Microsoft Fixes Recovery Tool for Windows Phone Running Preview on 52X Series

When Microsoft opened the gate of Windows Phone Preview for all the Laumias, few unlucky users who tried to roll back to Windows Phone 8.1, had their phone bricked. Microsoft suspended preview for those devices till a fix was found. Luckily, the fix came in early and Microsoft blames it to rate at which the recovery image was being delivered to the phone, when it had a slower storage.

Microsoft states:

Data writing size & speed: It was discovered that some devices are having trouble accepting the recovery image data being flashed. The blocks of data were too large for some devices to handle, and the memory on the device was having trouble with the speed at which the data was being written. In short, devices were getting too much data, too quickly. This would cause the failure as the new software is corrupted.

Small portion of 520/521 devices affected: As we reviewed logs and worked through issue reproduction, we identified the subset of affected 520/521 devices that may encounter this issue. There is no direct way for an end-user to check their device unfortunately, however it is positive news that not all units would experience this issue..

That said, those who have their device bricked already, need to first download the latest version of the recovery tool or update existing one, followed by restoration.

In doing so, if you see the red Nokia logo for your device, make sure your device is connected to a source or battery is full and then reattempt the recovery.

If your device is not recognized, try using “My phone was not detected” button.

However, this does not guarantee recovery and Microsoft is continuing to research this situation. After looking at the feedback on the post made, we are seeing lot of reports of phone getting recovered, some even took 6 times to get this done. There are few devices like 82X and 93X series that are alas bricked. Microsoft is looking into those as well to figure whats went wrong.

You can download the latest of the Windows Phone Recovery Tool here, and read this forum page here.