Bootloop after Xposed module - what are my options?

Search This thread

tmagritte

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2010
250
20
Hi,

My Nexus 5 has been working pretty well until now. Earlier today I decided to disable lightflow and try the Xposed LED Control module. I installed and rebooted and it seemed to be fine. But then while using the phone shortly after unlocking it it completely froze then rebooted itself. Since then it's been stuck in a bootloop where it gets as far as the boot animation but then freezes for a few seconds and returns to the Google screen again.

I tried power off and back on and tried loading into recovery to see if wiping dalvik + cache might get me as far a boot but when it loads TWRP it asks me for a password (I've never set one nor enabled encryption of any kind) so my only option is to cancel but then it can't mount the partitions to wipe the cache.

I suspect it's the Xposed module I installed that caused this but I can't be sure it's not just coincidental. I haven't done anything else unusual on the phone today.

Is there anything I can do to fix this that won't require a complete factory reset? Is there any way I can at least backup or keep my data? Unfortunately I'm not at a computer where I can run or install ADB but if that would let me save my current setup or data I can do so at home tonight.

Thanks!
 

mateopase

Senior Member
Jan 1, 2011
66
11
I know clearing the cache asks for a password, but try to see if you can flash something. The something is the Xposed disabler zip file in the root of your scard.
 
H

Hammer_Of_The_Gods

Guest
Hi,

From the Xposed Framework thread:
In case you get into a boot loop:
You can flash the attached Xposed-Disabler-Recovery.zip by Tungstwenty. It will be copied to your (external) SD card when you install Xposed as well. The only thing it does is copying /system/bin/app_process.orig back to /system/bin/app_process

Maybe this..., the "Xposed-Disabler-Recovery.zip" should be at the root of /sdcard (at least for me it was the case).

:)
 

frog1982

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2012
151
52
You could try re-flashing recovery in fastboot mode to see if it fixes the password issue or also I believe philz touch recovery can read twrp backups if you want to switch to a different recovery.
 

tmagritte

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2010
250
20
Hi,

From the Xposed Framework thread:


Maybe this..., the "Xposed-Disabler-Recovery.zip" should be at the root of /sdcard (at least for me it was the case).

:)

I think I was able to flash this. I keep getting errors about unable to open "/data/app-lib/com.h3r3t1c.onna" - rest off screen, then "Not a directory" and "unable to mount '/persist'", but it seemed to mount /system and flash successfully.

Unfortunately, this doesn't fix the bootloop.

I guess I'll try flashing the cache.img as suggested tonight and see if that works. If not, I guess I'll have to try and wipe.

If I do a factory wipe from TWRP, will I lose photos, videos I've taken? Restoring everything else will be a pain but it's really the photos that I haven't backed up yet I'm more concerned about.

Thanks!
 

jsgraphicart

Senior Member
Nov 25, 2011
6,295
1,884
OnePlus 7T
Google Pixel 7 Pro
I just installed that module today and its working fine. I'm on the stock ROM. But doesnt Xposed put an Xposed disabler flashable zip file on your sdcard? Or is that something that maybe I just transferred over and forgot that I did. Because I dont remember transferring it to my phone or downloading it but I have it on there. If you have it, maybe try flashing that to disable Xposed and see if it boots.

EDIT: viking37 actually already suggested this.
 

tmagritte

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2010
250
20
Wiping or flashing cache didn't help either.

I tried a factory wipe, which didn't help.

Then I formatted data from TWRP and was able to boot but there were strange issues including a complete inability to connect to the cell network.

Also, TWRP kept complaining that it couldn't mount /persist

So finally I ran flash-all.bat from the factory image download to try and completely return to a factory image. It seemed to work but then I got into a bootloop where it reboots after upgrading android then apps starting.

I tried to do it again but now fastboot keeps giving me this error: FAILED (remote: flash write failure)

or if I try to wipe: FAILED (remote: failed to erase partition)

I'm starting to thing maybe it's a hardware problem with the internal flash... Is that likely or is there still something I can do?

Will I be able to RMA it in this state?

Thanks again for the help!