Develop Bugs

[Q] Unrooted Device Stuck in Bootloop

Hi guys,
My phone (GSM yakjuzs) was stuck in bootloop ages ago. Still can't find a solution to this. It was running 4.0.2, unrooted. At first the bootloop went all the way through Google splashscreen. After plenty of mucking around, now it couldn't pass through Google logo.
I tried to flash the phone with 4.0.4 to no available. It kept saying 'Sending bootloader: failed (status read: failed)' or 'Sending bootloader: failed (remote: write fail)'.
I'm wondering if actually the device has to be rooted first in order to flash a phone. How could I root it if it's already stuck in bootloop?
PS: I tried flashing using mskip's tool, wug's etc. The pc detected the phone in fastboot mode. I could see the numbers.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks a lot.

If your bootloader is still locked, you won't be able to flash. Keep in mind that to flash the 4.0.4 update manually using fastboot, you need to unlock the bootloader. Doing so will wipe data/factory reset the phone causing you to lose everything in your internal storage.
Command to unlock the bootloader - fastboot oem unlock
follow link below for instructions on flashing a stock image.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1366806
the guide specifies up to ICL53F, you can actually use the commands he states in the guide but replace the file names with those of the stock IMM76I image directly from google. Location of stock google images (yakju) https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
I hope this helps you in some way.

I forgot to say I had already unlocked the bootloader. However it's still unrooted if it does matter.
Thanks for posting the link though.

It shouldn't matter if you're unrooted. If you try the commands in one of the links I sent, it should work.

Okay, will try this later and I'll get back to you. Thanks a lot.

Hi racerklm,
I tried your method and it failed.
When I entered the first command, the result was as follows:
Sending bootloader ......... OKAY
writing bootloader ......... Failed (remote: write fail)
I just don't get what this means. Does anyone know what this is about? Any help is really appreciated.

Are you on a GSM or CDMA gnex? Just to clarify things. If you're on a GSM version the below applies to you.
Did you download the Superboot zip from the first thread i linked you? You need to extract both the r4-galaxynexus-gsm-superboot.zip and the IMM76I.zip you downloaded from google.
Look for the following files inside the IMM76I.zip you downloaded from google and transfer them to the same directory as fastboot.
bootloader-maguro-primela03.img
radio-maguro-i9250xxla2.img
image-yakju-imm76i.zip
Once that's done, do the following commands (taken from thread I linked you).
fastboot-windows flash bootloader bootloader-maguro-primela03.img
fastboot-windows reboot-bootloader
fastboot-windows flash radio radio-maguro-i9250xxla2.img
fastboot-windows reboot-bootloader
fastboot-windows -w update image-yakju-imm76i.zip
if you're on mac or linux just replace "windows" in the commands with "linux" or "mac"

I'm using a GSM model. I did download the superboot zip and the stock google image.zip and extracted all of their files into the same folder.
I have also already typed the first fastboot command. However those words came up again. The very exact words when I tried to fix the device using mskip's and wug's tool. I also tried using two other Windows PC and one Mac PC to no avail. Haven't tried linux since I don't have one.
Your posts are very informative, I thank you a lot for that. However it just didn't work in my case. I've read plenty of similar threads. Their devices could get back to normal. Mine doesn't. I don't know why. Hence, I really wonder what 'remote: write fail' means.

Sorry that there's nothing I can do to help you solve this problem. Have you tried just running the last command? fastboot-windows -w update image-yakju-imm76i.zip? If somehow you can get that flashed, it should boot up normally.

I tried that just now and this came up:
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: PRIMEKK15
Baseband Version.....: I9250XXKK6
Serial Number........: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------
checking product... OKAY
checking version-bootloader... OKAY
checking version-baseband... OKAY
sending 'boot' (4148 KB)... OKAY
writing 'boot'... FAILED (status read failed (Too many open files in system))
Long time ago I could get into recovery mode and playing around with the device. I wonder if I accidentally unmount the sd? Now I could no longer get into recovery mode. When I select recovery, it would just go to the Google logo with lock image at the bottom.

hmm try flash clockwork recovery and see if that works?

If it's refusing to flash valid files from fastboot, you may just have a hardware defect. Relock the bootloader and if you can still produce the bootloop symptoms, take it for warranty.

I can boot into CWM but not flash it. Is there anything else I could do before sending it in for warranty/fixing?

most likely then it's a hardware defect. best to take it in for warranty work.

wsoelivan said:
I can boot into CWM but not flash it. Is there anything else I could do before sending it in for warranty/fixing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first thing I would try is to change USB cables.
Next I would try changing USB ports on your PC. Use the ones at the back, not the front.
If that still doesn't work, and you have CWM installed, you could always flash back to stock while booted in CWM (assuming your PC sees your device when booted in CWM).

Crazy as it sounds, you may also want to check your USB cable.
When I worked as Swype's tester, I flashed perhaps hundreds of ROMs across many different devices. In particular I remember having a similar problem with a particular prereleased device, and swapping the USB cable seemingly fixed the problem on more than one occasion. I studied EE in school, and I never could explain why this was a problem or why this would fix it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

efrant said:
The first thing I would try is to change USB cables.
Next I would try changing USB ports on your PC. Use the ones at the back, not the front.
If that still doesn't work, and you have CWM installed, you could always flash back to stock while booted in CWM (assuming your PC sees your device when booted in CWM).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have already tried 3 different USB cables and all ports in my PC. But, I'm gonna give it one more try for the last time.
I don't have CWM installed, I could only boot it from mskip's tools.
Chinpokomon said:
Crazy as it sounds, you may also want to check your USB cable.
When I worked as Swype's tester, I flashed perhaps hundreds of ROMs across many different devices. In particular I remember having a similar problem with a particular prereleased device, and swapping the USB cable seemingly fixed the problem on more than one occasion. I studied EE in school, and I never could explain why this was a problem or why this would fix it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first I was using two Blackberry's USB cables and it didn't work. Then I read in the forum suggesting to use the original cable. I became very hopeful and suddenly grabbed the USB cable came with the phone.
However, as I said before, I might probably try this method one more time. I'm gonna install a linux OS first and try again before sending it in.
On the other hand, I've tried another method of flashing using ODIN mode. Not surprised at all, it still didn't work.

[Solved] Several (related) problems flashing anything but stock

I have a C6506 that is unlocked, have checked via the service code. Not just unlockable but unlocked. Certain.
I've used both older flashtool64 that worked before (0.9.11.0) on a Surface Pro (windows 10) and newer (0.9.19.10) on a desktop (Windows 10 also).
In both cases I can flash 10.7.a.0.222 for C6506. I also can flash 10.3.a.0.423 on the Surface (did not try on others). It boots, it works, no issues.
I can get in fastboot mode on the phone (blue light), but on the surface with the older Flashtools (and associated drivers) I cannot access the phone at all, just waiting for device.
On the newer flash tools with drivers installed (turned off signing verification) I can get into fastboot and do things like a "getvar version", but I cannot do more complex things like get the unlock status, nor can I flash a boot image (in this case from CM 12.1). It says "Command not allowed" in the write phase. Yes, the phone is unlocked, really, at least it says it is, and I did do an unlock code with legitimate Sony provided codes. And previously rooted using it as unlocked.
I've also tried getting root with a pre-rooted 10.7.a.0.222 -- I can get an older version rooted, put recovery on it, I can do the install of the zip and it completes -- then boot loop. This is using Beta-SuperSU-V2.52.zip and zl-lockeddualrecovery2.8.23-release.combined.zip with PRFCreator. (The recovery is also what I used to do the install). Boot loop. Can't get out of it without a new flash despite power off, resets, etc. Can't get back into recovery either at that point.
I do have the phone working with a non-rooted stock Sony 10.7.A.0.222. As mentioned, flashes fine. I just can't seem to get CM running (can't fastboot the boot image), nor can I get root on the stock sony (boot loop).
I've also tried the fastboot program on the current SDK as well as the one in Flashtools without any difference, still can't flash a boot.img from cm12.1.
I feel like I'm missing something fundamental, like maybe some aspect of running Windows 10 that is interfering (I have no older version currently). I'd suspect CM12.1 but it also is failing with the typical root technique for 5.1.1 stock (i.e. root older version first).
While I am not an active developer, this is not my first round of flashing or updating the phone, though it is my first round in a year or more, certainly since Windows 10.
I realize this is a lot like "nothing is working what could be wrong" and not a very specific question, but wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to whether there might be a common cause here.

I do have one more interesting piece of information that I do not understand.
I downloaded Emma and tried to use it to flash stock just to make sure the image I had was good for stock.
Emma says "this phone is locked". So thinking my last flash re-locked it, I went into flash tools and did this:
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot oem unlock 0xkey-from-sony
...
OKAY [ 2.969s]
finished. total time: 2.969s
After doing so, Emma STILL says it is locked.
Flash tool however allows me to flash it.
Any clue why Emma would say "locked" when I just finished unlocking it?
In service, configuration it says "Yes" to unlocked, not "no/yes" or any other combination, just "yes".

focus on getting the sdk tools to work, like fastboot. What do you mean it just does not flash( show console output of your fastboot flash boot boot.img), Is fastboot not recognized in the device manager, It is odd you can use it to 'oem unlock'... I had to change driver files when I switched from windows 7 to windows 10. if you can 'fastboot devices' and 'adb devices' you should be good to go as far as flashing, maybe you have bad images not made for the phone? I am no pro take my information with a grain of salt.

ham5 said:
focus on getting the sdk tools to work, like fastboot. What do you mean it just does not flash( show console output of your fastboot flash boot boot.img), Is fastboot not recognized in the device manager, It is odd you can use it to 'oem unlock'... I had to change driver files when I switched from windows 7 to windows 10. if you can 'fastboot devices' and 'adb devices' you should be good to go as far as flashing, maybe you have bad images not made for the phone? I am no pro take my information with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try again tomorrow (need the phone tonight and it takes a while to get stock back up and configured).
Concentrating on fastbook and on my more-working desktop (the tablet definitely has some issue, I think driver related).
I installed the newest Flashtools, and also installed the fastboot and s1 drivers from it (I think that's what they are called). I configured Windows to permit them unsigned and they installed without error.
When I try to do CM12.1, what I did was download their distribution zip, and unzip it and pull out the boot.img file. I then put the phone in fastboot mode, and it worked and was recognized (e.g. "fastboot getvar version" responds).
Going by the instructions for CM12.1, I then tried to do "fastboot flash boot c:\pathwhereitwas\boot.img"
This does a send of the file, which works, and then does a write and says "command not allowed". So it appears to transmit the file but can't commit it to flash. I cannot post the log as didn't save it but if you think relevant can post tomorrow.
As to the locked issue -- after trying this the first time, I thought "maybe the phone has been locked again". So I did the #*#*service*#*# and see it says "yes" for unlocked. But just to be safe, I dug out my 2 year old email from Sony and did another unlock. As to why I did it with the "oem unlock" that's how CM12.1 suggests (https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_odin). The first time I typed it, it failed, the second time it said "OK". Tried the flash boot again, same "command not allowed error".
The phone goes into fastboot mode easily (blue light, plus response to things like getvar). It goes into flash mode fine also, and indeed, after I gave up (each of several times) I flashed stock back on the phone and it came up with 5.1.1 stock.
I wanted to run CM12.1 as I really don't like that stock has not patched stagefright, plus I hate not having root.
Any suggestions what I may be doing wrong, that fastboot commands sometimes work, but I can't flash the boot file?
Am I flashing the RIGHT boot file? Should I be flashing the CM12.1 recovery image they have on their download page instead? (But the instructions are pretty clear).
I should note that the phone does not appear to have a recovery on it -- booting after flashing stock, and toggling all the volume buttons in any combination is just ignored.

I think your really digging way to deep into this...
The phone goes into fastboot mode easily (blue light, plus response to things like getvar). It goes into flash mode fine also, and indeed, after I gave up (each of several times) I flashed stock back on the phone and it came up with 5.1.1 stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is the difference between fastboot and flash mode? Ive never heard of this flash mode....
This does a send of the file, which works, and then does a write and says "command not allowed". So it appears to transmit the file but can't commit it to flash. I cannot post the log as didn't save it but if you think relevant can post tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe it sends a file at all, it is flashed/written to the boot partition right away.. or is supposed to - I would consider this your chief complaint... "command not allowed" when trying to fastboot flash a boot.img -- I get a lot of hits googling that.. driver problems/bootloader locked

ham5 said:
I think your really digging way to deep into this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd welcome a shorter, simpler path.
ham5 said:
what is the difference between fastboot and flash mode? Ive never heard of this flash mode....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps it is purely a sony thing. If, with the phone powered off, you plug it in holding the volume up button you end up in fastboot mode; if you plug it in with the volume down you end up in flash mode.
Flashmode is used by Emma and by Flashtools. Fastboot is used by the Fastboot utility. I'm unclear what happens under the cover, but they are not interchangeable.
ham5 said:
I don't believe it sends a file at all, it is flashed/written to the boot partition right away.. or is supposed to - I would consider this your chief complaint... "command not allowed" when trying to fastboot flash a boot.img -- I get a lot of hits googling that.. driver problems/bootloader locked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, I do not know what happens under the covers, but in fastboot mode when you do the "flash boot" it first says it transmitted a file (shows bytes sent, etc) then it does a "write" command itself and it is that write command that fails.
And therein lies my issue trying to flash the boot image -- the write command fails, and I cannot figure out why.
Drivers: I've tried the latest flashtool, and installed the drivers from there. They do install (with signing verification off), and they do connect and see the phone. Some commands work, but this one does not. Could it be the drivers? Certainly, but I do not know what to try to fix them.
Emma: I hate to keep coming back to this, but I do not understand why Emma says my phone is locked, when it clearly appears not to be. I've both re-unlocked it, confirmed it is unlocked with the service menu. But that it thinks it is locked, and the "write" command failure, makes me wonder if there is an issue either in the phone or windows or drivers that makes it act that way. incidentally I've also tried all this with antivirus/firewalls off with no effect.
Locked: just to confirm, in the service menu it says "Root Status" and "unlockable" as "yes". Not "Yes/no". That means it is currently unlocked, correct?
To your first point, I may be over-complicating it. I would welcome some suggestion of other simpler steps. I've done the same google, and don't see real solutions other than "try better drivers", but most threads seem to point to the flashtools drivers, and I've tried those, as well as installing Emma which (presumably) either used those or loaded its own.

Incidentally if this is more appropriate to the Q&A forum, and a moderator is handy, I would appreciate it moving. I placed it here because this relates mostly to the Flashtools drivers and the process of using fastboot.

I cant say for sure .. CM's dialer does not work with service menu... but you defiantly not worried about root... your looking for the bootloader to be unlocked, not unlockable..

ham5 said:
I cant say for sure .. CM's dialer does not work with service menu... but you defiantly not worried about root... your looking for the bootloader to be unlocked, not unlockable..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never gotten to CM on this phone so that's moot. I'm doing the service menu from the stock phone. And so far as I can tell the bootloader is unlocked.
I went back to a much older version of Flashtools (0.9.11) that dates from about the time I got the phone, but those drivers do not seem to install on Windows 10 at all.
But I'm not clear whether it is a driver problem, since some fastboot commands work fine.

Just read using emma with lollipop can screw your phone up... in fastboot mode can you 'fastboot getvar version' ?
here is the CM wiki - https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_odin - good luck I don't think I can be of any help.

ham5 said:
Just read using emma with lollipop can screw your phone up... in fastboot mode can you 'fastboot getvar version' ?
here is the CM wiki - https://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_odin - good luck I don't think I can be of any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, in fastboot mode I can do the getvar version. It says 0.5.
I had read the wiki; as mentioned that is why I was trying to flash boot.img.
As requested here is a fastboot session log:
Code:
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot getvar version
version: 0.5
finished. total time: 0.002s
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot flash boot boot.img
sending 'boot' (10668 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.340s]
writing 'boot'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.340s
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability
...
^C
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot devices -l
EPxxxxx47K fastboot
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot devices
EPxxxxx47K fastboot
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot flash boot boot.img
sending 'boot' (10668 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.340s]
writing 'boot'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.354s
U:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>fastboot flash boot boot.img
sending 'boot' (10668 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.340s]
writing 'boot'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 0.353s
As you can see some commands work, some do not. Not sure the get_unlock_ability is even supposed to work as it looks like a late comer to fastboot and the phone is old.
Most articles I find posted about "command not allowed" do not seem to get as far as being able to use fastboot at all, but even if it is a driver issue, not sure what I can do about it, these are the latest drivers.

Ok, I've managed to get this to work. I can tell you what I did, but not why, but in case it helped someone else.
The bootloader showed unlocked, but I ran the flashtool option to unlock it again, then WITHOUT REBOOTING I did the fastboot option to flash the boot.img.
It appears that if you reboot (to stock) in between, it does something that at least makes it appear the bootloader is locked (the service menu shows it NOT locked still).
There's another thread here that implies you need to do it multiple times, but I think the issue is not a need to do it more than once, but a need to make sure that (at least a late version stock) does not get a chance to run, as it appears to do something.
I'm now happily on 12.1. Well, sort of happy, I finally noticed it says it doesn't support the 6506 (as opposed to the 6503) so I might not stay long, but at least I worked out what was wrong. Thanks to those who encouraged me to keep looking.

Pixel 3 XL Failing to Boot

Crosspost from r/GooglePixel
I enabled ADB over wifi, I installed this app Remote ADB Shell (com.cgutman.androidremotedebuggern) ran a few commands that resulted in "no command found" and a 'ls' command that read permission denied for all items before realizing it was not what I was looking for.
I don't completely remember if this app was still open or not before the device went to sleep. About 10 minutes later I notice my P3XL rebooting and going into recovery reading the standard message:
Code:
Android Recovery
google/crosshatch/crosshatch
9/PQ1A.181105.017.A1/5081125
user/release-keys
Can't load Android system/ Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message, you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device.
I have tried removing the SIM any other tips? Weird phenomenon.

Can you get to recovery and sideload the latest OTA? That should reflash system and not wipe any data. You mentioned you were doing ADB over wifi, which won't work for that. You will need to plug into a machine to sideload the OTA.
Is your bootloader unlocked? If it is, you could flash the full factory image. Editing the flash-all.bat file and removing the -w near the end will prevent it from wiping user data.

fury683 said:
Can you get to recovery and sideload the latest OTA? That should reflash system and not wipe any data. You mentioned you were doing ADB over wifi, which won't work for that. You will need to plug into a machine to sideload the OTA.
Is your bootloader unlocked? If it is, you could flash the full factory image. Editing the flash-all.bat file and removing the -w near the end will prevent it from wiping user data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can get into recovery. Originally, I was going to wipe cache but that's no longer an option. I'll try sideloading the latest OTA when I get home.
Bootloader is still locked. I was planning to do it this weekend and I know that will wipe user data but need to back up some app data before.

As long as you still have recovery access you should be golden. Do post your results though, please. Curious about the result.

Mission Failed: sidebooted crosshatch 9.0.0 (PQ1A.181105.017.A1, Nov 2018) successfully and... it still fails to boot.
I get a white google screen with a loading bar, then OS "Powering Down..." message, then back to Android Recovery screen.
Tried to rollback to 9.0.0 (PD1A.180720.031, Sep 2018, Verizon) but failed because "downgrade not allowed"
Time to factory reset.

Same data corrupt issue
Hi,
My Pixel 3 XL has the same issue.
I attached it to power cable on the evening and when I came back next morning, it showed the attached screen...
Even flashing the latest OTA image via Recovery does not help.
Is there any chance to get a backup form the device with stock recovery?
I did not modify anything to the device. It is locked and original FW.
Best Regards
Marcus

if you have unlocked bootloader and have TWRP installed you can adb push and pull

mmmchen said:
Hi,
My Pixel 3 XL has the same issue.
I attached it to power cable on the evening and when I came back next morning, it showed the attached screen...
Even flashing the latest OTA image via Recovery does not help.
Is there any chance to get a backup form the device with stock recovery?
I did not modify anything to the device. It is locked and original FW.
Best Regards
Marcus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the flashall.bat and remove the -w in the file. Search for how to do this. It's been talked about quite allot

c_86 said:
Use the flashall.bat and remove the -w in the file. Search for how to do this. It's been talked about quite allot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
Unfortunately the flashall does not work since the bootloader is locked
Code:
Sending 'bootloader_a' (8489 KB) OKAY [ 0.309s]
Writing 'bootloader_a' FAILED (remote: 'Fastboot command (flash:) is not allowed when locked')
Finished. Total time: 0.907s
rebooting into bootloader OKAY [ 0.049s]
Finished. Total time: 0.055s
Sending 'radio_a' (71148 KB) OKAY [ 2.060s]
Writing 'radio_a' FAILED (remote: 'Fastboot command (flash:) is not allowed when locked')
Finished. Total time: 2.296s
rebooting into bootloader OKAY [ 0.050s]
...
...
Sending 'boot_a' (65536 KB) OKAY [ 1.740s]
Writing 'boot_a' FAILED (remote: 'Fastboot command (flash:) is not allowed when locked')
Any other option?
thanks
Marcus

mmmchen said:
Hi.
Unfortunately the flashall does not work since the bootloader is locked
Any other option?
thanks
Marcus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to access bootloader screen? If so I would run the unlock command (which will wipe the device) and they flash all

mmmchen said:
Hi.
Unfortunately the flashall does not work since the bootloader is locked
Any other option?
thanks
Marcus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can update through your recovery. Download the November ota, not the system image. Flash through recovery. There are many guides for flashing OTA. Also make sure ADB tools are up to date. There are directions for flashing through recovery on the Google OTA download page if I'm not mistaken.

Bryanx86 said:
You can update through your recovery. Download the November ota, not the system image. Flash through recovery. There are many guides for flashing OTA. Also make sure ADB tools are up to date. There are directions for flashing through recovery on the Google OTA download page if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
that was the first option I did try in the beginning.
It flashes fine, but after reboot, I run into the same error.
During boot, the device is reachable via ADB for a short time before it shuts down automatically and shows the error.
Is it somehow possible to use ADB to prevent the device from shutting down? Then I could try to backup a bit via ADB...
Best Regards
Marcus

mmmchen said:
Hi,
that was the first option I did try in the beginning.
It flashes fine, but after reboot, I run into the same error.
During boot, the device is reachable via ADB for a short time before it shuts down automatically and shows the error.
Is it somehow possible to use ADB to prevent the device from shutting down? Then I could try to backup a bit via ADB...
Best Regards
Marcus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you had enough time you could toggle "unlock bootloader"in settings. Then in fastboot, unlock your device. This will wipe all data on your phone, but you can then flash stock firmware and maybe fix whatever issues you have.
If just backing up your data is what you want, there are ADB commands to do this. Google ADB commands and they're should be many links to give you a better understanding of it, but it's basically "ADB pull (where you want to pull from on your phone)" without quotes or parentheses.
But to fix your problem of random rebooting, I think you will need to unlock bootloader and flash stock, losing your data
I believe there may also be a way to toggle the setting of bootloader unlock via ADB if your device is on and settings is unreachable, but I am unsure how or even if it can be done on the pixel 3xl.
I would call Google for RMA.

Bumping this a month later because.... IT HAPPENED AGAIN. WTF GOOGLE.
This time just left the phone facing down for 5 minutes: Corrupt.
After this happened last time I just had to format and restore to most recent backup. I did not attempt to enable adb over wifi or use terminal, nothing outside of google use case.

TrevorT97 said:
Bumping this a month later because.... IT HAPPENED AGAIN. WTF GOOGLE.
This time just left the phone facing down for 5 minutes: Corrupt.
After this happened last time I just had to format and restore to most recent backup. I did not attempt to enable adb over wifi or use terminal, nothing outside of google use case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you able to get your bootloader unlocked? If so I'd try flashing the factory image with the -w intact. But reading your thread it's sounding more like it's a hardware problem.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

jd1639 said:
Were you able to get your bootloader unlocked? If so I'd try flashing the factory image with the -w intact. But reading your thread it's sounding more like it's a hardware problem.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you cannot unlock the boot loader. Since the boot sector is corrupt the only you see is a powering off dialog on a black background.
I believe the problem is related to the way Pie is handling updates. I believe it is supposed to update in the background seemlessly. Everytime it has happened there has been a backup a couple or hours before.

New Pixel 3 XL bricked

I have bricked my new Pixel 3 XL after trying to root it.
I used the Magisk guide here and got as far as part 2 step 12, i.e. the last step of the actual process. When the phone rebooted, I got the expected bootloader unlocked warning, then the white loading screen for a long time, then a message saying that the system failed to load with Try Again / Hard Reset (or something to that effect) options. Choosing Try Again just repeated this boot process, choosing Hard Reset wiped the phone and then repeated the process.
I went through this about 10 times, then the phone didn't boot at all. Nothing on-screen, no connection with adb. When I tried a few hours later, I got a low battery warning icon (the phone was about about 80% when I started the process). After letting it charge for a few hours, I again get nothing on-screen. It also doesn't boot into the bootloader.
If it can't be fixed, what's the RMA status for phones that might be rooted and definitely have an unlocked bootloader?
It was a really nice phone for a few hours :crying:

QuboidRC said:
I have bricked my new Pixel 3 XL after trying to root it.
I used the Magisk guide here and got as far as part 2 step 12, i.e. the last step of the actual process. When the phone rebooted, I got the expected bootloader unlocked warning, then the white loading screen for a long time, then a message saying that the system failed to load with Try Again / Hard Reset (or something to that effect) options. Choosing Try Again just repeated this boot process, choosing Hard Reset wiped the phone and then repeated the process.
I went through this about 10 times, then the phone didn't boot at all. Nothing on-screen, no connection with adb. When I tried a few hours later, I got a low battery warning icon (the phone was about about 80% when I started the process). After letting it charge for a few hours, I again get nothing on-screen. It also doesn't boot into the bootloader.
If it can't be fixed, what's the RMA status for phones that might be rooted and definitely have an unlocked bootloader?
It was a really nice phone for a few hours :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google actually tells you how to unlock the bootloader so that's not an issue. Just tell them it died while you were try to do a factory reset which is the truth. You shouldn't have an issue with Google and an RMA.
But, there is another thread on here which had the same issue and the phone was able to be revived. I'll see if I can find it.
Edit, see this https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3874820
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

That helps. Using his guide, I eventually got the bootloader to appear with Power + Volume Down. But at step 25, Power + Volume Up doesn't get any response.

QuboidRC said:
That helps. Using his guide, I eventually got the bootloader to appear with Power + Volume Down. But at step 25, Power + Volume Up doesn't get any response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would download the factory images, put the phone in bootloader and run flash all
You already did a factory reset so chances are you lost anything that was on it.
Edit: Also I'm sure you did already but make sure your adb and fastboot are up to date on your computer

hatdrc said:
I would download the factory images, put the phone in bootloader and run flash all
You already did a factory reset so chances are you lost anything that was on it.
Edit: Also I'm sure you did already but make sure your adb and fastboot are up to date on your computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I don't think the phone is hard bricked, I did this 2 times already when flashing ROMs, sometimes bootloader would not load without trying a few times.
Flash-all will get you running.

Follow the path !
Use the guide the guys have already posted in this thread.
I also bricked my phone the EXACT same way
Here's my one tip. If for some reason the guide to unbricking isn't working, either use a different cable, or a different computer (if possible).
Also when I bricked my phone last, the only thing it would do was boot into fastboot mode (power button + volume down ), so have faith and follow the UN brick guide !
---------- Post added at 03:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:31 PM ----------
Use THIS GUIDE instead when you unbrick it and want to root your new pixel!
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-3-xl/how-to/guide-pixel-xl-android-9-0-pie-unlock-t3857195

hatdrc said:
I would download the factory images, put the phone in bootloader and run flash all
You already did a factory reset so chances are you lost anything that was on it.
Edit: Also I'm sure you did already but make sure your adb and fastboot are up to date on your computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But how? Power + Volume Up doesn't do anything so I don't know how to get my phone to connect to my PC.

QuboidRC said:
But how? Power + Volume Up doesn't do anything so I don't know how to get my phone to connect to my PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to do power and volume -.

If you can get to the bootloader screen, that means you're not bricked. Also, there is slot a and b. When you download the factory image, you need to make sure you have it flashed on both slots a and b. You can get to the bootloader screen, correct?

I can get to the bootloader, now that I know how. Also, I had mistakenly thought that Power + Volume Up was needed to connect to my PC; I can use fastboot!
I can now get as far as step 32 in the repair guide I mentioned: running flash-all.bat. Running the batch file just flashes a tiny command prompt window for a fraction of a second, making no change to my device - Command Prompts seem a bit unreliable in Windows 10 (Update: I got command prompt to work, flash-all.bat does exactly the same thing), so I loaded the bat file in a text editor, and ran the commands at the Windows 10 PowerShell. The last command threw some errors:
> .\fastboot.exe -w update .\image-crosshatch-pq1a.181205.006.zip
extracting android-info.txt (0 MB) to RAM...
extracting boot.img (64 MB) to disk... took 1.516s
target reported max download size of 268435456 bytes
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'boot_other.img'
extracting dtbo.img (8 MB) to disk... took 0.019s
archive does not contain 'dtbo.sig'
archive does not contain 'dt.img'
archive does not contain 'recovery.img'
extracting system.img (2158 MB) to disk... took 10.499s
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
extracting system_other.img (418 MB) to disk... took 2.157s
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
extracting vbmeta.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
archive does not contain 'vbmeta.sig'
extracting vendor.img (445 MB) to disk... took 1.997s
archive does not contain 'vendor.sig'
archive does not contain 'vendor_other.img'
wiping userdata...
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: b1c1-0.1-5034669
Baseband Version.....: g845-00023-180917-B-5014671
Serial Number........: 8ABY0HBQ3
--------------------------------------------
checking product...
OKAY [ 0.060s]
checking partition-exists...
FAILED (remote: variable not found)
finished. total time: 0.361s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I reboot, the phone loads to the bootloader and says "Enter reason: error booting boot.img" the first time. Rebooting, or booting the phone from off, then shows the bootloader immediately with the "Enter reason: no valid slot of boot". Basically, it looks like a phone that works, but has no OS installed.
I don't know how to set what slot is being flashed.

QuboidRC said:
I can get to the bootloader, now that I know how. Also, I had mistakenly thought that Power + Volume Up was needed to connect to my PC; I can use fastboot!
I can now get as far as step 32 in the repair guide I mentioned: running flash-all.bat. Running the batch file just flashes a tiny command prompt window for a fraction of a second, making no change to my device - Command Prompts seem a bit unreliable in Windows 10 (Update: I got command prompt to work, flash-all.bat does exactly the same thing), so I loaded the bat file in a text editor, and ran the commands at the Windows 10 PowerShell. The last command threw some errors:
> .\fastboot.exe -w update .\image-crosshatch-pq1a.181205.006.zip
When I reboot, the phone loads to the bootloader and says "Enter reason: error booting boot.img" the first time. Rebooting, or booting the phone from off, then shows the bootloader immediately with the "Enter reason: no valid slot of boot". Basically, it looks like a phone that works, but has no OS installed.
I don't know how to set what slot is being flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the latest sdk platform tools? I'm pretty sure that's your problem. You need version r28.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

jd1639 said:
Do you have the latest sdk platform tools? I'm pretty sure that's your problem. You need version r28.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That fixed it! I had been using the latest Minimal ADB and Fastboot, not the Android SDK Platform Tools. I'm at new-phone start page ("Hi there" / language choice/ vision settings).
Thank you very much for the help, everyone. You've saved Christmas! :highfive:

QuboidRC said:
That fixed it! I had been using the latest Minimal ADB and Fastboot, not the Android SDK Platform Tools. I'm at new-phone start page ("Hi there" / language choice/ vision settings).
Thank you very much for the help, everyone. You've saved Christmas! :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it running. The platform tools changed with pie and a lot of people haven't updated. It's been the root cause of most of the flashing issues.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

try using power shell instead of command. i forget what my issue was but power shell gave me better luck, but you have to do the entire path even if your in the directory

I'd recommend you put the sdk tools, fastboot and adb, in a directory. Then set a path to it in environment variables (windows). That way adb and fastboot are available no matter what directory your working in. It saves a lot of coping files and it's not as messy.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

I used the ADB and Fastboot from r28 but did not install the SDK. If using command prompt, run it as an Admin (right click, run as Admin). Works flawlessly for me. As far as ADB and Recovery goes the only time it works is when you enable sideload mode. None of the normal ADB commands work.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

I followed every step but still no luck. Just the google logo during startup and it stays there. I will leave it on that screen all night and report back but very doubtful
As to how I got into this mess...I rooted all fine, installed a custom rom and magisk. All great but then I decided to install a custom kernel for some reason which did it for me. I downloaded the EX Kernel Manager and installed the kernel within the app which got me to this mess.
You guys think I am screwed?
Edit: After trying and trying....I am up and running again.

Dodolom said:
I followed every step but still no luck. Just the google logo during startup and it stays there. I will leave it on that screen all night and report back but very doubtful
As to how I got into this mess...I rooted all fine, installed a custom rom and magisk. All great but then I decided to install a custom kernel for some reason which did it for me. I downloaded the EX Kernel Manager and installed the kernel within the app which got me to this mess.
You guys think I am screwed?
Edit: After trying and trying....I am up and running again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am now in the same shape. How did you get up and running? I have the latest platform tools. I had a custom ROM with TWRP and Magisk all working well. Then I tried a new ROM. Big mistake. I can get to fastboot without any problem. I loaded the stock December and it went without a hitch. Now stuck on Google logo.

Daisymae said:
I am now in the same shape. How did you get up and running? I have the latest platform tools. I had a custom ROM with TWRP and Magisk all working well. Then I tried a new ROM. Big mistake. I can get to fastboot without any problem. I loaded the stock December and it went without a hitch. Now stuck on Google logo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What new rom did you try?
Did you flash the factory image with the flash-all batch file? And if so did you remove the -w?
Can you get into the stock recovery? If so try doing a factory reset on it.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

jd1639 said:
What new rom did you try?
Did you flash the factory image with the flash-all batch file? And if so did you remove the -w?
Can you get into the stock recovery? If so try doing a factory reset on it.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it straightened out. Had to run flash-all.sh WITH the -w even though it wiped my phone. The ROM was Havoc ROM. Sure lived up to its name.

Alldocube - T1026 (kPad) Bootloader Unlocking

Surprised that I haven't come across too much regarding this tablet. It's relatively cheap, but has a wonderful screen, with cel data and SD card support. And not a bad resolution. (Not 4K, but ALMOST 2k...) This device seems to be running a SpreadTrun / SPD system under the hood.
Having issues getting it rooted and bootloader unlocked.
First, Rooting via boot.img and Magisk -
I am able to get the boot.img file and have Magisk patch it fine. However, when I go to re-write the boot.img file, fastboot gives me the following:
C:\>fastboot flash boot_a magisk_patched-22100_2U5Ga.img
Warning: skip copying boot_a image avb footer (boot_a partition size: 0, boot_a image size: 67108864).
Sending 'boot_a' (65536 KB) OKAY [ 2.422s]
Writing 'boot_a' FAILED (remote: 'Flashing Lock Flag is locked. Please unlock it first!')
fastboot: error: Command failed
SPD's UpgradeFlash won't let me select JUST to flash the boot file - it forces everything to be flashed, which resets the device. Because of that, when I insert the patched boot.img in, it causes the tablet to bootloop.
Trying to unlock bootloader -
Reading through different methods for SPD devices, I'm running into deadends. With both ADB Debug and OEM Unlock enabled, running the following commands don't work:
C:\>fastboot flashing unlock
FAILED (remote: 'unknown cmd.')
C:\>fastboot oem unlock
FAILED (remote: 'Unlock bootloader fail.')
I thought that perhaps the method of flashing the signature (signature.pim file) was needed. However, following that attempt, the command yields:
C:\>fastboot flashing unlock signature.bin
fastboot: usage: unknown 'flashing' command unlock
(Same error is given for 'unlock_critical' and 'unlock_bootloader'.)
Anyone know of an alternate way to flash JUST the boot.img files to an SPD device?

Quick bump!
One interesting thing I have noticed - every time after I run the second command ('oen unlock'), any command sent AFTER that will hang. As if the tablet's expecting something else.

Any luck? I've also got this tablet, seems like unisoc have different bootloader unlock procedure, read that it needs linux with custom adb tools

I actually unlocked the bootloader on mine several months ago. Details aren't fresh in my mind but I do remember a few things that may help you.
1) You absolutely need the signature file. I got mine by installing an app "spreatrum tools" on the tablet.
2) It only works with a specific version of fastboot.
3) According to my terminal history, the command to unlock could be "fastboot.exe flashing unlock_bootloader signature.bin" or the one posted by OP: "fastboot flashing unlock signature.bin". At least one of these works but I don't remember which since I used them both.
Pretty sure I got both the working version of fastboot (windows version, not linux) and the app here on the forum. Whoever posted those files originally deserves the credits but, again, I don't remember who or where so... Luckily I still have both files on my NAS so I'm attaching them.
Anyway, there, have fun.

So this can also work, nice!

troolie said:
I actually unlocked the bootloader on mine several months ago. Details aren't fresh in my mind but I do remember a few things that may help you.
Anyway, there, have fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much, already unlocked my BL (through modified adb via Linux) but can't proceed to root it, have you rooted yours?

Nope. My plan was to unlock in order to install a custom recovery as I thought there's a good chance the one for iplay40 might work. Turns out I ended up with a brick so I went back to stock.
My immediate concern was to get rid of system apps but adb shell works well enough for that so...
Actually, I'm more interested in running generic GSI if at all possible, considering alldocube is unlikely to ever update the stock rom.

troolie said:
I actually unlocked the bootloader on mine several months ago. Details aren't fresh in my mind but I do remember a few things that may help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vvtaewoo12 said:
Any luck? I've also got this tablet, seems like unisoc have different bootloader unlock procedure, read that it needs linux with custom adb tools
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the silence guys, had a death in the family that took me away from playing with this tablet for a while.
Glad you both got it - I actually was able to get in touch with someone AT AlldoCube, and they replied saying that the bootloader IS UNLOCKED in the same fashion that the iPlay40 is. (Which isn't too much of a surprise - the back cover of my kPad actually has the iPlay 40 model number on it. Heh.) I followed the instructions in the iPlay 40 thread exactly (including the one command that's run that the output seems to not be used), and it worked.
Like you both, though, I haven't been able to root - Because of the family issues, I haven't tried in a while, but I remember getting as far as trying to flash a modified Magisk boot.img - at which point, the tablet goes into bootloop. I blieve that we need a signed vbmeta file, though I have no idea yet how to generate/flash that.
I have NOT tried the iPlay40 rooting instructions in one post, and I'm admittedly not even sure that I'm using the Spedtrum flashing applications correctly.

Help me unlock bootloader ipay 40
U have trailer video URL/??

U use Ubuntu linux but do not!!

Taoismixi said:
U use Ubuntu linux but do not!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong thread. This is not about the iPlay 40.