Bricking your Android device often feels like a disaster in real life. For many devices, there’s no clear-cut method or publicly available tool that will help you out in such a situation. Rooting, aftermarket kernels, and custom ROMs usually take much of the press and popularity, but tools that help users fix a hard-bricked device are every bit as important. Thankfully, users of the OnePlus 9 series are now lucky enough to have individual unbrick packages for the regular OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro, and the OnePlus 9R available for download on our forums.
Commonly known as the “MsmDownloadTool,” OnePlus' low-level flashing program makes use of the underlying Qualcomm SoC’s Emergency Download Mode (EDL). You will need to have a PC running Microsoft Windows 7 or newer, as the unbrick package isn’t compatible with Linux and macOS. A Windows VM may work, but not recommended.
OnePlus 9
The vanilla OnePlus 9 is for those who want flagship performance but don't want to pay top dollar. It offers a 6.5-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, a triple-camera setup tuned by Hasselblad, and the flagship Snapdragon 888 SoC.
OnePlus 9 Pro
With a large, 6.7-inch Quad HD OLED display and a Smart 120Hz refresh rate, the OnePlus 9 Pro may have the best display on the market. The cameras, tuned in collaboration with Hasselblad, produce excellent still photos and capture superb 4K video.
OnePlus 9R
The OnePlus 9R marks OnePlus' re-entry in the affordable flagship space. The phone is a rehashed version of last year's OnePlus 8T with a slightly updated design and the new Snapdragon 870 chip. Sadly, it's limited to the Indian market for now.
The workflow of the unbrick package is pretty simple. Just make sure your OnePlus 9/9 Pro/9R is switched off, then hold down both volume up and volume down buttons when plugging your phone back into your PC. The phone should boot into the EDL mode at this point, which can be easily verified by searching for a new “QDLOADER 9008” entry (or “QHUSB_BULK”, if the driver isn’t properly installed) under Device Manager. Once it connects, simply open the appropriate tool for your model, select "User type" as "Other", click on "Target" button to verify the device variant, press “Start”, and you’re good to go.
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Device and Device Forums |
MsmDownloadTool Download |
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Having access to the unbrick tool is quite a better and substantially less time-consuming alternative than shipping your bricked device back to OnePlus or sending it to a repair shop. Keep in mind that your phone will be completely wiped out during the revival process and the bootloader will be re-locked. In the circumstances, that’s not such a big deal, given that you can easily unlock again, but it’s worth noting.