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Ok, so I'm new to the droid scene, and the smart phone scene over all. I'd just like to get some summary and clarification here. I've been trying to learn on my own but the volume of information is kind of daunting, especially since so much is still uncertain with the DX.
As I understand it...
- SBF: some sort of recovery image that you can load from recovery mode in case you brick your phone
- OTA: official update for the OS from moto or other phone OEM
- If you root, you will have to unroot before going to froyo
- If you remove stock apps, you will be not be able to update when verizon FINALLY gives us froyo unless you restore them or restore from the SBF back to factory state.
- If you remove stock apps you will not simply be able to run 'factory reset'
- Because of the boot loader encryption, you currently cannot install a "stock" version of Android 2.1, or 2.2
Am I wrong on any of these? Is there a wiki or something that contains all this information in one place so I don't have to break my head looking all over?
Oh, yeah, and finally, the mount commands I see, where you are mounting a block device to your /system folder.... That's basically re-mounting the system partition in read-write mode right?
edit: what's the difference between mmcblk1p21 and mtdblk4? I've seen both referred to in such a context that I interpret them as being the system block for DX?
Thanks guys, and sorry for bugging you with dumb questions!
NegativeOne said:
Ok, so I'm new to the droid scene, and the smart phone scene over all. I'd just like to get some summary and clarification here. I've been trying to learn on my own but the volume of information is kind of daunting, especially since so much is still uncertain with the DX.
As I understand it...
- SBF: some sort of recovery image that you can load from recovery mode in case you brick your phone
- OTA: official update for the OS from moto or other phone OEM
- If you root, you will have to unroot before going to froyo
- If you remove stock apps, you will be not be able to update when verizon FINALLY gives us froyo unless you restore them or restore from the SBF back to factory state.
- If you remove stock apps you will not simply be able to run 'factory reset'
- Because of the boot loader encryption, you currently cannot install a "stock" version of Android 2.1, or 2.2
Am I wrong on any of these? Is there a wiki or something that contains all this information in one place so I don't have to break my head looking all over?
Oh, yeah, and finally, the mount commands I see, where you are mounting a block device to your /system folder.... That's basically re-mounting the system partition in read-write mode right?
edit: what's the difference between mmcblk1p21 and mtdblk4? I've seen both referred to in such a context that I interpret them as being the system block for DX?
Thanks guys, and sorry for bugging you with dumb questions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try and answer these as best i can.
1. SBF - Not sure about that one. If I read correctly though, you're right.
2. OTA = Over The Air update. Which yes is the update pushed to us from Verizon who get it from Moto
3. No one is quite sure about this yet. I guess we'll see.
4. Yes this is true. You have to re-install all the bloat you took out. Some people couldn't update to the small patch they released if you were missing apps. Personally I use launcherpro and just hide them.
5. Not sure about this one either. Sorry
6. Yes. Because of the bootloader encryption we can't flash any custom ROMs or even just a stock Android. If you try and mess with it, you'll be stuck with a lovely motorola logo.
There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.
Hehe, thanks. It's just people hate repeating themselves online. I am really debating whether I want to bother rooting and messing around with stuff right now if froyo's coming out soon and it might invalidate stuff I do or make it harder in the future. I think I can live without themes and with bloat for a while .
I use ADW Launcher myself. Heard Launcher Pro has lag issues - never experience anything like that?
On our phone? No. On the Droid Eris, yes a bit. You just have to play around with the settings and it'll run great. Honestly, only root if you really want to. I did it so I could use my root apps (titanium backup, Adfree, etc) but past that I just removed a bit of bloat or hid it with launcherpro. If you don't have any root apps, can deal with the bloat, and don't want to have to unroot and possibly install the apps you deleted when froyo comes out I wouldn't bother with root.
I apologize if there is already a thread like this, but the search wasnt working.. I know what i can do with my phone once it is rooted, I am just interested in what happens tot he actual phone. I could be wrong, but once i root it isnt it always possible to tell that i rooted it even if i unroot it so therefor all warantees are voided? sorry if im being unclear, i cant think of another way to explain it haha.
The K-Zoo Kid said:
I apologize if there is already a thread like this, but the search wasnt working.. I know what i can do with my phone once it is rooted, I am just interested in what happens tot he actual phone. I could be wrong, but once i root it isnt it always possible to tell that i rooted it even if i unroot it so therefor all warantees are voided? sorry if im being unclear, i cant think of another way to explain it haha.
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The language on the "warranty void" screen says that unlocking the bootloader "may" void your warranty. On the Nexus One, HTC usually honored the warranty if the issue was with anything hardware related and could not have been the result of software tampering. Granted, that's them and this is Samsung.
Further, unless there is something hidden in the system files that counts the number of times you unlock the bootloader, you can always relock it prior to sending it in for repair with fastboot oem lock.
unremarked said:
The language on the "warranty void" screen says that unlocking the bootloader "may" void your warranty. On the Nexus One, HTC usually honored the warranty if the issue was with anything hardware related and could not have been the result of software tampering. Granted, that's them and this is Samsung.
Further, unless there is something hidden in the system files that counts the number of times you unlock the bootloader, you can always relock it prior to sending it in for repair with fastboot oem lock.
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So there is a way to kind of undo the root without them knowing? THanks a lot btw. I figured it was something like this.
The K-Zoo Kid said:
So there is a way to kind of undo the root without them knowing? THanks a lot btw. I figured it was something like this.
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Click to collapse
unlocking the bootloader and rooting are two different things
jblade1000 said:
unlocking the bootloader and rooting are two different things
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Ahh i have no idea what unlocking the bootloader does then.
The K-Zoo Kid said:
Ahh i have no idea what unlocking the bootloader does then.
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In a nutshell, unlocking the bootloader means you will be allowed to flash non-Google/custom files to the system partition and more or less enables superuser access(aka root). Once thats done, then you "root" the device, push the Superuser.apk which will enable the rooted apps. Please check out the rooted section of my stickied FAQ for more detail on how to do this if you decide to. There are two great threads I link to.
Once you lock the bootloader, you lose access to the system partition and superuser I believe which effectively unroots it.
unremarked said:
In a nutshell, unlocking the bootloader means you will be allowed to flash non-Google/custom files to the system partition and more or less enables superuser access(aka root). Once thats done, then you "root" the device, push the Superuser.apk which will enable the rooted apps. Please check out the rooted section of my stickied FAQ for more detail on how to do this if you decide to. There are two great threads I link to.
Once you lock the bootloader, you lose access to the system partition and superuser I believe which effectively unroots it.
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So basically if you want to do any sort of mods, flash roms, etc. you need to unlock the bootload and root. Thanks a lot for explaining that. I think i understand it now, but just to clarify, if i unlock the bootloader and root will i be able to get the phone back to stock without samsung knowing that i rooted/unlock the bootloader?
The K-Zoo Kid said:
So basically if you want to do any sort of mods, flash roms, etc. you need to unlock the bootload and root. Thanks a lot for explaining that. I think i understand it now, but just to clarify, if i unlock the bootloader and root will i be able to get the phone back to stock without samsung knowing that i rooted/unlock the bootloader?
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Yes, to mod/flash roms you need to unlock the bootloader. It's possible that sometime down the road someone may develop a method of gaining root access on the phone without touching it, but it's unlikely given the fact that we can both unlock and lock the bootloader very easily.
Right now, the answer is... more or less. If you make a NAND backup in Clockwork Recovery/Rom manager of your stock ROM, you can restore back to that, fastboot flash the closest thing we have currently to the stock recovery(check development section for this), then relock the bootloader. This will give the phone all appearances of being stock. Unless Samsung has something deep in the system files tracking the number of times you've unlocked/locked(which I doubt, since I'm sure such a system would have been found by now), you should be good to go.
Most people who have returned the phone to Best Buy have noted that they don't even power on the device or check to see if the bootloader is unlocked or if there's a custom recovery on there. But your mileage may vary.
Interesting stuff. I was under the impression that once clockworkmod is flashed there is no way to remove it at this time.
Reading this thread I'm guessing and hoping this is not the case?
I had clockworkmod installed but used rom manager to flash the 2.3.1 update and i've now got the stock bootloader back. I guess the ota update does the same? It would seem that getting back to stock is pretty easy.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
xspyda said:
Interesting stuff. I was under the impression that once clockworkmod is flashed there is no way to remove it at this time.
Reading this thread I'm guessing and hoping this is not the case?
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My apologies, I posted that before I came to the same understanding regarding the stock recovery.
Like the poster above me mentioned there is a NAND backup of stock 2.3.1 you could restore to which has the stock recovery.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Thanks for the clarification. I'll do some more reading in the dev section
Thanks a lot, this really helped me out a lot. I will proceed to rooting
So, just want to make sure I have this straight... You unlock the bootloader, load custom recovery, SU, and now phone is rooted. If you lock the bootloader, you lose root?
For me, I'm not big on custom roms since I just don't have time to keep things up to date or participate in the bug process, but I do like to maintain backups with Titanium (my primary reason for rooting). So by locking the bootloader down I will not be able to use Titanium. Furthermore, unlocking the bootloader wipes the device. So is there a reason one would not want to keep the bootloader unlocked? Have I completely misunderstood the system?
Noob Question of the day
I am relatively new to smartphones 6months ago i had gotten my first Galaxy SIII(which i rooted and installed a custom rom in thanks to a very simple guide)
Now thanks to geohot i have been able to root my S5 i have been wanting to install safestrap for about a month or so but am terrified by the warning posted hashcode saying that if you have encryption enabled on your device you will get stuck in a boot loop. this worries me because i have tinkered with so many settings and i am not sure how i would be able to tell if i had encryption enabled nor have i been able to find a post addressing this.
What i need to know is how can i know if encryption is enabled or not?
(If this was an inappropriate place to post this question i apologize ahead of time and if/when corrected it will not happen again)
Just go to settings, security and check both encrypt device and encrypt external SD card. If neither of those are checked then you have no encryption
Sent from my SM-G900V using XDA Free mobile app
if thats all it is then why did hash code not just say to uncheck it? not arguing that that is not what it is im just curious or is it something so basic that everyone (besides newbs like me) already knows
imb1610 said:
if thats all it is then why did hash code not just say to uncheck it? not arguing that that is not what it is im just curious or is it something so basic that everyone (besides newbs like me) already knows
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Lol, I'm not entirely sure, but... there may be some other encryption method possible... maybe through a 3rd party app? More than likely what I told you is all there is to it if you're a normal user. And I totally understand where you are coming from, if you have a pc also, just make sure you download odin3, the stock firmware and the pit file... these are used if you mess something up. There's also a thread here about returning to stock, I would read up on it too if you're planning on getting into safestrap and root more.
Hope this helps
yes it does thank you so much ^.^
this might sound like a stupid question but after i unlock my Bootloader and root my A1 will I still get the android one update for ored and P
Dragonlord07 said:
this might sound like a stupid question but after i unlock my Bootloader and root my A1 will I still get the android one update for ored and P
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Click to collapse
Yes, you absolutely can. Unlocking bootloader is like freeing the phone from the lock setup by Xiaomi so that people who aren't very technical can't mess with anything necessary for the phone to boot and function properly. So by common sense, just getting our permission to do whatever we like with our damn phone doesn't affect our right to get the OTAs at all but if however, you have actually messed with the different partitions that shouldn't be touched then, of course, the OTAs can't be installed because it identifies that the phone's been modified and things might not work out the way it used to before.
Edwin Hamal said:
Yes, you absolutely can. Unlocking bootloader is like freeing the phone from the lock setup by Xiaomi so that people who aren't very technical can't mess with anything necessary for the phone to boot and function properly. So by common sense, just getting our permission to do whatever we like with our damn phone doesn't affect our right to get the OTAs at all but if however, you have actually messed with the different partitions that shouldn't be touched then, of course, the OTAs can't be installed because it identifies that the phone's been modified and things might not work out the way it used to before.
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thanks man
Forgive my lack of knowledge.
Before reading the drawbacks I attempted to unlock the boot loader on my X Compact, I received a few errors and now I am unsure as to whether it is unlocked or not. Is there a way to test this?
I intended to root the phone but I have not root a phone for years, the last one was a Samsung S5 and things seem to have got more complicated since then.
So my questions are, how do I check if the boot loader is unlocked?
If I have lost the DRMs, how do I replace them?
What actual effect does losing them create?
I have read dozens of threads but can't find a straight answer, If you know, I'd appreciate it.
I am still considering the root.
wyzzy said:
Forgive my lack of knowledge.
Before reading the drawbacks I attempted to unlock the boot loader on my X Compact, I received a few errors and now I am unsure as to whether it is unlocked or not. Is there a way to test this?
I intended to root the phone but I have not root a phone for years, the last one was a Samsung S5 and things seem to have got more complicated since then.
So my questions are, how do I check if the boot loader is unlocked?
If I have lost the DRMs, how do I replace them?
What actual effect does losing them create?
I have read dozens of threads but can't find a straight answer, If you know, I'd appreciate it.
I am still considering the root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been a while, but I think you open the phone app and dial *#*#7378423#*#*, then go to service info>configuration, and in the info there it will tell you.
If you lost drm, they're gone for good. Back them up first, or no hope. The affect is a loss of certain Sony camera functions.
It says
"Bootloader unlock allowed: Yes"
but I read somewhere that sometimes this does not change after it is unlocked, is there a way to be sure?
What camera functions are lost? I read a lot of talk about it but nobody seemed to be able to pin down what the difference is.
Also how do I back up the DRM?
Im running Oreo
wyzzy said:
It says
"Bootloader unlock allowed: Yes"
but I read somewhere that sometimes this does not change after it is unlocked, is there a way to be sure?
What camera functions are lost? I read a lot of talk about it but nobody seemed to be able to pin down what the difference is.
Also how do I back up the DRM?
Im running Oreo
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I think that if it is unlocked, it will say "status unlocked" or something. Your message only indicates that it's possible to unlock it, (sometimes it's not). The difference is subtle, but noticeable. There are certain camera features specific to Sony that make the pictures nicer. I never looked too much into it, since I'm not too much into photography. If you aren't too hung up on the finer aspects of photography, you probably won't miss it. Still a good idea to back up, though, just in case. I'm pretty sure you can't do it without downgrading to MM first. Then you can use dirtydirty-cow tool, then upgrade back to O if you want - http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/universal-dirtycow-based-ta-backup-t3514236 You might be able to do it manually from O with dd command, or something, but I'm not sure... You will need to find a MM ftf, shouldn't be too hard, might even be one on Xperifirm still... Now that I think about it, I think ta backup is possible on newer versions of twrp, but you still have to make the backup, and extract the img from the backup, so maybe not any quicker...