I was wondering if root, custom ROMs, kernels and recovery could alter in any way the /efs partition or other internal partitions itself, without user knowledge. Like changing permission to files, changing values etc...
How can I be sure that my internal partition are untouched?
No one will guarantee that something unexpected won't occur when rooting. While flashing the recovery itself is pretty straightforward, as you do it yourself through Odin, flashing a custom ROM or kernel through the custom recovery could alter the partitions and their contents without your knowledge, depending on what commands were written to the ROM's update script.
It's extremely unlikely that the developers in this forum would make such alterations without informing people, but if you're that concerned about it, extract the update script from the ROM and examine it. Otherwise, don't install a custom ROM.
Related
I'd like to know if it's possible to backup all my partitions including my EFS partition before I start hacking away at the phone?
I found the thread about it but it says to flash it via custom recovery, but in order to get that custom recovery, I have to use AutoRec, which modifies the very partitions I'm trying to preserve, so I'm a bit of a dilemma here.
I'm just looking for a way to make sure I don't completely brick the phone and in the same time have a 'clean-slate' button at my disposal which restores stock everything, including partitions, roms, recoveries and any other modification.
Cheers.
There is no way to backup entire partitions without root but you can backup photos/music you would need a recovery to backup these partitions or a rooted adb but recovery is the best and easiest way
just recieved my moto which still has marshmallow 6.0 and have been doing some reading Found the stickies(nicely done) . my question revolves around the systemless root. I can just unlock bootloader, install twrp, backup stock unrooted rom (just in Case) then flash whatever rooted rom I please from those available right ? In other words, I wont need to get root access via this systemless root method unless I want that exact stock rom rooted right ? Also, is there any other concerns for a newb to worry about before flashing a nougat rom like a different bootloader or modem requirement ? Thanks in advance for your help.
Found this not in the stickies section that seems to clear things up for me and be quite straight forward for the rooting process . https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-style/general/guide-how-to-root-pure-style-t3503958
recomend this gets stickied as well
You do not need to root the stock ROM unless you are going to run the stock ROM as a rooted ROM.
Custom ROMs do not make changes to bootloader or modems, only boot, system, data, and cache.
Anything else to be aware of? Yes, backup, and get the backup off the device because most ROMs recommend a wipe, which when you wipe internal storage it would delete the default TWRP backup location, thus making returning to stock much more difficult.
acejavelin said:
You do not need to root the stock ROM unless you are going to run the stock ROM as a rooted ROM.
Custom ROMs do not make changes to bootloader or modems, only boot, system, data, and cache.
Anything else to be aware of? Yes, backup, and get the backup off the device because most ROMs recommend a wipe, which when you wipe internal storage it would delete the default TWRP backup location, thus making returning to stock much more difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the informative concise response !!
I really want to flash custom ROMs to my device (like ports or LineageOS, for instance), but I really can't do without the files in my /data partition, backing up is not an option really.
So, if I flash a custom ROM to my device, will I lose my data? Does this vary from ROM to ROM? Thank you!
realpanv said:
I really want to flash custom ROMs to my device (like ports or LineageOS, for instance), but I really can't do without the files in my /data partition, backing up is not an option really.
So, if I flash a custom ROM to my device, will I lose my data? Does this vary from ROM to ROM? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/data must be wiped when flashing other rom. That partition contains the apps and their data. Someone correct me if it contains something else too.
What files you're worried about? Why not backing up?
realpanv said:
I really want to flash custom ROMs to my device (like ports or LineageOS, for instance), but I really can't do without the files in my /data partition, backing up is not an option really.
So, if I flash a custom ROM to my device, will I lose my data? Does this vary from ROM to ROM? Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The /data partition only contains app data and things like that. All your pictures and music on the internal storage will still be there unless you wipe internal too.
can i install Stock Firmware after reparation internal memory by twrp?
if i can flash so my partitions will change or not and what other problems can occur?
faizynadim said:
can i install Stock Firmware after reparation internal memory by twrp?
if i can flash so my partitions will change or not and what other problems can occur?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://firmware.center/firmware/Motorola/Moto G4 (Plus)/
After u install twrp recovery you don't modify your stock rom though no ota updates.but u can replace it with stoct recovery again.. if u mess up with stock rom yeah u can get it from the above link ..
i am asking about re partition...i am not asking about briking device or flashing stock rom...
Did modify the system partition or only the internal storage?
i have not changed yet.....i am asking if i change the partition of system and data partition...then i will be able to flash stock rom or problems will occur...
Ok, now changing the size of the system partition may create problems if you try to flash the stock img files, I think
ok..i will try that... ?
Whatever you do, don't reduce the size of the system partition, if you want to flash stock ROM later...zips should work fine though. I have seen people repartition xiaomi mi 3 phones and install custom roms.
faizynadim said:
i have not changed yet.....i am asking if i change the partition of system and data partition...then i will be able to flash stock rom or problems will occur...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you hoping to achieve with changing the partitions (e.g. are you changing the format of the partitions to ext4 or f2fs? Or are you changing the sizes of the partitions)?
If you're changing the partition sizes, I personally would leave the sizes alone, unless you're confident in the size of the partition that the stock ROM would need (and need in the future). From what I see on my device running Nougat NPJS25.93-14.4, cache (ext4) is 256 MB, system (ext4) is 2.5 GB and data (f2fs) takes up the rest of my internal storage.
As for changing formats, I don't know if the stock ROM will work with a system partition not formatted as ext4. Cache may or may not work with f2fs. Again, what are you hoping to achieve?
I want that nobody can flash stock rom on my phone normally....i have cerberus installed as root and if any theif can install firmware so that is useless and theif can enjoy using my phone...so i want to change partition sizes to make it difficult for anyone to flash factory images.
faizynadim said:
I want that nobody can flash stock rom on my phone normally....i have cerberus installed as root and if any theif can install firmware so that is useless and theif can enjoy using my phone...so i want to change partition sizes to make it difficult for anyone to flash factory images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking from my humble (and maybe ignorant) opinion,
I had a few experiences modifying partitions from other devices in the past (i did it no more than 3-4 times), i can say that when you flash a full stock factory image, normally, all the partitions recover his original sizes and formats.
All the devices that i modified included the General Partition Table (gpt.bin) file and the FSTAB config instructions into his full factory images, and from what i saw on the G4 plus, it includes these files too.
Here you have the complete partition table list taken from my G4 plus running 7.0 (NPJS25.93-14-4).
ohhh thanks ?
So I've seen with installing custom ROMs that there are steps that basically say, "Do not wipe system" in TWRP. I have noticed in doing things the dumb way that I can wipe every partition but the only way it becomes unrecoverable is if system is wiped, this is even if I install a custom ROM in its place. Can someone help me understand what has changed with A/B partition or OnePlus security settings where OOS system partition must be intact to allow one to run a custom ROM?
The reason I ask is that unless it is a byte for byte overwrite then we leave OOS files on parts of the custom ROM storage partition and if it is bit for bit write why would erasing the partition matter?
What seems more important for custom ROM is to not wipe data before rebooting in TWRP to flash magisk. So a clean flash is now flashing the ROM, flashing TWRP then reboot in TWRP and then only wiping data and art. Then flashing magisk. This is important to keep decryption working. That means not using factory reset feature either, always wiping with manually selected partitions.
Anyway wiping system is useless as the flashing script wipes it anyway.