Please help !! I bricked my LG K52

[franss62]

Hi everybody,
I may need the help of someone very experimented in flashing smartphones with Mediatek chipsets,
I wanted to unlock the bootloader of my K52, so I downgraded it to Android 10, then I unlocked it with MTKClient, but it got stuck in a bootloop,
Then, searching how to wipe userdata, I accidentally erased all partitions on the phone,
Now it won't boot anymore, I just can download it in BROM mode, with the "python mtk payload" command,
I've tried this guide, the k52 has exactly the same chipset, but with no chance,
Could anyone help me plz ?
I'd be very grateful ! :3

 

[arfooux]

have install twrp?

 

[Qwerty_in_me]

have install twrp?

what part of 'wiped my whole flash' do you not understand?

also I'm quite sure you are screwed, speaking from personal experiance, as there are some partitions that just don't come with a stock ROM because they're for calibration and other purposes (I can't say what exactly, but things like the modem drivers to comply with regional authority and some such is a good bet)

so really you'd need a full mtkclient flash dump from a good L52 to then flash onto your bricked one

P.S. my experiance being that even though I've flashed a stock rom to my X626B after a whole flash wipe I only get a bootloop and haven't been able to diagnose the problem on account nobody knows how to get a UART console without a bridge despite not needing one...

 

[franss62]

Hello,
Thanks for answering,
I have spent hours searching on the web different possible solutions to bring my phone back to life, and here is my progress so far :
- I've been able to extract from a stock ROM KDZ file the following partitions :
- boot : boot.img_1064960 and boot.img_1540096, I don't know if they are boot_a or boot_b, they look pretty similar on hex editor, stripped like .bin dump from ROM, and when I make a Get-FileHash on both with powershell I have exactly the same result (and it's applicable to all files with same name)
- dtbo
- efuse
- ftm
- laf
- lk
- logo
- md1img
- OP_COM1_EU (3 different files, and the third neigher has the same size nor the same contents in hex editor as the other ones, so I guess a and b??)
- preloader
- patched_pgpt
- patched_sgpt
- rct
- scp
- spmfw
- sspm
- super (a lot of files with different sizes)
- tee
- userdata (a lot of files with different sizes)
- vbmeta_COM1_EU
I guess they are in the right format when I compare in hex editor the preloader file I extracted with a *.bin I have found I don't remember where they are the same
- I've managed to generate a scatter file from patched_pgpt with WWR
- I've connected my phone and used bypass_utility (https://github.com/MTK-bypass/bypass_utility) flashed partitions using scatter file with SP Flash Tool (https://spflashtool.com/)
- Now, when I open mtk_gui (https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient), the tabs read/write/erase partitions are not empty anymore, here is what I have
- boot_para
- proinfo
- para
- efuse
- spare1
- nvcfg
- nvdata
- metadata
- misc2
- ftm
- mt_udc
- expdb
- frp
- protect1
- protect2
- seccfg
- nvram
- persist
- persist_lg
- p_persist_lg
- md1img_a
- spmfw_a
- scp_a
- sspm_a
- lk_a
- tee_a
- spare2
- logo_a
- dtbo_a
- vbmeta_a
- vbmeta_system_a
- vbmeta_vendor_a
- boot_a
- laf_a
- md1img_b
- spmfw_b
- scp_b
- sspm_b
- lk_b
- tee_b
- spare3
- logo_b
- laf_b
- eksst
- encrypt
- rct
- spare4
- power
- mpt
- fota
- els
- carrier
- srtc
- operatorlogging
- super
- OP_a
- OP_b
- userdata
- flashinfo
It pretty looks like what I had before I get stupid enough to erase everything, so I guess I progressed in the right way
Anyway, the phone still doesn't start
I can't get to download mode, fastboot mode, etc
Whe I do python mtk plstage --preloader=preloader_muse6765_64_eh35_q.bin, Windows detects LGE Mobile USB Serial Port on device manager, then disappears after a few seconds and becomes MediaTek USB Port, and loops like this
So I guess something is missing
My question is
Which partitions do I need to flash to at least get Download Mode back ? So that I can use LG software and flash KDZ
I'll keep searching, but if anyone has information, or why not a full ROM dump, I'd be glad
Best regards,
François

 

[franss62]

Just to give some updates, I've tried another tool to extract the KDZ file : https://gist.github.com/iscgar/e0da0868df7b2f179b000c61f12d1a8c
Now I have clearly named files : 0.boot_a.img, 0.boot_b.img, etc.
So, I'm manually flashing partitions. Each partition is mentioned in the generated scatter file by WWR as on this example :
- partition_index: SYS22
partition_name: md1img_a
file_name: md1img.img
is_download: true
type: NORMAL_ROM
linear_start_addr: 0x17000000
physical_start_addr: 0x17000000
partition_size: 0x6000000
region: EMMC_USER
storage: HW_STORAGE_EMMC
boundary_check: true
is_reserved: false
operation_type: UPDATE
is_upgradable: true
empty_boot_needed: false
reserve: 0x00
So, for each one that has a .img file, im doing this
python mtk wo 0x17000000 0x6000000 0.md1img_a.img
with 0x17000000 being the line physical_start_addr and 0x6000000 the line partition_size
all partitions are not in the directory, seccfg, fota, frp, are missing, so, well, we'll see what happens
So far, I have flashed boot_a, boot_b, laf_a, laf_b, lk_a, lk_b, logo_a, logo_b, md1img_a, md1img_b, ssmp_a, ssmp_b, spmfw_a, spmfw_b, rct, tee_a, tee_b, dtbo_a, dtbo_b, efuse, vbmeta_a, vbmeta_b, pgpt, sgpt
I'm not sure about what I have done with OP, I flashed 0.OP_S.img in the OP_a partition
Anyway, so far, I've tried
power : nothing
power + vol up : nothing
power + vol down : nothing
power + both vol buttons : nothing
But, python mtk plstage --preloader=preloader_muse6765_64_eh35_q.bin as usual, LGE device appears for a few seconds on the device manager, and something more, the phone displays the LG K52 boot screen for a few seconds, then turns back off,
Not great yet, the phone is still not usable, but it's encouraging !
I'll keep you informed !

 

[franss62]

Nothing else than this yet, but satisfying to see progress, I wanted to share this with you

 

[franss62]

I just copied super partition, now when I push power button, it vibrates, displays the LG K52 boot screen, and displays "All Slots are unbootable" in red
I can get neither download mode nor fastboot, but I'm confident I'm getting close to get it working again !

 

[franss62]

Well, I tried to flash everything again, and now the phone is dead again, no more vibration and no more logo...
I noticed it was possible to communicate with the BROM with a UART interface at a baudrate of 115200, 8 bits, 1 stop bit, no parity and no flow control, I found a document yesterday explaining that a few commands could be called like 'Version', 'Start', 'Jump', but nothing happens when I try with PuTTY,
If somebody can help I'd be very glad !

 

[franss62]

Okay, after idk how many attemts, I managed to have the phone powerong on again after flashing with SP Flash Tool
buuuuuuut
Something more !!
Now, it doesn't only bootloop when the BL is unllocked, it also displays a message I didn't have at the first time I could power it on again !

 

[franss62]

I haven't progressed more so far, may anyone have a suggestion ?
I've tried :
- reflashing everything
- removing AVB header in the boot partition img to disable verified boot just in case it would change something (replacing the 256 bytes of the header of AVB in HxD with zeroes)
- the whole process from KDZ to manually reflash partitions with another stock ROM to see if it changes something
- erasing userdata, md_udc and metadata
- python mtk payload --metamode FASTBOOT => won't boot in fastboot
I'm now out of ideas...
It keeps displaying in a bootloop the LG logo, then either "all slots are unbootable" or "Your device cannot be checked for corruption. Lock the bootloader"
All I think I know, is that to reach that far in the startup process, it means we're in the LittleKernel (AM I RIGHT PLEASE CAN ANYONE CONFIRM ? ), and I may have something interesting if I manage to build a custom one with debug symbols, but no source code related to MT6765 anywhere on the internet, I guess I'm kinda stuck...
And at the same time, just to try, I build a custom LK with ARM target from the github source code, it generates a LK and a LK.img, but in Hxd, the first bytes are very very very different, the one from my LG stock ROM starts with IDK how many rows ful of "0xFF" bytes, the built one doesn't..
Does anyone have an idea of what I may want do to find what's wrong with the boot process of my phone ?

 

[franss62]

Up ?

 

[g465559090]

Maybe I can help you solve this problem, because I use the same mobile phone as you. But after repairing the boot, your phone may lose the serial number, so far, I do not know how to repair the serial number. If I have time, I'll look into it

 

[franss62]

When I turn it on now, if I push simultaneously PWR, VOL+ and VOL- buttons barcodes with S/N, IMEI and manufacturing dates, and all is zero,
Honestly, I don't mind if I don't have the S/N anymore, I know all the numbers have been wiped out, now event the IMEI consist of zeroes, I've called Orange customer service so they told me the IMEI of the terminal I used with my SIM card between feb 2021 and mar 2023 so I'm gonna have to find a way to reinject it but it's okay I'll find a way, I don't know how yet but, if at least, I can get it starting again I'd already be more than happy

 

[stenncell]

Hey, bro.
I had the same problem with my K52, but I managed to dump the firmware and resurrect my device.
recovered by U*****Tool (paid tool), but by SpFlash it is also possible (scatter is present)
after flashing the dump my device did not start, but it fixed the download mode, I used LgRomUp and flashed the .kdz rom
Good luck, this worked for me.
(if links are not allowed, send me DM)

From Brazil.
K52dump

 

[franss62]

Hey, bro.
I had the same problem with my K52, but I managed to dump the firmware and resurrect my device.
recovered by U*****Tool (paid tool), but by SpFlash it is also possible (scatter is present)
after flashing the dump my device did not start, but it fixed the download mode, I used LgRomUp and flashed the .kdz rom
Good luck, this worked for me.
(if links are not allowed, send me DM)

From Brazil.
K52dump

Hi !
Thank you very much for this dump,
So far unfortunately no chance, SP Flash tool gives an error as soon as I try to reflash partitions with scatter file, I'm at work now but I'll upload more details ASAP,
Sorry for answering with a long delay, I've been very busy those last weeks

 

[franss62]

Hi ! As I said before, here are the screenshots :

As soon as I try to flash with your scatter file, it stays stuck after the "Download DA 100%", hangs for a few minutes, and then displays the following message :

I'm gonna try to see if there's something in the scatter file that may not be allowed to be downloaded as is
If on your side you have any idea, even though you ain't sure, anyway the phone is bricked so can't be worse I guess
Best regards

 

[mvikrant97]

Hi everybody,
I may need the help of someone very experimented in flashing smartphones with Mediatek chipsets,
I wanted to unlock the bootloader of my K52, so I downgraded it to Android 10, then I unlocked it with MTKClient, but it got stuck in a bootloop,
Then, searching how to wipe userdata, I accidentally erased all partitions on the phone,
Now it won't boot anymore, I just can download it in BROM mode, with the "python mtk payload" command,
I've tried this guide, the k52 has exactly the same chipset, but with no chance,
Could anyone help me plz ?
I'd be very grateful ! :3

I can try to revive your phone. Let me know if you can allow me to access your computer remotely to restore back its firmware.
Ofcourse you would be able to witness everything on your computer of what I'm doing.
I would be using specialised tool to flash your device.

Thankyou!

 

[mvikrant97]

Hey, bro.
I had the same problem with my K52, but I managed to dump the firmware and resurrect my device.
recovered by U*****Tool (paid tool), but by SpFlash it is also possible (scatter is present)
after flashing the dump my device did not start, but it fixed the download mode, I used LgRomUp and flashed the .kdz rom
Good luck, this worked for me.
(if links are not allowed, send me DM)

From Brazil.
K52dump

Can you please share the dump firmware with me?
Thankyou.

 

[franss62]

Hi @mvikrant97
Thank you I appreciate a lot,
Just pm me your Discord/TeamViewer/Skype or whatever and we may have a call so you can remotely access my computer
What would be your availabilities ?

 

[creativecolos]

Hey, bro.
I had the same problem with my K52, but I managed to dump the firmware and resurrect my device.
recovered by U*****Tool (paid tool), but by SpFlash it is also possible (scatter is present)
after flashing the dump my device did not start, but it fixed the download mode, I used LgRomUp and flashed the .kdz rom
Good luck, this worked for me.
(if links are not allowed, send me DM)

From Brazil.
K52dump

Hello bro, Please, can you send-me the scatter file of K52? I bricked my device after downgrade to android 10 /=