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[Guide] Restoring Black Shark 1 Global to Stock

Hello, this is not a guide for noobs.
At this point, i assume your BlackShark 1 is running a custom ROM, or a modification, and not it cannot update over OTA.
This guide helps you restore your BS1 SKR-H0 to Stock ROM, hopefully you can update it when the next OTA comes out.
This guide sets one of your partitions at system update G66X1906170OS00MPX.
You agree that by performing these operation, you risk bricking your device. I will probably not be there to help you recover.
There are a few steps:
Flash the stock images
Re-encrypt storage
Re-flash the stock files
Flash the stock images
Download the full backup from here: https://mega.nz/#!IZFAEAoC!UMHJ0drlhoHyGtV-0KYrtteC1VMP8-eqFWWrMXLZikQ
Extract the backup
Enter fastboot mode on your phone
Check which slot you are on, and which slot is definitely working. Try this on a slot that is broken, or that is not 100% working (in my case, slot a)
Run the following command for every partition:
Code:
fastboot flash <partitionname>_<slotname> <filename>
example: fastboot flash boot_a boot_a (if the slot you are overwriting is slot a)
or fastboot flash boot_b boot_a (if the slot you are overwriting is slot b)
Once finished, boot twrp, flash disableforceencrypt and magisk, and reboot into the system.
Reencrypt storage
First of all, backup ALL YOUR INTERNAL STORAGE, as it WILL GET WIPED IN THIS STEP. i warned you.
Once the system boots with the new version, go into stock recovery (adb reboot recovery, or enter bootloader > select start recovery)
Then reboot into the system. once the system boots, go to settings, security, encryption, and enable encryption. The phone should encrypt now. Wait for it to start encryption, finish, and get stuck at boot animation. This is the end of step 2.
Re-flash the stock files
This is the final and easiest step. If previous steps were performed correctly, then all you have to do now it the following:
from the stuck bootanimation, reboot to bootloader.
Flash 1 more time system, boot and vendor partition. This time DO NOT flash disableforceencrypt and magisk.
reboot into stock recovery
perform a wipe 1 more time.
reboot the system.
If done correctly, your phone should go into first time setup, with the stock OS, no internal error on boot, and you should be able to accept OTAs when they come. If OTA fails, Follow step 4:
(Optional) OTA Shows up again after finishing, and keep failing
If you restored your BlackShark to stock, and OTA does not finish (keeps coming back up), do the following:
If your backup is from slot a, and you are on it right now, run the following commands:
Make sure you are on the correct slot, with the correct backup!
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot_a.img
fastboot flash system system_a.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor_a.img
fastboot flash dsp dsp_a.img
fastboot flash devcfg devcfg_a.img
fastboot flash bluetooth bluetooth_a.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo_a.img
fastboot flash modem modem_a.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
For the partitions dtbo and devcfg, i'm not sure if they need reflashing, however i found out that the others might be changed indirectly, and cause OTA to fail.
So just reflash those partitions from backup (Make sure to use the correct version/slot!)
Finally, if update still fails, you can connect your phone to pc, run adb logcat, and watch the logs just after update download is finished. If it fails, you will find some lines about a failed partition, with the partition name.
Special thanks to @leipnacht who provided me with stock file, so that i could restore my phone.

Big Thanks to this! I'm glad the stock files helped restoring your phone. This will surely help xda users as well when somethings go wrong with root coz some games will ban you if your phone is detected as rooted phone. This is very useful reference for everyone.

i need this for CN version too:crying::crying:

help
How do I install and recover my black shark please?
when I have install via fastboot I get a message
FAILED remote flashing is not allowed for critical partitions.
way of doing the command on fastboot
fastboot flash partitionabl_a abl_a
fastboot flash partitionsystem_a system_a
Sorry, I do not understand much about this.

metamorfose123 said:
How do I install and recover my black shark please?
when I have install via fastboot I get a message
FAILED remote flashing is not allowed for critical partitions.
way of doing the command on fastboot
fastboot flash partitionabl_a abl_a
fastboot flash partitionsystem_a system_a
Sorry, I do not understand much about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fastboot flash abl_a abl_a
Etc... If you want to overwrite slot a, or
Fastboot flash abl_b abl_a
If you want to overwrite B.

needful guide for restoring black shark. Big thumb up for this post.

@gilbert32 thanks for your hard work! I'll check to see if I can find someone with a stock CN rom and see if this will work for it. I haven't had the phone until now because a family member temporarily needed one :good:

hi, i have a problem, after flash system i get only on S logo

geed301 said:
hi, i have a problem, after flash system i get only on S logo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version are you on? Which black shark?

SKR-H0 in oreo 8.1, but i resolved hahaha, i was used
fastboot flash boot boot_a.img
fastboot flash system system_a.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor_a.img
Just copy and pasted hahaha , today i updated to P and its great
Thnks for the tutorial and sorry for my bad english

Hi! I do not understand. One month ago I used this tutorial and I could get the previous little OTA update. Now I tried again do the same steps, all of them, and I can't get the OTA. I tried it 5 times… I have a question, in this new update of android Pie is the camera slow motion enabled? Can someone upload the android Pie backup for flashing directly?

FasterBit said:
Hi! I do not understand. One month ago I used this tutorial and I could get the previous little OTA update. Now I tried again do the same steps, all of them, and I can't get the OTA. I tried it 5 times… I have a question, in this new update of android Pie is the camera slow motion enabled? Can someone upload the android Pie backup for flashing directly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't find any slow motion option in camera. When you try OTA, open adb logcat at the same time. It should show you an error regarding which partition was modified when OTA fails.
It's probably one of: Boot, System, Modem, DSP, DTBO, Bluetooth, Vendor (maybe also other ones)

i need stock global ota package
do you have it yet?

hoangtieubao said:
i need stock global ota package
do you have it yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a backup of the global pie rom, i can upload it within this week.

gilbert32 said:
I have a backup of the global pie rom, i can upload it within this week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have solution to full convert rom to global
but i still dont have skr-h0 ota package full base
i need it to do

i have cn version OTA package, after flash
it can use *#1027# to fully convert to chinese version , ota works fine.
maybe you need to ask blackshark to provide a Full OTA request to your phone. just say your phone is rooted ,and cannot update anymore, need a full ota to restore it.
we use this trick to get cn version full ota package and it works

Vlin.Wang said:
i have cn version OTA package, after flash
it can use *#1027# to fully convert to chinese version , ota works fine.
maybe you need to ask blackshark to provide a Full OTA request to your phone. just say your phone is rooted ,and cannot update anymore, need a full ota to restore it.
we use this trick to get cn version full ota package and it works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this trick is very nice
and could you do it to get full ota for us?
i think too many people to want it

Any chance to find the global rom for black shark 2 pro.. DLT-A0
Any chance to find the global rom for black shark 2 pro.. DLT-A0
I need to make the phone supports multi language
Please help

Help Needed
Hi All,
Hope all is well.
Could anyone please help post a noob guide for this. I've flashing rooting etc thinf before but this one's really confusing for me. I would appreciate it greatly. I have a facebook group of BS1 Global user and they all wanted to restore their smartphone, I referred them to this thread but none of them seems to understand this tutorial. Pardon our ignorance. We would really appreciate it greatly.
Thanks in advance!

Hi Gilbert,
Thank you so much for posting this.
Your effort is greatly appreciated by us.
I am new to BS1 Global and I haven't done flashing rooting etc to this phone.
It would really help if there could be a step by step tutorial for users like me.
I would like to ask what files/tools are needed for this tutorial. I probably need pc? And probably need to install something on pc like drivers? What are they?
I'm guessing I need to unlock bootloader and root my bs1 global?
Also need to install twrp for bs1 global? And I don't know this disablforceencrypt and magisk thing.
Please please help post a noob tutorial for bs1 global that haven't been modified yet.
That would really be helpful, I look forward to your response. Thank you so much in advance.

Coming from an OP3T need help regarding the new partitions

I own a 3T currently and am planning to get an 8T as it is getting good custom rom traction. One thing I am really confused about the is the new partitioning scheme. Can someone please link me an article where I can read more about it? Also what's with the specific twrp's and installer zips for each rom and how does one flash magisk, xposed and other things?
What I am used to doing on my 3t is, wipe data, system, cache and then flash rom zip + gapps + magisk. I would really appreciate it if anyone can explain the additional steps that would be required to do this on the 8T

It's a very different world with the 8T (I also come from a 3T).
The 8T has A/B partitions as well as virtual A/B partitions. It also supports streaming OTA and seamless OTA updates. It has fastboot and fastbootd.
There's lots of good information on all of this in:
Virtual A/B Overview | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
A/B (Seamless) System Updates | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
platform/system/update_engine - Git at Google
Moving Fastboot to Userspace | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
And more on this at the same site.
And, if you get into serious trouble, the unbricking tool is really easy to use and works wonderfully.

pratyush28 said:
I own a 3T currently and am planning to get an 8T as it is getting good custom rom traction. One thing I am really confused about the is the new partitioning scheme. Can someone please link me an article where I can read more about it? Also what's with the specific twrp's and installer zips for each rom and how does one flash magisk, xposed and other things?
What I am used to doing on my 3t is, wipe data, system, cache and then flash rom zip + gapps + magisk. I wouls really appreciate it if anyone can explain the additional steps that would be required to do this on the same thing on an 8T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try to give you a brief, yet precise enough guide to doing the basics on a device with partitions like the 8T.
Okay, so basically, the 8T custom ROMs, when flashed, are going to consist of the following partitions:
boot
dtbo
system
system_ext
product
recovery
vendor
odm
vbmeta
vbmeta_system
So when performing fastboot/adb commands with these newer devices, you're going to start off in the normal bootloader (i use the volume +/- and power at the same time command to enter this from a powered off state).
Now there's also a mode called fastbootd mode. It's often just called fastboot, especially when booting from bootloader (fastboot reboot fastboot now takes you to this fastbootd mode). This is where you're going to do the majority of flashing/modding from.
So to start off, enter bootloader, then perform this command in terminal to do a wipe of data:
fastboot -w
Then, flash recovery partition:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (this is the recovery.img from the ROM zip you are attempting to flash)
Then, reboot to fastbootd:
fastboot reboot fastboot
Next, I like to make sure I'm on partition A for flashing. This is just something I've been told to do and it works so I stick with it. So do this by:
fastboot set_active a
Now you can start flashing the paritions:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img
fastboot flash product product.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash odm odm.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
Then, boot up the ROM:
fastboot reboot
So that's the basic rundown.
Now for a few things to keep in mind:
Always make sure you're on the latest version of OxygenOS before doing any of this. I like to start off by unlocking bootloader, then setting up phone. Then I do an update to both partitions to the latest version of OOS (must be on both partitions. Not just on one). So I just put the latest OOS zip on my phone via USB transfer from PC, do an upgrade with that file (Settings > System > Update > Top right menu button > Select Internal Storage or whatever it says like that, then select the file (make sure the OOS zip file is in the MAIN root directory of your phone. So basically, the folder that contains the Pictures, Downloads, Music, etc. folders.
So after you do this system update, it will prompt you to reboot phone. Do this. Then, go to settings and do the same thing again. Select the OOS zip and do an internal storage update, let it do its thing, it'll ask to reboot, go ahead and do so. Now this second update you do will either start from 0% and go to 100% like the first time, or it will go from 0% directly to 99%, then 100% after a few seconds. This is okay, it just means you already had the latest OOS on one of your partitions. So anyway, go ahead and do that reboot when it tells you. Now you are unlocked and on the latest firmware and ready to flash.
Oh, and btw, to unlock bootloader, do the normal steps through developer options, then reboot to bootloader and this is the command used:
fastboot flashing unlock
That will let you confirm to unlock bootloader, etc. like I'm sure you've done on the 3T.
So anyway, after unlocking and updating to latest OOS (Open Beta or Stable usually both work fine btw), you can reboot to bootloader, then do the steps I told you above for wiping, flashing recovery, flashing partitions, booting, etc.
Oh, and to get these partition images from the custom ROM zip you choose to flash, you need to first unzip the ROM zip file, then take the payload.bin file that will result of the unzip, and use a payload_dumper script. Those are linked all over or can be found on a google search or Github. It'll take your payload.bin and turn it into these .IMG files that I list in the flashing steps. Each partition will have a file named PARTITIONNAME.img. These are all you need to flash a custom ROM over OOS.
To flash an update to a rom, do all the same stuff but don't do the
fastboot -w
and you also don't need to do the
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
part because the recovery partition is already there from the ROM when you originally flashed.
I realize this is all a bunch of random notes and guides, and my brain kind of works in a weird way, but it's pretty much all there I think. If you need help clarifying any of this or just have any questions in general, PM me or respond back here and tag me. I'll help as much as I can or point you to someone who can help if I can't.
Hope this helps. Take care.

dpryor88 said:
I'm going to try to give you a brief, yet precise enough guide to doing the basics on a device with partitions like the 8T.
Okay, so basically, the 8T custom ROMs, when flashed, are going to consist of the following partitions:
boot
dtbo
system
system_ext
product
recovery
vendor
odm
vbmeta
vbmeta_system
So when performing fastboot/adb commands with these newer devices, you're going to start off in the normal bootloader (i use the volume +/- and power at the same time command to enter this from a powered off state).
Now there's also a mode called fastbootd mode. It's often just called fastboot, especially when booting from bootloader (fastboot reboot fastboot now takes you to this fastbootd mode). This is where you're going to do the majority of flashing/modding from.
So to start off, enter bootloader, then perform this command in terminal to do a wipe of data:
fastboot -w
Then, flash recovery partition:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (this is the recovery.img from the ROM zip you are attempting to flash)
Then, reboot to fastbootd:
fastboot reboot fastboot
Next, I like to make sure I'm on partition A for flashing. This is just something I've been told to do and it works so I stick with it. So do this by:
fastboot set_active a
Now you can start flashing the paritions:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img
fastboot flash product product.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash odm odm.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
Then, boot up the ROM:
fastboot reboot
So that's the basic rundown.
Now for a few things to keep in mind:
Always make sure you're on the latest version of OxygenOS before doing any of this. I like to start off by unlocking bootloader, then setting up phone. Then I do an update to both partitions to the latest version of OOS (must be on both partitions. Not just on one). So I just put the latest OOS zip on my phone via USB transfer from PC, do an upgrade with that file (Settings > System > Update > Top right menu button > Select Internal Storage or whatever it says like that, then select the file (make sure the OOS zip file is in the MAIN root directory of your phone. So basically, the folder that contains the Pictures, Downloads, Music, etc. folders.
So after you do this system update, it will prompt you to reboot phone. Do this. Then, go to settings and do the same thing again. Select the OOS zip and do an internal storage update, let it do its thing, it'll ask to reboot, go ahead and do so. Now this second update you do will either start from 0% and go to 100% like the first time, or it will go from 0% directly to 99%, then 100% after a few seconds. This is okay, it just means you already had the latest OOS on one of your partitions. So anyway, go ahead and do that reboot when it tells you. Now you are unlocked and on the latest firmware and ready to flash.
Oh, and btw, to unlock bootloader, do the normal steps through developer options, then reboot to bootloader and this is the command used:
fastboot flashing unlock
That will let you confirm to unlock bootloader, etc. like I'm sure you've done on the 3T.
So anyway, after unlocking and updating to latest OOS (Open Beta or Stable usually both work fine btw), you can reboot to bootloader, then do the steps I told you above for wiping, flashing recovery, flashing partitions, booting, etc.
Oh, and to get these partition images from the custom ROM zip you choose to flash, you need to first unzip the ROM zip file, then take the payload.bin file that will result of the unzip, and use a payload_dumper script. Those are linked all over or can be found on a google search or Github. It'll take your payload.bin and turn it into these .IMG files that I list in the flashing steps. Each partition will have a file named PARTITIONNAME.img. These are all you need to flash a custom ROM over OOS.
To flash an update to a rom, do all the same stuff but don't do the
fastboot -w
and you also don't need to do the
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
part because the recovery partition is already there from the ROM when you originally flashed.
I realize this is all a bunch of random notes and guides, and my brain kind of works in a weird way, but it's pretty much all there I think. If you need help clarifying any of this or just have any questions in general, PM me or respond back here and tag me. I'll help as much as I can or point you to someone who can help if I can't.
Hope this helps. Take care.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot thank you enough for taking out so much time and explaining everything in detail. I really appreciate it and this will be very very helpful for me.
Unfortunately, I purchased the 8T from OnePlus' official website and they sent me a refurbished piece with a cracked back panel and scratched screen. I was stupid to opt for OnePlus' site just because there was a small discount, now to get a replacement I have to go through a painful process of contacting their incompetent support and an eternal wait until they decide to revert. I'm glad that I recorded the unboxing video, so at least they cannot blame this on me.

pratyush28 said:
I cannot thank you enough for taking out so much time and explaining everything in detail. I really appreciate it and this will be very very helpful for me.
Unfortunately, I purchased the 8T from OnePlus' official website and they sent me a refurbished piece with a cracked back panel and scratched screen. I was stupid to opt for OnePlus' site just because there was a small discount, now to get a replacement I have to go through a painful process of contacting their incompetent support and an eternal wait until they decide to revert. I'm glad that I recorded the unboxing video, so at least they cannot blame this on me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah man! I'm so sorry to hear that! Their support is horrible I must admit. Not as bad as Google Fi's support haha (that's another story), but it's bad yeah.
I got mine from the OP website also (North America model as I live in California) but I got it shortly after the phone was released. I can't believe they're selling refurbished, broken devices now. That's horrible. The company has been going a bit downhill with some aspects I've realized in the past few years.
Anyway, I really hope you get that sorted out (sooner than later hopefully). It's a nice device. Software support/updates are a little iffy with OP these days, but no one's perfect. But once you start flashing some custom goodness on the phone, it really shines. Nothing wrong with Oxygen in my opinion, but choice is nice
Let me know if/when you get the device if you need any help with anything.

dpryor88 said:
Ah man! I'm so sorry to hear that! Their support is horrible I must admit. Not as bad as Google Fi's support haha (that's another story), but it's bad yeah.
I got mine from the OP website also (North America model as I live in California) but I got it shortly after the phone was released. I can't believe they're selling refurbished, broken devices now. That's horrible. The company has been going a bit downhill with some aspects I've realized in the past few years.
Anyway, I really hope you get that sorted out (sooner than later hopefully). It's a nice device. Software support/updates are a little iffy with OP these days, but no one's perfect. But once you start flashing some custom goodness on the phone, it really shines. Nothing wrong with Oxygen in my opinion, but choice is nice
Let me know if/when you get the device if you need any help with anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate, I won't hesitate to ask if I need help once I get the new device

@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?

pratyush28 said:
@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the other model. Unbrick tool works fine on mine.

pratyush28 said:
@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 8T has ddr_type of 1 and I've had no problems using the unbrick tool (and I've used it a lot as I've been testing/learning lots of stuff with TWRP) on my KB2000.

BillGoss said:
My 8T has ddr_type of 1 and I've had no problems using the unbrick tool (and I've used it a lot as I've been testing/learning lots of stuff with TWRP) on my KB2000.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's some good news, mine is KB2001 I wonder if that will make a difference. Also, have you tried flashing custom roms? If yes, was there any firmware incompatibility?

pratyush28 said:
That's some good news, mine is KB2001 I wonder if that will make a difference. Also, have you tried flashing custom roms? If yes, was there any firmware incompatibility?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I installed a couple of custom ROMs and they were fine.
The only place I know that matters is the xbl and xbl_config partitions. The full OOS ROMs have an extra -lp5 set of files that get flashed on lp5 phones instead of the "normal" xbl files.
But since this only applies to firmware and the xbl partitions are never touched by custom ROMs, there cannot, therefore, be incompatibilities due to lp4 vs lp5.

How to install a GSI? (I have a problem).

Hello.
I find myself with the need to install a GSI in my Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) (A750G), since with the stock firmware, for some strange reason the power button does not unlock the screen.
The thing is, I was previously using Phhussom's GSI AOSP (https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations) with TWRP recovery (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-root- twrp-3-2-3-1-galaxy-a7-2018-a750.3876798 /) and after re-flashing the stock firmware, now I find that the TWRP I was using does not work, which led me to use this recovery https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-unofficial-pbrp-3-1-0-for-galaxy-a7-2018.4280553 and try again to install the Phhussom GSI AOSP.
However I did not succeed. And after following many guides that had incomplete files (dead links) or methods that do not work, I find myself with the problem of not being able to install GSIs.
Does anyone know any method that works? I am puzzled.

Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.

LinhBT said:
Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung does not have fastboot.

uphragbvfccved said:
Samsung does not have fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just under different name, and have weird way to boot into it. At the end of the day, no android devices can work without bootloader is it my friend?

just flash a older version of the firmware i.e a november 2020 firmware

LinhBT said:
It just under different name, and have weird way to boot into it. At the end of the day, no android devices can work without bootloader is it my friend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I have concerned, the bootloader mode (ADB reboot bootloader) redirects to download mode, which only supports .tar images.
Also, a bootloader can exist without fastboot. Activating every piece of hardware, load the drivers, load the kernel, and give control to the Android OS, which as far as I know is what the bootloader does, does not necessarily need a user accessible fastboot mode.
There is still a way to flash GSI in theory, by renaming the gsi system.img, putting it into a zip, and rename the zip into xxx.tar, and Odin flash it. No guarantees though.

LinhBT said:
weird way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you going to show us how to short circuit testpoints and make fastboot commands magically work on a Samsung phone?

LR7875 said:
Are you going to show us how to short circuit testpoints and make fastboot commands magically work on a Samsung phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Testpoint is diff from each device, and I think you can easily find it for your device on google.
2. Yes, a bootloader, in fact, exist in almost every devices, only be called with different names ( like BIOS on the computer ). About it's functions, yes, you listed some of those. But one thing you may mis-understanding : Fastboot. Fastboot or fastbootD or Download mode, are just names. And they are, in fact, is the bootloader command-line environment. Besides, flashing a GSI on Samsung device is not that complicated, I think you guys may look on other places than just XDA to find solutions sometimes.

Ok to me it is not too easy to search a method to use command line mode on Samsungs.
As far as I know fastboot commands does not work in Odin download mode.
For those interested in custom recoverys, some custom recoverys succeed in flashing GSIs on a galaxy J7 pro (android 7, unofficial project treble port)with h-vendor BUT at the end of the day it might not work on newer devices like the A7, because of vertified boot( AVB 2.0) that is putted into android since Oreo! And AVB 2.0 is the real thing that you need to disable via a command line interface.

LinhBT said:
Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you point to a good guide/tutorial on howto do this?

blazzer12 said:
Can you point to a good guide/tutorial on howto do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I mentioned, I always use command-line to flash GSI. The order and commands may a little different from devices, but basically should be as below :
- adb reboot bootloader ( to boot into bootloader enviroment )
- fastboot devices ( to check and verify the connetion between computer and devices, can be skipped )
- fastboot reboot fastboot ( to boot into fastboot/fastbootD/Download mode - names may different from devices. Also, in some device, as for Scamsung, can be different - also depends on devices )
- fastboot --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img ( to flash blank/patched vbmeta.img into vbmeta partition, some devices don't need this step )
- fastboot erase system ( erase system partition )
- fastboot flash system system.img ( flash system.img into system partition )
- fastboot -w ( do a factory reset )
- fastboot reboot bootloader ( boot back to bootloader enviroment )
- fastboot erase userdata ( erase userdata partition to prevent configs, same as you do the wipe data in OF or other custom recoveries )
- fastboot reboot ( yeah, it is )
As I mentioned before, this's only the basic structure of commands to flash a GSI ( apply for dynamic partition devices also ). Depends on which device u have, may need to slightly change the commands or order. Means, this method is not applied for ALL DEVICES.
Last but not least, always have backups and do find other solutions may have to figure out which is right for you, do things at your own risks.

Samsung does not support fastboot so I used heimdall still resulted in bootloop. Are you sure system parition needs to be erased?
Can you tailor this to "Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)" a bit?

LR7875 said:
AVB 2.0 is the real thing that you need to disable via a command line interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to do it for A7?

blazzer12 said:
How to do it for A7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only devices launched after 2018 have this.

Question No OS even after flashing stock

So I've been pulling hair for 2 days. I can flash everything fine recovery boots fastboot. But it consistently says no OS on either slots. Tried flashing stock to both went all the way through loading lineage and same thing. I'm at wits end. Also not a single password I put in decrypts data.

Also Metro/Tmob variant xt2131-1 bootloader unlocked.

Have you tied fastboot -w? It sounds like the partitions are messed up.

I have. I've done all of the above just still a persistent boot loop.

Fandroid Tech said:
Have you tied fastboot -w? It sounds like the partitions are messed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently retrying to flash stock firmware with a Motorola flashing program. Will let you know here in about 2 min.

Fandroid Tech said:
Have you tied fastboot -w? It sounds like the partitions are messed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. Again boot loop. Says no OS. Stock recovery says last installation failed. Flashing the service flash package to see if that makes a difference. Hopefully because it says it reflashed my bootloader and stock recovery.

Spedwardo said:
Yep. Again boot loop. Says no OS. Stock recovery says last installation failed. Flashing the service flash package to see if that makes a difference. Hopefully because it says it reflashed my bootloader and stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The motorola program formats the partitions before flash unlike an automated fastboot flash. The only issue I can see is a physical issue with the UFS/EMMC 5.1 chip, maybe even the ram(very unlikely). Had there been any warning signs such as the phone rebooting randomly or freezing? Motorola has a one year warranty for all devices.

No nothing of the sort. I did a factory reset because I was gonna try out lineage and this is where I'm at now. Still no OS. Even after flashing 3 times. I did have a remote access trojan that rewrote my partition data and resized one and added one and used the root hidden partition to store the data in while it was being transferred.

This drive folder has the system, system_ext, vandor and product of the xt2131-1 that can be flashed in twrp or orangefox. Make sure you make the partitions rw in twrp or OF using 100 rw zip (search for it) then mount as rw in terminal. Flash these images or image,whichever you believe to be needing. Then try and reboot. If all else fails then download the firmware from LMSA and use tinyfastboot tools to flash it. Always worked for me. Let me know how it goes. Heres the link to the files.
XT2131-1_Denver-Osaka_04-2022_RRE31.60-47-2-2 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
!!!!!Make Sure you have verity and verification disabled before trying to flash these. Hence the 100 rw zip is necessary. And must be flashed correctly. 73 error can be flashed with Ubuntu!!!!!!!!
**Edit**
Make sure you always
Fastboot -w then
Factory reset in recovery then format data for a full clean install. This vendor build is made for the boost mobile variant but it is universal. The firmware is incremental based as well so it knows which build to install or activate on the tmo/metro variant. I have all the apps and files for all carriers that have this model.

sosthenisRR said:
This drive folder has the system, system_ext, vandor and product of the xt2131-1 that can be flashed in twrp or orangefox. Make sure you make the partitions rw in twrp or OF using 100 rw zip (search for it) then mount as rw in terminal. Flash these images or image,whichever you believe to be needing. Then try and reboot. If all else fails then download the firmware from LMSA and use tinyfastboot tools to flash it. Always worked for me. Let me know how it goes. Heres the link to the files.
XT2131-1_Denver-Osaka_04-2022_RRE31.60-47-2-2 - Google Drive
drive.google.com
!!!!!Make Sure you have verity and verification disabled before trying to flash these. Hence the 100 rw zip is necessary. And must be flashed correctly. 73 error can be flashed with Ubuntu!!!!!!!!
**Edit**
Make sure you always
Fastboot -w then
Factory reset in recovery then format data for a full clean install. This vendor build is made for the boost mobile variant but it is universal. The firmware is incremental based as well so it knows which build to install or activate on the tmo/metro variant. I have all the apps and files for all carriers that have this model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this doesnt work you can try a blankfile flash via edl, if that does not work nothing will.

Fandroid Tech said:
The motorola program formats the partitions before flash unlike an automated fastboot flash. The only issue I can see is a physical issue with the UFS/EMMC 5.1 chip, maybe even the ram(very unlikely). Had there been any warning signs such as the phone rebooting randomly or freezing? Motorola has a one year warranty for all devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at home. Staying the night at my mom's. Get home early tomorrow and I will try the advised steps. I went through my previous flashing steps and am now just missing the persist partition. I'll report back as for the edl mode and I have 2 blank flash files just cannot get into edl mode. Have qfil rsd and motoflashpro

Spedwardo said:
just cannot get into edl mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What have you tried thus far? Have you tried fastboot commands to get into edl, I think it may also also a boot menu option in twrp but I don't remember. Also now that I think about, after flashing the firmware(to both lots as you say) have you tried fastboot set_active a (or) b? Also where did you find the firehose file for it, I could not find one on other forums?

So far im downloading the files and will try what you suggested now. I'll let you know in 30 min. But I've tried factory reset. Flash. Formatting then flashing. Blank flash. Formatting then flashing. I've also used fastboot --force -slot=all flash ***. *****. Etc. Tried flashing. Flashing the copy partitions and tried flashing a gsi an aosp. Got to lineages recovery but still the same issue. Some partition are unmountable. At this point now it refuses to charge while off.. and if I do plug it in while off it continues to boot loop from the battery/charging screen.

Spedwardo said:
At this point now it refuses to charge while off.. and if I do plug it in while off it continues to boot loop from the battery/charging screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to tell you this but the phone is definitely ****ed on a hardware level, no amount of reflashing the firmware will fix that. The partition issue is likely caused by the EMMC/UFS malfunctioning, however the charging issue is definitely not caused by software as the battery has a separate controller. Your best bet would be to replace the motherboard, your phone's warranty is however void anyways since you unlocked the bootloader so you would have to do it yourself.

Fandroid Tech said:
Sorry to tell you this but the phone is definitely ****ed on a hardware level, no amount of reflashing the firmware will fix that. The partition issue is likely caused by the EMMC/UFS malfunctioning, however the charging issue is definitely not caused by software as the battery has a separate controller. Your best bet would be to replace the motherboard, your phone's warranty is however void anyways since you unlocked the bootloader so you would have to do it yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I disable anti-rollback???? Might be the issue with it not flashing vb* files. Assuming those control vendor persiste etc

Spedwardo said:
How do I disable anti-rollback???? Might be the issue with it not flashing vb* files. Assuming those control vendor persiste etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't, the manufacture prevents you from doing so due to "security issues". Make sure you get the latest firmware at https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/denver/official/. This will restore all partitions including vendor and persist as it generates from the modem partition, also android 11 and up does not use regular persist partitions anymore, it is now in the "super" images so don't worry about it. When you extract the latest firmware from this site there will be an XML file, go to https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...e-with-motorola-devices.4042039/post-82186933 and follow the instructions, before flashing made sure to select slot A, after you are done flashing slot A set it to slot B and flash again, then reboot regularly. To set the slot run the fastboot command before flashing, for example fastboot set_active a, flash firmware, fastboot set_active b, flash firmware, reboot.

Need help restoring my pixel 5

Good morning all I need some help unbricking my pixel 5. I have exhausted all possible avenues that I'm aware of to restore my phone out of bootloop. At the time I messed it up I was attempting to use twrp. In an attempt to fix the phone I tried flashing the system,and boot to no avail repeatedly getting the error "boot.img missing command-line or os version" as well as using the flash all from the stock firmware file. The current active slot is b and the a/b partition thing is new to me so I'm sure somewhere along the way I missed something. Any help is greatly appreciated .

Could you try this fastboot command and see if it works?
fastboot --set-active=a

I did try that however I'm not sure i was doing it correctly is it typed the way you typed it out?

Reboot the phone into the bootloader, look up how to do that if you don't know how, and then manually flash a rom or use the Android Flash Tool. The latter option is recommended if you are a novice.

I wouldn't say I'm novice lol but more out of the game too long either way thank you for your assistance I will try that as soon as I get a chance and report back

UPDATE your advice worked and I was able to reboot properly thank you in a side note is it impossible at this time to install twrp on a pixel 5?

musiv2 said:
UPDATE your advice worked and I was able to reboot properly thank you in a side note is it impossible at this time to install twrp on a pixel 5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. The Pixel series, as with most A/B devices, do not have a bespoke recovery partition. The recovery kernel is compressed into the boot image. TWRP does not support compression in this way so it cannot be used as a replacement for the stock recovery. The only effective way to use TWRP is to live boot the image, use TWRP to do whatever you need to do, without installing it to /boot.
BTW the next time you need to restore your phone you can use the Android Flash Tool.

Ok thank you for the explanation as I stated before I am new to the a/b partitioning way of android life so I have alot to learn

I used twrp in the past( on no A/B devices) but would recommend learning fastboot/adb. First step: always make sure USB debugging is enabled after every flash. This will make it so you can fix a lot of mistakes and recover your device. It's the first thing I do after every boot on a new install.
Here's the commands to flash stock to both slots. NOTE: this is for android 13. 12 and before will be a little different. Bootloader, radio and rom names should be exact to file, this is just for example.
fastboot --slot=all flash bootloader bootloader.img
fastboot reboot bootlaoder
fastboot --slot=all flash radio radio.img
fastboot reboot bootlaoder
fastboot --slot=a --skip-reboot update stock-image.zip
fastboot reboot bootlaoder
fastboot --slot=b --skip-reboot update stock-image.zip
fastboot -w
fastboot reboot
One final note: I put slot a first but I always start with the active slot(it's in the bootloader screen). If you want the android 12 instructions, let me know but it's not much different, you just use the stock recovery.