Android devices running on Qualcomm processors have proven to be almost unbrickable. This is so because this guide has been tested and discovered not to work on some Qualcomm devices, the LG G series, for instance. So, if you’re currently reading this, have some faith. It might just work for you. But don’t bother trying it on the LG G series.

There’s a video guide at the end of this post to help you with unbricking your Qualcomm device. Refer to this guide to flash Qualcomm MBN firmware.

Unbricking Qualcomm Android Devices

Step One: Analyzing the Possible Cause of the Brick

In newer Qualcomm device firmware (not the HLOS part, but NON-Hlos, SBL1, TZ, HYP, RPM, and Aboot), especially ARMv8-A, Qualcomm diminished the famous “Qualcomm HS-USB Diagnostics 9006”, and introduced two types of “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008”.

So, before attempting to unbrick your Qualcomm device, you need to figure out which 9008 mode your phone is in. This now brings us to

Step Two: Preparing your Computer

  • Disconnect your PC’s internet connections and unplug your mobile device from the computer.
  • Download and install the latest .NET Framework on your computer. Download here
  • Uninstall all mobile-related drivers, as well as any Qualcomm drivers (if any). Uninstall from Device Manager first, then Program Manager.
  • Alternatively, you can use REVOUninstaller to uninstall all driver related software, then use Device Remover to remove all device drivers.
  • Now, run Command Prompt as Administrator and issue the following commands, followed by the Enter button.

bcdedit -set loadoptions DISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS

bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON

  • Reboot your computer, and it should now boot into test mode as shown in the screenshot below. (bottom-right of your screen)

  • Download QualcommDrv.zip, extract it to an empty folder, then open the folder according to your Windows type (x64 or x86) and double click dpinst64.exe or dpinst32.exe (depending on your Windows installation) to install the Qualcomm driver.
  • Now connect your phone to the computer. It should now be detected as “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008” and the driver version 2.0.8.7 (you can check in “Device Manager”).

Step Three: Possible Cause of Brick (brick type)

If you were just messing with the system image, boot image, system’s framework or other things that do not relate to Qualcomm’s core files (modem-NON-HLOS.bin, aboot-emmc_appsboot.mbn, sbl1, hyp, tz, rpm partition, for example, installing sound patch, etc., your device will enter the new 9008 mode, which is a combination of the old “Qualcomm HS-USB Diagnostics 9006” and “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008”. Symptoms of this brick mode include:

  • The LED charging indicator near the phone speaker will display red.
  • Your phone will vibrate endlessly, and this vibration will end only if you disconnect the phone from your PC and remove the battery.

If Device Manager is launched, you’ll see “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008” under PORTS (COM & LPT) or “QHUSB_BULK” under Other devices, and “Qualcomm MMC Storage USB Device” under Disk drives. See screenshot below

OR

However, if your mobile device’s Qualcomm partition is messed up while playing around with NON-HLOS.bin, emmc_appsboot.mbn, sbl1.mbn, hyp.mbn, tz.mbn, rpm.mbn, or by other means, messed up the whole Qualcomm eMMC partition, your device will most likely go into the OLD “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008” mode. Symptoms

  • The phone charging indicator would not light if you connect your mobile to Computer.

In Device Manager only “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008” will be listed in PORTS (COM & LPT) or “QHUSB_BULK” in Other devices, but no “Qualcomm MMC Storage USB Device” in Disk drives. See screenshot below

If you are reading this, you need to have followed the procedure above to discover the exact cause of your device’s brick and the brick mode it is in, whether it is in the OLD “9008” or NEW “9008” mode. This will help you proceed to the unbricking process below.

Step Four: Unbricking your Qualcomm device.

For devices in the NEW “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008” MODE

If your device is in this mode, the unbricking process and the steps are a whole lot easier. You need someone who has the same phone as you to backup and upload their device’s complete eMMC image for you. The device needs to have root access. Learn how to root here.

To get such image, you or your friend needs to do the following:

  • Get an external MicroSD card with an “exfat” system file, and the size of this SD card should be larger than 16 GB, which is the size of the whole partition.
  • Do a complete factory reset on the phone. If a custom recovery is installed, use it to wipe the data, cache, and internal storage.
  • While the sdcard is in the phone, run the following commands via adb

adb shell su dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/storage/sdcard1/backup.img bs=512 count=30535646

The size of the backup.img is around 16 GB, but if compressed, it would be about 2 GB.

Let’s proceed…

  • Download MiniTool Partition Wizard and HDD Raw Copy Tool.
  • Copy the backup.img file to your computer.
  • Connect the Qualcomm device to the computer via a USB cable and do not disconnect from here.
  • Now launch the MiniTool Partition Wizard and you should see a drive with about 29 partitions. See sample screenshots below.

  • Delete all 29 partitions and click Apply. Wait for the process to complete.
  • Once the process is complete, launch the HDD Raw Copy Tool
  • Now, select backup.img and click Continue.

  • Select Qualcomm MMC Storage USB Device and click Continue
  • Once on the next page, select everything, then click Start

Unfortunately, if you’re unable to get the backup.img file from anyone, you will need to force your device to enter the old Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode. Read below to do this:

  • Launch MiniTool Partition
  • Delete all 29 partitions
  • Click on Create Partition. Select Primary Partition and choose ext4 file system. Do not give this drive a name or label.
  • Now click “Apply” and be patient for the process to complete
  • Once complete, disconnect the phone from Computer and remove the battery. Insert it after a few seconds. Welcome to the old Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode.

Unbricking devices in the old Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 mode

  • Download QPST 2.7 build 422 (QFIL) and 8675_W00.zip
  • Extract the QPST and double-click on setup.exe to install
  • Extract 8675_W00 to a different folder
  • Download your phone’s stock firmware. It should not be a zip file, but a flashable single firmware extension.
  • It is assumed that you’ve already installed QFIL on your computer before reaching this step.
  • Launch QFIL from programs or the start menu
  • Fill out the QFIL options as follows:

The programmer will be prog_emmc_firehose_8936.mbn Use the rawprogram0.xml Use the patch0.xml

Note: all these files are contained in extracted 8675_W00 folder

  • Now click on Download button.

The phone should automatically reboot itself once the flashing process is complete and enter into a bootloop.

  • Disconnect the device from the computer now.
  • Once it’s about to boot up again, press the Volume Up button while reconnecting to the computer so as to put the device in Bootloader mode.
  • Open the 8675_W00 folder now and double-click FlashAll(AfterQFil).bat.
  • Your phone should now reboot to its stock firmware and boot completely into the system.

The SaharaDownload Fail related error can be fixed by following the instructions below:

If such error keeps showing up, disconnect the device from PC (USB) and remove battery (if detachable) then re-insert and reconnect to PC.

If using a non-detachable battery device, disconnect the phone from the PC, wait a few seconds, and reconnect.

Note: Do not waste too much time connecting the device to the PC after clicking the firmware flash button in QPST.

Congratulations, all done!

Consider watching the video tutorial below by Amar Gaikwad about unbricking Qualcomm devices. It’s 15 minutes long and should help you in this process.