In this guide, we will show you the steps to unbrick your OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro device via Fastboot Commands. While the underlying OS has undergone a massive UI overhaul, however, the company has still stuck with its USP. And that’s to provide feature-rich devices to the masses at affordable prices. As of now, there has been an addition of a (or rather three) new member to this popular family.
The hype mill was already buzzing with a plethora of talks about the launch event, and the device seems to have justified it up to a larger extent. Along the same lines, it has already picked up the pace in custom development. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the fact that OnePlus always have impressive track records in this domain. And the ninth iteration is no different either. Once you unlock the bootloader, there is a plentitude of things to try out.
These include the likes flashing custom binaries, rooting via Magisk patched boot.img, among others. However, all these tweaks might bring in a few risks as well. If not done correctly, then you might end up with a soft-bricked or bootloop device. Fortunately, there’s an easier way out. You could unbrick your OnePlus 9 device just by using the Fastboot Commands. And in this guide, we will make you aware of just that. So without further ado, let’s get started.
- How to Root OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, 9R via Magisk without TWRP
- How to Unlock Bootloader on OnePlus 9, 9 Pro and 9R
Method 1: Unbrick OnePlus 9/Pro via Fastboot Commands
The instructions given below could also be used if you have a perfectly working device and just wishes to revert to stock. But in those cases, then you need to unlock the device’s bootloader as well. So keeping these points in mind, let’s get started. Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your device and data by performing the below steps.
Install Android SDK
First and foremost, you will have to install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.
Download OnePlus 9/Pro Firmware
Now download your device’s stock firmware from the OnePlus official page. Once downloaded, extract it to any convenient location. You shall get a couple of files, including the payload.bin, which we will be using now to unbrick your OnePlus 9/Pro device via Fastboot Commands. So download it and move over to the next section
Convert OnePlus 9/Pro payload.bin to Fastboot ROM
Once you have got hold of the payload.bin file, it’s time to convert it to Fastboot and get the IMG files which could be flashed to their respective partitions. So please refer to our guide to How to Extract payload.bin and get Fastboot ROM Files.
Transfer OnePlus 9/Pro Fastboot ROM Files to ADB Directory
Once you have got all the Fastboot files, transfer them to the platform-tools folder. Furthermore, as you would have noticed from the above two images, the pariton schemes and ROM files are the same for both the OnePlus 9 (first image) and its Pro variant (second image). Therefore, the below fastboot commands to unbrick your device are applicable for both OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro.
Boot OnePlus 9/Pro to Fastboot Mode
Next up, you will have to boot your device to Fastboot Mode. Here’s how it could be done:
- If your device is in a bricked state, then power it off.
- Then press and hold the Power and Volume Keys together.
- Keeping both these keys pressed, connect your device to the PC via USB cable.
On the other hand, if you have a perfectly working device, then you may boot to Fastboot via the adb reboot bootloader command (after enabling USB Debugging) or using your device’s Advanced Power menu.
Unbrick OnePlus 9/Pro via Fastboot Commands
- Head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt.
- Now type in the below command to completely wipe your device (this is a must in case of a bricked device)
fastboot -w
- After that, begin typing in the following commands in the CMD window, one at a time:
fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot flash cpucp cpucp.img fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img fastboot flash modem modem.img fastboot flash oplusstanvbk oplusstanvbk.img fastboot flash oplus_sec oplus_sec.img fastboot flash qweslicstore qweslicstore.img fastboot flash shrm shrm.img fastboot flash splash splash.img fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img fastboot flash vbmeta_vendor vbmeta_vendor.img fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img fastboot flash vm-bootsys vm-bootsys.img
- With this, we have flashed half the files, the other half would have to be flashed in the FastbootD Mode. So use the below commands to boot your OnePlus 9 to FastbootD Mode:
fastboot reboot fastboot
- Your device will now be booted to FastbootD. You may now flash the other files, one at a time, using the below commands:
fastboot flash abl abl.img fastboot flash aop aop.img fastboot flash bluetooth bluetooth.img fastboot flash devcfg devcfg.img fastboot flash dsp dsp.img fastboot flash featenabler featenabler.img fastboot flash hyp hyp.img fastboot flash imagefv imagefv.img fastboot flash keymaster keymaster.img fastboot flash multiimgoem multiimgoem.img fastboot flash qupfw qupfw.img fastboot flash tz tz.img fastboot flash uefisecapp uefisecapp.img fastboot flash xbl xbl.img fastboot flash xbl_config xbl_config.img fastboot flash product product.img fastboot flash system system.img fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img fastboot flash vendor vendor.img fastboot flash odm odm.img
- Once that is done, you will have to reboot the device back to Fastboot Mode from the current FastbootD Mode. Use the below command for that:
fastboot reboot bootloader
- Finally, you may now reboot the device to the OS via the following command:
fastboot reboot
That’s it. These were the steps to unbrick your OnePlus 9/Pro via Fastboot Commands. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
UPDATE 1: OnePlus 9/Pro Fastboot Commands for Android 12
If your OnePlus 9/Pro device is running Android 12, then you could refer to the below-linked guide. It could come in handy if you wish to fix bootloop/softbrick or manually update to Android 12. As before, make sure to take a complete device backup beforehand: Flash Android 12 on OnePlus 9 Pro via Fastboot Commands.
Method 2: Unbrick OnePlus 9/Pro via Fastboot Enhance
This is a tool created by XDA Senior Member xzr467706992 and beholds a slew of intriguing features, including the ability to directly flash the payload.bin file, without the need to even manually extract it first. Do note that even though this tool was created for OnePlus 8T but it should work across other OnePlus devices too. [Well, I have personally tested it on OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 10 Pro, it works well and good even on those devices].
STEP 1: Download Fastboot Enhance Tool
Download the Fastboot Enhance Tool from GitHub [direct link]. Once downloaded, extract it to any convenient location on your PC. The biggest advantage of this tool is that you could directory flash the payload.bin file, there is no need to extract it and get the resultant IMG files!
STEP 2: Download OnePlus OnePlus 9/Pro ROM
- Next up, get hold of the firmware for your device from below:
OnePlus 9/Pro Stock Firmware
- Once downloaded, extract it and transfer the resultant payload.bin file to the Fastboot Enhance Tool folder.
STEP 3: Install Android SDK
Next up, install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.
STEP 4: Install Fastboot Drivers
The tool doesn’t come with the Fastboot Drivers, so you will manually have to install it on your PC. For that, please refer to our guide on How to Install Fastboot Drivers in Windows 11. Likewise, make sure to install the OnePlus USB Drivers as well [they are usually automatically installed as soon as you connect your device to the Windows PC for the first time].
STEP 5: Boot to Fastboot Mode
- Since your device is currently in a brick state, you wouldn’t be able to use the adb reboot bootloader command to boot your device to Fastboot Mode. Rather, you will have to take the help of the Hardware key combinations to get this job done.
- Once booted, type in the below command and you should get back the device ID. This signifies that the Fastboot connection stands successful.
fastboot devices
STEP 6: Flash Downgrade Firmware on OnePlus 9/Pro via Fastboot
- To begin with, launch the Fastboot Enhance Tool via its EXE file.
- Your device should be listed under the Fastboot Virtualization tab, select it.
- After that, click on the Reboot to FastbootD button.
- Your device will boot to FastbootD Mode.
- Now go to the Payload Dumper tab and click on Browse.
- Navigate to the payload.bin file, select it and click Open.
- The file will now be loaded in the tool, displaying the resultant information.
- Now go to the Fastboot Virtualization tab and click on Flash payload.bin. If the flashing starts, well and good.
- However, if you get the ‘Virtual A/B temporary partitions exist’ popup, then click on No.
- After that, go to the Partitions tab and type in cow in the Filter by name box.
- Select all the partitions from the results that have cow in their name and hit the Delete button.
- Once done, click on Flash payload.bin. This time the flashing will start without any issues.
- Once complete, you will be notified of the same. You may now boot to the OS by clicking on Reboot to System.
- How to Flash a Custom ROM without TWRP Recovery
- How to Extract Stock Recovery from OnePlus OxygenOS Stock ROM
- Fix Erase successful, but not automatically formatting. Can’t determine partition type
- Fix writing ‘system’ FAILED (remote: ‘Partition not found’)
About Chief Editor
`fastboot flash product product.img` this fails for me. I need to mount the image first?
lets try msm downloader
try msm downloder
Try MSM Downloader
After doing the 4th step = “fastboot reboot fastboot” the devices is unresponsive… nothing happens, nothing loads and so I can’t continue. Please help.
fastboot flash abl abl.img
When I do this it says permission denied. I couldn’t get anything done after this.
Please suggest
I can not access fastbootD and ideas ?
try installing the ADB Bootloader Drivers and then let me know the results
I installed the ADB Bootloader drivers but I still can not acces fastbootD. I have a oneplus 9 pro… when trying to get into fastbootD the phone turns black and nothing happens. after a while the cmd says “Failed to boot into userspace fastboot; one or more components might be unbootable.”
can i use the same process to flash oos12?
after extracting payload i get more number of files than oos11
After executing fastboot reboot fastboot I was hardbricked and had to MSM twice. On OOS11. There might be some error in this article… I recommend using MSM when you are in the position of having to follow this article.