GUIDE: eRecovery / HiSuite failing to restore - RESCUE on PIE: L29 L09 432 -- v190

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dlads

Senior Member
Aug 24, 2010
16,763
6,470
Liverpool
Nothing Phone 2
WARNING

By doing this you may lose your data, this is intended for when you have nowhere else to turn to.

Back Story

Hi All,
Like a massive child I stupidly jumped on the Pie bandwagon away from a very well maintained Honor 10 ROM which ran beautifully on my P20 Pro..
After restoring EMUI, the PIE update quickly made itself visible, so i took a deep breath and committed.
After the installation, I tried to install a bunch of ROM's, I messed up a bit.

Anyway, what I found was, I was unable to recovery from eRecovery OR HiSuite, so I then found myself on the wobbly road that is restoring each parition via the bootloader using fastboot, tried to install just the recovery_ramdisk, didn't work, tried to install, kernel / cust / system / recovery_ramdisk..... STILL Didn't work.

So i downloaded another firmware, this time the exact version i was using albeit for the L-09 and not the L-29, I needed to extract the update part of the zip then read it using a tool called firmware extractor.

Ton of files in there, the files i just mentioned which are all .img files and some others.
In the end i needed several to get a perfect restore which has worked every single time without fail.

As it was a massive ballache and a learning curve for me as I'd never done it before, so I thought i'd share my experience and the files required on Mega so there aren't any ads blocking your way :D Yaay, also what to do and where to obtain the firmwares from my experiences.

Hope it helps someone avoid the pain I had to go through when downloading firmwares for 5 hours at a time, wasn't fun.

Good luck, any questions let me know. :good:


START HERE

*NOTE: You can do this from scratch by downloading the firmware for your device, i required 9.0.0.190 for the L29 - c432.
The best place I found was this site https://support.halabtech.com/index.php?a=downloads&b=file&c=download&id=105974
They require an account to be made but besides that they were faster and had more choice.


Once you have the firmware you'll need the Extractor, then you'll need to move several of the files into the ADB folder for flashing, see below...

Anyway, moving on........ :D

FILES

At the foot of this guide is a link, inside it is everything you should require in order to complete this guide

ADB - Move this folder to the root of C, it should be like this C:\ADB (reason for this is it's much easier to navigate to, most people will already have this)

IMG Files for 9.0.0.190 - All of the file names you see below are img files which we'll be using to un-brick / recover / restore your device to a functional state.
Move all of them after downloading to the ADB folder in C:\ADB

CACHE.img
CUST.img
ERECOVERY_RAMDI.img
KERNEL.img
RECOVERY_RAMDIS.img
USERDATA.img
VENDOR.img
SYSTEM.img

EMUI Extractor - Not a part of this guide but you will need it should you need to download your own firmware and obtain the above files.

Pre-requisites

- A device on a maximum firmware of 9.0.0.190 (If you are on a higher firmware, then use the link above to obtain it)
- A device variant of either L-09 or L-29 (others may work but i have not tested)
- A device variant of c432 (the 782 may work but i have not tested)
- Access to the bootloader (white screen with vol down and power whilst connected to a laptop)
- Drivers so that fastboot / adb commands can be sent to your device (I won't show how to do this, it's pretty standard stuff)
- I have an unlocked bootloader myself and OEM unlocking is on (REQUIRED)
- A Windows based PC /Laptop and a functional USB-C cable. (I'm sure you can


GUIDE

On your computer / laptop

STEP 1 Download all the files from the mega link provided.

STEP 2 Copy the ADB Folder to the root of C: so it looks like this

C:\ADB

STEP 3 Open the folder called "IMG Files for 9.0.0.190" Copy the .IMG files to the ADB folder so they are loose.

STEP 4 Press Start / Windows key and type in cmd then press enter, a black window will appear

STEP 5 In the black window type the following:

cd c:\adb then press Enter

STEP 6 Connect your phone to your laptop using the USB-C cable and allow it to be seen by windows

On your Phone

STEP 7 Press and hold the power button and volume down, don't let go, your screen will go blank, once it turns back on, release the power key but continue holding vol down, a white screen should appear, you can now release the power volume key, you are now in fastboot mode and can input commands.

On your computer / laptop

Step 8 Click the CMD window and type in the following commands, you will have to wait for them to go all the way through, some take longer ie: System.img

*NOTE: For speed you can use the tab key to pre fill certain words or files, so if you've typed in "Fastboot flash cust "
You could then press the tab key and scroll through the files in the folder.
eg: if you were to press enter with this command listed fastboot flash cust c after pressing tab it would say fastboot flash cust CUST.img


PRESS ENTER AFTER EACH COMMAND, MAKE SURE EACH ONE COMPLETES.

fastboot flash cust CUST.img
fastboot flash cache CACHE.img
fastboot flash recovery_ramdisk RECOVERY_RAMDIS.img
fastboot flash userdata USERDATA.img
fastboot flash kernel KERNEL.img
fastboot flash vendor VENDOR.img
fastboot flash system SYSTEM.img


STEP 9 Once they've all been flashed, in CMD simply type the below command and allow the device to boot up, you can disconnect now.

fastboot reboot

If all has worked and it should have, then you will have a stock ROM of PIE on 9.0.0.190


You can then root and use your device as you see fit.

Here is the link to the said files (WHICH WILL NOT BE TAKEN DOWN :) )

NOTE: they actually now have, sorry

https://mega.nz/#F!qdMWDKZA!5PIsAnakvENegV-4GPWKdg

Any questions, please ask away and i'll do what i can to help ;)
 
Last edited:

mdda7

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
267
71
43
AL KHOBAR
c:\ADB>fastboot flash cust CUST.img
target reported max download size of 471859200 bytes
sending 'cust' (176429 KB)...
OKAY [ 4.121s]
writing 'cust'...
FAILED (remote: Command not allowed)
finished. total time: 4.130s

OEM is LOCKED :)
 

dlads

Senior Member
Aug 24, 2010
16,763
6,470
Liverpool
Nothing Phone 2
bootloader is unlocked
but
OEM is locked

As I said in the guide you need OEM to be unlocked. I have no idea how you can unlock it without accessing the system. I think one version of pie locked it down but then the next one unlocked it.

Did you turn off OEM unlocking yourself?

What version are you on?

Maybe a paid service can help mate. Not sure.
 

mdda7

Senior Member
Mar 14, 2012
267
71
43
AL KHOBAR
As I said in the guide you need OEM to be unlocked. I have no idea how you can unlock it without accessing the system. I think one version of pie locked it down but then the next one unlocked it.

Did you turn off OEM unlocking yourself?

What version are you on?

Maybe a paid service can help mate. Not sure.

Did you turn off OEM unlocking yourself?
- NO
What version are you on?
- 9.0.0.108
 

dlads

Senior Member
Aug 24, 2010
16,763
6,470
Liverpool
Nothing Phone 2

Certainly not with this method as you don't meet the pre-requisites.

That being said I suppose some kind of low level flash tool may work, like i said before a paid for service maybe?

Lets find out everything there is to know.

So your bootloader is unlocked.

Have do you have TWRP installed?

Did any of the images i've listed actually flash successfully?

Have you tried to use eRecovery? or Hi Suite (neither of these worked for me hence this guide)



Beyond that i suppose the only way would be a paid service but their pre-requisites may be the same as mine. In that case I would say you're out of luck, afaik this guide is essentially the lowest you can go. I don't believe anything will work without OEM unlocking turned on.

How do you get onto the firmware you're currently on ? 108 and what state is the phone in right now?

What works? Whats accessible?
 
Last edited:

dlads

Senior Member
Aug 24, 2010
16,763
6,470
Liverpool
Nothing Phone 2
Used your guide @dladz, everything flashed perfectly but on the fastboot reboot command, the PC made a noise to say the USB had disconnected as expected.

All I've got is a black screen and red flashing LED.

Weird. Not sure pal. This is what I did when I was stuck. Did you read everything and follow to the letter? A higher or same firmware?

On fastboot reboot the pc saying it's disconnected is correct. Should have come on.

Does anything ever come on screen?
 

chrissyyyw

Senior Member
Jan 15, 2017
131
6
There’s a user data.app packaged with update.app, just noticed it.

In update.app I’ve got file names 11.cache.img 09.cust.img

Did you have to rename yours?
 

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  • 6
    WARNING

    By doing this you may lose your data, this is intended for when you have nowhere else to turn to.

    Back Story

    Hi All,
    Like a massive child I stupidly jumped on the Pie bandwagon away from a very well maintained Honor 10 ROM which ran beautifully on my P20 Pro..
    After restoring EMUI, the PIE update quickly made itself visible, so i took a deep breath and committed.
    After the installation, I tried to install a bunch of ROM's, I messed up a bit.

    Anyway, what I found was, I was unable to recovery from eRecovery OR HiSuite, so I then found myself on the wobbly road that is restoring each parition via the bootloader using fastboot, tried to install just the recovery_ramdisk, didn't work, tried to install, kernel / cust / system / recovery_ramdisk..... STILL Didn't work.

    So i downloaded another firmware, this time the exact version i was using albeit for the L-09 and not the L-29, I needed to extract the update part of the zip then read it using a tool called firmware extractor.

    Ton of files in there, the files i just mentioned which are all .img files and some others.
    In the end i needed several to get a perfect restore which has worked every single time without fail.

    As it was a massive ballache and a learning curve for me as I'd never done it before, so I thought i'd share my experience and the files required on Mega so there aren't any ads blocking your way :D Yaay, also what to do and where to obtain the firmwares from my experiences.

    Hope it helps someone avoid the pain I had to go through when downloading firmwares for 5 hours at a time, wasn't fun.

    Good luck, any questions let me know. :good:


    START HERE

    *NOTE: You can do this from scratch by downloading the firmware for your device, i required 9.0.0.190 for the L29 - c432.
    The best place I found was this site https://support.halabtech.com/index.php?a=downloads&b=file&c=download&id=105974
    They require an account to be made but besides that they were faster and had more choice.


    Once you have the firmware you'll need the Extractor, then you'll need to move several of the files into the ADB folder for flashing, see below...

    Anyway, moving on........ :D

    FILES

    At the foot of this guide is a link, inside it is everything you should require in order to complete this guide

    ADB - Move this folder to the root of C, it should be like this C:\ADB (reason for this is it's much easier to navigate to, most people will already have this)

    IMG Files for 9.0.0.190 - All of the file names you see below are img files which we'll be using to un-brick / recover / restore your device to a functional state.
    Move all of them after downloading to the ADB folder in C:\ADB

    CACHE.img
    CUST.img
    ERECOVERY_RAMDI.img
    KERNEL.img
    RECOVERY_RAMDIS.img
    USERDATA.img
    VENDOR.img
    SYSTEM.img

    EMUI Extractor - Not a part of this guide but you will need it should you need to download your own firmware and obtain the above files.

    Pre-requisites

    - A device on a maximum firmware of 9.0.0.190 (If you are on a higher firmware, then use the link above to obtain it)
    - A device variant of either L-09 or L-29 (others may work but i have not tested)
    - A device variant of c432 (the 782 may work but i have not tested)
    - Access to the bootloader (white screen with vol down and power whilst connected to a laptop)
    - Drivers so that fastboot / adb commands can be sent to your device (I won't show how to do this, it's pretty standard stuff)
    - I have an unlocked bootloader myself and OEM unlocking is on (REQUIRED)
    - A Windows based PC /Laptop and a functional USB-C cable. (I'm sure you can


    GUIDE

    On your computer / laptop

    STEP 1 Download all the files from the mega link provided.

    STEP 2 Copy the ADB Folder to the root of C: so it looks like this

    C:\ADB

    STEP 3 Open the folder called "IMG Files for 9.0.0.190" Copy the .IMG files to the ADB folder so they are loose.

    STEP 4 Press Start / Windows key and type in cmd then press enter, a black window will appear

    STEP 5 In the black window type the following:

    cd c:\adb then press Enter

    STEP 6 Connect your phone to your laptop using the USB-C cable and allow it to be seen by windows

    On your Phone

    STEP 7 Press and hold the power button and volume down, don't let go, your screen will go blank, once it turns back on, release the power key but continue holding vol down, a white screen should appear, you can now release the power volume key, you are now in fastboot mode and can input commands.

    On your computer / laptop

    Step 8 Click the CMD window and type in the following commands, you will have to wait for them to go all the way through, some take longer ie: System.img

    *NOTE: For speed you can use the tab key to pre fill certain words or files, so if you've typed in "Fastboot flash cust "
    You could then press the tab key and scroll through the files in the folder.
    eg: if you were to press enter with this command listed fastboot flash cust c after pressing tab it would say fastboot flash cust CUST.img


    PRESS ENTER AFTER EACH COMMAND, MAKE SURE EACH ONE COMPLETES.

    fastboot flash cust CUST.img
    fastboot flash cache CACHE.img
    fastboot flash recovery_ramdisk RECOVERY_RAMDIS.img
    fastboot flash userdata USERDATA.img
    fastboot flash kernel KERNEL.img
    fastboot flash vendor VENDOR.img
    fastboot flash system SYSTEM.img


    STEP 9 Once they've all been flashed, in CMD simply type the below command and allow the device to boot up, you can disconnect now.

    fastboot reboot

    If all has worked and it should have, then you will have a stock ROM of PIE on 9.0.0.190


    You can then root and use your device as you see fit.

    Here is the link to the said files (WHICH WILL NOT BE TAKEN DOWN :) )

    NOTE: they actually now have, sorry

    https://mega.nz/#F!qdMWDKZA!5PIsAnakvENegV-4GPWKdg

    Any questions, please ask away and i'll do what i can to help ;)
    1
    @mdda7

    You must have an unlocked bootloader.
    1
    @dladz thanks for the guide. You got me out of a jam already and this useful information to restore to stock.
    1
    Haha no worries fella.

    Used your guide @dladz, everything flashed perfectly but on the fastboot reboot command, the PC made a noise to say the USB had disconnected as expected.

    All I've got is a black screen and red flashing LED.
    1
    Thank you, life saver!!