[E 2015 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] xpmule:
I've done lots of research on flashing firmware and still have some questions + notes to share.

First off the popular topics on this are often full of incomplete / bad info and broken links.

So RSDLite is the preferred method ? ..instead of manually doing it line by line in a fastboot/mfastboot console or with a .bat file (on Windows)

So.. some misc stuff now that i hope is useful ;)

I noticed the config file for flashing this, XT1527_SURNIA_RETCA_5.0.2_LXI22.50-24.1_cid14_subsidy-TELUS_CFC.xml

loads, "slcf_rev_b_telus_v1.1.nvm" which holds carrier specific data.

Which would be ignored *I think doing it manually.

Also every guide on the web says this line,

mfastboot oem config carrier vzw

vzw is the carrier code for Verizon.. so why do people always flash Verizon info on all stock firmware packages ?

My carrier has code tkpca for Telus.

The info shared across the web (comes from this forum) is sloppy and inaccurate.

For example guides say back up the PDS partition before flashing but you can't.

And i think it's sym linked to a folder called persist (that resides on root)

(you can back it up by using RootExplorer to zip the folder up then copy it out)

There is lots of issues / problems to watch out for..

For example i encountered an error trying to flash Firmware packages with RSDLite.

It would always say "flashing failed on gpt.bin" (the first file to flash)

(supposedly the fix for that is to delete the getvar line)

Also most guides tell you to flash with fastboot or mfastboot (almost the same)

problem is some oem's have an extra sparsechunk file and others don't.

this could lead to some huge problems i bet.. like maybe a bricked phone.

The main problem i encountered was losing my signal after i flashed what some guy here advised.

I got the firmware package installed manually (after RSDLite failed)

But no matter what i couldn't get my phone setup with Telus.

Every time the phone started it launched some activating phone dialog for 30 minutes then fail.

I seen one guy here say he managed to upgrade like what i wanted to do from 5.0.2 to 5.1.1

But he was sort of vague.. saying he did not update the Radio.

So i had tried to use the radio from the stock Telus firmware posted online inserted into the USC or US v5.1 firmware folder but it made no difference re-flashing.

I think what "Radio" means is these two files in the firmware package..

fsg.mbn + NON-HLOS.bin

So i think that other guy i seen here on Telus removed those lines to flash those two radio files then he manually flashed the rest of them i am guessing..

So this is suppose to be my stock package..

XT1527_SURNIA_RETCA_5.0.2_LXI22.50-24.1_cid14_subsidy-TELUS_CFC.xml

It says in, "factory_version_info_cfc.txt"

Build Fingerprint: motorola/surnia_retca/surnia_umts:5.0.2/LXI22.50-24.1/2:user/release-keys

What does the "surnia_umts" part mean guys ?

Because i was told to flash,

SURNIA_USC_5.1_LPI23.29-15_cid9_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml

(So i could upgrade to v5.1 stock)

And after poking around in the files i think the USC part means USA & Canada ?

But my radio wouldn't work on that for LTE/cdma/auto prl

And this one says

motorola/surnia_usc/surnia_cdma:5.1/LPI23.29-15/18:user/release-keys

notice how it says "surnia_cdma" ?

Then,

SURNIA_RETUS_5.1_LPI23.29-15_cid9_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml

motorola/surnia_retus/surnia_umts:5.1/LPI23.29-15/19:user/release-keys

Then,

XT1528_SURNIA_VERIZON_5.1_LPI23.29-17_cid2_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml

motorola/surnia_verizon/surnia_cdma:5.1/LPI23.29-17/18:user/release-keys

So... does the build fingerprint info i posted above indicate different types of Radio connections maybe ?

surnia_cdma -vs- surnia_umts

Because i am suspicious this may be why i failed to fully update to v5.1 (my radio didn't work)

Here is a link to get Firmwares for 5.0.2 and 5.1.1 (for Otus + Surnia)

https://mega.nz/#F!rMIhDLgR!oq5Cz_XbgZLEEysmqoYtcA

Here is the commands to flash with mfastboot..

mfastboot oem fb_mode_set
mfastboot flash partition gpt.bin
mfastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
mfastboot flash logo logo.bin
mfastboot flash boot boot.img
mfastboot flash recovery recovery.img
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.4
mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.5
mfastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
mfastboot erase modemst1
mfastboot erase modemst2
mfastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
mfastboot erase cache
mfastboot erase userdata
mfastboot erase customize
mfastboot oem config carrier vzw
mfastboot oem fb_mode_clear

Note1:

I think you can add the line (below) to above (code/quote) to restart the phone when flashing finishes,

mfastboot reboot

What i like to do is add the following to the last line..
[MENTION=607132]pause[/MENTION]

Then if you put the quoted lines into a windows .bat file it will pause for you

when it's finished so you can read what happens or save it to file etc

Note2: Some stock firmware use another line so you would need to add below to above code lines.

mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.6

Open the firmware file you download to see if there is 5 or 6 "sparsechunk" files.

and about this line below..

mfastboot oem config carrier vzw

"vzw" i think means for Verizon so look for your own code.. i think ? (mine is tkpca)

If you want to flash only the radio related files ? it's this below.. i am pretty sure.

mfastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
mfastboot erase modemst1
mfastboot erase modemst2
mfastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn

There is a lot more i learned while trying to flash my phone with stock Firmware.

I would like us to have a list of MD5 hash's to verify the downloaded .zip's we are sharing too.

Incomplete downloads happen.. always check and always back up as much as you can before flashing !

I used TWRP to make a backup ..it was quick and easy and i needed it and it worked :)

Here is some hash's i made.. post more if you got 'em guys ;)

- 5.1

SURNIA_RETEU_EU_5.1_xt1524_LPI23.29-15.zip = MD5: b7bae69012df7c47ee370635a49de2d1

SURNIA_RETUS_5.1_LPI23.29-15_cid9_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml = MD5: 623419f42075a9b8b74c2d833bc4fa2d

SURNIA_USC_5.1_LPI23.29-15_cid9_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml = MD5: 6053bd6007214b4eb59c5e96c5dd4d7a

XT1528_SURNIA_VERIZON_5.1_LPI23.29-17_cid2_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml = MD5: 57196e77d89e04a3c6d6358a42563edc

- 5.0.2

XT1527_SURNIA_RETCA_5.0.2_LXI22.50-24.1_cid14_subsidy-TELUS_CFC.xml = MD5: 04f658169a5bc35c295973054ba85b67

There is also a bunch of codes you can enter in the dialer to open hidden menus

(i tested most of them)

Lastly people need to be careful with downgrading versions or having locked bootloaders.