How to Manually Install or Update the OS on Your Brax Device

BraX3
1

This topic is dedicated to questions and discussion related to the How to Manually Install or Update the OS on Your Brax Device technical guide.

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  • Share solutions or alternative approaches
  • Report issues or edge cases not covered
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3 Likes
2

are we sure there is no incidence of the old driver? I m asking this about the popup of “please remove origin USB driver”

and reboot bootloader
instead of
adb reboot bootloader

For the test units, we don’t have any line in the mentioned file

We should also add a line to reassure average user who never did this before, that they can do it just after having unlocked the bootloader and where they have stayed into fastboot mode.

The process still erased my data.
content of the flash.bat

fastboot flash connsys_bt_a connsys_bt.img
fastboot flash dpm_a dpm.img
fastboot flash gz_a gz.img
fastboot flash lk_a lk.img
fastboot flash logo_a logo.img
fastboot flash mcf_ota_a mcf_ota.img
fastboot flash mcupm_a mcupm.img
fastboot flash md1img_a md1img.img
fastboot flash pi_img_a pi_img.img
fastboot flash scp_a scp.img
fastboot flash spmfw_a spmfw.img
fastboot flash sspm_a sspm.img
fastboot flash tee_a tee.img
fastboot flash vcp_a vcp.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash init_boot_a init_boot.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img
fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img
fastboot flash super super.img

flash.txt (752 Bytes)

PS C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools> ./flash.bat

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash connsys_bt_a connsys_bt.img
Warning: skip copying connsys_bt_a image avb footer (connsys_bt_a partition size: 0, connsys_bt_a image size: 4287216).
Sending ‘connsys_bt_a’ (4186 KB) OKAY [ 0.126s]
Writing ‘connsys_bt_a’ OKAY [ 0.100s]
Finished. Total time: 0.251s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash dpm_a dpm.img
Warning: skip copying dpm_a image avb footer (dpm_a partition size: 0, dpm_a image size: 148288).
Sending ‘dpm_a’ (144 KB) OKAY [ 0.005s]
Writing ‘dpm_a’ OKAY [ 0.005s]
Finished. Total time: 0.030s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash gz_a gz.img
Warning: skip copying gz_a image avb footer (gz_a partition size: 0, gz_a image size: 3120128).
Sending ‘gz_a’ (3047 KB) OKAY [ 0.090s]
Writing ‘gz_a’ OKAY [ 0.071s]
Finished. Total time: 0.185s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash lk_a lk.img
Sending ‘lk_a’ (2497 KB) OKAY [ 0.077s]
Writing ‘lk_a’ OKAY [ 0.065s]
Finished. Total time: 0.168s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash logo_a logo.img
Warning: skip copying logo_a image avb footer (logo_a partition size: 0, logo_a image size: 3450064).
Sending ‘logo_a’ (3369 KB) OKAY [ 0.089s]
Writing ‘logo_a’ OKAY [ 0.079s]
Finished. Total time: 0.193s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash mcf_ota_a mcf_ota.img
Warning: skip copying mcf_ota_a image avb footer (mcf_ota_a partition size: 0, mcf_ota_a image size: 29999104).
Sending ‘mcf_ota_a’ (29296 KB) OKAY [ 0.875s]
Writing ‘mcf_ota_a’ OKAY [ 0.695s]
Finished. Total time: 1.596s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash mcupm_a mcupm.img
Warning: skip copying mcupm_a image avb footer (mcupm_a partition size: 0, mcupm_a image size: 129920).
Sending ‘mcupm_a’ (126 KB) OKAY [ 0.005s]
Writing ‘mcupm_a’ OKAY [ 0.004s]
Finished. Total time: 0.035s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash md1img_a md1img.img
Sending ‘md1img_a’ (70377 KB) OKAY [ 2.183s]
Writing ‘md1img_a’ OKAY [ 1.646s]
Finished. Total time: 4.194s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash pi_img_a pi_img.img
Warning: skip copying pi_img_a image avb footer (pi_img_a partition size: 0, pi_img_a image size: 31232).
Sending ‘pi_img_a’ (30 KB) OKAY [ 0.002s]
Writing ‘pi_img_a’ OKAY [ 0.002s]
Finished. Total time: 0.026s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash scp_a scp.img
Warning: skip copying scp_a image avb footer (scp_a partition size: 0, scp_a image size: 2773792).
Sending ‘scp_a’ (2708 KB) OKAY [ 0.071s]
Writing ‘scp_a’ OKAY [ 0.069s]
Finished. Total time: 0.159s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash spmfw_a spmfw.img
Warning: skip copying spmfw_a image avb footer (spmfw_a partition size: 0, spmfw_a image size: 15344).
Sending ‘spmfw_a’ (14 KB) OKAY [ 0.002s]
Writing ‘spmfw_a’ OKAY [ 0.002s]
Finished. Total time: 0.021s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash sspm_a sspm.img
Warning: skip copying sspm_a image avb footer (sspm_a partition size: 0, sspm_a image size: 754016).
Sending ‘sspm_a’ (736 KB) OKAY [ 0.020s]
Writing ‘sspm_a’ OKAY [ 0.018s]
Finished. Total time: 0.057s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash tee_a tee.img
Warning: skip copying tee_a image avb footer (tee_a partition size: 0, tee_a image size: 908240).
Sending ‘tee_a’ (886 KB) OKAY [ 0.033s]
Writing ‘tee_a’ OKAY [ 0.022s]
Finished. Total time: 0.082s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash vcp_a vcp.img
Warning: skip copying vcp_a image avb footer (vcp_a partition size: 0, vcp_a image size: 1384288).
Sending ‘vcp_a’ (1351 KB) OKAY [ 0.034s]
Writing ‘vcp_a’ OKAY [ 0.032s]
Finished. Total time: 0.087s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash boot boot.img
Sending ‘boot_a’ (65536 KB) OKAY [ 1.948s]
Writing ‘boot_a’ OKAY [ 1.541s]
Finished. Total time: 3.506s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
Sending ‘dtbo_a’ (8192 KB) OKAY [ 0.203s]
Writing ‘dtbo_a’ OKAY [ 0.195s]
Finished. Total time: 0.416s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash init_boot_a init_boot.img
Warning: skip copying init_boot_a image avb footer (init_boot_a partition size: 0, init_boot_a image size: 8388608).
Sending ‘init_boot_a’ (8192 KB) OKAY [ 0.214s]
Writing ‘init_boot_a’ OKAY [ 0.190s]
Finished. Total time: 0.430s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
Sending ‘vbmeta_a’ (8 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing ‘vbmeta_a’ OKAY [ 0.001s]
Finished. Total time: 0.018s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
Sending ‘vbmeta_system_a’ (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing ‘vbmeta_system_a’ OKAY [ 0.001s]
Finished. Total time: 0.019s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img
Sending ‘vbmeta_vendor_a’ (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing ‘vbmeta_vendor_a’ OKAY [ 0.001s]
Finished. Total time: 0.018s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img
Sending ‘vendor_boot_a’ (65536 KB) OKAY [ 2.069s]
Writing ‘vendor_boot_a’ OKAY [ 1.546s]
Finished. Total time: 3.951s

C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>fastboot flash super super.img
Sending sparse ‘super’ 1/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.742s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.080s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 2/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.966s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.081s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 3/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.790s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.076s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 4/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.773s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.082s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 5/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.741s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.071s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 6/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.767s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.138s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 7/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.958s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.076s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 8/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.731s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.083s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 9/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.740s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.072s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 10/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.870s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.081s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 11/14 (117520 KB) OKAY [ 3.469s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 2.808s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 12/14 (131068 KB) OKAY [ 3.836s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 3.075s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 13/14 (116980 KB) OKAY [ 3.387s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 2.780s]
Sending sparse ‘super’ 14/14 (114392 KB) OKAY [ 3.229s]
Writing ‘super’ OKAY [ 2.699s]
Finished. Total time: 94.365s
PS C:\Users\user\Downloads\platform-tools-latest-windows\platform-tools>

results-problem-erasing-user-data.txt (9.1 KB)

1 Like
3

Flashed update successfully
Did not wipe user data
Wifi now working as expected
Hotspot is also working
Also in step 10, when in fastboot it displays Android logo not Brax

1 Like
4

are we sure there is no incidence of the old driver? I m asking this about the popup of “please remove origin USB driver”

Not sure what USB driver you’ve installed. Make sure you have the latest one from the source I shared. if you’ve installed other USB drivers before (e.g. if you’ve done this for qualcomm/tensor device for example), it might be best to remove it and install the mediatek.

and reboot bootloader
instead of
adb reboot bootloader

I corrected the type with adb reboot bootloader. Good catch.

We should also add a line to reassure average user who never did this before, that they can do it just after having unlocked the bootloader and where they have stayed into fastboot mode.

I’ve never heard of flashing the OS via fastboot without unlocking the bootloader. That will be possible with spflash, but not sure about fastboot with locked bootloader.

For the test units, we don’t have any line in the mentioned file

Yes, the latest install package I shared doesn’t include it. But it will be included in installation packages for production version builds.

The process still erased my data.

That’s quite stange. Will test additionally to see if I find a pattern.

1 Like
5

out of curiosity: did you run the steps for unlocking bootloader or just flash the update without?

1 Like
7

I did not go through those steps as the test phones are already unlocked. I assume that is in there because they intend on giving the option to relock the bootloader, and that the release units will have it locked.

2 Likes
8

Installed on the newest release of Ubuntu,no drivers needed.

Did not go through unlocking the bootloader since it is already unlocked.

It did not wipe Any data.

Everything updated perfect.

2 Likes
9

beta5 did not erase my date :slight_smile: but there was nothing much to erase compare to before so…
going through beta6 now

1 Like
10

install would not be the right word since there is not installation for us, just to run the executables… It might confuse people

2 Likes
11

you meant the flash.xml according to your screenshot right?

3 Likes
12

you’re right. I just corrected it.

1 Like
13

Capture d'écran 2025-04-15 150037
Capture d'écran 2025-04-15 1500371561×561 65.9 KB

We are not supposed to be in fastboot mode or anything according to the chat, so I let on the homescreen and … nothing for 2 minutes then this message appears. And yes the phone is recognized and adb too

1 Like
14

It gives the message but the installation should be successful. Not sure why the error is present in this built. Check the OS version when you reboot - should be the latest.

2 Likes
15

Running the Seedvault backup before installing latest update had me wondering what would happen if I tried to restore the Seedvault backup from my Pixel with the latest version of iode. Anyone try it or have any guesses before I try it tonight?

16

May be helpful for someone else: on openSUSE (linux) with Gnome desktop I had to run SPflash6.sh with sudo -E SPFlashToolV6.sh to be able to have easy access to the restricted ports and still be able to start the UI

17

Okey so new addendum to the help page.

Apparently after flash of beta6 the OEM lock engaged itself again within dev options even if it has not been resetting itself.

For coming to that conclusion I have been giving this by the terminal

FAILED (remote: ‘No support by lock control’)

So I tried the unlocking of bootloader first which gave me in turn this:

FAILED (remote: 'Prohibit unlock operation
')
fastboot: error: Command failed

so I have checked the environment variables of the bootloader with
./fastboot.exe getvar all
checked the line

(bootloader) unlocked: no

So came back in the system, found the toggle.
reactivated the toggle
unlock the bootloader with the 2 commands back in fastboot
flashed the beta7 again with success
rebooted it.

Bad surprise: it erased my data… again. At least I am used to do a full backup of seedvault plus separate backups of my encrypted conversations by now.
So I’m in the process to retransfer the seedbackup folder and my backup folder right now.

I have already tried to join my wpa2 ddwrt wifi with no success … again.
I will check again with after the restoration of the backups.

And by the way, wifi on OWRT router image with wpa2-PSK on CCMP is working fine. Only the ddwrt implementation is not working on this phone.

All that to say we should add a few more troubleshooting commands which I used to the wiki.

1 Like
18

Successfully flashed beta 8 via SPFlash
All apps and user data retained
OTA uptate installed successfully

19

Successfully updated via OTA to 6.3-20250428-brax3

20

I couldn’t get into fastboot mode no matter how i tried, my phone is now in a boot loop.

“adb reboot bootloader” and Power + Vol- both didn’t work.

EDIT : nevermind, I did Power + Vol+ and selected fastboot mode, my bad :wink:

21

Looking for the latest OS file to install via adb fastboot.