4
EDL (Emergency DownLoad) mode on Qualcomm chips, I'm sure other chipsets have a similar mode. The chipset actually does it, the hardware manufacturer just has to support it.
It is a pretty cool fallback mode.
Once in a while you encounter software that, while proprietary, proves that even if you're doing closed source software, you don't have to be an asshole about it.
I don't remember which hardware I was mucking about with, but when trying to do something with the firmware that I wasn't supposed to do, I was given a warning, a recommendation to back up everything, and a simple pointer on what to do if whatever insanity I was doing didn't work.
Isn't that part of stock Android?
Is it? I just assumed it was Samsung, since the download mode was displaying an error saying something like "failed to verify Samsung recovery checksum" as if it was expecting a Samsung image.
Yeah, going as far back as my Nexus 4, I soft-locked that thing maybe half a dozen times. The download and bootloader modes are traditionally supposed to act like a computer BIOS so you’re never left without the ability to flash a new OS. Unfortunately a lot of manufacturers have locked down the OS a ton and don’t let you easily get into these modes anymore. I’m honestly surprised Samsung didn’t lock this down, although I suspect it only accepts signed packages for flashing.
That's just Samsung's version of "recovery mode". Pretty much every Android device operates this way.
Good to know that I can mess up other devices than Samsung's too xD
this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
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