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[Q] Did I buy a bricked Nexus S

I bought a Nexus S from craigslist last night and it was out of juice. The seller was like oh bring it back if it doesnt work and I fell for it! I have the box/manuals/charger and everything so the phone was not stolen. When I put it on charge and turned it on this morning all that comes on the screen is google and a unlocked padlock on it. I thought that I can restore it. Went to the recovery mode by pressing volume up an power switch and tried reboot/recover and power off and they all lead to the same screen. volume down and power leads to nothing. So I called the seller and his phone keeps saying its disconnected. I realize I should have been more careful.
Now I am wondering if there is a way to restore the phone as I think that the seller messed up trying to mod the phone and there is no OS on the phone. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? I tried installing various recoveries and nothing seems to work since I cannot get super user to load nor can I boot up the phone to the OS. Please help a noob!

What is that "same screen" you are talking about? If it's the Droid with a "!" then you have to press vol up + power again to activate stock recovery.
Since you can access fastboot you should be able to flash a new recovery with adb.
Download the cwm recovery image, put it in /tools folder, run adb in cmd prompt, command is "fastboot flash recovery <recoveryimagename>.img", after that you can mount the internal storage via cwm recovery, copy any rom you like onto it, then "install from zip". I'd also format all parts of the phone once (mount and storage) and wipe dalvik cache (wipe) before you flash the new rom.
If it all doesn't help put the phone into download mode (vol up + vol down and then plug in usb cable while holding those two buttons), samfirmware.com has files (Odin) for the i9020 and i9023 (not NS4G yet).
In case your pc/laptop misses USB drivers you can find a guide on how to install adb and the drivers on unlockr.com.

even easier then that, just download the one click root (the gsm version for gsm or the ns4g one for cdma). turn the phone off then boot it back up by holding volume up and power. this will get you into fastboot, from there run the one clicks until it starts to do stuff to your phone, you may need to boot into fastboot mode again at some point. but it will get you a custom recovery loaded up from there you can download a custom rom and flash it in recovery and have a fully working phone
sounds liek the guy tried to root it and messed up something so he sold it privatly seeing as he couldnt figure it out. his loss is now your gain
the phone as you describe it is fully recoverable (dont use odin as its rather risky if you dont know what to do with it, not when you have things like fastboot or recovery mode)

mitrals said:
So I called the seller and his phone keeps saying its disconnected. I realize I should have been more careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were interested in getting in touch with the seller, try calling that number from another phone. You have been Google Voice blocked.
However, your issue is easily fixed I think and this shouldn't be needed.

rentaric: It keeps going back to the screen that says Google and has a unlocked padlock at the bottom center. I tried doing the recovery by the following link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1007782 (The phone is unlocked as it states in Lock State-Unlocked). I was able to finish part 3 as well. In part 4 I get stuck at step #8, where pressing recovery gets me back to Google and unlocked padlock screen. I repeated the procedure multiple times and always get stuck at part 4 step 8. I am trying to get samfirmware going after I try one click root. Will post results.
shabbypenguin: I will download one click root and see where that takes me. I also think there might be some water damage to the phone as the strip on the phone is red and at times buttons dont work.
t1n0m3n: I called the seller from 5 different numbers (US and Canada numbers) and it says the line is disconnected for all numbers. I think he disconnected his phone.
Other notes: Phone looks in great condition so if I can get it running it would be awesome. I paid $250 for it thinking its a great price if the phone worked. Attached is the picture of what the phone does on start up.

are you sure you were able to flash the recovery correctly? does the md5 match? maybe try re-downloading the file?
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
make sure you are using the recovery specific to your device (NS, NS4G)

Where do I find the MD5?
Here is what the phone says on the bootloader mode:
FASTBOOT MODE
PRODUCT NAME - HERRING
HW VERSION - REV 16
BOOTLOADER VERSION - I9020XXKA3
BASEBAND VERSION - I9020UCKD1
CARRIER INFO - ATT
SERIAL NUMBER - 31310A98550B00EC
LOCK STATE - UNLOCKED
And the rest..
Please let me know if anyone can help! Thank you

Are you rebooting the phone after installing the custom recovery (part 3, step 5)?
If yes, skip the rebooting part and go directly into recovery from bootloader screen. In case it works you can continue to mount the usb storage, copy a ROM on your sdcard, unmount, then go back to "Install from zip" after doing all 3 wipes available in "wipe" menu.
If no, then I have no further ideas then using Odin.

Same issue for me, maybe this phone got the NAND Flash problem. Warm it up then try to turn on your Nexus, it worked for me but I sent my Nexus last week to Samsung for repair.
There is a thread in Google Mobile Help Forum (google.com) in Help forum > Google Mobile > Android Devices > Android Applications (not listed above)
Sorry but i can't post the link.
Regards.

I am having the same exact problem with my phone. The only difference is that my Nexus is a sprint phone. Were you able to get your phone working and how did you do it?
---------- Post added at 05:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:15 PM ----------
Im having the same problem with my phone. I have a nexus s and I think I need to flash [RECOVERY] clockwork because it says "fastboot mode - No boot or recovery img." Im using a mac but I cant seem to get it working. Can someone help me. I cant seem to figure out what to do and where to start.

[Q] flashed to 4.04, bricked phone

A long time ago I rooted my phone and put CM9 on it. I decided I wanted to go back and try Jelly Bean (from factory then go outwards).
I had a difficult time with the CM flash and found one that worked, and thought I was good to go.
My phone: gt-i9020a nexus s
Product name: Herring
HW version 16
boot loader: i 9020xxkl
carrier att
fastboot enabled
unlocked state.
I can launch the official 2.3.6 (Build GRK39F), from google
then the OTA updated kicks in and the phone is stuck at 'boot' Google logo on the screen.
I have done the information below and the same keeps happening...
link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1586845
first of all, the VQ8PQk is a patch file, not a full rom. So flashing that on something else than 2.3.6 will never work. Get into clockworkmod recovery wipe wverything from the mounts and storage menu, and then flash this file : http://android.clients.google.com/pa...o/ZD3PyN0t.zip and THEN this : http://android.clients.google.com/pa...o/hR7QFEtn.zip
and other steps I could try to work around, none of them seem to work.
Am I missing anything?
Thanks!

Use the full factory rom images (sojuaxxxx) from Google.
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#sojua
Follow the instruction on that page (scroll up). If using Windows, use 7zip (or similar util) to expand the .tgz file, open content of "flashall.sh" and execute the commands one at a time.
Code:
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-crespo-i9020xxlc2.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio radio-crespo-i9020uckj1.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot -w update image-sojua-jro03e.zip
The last command will wipe all data and install new 4.1.1 rom.
Edit: install CYGWIN to have linux-like commands (works with tar, adb, fastboot) in windows.

Do you have a backup (preferrably CWM backup) that you have prior to trying to get JB working? If so keep that handy, and preferrably store it on the PC. Titanium backup can ease migrating apps after a wipe and is highly recommended, so do one of these too if you havn't already.
After you make sure you have a solid backup with the information that you want/need on the phone, i would just start fresh. The best way to do this is to do a factory image flash (note: you want sojua if you have the 850MHz variant which is from AT&T). Flashing these will wipe all user data and the /system partition, the sdcard won't be touched. Basically you download it, extract it, then hook up your phone in fastboot mode and do the commands as written in the text file (or run it as a script if you know how). I've described it in more detail elsewhere as have others, doing a search should give results pretty quickly
This will become a factory install of android as given by google, in your chosen version. I'd go straight ot JB and then you can see how much you like it. CWM backup data can be extracted if you lost some crucial information in the flashing and all your apps and their data can be easily restored with titanium backup.

morning update
_android_ said:
Use the full factory rom images (sojuaxxxx) from Google.
Follow the instruction on that page (scroll up). If using Windows, use 7zip (or similar util) to expand the .tgz file, open content of "flashall.sh" and execute the commands one at a time.
Code:
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-crespo-i9020xxlc2.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio radio-crespo-i9020uckj1.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot -w update image-sojua-jro03e.zip
The last command will wipe all data and install new 4.1.1 rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
running linux, no cygwin needed
did this again this morning..and i'm stuck on the google boot screen with the unlocked padlock on the bottom.
how long should this run (20 minutes now)
I have tried the roms from that page, the 2.3.6 is the only rom that I was able to get working..

lost_man said:
running linux, no cygwin needed
did this again this morning..and i'm stuck on the google boot screen with the unlocked padlock on the bottom.
how long should this run (20 minutes now)
I have tried the roms from that page, the 2.3.6 is the only rom that I was able to get working..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you use the sojua versions.
Do you mean you finish all the steps and upon reboot, it's stuck on Google boot screen?
What do you mean by you can only get 2.3.6 working? It went past Google boot screen?

** ran 'flash-all.sh" see if that changes anything, nothing like a script to rule out human error.***
**** that was a mistake...now phone is not turning on, the screen is dead...when i plug in USB chord, nothing is detected no state change on the phone. When I press buttons no state change nothing changes on the screen. I actually think my phone is a true brick, not a software glitch that is fixable....any suggestions now? ****

lost_man said:
** ran 'flash-all.sh" see if that changes anything, nothing like a script to rule out human error.***
**** that was a mistake...now phone is not turning on, the screen is dead...when i plug in USB chord, nothing is detected no state change on the phone. When I press buttons no state change nothing changes on the screen. I actually think my phone is a true brick, not a software glitch that is fixable....any suggestions now? ****
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some (quite a few) Nexus S seemed to be vulnerable to Jelly Bean/CM10 update in that the mainboard is toast. I think the only option is to send back for warranty repair. There are some threads on rigging some kind of adapter cable but that will definitely void your warranty (physical mod).

Doesn't sound good, there have been instances where the flash storage has given up and ends up needing a new SoC (the whole mainboard) and similar issues. Some more information would be good to diagnose this better though.
-Take the battery out for 5 minutes, place back in, can you get into fastboot?
-Can you flash recovery and radio? Can you enter recovery?
-After the "fastboot -w update ...." command, what messages do you see on the phone (at the bottom)?
If you can't get the phone to turn on at all after a good 5 minutes without the battery inserted, give AdamOutlers resurrector a shot. A nice phone call to samsung might be a good idea if you're still within 12 months of purchasing. Hopefully it all turns out okay.

-Take the battery out for 5 minutes, place back in, can you get into fastboot?
-Can you flash recovery and radio? Can you enter recovery?
-After the "fastboot -w update ...." command, what messages do you see on the phone (at the bottom)?
If you can't get the phone to turn on at all after a good 5 minutes without the battery inserted, give AdamOutlers resurrector a shot. A nice phone call to samsung might be a good idea if you're still within 12 months of purchasing. Hopefully it all turns out okay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did all of the above, nothing. adamoutliers does not see a device connected.
lsusb shows nothing
dmesg shows my device disconnect, after the failed boot, no reconnect.
I'm headed out for a few hours, I will leave battery out, and phone disconnected but i'm thinking it's toast. Att will send an RMA phone to me, they gave me a choice of samsung focus (I asked how a windows phone was similar to an android?) or a samsung galaxcy II skyrocket...I'll try samsung next..
Thanks for all the help!

lost_man said:
Did all of the above, nothing. adamoutliers does not see a device connected.
lsusb shows nothing
dmesg shows my device disconnect, after the failed boot, no reconnect.
I'm headed out for a few hours, I will leave battery out, and phone disconnected but i'm thinking it's toast. Att will send an RMA phone to me, they gave me a choice of samsung focus (I asked how a windows phone was similar to an android?) or a samsung galaxcy II skyrocket...I'll try samsung next..
Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do i close this thread? It's done, the phone is dead...rma...

help- bricked it, no recovery, what now?

Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...

Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
The only way to download the stock rom backups is to remove the sd card from your phone, plug your sd card into a PC or other device with a card reader, download the stock backups, and place the stock backup rom files on your sd card. Finally place the sd card with the stock backup downloads into your phone.
These backups and information on how to go through this process can be found in this thread on page 2: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226
The key is to make a backup of your existing rom with twrp and then move the stock backups from your sd card to the twrp/backups/yourdeiceserial/ directory. That creates a backup directory which twrp knows to look for backups in.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that does not work you could drop it in water or something. You have not officially unlocked boot loader so you still have warranty. Or you could just tell sprint it quit working and act completely clueless. At least its bricked with warranty still intact.

matt2k12 said:
Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both of the methods above are very effective. When I had the first photon I bricked it and just dropped it in water and did a claim. Depending on the insurance you have that way may cost you $100. The other method should work. When I first got this phone I did the exact same thing and to go back and unlock then flash twrp and in stall a stock backup someone had posted.
Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2

UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.

Hi again yall. You know once I got to thinking about it, I decided to check out the return policy on Amazon Wireless. They will accept any device under warranty for the first 30 days and it is up to Moto for the next 11 months of warranty coverage. They email me a packing label and it ships out 1 day and they ship out the new phone 1 day shipping. Hard to beat, just takes 2 days of shipping and some more fun times with my Epic, 10.1CM style, in the meantime.
Who's to say it wasnt some sort of hardware or software glitch that bricked the phone rather than my screwing around? Nobody knows and it isn't up to the consumer to prove his innocence. I bought everything legally, all the apps at the app store, and only ran the motofail2go root method. Wasn't running any custom Roms, Mods, or anything. I don't feel bad after they got me for another 2 grand for 24 months, and since I have been with Sprint for 10 years;l I have spent well over 10k or 15k with them lifetime.
If any other method pops up between now and when I ship it out I may give it a shot but if not, ah well, capitalism.

matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using adb. If your computer has drivers on it for phone you might able to get into fast boot. If that does not work I would try Sprint store first. Have locked my phone up several times while hacking wife off in progress and have used adb every time. Only time i have been truely scared is when i soft bricked my nexus 7. had to stay at work for two hours after i got off to get it to recover because i was scared of her lol.
---------- Post added at 02:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
If you get adb to recognize device you could take chance and officially unlock boot loader. Then flash twrp. There is a thread in general section about having trouble getting official update. It has a stock recovery in it. Trick would be moving files to recovery section of twrp

I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

UnicronAlpha99 said:
I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.

I don't blame you, it sounds easier to exchange in your case any way. The main suggestion I have is if you are getting into any type of build.prop or operating system tweaks that have potential to lead to boot loops or cause the phone not to boot, then unlock the bootloader and install custom recovery.
The Moto-fail method seems limited to only be able to run apps that require root. For me this has no use as I want to be able to have complete control over all aspects of the Android OS. There is not a huge mod community for the Q as yet but I believe Cyanogen will be a reality as Interloper continues working on it. I came from an Epic with Cyanogen and soft-bricked it a minimum of 50 times. CWM was very forgiving on that phone, the Q is a lot more finicky and frustrating.
If you have insurance through the carrier then you are going to pay $150 for a refurb if something goes wrong and you hard brick the phone. If you unlock bootloader and install custom recovery then you have a fail-safe in the form of nandroid backups and restores. Then you can mod away with little fear.
Good luck on the new phone and I hope you don't give up after six days of modding with the Q!
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.

befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?

matt2k12 said:
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.

befrosty8612 said:
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, I am wanting to do the backdoor root method again but, of course, may brick it. I dont think Amazon will keep sending me new ones.... but maybe!

befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?

matt2k12 said:
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?

befrosty8612 said:
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. So, all I have to do is: go to fastboot and flash a stock recovery image file and it will automatically wipe the phone, cache, everything, and restore the operating system? Sounds awfully easy! I found some stock files in this post : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226&page=2 Are these the ones you used before?
Last question: I can flash CWM or TWRP but wont be able to access them if my bootloader is locked, correct? So flashing a stock recovery will allow me to have my stock phone back again, locked and un-rooted? I guess if I cant get it to work with the stock recovery then I can unlock the bootloader and do a CWM or TWRP recovery and then flash the stock .img files?
Thanks again for your help. I already had root with the motofail2go method which I like using but seems like when I try and use some generic root feature from apps from the app store that it will crash/brick the phone cuz obviously those apps are generalized and likely to brick certain percentage of devices....

Ok what does this mean? Something with the bootlaoder obviously. Does it need to be unlocked?
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recover
y qrecovery1.img
(bootloader) Variable not supported!
target reported max download size of 31457280 bytes
sending 'recovery' (5962 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.479s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 0.755s
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>
And on the phone screen it says "invalid image size for partition recovery" twice for both times I tried this method.

You will need to flash the system image as well if you want those, as the recovery image will only flash the recovery. The files in that link are for twrp only... so you'll have to be able to get there first.
With the custom recoveries, I'm not 100% sure whether or not you will be able to use them without being unlocked. I would wait to see if anyone else can answer that question for you, but if you did try it without an unlocked bootloader, you at least have the stock recovery to fall back on if needed.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 PM ----------
I'm thinking it could either be that your phone is full and the image you're flashing is too large to fit on the space available...
Or you're trying to flash custom software on a locked phone.
Hopefully someone is able to answer that a little better...
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

You can't alter the stock recovery (flash a custom recovery like twrp or cwm) in fastboot without having the bootloader unlocked. Your options are to unlock your bootloader, flash custom recovery, create a backup of your current setup, download one of the stock working backups, place it in the backups folder for twrp on your external sd card, and restore one of the known working backups in the development section (befrosty linked to one). Or you could use RSD lite to return to stock using a stock factory firmware flash. That involves connecting your phone to your PC and flashing the phone back to factory stock. Information on RSD Lite and links to the FXZ's can be found here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2095536
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

Phone will only enter Fastboot, cannot get phone into Flashmode to unbrick

Let me start off by saying that I just got this phone and decided to install a custom recovery and rom on it. As I do with all my phones that allow me to do so. I got the phone with android 4.4.4 on it, rooted it with Kingroot, and proceeded to use the XZDualrecovery tool to install TWRP. After that was all done, I downloaded the Z5 Expierience Rom, and I'm going to take a long shot here and say that I must have majorly missed something. Because after flashing that Rom in TWRP, my phone will do next to nothing. All went fine with the install of the ROM itself. Wiped Dalvik/Cache before restart.
If i hold down the power button I get a single vibration and then the phone does nothing (Does not even turn on backlight). If I plug the phone into my computer the phone will start a sequence of Red (LED), Green (LED), Vibrate. It does this aobut once every second. I can access Fastboot if I hold the volume + button, the LED then goes solid blue and the phone stops the LED - Vibration sequence. The only problem I have, as far as just not being able to Flashtool it back to life is, not being able to get the phone to go into Flashmode. No matter what I do, the phone will not let me get it into Flashmode. Im sure there is a good reason for this, I am just not sure what it is.
I've been flashing Roms and Recoveries since G1 days. I'm usually pretty decent at figuring this kind of thing out, but this thing has got me puzzled. I clearly went terribly wrong somewhere here, hopefully someone who knows this phone much better than I can point me in the right direction and hopefully get my less than 10 hour phone working again.
P.S. - If the phone is plugged into the wallcharger is does something similar to when it is plugged into my computer, but instead of a Sequence of Red - Green - Vibrate, I just get a steady red blink folled by a vibration. The phone will continue to do so until unplugged from the charger.
All help is very appreaciated!

I'm having the same issue. Anyone with the fix would be appreciated

Not sure what to try at this point!
I've been looking non-stop in my free time for a fix for this thing, and no matter what I do I keep getting the same results. Not really sure where to go from here, I have tried Flashtool, Emma, and PC Compainion out of desperaity. I tried all three options on teo seperate computers (One Windows 10 and the other Windows 7.) I have also tried multiple cables. No matter what I do all this thing will do is blink at me and vibrate. Is this thing hard bricked? I read its close to impossible to hard brick one of these phones. I'm wiling to accept that I have if that is the case. Just would like an opinion from someone who has some knowledge with these.

Same here, someone plz help.
If is only a change of batery or the phone is dead completly, an the stop trying to revive it.
Thanks .

Nick1801 said:
Let me start off by saying that I just got this phone and decided to install a custom recovery and rom on it. As I do with all my phones that allow me to do so. I got the phone with android 4.4.4 on it, rooted it with Kingroot, and proceeded to use the XZDualrecovery tool to install TWRP. After that was all done, I downloaded the Z5 Expierience Rom, and I'm going to take a long shot here and say that I must have majorly missed something. Because after flashing that Rom in TWRP, my phone will do next to nothing. All went fine with the install of the ROM itself. Wiped Dalvik/Cache before restart.
If i hold down the power button I get a single vibration and then the phone does nothing (Does not even turn on backlight). If I plug the phone into my computer the phone will start a sequence of Red (LED), Green (LED), Vibrate. It does this aobut once every second. I can access Fastboot if I hold the volume + button, the LED then goes solid blue and the phone stops the LED - Vibration sequence. The only problem I have, as far as just not being able to Flashtool it back to life is, not being able to get the phone to go into Flashmode. No matter what I do, the phone will not let me get it into Flashmode. Im sure there is a good reason for this, I am just not sure what it is.
I've been flashing Roms and Recoveries since G1 days. I'm usually pretty decent at figuring this kind of thing out, but this thing has got me puzzled. I clearly went terribly wrong somewhere here, hopefully someone who knows this phone much better than I can point me in the right direction and hopefully get my less than 10 hour phone working again.
P.S. - If the phone is plugged into the wallcharger is does something similar to when it is plugged into my computer, but instead of a Sequence of Red - Green - Vibrate, I just get a steady red blink folled by a vibration. The phone will continue to do so until unplugged from the charger.
All help is very appreaciated![/QUOTE
!st question is did you flash the correct rom for your device?
If you can go to recovery, then try to flash another rom,
Or use adb/fastboot to try and flash recovery img and use fastboot to reboot recovery.
Alternatively you may have to flash a kernel relevant to your rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Try this and see if it helps.........
If your phone is unbranded, i.e. not locked to a carrier, download a any generic(customized) firmware for your device through Xperifirm and flash it through Flashtool. It will wipe all your data (excluding your microSD, of course) but you don't have any other choice. This is most probably unbrick it...... So, try it and all the best.:good:
EDIT: If you've tried it, then go for this. Luckily you've fastboot still working, right? So, go to fastboot mode and flash a recovery image through it. It may take a lot of time but if recovery works, you can install a stock based rom for your device and then go back to stock firmware through Xperifirm and Flashtool.....

The phone is a Verizon model. I've tried to unlock the bootloader using command prompt following the sony instructions, after recieving my unlock key. I am able to connect to the phone and all of the fastboot commands work until I try and run the one to actually unlock the bootlaoder. That says the it is "not allowed." I think that is because I never enabled OEM Unlocking in the developers menu though. Not sure if there is a stock kernel I should try an flash through fastboot. Or if there is a stock recovery file that is flashbable through fastboot with a locked bootloader. The phone is definetley working in fastboot and somehow still knows how to charge. Im pretty sure at this point the problem is that the phone has a custom rom on it but the bootloader is still locked. I cannot unlock the bootloader because I can't get in Android to enable the proper options. Have also tried Flashtool for unlock the bootloader, along with extracting kernel sins from a stock 4.4.4 and a stock 5.0.1 FTF and trying to flash them. Since the begining I have still seen no change in the phone behavior.

Nick1801 said:
The phone is a Verizon model. I've tried to unlock the bootloader using command prompt following the sony instructions, after recieving my unlock key. I am able to connect to the phone and all of the fastboot commands work until I try and run the one to actually unlock the bootlaoder. That says the it is "not allowed." I think that is because I never enabled OEM Unlocking in the developers menu though. Not sure if there is a stock kernel I should try an flash through fastboot. Or if there is a stock recovery file that is flashbable through fastboot with a locked bootloader. The phone is definetley working in fastboot and somehow still knows how to charge. Im pretty sure at this point the problem is that the phone has a custom rom on it but the bootloader is still locked. I cannot unlock the bootloader because I can't get in Android to enable the proper options. Have also tried Flashtool for unlock the bootloader, along with extracting kernel sins from a stock 4.4.4 and a stock 5.0.1 FTF and trying to flash them. Since the begining I have still seen no change in the phone behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude I'm from the Verizon side yea like you have an bootloader status unlock no so your not going to change that and you can only flash Verizon z3v stuff you are really lucky if you can still get to fastboot after doing this. Use flashtool and flash a Verizon ROM from the z3v section only and pray it works.

LG V20 H918 T-Mobile Guide from out-of-the box --> 20H, TWRP, Root

hi,
this is a guide for real helpless people, that got a V20 H918 T-Mobile out of the box and have no idea
what to do, to get TWRP and root. and since on this phone its a REAL hard odyssee if youre not a pro,
and you dont want to spend days and weeks to pick up countless small puzzlepieces to finally get all together up and running, i decided to write this guide. im no pro myself, but with countless hours of reading and try and error, misery, headaches and brainpain, i managed to get this thing running all right with working downloadmode,
newest TWRP-version and 20H oreo 8.0
so far, everything seems working good. ill play around with this version and if i encounter some crap, i will edit this guide later. sadly most "newbie-guides" here, are from pros for advanced users with decent knowledge. so when u start from zero, you dont understand half of what is written. thats why i will keep this guide as simple as possible, with some side explanations. its a lot to read and a lot to do, but this way works!
what we have before starting:
a V20 H918 t-mobile 20H oreo 8.0 with bootloader locked. simply a crippled standard phone.
what we will have after this guide:
a V20 H918 t-mobile 20H oreo 8.0 rooted, with unlocked bootloader, working downloadmode,
and newest TWRP-version.
with twrp u can backup your whole system "as it is", means u fukk up your phone, simply go to twrp-recovery, restore your backup and you have your phone up and running 100% as before all went down the drain. simply and easy. just like a new installation of win10, but in 5 minutes. u can flash custom roms, kernels etc., install all kind of stuff, no need to pay for apps anymore, get rid of obnoxious bloatware, just 100% freedom and the full potential with the V20 (which is the last phone of its kind with exchangable battery, which is why i got myself 3pcs of it )
sidenote: get yourself some extra protection foils so u can change from time to time.
also get yourself 1 or 2 10000mah powerbatterys from aliexpress (perfine) with protective rubbercase, of course, they dont have the printed-on mah, but at least a considerable amount, so that your phone will last at least 3-6 days. my V10 lastet 11 days normal usage with zerolemon powerbattery. unfortunately, these retards refuse to send to europe, and as far as i know, theyre not producing for LG phones anymore, so aliexpress/perfine is whats left.
the rubbercase gives the phone a superior protection, adds a serious amount of weight and will stick in your hand like glue. it is by far less likely to drop out of your hand like these glass-phones for imbeciles. and if it drops, the rubbercase grants excellent protection. my V10 dropped countless times, still working perfect.
but lets get to the guide now.
at first, we will unlock the bootloader. without it, you wont be able to do anything.
unfortunately, LG produces great phones (with great audio!) but terrorizes the users with their strict anti-root attitude. it seems it gets harder everytime to root and unlock the bootloader. i remember back in the days old samsung devices, had been rooted in no time. this one here cost me about 2 weeks.
on this phone, u simply cant hook it up to the pc, and unlock the bootloader with adb. it will be recognized by the pc, but as soon as u enter fastboot, nothing will happen, no command works.
the solution is a FWUL (forget windows use linux) usb-bootstick, with that u boot your
pc into a custom linux (i think) only here u have full access to your phone via fastboot and can unlock the bootloader in no time. it will not work on win10 !
- first, get rufus, a win10 tool, with that u can create boot-usb-sticks.
https://rufus.akeo.ie/
- then get the linux FWUL image (only 15GB version is still up)
https://androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=214529
- unzip the linux image to your c drive or your desktop.
- start rufus and select your usb-stick (it should be 30gb+ in size)
be carefull not to chose any other drive or stick (it will get erased completely), better double check.
- select the image you just unziped. (i use 7zip for unzipping)
- leave all other options as they are, press start. when dialog-box pops up, chose DD-mode !
- now waste some time, as it takes a long time to create the bootstick (in my case about 30min)
- when the stick is ready, in my case it couldnt be recognized anymore in win10, its just a raw-drive, that cant be
opened. thats allright. dont worry
- now close down all applications running and insert the created bootstick. (at this time u might consider using a
separate laptop, so you can follow this guide here at pc and use the laptop with linux running, thats what i did)
restart your pc, hit F2 or F8 oder DEL or whatever to enter bios.
select the created stick as bootpriority nr1. so that the system will use this stick as
the first bootmedium to boot from.
- u get to a screen with 9 bootoptions to chose from. chose the first one. it should now boot into linux.
when password request pops up, enter: linux
- u reach the "desktop"
connect your LG V20 H918 20H via usb-c to the pc, which has linux running, make sure that
developer options are unlocked, OEM-unlock and USB-debugging is enabled and u chose picture transfer protocol
(PTP) as transfer-protocol (also in developer options). if PTP doesnt work, try media transfer protocol.
watch your V20, at some point it will ask for confirmation of connection , click OK.
in linux, click on the up-arrow in the most downleft corner and chose "terminal emulator", which is
a pendant to windows shell/command-line.
- here you can execute the adb commands.
first, check if your V20 has been recognized by your pc with linux running.
type: adb devices
it should appear a message like:
* daemon started successfully *
LGH9182bfblablabla device
that means, that your V20 has been recognized correctly. now you can reboot it in fastboot mode.
type: adb reboot bootloader
your V20 screen goes black and seconds after, it restarts in bootloader mode ready for unlocking.
you might get a red warning that your warranty is void if bootloader is unlocked. cool.
type: fastboot oem unlock
wait for response, your bootloader is now unlocked.
u can check by typing: fastboot getvar unlocked
it should say: yes.
the bootloader is now unlocked.
now we will replace the standard recovery with twrp on the phone.
this step will be a little confusing and complicate, just follow the steps, and it will work.
since we cant flash twrp with adb, we have to use the linux bootstick again.
but before, we have to downgrade the 20H version to 10P, bcuz the next stepp will not work with 20H !
so you get the following:
DOWNLOAD H91810P KDZ FILE
https://androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=282709
after that, download LGUP (the LG tool for downgrading from 20H to 10P)
and uppercut (dont know what uppercut is for, i just used it instead of running LGUP directly and it worked. its supposed to recognize the phone/driver automatically)
http://downloads.codefi.re/autoprime...sh_Tools/LGUP/
and download the recent LG-usb drivers.
http://tool.cdn.gdms.lge.com/dn/down...=UW00120120425
install LGUP, uppercut and usb-drivers.
connect ur phone to pc in download mode.
turn of phone, press and hold vol.UP button and connect usb cable, small message appears, phone is now in download-mode and waiting.
now run uppercut and hope, that ur phone will be recognized. if not, think about, what kind of restrictions u did to ur system, like OnO-shutup or xpantispy (both great programs to keep win10 from calling home to scum gates) or whatever. in my case, it ONLY worked, after i reset the OnOshutup settings to recommended. so the phone get recognized correctly in LGUP (if not, try laptop or different pc), select upgrade and select the downloaded 10p KDZ file. press start or go, and wait until the procedure is finished.
now your phone is downgraded to 10p.
now we go back to linux, we connect the phone in downloadmode with the pc/laptop where linux is running,
(turn phone off, hold volUP, connect usb-c-cable with linux-pc/laptop, phone will start in download-mode.)
make sure, your laptop/pc has internetaccess.
on the linux-desktop, click on the LG folder, inside, click on LGLAF runningnaked.
a terminal-window opens.
type: git pull
type: git checkout h918-miscwrte
type: ./step1.sh
now we have flashed twrp onto downloadmode. why? i dont know, thats the way it worked for me.
we dont want twrp onto downloadmode, since twrp is a recovery. so the next step is, to flash the newest twrp version for H918 to recovery. at first, we will gather all neccessary downloads, after that, we will flash them one by one. that way, you dont have to get your micro-sd card out of your phone again and again. we put all together on the card, put the card in your phone and we are almost done. for now, have your micro-sdcard connected
with your pc and download the following:
twrp-3.4.0-1-h918.img
from
https://dl.twrp.me/h918/twrp-3.4.0-1-h918.img.html
and put this .img file on micro-sd card.
then download (and put on sd-card):
MAGISK ZIP DOWNLOAD (for root)
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/...gisk-v16.0.zip
then download original 20H firmware(and put on sd-card)
H918 20H
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603864639
you remember, we have now twrp on downloadmode
for restoring download-mode, download (keep on desktop or c):
H91820h_00_1115.kdz
https://lg-firmwares.com/downloads-file/17076/H91820h_00_1115
then download the firmware extractor:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3975633&d=1482337024
ok, lets see what we have now:
we have the phone bootloader unlocked and twrp on downloadmode. we can access twrp when we start the phone in downloadmode (hold volUP, and connect usbcable, phone will start now in twrp.)
we dont want twrp on downloadmode, we want twrp as recovery. and we want to restore the original downloadmode. for that we do the following:
unfortunately, the neccessary file for flashing orignal downloadmode is not online anymore, so we have to extract it from the 20H firmware with the firmware extractor (thanks to logical gamer for his guide)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/how-to/guide-h918-restore-laf-partition-t3804728
Extract WindowsLGFirmwareExtract vx.x.x.x. to your desktop, and open it up (preferably in it's own folder).
u might have to install framework 3.5 for it to run.
Select Open across from KDZ/TOT file, and browse to your KDZ (H91820h_00_1115.kdz)
you download previously and double click.
After it loads the kdz check H91820h00.dz, and click Extract KDZ.
Close and re open the program this time Click open across from DZ File in the folder where you placed WindowsLGFirmwareExtract you should see a file called H91820h00.dz Double click to open it.
Check laf_6.bin then click Extract DZ.
put this laf_6.bin on your micro-sdcard. thats your original downloadmode we will flash now.
ok, now we have our micro-sdcard with twrp, magisk, laf_6.bin and H91820h.zip.
put this mirco-sdcard in your phone. start the phone in downloadmode.
it will start in an older twrp-version. in twrp, go to install and select install img
select the twrp 3.4.0.1. img and on the following screen select "recovery"
swipe
this will flash the 3.4.0.1 version of twrp onto recovery.
then go to reboot into recovery. it will now boot into the newly flashed recovery.
then go to wipe, advanced, and select everything EXCEPT micro-sdcard!
this will totally wipe your phone (except twrp), so u can flash the 20H firmware onto a clean phone.
then, go to install, select H91820h.zip. this will flash your original oreo 8.0 firmware.
after that, go to reboot into recovery.
go to install, select magisk. install.
this will root your phone.
after that, reboot into recovery, go to install, select install img, select the laf_6.bin, and select "download"
now the original downloadmode has been restored.
now you can reboot into system, your phone will start as on day1, with new twrp on recovery and root.
i did a complete backup in twrp, so i can get back to a day0 clean install whenever needed. i will do a second backup with twrp with all the stuff installed and working ok and place this on my sd-card. so when things go bad, i always can go back to this state in no time.
congrats, your done. and me too . gonna get a cold one now.
hope this guide will help someone. in case, just drop a like/thanks/or just a short note.
its a long guide, and im no pro, if i made some mistake pls. tell here and i will correct.
thx to all the pro-guys for helping the helpless.

Hi
Im on v20 H918 firmware 10p with bootloader unlocked.
I tried with dirty cow but not works with lafsploit i have a Problem with rufus for create a bootable Linux.
Pendrive is 32 GB i followed your setting but my PC boot only in windows 7.
I succesfully unlocked a h990ds with dirty santa but for this model is not supported.
Can you help me

hi
i tried with dirtycow also, didnt work.
thats why i eventually came to the method i described.
teling by your short description, your next step would be to create a bootable linux-usb-stick, and to find a pc where it will boot correctly. the stick didnt boot on my main pc ( i dont know why, it just canceled with an error),
thats why i had to use the laptop where it worked.

Thanks for the guide man! Very funny and fun to read. I can't wait to turn mine into a 4-day brick like yours. #lastphonewithbatteryrevolution
Sadly I got the dreaded encrypted error at the end though when booting. Everything else worked fine.
After the encrypted error though I formatted and flashed LineageOS 17.1 and then magisk and still keep getting error 1. Even tried Lineage recovery and still same. I think maybe a problem with Magisk 16 itself.
Anyway it works fine just no root.
Edit: Had to flash Magisk 21 and it worked

Thanks for this tutorial. I was able to get my V20 rooted with minimal trouble. The only major trouble was finding a computer that will fully boot into Linux and the only minor issue was locating the UPPERCUT but I was able to find it. Link below.
It's probably worth mentioning that I had to rename laf_6.bin to laf_6.img in order to flash it in TWRP. Also, at the time of writing, the latest version of Magisk is 22.0 but I used Magisk v21.4 instead because it had a zip file (Magisk-v21.4.zip) available for download so that I can flash it via TWRP. Link below.
UPPERCUT link: UPPERCUT: Add Any LG Device to LGUP for TOT/KDZ Flashing (G4|G5|G6|V10|V20|MORE???) | XDA Developers Forums (xda-developers.com)
MAGISK link: Releases · topjohnwu/Magisk · GitHub

cool, glad this guide helped at least a little bit. my v20 still works great, no issues so far. as a side phone for unwanted persons, i still use my v10 with powerakku and rubbercase "brickstyle" every time i hold a regular phone from other people, it feels weird since these phones weigh like nothing, and i have to focus not to slip it out of my hand. i love my bricks
and by now, about 4 month later, reading this whole guide, to me its still strange and hard to follow. there is no way to get through this without reading everything possible about it and become familiar with all the technical terms.

I have a h918 with an unlocked bootloader and it's downgraded to 10p. The shell script fails everytime to a hash check. I've run it 4 separate times with the hashes being the same every time. So it looks like the file has been updated but the hash hasn't.
I'm coming late to the game and it seems most of the guides are out of date. I'd appreciate any help I can get.
Update: It works fine. This is by far the easiest guide to follow that I've found. Many thanks! I did have to follow xstahsie's tip.
​xstahsie​It's probably worth mentioning that I had to rename laf_6.bin to laf_6.img in order to flash it in TWRP. Also, at the time of writing, the latest version of Magisk is 22.0 but I used Magisk v21.4 instead because it had a zip file (Magisk-v21.4.zip) available for download so that I can flash it via TWRP. Link below.

I followed the guide after I rooted and installed Lineage OS 18.1. I had to remove LineageOS because it was bad with response, couldn't see hidden wifi, and just ran hot. So I followed your guide and I am in a logo bootloop and get the reminder to lock the bootloader everytime it starts. Any suggestions for getting past the bootloop?

I fixed problem by installing LAF you referenced and then LGUP to 10p kdz. However I noticed two things.
1) Whenever I boot up I have the nag message to my bootloader. Any way to address this?
2) If I try to follow steps above to install 20h, I get a decrypt message in TWRP after I flash 20h and before Magisk. Anyone see this? I didn't encrypt my storage before hand.

memnon79 said:
I fixed problem by installing LAF you referenced and then LGUP to 10p kdz. However I noticed two things.
1) Whenever I boot up I have the nag message to my bootloader. Any way to address this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're stuck with it, it's just the way it will be from now on.
memnon79 said:
2) If I try to follow steps above to install 20h, I get a decrypt message in TWRP after I flash 20h and before Magisk. Anyone see this? I didn't encrypt my storage before hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember seeing that. I probably didn't care if it did show up since it was a new install from scratch anyway.

Does encrypting the phone work after following this guide?

hey there, cant help u with the encryption thing cuz thats far beyond my knowledge. some weeks ago my phone dropped, and a tiny crack on the edge appeared. what i didnt know was that this crack is the beginning of the end of the V20. heres the story short: small crack over time leads to a bigger crack, bigger crack multiplies and u have some more cracks covering the whole screen. also the screen can pop off and hanging loose a little. in my case 4-6 weeks and i have to get out phone 2/3 which i am setting up using this guide now. fortunately i left myself a huge pyle of information on how to do this when starting at 0. over time u forget EVERYTHING u have done, so having these infos is hammering.
lucky me did i save my internal memory of phone 1/3 bcuz 30min later the screen was totally fuqqed up, no access no chance of backupping internal memory.
so heres my recommendation:
DONT drop your phone. even in my case with rubber battery case from aliexpress
(perfine "10000"mah) a 50cm drop cracked the edge of the screen. if that happens, backup your internal memory !!! (just do this on a regular base)
when ur screen gets damaged and u cant enter information or cant see anything anymore on the screen ur internal data is lost. so always have ur internal memory backuped!
and great job LG for producing such a huge pyle of ****. one small drop, screen cracked, bravo, last time i ever bought anything from lg. my V10 dropped like a 1000times, nothing, still up and running. v20, drop, 6weeks later, dead. thanks LG the customers all over the world couldnt wait to use these bull**** crackable glass-screens. great job, -1 customer.

I've tried this on two different computers with two different cables in every USB port on the machines but can't get by the Windows portion. I am using UPPERCUT as the windows box/LGUP reports no device found without it...
Of course UPPERCUT drives windows security mad as it's reported as doing bad things but as I'm using an extra win laptop that will be wiped I disable all of that....
I have three different sourced KDZ files as the one linked wasn't initially reporting any mirrors. Eventually a mirror did pop up for it but by then I had downloaded two others -- all were the same size and one of the three reported from LGUP was bad. Every attempt with the other two failed. Invalid Command response came up a few times... sometimes it just failed at around 80+ percent from the PC side which was 99% on the phone's downloader mode progress bar.
It's very frustrating.... I would like to blame windows but there seem to me plenty here with success... any other ideas?

Also... since it got so far, rebooting at this point just goes to the download mode so I might be hosed... I can force it to the fastboot mode and it is still unlocked so I've been trying to install TWRP onto recovery using the linux/android machine but when I type
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img from the directory where twrp was downloaded I get this:
sending recovery --- okay
writing recovery --- failed remote: unknown command
So... any thoughts?

aloha, at which step are u stuck exactly? did u make your phone being recognized by the win10 pc?
one thing to regard is, that a usb-CHARGING cable possibly wont work, u need a designated media/data-cable.
i had this situation before, where using many different usb cables drove me insane bcuz i simply couldnt establish a proper data connection with phone/pc, it just didnt work. it took me many hours until i realized, that all of the cables i tried were charging cables!
for me the most difficult step was having the phone being recognized by the win-pc, the rest went relatively easy.

dikkbutt said:
aloha, at which step are u stuck exactly? did u make your phone being recognized by the win10 pc?
one thing to regard is, that a usb-CHARGING cable possibly wont work, u need a designated media/data-cable.
i had this situation before, where using many different usb cables drove me insane bcuz i simply couldnt establish a proper data connection with phone/pc, it just didnt work. it took me many hours until i realized, that all of the cables i tried were charging cables!
for me the most difficult step was having the phone being recognized by the win-pc, the rest went relatively easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is recognized by the PC, no problem. I do have to use UPPERCUT to get LGUP to recognize it though. The step I'm stuck at is applying the downgrade. It gets to various percentages of done-ness and fails. It got far enough that now my only options on the phone are Download mode or fastboot mode. Problem is, I can't seem to get anything to push to recovery so I assume that it's still not properly downgraded.
I've tried a few different cables and keep in mind the cable I used in the linux adb bootloader step worked fine. I don't entirely know what difference there is between a charging and data cable but I do know the main differences in the steps are a> Windows and b> size of transfer.

weird. since im no pro myself, my ideas are limited on this one. there might be some kind of loose contact at the charging port,
that when the phone is moved just a little it looses connection for a second and reconnects again, had that in the past, so try not to touch the phone at all. did u use the 10p kdz file mentioned before? did u make sure it has been downloaded correctly?
if an error occured and there are some % missing... its like faulty ram, hard to detect.
assuming, u did or did not downgrade to 10p, did u try to continue with the linux-step? ---->
---------------------------
on the linux-desktop, click on the LG folder, inside, click on LGLAF runningnaked.
a terminal-window opens.
type: git pull
type: git checkout h918-miscwrte
type: ./step1.sh
now we have flashed twrp onto downloadmode
-----------------------------
maybe uppercut/lgup displayed an error message for no reason, and the downgrade itself went through without a problem in the background.
pcs sometimes do weird things.
if nothing works, try setting up win10 and try on a virgin system. in my case, OnOshutup prevented win10 from recognizing the phone,
or try using a 3rd pc from a friend.
i was able to setup my phone 2/3 using this guide in 30min, no problems at all. (i hope i wrote down, how i solved that simlock issue.....)
no matter what causes the problemin ur case , id be interested to hear what it was.

Thanks! Rooted and Unlocked thanks to this guide!

I tried following other guides using UPPERCUT and it fails to downgrade due to Anti Roll Back. How does this relate to this guide since the last thing I want is for (by design) for it to brick the phone. I have yet to find anything specific saying an unlocked bootloader will bypass the anti rollback check.

Hi As a noob does this keep VoLTE? I have followed this guide and backgrade to 10p was perfect! VoLTE working on a phone that was "new" from china. VoLTE did not work on the 20p rom it had. Also does anyone prefer Phoenix591's h918-20g-prerooted rom to the stock one? I have read a lot but am somewhat confused by varying instruction threads. I want to use this as a daily driver. Thanks