Develop Bugs

Z1C won't start - advice please

I've got myself into quite a muddle with my rooted Z1 Compact. I was prompted to update the firmware to 14.4.A.0.157, which I did over the air. Since the update, the device had been freezing, restarting and generally being unwell. What I didn't realise, based on a piece I read somewhere, was that this was likely or probable if the phone had been rooted. My memory is a bit sketchy on all the steps I took - but briefly - it suggested checking the status of the phone, from which I followed instructions using flashtool to flash a preceding firmware (xxxx.108), which it appeared to do successfully but now the phone does not boot at all. I'm now lost what to do next and I couldn't say if I've soft or hard bricked the phone. Another article (at android.gs / unbrick-sony-xperia-z1 ) says that if it's hard bricked then I need to flash the full firmware (not just kernel only). I've downloaded and installed Emma from Sony's site. I can get the software to recognise the phone but it says it is locked and I am in the process of downloading the Android SDK to [see if I can] continue this process.
I should have stopped and asked for advice before I did any of this. Now finally I am pausing to seek advice. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
The phone will charge when plugged in, at least it is showing a green LED to imply fully charged.

Brief update: I couldn't enable USB debugging on device, as device doesn't start up. I enter fastboot mode when connecting the device (Windows) and I run "fastboot devices" in the platform-tools folder without an error however when I enter the command with my unlock key, I just get "waiting for device" (several minutes). I am assuming that this might be because I couldn't enable USB debugging on the device? Any suggestions on where to go from here?

I might as well log the antics of my adventurous mind. Given that I hit a dead end, I continued on the original path and used FlashTool to flash 14.2.A.1.114_Customized firmware (why this - because it was the only full firmware that I found). Anyway, thankfully, I now have a working device running that firmware with Android 4.3. I'll try and proceed to get back up to date.

devo1d said:
(why this - because it was the only full firmware that I found).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how when this thread is stickied at the top of the General Section. Z1 Compact Resource Thread -|-Rooting-BL Unlocking-Firmware & More..

Oh my goodness......... It is pantomime season after all

Magic. I confess to being another dizzy head when things don't go right and reading from a multiple sources and getting a bit overwhelmed & lost. Anyway, found the way out and thank you for the pointer to the sticky right-in-front-of-the-eyes info. Bookmarked.

Soft Bricked - Unable to Sideload OTA

Hi all,
My Nexus 5x (16gb - all stock.) went and soft bricked today. Not sure why - just seemed to start wanting to constantly restart - never making it past the white google text part of the boot process. Not sure if it's an update or hardware. No trauma or dropping of the phone - which makes me think s/w rather than h/w.
I have attempted to install a rescue OTA update (instructions I followed are from technobill - don't have enough posts to add a link). However, when running "adb sideload <file>" I get a "failed to read command" error. Have tired multiple cables/ports however to no avail.
(Recovery screen shows the following build details: 7.0/NBD90W/3239497)
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Somewhat Irked

SomewhatIrked said:
Hi all,
My Nexus 5x (16gb - all stock.) went and soft bricked today. Not sure why - just seemed to start wanting to constantly restart - never making it past the white google text part of the boot process. Not sure if it's an update or hardware. No trauma or dropping of the phone - which makes me think s/w rather than h/w.
I have attempted to install a rescue OTA update (instructions I followed are from technobill - don't have enough posts to add a link). However, when running "adb sideload <file>" I get a "failed to read command" error. Have tired multiple cables/ports however to no avail.
(Recovery screen shows the following build details: 7.0/NBD90W/3239497)
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Somewhat Irked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did your phone just reboot in the middle of doing something innocuous then start bootlooping? Were/Are you on total stock with bootloader locked? If both yes, it is probably hardware issue you are encountering.
Regarding sideloading, did you place your Android recovery in sideload mode?
Did you verify adb can "see" your device using "adb devices"?

SomewhatIrked said:
Hi all,
My Nexus 5x (16gb - all stock.) went and soft bricked today. Not sure why - just seemed to start wanting to constantly restart - never making it past the white google text part of the boot process. Not sure if it's an update or hardware. No trauma or dropping of the phone - which makes me think s/w rather than h/w.
I have attempted to install a rescue OTA update (instructions I followed are from technobill - don't have enough posts to add a link). However, when running "adb sideload <file>" I get a "failed to read command" error. Have tired multiple cables/ports however to no avail.
(Recovery screen shows the following build details: 7.0/NBD90W/3239497)
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Somewhat Irked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well luckily I made this post today.

The more this goes on, the more I believe it to be hardware ...
@sfhub - reasonably innocuous. Had just opened one or 2 apps that morning. Not sure what had updated overnight app/os wise. Not anything interesting as far as I can tell. Once I managed to get it into recovery "adb devices" was returning the phone.
@bardhi92 - I saw that once I got in. However, I couldn't get it to see my phone.
Updated things I have tried and why I've all but thrown in the towel:
After the OTA rescue sideload failed I started trying a few different things. It stopped taking me into recovery mode more frequently, at least it seemed that way - it would just keep bootlooping. My main issue is that I has a locked bootloader, which stopped me whacking TWRP on and loading on a custom rom - just to see if that worked.
I thought it might let me sideload on a factory default img file. Turns out nope.
However I used NRT to "Flash Stock + Unroot" (with "Soft Brick/Bootloop" checked) which for some reason, then allowed me to get back into recovery mode. I had also removed the sim card/tray at this point. May have been either or neither of those that allowed me to get into recovery mode. Can't say for certain.
I cleared /cache and /data and then attempted the OTA rescue update again. This time it failed at 45% (according to my cmd prmpt) with the error: "* failed to read command: No error". I'm not sure text was on the phone at the time. But it did manage to boot into Android. I quickly stepped through the various intro steps (putting in the sim, adding my mail google account details).
I went to get a beer. Only to find it boot looping again.
Not to be deterred, I vowed to try again. Same steps as before (remove sim, nrt voodoo). This time however the OTA rescue worked and fully completed. I went through the intro steps again. This time I quickly turned on dev options, enabled usb debugging and sorted out the OEM bootloader. I thought this would be smart, just in case it hapened again. Once I chose to unlock ("fastboot reboot", selected yes), it decided to start boot looping again.
The main annoyance is: I don't think I have any proof of purchase, even though it's in warranty. That, and I now live in Dubai - so shipping back to the UK where I brought it is going to be killer. But I think it's the path of least resistance at the moment.

SomewhatIrked said:
The more this goes on, the more I believe it to be hardware ...
@sfhub - reasonably innocuous. Had just opened one or 2 apps that morning. Not sure what had updated overnight app/os wise. Not anything interesting as far as I can tell. Once I managed to get it into recovery "adb devices" was returning the phone.
@bardhi92 - I saw that once I got in. However, I couldn't get it to see my phone.
Updated things I have tried and why I've all but thrown in the towel:
After the OTA rescue sideload failed I started trying a few different things. It stopped taking me into recovery mode more frequently, at least it seemed that way - it would just keep bootlooping. My main issue is that I has a locked bootloader, which stopped me whacking TWRP on and loading on a custom rom - just to see if that worked.
I thought it might let me sideload on a factory default img file. Turns out nope.
However I used NRT to "Flash Stock + Unroot" (with "Soft Brick/Bootloop" checked) which for some reason, then allowed me to get back into recovery mode. I had also removed the sim card/tray at this point. May have been either or neither of those that allowed me to get into recovery mode. Can't say for certain.
I cleared /cache and /data and then attempted the OTA rescue update again. This time it failed at 45% (according to my cmd prmpt) with the error: "* failed to read command: No error". I'm not sure text was on the phone at the time. But it did manage to boot into Android. I quickly stepped through the various intro steps (putting in the sim, adding my mail google account details).
I went to get a beer. Only to find it boot looping again.
Not to be deterred, I vowed to try again. Same steps as before (remove sim, nrt voodoo). This time however the OTA rescue worked and fully completed. I went through the intro steps again. This time I quickly turned on dev options, enabled usb debugging and sorted out the OEM bootloader. I thought this would be smart, just in case it hapened again. Once I chose to unlock ("fastboot reboot", selected yes), it decided to start boot looping again.
The main annoyance is: I don't think I have any proof of purchase, even though it's in warranty. That, and I now live in Dubai - so shipping back to the UK where I brought it is going to be killer. But I think it's the path of least resistance at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you flashed the .TOT file, sideloaded the given OTA within the stock recovery bootloader that comes with the .TOT file, and cleared cache/factory reset?
Please condense it. If you managed to start up the phone, that's a huge success for people who have not been able to yet.

bardhi92 said:
So, you flashed the .TOT file, sideloaded the given OTA within the stock recovery bootloader that comes with the .TOT file, and cleared cache/factory reset?
Please condense it. If you managed to start up the phone, that's a huge success for people who have not been able to yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In short:
OTA rescue failed during adb sideload,
Tried bullhead-nbd90w-factory-d2f11c5f.zip & removed sim tray - seemed to allow access to recovery mode,
OTA rescue claims to have failed at 47% during adb sideload- still booted into android. However briefly. Went back to bootloop,
Tried bullhead-nbd90w-factory-d2f11c5f.zip & removed sim tray - seemed to allow access to recovery mode,
OTA rescue completed via adb sideload,
Turned on dev options (usb debug, oem unlock),
Booted to fastboot - unlocked bootloader. Now back to bootlooping
@bardhi92 - I could not get the LG utility to detect my phone. Will attempt again tomorrow.

SomewhatIrked said:
@bardhi92 - I could not get the LG utility to detect my phone. Will attempt again tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO you shouldn't flash the TOT file. If you end up bootlooping again, your phone will be stuck in bootloader locked mode with no ability to unlock it.
If you were able to get your phone to boot into android once, there is really nothing the TOT file will do for you that you can't do from TWRP or bootloader, whereas once it locks your bootloader, there are problems you can no longer fix like EFS corruption (which likely isn't your problem).
In the end, you probably do have eMMC that is slowly starting to fail. There is usually error correction on the eMMC that can lock out bad blocks but if it gets to serious, it'll fail. This is why reflashing stuff over and over sometimes works.

Locked bootloader, cannot OEM Unlock or access USB Debugging

Short version of question: How can I unbrick my ONEPLUS 3 (A3000) if I cannot boot to Android and OEM Unlock AND USB Debugging both have not been enabled?
Long version: Phone was recently purchased second hand from a third-party market (Kijiji, kind of like craigslist for Canadians). Person I bought it from claimed in the ad that the device was in a bootloop and couldn't access the OS. I had in the past successfully saved a ONEPLUS 1 from bricked status, so I didn't feel a simple bootloop would pose much of an issue. That, and at the price he was selling I really couldn't turn it down.
I tried various different methods of restoring the phone's partitions, OS, and firmware to stock/custom, but had no real luck with any (I will list below what I have attempted). If there was a root cause of this, I believe it's due to the fact that some part of the phone's storage partition (boot or system if I had to guess) had become corrupted at some point. Given the volume of threads I've seen here and elsewhere online, I wouldn't rule out a bad OTA flash, but doesn't really matter. What does matter, however, is that the Android OS is inaccessible despite my best efforts, and the bootloader is set to locked and ADB Debugging remains off.
Generally speaking, is there a way to access Developer Options to correct both these issues through terminal or a tool? I'm confident that I can get my device working again if I could access this menu, but as of yet I have had no luck.
Methods used to restore/info worth mentioning
While I don't doubt their effectiveness at large, for whatever reason I have yet to find a tool/guide that yields the anticipated results upon completion. MSM Download Tool (V3 and V4) have both been downloaded, executed, and completed numerous times, but will still not boot past the loading screen upon completion.
According to Unified Android Toolkit, my device build is being detected as "OnePlus3 7.0 NRD90M" and All-in-One Toolkit is showing that Android 6.0.1 is installed.
Drivers are all installed correctly, as proven both via tools downloaded and through Windows CMD terminal (adb devices, fastboot devices, adb get-state, etc)
Stock recovery and bootloader modes can both be reached through both hardware keys and software commands. I will note that it seems to take longer than I'd expect to boot to either of these modes using hardware keys.
I have utilized multiple USB ports, Type-C cables, different OS' on two laptops (MS Windows 10 and 7, FWUL Linux). I usually have no problem with the device being detected by the system. When I have, it usually involved one pesky USB cord.
common commands used and their effects:
fastboot OEM unlock: fails, cannot be done remotely
fastboot flash x: fails, remote: flashing partitions not allowed
ADB push: fails. cannot access partition
ADB devices: device is seen by system with serial and state
fastboot devices: device is seen by system with serial
ADB sideload: varying results. Some will fail at 0% citing "total xfer: 0.00x", some will reach 47% and fail (always exactly 47% oddly). Generally if the sideload operation passes 47% it will complete.
fastboot format/erase x: fails, partition formatting/erasing not allowed
fastboot continue: executes, but does not help with android bootloop issue as I had hoped
While I searched for an answer online, I did come across an infosec whitepaper regarding ONEPLUS 3 vulnerabilities, though it was over a year old. To my surprise, the command they had been entering works on my device, but I'm not sure how to properly use it effectively. The command used was fastboot OEM boot_mode [rf/wlan/ftm/normal]. Now, I was unable to determine what each of the triggers does, but what I did discover is that with boot_mode set to rf, my device would display chinese/korean lettering in lieu of the usual ONEPLUS logo with "powered by Android" below. This is also how I managed to have my device show up in CMD terminal for ADB commands to be issued. To the best of my knowledge though, there doesn't seem to be much point to it as I couldn't push/pull any files. Does anybody know where I could find more info on this command, as I'd like to know what the other triggers accomplish.
I've just about exhausted every available resource looking for an answer, but im still coming up short. I've gone as far as contacting ONEPLUS directly, but without proof of purchase they can't (more accurately won't) help me. And while it's not a business practice I would personally support, I can understand why they have it implemented. I've contacted a few phone shops in the area, but none have been able to assist me further than I've already gotten in this process.
I apologize again for creating a new thread about this, but I felt my circumstances warranted a new thread due to the bulk of the others having either an unlocked bootloader or TWRP installed, neither of which I do.
So, can anybody offer their help or suggest something I haven't already tried? Or should I be on EBAY looking for motherboards? Thanks in advance.

Calgary84 said:
Short version of question: How can I unbrick my ONEPLUS 3 (A3000) if I cannot boot to Android and OEM Unlock AND USB Debugging both have not been enabled?
Long version: Phone was recently purchased second hand from a third-party market (Kijiji, kind of like craigslist for Canadians). Person I bought it from claimed in the ad that the device was in a bootloop and couldn't access the OS. I had in the past successfully saved a ONEPLUS 1 from bricked status, so I didn't feel a simple bootloop would pose much of an issue. That, and at the price he was selling I really couldn't turn it down.
I tried various different methods of restoring the phone's partitions, OS, and firmware to stock/custom, but had no real luck with any (I will list below what I have attempted). If there was a root cause of this, I believe it's due to the fact that some part of the phone's storage partition (boot or system if I had to guess) had become corrupted at some point. Given the volume of threads I've seen here and elsewhere online, I wouldn't rule out a bad OTA flash, but doesn't really matter. What does matter, however, is that the Android OS is inaccessible despite my best efforts, and the bootloader is set to locked and ADB Debugging remains off.
Generally speaking, is there a way to access Developer Options to correct both these issues through terminal or a tool? I'm confident that I can get my device working again if I could access this menu, but as of yet I have had no luck.
Methods used to restore/info worth mentioning
While I don't doubt their effectiveness at large, for whatever reason I have yet to find a tool/guide that yields the anticipated results upon completion. MSM Download Tool (V3 and V4) have both been downloaded, executed, and completed numerous times, but will still not boot past the loading screen upon completion.
According to Unified Android Toolkit, my device build is being detected as "OnePlus3 7.0 NRD90M" and All-in-One Toolkit is showing that Android 6.0.1 is installed.
Drivers are all installed correctly, as proven both via tools downloaded and through Windows CMD terminal (adb devices, fastboot devices, adb get-state, etc)
Stock recovery and bootloader modes can both be reached through both hardware keys and software commands. I will note that it seems to take longer than I'd expect to boot to either of these modes using hardware keys.
I have utilized multiple USB ports, Type-C cables, different OS' on two laptops (MS Windows 10 and 7, FWUL Linux). I usually have no problem with the device being detected by the system. When I have, it usually involved one pesky USB cord.
common commands used and their effects:
fastboot OEM unlock: fails, cannot be done remotely
fastboot flash x: fails, remote: flashing partitions not allowed
ADB push: fails. cannot access partition
ADB devices: device is seen by system with serial and state
fastboot devices: device is seen by system with serial
ADB sideload: varying results. Some will fail at 0% citing "total xfer: 0.00x", some will reach 47% and fail (always exactly 47% oddly). Generally if the sideload operation passes 47% it will complete.
fastboot format/erase x: fails, partition formatting/erasing not allowed
fastboot continue: executes, but does not help with android bootloop issue as I had hoped
While I searched for an answer online, I did come across an infosec whitepaper regarding ONEPLUS 3 vulnerabilities, though it was over a year old. To my surprise, the command they had been entering works on my device, but I'm not sure how to properly use it effectively. The command used was fastboot OEM boot_mode [rf/wlan/ftm/normal]. Now, I was unable to determine what each of the triggers does, but what I did discover is that with boot_mode set to rf, my device would display chinese/korean lettering in lieu of the usual ONEPLUS logo with "powered by Android" below. This is also how I managed to have my device show up in CMD terminal for ADB commands to be issued. To the best of my knowledge though, there doesn't seem to be much point to it as I couldn't push/pull any files. Does anybody know where I could find more info on this command, as I'd like to know what the other triggers accomplish.
I've just about exhausted every available resource looking for an answer, but im still coming up short. I've gone as far as contacting ONEPLUS directly, but without proof of purchase they can't (more accurately won't) help me. And while it's not a business practice I would personally support, I can understand why they have it implemented. I've contacted a few phone shops in the area, but none have been able to assist me further than I've already gotten in this process.
I apologize again for creating a new thread about this, but I felt my circumstances warranted a new thread due to the bulk of the others having either an unlocked bootloader or TWRP installed, neither of which I do.
So, can anybody offer their help or suggest something I haven't already tried? Or should I be on EBAY looking for motherboards? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the exhaustive description. You seem to have covered every known method. If the MSM Tool also fails, I think that it is a hardware issue and you are better off searching for a new motherboard instead of wasting further time on trouble-shooting.
Best of luck!

tnsmani said:
Thanks for the exhaustive description. You seem to have covered every known method. If the MSM Tool also fails, I think that it is a hardware issue and you are better off searching for a new motherboard instead of wasting further time on trouble-shooting.
Best of luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was afraid of that..... is there a way to test a given hardware component?

Have you tried the unbrick tool FULL updated: https://mega.nz/#!NmhhgZyB!CM7Fw8VjECiMIhh4gRXUx24QVCiE599_ZFAPDf08AiM

acetone802000 said:
Have you tried the unbrick tool FULL updated: https://mega.nz/#!NmhhgZyB!CM7Fw8VjECiMIhh4gRXUx24QVCiE599_ZFAPDf08AiM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed I have, dozens of times between the full and mini versions. I've even gone as far as running the toolkits featuring MSMDownloadTool v4.0 to see if it achieved different results (it did not). The mini tool would finish doing its thing (turned the text green upon completion),but I would face varying partitions not being flashed correctly. The full version completes and does not have these varying partitions missing, but the device would then be either stuck in a bootloop where it will eventually reboot itself, or would hang indefinitely on the "swirling dots" loading screen. I tried the remedy of deleting cache in recovery, but this did not help.

deleted

***UPDATE*** - As I mentioned in this thread earlier, I noticed a discrepancy between the variant type listed on my actual device and the variant type returned when queried via fastboot. This got me thinking, and to make a long story somewhat shorter, I found that while most stock Oxygen images I attempt to sideload onto the device fail (at precisely 47%, oddly), I was able to sideload two different Hydrogen images without any resistance at all. I'm guessing something to do with the eMMC vs UFS file storage systems and how each OS uses them.
So I got Hydrogen flashed onto my my device. Smooth sailing, right? Afraid not. Despite fastboot's output clearly stating it was a successful transfer, and the stock recovery on the device echoing this, I still cannot get the OS to load. Now i' stuck with the loading screen hanging indefinitely prior to animation occurring, so basically the static ONEPLUS logo. Factory resets and cache wipes have done nothing to help the situation along. Conventional wisdom from the threads here seem to say using the MSMTool is the right answer..... and thus the circle of frustration is complete with me arriving back where I started. Does anybody have another suggestion I can try out? Still can't flash/boot to TWRP, unlock bootloader, or access Android to activate USB Debug/OEM Unlock either btw.

Have you tried flashing just the firmware, i havent flashed in years but i would assume you could sideload the firmware as well?

voodooline said:
Have you tried flashing just the firmware, i havent flashed in years but i would assume you could sideload the firmware as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess who didn't read? And after a year without flashing + a lack of reading skills, you still think you could solve this case? That's a spirit.
===
You better do pm some devs in dev section and point them to this thread and see if they can help, if you are still curious.
My guess is dead emmc, it can be replaced without buying the whole board.

150208 said:
Guess who didn't read? And after a year without flashing + a lack of reading skills, you still think you could solve this case? That's a spirit.
===
You better do pm some devs in dev section and point them to this thread and see if they can help, if you are still curious.
My guess is dead emmc, it can be replaced without buying the whole board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did read it, its funny always someone who has to be a **** about things. I should have been more specific. He was able to flash h2os. So he could try to flash the firmware for h2os to see if that gets it to boot.

voodooline said:
I did read it, its funny always someone who has to be a **** about things. I should have been more specific. He was able to flash h2os. So he could try to flash the firmware for h2os to see if that gets it to boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magnificent, bro.
You're a truly genius.

Abdroid tv box T9 RK3318 2gb ram 16gb rom stuck on TV logo after unroot with superSU

Hi all!
Some days ago I urooted my TV android tv box with superSU and then I restarted it. From that moment when I plug the device it only reach the T9 logo (not the android one) and don't go further.
I've tried different ways to try to unstuck it, but nothing has worked.
I tried:
- enter recovery boot by holding the button in the av hole -> nothing happens
- install new firmware with adb sideload with both ubuntu and windows 10 -> always get errors (often error: closed, sometime other errors that at the moment don't remember)
- install new firmware with sd card using SDCard Installer -> the device doesn't boot when the sd is inserted
Moreover, with adb in ubuntu sometimes it recognises the device and I can enter the adb shell (but obtain errors when try any tipe of command), and sometimes don't (after adb devices I see list of attached devices: ??????????????? offline)
Now I'm thinking to try to install an ubuntu like on an usb pendrive...
I will be very grateful of any help/suggestion to how to revive my device :fingers-crossed:
Thank you!!!

Does this happen to be a pendoo model? I have a pendoo x10 MAX and i actually simply just installed supersu while it was rooted. Since then, I haven't gotten this thing to boot. Just stays on the boot screen the entire way. I wiped in recovery, knew that'd do nothing. I just wanted a root MANAGER. I tried Magisk, my favorite.. no go.. so then I went a bit old school.. so I tried ChainFire's SuperSU.. and THAT updated the SU binary! It said it succeeded.. it asked to do recovery install or normal install.. on phones, I've always done normal.. so I chose normal. Plus.. this thing has no custom recovery. I found it on Amazon. Overpriced, but great with the controller it had. It looks like I'll need a replacement and maybe a request to ask this guy if he could possibly NOT use something like KingRoot/KingoRoot/AmaraRoot or ANY One click root tool.. they just cause more bloatware, inciting boot issues and problems within the Android box itself. These One Click Root tools are out of control. It's to the point where I need to find a way in to adb and find the firmware for the latest version of this thing... X10Max from Pendoo.. I have not found a thing anywhere regarding firmware, and their website is ****. NOTHING *anywhere* on these things.. hell I'm about to return it as I bought it for $72. I have another one, same model.. wondering if the root method was different. About to boot that up and find out. I'll even swap the board. At this point.. he rooted it.. the WRONG way.. you can MOUNT THE /SYSTEM PARTITION IN RECOVERY. THIS IS ANDROID 9 we're talking about--the recovery supported by API v3.
This can and should have a TWRP custom recovery. If none exists, don't bother. As long as you can mount /system then you have a chance, at least, to root the damn thing.. which is why I'm still messing with it. I have another two weeks to return it. I'll give it another couple of days before I call it off and just switch out the good board for the bad one, return it, then return the other one and just use it until I find a way to use a custom recovery on this thing. There has to be.. unless there is no firmware available in sight (for an RK3318 or 3328, can't tell.. recovery mode says 3328, model name says RK3318. I see no difference at the moment aside from processor naming at this point--maybe speed?)
I'm still a nub with Android TV boxes so don't hold it against me for updating the damn root binary. If I could find a way to just reinstall the entire firmware and delete all previous stuff, I would. It would be worth it to learn. I would then mount /system in recovery and soldier on.
One little issue with this thing.. there's only one USB port that actually works. Same applies for the same exact product, a replication of the same thing.. was a "replacement" that still have/has the same qualities.
I've ranted enough. I vote more research into RK33xx processors and possible custom recoveries. I'm about to look for it based on only the device itself.
Note: Been stuck at boot screen ever since the binary was updated. I felt it was necessary to have a boot manager. I don't know where to even find the firmware. Can.. anyone point me in any direction? Something that MIGHT work on this thing? Android 6 or 7 would even suffice, return or no return, as "stuck on boot screen" will be my complaint. That's.. the actual complaint. I can't just *flash it* like the old days.. and maybe the original Android 9.0 firmware would suffice.. I don't know, but Pendoo.. wouldn't that be preferred?

You will need an SDcard to recover this box. I think the T9 32GB 4GB rom will do the job since its a cut down version.
Make a update SDcard and pop it in and power on the box. It will start the recovery on its own.

hello, sorry for my English I live in France I would have a question about the box: TV T9 RK3318, 4gb / 64gb. the problem is that the time is desynchronized on restart and creates problems to connect to applications when the time is out of order, I tried everything changed the time zone to deactivate and entered the time Manual it goes out of order all the time . is there a custom version or a version 10?

Very cook did I checked this out awhile back alot of good information that's for your contribution

My XZ1 compact story

So I bought a new phone since my old Onyx (One+ X) died (cracked screen and charging port is getting iffy). And finally I decided on this one, a cheap Chinese docomo branded one off Ebay.
I was so exited when it arrived, the UPS truck was at my gate when I got home that day, ready to leave, but the driver was nice enough to wait and give me my package then and there. Pheew.
Well, now to my, bootloader unlocking, recovery flashing, after market os installation and rooting story...
Bootloader:
The phone was supposed to be unlocked, and I guess that only meant SIM unlocked, because the service menu read "Bootloader unlock allowed: no". Damn.
A few Duckduckgo searches later, turned up I needed the "S!Unlock tool" which I found a copy off online, but username/password fields needed to be filled in, and I think I found a pirated s/n which didn't seem to work, (might have if I had tried harder).
But since it was just over £22 at https://networkunlocking.com/ I thought I could spare that on the off chance it worked. I was very surprised when it finally did, truth, I needed a few tries. And it actually did turn that service menu's pesky "no" to a thumbs-up "yes". Yay!
So now, pulling the cable, holding "volume up" and inserting cable for that blue light goodness, and running the "flashtool.exe -i 0x???? oem unlock bootloader 0x????????????" comand.
Not so fast, that doesnät work with newer flashtool versions...
Finding the old one from my Xperia Arc days and runnning it again, Yay!
(Wish I had read ahead and done that temporary root trick to rip my DRM codes off my phone first. But I don't plan to revert to stock, and I gather (might be wrong) that the DRM is only needed for stock roms, and not Lineage OS and such.)
Recovery (TWRP):
Now the problems start for real, getting into recovery was a **** and a half. Most guides for the phone says to push "volume up" multiple times during the boot-process. This turns out to be plain wrong. The actual button combo is holding "volume down" and "power" button together atleast until the screen goes blank after the unlocked bootloader warning.
Now, I wanted 17.1 on the phone and the recommended TWRp is 3.1.1 or something, and this works to install lineage fine, but don't forget to erase /data partition as I did. Stupid mistake that made wifi fail miserably, and probably a lot of other stuff, that I never tried before noticing my mistake.
However trying to get my own set of ringtones on the phone turned out to be another issue, going back into recovery when I noticed my ringtone.zip had failed. Obviously the media folder had moved since los 15.1,so no wonder right? Turns out it wasn't the only problem. TWRP 3.1.1 (or something) failed to unencrypt the root partition, so changing anything via recovery was a lie. fortunately the latest recovery, 3.5.2_9 did. So after installing that everything was rosy peaches.
Rooting:
SuperSU? forget it.
Magisk? yeah, but how? No really good step by step guide out there, except download from the github page, but what version?
A little trial and error, tried with the arm64 version and it turned out to be the right one. (Sometimes you just get it right on the first try...)
Renamed the apk to .zip put it on the phones memory, entered recovery and installed the zip, et voi effing la, Magisk root installed.
Root checker verifies root status, TitaniumBackup and RootExplorer works. Yes, my phone is playing ball.
Final notes:
This above looks simple right? In fact this was a two day process since the guides are surely lacking for this phone, a lot of trial and error, the greatesthurdle was getting into Recovery, until I found the right button combo I accidently managed to enter it once making me believe I had the right combo and something was wrong with the phone. 4 hours or so wasted trying different versions rebooting and flashing. Getting back my Viber messages turned out to be a problem to, TitaniumBackup got the messages back, but the db had references to my old images on my old phone, and probable pointed at the wrong directory so trying to send images either from gallery or take new photos crashed the app. Solution, backup the messages to my google account, uninstall and reinstall viber and restore from that backup. TitaniumBAckup is good but no magic bullet, it's a ***** that we have to rely on Google for backups though, I am allergic to the cloud, something about it makes my skin crawl.
Otherwise I like the phone, it says docomo on the back, something I can live with. The Chinese vendor even supplied one glass screen protector for the phone and a clear soft plastic case, in case I wanted some extra protection. I only wish there was a screen protector that had the same surface as the one that was on the phone in the box, that slightly opaque cloudy feel was so nice on my finger.
Can I recommend this phone? Nah, if noone writes a step by step guide that will cut down the time I spent on making this phone palpatable, I can't. But if you, like me, don't mind to tinker and don't want a phablet or spend way too much for the privilege to get a screen size you don't want, then sure. But why do we have to get them from China?

My trusty xz1 compact is slowly dieing on me and i am looking for a replacement how much did you pay for yours and is a really new or just refurbished ?

"Final notes:
This above looks simple right? In fact this was a two day process since the guides are surely lacking for this phone, a lot of trial and error, the greatesthurdle was getting into Recovery, until I found the right button combo I accidently managed to enter it once making me believe I had the right combo and something was wrong with the phone"
This Phone is in the mobile Sphere already ancient. Don't expect to get any help here or newer hot to guides.
my biggest problem is the fastboot recognition of my Windows. If this would work reliable i could better flash the phone but getting the right driver is a kind of roulette for this phone.

muhschaf said:
my biggest problem is the fastboot recognition of my Windows. If this would work reliable i could better flash the phone but getting the right driver is a kind of roulette for this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also had a non-connecting fastboot issue on Windows until I ran into this guide showing me it was not about a driver but an installation method:
How to install Sony Xperia Drivers Manually (Super Easy Guide)
Step-by-Step guidelines to install Sony Xperia Drivers Manually (this method can be used on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10).
xperiausbdriver.com

4qx said:
Also had a non-connecting fastboot issue on Windows until I ran into this guide showing me it was not about a driver but an installation method:
How to install Sony Xperia Drivers Manually (Super Easy Guide)
Step-by-Step guidelines to install Sony Xperia Drivers Manually (this method can be used on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10).
xperiausbdriver.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Handy cannot boot now anyway so i would probably not able to recover anyway.

muhschaf said:
cannot boot now anyway so i would probably not able to recover anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone completely refuses to boot?
Do you have recovery installed? If not, are you able to install it via fastboot on linux?

4qx said:
The phone completely refuses to boot?
Do you have recovery installed? If not, are you able to install it via fastboot on linux?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay i will explain.
i had this common issue with this running out of internal space (13GB pictures i could not find, only 300MB left) and after looking into it i figured, that, due to my constant app installing and deinstalling, i had literrally thousends of little images (thumbnails, icons, you name it) that got not deintalled for whatever reason and clogged up my internal memory. So i made a Backup and decided to completly wipe and flash the newest lilac from Modpunk (18.1) and did a big Mistake here. i go into recovery and wiped EVERYTHING...without checking that recovery is untouched. then during the same session i installed the ROM and rebooted...so far all nice and dandy. Setting up the Phone, then get the newsest Gapps and then try to reboot into recovery to install them...well did i mentioned that i had wiped EVERYTHING? Well, there was no recovery anymore. Not my first rodeo i headbutt myself into the desk and spun up ADB/fastboot...only to run into the same problem i run everytime due to improper intalled driver i forgot already about. Longs story short: after some time handy refused to boot also into system.
Phone is now unbootable into any state, but Black screen fastboot over hardware buttons...
i COULD still try to make a blind fastboot flash after following the driver install instruction from above, but consider my lucky or clumsyness i will **** this up too and only waste time. and due to my current covid recovery i have not the energy nor the patient to diddle around with this sorry excuse of an absolute restrictive Phone and rather get me a S5 mini or something else that has no bootlock whatsoever and let you flash it from the very start.
i am plain running out of patient with sonys harassment.
/€: Also the constant "cannot get root" on a rooted phone is plain BS³. having permanent trouble to install adaway or use my sdcard proper is so friggin annoying that i now will search for a android version that got rid of this bull**** and will buy any phone that is suported by that ROM.
It is MY phone, and not Goolge nor the the phone company will dictade what i can or cannot install on it. i decide and i carry the risk, period. and the biggest security reason holds the phone anyway.

@muhschaf okay so it doesn't seem bricked. Pretty sure you just need to flash the recovery through fastboot and flash a ROM. Try that on Windows with the driver method; if that fails boot a Linux distro e.g. EndeavourOS, even from a USB without installing no adb/fastboot driver is necessary for Linux, it just works. You can do it.

4qx said:
@muhschaf okay so it doesn't seem bricked. Pretty sure you just need to flash the recovery through fastboot and flash a ROM. Try that on Windows with the driver method; if that fails boot a Linux distro e.g. EndeavourOS, even from a USB without installing no adb/fastboot driver is necessary for Linux, it just works. You can do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i known, the question is more "i really want that?" like i said i struggle with this phone ever since. and i realized yesterday the problem is not the phone itself, it's the bull**** of androids security architecture. Google seems to be very prone to make sure that they can shove any amount of advertisements down your throat. Given that they earn their money with ad network it doesn't surprise me.
i came to the conclusion that in reality i want to have a reliable way to install ad away on any given phone i own. i archive similar things on my desktop with Firefox and umatrix and ublock. And what can is say: Having Advertisment fee Internet is a bliss and i not care a bit about "but the free stuff" and i incrisingly fury about my inability to archive similar things on my phone i rely quite a bit.

@muhschaf I get it but you know what they say: good things require effort. But I find that once I set my Android up, I'm happy to have done it.
In regards to ads, you can actually install uBO on Android Firefox now, and many other addons also.

So i gave it a try again and the result was that it detects now a "?" under fastboot but ADB can't see anything failing sucsequently to flash recovery. i am also seemingly unable to get even into hardware fastboot anymore. But could be quite possible that the battery is already drained again. so i recharge it the night.
4qx: i was going away from uBO several years ago. Wonder that he has survived the drain after his "whitelist" decision, but it seems like.
Adaway block advertisement in apps and this is mainly the feature i wanted, see advertisment have gotten out of the browser itself into the Base/apps systems (Android, Windows) and therefore the Adblocker have to go with it. under windows i can control the System itself pretty easy and throughoutly with Powershell and package debloating scripts or regedit. under Android i haven't this option and have to rely on app like adaway. This shortcoming is pretty frustraing for an "Open Source" OS

After nearly a Year i stumble upon something windows related and now i have finally my xz1c back:
Windows USB Hubs of ANY kind (Monitor USB Hubs, Powers external USB Hubs, hell sometimes even the PCH, that is technical also a USB Hub), can and sometime WILL prevent proper lowlevel access to devices like...USB Headsets (Logitech Pro X) and Mobile Phones in fastboot mode (xz1c).
To circumvent this you have to connect the phone to a USB Port on the Back of your PC Motherboard DIRECTLY. every other Port can have an USB Hub in between that alters your write or readout and therefore failed the flashing.