Z3c: cannot install ROMs from TWRP, fastboot mode broken

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KhaaL

Member
Jul 1, 2010
27
1
Hey all, I've been messing around with my Sony Z3 Compact (D503) and I think I broke something when I forcedfully tried to install a ROM. My problem is this, I have no system to boot to and fastboot mode dosen't work (it boots to recovery instead). Just to be clear, my drivers for ADB and fastboot are installed and working fine.

When I try to install a zip file from TWRP, i get the error message "Failed to mount '/system' (invalig argument)

When I try to boot to fastboot mode to install a new image through fastboot, I simply get back to recovery mode (TWRP).

Being curious to see if there is anything in /system or if the permissions there are broken, I used adb shell to enter /system and it shows as empty. using "ls -la" inside /system yiels the following results:

Code:
/system # [6nls -la
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for localtime!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for GMT!
__bionic_open_tzdata: couldn't find any tzdata when looking for posixrules!
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root             0 Jan  1  1970 .
drwxr-xr-x   23 root     root             0 Mar 14 18:40 ..

I have also tried to sideload a ZIP-file to my device, which yielded in another error
Code:
(E3004: This package is for "D5803,D5833,z3c,aries" devices
this is a "".

My gut tells me that the bash or shell commands are broken, and therefore it dosen't execute the install script properly (and perhaps also explains the garbled shell-prompt). Another possible case is that the installed TWRP version is errornous and need to be replaced (and how is that possible without fastboot...).

Would appriciate to get some help to get it up and running! :)
 
Last edited:

liberteus

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2009
106
19
Redmi Note 10 Pro
Flashtool also allow devices in flash mode. I'm in the process of restoring mine because i royally screwed up my z3c today. Problem is that no matter what official rom i throw at it, it won't boot to Android all the way and can't get fastboot to work.
Frigging stuck.
 

liberteus

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2009
106
19
Redmi Note 10 Pro
Flashtool also allow devices in flash mode. I'm in the process of restoring mine because i royally screwed up my z3c today. Problem is that no matter what official rom i throw at it, it won't boot to Android all the way and can't get fastboot to work.
Frigging stuck.

Got flashtool to work in flashmode. Tried several official ftf files until one worked, the unbranded german one for me did the trick. Others remained stuck during boot. At LEAST I can put the phone to adb from there and then to fastboot through adb. Give it a try.
 

KhaaL

Member
Jul 1, 2010
27
1
Got flashtool to work in flashmode. Tried several official ftf files until one worked, the unbranded german one for me did the trick. Others remained stuck during boot. At LEAST I can put the phone to adb from there and then to fastboot through adb. Give it a try.

Good job on un-bricking your phone! Got a link to the german FTF files and the tutorial/guide you followed? :)
 

liberteus

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2009
106
19
Redmi Note 10 Pro
Good job on un-bricking your phone! Got a link to the german FTF files and the tutorial/guide you followed? :)
Sure I can find that pretty quickly.
There you go, entire post is just links to various ftf files that you can flash using flasthool in flashmode mode:
https://xdaforums.com/z3-compact/general/list-stock-firmwares-d5803-d5833-t2906706

The one that finally saved my z3c after tinkering (too much) with fastboot too much is this very one:
https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=68132744&postcount=2175

From there I set up developer options, enabled adb, used adb to reboot to bootloader, tested each twrp image to see whether I could load them safely (fastboot boot image.img instead of fastboot flash recovery image.img).
Since all versions were ok, I flashed the LOS16 recommended 3.3.1, and flashed LOS16 from there, wiping system, data etc. It works perfectly now.
 
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