[GUIDE] Complete Step-by-Step Convert T-Mobile to Global (or other) firmware

[blair.sadewitz]

First I need to make sure the update works. The Global rom comes directly from the OnePlus website for the 8. The video I linked most likely will not work with US branded phones. With an unlocked bootloader, you cannot receive updates from Android updates. I am going the fastboot route when I get my unlocked token.

My question is can I simply flash the global rom via fastboot straight across via Android SDK platform tools without reverting to an Android 10 rom.

The Android 11 Global rom is newer than the latest T-Mobile Android 11 rom.

You most certainly can receive updates in the usual way. It won't do incremental updates, but it will download the full ones instead.

No, you can't just flash the global ROM outright, I don't think. Most of them will end up in crashdump mode. I recommend starting with 10.5.7 T-Mobile and then flashing 10.5.7 global with fastboot. After that, take all the updates the system offers you. After it's up-to-date, relock the bootloader if you wish.

 

[Two Sheets]

You most certainly can receive updates in the usual way. It won't do incremental updates, but it will download the full ones instead.

No, you can't just flash the global ROM outright, I don't think. Most of them will end up in crashdump mode. I recommend starting with 10.5.7 T-Mobile and then flashing 10.5.7 global with fastboot. After that, take all the updates the system offers you. After it's up-to-date, relock the bootloader if you wish.

Ok, so the youtube video I posted should be possible for people who do not want to risk bricking their phone. If the bootloader is unlocked, sim is unlocked. Then the Global Rom should load without issue. The global rom on the oneplus website is newer than the latest T-mobile rom.

 

[jasonring]

Can someone help me to verify if global firmware can connect to t-mobile 5g SA network?

To verify that, dial *#*#4636 #*#* in dialer and navigate Testing > Phone Information >

Look for these 2 fields, if it connect to 5g SA, it should show NR_SA. Thanks.

1. Data Network Type:
2. Voice Network Type:

 

[thattechguy_69]

Can someone help me to verify if global firmware can connect to t-mobile 5g SA network?

To verify that, dial *#*#4636 #*#* in dialer and navigate Testing > Phone Information >

Look for these 2 fields, if it connect to 5g SA, it should show NR_SA. Thanks.

1. Data Network Type:
2. Voice Network Type:

from @emowing
- No TMobile NR SA (5G Standalone)
- TMobile NR NSA works fine

 

[dlhxr]

Tried here to change IMEI for sim 1 and sim 2 by Miracle, but dual sim still doesn't work. card 2 can be recognized, but can't search for networks. There may be some other triggers, but not duplicate IMEI causing the issue. Just a FYI for who's trying to work on it as well.

 

[PavelPerm]

Tried here to change IMEI for sim 1 and sim 2 by Miracle, but dual sim still doesn't work. card 2 can be recognized, but can't search for networks. There may be some other triggers, but not duplicate IMEI causing the issue. Just a FYI for who's trying to work on it as well.

I also came to this conclusion, the problem is not 1 IMEI For two SIM cards, the problem is something else.

 

[emowing]

How do you verify 5G is Standalone or Non-Standalone?

dial *#*#4636 #*#* in your phone app, select phone information, select NR only. Make sure you're within range of a SA tower.

 

[Two Sheets]

I rolled my OnePlus 8 back to Android 10 and it relocked the bootloader. The problem, when I go into cmd prompt and unlock my bootloader. It says

target reported max download size of 805306368 bytes
sending 'cust-unlock' (0 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.010s]
writing 'cust-unlock'...
(bootloader) Device is unlocked.
OKAY [ 0.005s]
finished. total time: 0.017s

The problem is the fastboot menu still says "device state locked". I enabled OEM unlock and the debugging tool. My Sim is permanently unlocked. I did everything right.

I fixed it "fastboot oem unlock" I thought I could unlock the bootloader without needing to wipe the phone again.

I have a who cares attitude with this OnePlus 8. I have already bricked it once.



Edit: I bricked it 2x now. There is a problem with the OP flashing method. It starts fine with the global rom. flash all.bat works but it hangs with waiting for device. I am thinking that 7 zip could be a problem. I unlocked the bootloader, enabled OEM unlock and debugging. 2x failure with waiting for device message after about a minute. The 2nd attempt I let it sit for 30 minutes, no progress.

Is there another method to get the Global rom on the One Plus 8? The MSM tool is great once you figure it out. Works every time without any issues.

 

[dlhxr]

I rolled my OnePlus 8 back to Android 10 and it relocked the bootloader. The problem, when I go into cmd prompt and unlock my bootloader. It says

target reported max download size of 805306368 bytes
sending 'cust-unlock' (0 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.010s]
writing 'cust-unlock'...
(bootloader) Device is unlocked.
OKAY [ 0.005s]
finished. total time: 0.017s

The problem is the fastboot menu still says "device state locked". I enabled OEM unlock and the debugging tool. My Sim is permanently unlocked. I did everything right. What is going on here?

Hello myself, I fixed it "fastboot oem unlock" I thought I could unlock the bootloader without needing to wipe the phone again.

I have a who cares attitude with this OnePlus 8. I have already bricked it once.



Edit: I bricked it 2x now. There is a problem with the OP flashing method. It starts fine with the global rom. flash all.bat works but it hangs with waiting for device. I am thinking that 7 zip could be a problem. I unlocked the bootloader, enabled OEM unlock and debugging. 2x failure with waiting for device message after about a minute. The 2nd attempt I let it sit for 30 minutes, no progress.

Is there another method to get the Global rom on the One Plus 8? The MSM tool is great once you figure it out. Works every time without any issues.

After flashing your unlock bin, type fastboot oem unlock or fastboot oem unlock-critical

 

[Two Sheets]

How do I turn on test mode on my phone? How do I turn off Driver signature?

1st Step: (Make sure Test Mode is ON and Driver Signature is OFF)
First install the Drivers of the phone and the Qualcomm Drivers inside the attached file after downloading it at the bottom of this guide.

 

[blair.sadewitz]

Can someone help me to verify if global firmware can connect to t-mobile 5g SA network?

To verify that, dial *#*#4636 #*#* in dialer and navigate Testing > Phone Information >

Look for these 2 fields, if it connect to 5g SA, it should show NR_SA. Thanks.

1. Data Network Type:
2. Voice Network Type:

It can. I am connected to it.

 

[blair.sadewitz]

After flashing your unlock bin, type fastboot oem unlock or fastboot oem unlock-critic

I rolled my OnePlus 8 back to Android 10 and it relocked the bootloader. The problem, when I go into cmd prompt and unlock my bootloader. It says

target reported max download size of 805306368 bytes
sending 'cust-unlock' (0 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.010s]
writing 'cust-unlock'...
(bootloader) Device is unlocked.
OKAY [ 0.005s]
finished. total time: 0.017s

The problem is the fastboot menu still says "device state locked". I enabled OEM unlock and the debugging tool. My Sim is permanently unlocked. I did everything right.

I fixed it "fastboot oem unlock" I thought I could unlock the bootloader without needing to wipe the phone again.

I have a who cares attitude with this OnePlus 8. I have already bricked it once.



Edit: I bricked it 2x now. There is a problem with the OP flashing method. It starts fine with the global rom. flash all.bat works but it hangs with waiting for device. I am thinking that 7 zip could be a problem. I unlocked the bootloader, enabled OEM unlock and debugging. 2x failure with waiting for device message after about a minute. The 2nd attempt I let it sit for 30 minutes, no progress.

Is there another method to get the Global rom on the One Plus 8? The MSM tool is great once you figure it out. Works every time without any issues.

Use msmdownloadtool to revert to 10.5.7 T-Mobile ROM. Unlock the bootloader, then put it in fastboot mode and flash the 10.5.7 global ROM. Next, boot it and take at least one update. After you've verified that update boots, you can relock the bootloader. That's all there is to it.

This is a VERY SIMPLE process. The original instructions make it seem like it's more complex than it is because of the way the post is structured. It is not incorrect; it just jumps around a lot, etc. I have a feeling people are getting tripped up by this.

I have never tried using msmdownloadtool with the global firmware, as I assumed that it wouldn't work. After all, why would people be doing this in the first place if it did? ;-) I'm tempted to try it now, haha.

7zip is not the problem. Are you flashing it on a windows box? Which fastboot executable are you using? When does it hang with "waiting for device", when you first try to flash, or after the flash script reboots to fastbootd?

To me, this seems like a problem with fastboot on your machine. I need more information (like which OS you are using) to say anything else. Again, I must emphasize: this is EXTRAORDINARILY SIMPLE. Don't overthink it.

If you have access to another machine, try that, also.

At some point, I am going to try to roll my own firmware package for qfil and/or the qdl (see GitHub) tool to do this in one step because people keep having issues. I could be wrong, but I don't think there is any reason why one should even have to use fastboot at all to do this. The issue is getting the tool to just flash the @#$ global image.

 

[Two Sheets]

Use msmdownloadtool to revert to 10.5.7 T-Mobile ROM. Unlock the bootloader, then put it in fastboot mode and flash the 10.5.7 global ROM. Next, boot it and take at least one update. After you've verified that update boots, you can relock the bootloader. That's all there is to it.

This is a VERY SIMPLE process. The original instructions make it seem like it's more complex than it is because of the way the post is structured. It is not incorrect; it just jumps around a lot, etc. I have a feeling people are getting tripped up by this.

I have never tried using msmdownloadtool with the global firmware, as I assumed that it wouldn't work. After all, why would people be doing this in the first place if it did? ;-) I'm tempted to try it now, haha.

7zip is not the problem. Are you flashing it on a windows box? Which fastboot executable are you using? When does it hang with "waiting for device", when you first try to flash, or after the flash script reboots to fastbootd?

To me, this seems like a problem with fastboot on your machine. I need more information (like which OS you are using) to say anything else. Again, I must emphasize: this is EXTRAORDINARILY SIMPLE. Don't overthink it.

If you have access to another machine, try that, also.

At some point, I am going to try to roll my own firmware package for qfil and/or the qdl (see GitHub) tool to do this in one step because people keep having issues. I could be wrong, but I don't think there is any reason why one should even have to use fastboot at all to do this. The issue is getting the tool to just flash the @#$ global image.

Agree with most of what you are saying. I have a handful of machines that I could use. I have followed every step in the process. On 10.5.7 T-mobile stock rom. Here is what it says when I flash the global rom.

Do you want to wipe all the data ( Reccomended )[Y/N]?y

Erasing 'userdata' OKAY [ 0.275s]



F2FS-tools: mkfs.f2fs Ver: 1.12.0 (2018-11-12)



Info: Disable heap-based policy

Info: Debug level = 1

Info: Trim is disabled

Info: Set conf for android

Info: Segments per section = 1

Info: Sections per zone = 1

Info: sector size = 512

Info: total sectors = 210903704 (102980 MB)

Info: zone aligned segment0 blkaddr: 512

Info: add quota type = 0 => 4

Info: add quota type = 1 => 5

[f2fs_init_sit_area: 535] Filling sit area at offset 0x00600000

[f2fs_init_nat_area: 569] Filling nat area at offset 0x00e00000

[f2fs_write_root_inode:1147] Writing root inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114688

[f2fs_write_default_quota:1223] Writing quota data, at offset 0001c601, 0001c602

[f2fs_write_qf_inode:1318] Writing quota inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114689

[f2fs_write_default_quota:1223] Writing quota data, at offset 0001c603, 0001c604

[f2fs_write_qf_inode:1318] Writing quota inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114690

[f2fs_update_nat_root:1372] Writing nat root, at offset 0x00000e00

[f2fs_add_default_dentry_root:1567] Writing default dentry root, at offset 0x0001c600

Info: Overprovision ratio = 0.620%

Info: Overprovision segments = 645 (GC reserved = 330)

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 713] Writing main segments, cp at offset 0x00000200

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 850] Writing Segment summary for HOT/WARM/COLD_DATA, at offset 0x00000201

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 877] Writing Segment summary for HOT_NODE, at offset 0x00000202

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 889] Writing Segment summary for WARM_NODE, at offset 0x00000203

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 900] Writing Segment summary for COLD_NODE, at offset 0x00000204

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 908] Writing cp page2, at offset 0x00000205

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 928] Writing NAT bits pages, at offset 0x000003fe

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 949] Writing cp page 1 of checkpoint pack 2, at offset 0x00000400

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 968] Writing cp page 2 of checkpoint pack 2, at offset 0x00000405

[f2fs_write_super_block:1001] Writing super block, at offset 0x00000000

Info: format successful

Sending 'userdata' (85 KB) OKAY [ 0.009s]

Writing 'userdata' OKAY [ 0.002s]

Erasing 'metadata' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.

File system type raw not supported.

Finished. Total time: 6.233s

Sending 'boot_a' (98304 KB) OKAY [ 2.271s]

Writing 'boot_a' OKAY [ 0.413s]

Finished. Total time: 2.780s

Sending 'dtbo' (8192 KB) OKAY [ 0.191s]

Writing 'dtbo' OKAY [ 0.043s]

Finished. Total time: 0.253s

Sending 'modem_a' (524288 KB) OKAY [ 12.122s]

Writing 'modem_a' OKAY [ 1.955s]

Finished. Total time: 14.523s

Sending 'recovery' (102400 KB) OKAY [ 2.361s]

Writing 'recovery' OKAY [ 0.392s]

Finished. Total time: 2.857s

Sending 'vbmeta' (8 KB) OKAY [ 0.008s]

Writing 'vbmeta' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Finished. Total time: 0.021s

Sending 'vbmeta_system' (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.010s]

Writing 'vbmeta_system' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Finished. Total time: 0.023s

Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.002s]

< waiting for any device >

 

[blair.sadewitz]

I just wish that someone would actually make a proper modded msm tool for everyone thats on tmobile to convert to global without any issues of losing sim functionality or wait 7 days for the unlock code. Makes everyone's life easier and the fact that OP8T already has one which means that it is possible to make one and that we just need that person to help us. BE THE SAVIOUR!

What exactly are the issues trying to use the global msm package? What do you mean by "lose SIM functionality"? I'm not some expert, so I can't think of a reason why that would happen (that doesn't mean much because I don't know much haha).

The tools we should be using to do this, I think, are either qfil or the open-source "qdl" tool you can find on GitHub (the user is 'bkerler" or something like that). Msmdownloadtool is hella lame.

 

[blair.sadewitz]

Agree with most of what you are saying. I have a handful of machines that I could use. I have followed every step in the process. On 10.5.7 T-mobile stock rom. Here is what it says when I flash the global rom.

Do you want to wipe all the data ( Reccomended )[Y/N]?y

Erasing 'userdata' OKAY [ 0.275s]



F2FS-tools: mkfs.f2fs Ver: 1.12.0 (2018-11-12)



Info: Disable heap-based policy

Info: Debug level = 1

Info: Trim is disabled

Info: Set conf for android

Info: Segments per section = 1

Info: Sections per zone = 1

Info: sector size = 512

Info: total sectors = 210903704 (102980 MB)

Info: zone aligned segment0 blkaddr: 512

Info: add quota type = 0 => 4

Info: add quota type = 1 => 5

[f2fs_init_sit_area: 535] Filling sit area at offset 0x00600000

[f2fs_init_nat_area: 569] Filling nat area at offset 0x00e00000

[f2fs_write_root_inode:1147] Writing root inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114688

[f2fs_write_default_quota:1223] Writing quota data, at offset 0001c601, 0001c602

[f2fs_write_qf_inode:1318] Writing quota inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114689

[f2fs_write_default_quota:1223] Writing quota data, at offset 0001c603, 0001c604

[f2fs_write_qf_inode:1318] Writing quota inode (hot node), 1c000 0 200 at offset 0x00114690

[f2fs_update_nat_root:1372] Writing nat root, at offset 0x00000e00

[f2fs_add_default_dentry_root:1567] Writing default dentry root, at offset 0x0001c600

Info: Overprovision ratio = 0.620%

Info: Overprovision segments = 645 (GC reserved = 330)

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 713] Writing main segments, cp at offset 0x00000200

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 850] Writing Segment summary for HOT/WARM/COLD_DATA, at offset 0x00000201

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 877] Writing Segment summary for HOT_NODE, at offset 0x00000202

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 889] Writing Segment summary for WARM_NODE, at offset 0x00000203

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 900] Writing Segment summary for COLD_NODE, at offset 0x00000204

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 908] Writing cp page2, at offset 0x00000205

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 928] Writing NAT bits pages, at offset 0x000003fe

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 949] Writing cp page 1 of checkpoint pack 2, at offset 0x00000400

[f2fs_write_check_point_pack: 968] Writing cp page 2 of checkpoint pack 2, at offset 0x00000405

[f2fs_write_super_block:1001] Writing super block, at offset 0x00000000

Info: format successful

Sending 'userdata' (85 KB) OKAY [ 0.009s]

Writing 'userdata' OKAY [ 0.002s]

Erasing 'metadata' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.

File system type raw not supported.

Finished. Total time: 6.233s

Sending 'boot_a' (98304 KB) OKAY [ 2.271s]

Writing 'boot_a' OKAY [ 0.413s]

Finished. Total time: 2.780s

Sending 'dtbo' (8192 KB) OKAY [ 0.191s]

Writing 'dtbo' OKAY [ 0.043s]

Finished. Total time: 0.253s

Sending 'modem_a' (524288 KB) OKAY [ 12.122s]

Writing 'modem_a' OKAY [ 1.955s]

Finished. Total time: 14.523s

Sending 'recovery' (102400 KB) OKAY [ 2.361s]

Writing 'recovery' OKAY [ 0.392s]

Finished. Total time: 2.857s

Sending 'vbmeta' (8 KB) OKAY [ 0.008s]

Writing 'vbmeta' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Finished. Total time: 0.021s

Sending 'vbmeta_system' (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.010s]

Writing 'vbmeta_system' OKAY [ 0.001s]

Finished. Total time: 0.023s

Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.002s]

< waiting for any device >

Try this:

Open up the flash-all.bat or whatever it's called in a text editor. Split the file into two different ones: the first one will have the commands at the beginning (you can strip out the wipe and the other flow control stuff in the batch file, we just want to flash, keep it simple) up until the line "fastboot reboot fastboot". Remove that line. The second file should have all the fastboot commands that happen AFTER that one. Now, try running the first one. After it is done, type "fastboot reboot fastboot" yourself. Does it go into fastbootd mode? If not, reboot the phone to the bootloader again, then try "fastboot reboot fastboot" again. If that is not working, it might be some issue with the fastboot version you are using or something (?). Anyway, once you get it into fastbootd mode by hook or by crook, then run the second script to flash the rest of the partitions. If you have problems still, try unplugging the phone and plugging it back in again, rebooting it to fastboot again, etc. Screw around with it.

 

[blair.sadewitz]

from @emowing
- No TMobile NR SA (5G Standalone)
- TMobile NR NSA works fine

How to write IMEI to Qualcomm using QFIL & QCN

This step-by-step guide will explain how to use Qualcomm Flash Image Loader (QFIL) and a QCN file to write or repair IMEI on a Qualcomm Android device. This tutorial will come in handy when you have a

forum.hovatek.com

How to backup & restore Qualcomm QCN using QFIL

This step-by-step guide will explain how to use Qualcomm Flash Image Loader (QFIL) to backup or restore QCN to a Qualcomm Android device. QCN helps you fix NV-related issues like baseband, IMEI, netwo

forum.hovatek.com

Check it out. I think this qcn thing might be what we should be backing up.

 

[Two Sheets]

Try this:

Open up the flash-all.bat or whatever it's called in a text editor. Split the file into two different ones: the first one will have the commands at the beginning (you can strip out the wipe and the other flow control stuff in the batch file, we just want to flash, keep it simple) up until the line "fastboot reboot fastboot". Remove that line. The second file should have all the fastboot commands that happen AFTER that one. Now, try running the first one. After it is done, type "fastboot reboot fastboot" yourself. Does it go into fastbootd mode? If not, reboot the phone to the bootloader again, then try "fastboot reboot fastboot" again. If that is not working, it might be some issue with the fastboot version you are using or something (?). Anyway, once you get it into fastbootd mode by hook or by crook, then run the second script to flash the rest of the partitions. If you have problems still, try unplugging the phone and plugging it back in again, rebooting it to fastboot again, etc. Screw around with it.

I have no issues with the MSMTOOL, bricking my device and unbricking it. The video on page one, he gets into fastboot mode using the menu on his phone. There is another guy on youtube who gets into fastboot by using a fastboot bootloader in the command prompt. I use the volume up and down buttons plus the power button to get into fastboot mode.

I hear your suggestion on the flash all bin file. I am going to try a different machine, different unzip tool and different USB ports and cables.

I was assuming there is no right or wrong way to get the phone in fastboot mode. Is this assumption true?

 

[dlhxr]

How to write IMEI to Qualcomm using QFIL & QCN

This step-by-step guide will explain how to use Qualcomm Flash Image Loader (QFIL) and a QCN file to write or repair IMEI on a Qualcomm Android device. This tutorial will come in handy when you have a

forum.hovatek.com

How to backup & restore Qualcomm QCN using QFIL

This step-by-step guide will explain how to use Qualcomm Flash Image Loader (QFIL) to backup or restore QCN to a Qualcomm Android device. QCN helps you fix NV-related issues like baseband, IMEI, netwo

forum.hovatek.com

Check it out. I think this qcn thing might be what we should be backing up.

yes, you should backup these things. But it tried this method to change IMEI, but it's not working. Only a tool called Miracle helped. But never mind, IMEI is not the trigger for dual sim

 

[zulisjutt]

i have also converted my tmo to global changed the imei but second sim signal not showing dose any one know the solution

 

[dlhxr]

i have also converted my tmo to global changed the imei but second sim signal not showing dose any one know the solution

yeah, I did the same, but the seond sim still not working. It's not the IMEI that blocks the dual sim. We need to see what further we can do...