[Q] Will downgrading 41.18 boot-loader brick the device? - Moto G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

There seem to be contradictory opinions regarding the downgrading procedure from 5.0.1 GPE(or other 5.0.x variants) to Motorola 4.4.4 KK .
So the question is: does flashing motoboot.img brick the device?
Examples:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59286611&postcount=4
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/general/restore-to-kitkat-lollipop-moto-g-t3011553
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59135235&postcount=6
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/general/how-to-koodo-telus-downgrade-upgrade-lp-t3042110
Did I miss something or there is indeed a contradiction?

You cannot downgrade the 41.18 LP bootloader. If you try, you will receive a validation error.

So the worst case scenario for flashing motoboot.img is an validation error, but it will not brick the phone? I'm confused because here @LeopardSurd says that the phone can not boot if you do not flash motoboot.img.

sigma95 said:
So the worst case scenario for flashing motoboot.img is an validation error, but it will not brick the phone? I'm confused because here @LeopardSurd says that the phone can not boot if you do not flash motoboot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was simple my experience: flashed 4.4.4 without motoboot => the phone don't boot. Flashed only motoboot.img => phone don't boot. Flashed all the commands including motoboot.img => phone boots.

LeopardSurd said:
This was simple my experience: flashed 4.4.4 without motoboot => the phone don't boot. Flashed only motoboot.img => phone don't boot. Flashed all the commands including motoboot.img => phone boots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for answering.
Did you get a validation error when you flashed motoboot.img?
It strange that some people could boot 4.4.4 without flashing motoboot.

I have not seen any posts where a person was able to downgrade from the LP 41.18 bootloader to a KK bootloader. I'd like to know how they did it because I would like to do the same.

I have searched the forum and I reached the following conclusion:
Flashing 4.4.4 motoboot.img does not brick your phone, but it gives a validation error.(But in some cases you can not boot without flashing it(see above))
(Has anyone bricked their phone by flashing 4.4.4 motoboot?)
The problem seems to appear only when upgrading from 4.4.2 to 4.4.4.

The validation error will stop the flash process.

I have a KitKat nandroid and 41.18 bootloader (right now I'm with Lollipop), it will brick my phone if I restore the nandroid to go back to KitKat?

The nandroid should not touch the bootloader.
Which version of LP is on your phone? Restoring may cause a bootloop.

audit13 said:
The validation error will stop the flash process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, the flashing process of the motoboot.img will be stopped(remote error), but you can continue flashing other files.
Several users reported that this method works(and it implies flashing motoboot.img), so I'm inclined to say that 4.4.4 motoboot does not cause loosing access to fastboot(hardbrick). The only side-effect should be the "line bug", which can be solved by turning the screen on&off.
Am I missing something?

I meant to say the validation error will stop the flash process for motoboot.img.
The line bug remains after downgrading from LP because everything is being downgraded to KK with the except of the bootloader which remains on LP. If there was a way to downgrade the bootloader to KK, the line issue would disappear.

audit13 said:
The nandroid should not touch the bootloader.
Which version of LP is on your phone? Restoring may cause a bootloop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on stock 5.0.2 Lollipop :fingers-crossed:

@Feche, let us know what happens and best of luck:good:

audit13 said:
@Feche, let us know what happens and best of luck:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I managed to go back to KitKat and restore my nandroid but I had to do some things first:
Restore from Lollipop to KitKat is not possible since when restoring the data partition phone will freeze around 30mb~ mark and reboot.. so what I did was downgrade to stock 4.4.4 (via mfastboot) and then restore the nandroid.
The only problem is that if you want to go again to Lollipop you can't becouse when restoring the data partition the phone will reboot when reaching 99%.. what you can only restore is system partition, so you will end up with a fresh stock Lollipop.. I bet this is due to the repartitioning of Lollipop, we have to wait for a recovery (TWRP, CWM) with Lollipop support.

I think i t has something to do with the gtp.bin having to be flashed via fastboot before restoring a KK nandroid.
Great that it worked.

Feche said:
Hey, I managed to go back to KitKat and restore my nandroid but I had to do some things first:
Restore from Lollipop to KitKat is not possible since when restoring the data partition phone will freeze around 30mb~ mark and reboot.. so what I did was downgrade to stock 4.4.4 (via mfastboot) and then restore the nandroid.
The only problem is that if you want to go again to Lollipop you can't becouse when restoring the data partition the phone will reboot when reaching 99%.. what you can only restore is system partition, so you will end up with a fresh stock Lollipop.. I bet this is due to the repartitioning of Lollipop, we have to wait for a recovery (TWRP, CWM) with Lollipop support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not related to your problem, but did you flash motoboot.img when you downgraded to 4.4.4?

sigma95 said:
This is not related to your problem, but did you flash motoboot.img when you downgraded to 4.4.4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
motoboot.img and gpt.bin won't flash since it gives validation error, the rest is the same

Related

Unable to flash any ROM on XT1031

I have XT1031 with unlocked boot loader and twrp. I tried flashing cm11 M5, C-Rom and AOSPA but the phone went to a bootloop always. I have rooted my phone. I also tried flashing with cwm philz.
Also a month ago I flashed CM11 but after that I switched to stock and on flashing now bootloop occurs
I did factory reset every time and wiped cache.
Please help
The same thing happens to me, can you send the safety copy?, I need It urgently, my telephone has remained unusable and the last option is to restore a backup with the original rom.
Please
Falcon G said:
I have XT1031 with unlocked boot loader and twrp. I tried flashing cm11 M5, C-Rom and AOSPA but the phone went to a bootloop always. I have rooted my phone. I also tried flashing with cwm philz.
Also a month ago I flashed CM11 but after that I switched to stock and on flashing now bootloop occurs
I did factory reset every time and wiped cache.
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not know if my guide will work with XT1031, but you can try converting to GPE and after flashing those roms. For XT1033 this is the procedure. As XT1031 is CDMA, it is better having a backup of your stock rom and skipping the fastboot flash fsg fsg.img and modem parts.
thelegendofzeth said:
I do not know if my guide will work with XT1031, but you can try converting to GPE and after flashing those roms. For XT1033 this is the procedure. As XT1031 is CDMA, it is better having a backup of your stock rom and skipping the fastboot flash fsg fsg.img and modem parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks For the reply. I tried but the GPE image does not work on CDMA version
This is usually caused by having the wrong or corrupt boot.img Try installing the stock image using one of the guides in this forum. Cheers.
thelegendofzeth said:
I do not know if my guide will work with XT1031, but you can try converting to GPE and after flashing those roms. For XT1033 this is the procedure. As XT1031 is CDMA, it is better having a backup of your stock rom and skipping the fastboot flash fsg fsg.img and modem parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi I was able to make GPE flash in my phone with the help of a nandroid backup. However it shows encryption when I start it. Can you tell me how to just change the partition to ex4 and then use the nandroid backup
Falcon G said:
Hi I was able to make GPE flash in my phone with the help of a nandroid backup. However it shows encryption when I start it. Can you tell me how to just change the partition to ex4 and then use the nandroid backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PhilZ Touch Recovery has a f2fs to ext4 option.
Wipe and Format Options > Custom Format Options​
I've attached the gpt.bin from the 4.4.4 GPE firmware image, flashing it via fastboot should also make the userdata partition ext4, allowing you to boot. Also make sure you flash the GPE kernel here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2649763
fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
lost101 said:
PhilZ Touch Recovery has a f2fs to ext4 option.
Wipe and Format Options > Custom Format Options​
I've attached the gpt.bin from the 4.4.4 GPE firmware image, flashing it via fastboot should also make the userdata partition ext4, allowing you to boot. Also make sure you flash the GPE kernel here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2649763
fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this messed up my device now I cannot flash my original partition as it says downgrade faliure. Please suggest something
The error on bootloader while flashing the gpt is version downgrade for primary_gpt
Here are some 4.4.2 XT1031 firmware images. Try flashing them in fastboot - guide if needed.
XT1031 4.4.2 Boost US
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2krak4mqeqpp/ACG_XT1031_4.4.2_KXB20.9-1.10-1.43_CFC_1FF.xml.zip
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2clysykpzh85/USC_XT1031_4.4.2_KXB20.9-1.10-1.9_CFC_1FF.xml.zip​
lost101 said:
Here are some 4.4.2 XT1031 firmware images. Try flashing them in fastboot - guide if needed.
XT1031 4.4.2 Boost US
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2krak4mqeqpp/ACG_XT1031_4.4.2_KXB20.9-1.10-1.43_CFC_1FF.xml.zip
http://www.filefactory.com/file/2clysykpzh85/USC_XT1031_4.4.2_KXB20.9-1.10-1.9_CFC_1FF.xml.zip​
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey it didn't work but can you give me the gpt file from 4.4.4 UK firmware. I'm sorry but I cannot download the whole firmware as my speed is really slow
Here is the one from the Retail EU firmware which is the same.

[Q] What does this error code mean?

"<bootloader> Preflash Validation Failed." appears whenever I try to flash motoboot.img in the bootloader, and I'm just curious as to what this means. Thanks!
davidp799 said:
"<bootloader> Preflash Validation Failed." appears whenever I try to flash motoboot.img in the bootloader, and I'm just curious as to what this means. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Motoboot.img is the bootloader. But when you flash stock 4.4.2 firmware, that image wont flash and will give you that error you say. Anyway you can relax since nothing happens if you flash back from 4.4.4 to 4.4.2 without flashing that partition. Ive downgraded to 4.4.2 a lot of times without motoboot and nothing happened to me..
Also, once you OTA upgrade for the first time to 4.4.4, you cant downgrade the bootloader (motoboot) to the one from 4.4.2, thats why it gives prevalidation error... But you can flash all the system of 4.4.2 without problems.
To sum up, bootloader motoboot.img isnt downgradable. Thats why we cannot downgrade to Jelly Bean 4.3 anymore... And we think this boot loader thing will happen again with lollipop... Maybe we won't go back to KitKat once we OTA upgrade to Lollipop, since Android 5.o will have a new boot loader, that's for sure...
MarckozZ said:
Motoboot.img is the bootloader. But when you flash stock 4.4.2 firmware, that image wont flash and will give you that error you say. Anyway you can relax since nothing happens if you flash back from 4.4.4 to 4.4.2 without flashing that partition. Ive downgraded to 4.4.2 a lot of times without motoboot and nothing happened to me..
Also, once you OTA upgrade for the first time to 4.4.4, you cant downgrade the bootloader (motoboot) to the one from 4.4.2, thats why it gives prevalidation error... But you can flash all the system of 4.4.2 without problems.
To sum up, bootloader motoboot.img isnt downgradable. Thats why we cannot downgrade to Jelly Bean 4.3 anymore... And we think this boot loader thing will happen again with lollipop... Maybe we won't go back to KitKat once we OTA upgrade to Lollipop, since Android 5.o will have a new boot loader, that's for sure...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response and yeah I figured. Lol I can't waitttttt for Lollipop! It's finally coming to us and we get to be one of the first users.

[Q][XT1033][SOLVED] Revert back from 5.0.1 GPE to 5.0.1 Motorola Stock

SOLVED! SEE HERE!
So, I softbrick my XT1033 while I trying to upgrade from Motorola 5.0 to 5.0.1. After I tried many ways to solve the softbrick, the only solution was revert to 4.4.4 GPE and upgrade to 5.0.1 GPE.
So, please all understand that I did not want to install GPE (I already knew that I will lose dual sim on GPE), but was the only way to solve the softbrick.
But, I really don't like the GPE, and prefer the stock motorola rom for tons of reasons, but the main is the dual sim function and the camera/gallery apps.
So, my question is: Is there a way to return back from 5.0.1 GPE to stock 5.0.1?
Thanks!
Yes!
Try reading this topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/help/xt1032-bricked-please-help-t2980601
Probably, you'll need to flash a new gpt.bin file. Once it's been done, you can flash the others files.
Cheers!
Ok... it works... but was a hard work to do...
1 - Downgrade from 5.0.1 GPE to 4.4.4 GPE(using fastboot, but without flashing gpt.bin and motoboot.img)
2 - Reboot into bootloader and reflash 4.4.4 GPE (now flashing gpt and motoboot)
3 - Reboot into bootloader and flash 4.4.4 Stock (flashing gpt and motoboot too). Start phone.
4 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0 Stock (adb sideload). Start phone, put 5.0.1 Stock update zip into internal memory.
5 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0.1 stock.
I had to download 6 differents roms and others files to solve this problem (about 2,2GB downloaded)...
And, WOW, now all is fine...
JAJAJAJA
Me too, brother. I had to download 4 or 5 different roms to make it run properly.
But, at least, I'm now running the 5.0.1!
Cheers!
danilocps87 said:
Ok... it works... but was a hard work to do...
1 - Downgrade from 5.0.1 GPE to 4.4.4 GPE(using fastboot, but without flashing gpt.bin and motoboot.img)
2 - Reboot into bootloader and reflash 4.4.4 GPE (now flashing gpt and motoboot)
3 - Reboot into bootloader and flash 4.4.4 Stock (flashing gpt and motoboot too). Start phone.
4 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0 Stock (adb sideload). Start phone, put 5.0.1 Stock update zip into internal memory.
5 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0.1 stock.
I had to download 6 differents roms and others files to solve this problem (about 2,2GB downloaded)...
And, WOW, now all is fine...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, do you think the same process works in a xt1032 but with the corrects files?, thanks a lot
danilocps87 said:
Ok... it works... but was a hard work to do...
1 - Downgrade from 5.0.1 GPE to 4.4.4 GPE(using fastboot, but without flashing gpt.bin and motoboot.img)
2 - Reboot into bootloader and reflash 4.4.4 GPE (now flashing gpt and motoboot)
3 - Reboot into bootloader and flash 4.4.4 Stock (flashing gpt and motoboot too). Start phone.
4 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0 Stock (adb sideload). Start phone, put 5.0.1 Stock update zip into internal memory.
5 - Reboot into recovery and flash 5.0.1 stock.
I had to download 6 differents roms and others files to solve this problem (about 2,2GB downloaded)...
And, WOW, now all is fine...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does step 2 downgrade the bootloader from 41.18 to 41.13?
Yeah Did some one with 41.18 bootloader tries this solution?
We cant go back to 41.13 bootloader...

[Q] XT1032 soft brick when downgrading from stock Android 5 to stock Android 4.4.

I just downgraded my XT1032 (falcon) from stock 5.0 to stock 4.4 and it won't boot anymore. I did it using the fastboot method (flashing several .img or .bin files using fastboot), as I had done it many times before in order to revert the phone to stock.
But this time it won't boot no matter what I do. It may be related to the fact that I accidentally tried to flash 4.4 partition table and bootloader (now I see the downgrading tutorials recommend against that) but I don't know what to do.
I tried pushing another ROM (in the ZIP format) via ADB, but when I try to install that ZIP in TWRP recovery, it says "unable to mount data" or "unable to mount storage". It also used to say "unable to mount system" but I think I fixed that with "fastboot format system" (which you can't do for /data).
I think I'd need Android 5 .img and .bin files in orden to fix this via fastboot, but Android 5 doesn't seem to exist in that format.
Can anyone think of a solution? Thanks in advance.
Does your phone still have the 41.18 bootloader on it?
I'm surprised that it bricked because I flash every partition except motoboot when downgrading my xt1032 8 GB from LP to KK.
U did it with unlocked bootloader or locked one..?? I am looking for a tutorial on downgrading to 4.4.4. from 5.0.2 for locked bootloader..
Unlocked bootloader. If possible, unlock the bootloader as you may not be able to downgrade without unlocking.
i am also faced this problem......after reflashing the kitkat os my moto g is booted(dont flash motoboot and gpt)
seshuganesh2011 said:
i am also faced this problem......after reflashing the kitkat os my moto g is booted(dont flash motoboot and gpt)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did u reflashed..?? Can u tell me the xact procedure..?? And on Locked bootloader..??
kaymaddy said:
How did u reflashed..?? Can u tell me the xact procedure..?? And on Locked bootloader..??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i flashed on unlocked boot loader

XT1031 failed to flash stock 5.1

I first restore to stock 4.4.4 from CM11 by manually flashing falcon_boost_user_4.4.4_KXB21.14-L1.57_57_release-keys-cid9.xml.zip. Everything worked.
After that, I try to upgrade to stock 5.1 by manually flashing XT1031_FALCON_BOOST_5.1_LPB23.13-56_cid9_CFC.xml.zip with mfastboot. Every part seemed to flashed successfully, but when it is finished, it won't boot and stuck at bootloader unlocked screen.
Now I cannot downgrade to 4.4.4 since the gpt.bin and motoboot.bin all failed preflash verification. I guess the bootloader won't allow downgrade. Even with all other parts successfully flashed, it is still stuck at booloader unlocked screen.
I also tried to flash twrp 2.8.7.0, but it also failed due to partition size different. (Is it because twrp can only be flashed under 4.4.4 bootloader?)
So I am stuck now. Please help me. How do I flash stock 5.1 and later CM12.1? Thanks in advance.
Try flashing the firmware with RSD Lite and see what happens.
Sent from my XT1031
Fixed. I found a stock rom 4.4.4 downgrade package from here.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/3omnox/moto_g_xt1031_boost_lollipop_stock_rom/
It has same contents as the 4.4.4 stock rom package I downloaded from filefactory, except there is a fastboot.exe boundled in this package (dated 6/25/2014) that is newer than the one I was using (dated 3/20/2013). This one successfully restored my XT1031 to 4.4.4 stock.
Flashed of twrp and also flashed stock 5.1 optimized from twrp. Both went well.
kzqc said:
I first restore to stock 4.4.4 from CM11 by manually flashing falcon_boost_user_4.4.4_KXB21.14-L1.57_57_release-keys-cid9.xml.zip. Everything worked.
After that, I try to upgrade to stock 5.1 by manually flashing XT1031_FALCON_BOOST_5.1_LPB23.13-56_cid9_CFC.xml.zip with mfastboot. Every part seemed to flashed successfully, but when it is finished, it won't boot and stuck at bootloader unlocked screen.
Now I cannot downgrade to 4.4.4 since the gpt.bin and motoboot.bin all failed preflash verification. I guess the bootloader won't allow downgrade. Even with all other parts successfully flashed, it is still stuck at booloader unlocked screen.
I also tried to flash twrp 2.8.7.0, but it also failed due to partition size different. (Is it because twrp can only be flashed under 4.4.4 bootloader?)
So I am stuck now. Please help me. How do I flash stock 5.1 and later CM12.1? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just install latest TWRP it is compatible with Lollipop or CWM then flash CM12.1
Paradox♀ said:
Just install latest TWRP it is compatible with Lollipop or CWM then flash CM12.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.

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