fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0

[hjotha]

Hi,

I cannot flash the extracted vbmeta, any idea on how to fix this?
This is the list of commands I have done:

PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb shell
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037
* daemon started successfully
Razer-Edge-WiFi:/ $ exit
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb reboot bootloader
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot devices
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot devices
597a0603         fastboot
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot flashing unlock
OKAY [  0.036s]
Finished. Total time: 0.038s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb shell getprop ro.boot.flash.locked
0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb reboot bootloader
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot getvar current-slot
current-slot: a
Finished. Total time: 0.003s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         8/15/2025     09:44     1933456578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
-a----         8/15/2025     09:37           1034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
-a----         8/15/2025     09:45     1120621005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
-a----        12/31/2008     22:00     3327242240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:42       12339254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
-a----         8/15/2025     09:40      100663296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img


PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot boot twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
Sending 'boot.img' (98304 KB)                      OKAY [  0.282s]
Booting                                            OKAY [  5.285s]
Finished. Total time: 5.628s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a vbmeta_a.img
/dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped. 3.0 MB/s (65536 bytes in 0.021s)
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         8/15/2025     09:44     1933456578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
-a----         8/15/2025     09:37           1034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
-a----         8/15/2025     09:45     1120621005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
-a----        12/31/2008     22:00     3327242240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:42       12339254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
-a----         8/15/2025     09:40      100663296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:56          65536 vbmeta_a.img


PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb reboot recovery
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot devices
597a0603         fastboot
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot -w
Erasing 'userdata'                                 OKAY [  1.496s]
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
wipe task partition not found: cache
Erasing 'metadata'                                 OKAY [  0.011s]
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
Finished. Total time: 1.524s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
Deleting 'product_a'                               OKAY [  0.025s]
Finished. Total time: 0.026s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot delete-logical-partition product_b
Deleting 'product_b'                               OKAY [  0.025s]
Finished. Total time: 0.027s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot delete-logical-partition system_ext_b
Deleting 'system_ext_b'                            OKAY [  0.026s]
Finished. Total time: 0.027s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot delete-logical-partition system_ext_a
Deleting 'system_ext_a'                            OKAY [  0.025s]
Finished. Total time: 0.027s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verify --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
C:\Program Files\platform-tools\fastboot.exe: unknown option -- disable-verify
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         8/15/2025     09:44     1933456578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
-a----         8/15/2025     09:37           1034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
-a----         8/15/2025     09:45     1120621005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
-a----        12/31/2008     22:00     3327242240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:42       12339254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
-a----         8/15/2025     09:40      100663296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:56          65536 vbmeta_a.img


PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta ./vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot getvar current-slot
current-slot: a
Finished. Total time: 0.001s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a vbmeta_a2.img
adb: error: failed to get feature set: no devices/emulators found
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot boot twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
Sending 'boot.img' (98304 KB)                      OKAY [  0.366s]
Booting                                            FAILED (remote: 'Unrecognized command boot')
fastboot: error: Command failed
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot reboot twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
fastboot: usage: unknown reboot target twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot reboot
Rebooting                                          OKAY [  0.000s]
Finished. Total time: 0.001s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> fastboot boot twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
Sending 'boot.img' (98304 KB)                      OKAY [  0.292s]
Booting                                            OKAY [  5.285s]
Finished. Total time: 5.607s
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a vbmeta_a2.img
/dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped. 3.0 MB/s (65536 bytes in 0.021s)
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_b vbmeta_b2.img
/dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_b: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped. 2.9 MB/s (65536 bytes in 0.022s)
PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         8/15/2025     09:44     1933456578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
-a----         8/15/2025     09:37           1034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
-a----         8/15/2025     09:45     1120621005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
-a----        12/31/2008     22:00     3327242240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:42       12339254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
-a----         8/15/2025     09:40      100663296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:56          65536 vbmeta_a.img
-a----         8/15/2025     10:14          65536 vbmeta_a2.img
-a----         8/15/2025     10:14          65536 vbmeta_b2.img


PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> cmd
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.4770]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fc /b vbmeta_a.img vbmeta_a2.img
Comparing files vbmeta_a.img and VBMETA_A2.IMG
FC: no differences encountered


C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fc /b vbmeta_a.img vbmeta_b2.img
Comparing files vbmeta_a.img and VBMETA_B2.IMG
00000100: 73 B6
00000101: 88 5E
00000102: B5 50
00000103: E5 D5
...

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>dir
 Volume in drive C is SSD
 Volume Serial Number is 6DAC-8420

 Directory of C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge

08/15/2025  10:14    <DIR>          .
08/15/2025  09:45    <DIR>          ..
08/15/2025  09:44     1,933,456,578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
08/15/2025  09:37             1,034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
08/15/2025  09:45     1,120,621,005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
12/31/2008  23:00     3,327,242,240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
08/15/2025  09:42        12,339,254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
08/15/2025  09:40       100,663,296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
08/15/2025  09:56            65,536 vbmeta_a.img
08/15/2025  10:14            65,536 vbmeta_a2.img
08/15/2025  10:14            65,536 vbmeta_b2.img
               9 File(s)  6,494,520,015 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  93,627,944,960 bytes free

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fc /b vbmeta_a.img vbmeta_a2.img

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>mkdir c:\razer-gsi

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>adb pull /dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a C:\razer-gsi\vbmeta_a.img
/dev/block/platform/soc/1d84000.ufshc/by-name/vbmeta_a: 1 file pulled, 0 skipped. 3.3 MB/s (65536 bytes in 0.019s)

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fc /b vbmeta_a.img c:\razer-gsi\vbmeta_a.img
Comparing files vbmeta_a.img and C:\RAZER-GSI\VBMETA_A.IMG
FC: no differences encountered


C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>dir
 Volume in drive C is SSD
 Volume Serial Number is 6DAC-8420

 Directory of C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge

08/15/2025  10:14    <DIR>          .
08/15/2025  09:45    <DIR>          ..
08/15/2025  09:44     1,933,456,578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
08/15/2025  09:37             1,034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
08/15/2025  09:45     1,120,621,005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
12/31/2008  23:00     3,327,242,240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
08/15/2025  09:42        12,339,254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
08/15/2025  09:40       100,663,296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
08/15/2025  09:56            65,536 vbmeta_a.img
08/15/2025  10:14            65,536 vbmeta_a2.img
08/15/2025  10:14            65,536 vbmeta_b2.img
               9 File(s)  6,494,520,015 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  93,627,695,104 bytes free

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>adb reboot recovery

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fastboot devices

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fastboot devices
597a0603         fastboot

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fastboot -w
Erasing 'userdata'                                 OKAY [  1.491s]
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
wipe task partition not found: cache
Erasing 'metadata'                                 OKAY [  0.010s]
Erase successful, but not automatically formatting.
File system type raw not supported.
Finished. Total time: 1.517s

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img
fastboot: error: Failed to find AVB_MAGIC at offset: 0

PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         8/15/2025     09:44     1933456578 07926a5297a8b020424230d5486ef452f666647f.zip
-a----         8/15/2025     09:37           1034 Latest-ADB-Installer.bat
-a----         8/15/2025     09:45     1120621005 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.7z
-a----        12/31/2008     22:00     3327242240 LineageOS-22.2-20250728-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:42       12339254 Magisk-v30.2.apk
-a----         8/15/2025     09:40      100663296 twrp-3.7.1_12-0-lahaina.img
-a----         8/15/2025     09:56          65536 vbmeta_a.img
-a----         8/15/2025     10:14          65536 vbmeta_a2.img
-a----         8/15/2025     10:14          65536 vbmeta_b2.img


PS C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge> python -c "print(open('vbmeta_a.img','rb').read(4))"
b'AVB0'

C:\Users\hjoth\Downloads\Razer Edge>

[danielgormly]

I have the same issue - the vb_meta.img pulled from the device is around 64KB and seems to have correct header but I was still getting that error message. I'm not in my lane here but here's what I did. Note these instructions are for Mac/Linux not Windows so you'll have to translate it.

1. I downloaded the Android Verified Bootloader Tool python script:

curl -sSL 'https://android.googlesource.com/platform/external/avb/+/refs/heads/main/avbtool.py?format=TEXT' \
  | base64 --decode > avbtool
chmod +x avbtool
sudo mv avbtool /usr/local/bin/avbtool
avbtool version

2. In step 7, instead of patching the stock vbmeta.img (or vbmeta_a/b.img) with fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta_a.img, I created a new already disabled vbmeta.img (instead of patching it like in) and flashed that instead:

avbtool make_vbmeta_image --flags 2 --padding_size 4096 --output vbmeta_disabled.img
./fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta_disabled.img

Then I continue from fastboot erase system, fastboot flash system LineageOS-22.1-20250319-GAPPS-EXT4-GSI.img, fastboot reboot.

I tried both Vanilla & GAPPS verisons and they both worked - though I couldn't get esim going on either of them. On the vanilla install I force installed the microg services framework proxy too, to no effect.

Note I have backed up the orignal vbmeta_a.img just in case, and I have not tried to relock my bootloader.

For reference I was using fastboot version 36.0.1-13811061 on MacOS

[danielgormly]

Ok I had a hunch, as you and I are the only ones with a problem, I tried an older version of platform tools (34.0.4) and it worked without that error.

Windows: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows.zip
Mac: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-darwin.zip
Linux: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-linux.zip

Unfortunately no luck with esim support

[Zakidevend]

Ok I had a hunch, as you and I are the only ones with a problem, I tried an older version of platform tools (34.0.4) and it worked without that error.

Windows: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows.zip Mac: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-darwin.zip Linux: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-linux.zip

Unfortunately no luck with esim support

I had the same issue and now it works with this version. Why doesn't the latest SDK work?

I also had the same issue and others and that fixed, really thank you

[Wker666]

好吧，我有个预感，因为只有你我遇到了这个问题，所以我尝试了旧版本的平台工具（34.0.4），它运行正常，没有出现那个错误。

Windows：https ://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows.zip Mac： https: //dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-darwin.zip Linux： https: //dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-linux.zip

很遗憾，eSIM 支持方面没有进展。

thanks

[darkon12]

Ok I had a hunch, as you and I are the only ones with a problem, I tried an older version of platform tools (34.0.4) and it worked without that error.

Windows: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows.zip Mac: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-darwin.zip Linux: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r34.0.4-linux.zip

Unfortunately no luck with esim support

Installing GSI image. Needed this to work. Thanks

[harsh32423]

thank you man.. it worked.. do you know why it happened?