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Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P bootloop fix

2 Jul 2018 | 3 minutes read

Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P smartphones have an hardware issue that causes “bootloop of death” (aka BLOD). This issue show Google boot-up animation till battery exhaustion.

If your device is still under warranty follow the the official Google Bootloop solution.

The BLOD was generated by an hardware issue on A57 cores of the SoC(two in 5X and four in 6P). The following fix disables A57 cores so your device will only run on A53 cores (four cores). This generate a performance compromise but four cores are better than nothing!

It consists of a modified kernel file and a modified recovery image that boots your phone only on A53 cores.

Disclaimer

This tutorial describes the procedure as of July 2018. Although the author has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in it was correct at publish time, he does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause.

Prerequisite: Bootloader unlock flag - OEM Unlock

  • NEXUS: Enable “Developer mode” tapping 7 times on Settings > About Phone > Build
  • NEXUS: Enable “OEM Unlock” under “Developer mode”

Requirements

Files download

Step by step guide

Step 0: verify communication

  • NEXUS: Turn your Nexus 5X/6P on into the Bootloader Mode pressing power + volume down buttons.
  • PC: Verify PC communication typing:
$ fastboot devices
00d1473289b99283        fastboot

Step 1: restore stock image

  • NEXUS: Unzip “Google Factory Image” and restore factory image running flash-all script (could take a while).
  • NEXUS: after device reboot boot again into Bootloader Mode.
  • PC: Unlock Bootloader.
$ fastboot flashing unlock

...
FAILED (remote: Already unlocked)
finished. total time: 0.022s
  • NEXUS: Confirm the Bootloader unlock on device. Confirm highlighting “Yes” with volume keys and confirm with power button. The device will erase.

Step 2: install recovery image

  • PC: Flash the modified recovery image (TWRP):

    • Nexus 5X:
    $ fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.2.1-0-fbe-4core-bullhead.img

    
 * Nexus 6P:


     $ fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.2.1-0-fbe-4core-angler.img

  • NEXUS: Once flashed, select “Recovery mode” on bootloader menu with volume keys and confirm with power button.

  • NEXUS: Once started TWRP, go to “Advanced” > “ADB Sideload” and swipe the button on the screen.

Step 3: install Workaround Injector

  • PC: load “Workaround Injector” into phone
$ adb sideload N5X-6P_BLOD_Workaround_Injector_Addon-AK2-signed.zip
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
Total xfer: 1.37x

This patch will enable only A53 cores on Linux kernel.

  • NEXUS: Reboot the phone and enjoy!

PS: Now you could lock again your bootloader

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