[ZTE Axon 7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Vick78:
Hi folks!

I have great news for those of you who have bricked your devices completely and you don't have any possibility to apply this as a warranty case. By this I mean that your Axon 7 is not booting to system or any other possible modes except the DFU mode which detects by PC (Device Manager) as ZTE Handset Diagnostic Interface(DFU) (COM...). And neither any of the software tools nore Deep Flash cable didn't manage to help to unbrick it.

There is a solution! Please pay precise attention to each step and make sure that you are capabale of doing all the actions otherwise refer to a professionals to do the job!

Axon 7 restore manual from bricked conditions when only ZTE Handset Diagnostic Interface(DFU) (COM...) mode is detected

All actions you do at your own risk. If you are not sure that you can do it by yourself then refer to a professional!
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Method description:

Device repair is performed with MiFlash tool with forcing the phone into EDL mode. To do that you will need to disassemble the phone and circuit the TEST-POINT. After that Windows Device Manager will detect your phone as Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (COM...).

Terms and Definitions:

Repair package – folder on PC that contains all necessary files to flash the phone with MiFlash tool in EDL mode.

4th category brick – phone status which does not allow to boot into next modes: Recovery, Fastboot, FTM, EDL. In Windows Device Manager the phone detects as ZTE Handset Diagnostic Interface(DFU) (COM...) whrn you connect it via USB cable. Any of possible manupulations give the same DFU mode (even when you force to install Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008, in reality it is still a DFU mode).

ATTENTION!!!

Considering that this method requires the phone dassasembling, please pay your attention to the teardown video and evaluate your capabilities of doing that. The build quality is good enough, so it will be quite a challenge to dissasemble it without parts damage, if you don't have experience and tools. The best way to do it is to give the phone to a specialit (preferable trusted one) along with this manual.

Special thanks to:

Stas13071992 - the first ever person who have found the TEST-point (critical spot for flashing).

djkuz - the guy who have helped to find this solution, created this manual and already helped to repair a bunch of bricks distantly.

brenic - guy who have collected required files to create Repair package.

Device teardown manual

Here you can see the complete teardown video from JerryRigEverything.

And then...

Major actions after body dismantle:

1. Disconnect ribbon cable of the finger print scanner.

View attachment 4104276

2. Remove the screw with the silver bracket covering the extension ribbon cable.

View attachment 4104277

3. Unclip all indicated connectors with plastic tool. Notice! The extension ribbon cable marked with green arrow (Main – going from type-c board to motherboard) has to be connected back during flashing!

View attachment 4104278

4. Unscrew four screws of the motherboard.

View attachment 4104280

5. Gently lift off the motherboard (it is held/glued with the thermal grease of the processor).

View attachment 4104272

6. Detach signal antenna wire from the right side of the motherboard.

View attachment 4104273

7. Unsnap the rear facing camera.

View attachment 4104274

8. Here you go, the Test-point (marked with red arrow)! (do not forget to connect the extension ribbon cable back (going from type-c board to motherboard).

View attachment 4104295

Repair process

First download Repair package with B13 firmware, Android 6.0 (for China models) A2017_B13_FULL_EDL_UNBRICK_DFU (mirror on yandex.disk). Unpack all the files to separate folder.

Second download and install Qualcomm drivers and MiFlash.

MiFlash manual.

1. Connect original USB Type-C cable to the phone.

2. Circtuit Test-point on the housing (there is sim-cards slot body nearby).

3. Connect USB cable to PC USB-port (preferably USB 2.0 version).

4. You will hear the USB device connection sound from PC (but you will not notice any vibration of the phone or red diode indicator blinking).

5. Make sure that Windows Device Manager have detected the phone as Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (on COM port). If it is not so or if it has detected an unknown device then make sure that you have installed Qualcomm drivers (even forced installation if required). You can release Test-point at this moment. Then disconnect USB cable from PC USB-port.

Repeat the procedure of Test-point circuiting on the housing to make sure that PC detects the phone as Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (COM...) in the Device Manager.

6. Circtuit Test-point on the housing again and hold it (do not release or brake this circuit)!

7. Run MiFlash on your PC, then specify the path to the firmware folder and push "Refresh" button. You should see the device detected in the program window.

8. Then push "Flash" button and the flashing process will begin. NOTICE: you should hold the Test-point cuircited until you see the sign "send configure command", then you can release Test-point circuit.

9. After flashing is completed you should re-assemble everything back and turn the device on.

10. If the device is turning on successfully then don’t forget to go to recovery mode and perform "Factory Reset" (because in userdata there can be some garbage that left from Android 7.1.1, it can interfere successful load to the system).

Here you can download this whole manual in English in MS Word format.

I'm sorry that some of the links are in Russian language since the content is located on 4PDA.ru forum. You can use translate.google.com to understand how to access the files. Or you can find the files with drivers and MiFlash somewhere else.

Good luck and be carefull with your devices!

Status: tested and works!!!