Solved: How do I unbrick Nothing Phone 1 by flashing Stock Firmware using Fastboot Commands

In this guide, I will show you the steps to unbrick your Nothing Phone 1 by flashing the stock firmware via Fastboot Commands. When it comes to hyping its product launches, then no one does it better than Carl Pei. We all witnessed the initial days of OnePlus when users eagerly waited for the invite-only sales. He has since carried forward the same legacy over to its own brand, and it seems to be doing wonders, at least during its initial days.

Another domain where it performs quite decently is custom development. The kernel source and device tree are already up and running for this device, just days after its launch. Along the same lines, you could also flash custom/GSI ROMs and gain administrative access by rooting your device via Magisk. this in turn will allow you to welcome a plethora of mods and tweaks onto your device.

However, this is just one side of the coin. Carrying out these tweaks could prove to be risky as well and there’s every chance of the device ending up in a bootloop or soft-bricked state. Well, even then you could easily unbrick your Nothing Phone 1 by flashing the stock firmware via Fastboot Commands. And in this guide, we will show you how to do just that. Follow along.

Content Summary

Install Android SDK
Download Nothing Phone 1 Firmware
Extract Nothing Phone 1 Payload.bin
Unlock Bootloader on Nothing Phone 1
Boot Bricked Nothing Phone 1 to Fastboot Mode
Format Device via Fastboot
Flash Nothing Phone 1 Firmware via Fastboot Commands
FAQ: Flashing is not allowed for Critical Partitions

Note: The below process will wipe off all the data from your device. So take a complete device backup beforehand by any means possible.

Install Android SDK

Step 1: Install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. Download the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google, then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide.

• Download SDK Platform-Tools for Windows
• Download SDK Platform-Tools for Mac
• Download SDK Platform-Tools for Linux

Reference: SDK Platform Tools release notes 

Download Nothing Phone 1 Firmware

Step 2: Download the stock firmware for your device from the below link. Nothing provides its firmware in payload.bin, which you need to extract in order to get hold of the partition files. I have already done that for a few firmware versions. So if your device has the same firmware/build installed, then you could directly download the Fastboot ROM [extracted payload] instead of the payload.bin

Download Nothing Phone 1 Stock Firmware Nothing OS 1.1.0:

• Global version
• Europe version

Download Nothing Phone 1 Fastboot ROM Nothing OS 1.1.0:

• GLOBAL FASTBOOT ROM

Download Nothing Phone 1 Boot.img Files Nothing OS 1.1.0:

• GLOBAL BOOT.IMG FILE

Extract Nothing Phone 1 Payload.bin

Step 3: If you have downloaded the Fastboot ROM, then you could skip this step. On the other hand, if you have a payload.bin firmware, then you will have to extract it first and get the resultant IMG files. Once done, make sure to transfer all the extracted files to the platform-tools folder.

Unlock Bootloader on Nothing Phone 1

Step 4: Since you are going through this unbrick guide, chances are you might have already unlocked the device’s bootloader. However, if you haven’t done so, then you may refer to our guide on Unlock Bootloader on Nothing Phone 1 [and its Critical Partition]. Do note that for the unlocking process, you should have enabled OEM Unlock from the Settings menu beforehand.

Boot Bricked Nothing Phone 1 to Fastboot Mode

Step 5: In most cases, a soft-bricked or boot-looped device might already be in the Fastboot Mode. However, if you are stuck in a bootloop, then long-press the Power key to turn it off. Then press and hold the Power and Volume Down keys (or Power and Volume Up in some devices) together to boot your device to Fastboot Mode.

However, if you are unable to power off the device, then let its battery drain out. Once that happens, connect it to the charger. Then as soon as it is about to boot up, use the Power and Volume Up/Down keys and it will straightaway boot to Fastboot Mode.

Format Device via Fastboot

Step 6: Go to the platform-tools folder where the extracted ROM is present.

Step 7: Go to its address bar, type in CMD in its address, and hit Enter. This will launch the CMD window.

Step 8: Execute the below command to perform a factory reset (optional but recommended):

fastboot -w

Flash Nothing Phone 1 Firmware via Fastboot Commands

Step 9: Execute the below commands in the CMD window [that is opened in the platform-tools folder] to flash the partition file. Make sure to execute one command at a time. Furthermore, if you get an error, then don’t leave the process mid-way, rather move over to the next flashing command.

fastboot flash abl abl.img 
fastboot flash aop aop.img
fastboot flash bluetooth bluetooth.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash cpucp cpucp.img
fastboot flash devcfg devcfg.img
fastboot flash dsp dsp.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash featenabler featenabler.img 
fastboot flash hyp hyp.img 
fastboot flash imagefv imagefv.img
fastboot flash keymaster keymaster.img
fastboot flash modem modem.img
fastboot flash multiimgoem multiimgoem.img
fastboot flash odm odm.img fastboot 
fastboot flash product product.img
fastboot flash qupfw qupfw.img
fastboot flash shrm shrm.img
fastboot flash system system.img 
fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img
fastboot flash tz tz.img 
fastboot flash uefisecapp uefisecapp.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img 
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img
fastboot flash xbl xbl.img 
fastboot flash xbl_config xbl_config.img

Step 10: If you didn’t get any error, then finally execute the below command to boot your device to the OS. on the other hand, if there were any error messages, then check out the FAQ section below.

fastboot reboot

Thats’ it. These were the steps to unbrick your Nothing Phone 1 by flashing the stock firmware via Fastboot Commands.

FAQ: Flashing is not allowed for Critical Partitions

If you get the following error message “Flashing is not allowed for Critical Partitions”, then first off, take a note of the files that are giving out this error message. After that, flash those files in the FastbootD Mode. You may use the below command to boot your device to FastbootD from Fastboot. The flashing commands will be the same as listed above.

fastboot reboot fastboot