Bricked my 9A. Any chance to recover?

derarnold

Hi.
I bricked my phone by flashing upborts. It keeps on rebooting to the Redmi screen and resets. No longpress of the power button or press of power + lower volume key gets me into fastboot

Do you think I have a chance to repair the phone? Any tricks out there?

I have also created a ticket in the ubports-installer ticket system.

Thank you for help!

https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/3205

Keneda

@derarnold
If you can see something prompting on the screen, then your phone is not hardbricked.

For community to help you, can you please give more infos ?

What OS on your computer ?
What version of UBports community installer did you use to try installing Ubuntu Touch OS ?
Did you unlock bootloader and activated devellopper mode on your phone ?
What channel of Ubuntu Touch did you try to install from ?

Josele13

For the administrator.... this issue should be in the category of the Xiaomi 9A

MrT10001

Try power button and volume up. If that fails try volume up, volume down and power button. You have a bootloop. If it manages to power off, it may be in fastboot mode, you can tell by the screen not being wholly dark and if you plug it into a PC, it will be detected in a fastboot terminal.
Then it is quite recoverable, but DO NOT relock the bootloader, that can brick an Xiaomi phone.

Did you install the correct version of Android before installing UT?

derarnold

Wow! You guys are fast. So I hope I will answer all questions. Lets see:

@Keneda :

Of course I run Ubuntu ( Ubuntu Budge 22.04 )
The installer is 0.9.7-beta
Yes, Bootloader unlocked, developer mode enabled
It told me, that I should use the stable channel, but downgrading via snap did not work ( created a ticket as well )

@MrT10001 : I love the name! With Mr T on my side, the phone will be fixed soon

With all combinations ( Power + Vol up, Power + Vol Down and Power + both vol) The phone resets, shakes and returns to the redmi screen.
Yes, I would call it a bootloop.
I did not know that a correction of Android is nessessary ... Hmm

Does this help:
cat ubports-installer.log

{"level":"info","message":"Welcome to the UBports Installer version 0.9.7-beta!"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"Versions: {"node":"16.15.0","v8":"10.4.132.22-electron.0","uv":"1.43.0","zlib":"1.2.12","brotli":"1.0.9","ares":"1.18.1","modules":"107","nghttp2":"1.47.0","napi":"8","llhttp":"6.0.4","openssl":"1.1.1","cldr":"41.0","icu":"71.1","tz":"2022a","unicode":"14.0","electron":"20.1.1","chrome":"104.0.5112.102"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"Reading config file: undefined"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["heimdall","detect"],"error":{"message":"Command failed: heimdall detect\nERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.","code":1},"stderr":"ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device."}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"kill-server"],"stderr":"cannot connect to daemon at tcp:5037: Connection refused"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"start-server"],"stderr":"* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037\n* daemon started successfully"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"wait-for-any-any"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["heimdall","detect"],"error":{"message":"Command failed: heimdall detect\nERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device.","code":1},"stderr":"ERROR: Failed to detect compatible download-mode device."}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"get-state"],"stdout":"device"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"shell","getprop ro.product.device"],"stdout":"dandelion"}"}
{"level":"info","message":"device detected: dandelion"}
{"level":"warn","message":"Please update: snap refresh ubports-installer --stable"}
{"level":"info","message":"Installing Ubuntu Touch on your Xiaomi Redmi 9A (dandelion)"}
{"level":"info","message":"configuring..."}
{"level":"info","message":"settings: {"bootstrap":true,"partition":true,"wipe":true,"channel":"16.04/armhf/android9/devel"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"adb:reboot":{"to_state":"bootloader"}}],"fallback":[{"core:user_action":{"action":"bootloader"}}]}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running adb action reboot"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["adb","-P",5037,"reboot","bootloader"]}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"fastboot:wait":null}]}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running fastboot action wait"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"],"stdout":"FQ45JZSKNNL75PH6\tfastboot"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"fastboot:assert_var":{"variable":"unlocked","value":"yes"}}],"fallback":[{"core:user_action":{"action":"unlock_phone"}}]}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running fastboot action assert_var"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"],"stdout":"FQ45JZSKNNL75PH6\tfastboot"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","getvar","unlocked"],"stderr":"unlocked: yes\nFinished. Total time: 0.000s"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"core:download":{"group":"firmware","files":[{"url":"https://github.com/ubuntu-touch-mt6765/ut-images/releases/download/bootstrap-images/recovery_dandelion.img","name":"recovery.img","checksum":{"sum":"40b5ea262e08be110302c8f73eec8dcf16acc051be54217735d5ded5b3172da9","algorithm":"sha256"}},{"url":"https://dl.google.com/developers/android/qt/images/gsi/vbmeta.img","name":"vbmeta.img","checksum":{"sum":"f6da5489fd877cb69cf61fa721cfd6d77e530084aefe9b96664f818947ff61f6","algorithm":"sha256"}}]}}],"condition":{"var":"bootstrap","value":true}}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running core action download"}
{"level":"debug","message":"checking previously downloaded firmware files"}
{"level":"info","message":"Downloading 1 files"}
{"level":"debug","message":"downloading firmware files"}
{"level":"info","message":"Downloaded file 1 of 1"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"fastboot:format":{"partition":"userdata","type":"ext4"}}],"condition":{"var":"wipe","value":true}}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running fastboot action format"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","format:ext4","userdata"],"stdout":"Creating filesystem with 5945595 4k blocks and 1488032 inodes\nFilesystem UUID: b636bbef-6858-451c-bc44-63eddf88917a\nSuperblock backups stored on blocks: \n\t32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, \n\t4096000\n\nAllocating group tables: 0/182\b\b\b\b\b\b\b \b\b\b\b\b\b\bdone \nWriting inode tables: 0/182\b\b\b\b\b\b\b \b\b\b\b\b\b\bdone \nCreating journal (32768 blocks): done\nWriting superblocks and filesystem accounting information: 0/182\b\b\b\b\b\b\b \b\b\b\b\b\b\bdone","stderr":"Warning: userdata type is f2fs, but ext4 was requested for formatting.\nmke2fs 1.46.2 (28-Feb-2021)\nSending 'userdata' (180 KB) OKAY [ 0.010s]\nWriting 'userdata' OKAY [ 0.017s]\nFinished. Total time: 0.103s"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"fastboot:flash":{"partitions":[{"partition":"vbmeta","file":"vbmeta.img","group":"firmware","flags":["--disable-verity","--disable-verification"]},{"partition":"recovery","file":"recovery.img","group":"firmware"}]}}],"condition":{"var":"bootstrap","value":true}}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running fastboot action flash"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"],"stdout":"FQ45JZSKNNL75PH6\tfastboot"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","devices"],"stdout":"FQ45JZSKNNL75PH6\tfastboot"}"}
{"level":"command","message":"spawn:start: {"cmd":["fastboot","flash","vbmeta","--disable-verity","--disable-verification","/home/oliver/snap/ubports-installer/435/.cache/ubports/dandelion/firmware/vbmeta.img"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"spawn:exit: {"cmd":["fastboot","flash","vbmeta","--disable-verity","--disable-verification","/home/oliver/snap/ubports-installer/435/.cache/ubports/dandelion/firmware/vbmeta.img"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"spawn:start: {"cmd":["fastboot","flash","recovery","/home/oliver/snap/ubports-installer/435/.cache/ubports/dandelion/firmware/recovery.img"]}"}
{"level":"command","message":"spawn:exit: {"cmd":["fastboot","flash","recovery","/home/oliver/snap/ubports-installer/435/.cache/ubports/dandelion/firmware/recovery.img"]}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running step {"actions":[{"fastboot:reboot_fastboot":null}],"fallback":[{"core:user_action":{"action":"fastbootd"}}],"condition":{"var":"partition","value":true}}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running fastboot action reboot_fastboot"}
{"level":"command","message":"exec: {"cmd":["fastboot","reboot-fastboot"],"error":{"message":"Command failed: fastboot reboot-fastboot\nRebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.001s]\n< waiting for any device >","signal":"SIGINT"},"stderr":"Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.001s]\n< waiting for any device >"}"}
{"level":"debug","message":"attempting to handle Error: rebooting to fastboot failed: Error: {"error":{"signal":"SIGINT","cmd":"fastboot reboot-fastboot"},"stderr":"Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.001s]\n< waiting for any device >"}"}
{"level":"verbose","message":"running core action user_action"}

derarnold

I just checked, never in the loop, the phone tries to register as a USB device. So all solutions with the android tools will not work.

stanwood

@derarnold Did you take a look at this?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-how-to-fix-a-hard-bricked-redmi-note-9-merlin-hard-brick.4347025/

Please check the device version before to proceed.

You can also try to fix it using a Windows PC desktop and install MUI Flashtool. Then you can flash the fastboot, recovery, firmware, kernel, and the whole ROM (System + Data partitions).

It's "almost" virtually impossible to definitively softbrick an Android device. But can be very tricky to restore if Fastboot partition is corrupted.

You may also find some smartphones local store repair centres that can do it quite easily (for a few beers...)

Ensure to install an Android 9 stock version and especially not 10 or further, otherwise you won't be able to install Ubuntu Touch.

Once done, re-install Ubuntu Touch using UBPorts Installer. Please make sure to check "wipe data" and "bootstrap partition" .

derarnold

@stanwood I have tried using the link you gave me. I came pretty far but I am stuck with the bypass tool. It says, that the payload is not responding:

[2023-04-05 08:14:01.573365] Waiting for device
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.290612] Found port = COM1

[2023-04-05 08:14:15.327035] Device hw code: 0x766
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.327035] Device hw sub code: 0x8a00
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.327035] Device hw version: 0xca00
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.332551] Device sw version: 0x0
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.332551] Device secure boot: True
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.332551] Device serial link authorization: True
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.337726] Device download agent authorization: True

[2023-04-05 08:14:15.337726] Disabling watchdog timer
[2023-04-05 08:14:15.337726] Disabling protection
[Errno None] b'libusb0-dll:err [control_msg] sending control message failed, win error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.\r\n\n'
[2023-04-05 08:14:16.422136] Payload did not reply
Press any key to continue . . .

Any ideas?

Thx Oliver

stanwood

@derarnold Well, I hope that you first checked the device version before to proceed...

However, I advise you to to post a help request on XDA forum website, as this trouble is more an Android based issue - unless more technical people would be able to help you there...

Hope your device will recover...

developerbayman

So actually the absolute best way to recover xaiomi devices is to use a xaiomi fastboot recovery file it has a script that will install thru fastboot just run the script i have had pretty much zero luck trying to flash using recovery methods