[WARNING] Do NOT Downgrade Your Bootloader or Partition Table - You Risk Bricking!!!

defcondev · May 21, 2015

JulesJam said:
The bootloader (motoboot.img) is software.

Okay, I think you're missing my point.

I don't disagree with the topic of your thread; downgrading the bootloader is pointless and dangerous.

My point is the fact that Motorola has the factory images, including the bootloader & partition table, with flashing instructions on returning to stock is misleading and confusing to some users, as shown earlier in this thread.

JulesJam · May 21, 2015

defcondev said:
My point is the fact that Motorola has the factory images, including the bootloader & partition table, with flashing instructions on returning to stock is misleading and confusing to some users, as shown earlier in this thread.

I totally agree - which is the whole reason I started this thread!!

I have a feeling there are going to be a ton of "Help I Bricked My Phone!" threads when the 5.1 OTA comes out. I am trying to prevent that. If you read the Q&A section and try to help people like I do, you would see that the vast majority of them brick either downgrading or taking an OTA after upgrading then downgrading again. Some brick simply trying to unlock, which of course should not happen but it does.

Anyone who took a 5.1 soak OTA absolutely should never downgrade and then take another OTA. Those who took the 5.1 soak, then downgraded to 4.4.4, then took the 5.0 OTA hard bricked. It is possible you could take the 5.1 OTA soak then downgrade to 5.0 then retake the official 5.1 OTA, idk, but for sure I wouldn't risk it. I would use MDM to upgrade or wait for the firmware to be released and flash it myself.

revengineer · May 21, 2015

defcondev said:
@adm1jtg provided the command

Amazing, this works. I have searched for a solution for months!

It seems that I have to reissue the command every time I start twrp. Is there a way to make this stick?

adm1jtg · May 21, 2015

revengineer said:
Amazing, this works. I have searched for a solution for months!

It seems that I have to reissue the command every time I start twrp. Is there a way to make this stick?

I cant take the credit I was/am working with dees_troy the main dev on twrp. As far as making it stick I am working with dees and crew to make a version that defaults to permissive so we wont have to do this manually. It will likely be a modded 2850 version as 2860 seems to break OTG backups which are critical to me. Also have them working on a 2860 with working otg but that is much more complicated so will take longer

revengineer · May 22, 2015

adm1jtg said:
I cant take the credit I was/am working with dees_troy the main dev on twrp. As far as making it stick I am working with dees and crew to make a version that defaults to permissive so we wont have to do this manually. It will likely be a modded 2850 version as 2860 seems to break OTG backups which are critical to me. Also have them working on a 2860 with working otg but that is much more complicated so will take longer

Thanks for the info. Glad you are working this. Tried to contact the developer a while ago and did not have any luck getting a response.

defcondev · May 22, 2015

adm1jtg said:
I cant take the credit I was/am working with dees_troy the main dev on twrp. As far as making it stick I am working with dees and crew to make a version that defaults to permissive so we wont have to do this manually. It will likely be a modded 2850 version as 2860 seems to break OTG backups which are critical to me. Also have them working on a 2860 with working otg but that is much more complicated so will take longer

I'm using 2860 and otg backups are working fine, I don't have to execute any commands, etc.

adm1jtg · May 22, 2015

It seems the issues are specific to people running kitkat software but with a lollipop bootloader (60.11)

And for me otg didn't work even on pure stock 5.0

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk 2

adm1jtg · May 22, 2015

revengineer said:
Amazing, this works. I have searched for a solution for months!

It seems that I have to reissue the command every time I start twrp. Is there a way to make this stick?

Re-download twrp 2850. Dees_Troy and I tested a "fixed" build just now and he is replacing the original 2850 with the new "fixed" version. Try re-downloading later today sometime. To make sure you have the new "fixed" build when in twrp go to advanced and terminal and issue the following command:
getenforce
it should return permissive if you are running the "fixed" version if you get enforcing that's the original build.

defcondev · May 22, 2015

adm1jtg said:
It seems the issues are specific to people running kitkat software but with a lollipop bootloader (60.11)

And for me otg didn't work even on pure stock 5.0

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk 2

I recreated my scenario;

When I received my xt1095 it shipped with 5.0, and I unlocked, flash TWRP 2860 & rooted...otg backups worked fine.

The problems occurred when I downgraded to 4.4.4 using Motorola's provided KXE package, flashing only the boot, system & baseband images.

To resolve the problem, flash the KXE stock recovery image with fastboot, reboot the bootloader and flash TWRP 2860 again.

After that you should have no problems with otg backups whether on Kitkat or Lollipop.

https://dl.twrp.me/victara/

EDIT: Of course, this is assuming you have an XT1095 Pure Edition, I can't speak for other models.

JulesJam · May 22, 2015

defcondev said:
To resolve the problem, flash the KXE stock recovery image with fastboot, reboot the bootloader and flash TWRP 2860 again.

After that you should have no problems with otg backups whether on Kitkat or Lollipop.

https://dl.twrp.me/victara/

Maybe you should start a separate thread about TWRP issues since this thread is really about downgrading your bootloader/partition table. I am sure others would like to know about the fix.

defcondev · May 22, 2015

JulesJam said:
Maybe you should start a separate thread about TWRP issues since this thread is really about downgrading your bootloader/partition table. I am sure others would like to know about the fix.

Good call, my apologies I didn't mean to clutter your thread.

adm1jtg · May 22, 2015

defcondev said:
I recreated my scenario;

When I received my xt1095 it shipped with 5.0, and I unlocked, flash TWRP 2860 & rooted...otg backups worked fine.

The problems occurred when I downgraded to 4.4.4 using Motorola's provided KXE package, flashing only the boot, system & baseband images.

To resolve the problem, flash the KXE stock recovery image with fastboot, reboot the bootloader and flash TWRP 2860 again.

After that you should have no problems with otg backups whether on Kitkat or Lollipop.

https://dl.twrp.me/victara/

EDIT: Of course, this is assuming you have an XT1095 Pure Edition, I can't speak for other models.

Not sure if this solves the error 13 or not but I can confirm using your process exactly OTG is still broken on 2860 and still works in 2850 so separate issue I would guess but since I need OTG for my backups and restores I will keep using the modded 2850 for now. Can you confirm on your setup if OTG works or not from within twrp. On mine the drive light doesn't even come on, I cannot mount it it just vibrates and I cannot backup to it. All the correct options are there but it cant access the drive at all..

defcondev · May 22, 2015

adm1jtg said:
Not sure if this solves the error 13 or not but I can confirm using your process exactly OTG is still broken on 2860 and still works in 2850 so separate issue I would guess but since I need OTG for my backups and restores I will keep using the modded 2850 for now. Can you confirm on your setup if OTG works or not from within twrp. On mine the drive light doesn't even come on, I cannot mount it it just vibrates and I cannot backup to it. All the correct options are there but it cant access the drive at all..

@adm1jtg I have started a new thread for TWRP issues;

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3115417

wolfu11 · May 23, 2015

wolfu11 said:
I think the same thing worked for me too, now i'm back on the 5,1 soak and afraid to try again. Wouldn't moto put up a warning or change their instructions if it were an issue?

.,

JulesJam · May 23, 2015

wolfu11 said:
.,

What exactly is your question?

wolfu11 · May 24, 2015

JulesJam said:
What exactly is your question?

You have multiple threads for the same thing I'll write in the other one you just started.

JulesJam · May 24, 2015

wolfu11 said:
There has to be a reason some of us can downgrade and take the OTA without issues.
Maybe part of the problem is people trying it with a modified software status ?

The issue is with taking the 5.1 soak, downgrading to 4.4.4 then taking the 5.0 OTA. The OTAs are supposed to fail if your system and recovery are not stock. I am sure the issue is taking the 5.0 update with the 5.1 bootloader and partition table - the OTA updater script does not adequately protect you from a hard brick when you have a higher version BL and PT than the system/recovery version you are running.

You simply cannot downgrade the bootloader despite what some people are saying here - it doesn't happen. Neither fastboot nor mfastboot will downgrade your bootloader. If people were on 5.0 system and then went back to 4.4.4 system and they are still on the 4.4.4 bootloader, then it is because they never successfully flashed the 5.0 bootloader. If they had successfully flashed the 5.0 bootloader, their bootloader would not flash back to the 4.4.4 bootloader using either fastboot or mfastboot.

What is going on with the OTAs that I have seen is that once you upgrade to 5.1 via the soak OTA, you flash back to 4.4.4, which will flash your system/kernel/ramdisk/modems/baseband/recovery back to 4.4.4 but not your bootloader or partition table. Then when they take the 5.0 OTA, which is a patch, the OTA updater script is trying to patch the 5.1 bootloader and partition table as if they were the 4.4.4. This should never happen - it is totally a Motorola mistake. The 5.0 updater script should detect that the person is on a different version bootloader and partition table than 4.4.4 and it should fail rather than hard brick the phone. But it doesn't.

It is infuriating that these people are hard bricking due to Motorola's bad coding and they are being denied warranty service due to having rooted. Root has nothing to do with it - the OTA updater scripts should be coded to fail if the person is on the wrong bootloader and partition table.

wolfu11 said:
The one thing I notice is my software status always says official.

Your qe however will show you have rooted in the past if you have ever rooted before.

JulesJam · May 24, 2015

wolfu11 said:
You have multiple threads for the same thing I'll write in the other one you just started.

No I don't. This thread is about downgrading the BL and PT. The other is about taking an OTA after you downgrade. Different things and both worthy of their own thread.

defcondev · May 24, 2015

JulesJam said:
You simply cannot downgrade the bootloader despite what some people are saying here - it doesn't happen. Neither fastboot nor mfastboot will downgrade your bootloader.

Unless something has changed, you can downgrade your bootloader using fastboot.

I've done it on my original Moto Atrix and LG Optimus G E970.

I have no reason to downgrade the BL on my Moto X, but saying that downgrading your bootloader with fastboot is impossible is false.

JulesJam · May 24, 2015

defcondev said:
Unless something has changed, you can downgrade your bootloader using fastboot.

I've done it on my original Moto Atrix and LG Optimus G E970.

Neither of those are Moto X's!!!

This is a Moto X thread. I am not talking about any other devices.

[WARNING] Do NOT Downgrade Your Bootloader or Partition Table - You Risk Bricking!!!

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Similar threads

Top Liked Posts