Recover hard-bricked Max Lumi 2

[richard.black]

I flashed the payload.bin extracted from Boox Update v3.5.4 onto sector 0. I didn't have any backup of the GPT table, so I couldn't flash the right files again. My device is now hard-bricked, so no fastboot (which was crippled with v3.5.3 anyway). Correct me if I'm wrong, I can use QDL https://github.com/linux-msm/qdl to flash new firmware, right? I just need the .mdn, rawprogram0.xml and patch0.xml files, where can I find them? Or can someone guide me to recover GPT table?
Thanks

[richard.black]

I can still find my device using lsusb
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 05c6:900e Qualcomm, Inc. QUSB_BULK_SN:8A149816

[Renate]

900e is system crash. You can't do anything from there.
You want 9008, which is EDL mode.

Flashing payload.bin is exactly the wrong thing to do, especially to sector 0.
You've wiped out the MBR & GPT of LUN 0 or which LUN?

You should be able to restore from the backup GPT (but not directly).
I forget how they are mirrored.

AFAIK, there are none of those XML files for Onyx available (although they could be created).

Don't go crazy flashing stuff. All that rawprogram and patch stuff is really designed for factory flashing of blank devices.

Edit: The GPT entries from backup will be correct.
The GPT headers will need current_lba & backup_lba swapped, entries_lba changed and header_crc recalculated.

[richard.black]

You've wiped out the MBR & GPT of LUN 0 or which LUN?

LUN 0, I think? What I did was:

./edl wf ./payload.bin

You should be able to restore from the backup GPT (but not directly).

Unfortunately, I forgot to make a backup. Can't GPT table of another device be used?

The GPT headers will need current_lba & backup_lba swapped, entries_lba changed and header_crc recalculated.

Does this mean I need to change just the parition names, or is it more complex than that?

[Renate]

The complicated stuff like LBA and GUID and names is already in the backup GPT.
You just need to shuffle the stuff around to make a main GPT.

Instead of doing something useful I just spent the morning writing a utility to do just that.

The bigger problem is that you wiped out a lot of stuff in LUN 0 too.
You'll have to get it from somebody because most of that stuff is not in updates.

[richard.black]

Hey, I just received a reply from Boox support. It guided me to reboot and hold the back button for 15 seconds which lead to Android Recovery. It works! Recovery and fastbootd works, but I do get a lot of errors:

E: Failed to clear BCB message: failed to open /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/misc: No such file or directory
E: Failed to WriteUpdateInProgress: failed to open /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/misc: No such file or directory
failed to stat /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/misc

minadbd works. Can you please guide me through how can I fix my device? I really don't want to mess up this time.

[Renate]

You killed the partitioning for /misc apparently.
You should display the GPT and see if it's there.

[richard.black]

What should I do now? Maybe?

adb sideload update.zip

Are there any precautions I should know about before I flash update.zip again?

On a related note, how can I find v3.5.3 firmware for Max Lumi 2 using the API link?

[richard.black]

Maybe?
Code:

adb sideload update.zip

Unfortunately, this command fails at 47% on device.
Can you help me here, Renete?

[richard.black]

Supported API: 3
Finding update package...
Verifying update package...
Update package verification took 57.5 seconds (result 0)

only 47% is completed is shown on my PC here

Installing update...
E: Error in /sideload/package.zip (status 1)

[richard.black]

I've tried this on both linux and windows, but the progress bar always gets stuck at 47%. What should I do now?

[richard.black]

Okay, I figured that 47% isn't actually a problem, but there's this error:

E: Error in /sideload/package.zip (status 1)
Install from ADB complete with status 1.
Installation aborted.

[Renate]

What? You're telling me that you don't know what "status 1" means???
(I don't either.)

Actually, I never use adb sideload because it's driving a bit blind.
This is the older "Edify" script update, isn't it?
It's even worse for the new payload.bin updates.

[richard.black]

I'm once again asking you this question: What should I do now? fastboot is crippled with v3.5.3 and I can't install a working OS using adb sideload (not even using a SD card). The problem may as well be with the file type I'm using. What are the steps I should take to reflash a working OS?

[Renate]

It could be that it can't find partitions besides /misc, like /cache.
I don't know this device or what the partitions should be.
Do a print out of the partitions.
I don't use the EDL client that you are using so I can't address that.
If you use my EDL client (in the sig) I might be able to say something intelligent.