Help rescue soft bricked 3a - Google Pixel 3a Guides, News, & Discussion

I have a 3a phone that is seemingly bricked after some failed sideload of magisk then failed attempt to flash-all to factory.
Here's what it's doing
- won't power on without a power cable (doesn't want to charge?)
- can get fastboot up for a split second before phone screen turns off by pressing voldown + power for 20 seconds
- see greyed out battery icon flashing on screen when i plug it in then it goes away
- no changes after leaving it plugged into charge for 24h

I'd just try and use the Pixel - Android Flash Tool via web: https://flash.android.com/welcome?continue=/release/12.0.0
If you can get to fastboot it should work. If you can't stay on the fastboot screen though - not sure. May have a battery issue.

Related

Bricked Storm

Hello, I have a problem with my storm. Two days ago I received it and flashed the then latest cm13 and its corresponding recovery. Everything seemed to work just fine until yesterday when there appeared to be an ota update. After the download finished, the phone rebooted itself and is since then stuck with a black flickering screen. Every attempt to start the phone using recovery or bootloader seems to fail, as the phone keeps showing me the black flickering screen, no matter the combination of keys (vol+/vol-) I use to turn it on. If during the black screen I plug the phone to the computer adb can actually see the phone but says it's not authorized to perform any command. On the other hand fastboot won't even see the device.
Is there anything else I can try before sending it back to wileyfox?
Thank you in advance
I've made some progress, I found out that the device can be forced to Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode by turning it off and then connecting it to usb while holding vol+ and vol-.
I've also found the stock firmware at https://cyngn.com/support.
Now it would be great if somebody could help me, and the others in my situation, to figure the wole QFIL unbricking out, because I'm overwhelmed, and can't seem to find the right info on google.
Thanks to anyone who'll care to help, or share some info
I had a similar issue so have created a thread with stock recovery instructions, which resolved the issue for me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wileyfox-storm/help/how-to-flash-stock-images-brick-recovery-t3319617
I hope this helps.
miSAKe said:
I had a similar issue so have created a thread with stock recovery instructions, which resolved the issue for me.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wileyfox-storm/help/how-to-flash-stock-images-brick-recovery-t3319617
I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately this does not seem to be applicable to my case because on my device fastboot mode doesn't seem to work.
I've spent an entire afternoon trying to get it to boot to fastboot mode using different vol keys combinations and timings, but none of them seemed to work. No matter the combination, it just kept booting to a black screen flickering.
I'm starting to think that it could be some problem unrelated to my actions because if, as I think it is, recovery mode and fastboot mode are two separated things, nothing I did would justify this kind of behaviour.
maxxie00 said:
Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately this does not seem to be applicable to my case because on my device fastboot mode doesn't seem to work.
I've spent an entire afternoon trying to get it to boot to fastboot mode using different vol keys combinations and timings, but none of them seemed to work. No matter the combination, it just kept booting to a black screen flickering.
I'm starting to think that it could be some problem unrelated to my actions because if, as I think it is, recovery mode and fastboot mode are two separated things, nothing I did would justify this kind of behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear you are still having trouble, it does sound like the same issue, was a CM13 update from the last couple of days, upon reboot I saw the wileyfox logo but when the Cyanogen logo would normally show during boot it displayed a black screen, which would flicker every few seconds. Holding vol- and power to reboot resulted in the same thing so I was unable use recovery.
When the display was black and connected via USB I was able to see the device using ADB but like you no commands were authorised.
Leaving the phone plugged in via USB and holding down vol+ and power until it rebooted I was able to enter fastboot, once the fastboot prompt was displayed on the screen I attempted using fastboot to boot from a custom recovery, unfortunately that just resulted in the same blank screen for me. I also tried booting the stock recovery with the same result, I admit I did not try many older CM recoveries, but I wanted to revert to CM12.1 anyway, as the accelerometer and gyroscope not working in CM13 at the moment is no good for me.
Only thing that worked was a stock restore, so I think something beyond the recovery got broken as you could not even boot a previously working recovery.
For the sake of sanity it may be work getting someone else try booting it into fastboot before resorting to Wileyfox support. Though your phone is really new so could claim a refund or replacement from the seller, that would probably be faster.
FYI if you do end up sending it to Wileyfox support they do flash it back to stock, I had a broken screen replaced, was repaired and back to me in just under 2 weeks.
What would be exactly the timing for it to boot to fastboot mode?
Because I just tried (again...) to plug it to the computer while powered off, then it powered on on its own.
After that I rebooted it by holding together power and vol+ and immediately after it rebooted (right after the vibration) I let the power button go and kept holding the vol+ until the black screen appeared again... no fastboot
maxxie00 said:
What would be exactly the timing for it to boot to fastboot mode?
Because I just tried (again...) to plug it to the computer while powered off, then it powered on on its own.
After that I rebooted it by holding together power and vol+ and immediately after it rebooted (right after the vibration) I let the power button go and kept holding the vol+ until the black screen appeared again... no fastboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Just tried a few combinations to check timings for you.
Powered off, not plugged in, holding vol+ while plugging in phone end of usb connected to computer, keep holding vol+ -> boots straight to fastboot.
Powered on, already connected to computer via usb, holding vol+ and power, release power when vibrates to indicate reboot but keep holding vol+ -> boots straight to fastboot.
Are you seeing the black and white Wileyfox logo when first booting? When going to fastboot it should skip that. If you are not seeing the logo it might not show the fastboot screen either. You can try following the steps above and then issuing fastboot devices from a command/shell session to see if you are in fastboot mode.
I hope that is of some help.
Thank you but I can confirm that neither of these combinations work for me. When rebooted/powered the device shows the wileyfox's logo.
If I use your first method it just seems to freeze on the wileyfox's logo screen, and the computer won't even see it (it's not listed on the usb devices list) so fastboot's not an option.
If I use your second method, or any other I tried, it shows me the wileyfox's logo and then proceeds to the black screen, which can be seen just by adb (not fastboot) but I'm not authorized to perform any action like you described for your issue.
I'm out of ideas so I'm sending it back and getting it replaced. On the cyanogenmod irc they told me that to brick it like that it cannot be done just by accident but it should require a lot of deliberate effort, and that just installing cm13 + recovery doesn't justify this problem nor does an OTA update, so it's probably some other (hardware?) issue with a very bad timing.
I'm kind of sure it's not the vol+ button that's damaged, because if I leave the device powered off and then proceed to plug the USB while holding together vol+ and vol- it powers on, but the screen stays off meaning the Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode has been triggered.
Anyway thank you for your help, I could rule out my inability to start the fastboot mode and blame it on the phone xD
Hope I'll be luckier with the next one...
maxxie00 said:
Thank you but I can confirm that neither of these combinations work for me. When rebooted/powered the device shows the wileyfox's logo.
If I use your first method it just seems to freeze on the wileyfox's logo screen, and the computer won't even see it (it's not listed on the usb devices list) so fastboot's not an option.
If I use your second method, or any other I tried, it shows me the wileyfox's logo and then proceeds to the black screen, which can be seen just by adb (not fastboot) but I'm not authorized to perform any action like you described for your issue.
I'm out of ideas so I'm sending it back and getting it replaced. On the cyanogenmod irc they told me that to brick it like that it cannot be done just by accident but it should require a lot of deliberate effort, and that just installing cm13 + recovery doesn't justify this problem nor does an OTA update, so it's probably some other (hardware?) issue with a very bad timing.
I'm kind of sure it's not the vol+ button that's damaged, because if I leave the device powered off and then proceed to plug the USB while holding together vol+ and vol- it powers on, but the screen stays off meaning the Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode has been triggered.
Anyway thank you for your help, I could rule out my inability to start the fastboot mode and blame it on the phone xD
Hope I'll be luckier with the next one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I hope you have more luck with the replacement.
Here I am again, new device, still can't boot to fastboot mode (this time I didn't flash anything, just unlocked bootloader so it's not bricked).
"adb reboot-bootloader" works, advanced reboot menu works, yet the vol+ combination hangs on the vendor's logo.
I'm contacting cyanogen os people to try to understand what might be the issue...
Could you please confirm that your device boots into fastboot mode when using the vol+ way? thank you
maxxie00 said:
Here I am again, new device, still can't boot to fastboot mode (this time I didn't flash anything, just unlocked bootloader so it's not bricked).
"adb reboot-bootloader" works, advanced reboot menu works, yet the vol+ combination hangs on the vendor's logo.
I'm contacting cyanogen os people to try to understand what might be the issue...
Could you please confirm that your device boots into fastboot mode when using the vol+ way? thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again,
So these 5 methods work for me, someone else may have other experiences:
Phone powered off, hold vol+ while connecting USB, other end of USB already plugged into PC, continue holding vol+ until booted to fastboot (almost instant).
Phone powered on, already connected to USB, other end of USB already plugged into PC, hold vol+ and power until reboot vibrate, continue holding vol+ until booted to fastboot (almost instant).
Phone powered on and in OS, already connected to USB, other end of USB already plugged into PC, debug enabled, from ADB console, adb reboot fastboot or adb reboot bootloader
Phone powered on and in OS, advanced reboot options turned on, hold power, select reboot, select bootloader, reboot
Phone powered on and in Recovery, select reboot to bootloader
Currently I am running stock everything.
Perhaps try different USB cables or ports, though I still get to fastboot without the USB cable plugged in.
My Storm was a pre-order so is one of the first releases, it is possible they have changed something since.
Edit: I have come across a thread on the Cyanogen forums which implies this may be related to encrypting your device: http://forum.cyanogenmod.org/topic/117661-bootloader-hangs/ - I see you have been there already
as reference mine is not encrypted at the moment

Bootloop and red light on recovery

Hi,
I have a nexus 4 that is stuck on opening animation and won't go to fastboot\recovery.
(a weight fell on it a long time ago. Worked for the next 3 days then died.)
Situation now is that it is stuck on the opening animation (lollipop) when turned on.
When trying to go to fastboot using volume up+down+power I get a blinking red light (volume up\down only with power button only resets the device or turns it off.)
Computer recognizes the device and I can see it in ADB devices while stuck on opening animation, but it says "unauthorized" so I can't use "adb reboot recovery" command.
Trying to press up+down+power while connected to computer gives solid red light and repetitive "device connected" sound from the computer every 1 sec.
Phone was never rooted or flashed in any way.
Any idea what I can do? I don't mind restoring factory image or factory reset.
Thanks to anyone who tries to help in advance

Hard brick of Z5C ... can I save it?

Well, I did it this time.
In a valiant attempt to install a custom ROM, I erased every partition using fastboot,
Code:
fastboot erase system
fastboot erase boot
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot erase cache
Now what I meant to do here was flash a recovery, using
Code:
//fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img
but repeating this so many times over the last 48 hours, I did not do above and instead went quickly right into below,
Code:
fastboot reboot
The system rebooted as I told it to ... right into a black void of nothing. Now their is no 'recovery' image and no 'bootloader' image ... the phone is hard bricked, won't turn on at all, dead. I was so close to getting to the custom ROM! Is there any chance to get it back into recovery mode? or have I learned a $350 lesson?
Edit: Further research indicates it may be possible to force the system into fastboot using a USB jig. Has anyone tried this method?
apsommer said:
Well, I did it this time.
In a valiant attempt to install a custom ROM, I erased every partition using fastboot,
Code:
fastboot erase system
fastboot erase boot
fastboot erase userdata
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot erase cache
Now what I meant to do here was flash a recovery, using
Code:
//fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img
but repeating this so many times over the last 48 hours, I did not do above and instead went quickly right into below,
Code:
fastboot reboot
The system rebooted as I told it to ... right into a black void of nothing. Now their is no 'recovery' image and no 'bootloader' image ... the phone is hard bricked, won't turn on at all, dead. I was so close to getting to the custom ROM! Is there any chance to get it back into recovery mode? or have I learned a $350 lesson?
Edit: Further research indicates it may be possible to force the system into fastboot using a USB jig. Has anyone tried this method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you plug it in while holding volume up what happens?
TheVan28 said:
When you plug it in while holding volume up what happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing. LED flashes red every few seconds. The same response if plugging it in without holding volume up. Along these same lines, holding the power button on for a few seconds causes the small vibration haptic feedback to occur as if it is turning on normally ... but nothing happens the phone remains dead. Similarly, holding volume down and the power key causes a small vibration haptic feedback as it was booting into recovery ... but nothing happens the phone remains dead. I haven't seen anything on the screen appear, or the phone turn on it any way, since executing the fastboot sequence previously described.
Whatever you did, you should still be able to enter in flash mode and flash a stock firmware. And by this I mean full stock firmware, not a ROM.
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
Ilko said:
Whatever you did, you should still be able to enter in flash mode and flash a stock firmware. And by this I mean full stock firmware, not a ROM.
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, that would be great. I would be thrilled to get the stock ROM back, at this point getting the phone to turn on at all would be a victory! Would you please describe precisely how to do enter flash mode with the phone in the current state? To reiterate, the phone will not turn on in any way (normally, or volume down + power to boot into recovery). The only life in the device is a slow blinking red LED when it's plugged in, and a quick vibration after holding the power button. The screen has not turned on in any way, or the LED shown any color other than red, since executing the fastboot sequence previously described.
hold power button + volume up and to force shutdown
and then hold volume up (or down, i don't quite remember) while connecting it to a pc (hold the button while connecting the usb cable).
If the led turns green or blue, congrats
The power key has nothing to do in this context. It is used only to boot into recovery or force OFF.
While holding VOL ↑, plug the USB cable to your PC to enter into fastboot mode (blue light)
While holding VOL ↓, plug the USB cable to your PC to enter into flash mode (green light, or maybe nothing)
TheVan28 said:
hold power button + volume up and to force shutdown
and then hold volume up (or down, i don't quite remember) while connecting it to a pc (hold the button while connecting the usb cable).
If the led turns green or blue, congrats
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing. Device still unresponsive as described.
does your PC detect the device ? (new device sound notification)
Ilko said:
does your PC detect the device ? (new device sound notification)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the PC does not currently detect the device. All drivers are correctly installed as the phone was recognized accurately prior to the described fastboot sequence.
This is weird. I already erased everyting via fastboot too a while ago, and I could still flash it.
Just to be sure.... unplug all other "smart device" before anything (drivers can't handle more than one device at a time when it comes to FB or flash mode). Open the device manager and let it to the foreground. While you hold the vol down key, plug it and keep holding it until the device is detected. Don't expect any reaction on phone's screen, it remains OFF in both fastboot and flash mode. So, if the device manager reacts, you win.
Ilko said:
This is weird. I already erased everyting via fastboot too a while ago, and I could still flash it.
Just to be sure.... unplug all other "smart device" before anything (drivers can't handle more than one device at a time when it comes to FB or flash mode). Open the device manager and let it to the foreground. While you hold the vol down key, plug it and keep holding it until the device is detected. Don't expect any reaction on phone's screen, it remains OFF in both fastboot and flash mode. So, if the device manager reacts, you win.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm getting something here which is very encouraging! Executing your sequence causes the device manager to blink (refresh) as if it sees something, however no new devices are recognized in the tree. The phone LED goes to a solid green, reminiscent of a fully charged battery, stays on for about 30 seconds, briefly blinks red and then back to green, etc. The device manager is certainly reacting here it just doesn't recognize the device.
So here we are, you win. Because you have the "two", detection and green led. And if this state goes off after a certain time, it is normal. There is a kind of countdown and the device quits that mode if nothing is sent to it. You should be able to flash a firmware now with flashtool software.
Just ensure you have proper drivers installed properly (WinUSB drivers need to turn signature verification OFF before or Windows will block the installation)
Ilko said:
So here we are, you win. Because you have the "two", detection and green led. And if this state goes off after a certain time, it is normal. There is a kind of countdown and the device quits that mode if nothing is sent to it. You should be able to flash a firmware now with flashtool software.
Just ensure you have proper drivers installed properly (WinUSB drivers need to turn signature verification OFF before or Windows will block the installation)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unbelievable! You saved me! I'm back up with the stock ROM and peace of mind to attempt the custom ROM process again. Saved me $350 ... thank you!!
That's great : )
It is almost impossible to hard brick a Xperia. If something goes wrong, remember flashtool ^^

[GUIDE] Booting your OnePlus X with a broken power button

Got a broken power button and need to turn on your OnePlus X?
As long as one of your volume buttons and your microUSB port still work, you're lucky.
If the volume down button is working:
1. Press and hold the volume down button.
2. Connect to a USB power source.
3. The phone should vibrate and boot into the recovery. You can release the volume button at that point.
4. If you have the stock OnePlus recovery installed just tap "English", "Exit" (if present), then "Reboot".
5. Your phone should now boot up!
If only the volume up button is working, things get a bit tricky.
Before you start, read through all of the steps and the paragraph below to make sure this goes as smooth as possible.
1. Connect your device to a USB power source without pressing any button.
2. Wait for about half a second, then press and hold the volume up button.
3. If you've hit the right moment, your device will boot to fastboot mode.
4. Connect to a PC and run the command "fastboot reboot".
(If you don't know what fastboot is or you haven't set it up yet you should be able to find plenty of guides online.)
A word of caution on finding the right moment to hit the volume button:
Start with longer delays and work from there. If you hit the volume up button too early the phone will enter EDL mode, which can be hard or annoying to get out of. EDL is Qualcomm's low-level Emergency Download Mode which allows flashing the device.
When entering EDL mode the phone won't vibrate and the screen will stay off. The phone remains in EDL mode after disconnecting the USB plug.
Normally you could press and hold the power button until a hard reset to get out of there, but in this case you have the following options:
- Unplug the battery to power down the device completely if your device happens to be open.
- Wait? For as long as it takes for your device to reset from this mode on its own or for the battery to run out. idk, good luck.
- Use an EDL mode flashing tool on a PC to send the power reset command to your device. This could be viable if you have already used such a tool before, e.g. by following the "Mega UnBrick Guide" by Naman Bhalla. Alternatively you could dive into this cross platform command-line tool, which works on WIndows, Linux and macOS. Using this approach is a bit overkill and quite the tangent from what you're actually trying to do, but being able to make use of EDL can come in handy in other situations as well when you're tinkering with your Android device so taking that detour might just be worth the time.
Awesome, it worked for me.
-Incase you have entered into EDL mode, then continue charging your mobile, it will be back to old state after sometime (12 hours maybe).
- To get fastboot mode, first insert power cable then wait for vibration/ screen light illumination after that press volume up button. if you press volume up button before inserting power cable, then it will go to EDL mode, so be careful about it.

Fix device without recovery mode

Hello dear xda community
I have a px6 device from the company "Wondefoo" installed in my Mazda (without any hard buttons). It worked so far so good, but ZLink (Apple Carplay) didn't work, so I tried to fix this. To do that, I rooted the device, uninstalled the "ZLink" app and reinstalled a newer version. Then I tried to reboot. And then my problems started:
The device doesn't boot anymore. It tries to start up, I can see the Android 10 boot logo ("multi-media on-vehicle Navigation System" screen), but after about one minute, this logo disappears and the screen remains black.
OK, easy fix --> Just go into recovery mode and reset the device. But here's the big problem: I can't get into recovery mode.
Here's what I tried:
1. Ignition off and on --> Screen still black
2. Press "Reset" button (my device only has this one physical button) --> Boot process started again, but same outcome
3. Unmount the device, plug the power out, wait an hour, plug it in again and try again --> Boot process started again, but same outcome
4. Tried to connect with adb over Wi-Fi to the device (used the last known IP address) --> Connection timeout, Wi-Fi probably not started yet
5. Press&Hold "Reset" button until lights beign to flash to get into recovery mode --> Lights never flash because the "Reset" button somehow breaks the power circuit and when I release it, the device gets power again and boot process starts again with same outcome
6. Press&Hold "Reset" button for a minute, then release it, then press it again quickly within 1sec --> Boot process started again, same outcome
7. Tab with 5 fingers on the boot logo --> Nothing happened
8. Attached keyboard and pressed "Alt" + "PrintScreen" + "I" all the time --> Nothing happens. Keyboard is with RGB LEDs, so I saw it was active when the boot logo was displayed... Then, the LEDs on my keyboard turned off which was telling me that there is no keyboard input possible anymore
9. I even tried this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/new-method-enter-recovery-no-physical-buttons.4013453/ --> I just have one similar cable, not two as described in this post... So I put everything together again and just tried again --> Boot process started again, same outcome
Well... Is there any option left? I'm thinking about buying a USB male-to-male cable and try again with adb, but everyone tells me that I need to get into recovery mode first which I really can't
* Is there any other way to get into recovery mode? Maybe with my keyboard?
* Does anyone have another idea what I could try? Maybe without recovery mode?
Thanks in advance and cheers
T
As you said:
1. Ignition off and on
2.Have ready the needle for reset and do that instantly as you see the boot logo.
Once device restarted, wait until will see the boot logo again and pull out the ignition key.
3. Put in an USB socket a pen drive with the right firmware
4. Put back the ignition key and let it in ON position, without starting the engine. The update process will start, have a bit of patience until will finish. The device will restart at the end of the update, and straight after the boot logo, shortly press the reset button.
With a bit of luck, will have a fresh firmware on your device.
Thanks for your quick answer.
I tried what you said several times, but unfortunately I always end up on the black screen, no matter what I try.
My usb stick flashes quickly during the boot process, but nothing happens with it.
I also tried with an USB male-to-male cable and connect via adb, but it won‘t connect...
t-to-the-a said:
5. Press&Hold "Reset" button until lights beign to flash to get into recovery mode --> Lights never flash because the "Reset" button somehow breaks the power circuit and when I release it, the device gets power again and boot process starts again with same outcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you are holding the reset button for long enough?
On my machine (Dasaita) you hold the reset and the machine turns off... but you have to keep holding it even after it has turned off. Could be upwards of 1.5 minutes. Once the lights flash (and finished flashing), release and press one more time within 3 seconds.
Thank you for this idea. I have tried 30 seconds, but no more until today...
Now I tried with 1min, 2mins, even 3mins, but nothing happens.. I think the power is immediately cut as soon as I press the reset button. So there is probably no way to fix this easily
I also contacted the seller, but they have a talent to not understand my question. I just get answers like "press the reset button 2 sec and then everything is fixed" or "plug in the USB drive with the new ROM and press update" - of course that doesn't help.
Well I guess I'm left with one last thing: Throw this device away and buy a new one. Not from Wondefoo anymore of course, and hopefully with a working reset button.
I have the same issue. What did you end up doing?
Where did you buy your unit from?

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