[GUIDE][G,U,Ch] DFU Unbrick Guide - Disassembly

[dodo34]

Removed the driver and installed again and it worked. Strange.

Thank you so much !

Right click on the Qualcomm QDLoader stuff and uninstall device, tick uninstall driver software too. After that try again.

Did you try using MultiDL before? If you were on DFU, it isn't needed to take the phone apart anymore in most cases because MultiDL takes you out of it.

Also try EDL Tool and the latest miflash version (or older versions) and it may work

 

[Prez1]

Has anyone figured out how to upgrade from Marshmallow B29 after getting the Axon back using this technique? For those who have issue below.

I still am unable to upgrade to anything above this release AND have the touch screen responsive. It upgrades fine but there is no response on the screen at all at the welcome screen (touch works in recovery menu).


Thanks!!!

 

[Choose an username...]

Has anyone figured out how to upgrade from Marshmallow B29 after getting the Axon back using this technique? For those who have issue below.

I still am unable to upgrade to anything above this release AND have the touch screen responsive. It upgrades fine but there is no response on the screen at all at the welcome screen (touch works in recovery menu).


Thanks!!!

I think @kitcostantino had the same problem... There doesn't seem to be any known fix for this. As for trying random stuff, maybe try backing up your persist partition and flashing someone else's backup? Honestly nothing tells me that it can work, but it won't do any harm as you would have to stay in MM anyways if this doesn't work

 

[Prez1]

I think @kitcostantino had the same problem... There doesn't seem to be any known fix for this. As for trying random stuff, maybe try backing up your persist partition and flashing someone else's backup? Honestly nothing tells me that it can work, but it won't do any harm as you would have to stay in MM anyways if this doesn't work

Thank you for the reply.

I guess I'll stay as-is because it's such a pain to get back to MM B29 after I try different loads.

 

[kitcostantino]

I think @kitcostantino had the same problem... There doesn't seem to be any known fix for this. As for trying random stuff, maybe try backing up your persist partition and flashing someone else's backup? Honestly nothing tells me that it can work, but it won't do any harm as you would have to stay in MM anyways if this doesn't work

well, i do have a theory, but it doesnt contain a solution. my board that was affected in this way i just kept on MM. Anything higher, and it would lose touch. i did figure out that where i effed up was manually flashing partitions. and config files. to fix that board, id have to be able to have the factory image and flash it using ztes method if initial programming. EDL cannot touch the partitions i borked. i never found a solution bc i never found the proper factory files. edl files exist all over the place, but what i flashed manually was marshmallow. and the only way i know to undo it is to reflash every partition. edl doesnt do that. i had read a bunch about the initial programming files but never could obtain any. zte could fix the board, but where i live, there are no shops with that sort of flashing capabilities. the best hint i can give is you need a config file and the proper software to repartition the entire memory. but i have no clue there. i wish you better luck thani had.

 

[t.l]

Flashed B10 Nougat, B12 Nougat & B03 Oreo full EDLs using this method, my A2017G still seems to be pretty much bricked.

It boots with the blue ZTE logo, then the green android robot shows for a split second; the screen then reads (filmed it off):

Supported API: 3
E:failed to mount /cache (Invalid argument)
E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_locale

and goes black after a few milliseconds.

I was on PixelExperience GSI before; removed the vendor partition using Party, flashed a slightly modified stock image which didn't get past the boot animation.
Flashed B10 Nougat using EDL mode (reached via flash cable), then these errors above occured.

Now no button combinations work whatsoever (neither does the flash cable); long press on power button will lead to above messages; I can only enter EDL by shorting the test point.

I tried flashing using different versions of MiFlash and Axon7_EDL_Tool; every flash took ~3 minutes and didn't show any errors.

Any tips on what happened to my phone and how to resurrect it from the dead?

 

[Choose an username...]

Flashed B10 Nougat, B12 Nougat & B03 Oreo full EDLs using this method, my A2017G still seems to be pretty much bricked.

It boots with the blue ZTE logo, then the green android robot shows for a split second; the screen then reads (filmed it off):

and goes black after a few milliseconds.

I was on PixelExperience GSI before; removed the vendor partition using Party, flashed a slightly modified stock image which didn't get past the boot animation.
Flashed B10 Nougat using EDL mode (reached via flash cable), then these errors above occured.

Now no button combinations work whatsoever (neither does the flash cable); long press on power button will lead to above messages; I can only enter EDL by shorting the test point.

I tried flashing using different versions of MiFlash and Axon7_EDL_Tool; every flash took ~3 minutes and didn't show any errors.

Any tips on what happened to my phone and how to resurrect it from the dead?

well, if I'm being honest I have no idea, but i guess it has to do with the cache partition. Try flashing Nougat (B12 is fine) and also flash the latest official TWRP (from twrp.me, axon7 - you could probs use others but this one just works). Try holding Volume Up right before the phone boots, and it might enter TWRP. After that try formatting cache, and check that it gets formatted to ext4. also format data with the specific button on the wipe menu.

It may fail at any point in that process, lol. but honestly i think it's the best way to proceed. Another way would be flashing NFound's old EDL package to make a vendor partition, and also twrp, trying to get in twrp, and going back to treble. might also fail.

pls tell me whatever happens, i'll try to help

 

[t.l]

...
pls tell me whatever happens, i'll try to help

Flashed B12 nougat and the latest recovery from twrp.me (twrp-3.3.1-0-ailsa_ii.img)
Finally was able to enter recovery mode. The trick was to hold the volume up button upon rebooting using the EDL tool.
I tried modifying the EDL tool before to directly reboot into recovery, didn't find the responsible command, though.
Holding power + volume up didn't work.

Internal storage showed with 0 Mb and unable to mount, tried to repair file system - lead to

/sbin/e2fsck -fp /dev/block/sda9 process ended with ERROR: 8

Tried flashing TWRP_3.2.1-8_axon7-Oreo.img from within recovery - following reboot to recovery failed.

Flashed twrp-3.3.1-0-ailsa_ii again through EDL, booted to recovery.
Formatted data. Finally able to mount /data again. Changed file system for system, data & cache to ext4.
Followed the instructions from B04 Sl!m ROM.
Now shows the unlocked bootloader warning, then flashes the red led (2 times slow, 1 time fast).

Btw, it is not necessary to keep the battery connected while flashing in EDL mode (saved me a lot of time!). Booting to recovery will fail with the battery disconnected, though.

 

[Choose an username...]

Flashed B12 nougat and the latest recovery from twrp.me (twrp-3.3.1-0-ailsa_ii.img)
Finally was able to enter recovery mode. The trick was to hold the volume up button upon rebooting using the EDL tool.
I tried modifying the EDL tool before to directly reboot into recovery, didn't find the responsible command, though.
Holding power + volume up didn't work.

Internal storage showed with 0 Mb and unable to mount, tried to repair file system - lead to



Tried flashing TWRP_3.2.1-8_axon7-Oreo.img from within recovery - following reboot to recovery failed.

Flashed twrp-3.3.1-0-ailsa_ii again through EDL, booted to recovery.
Formatted data. Finally able to mount /data again. Changed file system for system, data & cache to ext4.
Followed the instructions from B04 Sl!m ROM.
Now shows the unlocked bootloader warning, then flashes the red led (2 times slow, 1 time fast).

Btw, it is not necessary to keep the battery connected while flashing in EDL mode (saved me a lot of time!). Booting to recovery will fail with the battery disconnected, though.

Just EDL any version, like B12 now. Should work

 

[t.l]

Just EDL any version, like B12 now. Should work

EDL route worked, but only with B10 Nougat. The phone is in pretty bad shape now anyhow since I had to open it for the testpoint EDL method, so I will move on to a new phone. This one has been one hell of a software mess since the beginning. I guess this was my last ZTE phone!

Thank you for your help!

 

[Choose an username...]

EDL route worked, but only with B10 Nougat. The phone is in pretty bad shape now anyhow since I had to open it for the testpoint EDL method, so I will move on to a new phone. This one has been one hell of a software mess since the beginning. I guess this was my last ZTE phone!

Thank you for your help!

Lol, why is it in bad shape?
If anything that's the perfect moment to do the copper coin mod (replace pink crappy goop with a pure enough polished copper shim sanded to size)

What's the damage? did you scratch the grilles?

 

[t.l]

Lol, why is it in bad shape?
If anything that's the perfect moment to do the copper coin mod (replace pink crappy goop with a pure enough polished copper shim sanded to size)

What's the damage? did you scratch the grilles?

The grilles are scratched and buckled, the black foil underneath is dried out, so they won't stick anymore, the battery is slightly deformed, therefore the case can't be closed properly anymore and I lost 3 screws

Apart from that I am stuck with Stock B10 Nougat, because neither EDLing or flashing another version is working.

 

[Choose an username...]

The grilles are scratched and buckled, the black foil underneath is dried out, so they won't stick anymore, the battery is slightly deformed, therefore the case can't be closed properly anymore and I lost 3 screws

Apart from that I am stuck with Stock B10 Nougat, because neither EDLing or flashing another version is working.

lol. you could just straighten out the battery. in my case EDL flashes always failed when I did them without the battery. Black foil isn't adhesive, it's a cloth to protect the speakers, the adhesive thing is double sided tape on the edges. I just use cyanoacrylatenin tiny amounts and it works more than fine.
and I used to around with 2 screws anyways, and also 2 on the motherboard

But you don't need to flash a ROM via EDL anymore, of course... Install TWRP via edl and do whatever you want to do from there. I would use GSIs but since you returned from Treble, I guess you could use a flashable stock and be done with it

Did you try to update via stock recovery (and got "sorry, you can't sd card upgrade"?

 

[t.l]

Problem is - every other EDL version apart from B10 Nougat won't show anything on the display, just sad LED blinks. Anything else I try to flash with TWRP only reaches the final splashscreen, nothing happens afterwards.

That was actually the beginning of this whole mess, trying to flash the SL!M Rom.

 

[Choose an username...]

Problem is - every other EDL version apart from B10 Nougat won't show anything on the display, just sad LED blinks. Anything else I try to flash with TWRP only reaches the final splashscreen, nothing happens afterwards.

That was actually the beginning of this whole mess, trying to flash the SL!M Rom.

Do you format your data partition after every EDL flash? It will sometimes not boot, especially if it's in f2fs

 

[t.l]

Do you format your data partition after every EDL flash? It will sometimes not boot, especially if it's in f2fs

I always made sure the filesystem was ext4 for all partitions.

 

[djprez]

I could only wish I could get to Nougat =) I never got past MMb29 (still on it) without the screen touch not working.

 

[Choose an username...]

I could only wish I could get to Nougat =) I never got past MMb29 (still on it) without the screen touch not working.

yep. By far the weirdest bug here.

 

[Athiril]

So the easy unbrick guide bricked my phone after following it trying to go from b04 Oreo to b10 nougat full edl

After getting into edl by the test point, edl tool says my target might be in Sahara mode, whatever that is.

Edit: after several attempts MiFlash May appear to be working now, though edl tool won’t.

 

[Choose an username...]

So the easy unbrick guide bricked my phone after following it trying to go from b04 Oreo to b10 nougat full edl

After getting into edl by the test point, edl tool says my target might be in Sahara mode, whatever that is.

Edit: after several attempts MiFlash May appear to be working now, though edl tool won’t.

Lacking info there, after bricking your phone what happened? Did it appear as "ZTE Handset Diagnostic Interface (DFU)"? In that case you just had to use MultiDL and then MiFlash.

Sahara Mode is DFU, and the latest EDL Tool should get you out of it easily.

So MiFlash worked? Did you fix the brick?