XT1625 (Non-Prime Exclusive) only reboots into TWRP Recovery

[jwarner112]

Hello all,

Apologies for some brevity. Wrote a long, overly-detailed post before my browser crashed and left me frustrated as hell. I'll still try to be clear with my problem and my device information.

The Problem
During a trial-and-error process of getting my G4 (2016) unlocked, flashed, and rooted I've ended up in an odd predicament. The phone will not boot straight into Android-- it has to explicitly enter the Bootloader and be told to START. Otherwise (either by reboot or by powering on from off) it will enter the TWRP recovery. I don't know enough about the boot process to speculate as to why this is happening, but I can assume it's something I've done incorrectly during my myriad of errors on the process.

Device Information (Fastboot)

AP Fastboot Flash Mode (Secure)
BL: B0.0E(*) (sha-4986429, 2016-04-13 14:23:47)
Baseband: M8952_70009.08.03.45R ATHENE_RETUSA_CUST
Product/Variant: athene_13mp XT1625 16GB P2A
Serial Number: ZY223CKDPQ
CPU: MSM8952
eMMC: 16GB SAMSUNG QE13MB RV=08 PV=07 FV=0000000000000007
DRAM: 2GB SAMSUNG LP3 DIE=8Gb M5=01 M6=05 M7=00 M8=1F
Console [NULL]: null
Battery OK (Charging)
flashing_unlocked
Software status: Official
Transfer Mode: USB Connected

System Unlock/Recovery/Root Summary

• Bootloader has been unlocked with Official Motorola Unlocker Tool
• TWRP Recovery flashed successfully (downloaded from twrp_athene_20160526.img)
• Bootloader Warning Message overwritten (tried several logo.bin before finding a good one)
• SuperSu installed using the Guide on rooting w/ TWRP and SuperSu via MANDATORY SYSTEMLESS ROOT.

Can anyone speculate and help me figure out what the issue is with this phone? I can't find stock firmware for the XT1625 yet or I would most definitely be willing to wipe everything, and start from scratch to experiment with the issue. I am also very foolish in that I did not IMMEDIATELY make a backup of the device upon successful TWRP flash, but did shortly after-- no backups I can restore from will fix this issue.

Thanks,
jwarner112

 

[mikeruss]

volume button sticking?

 

[aznindguy4u]

hi jwarner112,

if you have successfully bootloader unlocked your phone, you can enter fastboot mode of your phone by pressing both power+volume down button at the same time. but before you do this, you need to make sure you install the following items on your computer:

make sure to install the latest motorola drivers on your computer. here is the link to the drivers:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/88481

after installing the latest motorola drivers, download and install rsdlite for windows(latest version 6.2.4). here is the link to the latest rsdlite:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59348530&postcount=6

finally download the latest stock firmware for motorola xt1625 non-prime exclusive (athene) from here:
http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/Moto%20G%204th%20Gen%20XT1625/Firmware/ATHENE_MPJ24.139-49_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip.

After downloading this firmware, put your phone in fastboot mode by pressing on power+volume down button at the same time. once the phone enters into fastboot mode, now plug the device into your computer via usb.

now open the latest version of rsdlite on your computer and click on "show device". it should detect your device in fastboot mode, which is necessary to flash the stock firmware file which you have downloaded. click on the "..." button in rsdlite to browse to the stock firmware file and once you find it (make sure you open the file while it is in ".zip" format), decompress and flash it. Remember, this will wipe everything on your phone and will be more like a complete factory data reset.

Now the flashing process should be going on and once it is over, you will restore everything back to normal. Note that bootloader will still be unlocked, but root will gone and twrp recovery will be gone. Like before, flash your twrp, but before you do a root of your phone make a complete backup of your phone in twrp recovery so that you have a good place to start if root goes bad.

Also make sure when you install root, use the latest version 2.76. I accidentally installed the older versions of supersu, which didnt support systemless root and ended up soft bricking my phone. Here is the link to the latest version of root that is compatible with systemless root on the moto G4:

http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu-stable

Prior to flashing supersu, make sure you go to the adb terminal in twrp and type in the systemless root command so that it will force a systemless root installation of supersu. In order to do this, in TWRP go to Advanced and open the Terminal, and in the terminal type this EXACTLY as shown:

echo SYSTEMLESS=true>>/data/.supersu

Now press enter (there is no confirmation returned), then exit and press the Home key. Go to Install and select the SuperSU zip file you downloaded (version 2.76 or higher) and swipe to flash it and reboot.

Once all of this is done, I hope you have a working phone with bootloader unlocked, twrp recovery, and systemless root. if you still have problems attaining this features in your phone, please let us know! otherwise, hit me a thanks!

Good Luck!

 

[jwarner112]

volume button sticking?

I don't believe this is the issue because I've got two identical phones with the same behavior. It seems intuitive to me that the error lies in the process.

 

[chumpalunski]

fastboot oem fb_mode_clear

Should fix the issue.

 

[jwarner112]

hi jwarner112,

if you have successfully bootloader unlocked your phone, you can enter fastboot mode of your phone by pressing both power+volume down button at the same time. but before you do this, you need to make sure you install the following items on your computer:

make sure to install the latest motorola drivers on your computer. here is the link to the drivers:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/88481

after installing the latest motorola drivers, download and install rsdlite for windows(latest version 6.2.4). here is the link to the latest rsdlite:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=59348530&postcount=6

finally download the latest stock firmware for motorola xt1625 non-prime exclusive (athene) from here:
http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/Moto%20G%204th%20Gen%20XT1625/Firmware/ATHENE_MPJ24.139-49_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip.

After downloading this firmware, put your phone in fastboot mode by pressing on power+volume down button at the same time. once the phone enters into fastboot mode, now plug the device into your computer via usb.

now open the latest version of rsdlite on your computer and click on "show device". it should detect your device in fastboot mode, which is necessary to flash the stock firmware file which you have downloaded. click on the "..." button in rsdlite to browse to the stock firmware file and once you find it (make sure you open the file while it is in ".zip" format), decompress and flash it. Remember, this will wipe everything on your phone and will be more like a complete factory data reset.

Now the flashing process should be going on and once it is over, you will restore everything back to normal. Note that bootloader will still be unlocked, but root will gone and twrp recovery will be gone. Like before, flash your twrp, but before you do a root of your phone make a complete backup of your phone in twrp recovery so that you have a good place to start if root goes bad.

Also make sure when you install root, use the latest version 2.76. I accidentally installed the older versions of supersu, which didnt support systemless root and ended up soft bricking my phone. Here is the link to the latest version of root that is compatible with systemless root on the moto G4:

http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu-stable

Prior to flashing supersu, make sure you go to the adb terminal in twrp and type in the systemless root command so that it will force a systemless root installation of supersu.

Once all of this is done, I hope you have a working phone with bootloader unlocked, twrp recovery, and systemless root. if you still have problems attaining this features in your phone, please let us know! otherwise, hit me a thanks!

Good Luck!

This fixed the issue for me. That is to say, I was able to flash the stock firmware for MPJ24_139-48 and from there re-flash recovery, logo, and systemless root.

Thank you!