Possible qhsusb_dload fix for all Qualcomm devices

If you own a Qualcomm powered Android device, the chances are good that you may have ran into or seen qhsusb_dload problem on various forums or blogs. It used to be a sad case as it means you will not be able to to boot your phone. If you connect your device to your PC, all you will see is qhsusb_dload in the device manager panel.

This usually happens when you flash the wrong ROM to your handset powered by Qualcomm SOC, however that’s not always the case. Some says they get the same error message when their handset turns off during regular use. Whichever scenarios you are in, it have one thing in common. You either return it to your carrier or have someone from repair shop to fix it. The repair shop here charges some 40 bucks using some Jtag device to flash the correct data.

There is nothing we can do in the past, but now things have changed a bit. Someone has claimed that he/she has found a way to solve this without any hardware, and does help some people get their devices back to work. I went through lots of threads and posts and finally managed to get this step-by-step guide ready. I myself never have the qhsusb issue with my phones, so I do not test it and not sure if it works for you. You use it at your own cost.

The whole idea is that qhsusb problem means the bootloader is corrupted, but the hardware is working correctly. We need to reflash the correct bootloader, so that you can boot into S/W or fastboot.

Before we start you need to get a few things in place.

1. Your phone and your CPU model number. For example MSM8960, which can be seen in many devices.
2. USB 2.0 cable and port on your PC (WinXP or Windows 7).
3. QPST. Install the driver and configure the port.
4. Two files according to your CPU model. For instance, if yours is MSM8960, then MPRG8960.hex and 8960_msimage.mbn. If you have other models, search accordingly.

It’s crucial to find the correct MPRG8x60.hex and 8x60_msimage.mbn files (here x means any number ranges from 0 to 9). It’s believed that you can extract the two files from the official ROM. However I am still waiting to see people details how. The other way around is to search the internet and find similar files used by other people with the same or similar phone using the same SOC. I have found two such files for MSM8660 and MSM8960.

There’s another post about how to generate the 8x60_msimage.mbn file yourself but it’s sadly gone. I tried to find a cache of it and will include it at the bottom of this post although it may not help you.

Anyway, I will go into details below.

Step one. Connect your phone to your PC and install the driver mentioned in point 3. You will see Qualcomm…. 90xx(COMxx) under port in device manager, write down that port number. If you could not see the port number, please perform step two first.

Step two. Install QPST and open it. Then go to QPST Configuration->Ports->Add New Port, enter the port you write down in step 1 and close it.

Step three. Open eMMC Software Download in the same folder. And enter the data as my figure shows.

1. Click browse and enter the port number you write down.
2. Enter the two files accordingly.
3. Uncheck.
4. Choose the folder which contains the two files.
5. Click download.

Step four. Wait until it finishes and exit. Now disconnect your handset and connect to your PC again. You should see your drive in my computer. Do not format it if your computer promts, otherwise you have to go through the whole process again.

Step five. Leave a comment on Facebook or Google+ and let me know if you get your phone back.

This fix should work for all Qualcomm SOC although you need to find the right files. I now have the files for MSM8660 and MSM8960, please let know if you need them. If you wanna know how to generate the 8x60_msimage.mbn file, click here.

If you have a Xiaomi phone, check this out. For HTC M7 single SIM version, there is a single file you need to execute on Linux for recovery (and here’s how to use it). If you do need it, let me know. LG G2 users, check this out to unbrick your handset. This tutorial also extract some .mbn files which may help other phones with the same SOC. However I do not have the time to look into it. For other questions, find me on Facebook.

Update, find the qhsusb dload driver here. Please note, you do not need it if your PC recognize your phone.

Update, if you could not solve the issue using above method, please send your phone to a repair shop.

Update, many people ask me for files on Facebook after reading this post, I would like to provide the link here for MSM8064/8930/8960.