Note Air 5c

[AuroraWright]

Originally Posted by Renate

That abl is from "T2Mobile".

It's the Fairphone 4 abl with 2 patches applied, I used your tools to unpack and repack it

[Renate]

Ok, but I still don't know if Magisk'ed boot images can be loaded with verity-mode=true.

[AuroraWright]

Originally Posted by Renate

Ok, but I still don't know if Magisk'ed boot images can be loaded with verity-mode=true.

It works fine, I just gave it the stock boot image and then flashed it through fastboot while in the abl menu

[Caelo]

Does anyone have the link to a full firmware version? Or the stock boot image?
I think my boot partition is broken. The device responds to fastboot and can get into edl mode just fine. It just wont boot up properly (stuck on logo) nor will it go into recovery.

[Renate]

Model:  NoteAir5C (English)
Finger: Onyx/NoteAir5C/NoteAir5C:11/2025-12-05_14-39_4.1.2-rel_1205_da3fc7661/1324:user/release-keys
Link:   http://firmware-us.boox.com/66a6d180959cf2807c0972bdd1a30c8c/update.upx
Size:   2,150,066,687
MD5:    66a6d180959cf2807c0972bdd1a30c8c

[Caelo]

Thank you. Either that does not contain a full boot image or I'm doing something wrong. After flashing with edl it is still stuck in fastboot or edl mode and on the logo. It just won't boot any further.

[darkwill]

Originally Posted by AuroraWright

It works fine, I just gave it the stock boot image and then flashed it through fastboot while in the abl menu

Does that mean now magisk patched images don't send the device into boot loop, and we can have root!? (Of course after unlocking device/critical/verity)

Edit:
A lot of progress since I logged in last!

[Caelo]

Originally Posted by Caelo

Thank you. Either that does not contain a full boot image or I'm doing something wrong. After flashing with edl it is still stuck in fastboot or edl mode and on the logo. It just won't boot any further.

Never mind. It is just a very bad idea to mix and match partitions from different versions and this one probably was different from what was on the device. Someone dumped all partitions and I just overwrote them all and then was able to go into the recovery menu and sideload the update.
Which AFAIK will overwrite all partitions again right?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by Caelo

Either that does not contain a full boot image or I'm doing something wrong.

Agreed.

But with an update of 2 GB, exactly what do you think is missing? A full dump of Wikipedia?

Doing an update using EDL or fastboot has problems.
You should "adb sideload" in recovery (if you have that option) or use a custom recovery.

[Caelo]

I would have if alb was working. It wasn't. Fastboot was, but it does not allow flashing on this device. Or at least not the state it was left in. So EDL (with a jump cable) was the only option left.
The full dump someone provided helped. I replaced everything that is not device specific and after it was still not working correctly but it did allow me.to get into the recovery which enabled adb sideload of your provided firmware link.

[AuroraWright]

Originally Posted by darkwill

Does that mean now magisk patched images don't send the device into boot loop, and we can have root!? (Of course after unlocking device/critical/verity)

Edit:
A lot of progress since I logged in last!

Yes it works fine. I returned mine because i found out bluetooth audio was completely broken for me, but i was running it rooted with magisk without issues. You also get no annoying nags at boot with the abl i posted

[AHB100]

Hi all,

I've managed to get my Note Air 5C into a difficult state and could use help from anyone who's been further into this device than I have.

I Followed the Note Air 4C EDL + Magisk procedure. Loader confirmed working (`0000000000000000_bdaf51b59ba21d8a_fhprg.bin`, HWID `0013f0e1` — same SM_BITRA as the 4C). Successfully extracted boot_a and boot_b via EDL, patched both with Magisk, flashed back. Device failed to boot - AVB verification rejecting the patched images on both slots.

During recovery I issued `fastboot reboot fastboot` which wrote `boot-fastboot` to the BCB. Device now permanently enters fastbootd on every boot. Boox's fastbootd has flash and erase disabled (`unknown command`), so I can't restore the stock images or clear the misc partition through software.

- Boox logo, does not boot
- USB: VID 18D1 / PID D00D (fastbootd confirmed via WSL + usbipd)
- `fastboot getvar unlocked` → `no`
- `fastboot flash` / `fastboot erase` → `unknown command`
- `fastboot flashing unlock` → `unknown command` in fastbootd, hung in ABL (OEM unlock not pre-enabled)
- Stock boot images extracted before patching, ready to flash

I think I need hardware EDL access to clear the BCB (misc partition) and restore boot_a/boot_b. I don't have the test point location for the 5C PCB - does anyone have it, or know another way to get back into EDL mode from this state?

Also, I used the same EDL loader as the Note Air 4C and Palma 2. HWID `0013f0e1`, loader `0000000000000000_bdaf51b59ba21d8a_fhprg.bin`. This wasn't confirmed anywhere before this session as far as I can find.

Thanks

[dcarvil]

Originally Posted by AHB100

Hi all,

I've managed to get my Note Air 5C into a difficult state and could use help from anyone who's been further into this device than I have.

I Followed the Note Air 4C EDL + Magisk procedure. Loader confirmed working (`0000000000000000_bdaf51b59ba21d8a_fhprg.bin`, HWID `0013f0e1` — same SM_BITRA as the 4C). Successfully extracted boot_a and boot_b via EDL, patched both with Magisk, flashed back. Device failed to boot - AVB verification rejecting the patched images on both slots.

During recovery I issued `fastboot reboot fastboot` which wrote `boot-fastboot` to the BCB. Device now permanently enters fastbootd on every boot. Boox's fastbootd has flash and erase disabled (`unknown command`), so I can't restore the stock images or clear the misc partition through software.

- Boox logo, does not boot
- USB: VID 18D1 / PID D00D (fastbootd confirmed via WSL + usbipd)
- `fastboot getvar unlocked` → `no`
- `fastboot flash` / `fastboot erase` → `unknown command`
- `fastboot flashing unlock` → `unknown command` in fastbootd, hung in ABL (OEM unlock not pre-enabled)
- Stock boot images extracted before patching, ready to flash

I think I need hardware EDL access to clear the BCB (misc partition) and restore boot_a/boot_b. I don't have the test point location for the 5C PCB - does anyone have it, or know another way to get back into EDL mode from this state?

Also, I used the same EDL loader as the Note Air 4C and Palma 2. HWID `0013f0e1`, loader `0000000000000000_bdaf51b59ba21d8a_fhprg.bin`. This wasn't confirmed anywhere before this session as far as I can find.

Thanks

Don't know if this will help you recover from your current problem, but "fastboot reboot fastboot" should be "fastboot reboot bootloader".

[Renate]

An EDL cable will probably work.
You can find the internal test points.
Me? I'd install a magnetic reed switch so the case open/close would need to be only done once.

[darkwill]

FWIW, when I ran into all the issues, I decided to keep it stock. The only thing I miss is AFWall, but I have blocked a ton of stuff through package disables and Pihole DNS. It's working for me so far.