore an OS. While some manufacturers publish these files, Google does not. Unless one leaks for our specific model, Google has just destroyed our phones and rendered them useless while we slept. Don't go out and by another Google phone because they just killed your current one.
Exploiting Qualcomm EDL Programmers (1): Gaining Access & PBL Internals
Research & Exploitation of Qualcomm EDL Firehose Programmers: From PBL (Boot ROM) Extraction, Research & Analysis to Secure Boot Bypass in Nokia 6. (Part 1)
alephsecurity.com

Anyone have any luck finding the "firehose" / "mbn" file for the pixel 3? Mine crapped out a few days ago just like others described above. It had no physical damage whatsoever.

Same thing happened to my Pixel 3 this morning. Everything was fine last night, the phone won't turn on or reboot. Power button isn't responsive, Power button + Volume down to get into recovery mode is also not responsive. When I connect my phone to my PC I also get QUSB_BULK_CID:xxxx SN:xxxxxxxx.
Stuck in Emergency Download Mode? Anyone has a solution on how to fix this issue?
Anyone has the solution !! Please help !!!​

Same issue here, set it on the table and came back 15 minutes later. Black screen, QUSB_BULK_CID when attached to PC USB, and reboot into recovery attempts unsuccessful. Mine also did an OTA update within the last week.
Very frustrated but more than that... have important files and can't get them off the device. Has anyone been able to retrieve their files at least?

How To Guide EDL test points and blank-flash boost mobile

Here are the edl (emergency download mode) test points for Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G XT2131.
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*Update*
Thank you @vache and all at Motorola Blankflash (telegram) for everything
. . . . Only for this specific release
XT2131-1_DENVER_BOOST_11_RRES31.Q3-60-47-2-2-2_subsidy-BOOST_DISH_regulatory-DEFAULT_cid50_CFC
1. Decompress "blankflash_file".zip
2. Short the edl test points. while holding the "tweezers" on the 2 test points plug the device into PC.
3. After you see the device connected , or hear the connected sound , release the "tweezers" from the test points.
4. Run blank-flash.bat/.sh (choose which one depending on what os you have on your PC.)
!!WARNING!!
DO NOT turn off!! DO NOT unplug!!
5. Wait for device to reboot to fastboot mode. (if your Denver/Osaka does not reboot to the bootloader then you do not have the correct blank flash file)
6. Flash the stock firmware to your device (flash with lmsa, tiny-fastboot-script, platform-tools or cli. it's up to you)
Now your device should be working again. I HOPE this small bit of information helps you out as much as it helped me.
For the love of Moto!
Guide by @sosthenisRR aka sosRR (yeah like the flying kind )

This did work on my mine which I bricked a month ago. I was able to run the bat file on my windows PC so it said "Waiting for devices", short the pins, plug in my usb cable and then wait a minute or 2 for it to boot into fastboot. Then I ran the lenovo recovery tool and flash it back to life.

duffman452001 said:
This did work on my mine which I bricked a month ago. I was able to run the bat file on my windows PC so it said "Waiting for devices", short the pins, plug in my usb cable and then wait a minute or 2 for it to boot into fastboot. Then I ran the lenovo recovery tool and flash it back to life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it did work with me too he is the greatest.

Thank you so much it did work with me LOVE..

Hmmm..
So I tried this method about a week ago BUT I didn't see this post then and I used a blanlflask from lolinet...it didn't turn out good. It began just fine, but it only flashed the first item, it seemed like it was flashing the partition scheme and it concluded, ending with
"Finished." then said rebooting to fastboot but the screen went black...and stayed black. I can only get a blink from charging led if I hold down power long enough....might this file be worth a shot? I can still get into EDL. Appreciate any advice?

I have a terrible situation at hand thanks to Motorola really screwing me, hard, in regards to a Repair. Long story short, I went from having a moto One 5G Ace to being sent a VERY used, worn, older and completely different model device. Motorola has some balls, let me tell ya. Anyways, the device does not boot and it is not bootloader unlocked. I received it and immediately called Motorola Repair/Tech Support within about 20-30 minutes of it being delivered to me; they tell me to send it in for repair in it's original box. I won't mention how they kept the original box, claiming to have thrown it away because it had a hand-written note on a white sticker on the side that clearly indicated this was a "loaner" device...oh wait, I mentioned it. Anyways, I can't unlock the bootloader, because OEM Unlock was not open in Developer Settings. I also can't boot, flash, or load anything. LMSA recognizes the device as the XT2131-1 and downloads the appropriate firmware. It begins the rescue, but at 32% it fails, rebooting the phone to the "NO VALID OS FOUND" black/red screen and LMSA states something like "We're sorry, but it's unsafe to rescue this device at this time."
I've tried multiple Windows machines, Windows 8, 10 and Windows 11 hosts. I've tried MX Linux, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc., but I can't get anything to flash/rescue. I then found this page and, at first, still couldn't reach blankflash. However, here we are two-three months later and with a friend's help I am able to get into EDL. I ran this blankflash, which is the ONLY blankflash that actually recognized the device, but it finishes and simply reboots back to the Bootloader screen. I'm afraid maybe I unplugged it too quickly. Is there any advice that anyone has about what I could be doing wrong? Or what I should try? Any opinions on the BEST Linux/Windows OS to use for things like this? Thanks, in advance, to everyone and anyone reading this, if you have any pointers, please do help me out. Motorola really screwed me but I've filed complaints appropriately about that-in the meantime though it'd be nice to have a phone again after almost 6 months of not having one at all...I keep refraining from buying a different device on principal...and things have been so tight for me, financially, this year. So any help I would greatly, greatly appreciate!
Thank you,
Clint

csann said:
I have a terrible situation at hand thanks to Motorola really screwing me, hard, in regards to a Repair. Long story short, I went from having a moto One 5G Ace to being sent a VERY used, worn, older and completely different model device. Motorola has some balls, let me tell ya. Anyways, the device does not boot and it is not bootloader unlocked. I received it and immediately called Motorola Repair/Tech Support within about 20-30 minutes of it being delivered to me; they tell me to send it in for repair in it's original box. I won't mention how they kept the original box, claiming to have thrown it away because it had a hand-written note on a white sticker on the side that clearly indicated this was a "loaner" device...oh wait, I mentioned it. Anyways, I can't unlock the bootloader, because OEM Unlock was not open in Developer Settings. I also can't boot, flash, or load anything. LMSA recognizes the device as the XT2131-1 and downloads the appropriate firmware. It begins the rescue, but at 32% it fails, rebooting the phone to the "NO VALID OS FOUND" black/red screen and LMSA states something like "We're sorry, but it's unsafe to rescue this device at this time."
I've tried multiple Windows machines, Windows 8, 10 and Windows 11 hosts. I've tried MX Linux, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc., but I can't get anything to flash/rescue. I then found this page and, at first, still couldn't reach blankflash. However, here we are two-three months later and with a friend's help I am able to get into EDL. I ran this blankflash, which is the ONLY blankflash that actually recognized the device, but it finishes and simply reboots back to the Bootloader screen. I'm afraid maybe I unplugged it too quickly. Is there any advice that anyone has about what I could be doing wrong? Or what I should try? Any opinions on the BEST Linux/Windows OS to use for things like this? Thanks, in advance, to everyone and anyone reading this, if you have any pointers, please do help me out. Motorola really screwed me but I've filed complaints appropriately about that-in the meantime though it'd be nice to have a phone again after almost 6 months of not having one at all...I keep refraining from buying a different device on principal...and things have been so tight for me, financially, this year. So any help I would greatly, greatly appreciate!
Thank you,
Clint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Motorola Blankflash
Request blankflash by giving device informations
t.me
lolinet mirrors - firmware, software, iso etc.
lolinet mirrors - powered by h5ai
mirrors.lolinet.com
Start from scratch but remember need to use the last firmware that was on the phone when you choose a blankflash file

Hello. I have been able to get this tool to work with my own specific flash file for an XT2131-1 RETUS. When I boot the flash file, it still shows that the bootloader is locked. Is there any way too boot into fastboot with a blankflash file and make sure that it is unlocked?

Please help I have model xt2163dl and can't find the test points. Please help

Kireej said:
Please help I have model xt2163dl and can't find the test points.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have to find them yourself.
A voltmeter can help. You need one point that measures 1.8V (voltage source) and another that's close to 0V (GPIO).
If you have a resistor (maybe 470 ohms to 2.2k) you can connect things together without worrying too much about vaporizing anything.
That's a low enough resistrance for the GPIO for EDL boot.

Renate said:
You may have to find them yourself.
A voltmeter can help. You need one point that measures 1.8V (voltage source) and another that's close to 0V (GPIO).
If you have a resistor (maybe 470 ohms to 2.2k) you can connect things together without worrying too much about vaporizing anything.
That's a low enough resistrance for the GPIO for EDL boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure of what any of that means. I can't find anything on Google or anywhere else. Seems as if someone here has to have the same model as me. The waiting game begins lol.

Renate said:
You may have to find them yourself.
A voltmeter can help. You need one point that measures 1.8V (voltage source) and another that's close to 0V (GPIO).
If you have a resistor (maybe 470 ohms to 2.2k) you can connect things together without worrying too much about vaporizing anything.
That's a low enough resistrance for the GPIO for EDL boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I got a voltmeter but not sure how to use it. Here is the meter and the phone.

Oops, my apologies.
The original post was talking about the XT2131 (which is Qualcomm SDM480) and EDL.
The XT2163DL is a Mediatek Helio G25,
There are similarities, but also differences.
I can say with high confidence that Qualcomm EDL is (always?) using a 1.8V voltage source and a GPIO with a pull-down resistor.
I don't really know what Mediatek is doing. Assuredly no voltage is over 1.8V but I don't know if it's pull-up or pull-down,
In any case, I would still look for conspicuously adjacent test points where one measures 1.8V and one near zero.
I would still not want to connect random things together without checking and without a resistor.
The absolute worse would be hitting a test point for a backlight (which could be as high as 30+V).
Some Mediatek things show BROM and Preloader when they boot up anyway.
Are you sure that you're not seeing them?
Good luck

Renate said:
Oops, my apologies.
The original post was talking about the XT2131 (which is Qualcomm SDM480) and EDL.
The XT2163DL is a Mediatek Helio G25,
There are similarities, but also differences.
I can say with high confidence that Qualcomm EDL is (always?) using a 1.8V voltage source and a GPIO with a pull-down resistor.
I don't really know what Mediatek is doing. Assuredly no voltage is over 1.8V but I don't know if it's pull-up or pull-down,
In any case, I would still look for conspicuously adjacent test points where one measures 1.8V and one near zero.
I would still not want to connect random things together without checking and without a resistor.
The absolute worse would be hitting a test point for a backlight (which could be as high as 30+V).
Some Mediatek things show BROM and Preloader when they boot up anyway.
Are you sure that you're not seeing them?
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes all I get when I plug the phone in is a whitesh blue led light blinking on the top right corner. If I hold vol+ or vol- and power it will stop blinking for a minute then start again. Computer will not recognize the device and I am completely unable to get into fastboot to flash stock firmware. This all started when I accidentally flash firmware from a different year.

If you're on Windows, you should count the "bongs" when your device boots.
My usblog.exe can be helpful in identifying things that pop up.
My enumusb.exe can show what has ever popped up on your Windows.
Both can be found here.
Code:
C:\>enumusb /l /v0e8d
0E8D:2000 7&279c4dc7&2&6 2023-02-08 04:14 MT65xx Preloader
0E8D:201C 1483GR123456789 2023-02-08 04:14 Port_#0006.Hub_#0005
0e8d is Mediatek

Ok fount the points then I run the flash blank boot script then it says this after I let go of tweazers

Renate said:
If you're on Windows, you should count the "bongs" when your device boots.
My usblog.exe can be helpful in identifying things that pop up.
My enu
musb.exe can show what has ever popped up on your Windows.
Both can be found here.
Code:
C:\>enumusb /l /v0e8d
0E8D:2000 7&279c4dc7&2&6 2023-02-08 04:14 MT65xx Preloader
0E8D:201C 1483GR123456789 2023-02-08 04:14 Port_#0006.Hub_#0005
0e8d is Mediatek
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you I got usblog to work but the other opens then closes. Also I'm not quite sure what to do with this information. It shows up as an unknown USB device and as soon as I take the tweazers off it disconnects from computer. The blank flash exe never detects the device.

0000/0002 is often a USB gadget under Linux that is not initialized at all.

Renate said:
0000/0002 is often a USB gadget under Linux that is not initialized at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea at all of how to get this thing unbricked? Test points is where I keep ending up but again as soon as I let go of tweazers it disconnects.

Pixel 4a Not Charging after Beta update

Hi everyone,
I have a Pixel 4a that I recently bought and a couple of weeks ago I decided to try the new Android 13Beta version so I opt-in and I updated via OTG. However, after a couple of days, all of a sudden my phone stopped charging and since the phone's charge was less than 15% it didn't let me reset the phone or opt-out and get back to stable Android 12.
Now the phone is dead. I tried everything but it doesn't charge.
For the first couple of days, when I plugged in the charger, the battery icon appeared on the screen and then it showed 0% and then the icon again and 0% again and looped for over well 8 hours but didn't charge.
Now it even doesn't show the icon or the percentage.
Does anyone experience the same problem? or can anyone help me with this, please?

I've rebuilt many pixel 4a's ,, If u have adb on your puter the first place I go when there is no power is to the android flash tool just to see if there is any reaction when I hook it up, if not I break it open unplug the battery let it sit then reconnect , , you would not believe how many I revived just by doing that. But I realize everyone can't do that, when you have it hooked up to the aft hold the power button and volume down button and see if you get a reaction

hammered58 said:
I've rebuilt many pixel 4a's ,, If u have adb on your puter the first place I go when there is no power is to the android flash tool just to see if there is any reaction when I hook it up, if not I break it open unplug the battery let it sit then reconnect , , you would not believe how many I revived just by doing that. But I realize everyone can't do that, when you have it hooked up to the aft hold the power button and volume down button and see if you get a reaction
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply but as you said, unfortunately, I don't have access to flash tools and stuff like that.
I live in Turkey and since it's not a popular phone over here I believe I can't find a repair shop that has such a tool either.

GreatMimir said:
Thank you for your reply but as you said, unfortunately, I don't have access to flash tools and stuff like that.
I live in Turkey and since it's not a popular phone over here I believe I can't find a repair shop that has such a tool either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok ,, But I would try different cables , different chargers , just to make sure,,, even if they worked before

hammered58 said:
Ok ,, But I would try different cables , different chargers , just to make sure,,, even if they worked before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already did but unfortunately no luck there

after trying some methods now I managed to enter the recovery mode and everything but when I want to factory reset from recovery mode it shows this error, it doesn't even mount the system
I also can't opt-out or downgrade via system update because it doesn't charge and it says the battery level is too low.
{
"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"
}

GreatMimir said:
after trying some methods now I managed to enter the recovery mode and everything but when I want to factory reset from recovery mode it shows this error, it doesn't even mount the system
I also can't opt-out or downgrade via system update because it doesn't charge and it says the battery level is too low.
View attachment 5685913
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wonder if the otg didn't damage or dirty your charging port, maybe try cleaning with some compressed air or maybe insert a toothpick or something small enough and non conductive to clean out the port or maybe there's a bent pin ??

If you're uncertain if it's a hardware or a software issue yet, I would actually suggest you do what @hammered58 suggested about physically cleaning the USB port.
Just a few weeks ago I noticed that after plugging in the type-c cable that Google provided, I had to fiddle with it so that the phone would recognize it. Tried with different cables and chargers as well, but the issue still persisted.
I think I used a paper clip to sort of "scratch" inside the port.

Lada333 said:
If you're uncertain if it's a hardware or a software issue yet, I would actually suggest you do what @hammered58 suggested about physically cleaning the USB port.
Just a few weeks ago I noticed that after plugging in the type-c cable that Google provided, I had to fiddle with it so that the phone would recognize it. Tried with different cables and chargers as well, but the issue still persisted.
I think I used a paper clip to sort of "scratch" inside the port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your suggestion to be honest I did, I even tried to clean the inside but there's no luck on that front

GreatMimir said:
Thank you for your suggestion to be honest I did, I even tried to clean the inside but there's no luck on that front
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a 4a from a guy that said he had his wireless dongle plug into his charging port and that he drop it sticking the dongle dead center on the floor, he said since then it quit charging,, when I opened it to repair I found not only the charging port loose on the mb but it also had bent a couple of pins, after reattaching a straighting its been working

hammered58 said:
I bought a 4a from a guy that said he had his wireless dongle plug into his charging port and that he drop it sticking the dongle dead center on the floor, he said since then it quit charging,, when I opened it to repair I found not only the charging port loose on the mb but it also had bent a couple of pins, after reattaching a straighting its been working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plus, AFAIK, there are no wireless charging "adapters" for the 4a that actually do work?

GreatMimir said:
Thank you for your suggestion to be honest I did, I even tried to clean the inside but there's no luck on that front
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using the Android Flash Tool to completely reset your device?
If that doesn't solve your issue, I think it's safe to say that you have a hardware fault.

(Edit: Deleted due to l accidentally post it in a wrong post)

Zoranix7232 said:
Thank you so much! This works really great on my SM-T580 and SM-P585Y! The only glitch l could find is that when l slide the brightness bar to the darkest the screen just go completely dark, it's like the screen is turned off (this only occur in my SM-P585Y though). l hope you'll fix this in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong thread, friend

Oh sorry l was about to post this in a thread for LineageOS for my devices. Didn't know how it went here. Sorry!

Lada333 said:
Have you tried using the Android Flash Tool to completely reset your device?
If that doesn't solve your issue, I think it's safe to say that you have a hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I can't because it's dead and it doesn't charge at all

GreatMimir said:
it doesn't charge at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, sorry, I'm an idiot.
GreatMimir said:
For the first couple of days, when I plugged in the charger, the battery icon appeared on the screen and then it showed 0% and then the icon again and 0% again and looped for over well 8 hours but didn't charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This still makes me think it's a software issue, as the phone clearly detected that it's connected to a charger.
I'm not sure if you've done anything like this, but maybe give it a shot?
"
Step 2: If you are using Windows other than Windows XP,turn off Driver Signature Enforcement.To do so,follow this guide :
How to Disable Driver Signature Verification on 64-Bit Windows 8 or 10 (So That You Can Install Unsigned Drivers)
64-bit versions of Windows 10 and 8 include a “driver signature enforcement” feature. They’ll only load drivers that have been signed by Microsoft. To install less-than-official drivers, old unsigned drivers, or drivers you’re developing yourself, you’ll need to disable driver signature enforcement.
www.howtogeek.com
Step 3: Press the power button for 40 seconds to turn off the phone.
Step 4: Press the volume up button for 10 seconds, while connecting the device with the computer.
Step 5: Open your device-manager and make sure in "Unknown devices" is one device with the name "QHUSB_BULK".
"
Do keep in mind that this guide was written for a totally different device and for a totally different issue.
What I'm trying to get at is maybe if you manage to boot the device into this.. debug mode (?), it will bypass whatever software lock is preventing you from charging it. Again, this mode might not even be a thing for the 4a, or might not help at all. It just came to mind, curious to see if it can be of any help.

Lada333 said:
Yup, sorry, I'm an idiot.
This still makes me think it's a software issue, as the phone clearly detected that it's connected to a charger.
I'm not sure if you've done anything like this, but maybe give it a shot?
"
Step 2: If you are using Windows other than Windows XP,turn off Driver Signature Enforcement.To do so,follow this guide :
How to Disable Driver Signature Verification on 64-Bit Windows 8 or 10 (So That You Can Install Unsigned Drivers)
64-bit versions of Windows 10 and 8 include a “driver signature enforcement” feature. They’ll only load drivers that have been signed by Microsoft. To install less-than-official drivers, old unsigned drivers, or drivers you’re developing yourself, you’ll need to disable driver signature enforcement.
www.howtogeek.com
Step 3: Press the power button for 40 seconds to turn off the phone.
Step 4: Press the volume up button for 10 seconds, while connecting the device with the computer.
Step 5: Open your device-manager and make sure in "Unknown devices" is one device with the name "QHUSB_BULK".
"
Do keep in mind that this guide was written for a totally different device and for a totally different issue.
What I'm trying to get at is maybe if you manage to boot the device into this.. debug mode (?), it will bypass whatever software lock is preventing you from charging it. Again, this mode might not even be a thing for the 4a, or might not help at all. It just came to mind, curious to see if it can be of any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much,
Since I couldn't do anything to revive the phone, I had to send the phone back to Germany (where I bought the phone) so I would be able to file a repair request.
I'll let you guys know what was the exact problem when I get a detailed assessment of the issue from Google

GreatMimir said:
Thank you so much,
Since I couldn't do anything to revive the phone, I had to send the phone back to Germany (where I bought the phone) so I would be able to file a repair request.
I'll let you guys know what was the exact problem when I get a detailed assessment of the issue from Google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww, man, I wish I'd thought of this sooner.
Was your device still under warranty?
Absolutely be sure to update us when you get the info from Google.

Hi, Is it resolved? How much they charged for the repair? I am facing the same issue after my phone updated to Android 13.

Dead android phone data recovery - What are my options?

Hi everyone,
This is the setup:
Phone: Samsung S4 mini (GT-i9195)
OS: Lineage OS (can't remember the version, but I guess 17.1 or 18.1)
Recovery: TWRP (can't remember which version)
After I had a phone call I put the phone on the table. Some minutes later when I came back the app switcher and back button backlight was on, but there was no reaction when I touched the screen or any other buttons. Removing and returning battery had no impact, as well as using the charger.
I noticed when I connected it to my Windows PC via USB cable, I hear the windows sound for connecting and some seconds later the sound for disconecting.
When pressing the phones power button for 10 seconds while connected to pc, I hear sound for disconnecting and a moment later the sound for connecting. In any case I can't see the device on my PC as it would normally be the case.
Before, when the phone was working I had a working setup for scrcpy, with ADB debugging activated, but this doesn't seem to work as well, so my noobish guess is that the phone does not load Lineage OS at all.
So here I am at the end of my knowledge and I want to ask here, what are my option in order to recover my data (all on phones memory, not SD card)?
Thanks so much for any help!

Sounds like a hardware failure, if so if you can correct the problem... maybe a connector making poor contact. If it's the mobo you're boned.
Is the battery known good?
Always use the SD card as a data drive; all critical data goes there. Then redundantly backup the SD card to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Otherwise this can happen again.

Thank you very much @blackhawk for your answer and the attempt to help!
blackhawk said:
Is the battery known good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, battery is OK
blackhawk said:
If it's the mobo you're boned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really, there is no way to get data from the internal chip?
wouldn't it maybe be possible to unsolder the chip and put it in a working s4 mini?
blackhawk said:
Always use the SD card as a data drive; all critical data goes there. Then redundantly backup the SD card to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. Otherwise this can happen again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you're absolutely right. For long time I want to have a setup exactly as you have described. I started with it, but unfortunatley not everything was set to be synced with my NAS. Most of the stuff is on external SD, but some is not. With some apps you even have the issue that can't use external SD and which force you to use the onboard memory, like for example Signal does.

The chipset is likely a BGA form factor, all the solder pads are underneath it. You need use a hot air station and have the skillset to use it.
It would then need to be reflowed onto the donor board. Some overseas houses might do it relatively cheaply. Not a common practice except by data recovery $pecialists.
The SD card should contain no running apps as it's bandwidth is limited. Apps that allow backup there like ColorNote can be auto backed up though.

Step one: When a crippled device makes a "bong" when connected to a PC, find out what it is.
Is it the bootloader, charger, fastboot, ADB, MTP or who knows what?
I find usblog.exe helpful. See: http://www.temblast.com/windows.htm
If you're on Linux, just do lsusb -v when it bongs.

Renate said:
Step one: When a crippled device makes a "bong" when connected to a PC, find out what it is.
Is it the bootloader, charger, fastboot, ADB, MTP or who knows what?
I find usblog.exe helpful. See: http://www.temblast.com/windows.htm
If you're on Linux, just do lsusb -v when it bongs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you @Renate , good tip!
When phone without battery gets connected to PC, this is what usblog shows:
{
"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"
}
But what does it tell me now? How exactly can I find out in what state my phone currently is?
Next I wil try to get some linux running and see what lsusb -v shows me.

blackhawk said:
The chipset is likely a BGA form factor, all the solder pads are underneath it. You need use a hot air station and have the skillset to use it.
It would then need to be reflowed onto the donor board. Some overseas houses might do it relatively cheaply. Not a common practice except by data recovery $pecialists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks to me like an acceptable solution if I can't get it any other way and really want to get the data.

Oh, this is an older device. You may have a chance. Do you think that /data is encrypted?
Right now you have the silly VCOM driver installed. I'm prejudiced against them. You'll still be able to reinstall it if this doesn't work.
Get Zadig https://zadig.akeo.ie/ and install the WinUsb driver on 05c6/9008
Get edl.exe from my sig.
Code:
C:\>edl.exe /lhello
Copy the output (minus the serial number if you care) and paste it here.
If it gives you can't read/can't write, do a LONG power press until it bongs and try again.
That slash-ell-hello is just something to get it moving. Next you'll use slash-ell-loader-with-a-serious-name.

Thanks again for your guidance @Renate !
I deinstalled the COM driver, installed WinUsb driver and run edl.exe as you have explained. Unfortunately it seems I always get:
Found EDL 9008
Could not read device
even if I do the LOOong power press until bong-move.
What does this mean and what options do I have left?

That's strange. It's possible that you have a recalcitrant device.
I put some motivation in the code.
Go and download the new version of edl.exe
Make sure you have the new one, 136,704 bytes.
MD5 028533aaec778cc0c1357525a7bf503c

Thanks for the new version, but the output is unfortunatley not much different to before:
Code:
Found EDL 9008
Resetting Sahara
Could not read device
Eventually worth mentioning: I have a second Samsung S4 mini (with broken display). If I connect it to my PC, I get the connecting-bang, if I then run edl with your parameter the output is always:
Code:
Could not find EDL device

I think that this is so old it's using a different protocol.
Maybe you should check out https://github.com/bkerler/edl which is the "standard" EDL client.
(I was so frustrated with this Python version that I wrote my own native Windows version, YMMV.)
On your 2nd device it's probably in fastboot mode or something or even ADB.
That's why you should run usblog.exe on it.
A broken screen is not a big deal, you can view the screen even without installing any software.
Try adbgrab.exe It's much slower than scrcopy or something, but it works on (most) anything.

I looked to see if that unit supports Sahara. I found this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-pc-as-qualcomm-hs-usb-qdloader-9008.3508606/
Maybe you should try getting your 2nd unit in EDL? If it connects then you know there is a problem with your 1st unit.
Maybe Samsung intentionally crippled EDL for security reasons?