Preface :

I’ve a shift6mq shift-phone that was running postmarketOS and Android in a dual boot (slot A/B) setup. Until yesterday… I rebooted my phone from postmarketOS to Android, and now I’m stuck in a fastboot screen. No more postmarketOS or Android :(

How I got in this situation?

Yesterday, I was using my shift6mq with sxmo/postmarketOS. Then I rebooted to Android using the script below, like I’ve done so many times without a problem.

#!/bin/sh
sxmo_terminal.sh /bin/sh -c '
    doas qbootctl -s b
    sleep 1
    doas qbootctl -m b
    sleep 1
    doas qbootctl
    sleep 10
    doas reboot
'

But instead of rebooting to Android, I’m now stuck in a fastboot screen. Whatever I try, it keeps showing this fastboot mode screen.

What I’ve tried to fix this?

This are the things I remember I’ve tried so far to fix the problem.

Switching slots

By using the on screen menu or fastboot, I’ve switched between slot A/B. But I keep getting stuck in the fastboot mode screen.

 pts/6  jan@LAPTOP ~$ fastboot --set-active=b
Setting current slot to 'b'                        OKAY [  0.025s]
Finished. Total time: 0.026s

reboot to fastbootd

Rebooting to flashbootd fails.

 pts/6  jan@LAPTOP ~$ fastboot reboot fastboot
Rebooting into fastboot                            OKAY [  0.001s]
< waiting for any device >
fastboot: error: Failed to boot into userspace fastboot; one or more components might be unbootable.

Recovery mode - Restart bootloader

Trying Recovery mode or Restart bootloader brings me back to the Fastboot mode screen.

Reinstall postmarketOS or Android

I’ve tried to install postmarketOS using pmbootstrap and Android using fastboot_flash.sh. But this fails, probably because I’m not able to get in fastbootD mode.

 pts/2  jan@LAPTOP ~/SHIFT6MQ.SOS.5.0.G.20240820-RELEASE-FASTBOOT$ fastboot_flash.sh
.....
.....
Sending 'xbl_b' (3210 KB)                          OKAY [  0.089s]
Writing 'xbl_b'                                    OKAY [  0.052s]
Finished. Total time: 0.146s
Rebooting into fastboot                            OKAY [  0.001s]
< waiting for any device >
fastboot: error: Failed to boot into userspace fastboot; one or more components might be unbootable.
Sending 'super' (392 KB)                           OKAY [  0.015s]
Writing 'super'                                    OKAY [  0.004s]
Finished. Total time: 0.027s
Sending 'odm_a' (3948 KB)                          OKAY [  0.099s]
Writing 'odm_a'                                    FAILED (remote: '(odm_a_a) No such partition')
fastboot: error: Command failed
.....
.....

Qualcomm EDL mode

I’ve also read about Qualcomm EDL mode “a feature implemented in the boot ROM of a system on a chip by Qualcomm which can be used to recover bricked smartphones.”. But I’ve no idea what to flash to solve the problem.

update 05/08/2025 : UBports Installer

I’ve tried to use UBports Installer to install Ubuntu Touch, LineageOS, postmarketOS, ShiftOS. This all fails when the installer wants to reboot the phone to recovery or fastbootd.

update 11/08/2025 : Bye Bye shiftphone

At the shift forum you can read the other things I’ve tried, with no luck. So, today I went to the postoffice and my shift6mq is on its way to SHIFT GmbH Support/Reparatur.

Hello, Pinephone… my old friend…

So, for now I’m using my pinephone ;)

Suggestions?

I appreciate any suggestions to fix this problem…