[HELP] Google Pixel 3 stuck on factory reset after unlocking bootloader - Google Pixel 3 Questions & Answers

Hi,
I am incredibly new to this and I think I might have managed to destroy this google pixel I just bought. I had attempted to root the phone using magisk after unlocking the bootloader and installing TWRP though I had a little bit of trouble, I was following instructions here https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-3-unlock-bootloader-root-magisk/. I managed to unlock the bootloader but after signing in to the phone again and attempting to install TWRP to get magisk It wouldn't let me access most of my downloads on the phone because TWRP was asking for a password for my user. I tried the passcode I had set but I didn't work I tried rebooting the phone and removing the lock but many apps on the phone once I booted it back no longer worked, specifically settings which is how I was planning on removing the password. I also tried using adb commands to wipe the lock but nothing really seemed to be working so I found a factory reset setting on TWRP and now I have been stuck at the google reset screen for about 5 hours now. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks

ajg32 said:
Hi,
I am incredibly new to this and I think I might have managed to destroy this google pixel I just bought. I had attempted to root the phone using magisk after unlocking the bootloader and installing TWRP though I had a little bit of trouble, I was following instructions here https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-3-unlock-bootloader-root-magisk/. I managed to unlock the bootloader but after signing in to the phone again and attempting to install TWRP to get magisk It wouldn't let me access most of my downloads on the phone because TWRP was asking for a password for my user. I tried the passcode I had set but I didn't work I tried rebooting the phone and removing the lock but many apps on the phone once I booted it back no longer worked, specifically settings which is how I was planning on removing the password. I also tried using adb commands to wipe the lock but nothing really seemed to be working so I found a factory reset setting on TWRP and now I have been stuck at the google reset screen for about 5 hours now. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by "remove the lock" and "wipe the lock"? If you relocked the bootloader, your recovery options are limited. Can you access the phone with adb and/or fastboot? If the bootloader is still unlocked, flash a stock factory image available at https://developers.google.com/android/images. Instructions for flashing are at that URL.
If your bootloader is now locked, can you get to fastboot? If not, I don't know of anything you can do. If you can get to fastboot, you can try to sideload a full OTA image from https://developers.google.com/android/ota. Instructions are at that URL.
If you can recover, forget rooting with TWRP - those instructions are outdated. Just install the Magisk app, and use it to patch boot.img, then flash the patched boot.img. If you need TWRP for other purposes, do not install it, just boot it with "fastboot boot twrp.img".
Never lock the bootloader unless you have a completely stock device. Even then, you risk bricking the phone.

dcarvil said:
What do you mean by "remove the lock" and "wipe the lock"? If you relocked the bootloader, your recovery options are limited. Can you access the phone with adb and/or fastboot? If the bootloader is still unlocked, flash a stock factory image available at https://developers.google.com/android/images. Instructions for flashing are at that URL.
If your bootloader is now locked, can you get to fastboot? If not, I don't know of anything you can do. If you can get to fastboot, you can try to sideload a full OTA image from https://developers.google.com/android/ota. Instructions are at that URL.
If you can recover, forget rooting with TWRP - those instructions are outdated. Just install the Magisk app, and use it to patch boot.img, then flash the patched boot.img. If you need TWRP for other purposes, do not install it, just boot it with "fastboot boot twrp.img".
Never lock the bootloader unless you have a completely stock device. Even then, you risk bricking the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the lack of clarity. The bootloader was still unlocked I was simply trying to access files in the TWRP menu but I had to enter the pin I put on the phone. When I mentioned that I was trying to remove the lock it was so that I could use the file manager to install through the TWRP menu. I believe the bootloader is still unlocked but I simply cannot really communicate with the phone. It is on, but its suck on a google logo with a loading bar. Aside from adb commands which don't seem to be working as the phone is not being detected Is there any sort of combination of clicking the power button or something similar that may shake the phone out of the resetting loop?

ajg32 said:
Sorry for the lack of clarity. The bootloader was still unlocked I was simply trying to access files in the TWRP menu but I had to enter the pin I put on the phone. When I mentioned that I was trying to remove the lock it was so that I could use the file manager to install through the TWRP menu. I believe the bootloader is still unlocked but I simply cannot really communicate with the phone. It is on, but its suck on a google logo with a loading bar. Aside from adb commands which don't seem to be working as the phone is not being detected Is there any sort of combination of clicking the power button or something similar that may shake the phone out of the resetting loop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try these instructions - https://www.hardreset.info/devices/google/google-pixel-3/fastboot-mode/
If you can get to fastboot mode, flash a stock image from the URL in my previous post.
If that does not work, google "plxel 3 recovery mode" or "pixel 3 fastboot mode" to try to find something that works. If you can get to fastboot mode, you have a good chance of recovering the phone. Don't try to do anything with TWRP.

dcarvil said:
Try these instructions - https://www.hardreset.info/devices/google/google-pixel-3/fastboot-mode/
If you can get to fastboot mode, flash a stock image from the URL in my previous post.
If that does not work, google "plxel 3 recovery mode" or "pixel 3 fastboot mode" to try to find something that works. If you can get to fastboot mode, you have a good chance of recovering the phone. Don't try to do anything with TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for all the help, I managed to restore the phone pre-TWRP mess. You mentioned rooting by only installing magisk. Would that method be similar to the one described here https://www.rootdroids.com/guides/how-to-root-google-pixel-3-with-magisk-without-twrp/?

ajg32 said:
Thank you very much for all the help, I managed to restore the phone pre-TWRP mess. You mentioned rooting by only installing magisk. Would that method be similar to the one described here https://www.rootdroids.com/guides/how-to-root-google-pixel-3-with-magisk-without-twrp/?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is the method. Those instructions don't really tell you how to get boot.img though. Unzip the factory image you downloaded. Inside that zip is another zip. Unzip that second zip and boot.img will be extracted.

dcarvil said:
Yes, that is the method. Those instructions don't really tell you how to get boot.img though. Unzip the factory image you downloaded. Inside that zip is another zip. Unzip that second zip and boot.img will be extracted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe I got the correct boot.img although now when I try to flash boot the patched img file I get an error. Specifically,
Warning: skip copying boot_a image avb footer (boot_a partition size: 67108864, boot_a image size: 100663296).
Sending 'boot_a' (98304 KB) OKAY [ 2.286s]
Writing 'boot_a' (bootloader) Image missing cmdline or OS version
FAILED (remote: 'Failed to write to partition Bad Buffer Size')
fastboot: error: Command failed
Looking it up it seems like the most common fix is to boot from TWRP

ajg32 said:
I believe I got the correct boot.img although now when I try to flash boot the patched img file I get an error. Specifically,
Warning: skip copying boot_a image avb footer (boot_a partition size: 67108864, boot_a image size: 100663296).
Sending 'boot_a' (98304 KB) OKAY [ 2.286s]
Writing 'boot_a' (bootloader) Image missing cmdline or OS version
FAILED (remote: 'Failed to write to partition Bad Buffer Size')
fastboot: error: Command failed
Looking it up it seems like the most common fix is to boot from TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"boot_a image size: 100663296" is the wrong size. How are you transferring boot.img and the patched image between your phone and PC? You should be using adb push/pull. If you did use adb push/pull, I'd need to see all the commands you used, and a directory listing of all the files to see if I can spot something wrong. Also, what version of Magisk?
You could try renaming magisk.apk to magisk.zip and installing the zip with TWRP, but I don't know if that method still works on the Pixel 3. I've never tried that method. Make sure you just boot TWRP (fastboot boot twrp.img), and do not install TWRP. If that breaks things, at least you know how to recover now.

Related

Booting TWRP Advice

HTCDreamOn said:
A word of advice: I strongly recommend temporarily booting any images (be it recoveries or kernels) you are about to flash to your device. This is simply a case of using the command "fastboot boot blahblah.img" whether blahblah.img is a recovery or kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We know you can boot to TWRP vice flash to your device by using the command:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp.img
But how do you proceed from here? Are you required to use ADB commands at this point or can you unplug your USB cable and use TWRP as if it was installed, I.E. , back up current ROM, and install new zip.
purplepizza said:
We know you can boot to TWRP vice flash to your device by using the command:
Code:
fastboot boot twrp.img
But how do you proceed from here? Are you required to use ADB commands at this point or can you unplug your USB cable and use TWRP as if it was installed, I.E. , back up current ROM, and install new zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if I wasn't clear. Yes you can unplug usb and use as normal, it just means twrp isn't flashed to the device so it won't be there when you reboot.
I just recommend this step because I'm paranoid. Once you've confirmed the image works you should reboot to bootloader and fastboot flash the image, then you'll be able to boot into twrp whenever you want.
HTCDreamOn said:
Sorry if I wasn't clear. Yes you can unplug usb and use as normal, it just means twrp isn't flashed to the device so it won't be there when you reboot.
I just recommend this step because I'm paranoid. Once you've confirmed the image works you should reboot to bootloader and fastboot flash the image, then you'll be able to boot into twrp whenever you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good step to do, and if the device supports it it should be used... for example the Moto G (if unlocked) fully supports fastboot boot commands, devices like the HTC One M7 do NOT support this anymore...
To the OP, what is really happening here is that TWRP or the boot.img (kernel) is being loaded from USB into RAM and executed normally, instead of the standard /boot partition which is skipped when executing fastboot boot. TWRP (and recovery in general) is really just a specialized micro-sized android distribution and when started via fastboot boot is executed as if it was the boot image. Once the image is transferred into RAM, the boot continues normally per the instructions of TWRP or the boot image, and no further action via USB is required. USB is just the medium to load the image into RAM and nothing more.
fastboot boot - used to manually load a boot image (or recovery) and execute from RAM, it is not flashed to the device, on the next reboot it will return to it's previous state
fastboot flash boot/recovery - used to actually flash the boot image or recovery image to the it's appropriate partition on the device, it does not execute it. On a reboot or factory default this information will stay in the device.
acejavelin said:
This is a good step to do, and if the device supports it it should be used... for example the Moto G (if unlocked) fully supports fastboot boot commands, devices like the HTC One M7 do NOT support this anymore...
To the OP, what is really happening here is that TWRP or the boot.img (kernel) is being loaded from USB into RAM and executed normally, instead of the standard /boot partition which is skipped when executing fastboot boot. TWRP (and recovery in general) is really just a specialized micro-sized android distribution and when started via fastboot boot is executed as if it was the boot image. Once the image is transferred into RAM, the boot continues normally per the instructions of TWRP or the boot image, and no further action via USB is required. USB is just the medium to load the image into RAM and nothing more.
fastboot boot - used to manually load a boot image (or recovery) and execute from RAM, it is not flashed to the device, on the next reboot it will return to it's previous state
fastboot flash boot/recovery - used to actually flash the boot image or recovery image to the it's appropriate partition on the device, it does not execute it. On a reboot or factory default this information will stay in the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. So it seems there is no reason to ever flash TWRP unless you don't want the PC dependence to use the TWRP tool.
purplepizza said:
Thanks. So it seems there is no reason to ever flash TWRP unless you don't want the PC dependence to use the TWRP tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, sort of... but the point is once you flash anything via twrp, you are no longer stock, so why not flash twrp to make it easier to flash other things?
The smartest thing would be to unlock, boot TWRP, make a nandroid backup before you do anything at all, then flash TWRP and do your thing...
acejavelin said:
Well, sort of... but the point is once you flash anything via twrp, you are no longer stock, so why not flash twrp to make it easier to flash other things?
The smartest thing would be to unlock, boot TWRP, make a nandroid backup before you do anything at all, then flash TWRP and do your thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand what you are saying. The only flash I planned on was SuperSU. I thought when a system upgrade is available, I could simply use SU to unroot and be ready for the update. Would this work?
If I followed your recommendation, could I feasibly, flash TWRP, then when an upgrade is ready, flash nandroid backup (which I assume removes TWRP) then accept system update, then re-flash TWRP. I could restore apps by using TB. Does this make sense? Or does TWRP remain in place after flashing nandroid backup?
purplepizza said:
I understand what you are saying. The only flash I planned on was SuperSU. I thought when a system upgrade is available, I could simply use SU to unroot and be ready for the update. Would this work?
If I followed your recommendation, could I feasibly, flash TWRP, then when an upgrade is ready, flash nandroid backup (which I assume removes TWRP) then accept system update, then re-flash TWRP. I could restore apps by using TB. Does this make sense? Or does TWRP remain in place after flashing nandroid backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP remains in place after restoring a nandroid (I think, I haven't installed on my Moto G, but in most devices it doesn't backup/restore recovery), but you can easily restore the original recovery via fastboot.
acejavelin said:
TWRP remains in place after restoring a nandroid (I think, I haven't installed on my Moto G, but in most devices it doesn't backup/restore recovery), but you can easily restore the original recovery via fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious, how did you go from 5.1.1 to 6.0?
purplepizza said:
Just curious, how did you go from 5.1.1 to 6.0?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA... part of soak test on December 22.
acejavelin said:
OTA... part of soak test on December 22.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for helping to answer this, your explanation was much better I thought it had something to do with loading into RAM but wasn't sure. I didn't know some devices don't allow fastboot boot commands though, I've always relied on them. Part of the reason I'm avoiding htc now.
@purplepizza I agree with everything acejavelin has said: essentially you really do want to make sure your have twrp flashed.
To answer your nandroid question: It basically just takes an image of the partitions you choose, usually /system, /data, and /boot (where kernel stuff is) which is the least you need to boot back with all your data. It doesn't backup recovery and when you restore it doesn't write anything to recovery, so yes twrp will still be in place. In general you should only ever flash stuff to the recovery partition whilst in fastboot mode (i.e. using fastboot flash recovery recovery.img), I know on some devices you can flash recoveries as zip files in the recovery itself but you shouldn't.
I've seen quite a few people querying about the 6.0 OTA: in short, I wouldn't worry about it because once they start rolling out, people always catch the OTA and post here on xda. You can flash that and it'll return you to stock 6.0 anyway, at which point you can reroot and everything if you want.
acejavelin said:
Well, sort of... but the point is once you flash anything via twrp, you are no longer stock, so why not flash twrp to make it easier to flash other things?
The smartest thing would be to unlock, boot TWRP, make a nandroid backup before you do anything at all, then flash TWRP and do your thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more question, when making the first nandroid backup. do you just back up system and data or do you include boot as well?
purplepizza said:
One more question, when making the first nandroid backup. do you just back up system and data or do you include boot as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My opinion is always backup everything, you can always choose what to restore
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
acejavelin said:
My opinion is always backup everything, you can always choose what to restore
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is boot? I know I am kind of going back to my previous question, but if I restore boot, is that the boot loader? I would assume this would not commonly need restored?
And I now assume the bootloader is completely independent from recovery.
purplepizza said:
So what is boot? I know I am kind of going back to my previous question, but if I restore boot, is that the boot loader? I would assume this would not commonly need restored?
And I now assume the bootloader is completely independent from recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not the bootloader... It is the /boot partition of the phone, basically the kernel and RAM disk. If you screw things up and need to restore, you typically want to restore /boot, /system, and /data, and occasionally /cache (if you want to restore to save time and get an exact duplicate of the previous image, otherwise many people skip /cache and let it rebuild on the first boot which takes 10-15 minutes extra).
acejavelin said:
Well, sort of... but the point is once you flash anything via twrp, you are no longer stock, so why not flash twrp to make it easier to flash other things?
The smartest thing would be to unlock, boot TWRP, make a nandroid backup before you do anything at all, then flash TWRP and do your thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTCDreamOn said:
@purplepizza I agree with everything acejavelin has said: essentially you really do want to make sure your have twrp flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I am following your advice. I booted to TWRP, made Nandroid backup.
Rebooted and flashed TWRP, see below:
Code:
sudo fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target reported max download size of 268435456 bytes
sending 'recovery' (7772 KB)...
OKAY [ 10.635s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 0.141s]
finished. total time: 10.776s
All seems OK.
Scrolled to recovery, selected recovery. TWRP was there. I then powered down.
After that I held power and volume down, system boots to dead Android with message “No command” Held power then volume up, I see stock boot loader. Is TWRP flashed somewhere or is it gone? So what did I do wrong.
purplepizza said:
So I am following your advice. I booted to TWRP, made Nandroid backup.
Rebooted and flashed TWRP, see below:
Code:
sudo fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target reported max download size of 268435456 bytes
sending 'recovery' (7772 KB)...
OKAY [ 10.635s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 0.141s]
finished. total time: 10.776s
All seems OK.
Scrolled to recovery, selected recovery. TWRP was there. I then powered down.
After that I held power and volume down, system boots to dead Android with message “No command” Held power then volume up, I see stock boot loader. Is TWRP flashed somewhere or is it gone? So what did I do wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea, you did it right... selecting recovery from the bootloader should start TWRP, not stock recovery, that should be gone.
acejavelin said:
I have no idea, you did it right... selecting recovery from the bootloader should start TWRP, not stock recovery, that should be gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any recommendations how to proceed?
I also need help with my soft bricked moto g3
Moto g3 (xt 1550, Indian dual sim 16 gb version)
I officially upgraded to 6.0.0 via ota and my objective was to root my phone and use xposed modules. I am not interested in any other custom rom (I'd rather keep stock rom just for moto display and ota upgrades) or custom recovery like twrp(I'm afraid it may cause ota upgrades to fail).
I used the method described here in the question- http://android.stackexchange.com/qu...rsu-using-play-store-versus-a-custom-recovery
So I first successfully unlocked my bootloader using the official motorola method.
I then proceeded to use google's backup settings to re-install all the apps that were uninstalled due to unlocking the bootloader. I also put supersu.zip version 2.46 on internal sd card.
I then proceeded to (without rebooting) enter fastboot where i used minimal adb to temporarily boot into twrp version2.8.7 r5 (link - http://forum.xda-developers.com/2015-moto-g/orig-development/twrp-twrp-moto-g-2015-t3170537 ).
Once in twrp, I located and flashed the supersu.zip. It flashed successfully. I procceded to clear dalvik cache and then after clearing cache I tried to reboot my phone using twrp.
However, it did not go beyond the "Warning - Bootloader Unlocked" screen that you get on unlocking a motorola bootloader. I left it for over 10 minutes (usb was still plugged in, I had >80% battery) but it did not proceed.
Long -pressing the power button causes the phone to vibrate and again attempt to boot, stuck at the same initial screen. Adb quite understandably does not work here.
I can press vol down+power and enter fastboot , where adb works fine.
I can enter stock recovery from the fastboot sceen too.
Using adb in fastboot, I am able to boot twrp . In fact, I tried to re-install supersu.zip. I retried version 2.46 and then tried version 2.56. On all occcassions, it was able to successfully flash it, but gets hung on the initial boot screen.
USB Debugging is also enabled, and I have a backp of my sd card data.
I tried taking a backup of the system and apps in twrp (3 gb in total) and tried to reflash it, but it still hangs at the same screen.
Is there any way I can unbrick my device and- (in decreasing order of preference)
1. Keep my stock rom and recovery?
2. Keep stock rom with twrp? (It should not be a problem)
3. Custom rom with custom recovery - perhaps official cm. Least preferred as I want Moto Display and stock/vanilla android.
Also, is SELinux involved anywhere with my phone getting bricked? I also read that a custom kernel is required for rooting 6.0, which I don't have. Supersu Version 2.56 is said to prevent soft bricks if the kernel is incorrect (systemless root), yet even after flashing the newer one it is still bricked. Where am I going wrong? What should I do? Thanks in advance! :good:
purplepizza said:
Any recommendations how to proceed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the flash again? Sorry, but I don't really know help... if you are successfully rooted, perhaps try to flash TWRP image with Flashify? (select your file, don't let it auto-grab an image)
acejavelin said:
Try the flash again? Sorry, but I don't really know help... if you are successfully rooted, perhaps try to flash TWRP image with Flashify? (select your file, don't let it auto-grab an image)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not rooted yet. I guess I can try by booting TWRP then flashing SuperSU.
Can you think of any reasons not to try fastboot again the re-flash TWRP?

No recovery partition??!!!??

so im having a issue attemping to root my verizion variant google pixel. ive been successful in getting the device a unlocked boot loader but now the issue i am running into in the recovery. Secondly when i go to reboot the phone after flashing the recovery as failed the loading screen goes on for hours with no change. This is what im running currently.\
C:\adb>fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
sending 'recovery' (9434 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.330s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) Flashing active slot "_b"
FAILED (remote: partition [recovery] doesn't exist)
finished. total time: 0.435s
That is what i get as a responce. any help would be a great help. Those that can assist me in the matter im willing to sent some BTC your way. Thanks in advance. ive also tried to go the boot-to-root method and i get the same effect of the phone being stuck at the loading screen.
Why are you not reading in the other section where this is posted. Mods, roms, etc. It is known that recovery partition is gone, it's part of boot. There is TWRP alpha2 thread that works on Pixel and instructions. SuperSU 2.78 SR4 works as well.
I suggest you do reading first to understand how the new partitions work before you start moding. Pixel has 2 system, 2 boot partitions.
milan187 said:
Why are you not reading in the other section where this is posted. Mods, roms, etc. It is known that recovery partition is gone, it's part of boot. There is TWRP alpha2 thread that works on Pixel and instructions. SuperSU 2.78 SR4 works as well.
I suggest you do reading first to understand how the new partitions work before you start moding. Pixel has 2 system, 2 boot partitions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there any link that you can reference? thanks in advance.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel/development/twrp-alpha1-pixel-devices-t3500314/page10
First thing you're doing wrong is flashing the boot image you're supposed to be booting the boot image.
jayfried said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel/development/twrp-alpha1-pixel-devices-t3500314/page10
First thing you're doing wrong is flashing the boot image you're supposed to be booting the boot image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have isolated what i think is the root of the issue.
First, i can't do a normal boot up on the phone is stays at the google load screen with the four dots that shift left and right.
Second i try and use adb push and i can't get the files on the phone and I'm stuck in fast boot. (adb devices shows nothing and fast boot devices shows the phone)
my theory is that i need the zip on the phone and it would have what it needs to run.
Any help on the matter would be of great help.
There are 2 files for twrp, an image file which you put with your adb and fastboot tools and a zip file that goes on your phone which you can put on there one you fastboot "BOOT" the image file. fastboot boot of the twrp.img file will boot the phone to recover but it doesn't install the recovery you have to at this point install the zip file which can be put on the phone as it's file system should be mounted and installed From twrp. As you are not able to boot the phone right now I recommend starting over with a fresh install of Google factory image.
This is the first thing you should do if you haven't already: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979&page=93
Make sure to install it system wide so you can run the adb and fastboot from any directory on your computer. Then this:
https://developers.google.com/android/images
1.Download and unzip the correct file which would probably be in NDE63V
2. Put phone in bootloader mode and run the flash all batch file, boot it and set up phone
3. Put the zip files on the phone for twrp and root and enable USB debug
4. Back to bootloader and fastboot boot the twrp image
5. Once booted in twrp install the zip for twrp and reboot to recovery from the reboot tab
6. Once back in the recover which is now installed install the zip for root then reboot system and rejoice
---------- Post added at 09:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:56 PM ----------
Sorry for all the edits
jstorms1991 said:
i have isolated what i think is the root of the issue.
First, i can't do a normal boot up on the phone is stays at the google load screen with the four dots that shift left and right.
Second i try and use adb push and i can't get the files on the phone and I'm stuck in fast boot. (adb devices shows nothing and fast boot devices shows the phone)
my theory is that i need the zip on the phone and it would have what it needs to run.
Any help on the matter would be of great help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you enable adb debugging? Honestly, just following the instructions works great. No theories needed.
Use flashall from Google of you are stuck to go back to stock, then start over.
Also look here, it's from XL but applies.
Do your research before messing around.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...share_tid=3494478&share_fid=3793&share_type=t
[GUIDE] Restore to stock after soft bricking. Then install TWRP, Root & Custom Kernel

Boot Issues, Trying to Go Back To Stock

So I got a pixel recently. I unlocked the bootloader, installed TWRP, and rooted it. However, it's been a few years since I had an unlocked and rooted phone so I forgot that the OTA updates can't be applied. So I decided to go back to the factory image. A quick google search lead me to an article where they said I could select the Full Unroot option in the settings of SuperSU and it would attempt to restore the stock boot image and recovery image. So I did that, and ended up in a boot loop.
Well, then I decided to try flashing the entire factory images from google, using the flash-all.bat file they provide. It seems to flash the bootloader and the radio fine, but when it comes to the part where it flashes everything in the "image-sailfish-nde63l.zip" (I picked this build because it was the one I was on when the pixel arrived) folder it says "Error: failed to load 'image-sailfish-nde63l.zip': not enough space."
I can still get to the TWRP recovery, and I can get to the bootloader, but currently nothing else seems to work. Please, can anyone help me?
UPDATE: The issue was outdated adb and fastboot. I had 1.0.32, once I had the latest versions (1.0.36 right now) I could fix everything.
UPDATE: So I extracted boot and system from the zip file and manually flashed those. It boots now, but when it does it says there are errors with the device and to contact the manufacturer, also a lot of dialog boxes pop up saying various processes have stopped.
I think that if I manually flash the rest of the contents of the zip folder it will work, but there are a lot of files and I'm not sure which partition to flash them too, or which one's are needed. Does anyone know how to manually do what the flash-all.bat script does? Flashing bootloader, radio, system, and boot are not enough it seems. If you read the script it's just doing a 'fastboot -w update' on the zip file.
I hope what I'm saying makes sense. Thanks.
Did you try flashing the stock boot.img to both slots before going back to stock?
fastboot flash boot_a boot.img
fastboot flash boot_b boot.img
This is what chainfire recommended in his supersu post when he was talking about flashing twrp. Maybe try doing that and then try using the flashall script. Also make sure your download is not corrupt or something. https://plus.google.com/+Chainfire/posts/CBL8pnKtA8F
Evo_Shift said:
Did you try flashing the stock boot.img to both partitions before going back to stock?
fastboot flash boot_a boot.img
fastboot flash boot_b boot.img
This is what chainfire recommended in his supersu post when he was talking about flashing twrp. Maybe try doing that and then try using the flashall script. Also make sure you download is not corrupt or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I didn't do any flashing myself before going back to stock. I selected the "Full unroot" option in SuperSU, based on the first result when googling "unroot pixel".
As soon as I did that I was stuck in a bootloop and I tried to restore the factory images according to the google webpage, but that's when I get the error.
Doing what you said doesn't work either, not even redownloading the image.
Actually, now it's worse. When I select recovery from fastboot menu it shows "No command" with a broken android. So twrp is gone now too.
If anyone can help me at all, that would be amazing, thanks.
UPDATE: So I extracted boot and system from the zip file and manually flashed those. It boots now, but when it does it says there are errors with the device and to contact the manufacturer, also a lot of dialog boxes pop up saying various processes have stopped.
I think that if I manually flash the rest of the contents of the zip folder it will work, but there are a lot of files and I'm not sure which partition to flash them too, or which one's are needed. Does anyone know how to manually do what the flash-all.bat script does? Flashing bootloader, radio, system, and boot are not enough it seems. If you read the script it's just doing a 'fastboot -w update' on the zip file.
I hope what I'm saying makes sense. Thanks.
th3p3r50n said:
Actually, now it's worse. When I select recovery from fastboot menu it shows "No command" with a broken android. So twrp is gone now too.
If anyone can help me at all, that would be amazing, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to me too. That's my current situation. Have adb and fastboot still but can't figure out what steps to fix it.
I think you should focus on why the flash all didn't work. Do you have the latest fastboot? Did you check the md5 of the downloaded rom image? What OS it's your computer running?
How do we verify latest fastboot. I thought that was my issue but don't see where this can be found. I have latest minimal adb and fastboot installed.
fracman said:
How do we verify latest fastboot. I thought that was my issue but don't see where this can be found. I have latest minimal adb and fastboot installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The commands <adb version> and <fastboot --version> seem to return version numbers. My setup returns:
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.36
Revision fd9e4d07b0f5-android
and
fastboot version fd9e4d07b0f5-android
respectively
Thank you cntryby429. I assumed I was using the latest versions because I had just installed them through the SDK Manager, turns out I was using version 1.0.32. I found the latest version of Minimal ADB and Fastboot and the flash-all script worked fine. I still had a few issues though, so I did a factory reset and then ran the flash-all script again. Now everything works perfectly again. Thanks so much!

Trying to flash TRWP Moto Z recovery - not working

Hey everyone, longtime lurker here finally going to try to get involved more since I just got a new Moto Z and I don't have much of a background with motorola hardware/software. I'm trying to flash recoveries through fastboot and I can't seem to get it working. I'm probably going to wait a while before I try again since there is not much support for the moto z yet. I am running MPL24.246-45 v6.0.1 XT1650-03, I have unlocked the bootloader through the instructions on the motorola website.
On the bootloader screen I can confirm it is now unlocked, but everytime I flash the TRWP recovery through fastboot I get the error message: "<bootloader> img not working or corrupt". I am trying to flash the most recent twrp recoveries for moto Z (twrp-3.0.2-0-griffin.img) but wasn't able to successfully flash it.
Coming from a samsung background, I might be skipping a step or doing something wrong. I am running the bell canadian firmware. Since I messed up my partitions on my last phone I want to be careful with this one, I mostly want to figure out why I am getting this error while trying to flash the recovery when
my bootloader is unlocked and when I check "adb devices" my moto is being read.
Thanks!!
szork
spacezork said:
Hey everyone, longtime lurker here finally going to try to get involved more since I just got a new Moto Z and I don't have much of a background with motorola hardware/software. I'm trying to flash recoveries through fastboot and I can't seem to get it working. I'm probably going to wait a while before I try again since there is not much support for the moto z yet. I am running MPL24.246-45 v6.0.1 XT1650-03, I have unlocked the bootloader through the instructions on the motorola website.
On the bootloader screen I can confirm it is now unlocked, but everytime I flash the TRWP recovery through fastboot I get the error message: "<bootloader> img not working or corrupt". I am trying to flash the most recent twrp recoveries for moto Z (twrp-3.0.2-0-griffin.img) but wasn't able to successfully flash it.
Coming from a samsung background, I might be skipping a step or doing something wrong. I am running the bell canadian firmware. Since I messed up my partitions on my last phone I want to be careful with this one, I mostly want to figure out why I am getting this error while trying to flash the recovery when
my bootloader is unlocked and when I check "adb devices" my moto is being read.
Thanks!!
szork
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didn't try it yet, but did you try renaming it to recovery.img (if on windows be sure extenstions are shown so it is not actually recovery.img.img) and run (didn't see which command you are using:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
but search around forums about encryption thing and similar
the ljubich said:
didn't try it yet, but did you try renaming it to recovery.img (if on windows be sure extenstions are shown so it is not actually recovery.img.img) and run (didn't see which command you are using:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
but search around forums about encryption thing and similar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried both with the original twrp name and extension as well as with renaming it to recovery.img, didn't seem to make a difference. If I am connection to the device itself does that mean that adb/sideload is installed properly? I mean I was able to unlocked the bootloader so I would assume so.
szork
spacezork said:
I've tried both with the original twrp name and extension as well as with renaming it to recovery.img, didn't seem to make a difference. If I am connection to the device itself does that mean that adb/sideload is installed properly? I mean I was able to unlocked the bootloader so I would assume so.
szork
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i really don't know then.. if you successfully unlocked bootloader then fastboot should be ok. you can check in device manager. it should be bootloader iterface not adb interface there (you got me confused with mentioning adb so I am just writing to be sure).
also check if your device is shown when typing
Code:
fastboot devices
or try redownloading twrp.
otherwise I am out of ideas, sorry.
the ljubich said:
i really don't know then.. if you successfully unlocked bootloader then fastboot should be ok. you can check in device manager. it should be bootloader iterface not adb interface there (you got me confused with mentioning adb so I am just writing to be sure).
also check if your device is shown when typing
Code:
fastboot devices
or try redownloading twrp.
otherwise I am out of ideas, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for my confusion with adb/sideload - from what I understand I need both to be able to connect to my device (correct me if im wrong). In the bootloader menu I see "flashing_unlocked" which I believe confirms my bootloader being unlocked, but then at the top of the text right under the dead android guy I see "AP Fastboot Flash Mode (Secure)" could that be an issue?
I can retry downloading the recovery from the TWRP site, but I know I'm downloading the official one already, just can't put my finger on why I'm getting that error message if others are doing it successfully.
thanks for helping :good:
Do you have the Verizon model?
samwathegreat said:
Do you have the Verizon model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the canadian BELL model XT1650-03
spacezork said:
I have the canadian BELL model XT1650-03
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're at the bootloader, it says Flashing Unlock so yes your bootloader is unlocked and you should be able to flash TWRP no problem.
Did you recently install this .45 firmware? Are you sure that TWRP wasnt actually flashed? I see lots of errors like this from the bootloader and its usually just rubbish.
The twrp does not show the actual memory value of my cell phone and does not let me paste ROM backup, from insufficient memory? how to support it?
I updated my phone to .45 when I bought the phone I believe 1-2 weeks ago, it's definitely NOT flashed as the flashing process runs for 0.2 seconds and fails. I can even boot in the stock recovery afterwards confirming that nothing flashed. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong? possibility of drivers not installed properly?
Before I try and flash recovery I check USB debugging, OEM is unlocked, don't verify ADB files and accept Unknown sources. Is there anything I'm missing?
What if fastboot boot twrpname.img
It's really weird anyway...
enetec said:
What if fastboot boot twrpname.img
It's really weird anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been doing fastboot flash twrpname.img after opening cmd terminal with SHIFT-MOUSE2 in the designated folder. I have not tried that command specifically what's the difference between doing fastboot flash/boot as far as flashing a recovery.img
edit: I've read on different articles that people sometimes try and flash from the recovery menu? I understood it has to be while your are on the bootloader screen, could it be something to do with that? Or is it still a possibility the drivers may not be installed properly.
spacezork said:
I've been doing fastboot flash twrpname.img after opening cmd terminal with SHIFT-MOUSE2 in the designated folder. I have not tried that command specifically what's the difference between doing fastboot flash/boot as far as flashing a recovery.img
edit: I've read on different articles that people sometimes try and flash from the recovery menu? I understood it has to be while your are on the bootloader screen, could it be something to do with that? Or is it still a possibility the drivers may not be installed properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With fastboot boot you send recovery to your phone and ask it to boot on it without really flashing it...
It's useful e.g. to take a full stock backup including original recovery, to test a recovery prior to flash it or to use TWRP to root BUT remain on stock recovery...
Not on all phones it works, but on Moto Z should....
P.S.: you have to be on fastboot screen not on recovery when flashing...
enetec said:
With fastboot boot you send recovery to your phone and ask it to boot on it without really flashing it...
It's useful e.g. to take a full stock backup including original recovery, to test a recovery prior to flash it or to use TWRP to root BUT remain on stock recovery...
Not on all phones it works, but on Moto Z should....
P.S.: you have to be on fastboot screen not on recovery when flashing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
by fastboot screen you mean the bootloader menu right?
I've been accessing cmd from designated folder with .img file in it
- adb fastboot recovery
- fastboot flash recovery.img..
and I get the "img not working or corrupt" after it tries to flash it (lasts 0.2 seconds) and nothing is done.
spacezork said:
by fastboot screen you mean the bootloader menu right?
I've been accessing cmd from designated folder with .img file in it
- adb fastboot recovery
- fastboot flash recovery.img..
and I get the "img not working or corrupt" after it tries to flash it (lasts 0.2 seconds) and nothing is done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, bootloader screen. Enter on it by key-comb... not by command...
Even the real flash take same time... Sending seems to work, is something on verify that doesn't "like" it...
Try to download again recovery and/or check its MD5...
if reading correctly (and what I told you yesterday) command is
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
and not
fastboot flash recovery.img
hi can any one help me i need to get back to stock and lock boot loader to update i have eu any one please ???????????
Troll amiga said:
hi can any one help me i need to get back to stock and lock boot loader to update i have eu any one please ???????????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try following this instructions: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=69065373&postcount=14
and download eu rom from here: https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/griffin/official/RETEU/
i don't know from which ROM you are coming, don't know if downgrading works, but this was onl RETEU ROM i could find.
I have the exact same phone and I've upgraded to Nougat but I got my TWRP working. You need an unlocked bootloader and after upgrading to nougat, the option "unlock OEM" need to be enabled again.
I've used this TWRP : https://dl.twrp.me/griffin/twrp-3.0.2-0-griffin.img.html
Also I tried to only boot on it at first with the command fastboot boot twrp.img then I saw it was working, I flashed it with fastboot flash recovery twrp.img but got the error : (bootloader) image not signed or corrupt . But I booted the recovery from the bootloader and TWRP was working even with this error.
cilk said:
...I flashed it with fastboot flash recovery twrp.img but got the error : (bootloader) image not signed or corrupt . But I booted the recovery from the bootloader and TWRP was working even with this error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeessss... I don't know how could I forgot it!!! :silly:
The message (I forgot I received too...) is *only* to indicate that recovery is not signed! But before there is a clear "Done" confirming the flash!
Just boot on it!

Phone boots into fastboot, system files corrupted

Hi! My old phone is booting into fastboot mode, when I try to boot normally I get a black screen, the "Power off" button appears when I hold the power button. The bootloader is not unlocked and the phone was never rooted. Wiping the user partition does not help. It is visible in fastboot mode and I can enter stock recovery, though trying to adb sideload a stock rom returns an error (footer is wrong; signature verification failed). Trying to fastboot boot twrp or recovery.img doesn't work either. I've ran out of ideas, what should I do to get this phone to work?
Try flashing the stock ROM with fastboot. I'm pretty sure ADB doesn't let you flash onto your phone because using your phone with ADB means that it's still powered on - which can cause some issues. You can also try and unlock your bootloader through fastboot, and then flash a recovery and custom ROM.
Both failed. I attached the errors I recieved.
crepper4454 said:
Both failed. I attached the errors I recieved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try "fastboot bootloader unlock", maybe. Also: Is there a flashall.bat in the stock ROM folder? If there is: Connect your device while in fastboot, and double-click it.
crepper4454 said:
Both failed. I attached the errors I recieved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this maybe. I know you can't wipe through the stock ROM, so, try the command: "fastboot -w". That'll wipe everything off the device.
[INDEX][Osprey][Merlin] Moto G Factory Firmware Images
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anything that happens as a result of flashing these files. Your destiny is your own. Moto G (3rd Gen) Factory Firmware Images - Provided by Firmware TEAM - Please report broken links. New Mirrors welcome...
forum.xda-developers.com
I can wipe through stock recovery. I did fastboot -w and it cleared the cache and userdata partitions, they were already clean afaik. Typing fastboot bootloader unlock returns unknown command. There are no .bat files in my firmware. I can try downloading one from the site you linked, but I don't know what to do with it if fastboot flash does not work.
crepper4454 said:
I can wipe through stock recovery. I did fastboot -w and it cleared the cache and userdata partitions, they were already clean afaik. Typing fastboot bootloader unlock returns unknown command. There are no .bat files in my firmware. I can try downloading one from the site you linked, but I don't know what to do with it if fastboot flash does not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-osprey-fastboot-flashing-factory-firmware-images.3187750/
It says there that the "preflash validation failed" error occurs when the firmware being flashed is older than the one already installed. I will try downloading a newer version and flashing it. Will update here.
Update: I have dowloaded a newer rom and tried to flash it. This time got different errors (picture attached, this went for every sparsechunk). I think I know the reason but I do not know how to solve it. This might not be the exact stock rom of this phone so I cannot flash it with a locked bootloader. Could someone help me finding the correct rom or suggest a different solution?
Yooooo. I have the Moto e5 Cruise and so does my wife. We bought them in 2018 from Cricket and last night hers went to emmc failure, also known scientifically as 'no worky' mode.
The phone would only load in fastboot and had tried to use my Moto RSD tool to reflash but the phone would not detect in anything but fastboot mode.. Here's where it gets interesting....
There is a piece of software called the Lenovo (which now owns Moto) Rescue and Smart Assistant that can reflash your phone back to factory, no matter your sub-variant (cricket, metro, etc). Without having a fresh backup on hand, you're going to be beholden to the last cloud sync or manual backup you have because all data will be wiped in the below process.
BTW: Just run the assistant as it seems to be the easiest 'back-to-stock/working' tool I can find. Going to fastboot alone yielded weird errors since i didn't have the unlock code for the 'fastboot oem unlock [code goes here]' command.
**RESTORATION PROCESS**
This will apply to multiple Lenovo/Moto Mobility devices. Unknown at this time how many have been impacted by this seemingly pre-planned failure on Lenovo's part.
If your phone is stuck in fastboot mode where MTK download mode does not load, nor does adb, follow these simple steps:
(NOTE: BACKUP YOUR FILES IF POSSIBLE)
1. Click the link above to be directed to the Lenovo software download page and run the installer on your PC (Sorry Mac users :'().
2. The software, once installed, will require you to sign up for OR link a google, fb, g+, etc account to it for purposes of creating a Lenovo ID. Once signed in, click on 'Rescue Now'.
3. With your phone in fastboot mode, allow the software to download the firmware for your phone.
4. Once the firmware has finished downloading and validating, click on 'Rescue Now' once again. Your phone will begin the reflashing process.
That... actually worked. The program found the required ROM and flashing went without problems. Thank you very much @kmt5150 .
crepper4454 said:
That... actually worked. The program found the required ROM and flashing went without problems. Thank you very much @kmt5150 .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problemo! Glad it worked!

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