It’s not sacred knowledge that your smartphone needs to have a fully charged battery in order to boot up the firmware. Since the first boot after flashing a custom ROM or stick firmware needs at least 10-15 minutes of setup time, it’s better to charge the phone battery to at least 50 %.
In case you don’t have visibility on how much battery % is there in your device, it’s better to keep it on charging for 1 hour to be on the safe side. Once you have charged your smartphone, you can try to flash it with the SP flash tool.
Method 2: Keep Your Phone Connected
If you have a dead phone on your hand that does not turn on after flashing, leave it connected to the computer for a while. Now, it could take a few hours as well, so you have to be patient for some time and see if the phone automatically revives on its own. This is because, after the flashing process, devices are mostly left with minimum charge. Therefore, leaving them for some moment will charge the device and revive it.
Method 3: Download Correct Firmware
Oftentimes users download the firmware from shady websites which often may include non-compatible firmware images in the firmware package. This will not work and may also damage your phone to the point of hard brick or Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool mode.
So it is always a good idea to download the firmware or custom ROM from official sources. And always make sure to check the MD5 checksum of the downloaded file before flashing it with the SP Flash tool.
Many Mediatek devices with OEMs including Oppo, Vivo, and Realme come in OPF file format which is not readily available to be used by the SP flash tool. So in order to make them compatible, you have to use any OPF extractor that can extract the required firmware files to flash on your device. However, many third-party OPF extractors are outdated and not compatible with the newest OPF files. Our recommendation is to use MABT (also known as MTK Auth Bypass Tool) to extract OPF files in the correct format.
Once you extract the OPF file, please check the extracted file contents, as oftentimes MABT will extract country-specific firmware files which you have to choose manually in the SP flash tool in with accordance to scatter file.
Method 5: Check Compatible Firmware
Another major reason why your phone is not turning on after flashing is because of non-compatible firmware. The firmware versions might differ for different phones. Therefore, you need to keep checking whether the one you are choosing is the right firmware for your device or not. You can look for supported firmware using the IMEI number of your phone.
Flashing non-compatible firmware on your device can sometimes result in permanent damage to your phone. Flashing a non-compatible firmware (ROM) on your phone might replace the compatible kernel of your device as well. A kernel is what bridges the gap between the hardware components and the software. And in any case, if this kernel is replaced, your phone will end up dead or Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool. In that case, it might even cause permanent damage to your phone as well.
Always make sure to flash the correct region firmware file as flashing the wrong regional firmware may cause your phone to stuck in bootloop or hardbrick mode. If this happens, you have to unlock the bootloader before flashing the stock firmware.
Method 6: Disclude Cache & UserData Images
When you flash firmware files via the SP flash tool, there are multiple files that you can check before the flashing process. During this process, there are multiple files that also contain cache and user data.
These files are essentially not needed and might be the reason behind the Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool issue. So make sure to exclude the cache, dalvik cache, and user data images before you start the flashing process.
Method 7: Disclude Verified Boot Images
When you flash firmware files via the SP flash tool, there are multiple files that you can check before the flashing process. During this process, there are multiple files that also contain server and CDT engineering. These files are there to verify the firmware files before boot. But only the OEM service center representatives have the tools necessary to verify any firmware, and until then the phone will not boot.
This might be the reason behind the Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool issue. So you may skip these files as your smartphone can boot up easily without any third-party verification.
Method 8: Flash With Bootloader Unlocked
If you are flashing a custom ROM or a custom script, then it’s important that you unlock the bootloader first. Bootloader is a special program in the boot memory that can disallow the flashing process to protect the device’s internal storage from unauthorized use. However, in order to flash any custom ROM or script, you have to unlock this bootloader first and then carry on the further flashing process.
Method 9: Flash With Correct Scatter File
Scatter File is a special instruction file that tells the SP flash tool to flash certain firmware files to specific address locations. However, if the scatter file is corrupted or incorrect, then the flashing process may go wrong and cause your device to hard brick. An incorrect or corrupted scatter file could be the reason behind the Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool.
Method 10: Flash With Correct IMG Files
Oftentimes the bootloader you will be using will have unclear instructions on what IMG files need to be flashed in the EMMC memory. This is a very common case and users who don’t have much flashing experience end up soft bricking their phone or the Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool.
Before starting the flashing process, please make sure all the firmware image files are carefully loaded in the tool with respective to their correct names. For eg – Bootv1 should have the filename boot1.img and Bootv2 should have the film name as boot2.img respectively.
Method 11: Edit Scatter File Before Flashing
As we discussed above, oftentimes the scatter file itself is corrupted and not ready to be flashed. The scatter file contains all the addresses and important files to be flashed as the firmware file. If you see any anomaly on the SP flash tool window while loading the scatter file, you have to edit it manually. The anomaly may be –
- The number of image files inside the firmware folder is less than the image files loaded in the SP flash tool window.
- Incorrect files are loaded against each firmware image listing.
- Blank entries against multiple firmware image listings.
In order to fix this, you have to open the scatter file in Notepad++ and make the necessary changes. You need to make sure all the entries are correct with the firmware image file name, the file version, and the EMMC address against it.
Oftentimes the existing file structure of your smartphone might hold the bootloader file to load and may cause your device to get stuck in boot loop mode or Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool. To fix this, you may take the help of “Formal All & Download” mode present in the SP flash tool. This mode will clear the internal EMMC memory on your device and will flash the firmware files from scratch.
Please note that the “Format all & Download” option must be used carefully, as this mode can clear all the contents inside the EMMC memory including any bootloader, recovery files, IMEI codes, or other hardware-related information. Only use this option if there is no other option left.
Method 13: Shot Flashing Pins
In case the above methods are of no help to you, then you might have taken advantage of shorting the flashing pins (also known as Test points) on your device’s main motherboard. All MediaTek smartphones come with flashing pins on the main motherboard which helps professional repair services to connect to device COM ports and fix any firmware-related issues. The placement of these flashing pins may vary from device model to model, and you may check them in your respective device XDA wiki.
Please note that you will need access to a multimeter and social soldering tools in order to avail of this method. In case you do not have any experience of using these tools, then it is best to revert to any professional for more help.
Method 14: Check Hardware
In case none of the above methods help you, then the issue might be in your device hardware itself. There are many instances where you will be able to send or flash the firmware files to your phone, but due to hardware issues in your boot IC or main IC, your phone will not start or go back into download mode. The only way to fix this is to get professional help and get the hardware fault fixed.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of this guide for fixing Phone Not Turning on After Flashing With SP Flash Tool issue. While flashing custom ROM on your device, you are basically paying with the system on your phone. These things are extremely sensitive, therefore, even a single wrong step can result in permanent damage. However, if your phone is not turning on after flashing, it doesn’t mean permanent damage.
Sometimes it occurs in the form of an error. Although there are not a variety of ways, you can still manage to revive your device with the ones mentioned above. So, let us know if that was helpful. In case, you are still not able to turn on your device, let us know your issue in more detail and we will try to come up with a fix accordingly.
