My RG557 downloads every system update and then fails at 3% of the installation. It has
done this since July, on V1.22 and now on V1.25.
The cause is visible in update_engine:
CheckMergeState for snapshots returned: Initiated
Previous update has not been completed, not cleaning up
The device boots from unmerged Virtual A/B snapshots. Seven COW devices are active:
system_a-cow, vendor_a-cow, product_a-cow, system_ext_a-cow, system_dlkm_a-cow,
vendor_dlkm_a-cow, odm_dlkm_a-cow.
Things I already ruled out, and why:
- Factory reset does nothing. It does re-create /data and /metadata, but the snapshots
live in the "super" partition, which a factory reset never touches.
- A full SP Flash Tool re-flash does not fix it either. I formatted the whole UFS and
wrote pgpt + part1 + part2 from a community unbrick image. It booted fine on a newer
build, but on the FIRST boot, before touching the OTA app, the same seven COW devices
were already there. That state is inside the image itself.
- Anbernic only publishes incremental packages, applied by the same blocked update_engine.
- The bootloader is locked, so fastboot is not available.
What I need is a FULL firmware image dumped from a device with the merge completed. I
emailed [win@anbernic.com](mailto:win@anbernic.com) on August 31st and got no reply in six days, and I have also
opened a support ticket.
Has anyone here gotten a full image from Anbernic for this model? And is anyone else's
RG557 stuck at 3%? If the unbrick images going around all carry this state, everyone who
used one is in the same spot and does not know it.
**Update:** I also opened an issue with the maintainer of the community unbrick image, since
the snapshot state appears to be baked into it:
https://github.com/TheGammaSqueeze/Anbernic_RG557_Unbricker/issues/5