Verizon DROID Turbo XT1254 Back To Stock: Downgrade and Unroot to get stock recovery and stock system back!

Update (July 8, 2015): Droid Turbo is now updated to Android 5.1, find OTA update here to manually update. But right now, it doesn’t have root available after you have installed 5.1 update. Though, there are pre-rooted 5.1 system images available that support Mofo root, and you can install this over your Mofo rooted KitKat running Droid Turbo to upgrade to 5.1 with root access retained.

Note: This would not help you downgrade back to Android 4.4. Once you have updated device using OTA, whether via system update notification or manual installation, downgrading back to Android 4.4 isn’t possible. Period. By the way, do read the above paragraph in full if you are on 4.4 right now — you could upgrade to 5.1 in a way that allows you to downgrade too.

With Android 5.1 update out for Motorola Droid Turbo, you need a way to install the stock recovery and stock system image back on your phone, so that you can go ahead and install the Android 5.1 OTA on your Droid Turbo. Well, we have out together a guide here just for that, with a direct and speedy download link to KitKat firmware. For people looking to unroot, and remove custom recovery, this is equally helpful. Plus, this will also remove custom recovery like TWRP and CWM that you may have installed on your device.

The KitKat firmware we’ve got here is build 21.128-15, the latest update for Droid Turbo before the Android 5.1 OTA. Flashing the stock system of this firmware, along with stock recovery and boot, would make your Droid Turbo 100% compatible with Android 5.1 OTA. This would also unroot your phone, of course, so any changes made by Mofo root tool will be completely undone. Know that you may have to buy Mofo again after upgrading to Android 5.1, because as far as I know, Mofo buy supports only one Android OS version.

How to Install Verizon Droid Turbo KitKat firmware to get Stock System and Stock Recovery

Downloads

  • OTA Update: Direct Link | File: VRZ_XT1254_KDF21.128-15_15_CFC_SVC.xml.zip (1.1 GB)
  • mfastboot tool: Direct Link | File: mfastboot.zip

Supported devices

  • VERIZON MOTOROLA DROID TURBO, model no. XT1254
  • Don’t try this one Motorola Moto Maxx sets (model no. XT1220 or XT1255)!
  • Don’t try on any other Android device with a different model no.

Tip: Check the model no. in Settings > About phone. Or, you could also find the model no. on the packaging box of the device.

Installation Instructions

Warning: Warranty may be void of your device if you follow the procedures given on this page. You only are responsible for your device. We won’t be liable if any damage occurs to your device and/or its components.

Backup your Android. In case your device is wiped off while following the guide below, it’s good to have a backup of contacts, photos, videos and other files already saved on PC.

  1. Disconnect Droid Turbo from PC if it’s connected. And know that you’ll lose root access upon install the stock Android 4.1 firmware using this guide. Sure, installing stock system and stock recovery will help you with Android 5.1 OTA update installation.
  2. Install ADB drivers.
  3. Install Motorola Droid Turbo drivers.
  4. Download the official Verizon Droid Turbo Android 4.4 KitKat firmware file from above, build 21.128-15. Also download mfastboot tool.
  5. Extract the mfastboot.zip to get the files in image below. you can use a free software like 7-zip for this.
    mfastboot
  6. Now, extract the 4.4 firmware file (VRZ_XT1254_KDF21.128-15_15_CFC_SVC.xml.zip) to get all these files:
    Droid Turbo stock recovery and stock system
  7. Copy/move all files of 4.4 firmware (from step 6 right above) into the folder where you also have the files from mfastboot. The idea is, the firmware files should be in same folder as mfastboot files — you can create a new folder if you wish to.
  8. Open command window in the folder where you have all the files. For this:
    1. Left click on empty white space in the folder.
    2. Now, while holding shift key, right click on empty white space to get a pop-up as shown below.
    3. Now choose Open command window here option from that.
      open command windows here
      You will see a command window open up with its location at the folder where you have mfastboot and firmware files. That was the whole point till now, steps 5 to 8.
  9. Boot your Motorola Droid Turbo to bootloader mode. For this:
    • Power off your Droid Turbo first. Wait 4-5 seconds after screen goes off.
    • Press and hold Power + Volume down together for 5 seconds and then let go of them. You will enter bootloader mode. Fastboot AP will written at the very top of the screen. This is also called fastboot mode, and now you can install Android 4.4 stock system and stock recovery using fastboot commands.
  10. Connect your Droid Turbo to PC using a USB cable, with phone in bootloader mode of course.
  11. Confirm whether fastboot is working. On PC, in command window, run the following command. (You can copy paste the command and then hit enter key for ease.)
    fastboot devices

    fastboot devices
    You should get a serial no., with fastboot written after it, as shown above. I’ve blurred out the serial no. of course. When you get fastboot written after running the command, it means fastboot and adb drivers are installed and working properly. We’re ready to install our firmware to downgrade, or go back to stock.

  12. Important! Run the following commands one-by-one, hitting enter key after each command to execute it. Enter next command after one command has finished. Be sure to run all 8 commands.
    fastboot flash boot boot.img
    fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk1
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk2
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk3
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk4
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk5
    mfastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk6
  13. What we did above was flashing the stock boot and stock recovery in first two commands. And then we flashed the system image, which is in 6 smaller parts, called system.img_sparsechunk*. Make sure the command matches the respective filenames of the files involved. Once done, you can reboot your phone using the following command:
    fastboot reboot
  14. That’s it. You have the KitKat’s stock recovery and unrooted stock system partition installed. You are good and full ready to install Droid Turbo Android 5.1 OTA.

Need any help? Give us a shout in comments below.

Posted by
Kapil Malani

A die-hard Liverpool FC fan, Kapil is a big fan of Batman, Android and street Cricket. In that order, probably. Email: [email protected]

40 Comments

  1. Hello! After “fastboot flash boot boot.img” i’m getting:

    target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
    sending ‘boot’ (16384 KB)…
    OKAY [ 0.655s]
    writing ‘boot’…
    (bootloader) Preflash validation failed
    FAILED (remote failure)
    finished. total time: 0.936s
    And the same error got for every operation. Am i right that’s because bootloader is locked? Or it has another cause.. I tried to unlock bootloader but motorolla site told that i can’t do it. Help me please are there any other ways? Or what should i do to downgarde undroid successfully?
    After all operations are done, no changes, after reboot stil have android 5.1..
    Thank you!

    1. Um, what’s the Android version on Droid Turbo.currently?

    2. Current Adroid: 5.1
      Configuration Version: F14.MOT.XT1254.0
      System Version: 23.11.38.quark_verizon.verizon.en.US.vzw

    3. That’s what I thought. You cannot downgrade from 5.1 to 5.0 at all. No possibility if you took OTA update or flashed the OTA yourself.

    4. I want just downgrade to 4.4.4… In 5.1 there is no control for CellBroadcastAlertService.. And for my country/operator this service sends me alerts every minute.. I don’t know another way to stop it… In 4.4.4 it was controlled..

    5. I meant downgrade to 4.4. Not possible.

    6. firstly unlock your bootloader and then downgrade your phone..

  2. Hello! After “fastboot flash boot boot.img” i’m getting:

    target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
    sending ‘boot’ (16384 KB)…
    OKAY [ 0.655s]
    writing ‘boot’…
    (bootloader) Preflash validation failed
    FAILED (remote failure)
    finished. total time: 0.936s
    And the same error got for every operation. Am i right that’s because bootloader is locked? Or it has another cause.. I tried to unlock bootloader but motorolla site told that i can’t do it. Help me please are there any other ways? Or what should i do to downgarde undroid successfully?
    After all operations are done, no changes, after reboot stil have android 5.1..
    Thank you!

    1. Um, what’s the Android version on Droid Turbo.currently?

      1. Current Adroid: 5.1
        Configuration Version: F14.MOT.XT1254.0
        System Version: 23.11.38.quark_verizon.verizon.en.US.vzw

        1. That’s what I thought. You cannot downgrade from 5.1 to 5.0 at all. No possibility if you took OTA update or flashed the OTA yourself.

          1. I want just downgrade to 4.4.4… In 5.1 there is no control for CellBroadcastAlertService.. And for my country/operator this service sends me alerts every minute.. I don’t know another way to stop it… In 4.4.4 it was controlled..

          2. I meant downgrade to 4.4. Not possible.

  3. Hello! After “fastboot flash boot boot.img” i’m getting:

    target reported max download size of 536870912 bytes
    sending ‘boot’ (16384 KB)…
    OKAY [ 0.655s]
    writing ‘boot’…
    (bootloader) Preflash validation failed
    FAILED (remote failure)
    finished. total time: 0.936s
    And the same error got for every operation. Am i right that’s because bootloader is locked? Or it has another cause.. I tried to unlock bootloader but motorolla site told that i can’t do it. Help me please are there any other ways? Or what should i do to downgarde undroid successfully?
    After all operations are done, no changes, after reboot stil have android 5.1..
    Thank you!

    1. Um, what’s the Android version on Droid Turbo.currently?

      1. Current Adroid: 5.1
        Configuration Version: F14.MOT.XT1254.0
        System Version: 23.11.38.quark_verizon.verizon.en.US.vzw

        1. That’s what I thought. You cannot downgrade from 5.1 to 5.0 at all. No possibility if you took OTA update or flashed the OTA yourself.

          1. I want just downgrade to 4.4.4… In 5.1 there is no control for CellBroadcastAlertService.. And for my country/operator this service sends me alerts every minute.. I don’t know another way to stop it… In 4.4.4 it was controlled..

          2. I meant downgrade to 4.4. Not possible.

  4. My Droid Turbo got the Update for Lollipop 5.1 and stopped detecting the SIM and the WIFI stopped working as well.

    I followed this instructions to try to get back to KitKat and now after rebooting all I get now is Black screen.

    Please Help!

    1. Bro, this wasn’t meant to be flashed on Android 5.1. It’s meant to prepare your device already on 4.4 but rooted or system-tweaked, to get back to stock 4.4.

      Only Android 5.1 update, whether you have Galaxy S6, S5, Moto X or Droid Turbo, you cannot downgrade back to 4.4 — not at all.

      I would suggest you to install the OTA update given here – http://nerdschalk.com/download-motorola-droid-turbo-android-5-1-1-ota-update-with-install-instructions-81324/

      This would install 5.1 back on your device, and it shall bot up fine. If not, let me know, I will try to get you full 5.1 firmware then.

    2. Bro, this wasn’t meant to be flashed on Android 5.1. It’s meant to prepare your device already on 4.4 but rooted or system-tweaked, to get back to stock 4.4.

      Only Android 5.1 update, whether you have Galaxy S6, S5, Moto X or Droid Turbo, you cannot downgrade back to 4.4 — not at all.

      I would suggest you to install the OTA update given here – https://nerdschalk.com/download-motorola-droid-turbo-android-5-1-1-ota-update-with-install-instructions-81324/

      This would install 5.1 back on your device, and it shall bot up fine. If not, let me know, I will try to get you full 5.1 firmware then.

    3. Thanks man, I was able to unbrick it and even bring back to 4.4. Here is the Youtube link to a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6avEPGWB8E0, is pretty much the same instruction with one little tweak, instead of entering the commands manually you just gotta double click the .bat file and will run all the commands to boot it back to stock 4.4 or even upgrade to 5.1.

    4. Will this remove 5.1 and get me back to 4.4 or am I screwed with the 5.1 already installed ??

  5. My Droid Turbo got the Update for Lollipop 5.1 and stopped detecting the SIM and the WIFI stopped working as well.

    I followed this instructions to try to get back to KitKat and now after rebooting all I get now is Black screen.

    Please Help!

    1. Bro, this wasn’t meant to be flashed on Android 5.1. It’s meant to prepare your device already on 4.4 but rooted or system-tweaked, to get back to stock 4.4.

      Only Android 5.1 update, whether you have Galaxy S6, S5, Moto X or Droid Turbo, you cannot downgrade back to 4.4 — not at all.

      I would suggest you to install the OTA update given here – https://nerdschalk.com/download-motorola-droid-turbo-android-5-1-1-ota-update-with-install-instructions-81324/

      This would install 5.1 back on your device, and it shall bot up fine. If not, let me know, I will try to get you full 5.1 firmware then.

      1. Thanks man, I was able to unbrick it and even bring back to 4.4. Here is the Youtube link to a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6avEPGWB8E0, is pretty much the same instruction with one little tweak, instead of entering the commands manually you just gotta double click the .bat file and will run all the commands to boot it back to stock 4.4 or even upgrade to 5.1.

        1. Will this remove 5.1 and get me back to 4.4 or am I screwed with the 5.1 already installed ??

  6. My Droid Turbo got the Update for Lollipop 5.1 and stopped detecting the SIM and the WIFI stopped working as well.

    I followed this instructions to try to get back to KitKat and now after rebooting all I get now is Black screen.

    Please Help!

    1. Bro, this wasn’t meant to be flashed on Android 5.1. It’s meant to prepare your device already on 4.4 but rooted or system-tweaked, to get back to stock 4.4.

      Only Android 5.1 update, whether you have Galaxy S6, S5, Moto X or Droid Turbo, you cannot downgrade back to 4.4 — not at all.

      I would suggest you to install the OTA update given here – http://nerdschalk.com/download-motorola-droid-turbo-android-5-1-1-ota-update-with-install-instructions-81324/

      This would install 5.1 back on your device, and it shall bot up fine. If not, let me know, I will try to get you full 5.1 firmware then.

      1. Thanks man, I was able to unbrick it and even bring back to 4.4. Here is the Youtube link to a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6avEPGWB8E0, is pretty much the same instruction with one little tweak, instead of entering the commands manually you just gotta double click the .bat file and will run all the commands to boot it back to stock 4.4 or even upgrade to 5.1.

  7. my device is 5.1 lollipop droid turbo xt1254 and its working perfectly before i hard reset it now its bring previous account and when Am giving its not working again the bring previous id again n again what i will be do …!

  8. my device is 5.1 lollipop droid turbo xt1254 and its working perfectly before i hard reset it now its bring previous account and when Am giving its not working again the bring previous id again n again what i will be do …!

  9. Thank you so very much for the post you saved my phone!!!

  10. Thank you so very much for the post you saved my phone!!!

  11. please how can i flash xt1254 version 6.0

  12. please how can i flash xt1254 version 6.0

  13. sir its not fixd do you have more slution

  14. please tell me

  15. urgent please

Comments are closed.