umidigi A5 pro stuck in boot loop

[gingerbee]

OK, first I don't know anything about rooting android devices I use to jailbreak my iPhones but were talking back to the iPhone 3/s/4/s So I get some of the stuff.

So far what I have tried is flashing the stock ROM from Umidigi with no luck so I tried a couple of other compatible ROM's all using the SPflash tool and I loaded the Vcom drivers and the Android USB drivers then started using the SPflash tool to flash the ROM's I have tried and all I get is the main boot window saying Umidigi it stays there for a min or 2 maybe a bit longer then starts it all over again.

This phone has already been replaced so it's not a huge deal just wanted to see if I could fix it for my neighbor cause she don't have a lot of cash so a second or backup phone would have been nice for her. any idea from those in the know

thanks for looking

 

[sswilson]

It sounds like you've probably done just about everything possible. IIRC this is a relatively common issue with the A5 Pro. (Happened to the one I sold to my DiL as a temp when she broke her main phone).

 

[gingerbee]

Ya I have heard but I don't know shit about the bootloader on Andriod, so did know if it's in the ROM or not. thanks SSwilson

 

[lowfat]

Can you boot to the recovery and do a factory wipe? Reinstalling a rom doesn't always erase the previous data.

 

[JD]

I presume you are using the files/tools from Umidigi?

https://community.umidigi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=20009&extra=page%3D1

https://community.umidigi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=16931

Did you do the "Firmware Upgrade" option in step 5? That should format everything without wiping the NVRAM.

 

[gingerbee]

yup tried those and then tried the roms off getdroidtips page for the a5 pro. I tried that any every other way to do it firmware upgrade and just downloading it, hell even tried the formay+download nothing worked. see I am not even sure what the NVram is, is that where the bootloader is in storage ???.

The phone showed up to me, stuck in a boot loop and I think the loader got corrupted somehow, she said she tried to fix it herself so I don't know what she did.

 

[gingerbee]

Can you boot to the recovery and do a factory wipe? Reinstalling a rom doesn't always erase the previous data.

I can get the recovery mode on the phone it only gives this list. recovery-fastboot-normal. I have tried recovery and its just bring up the umidigi boot page then back into the boot loop.

thanks, everyone

 

[JD]

hell even tried the formay+download nothing worked. see I am not even sure what the NVram is

Heh, well that wipes out the IMEI, WiFi MAC, Bluetooth MAC and deactivates the fingerprint scanner, I learned that lesson with a Umidigi Power 3. It's not the end of the world, if you have the box still, you can reset the MAC addresses and IMEI to what they were and Umidigi will sell you the key to activate the fingerprint reader again for $5USD I believe.

Regardless though, it sounds like something else is wrong with the phone beyond firmware corruption since you basically took the "nuclear" option already.

They're decent "value" phones, but I surely wouldn't pay to repair them, they're effective throwaway once they stop working.

 

[gingerbee]

yup, I hear you on the throw-away ones, ya she still has the box but I did try everything before I tried that and still, nothing is booting so I figure something is wrong with the hardware also thought it was a good way to learn something about flashing android devices.

So if I was to do flash another Umidigi or any other phone you just do the normal download or firmware upgrade to leave the bootloader alone and get just the ROM you flashed on it

but good little cheap phones we have a bunch of them.

 

[JD]

Yeah, Download and Firmware Upgrade would be the only 2 options to use in the SPFlash tool, but that tool is only for Mediatek devices. Other phones with Snapdragon CPUs would be different.

Fastboot is the more generic way of doing things, and how you would apply a GSI. I have this link for the Power 3: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/umidigi-power-3-android-10.4044531/, steps are likely similar, under the "Installing GSI" section. The main "base" GSI would be here: https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases and then many people build on top of that.

I doubt a GSI would fix the phone either though, but you could give it a shot.