I am sorry if this is a dupe of other threads but I couldn't find a complete answer to my problem anywhere else.
I have a nexus 7 (2012), on stock 4.4.2, unlocked bootloader (i think, unlocked padlock on startup).
I want to root. I gather this will not wipe? (or will it?) and what tool should i use? I already have N7 toolkit and android sdk, so i can use that most easily, otherwise any other program needed is fine. I want to use stock bootloader and stock rom and ensure ota updates will occur. (i understand i may lose root through ota updates, but i assume i can just reroot as i have unlocked the bootloader?)
Thanks
Since your tab has already gone through the bootloader unlocking process, there is neither a need nor a requirement to wipe the device.
And since you want to stay as close to Stock as possible, you can even "root" without ever flashing a recovery: you just soft-boot a recovery image rather than flashing one. That is - "fastboot boot (...etc)" instead of "fastboot flash (...etc)". That allows you to use a custom recovery every once in a while while leaving a stock recovery on the tablet. That preserves maximum compatibility with future OTAs.*
And with that soft-booted recovery, immediately take a Nandroid backup including the Stock recovery (which is still on the tablet because you soft-booted the recovery you are using). In the same session, use "adb pull" to get a copy of your 100% pure-stock Nandroid backup off the tablet. (Make sure you name it clearly so you will know exactly what it is 12 or 24 months later)
Finally, use a flashable .zip installer package for SuperSU to "flash root".
After an OTA, you can just reinstall root by soft-booting a custom recovery and using the same (or updated) flashable .zip installer method for reinstalling SuperSU. And just like above, capture a new 100% pure-stock Nandroid backup (including the new stock recovery) *before* re-rooting.
This strategy allows you to roll back to any version of stock you please at any time in the future.
good luck
* flashaholics prefer to have a recovery hard-flashed on their device so they can flash things on a whim, wherever they are. The approach here is a bit more restrictive as you have to have a PC handy in order to soft-boot a recovery in order to do any flashing. I would say that the biggest limitation of this approach is that it tends to reduce the number of Nandroid backups of your ROM personalization.
Backup are a good thing. You can always throw them away later, but you can't create a missing one that is urgently needed.
I picked up a used GS4 JFLTECAN and the battery life on the stock rom is brutal, so I would really like to try something else. I have flashed recoveries kernals and roms before on other devices but have never had to deal with these "locked" boot loaders.
I have the I337mvlufnc1 bootloader and the most recent Android 5.0.1 OTA update from Rogers. My ROM and modem are I337MVLUGOH1
Can I ODIN TWRP at this point? Or will I brick my device?
Here's how I wound up at this point.
I have managed to root by odining SuperUserSU.zip by following these instructions; http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...4gA4TauS3dXnXcIOA&sig2=MHLMfY4z5M21bgTArDKniQ
I installed wakelock detector and a root uninstaller for bloatware as well as greenify to take advantage of root and try to fix battery drain issues. However I did something wrong and now whenever I boot "Package Access Helper" and "System UI" both unfortunately stop. I am also being prompted to select a homescreen every time I boot (touchwiz variants)
Rather than factory resetting to the stock firmware I would prefer to get on something different. any help is appreciated.
Paging @raptor170 ?
arasarn said:
I picked up a used GS4 JFLTECAN and the battery life on the stock rom is brutal, so I would really like to try something else. I have flashed recoveries kernals and roms before on other devices but have never had to deal with these "locked" boot loaders.
I have the I337mvlufnc1 bootloader and the most recent Android 5.0.1 OTA update from Rogers. My ROM and modem are I337MVLUGOH1
Can I ODIN TWRP at this point? Or will I brick my device?
Here's how I wound up at this point.
I have managed to root by odining SuperUserSU.zip by following these instructions; http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...4gA4TauS3dXnXcIOA&sig2=MHLMfY4z5M21bgTArDKniQ
I installed wakelock detector and a root uninstaller for bloatware as well as greenify to take advantage of root and try to fix battery drain issues. However I did something wrong and now whenever I boot "Package Access Helper" and "System UI" both unfortunately stop. I am also being prompted to select a homescreen every time I boot (touchwiz variants)
Rather than factory resetting to the stock firmware I would prefer to get on something different. any help is appreciated.
Paging @raptor170 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my understanding with that bootloader is that it will prevent you from downgrading to say 4.3 etc etc. To be extra Safe, have stock firmware files from sammobile handy, but you should be good..... Don't quote me on it tho lol
He was successful on twrp flash, anyone watching this lol, all i337m unlocked
So If anyone else gets a used galaxy s4 here is the procedure to root and install custom recovery with the most recent OTA updates installed. There is no need to worry about any locked bootloader or anything.
Step 1: get root with Odin
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...5M21bgTArDKniQ
go to twrp.me
Step 2: flash twrp 2.8.4.0 with Odin
Step 3: flash twrp 2.8.7.0 (or a newer version if one is available) via twrp itself. After 2.8.4.0 TWRP only has .img files released which are to be flashed directly from twrp.
Step 4: Flash a rom.
arasarn said:
So If anyone else gets a used galaxy s4 here is the procedure to root and install custom recovery with the most recent OTA updates installed. There is no need to worry about any locked bootloader or anything.
Step 1: get root with Odin
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...5M21bgTArDKniQ
go to twrp.me
Step 2: flash twrp 2.8.4.0 with Odin
Step 3: flash twrp 2.8.7.0 (or a newer version if one is available) via twrp itself. After 2.8.4.0 TWRP only has .img files released which are to be flashed directly from twrp.
Step 4: Flash a rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easiest waytp flash the ol s4 great writeup for anyone starting off on the s4. Let me add a step 3a: backup efs in twrp for if the rare case you loose imei, chance of getting it back
raptor170 said:
Easiest waytp flash the ol s4 great writeup for anyone starting off on the s4. Let me add a step 3a: backup efs in twrp for if the rare case you loose imei, chance of getting it back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add this to the first post of the Canadian galaxy s4 mega thread.
I wanted to factory reset my phone and I was on marshmallow. I had the update.zip file which I used while upgrading fronm lollipop to marshmallow. I thought that "apply update from sd card" in stock recovery and using that same update.zip would be a better way of doing the Factory Reset. The update's installation was aborted because of Status 7 Error Code and since then my phone is stuck in bootloop. The Moto Logo shows up and an android with the "Erasing" written below it follows and then it goes back and follows the same routine. So how can I restore my phone to stock official firmware on Locked Bootloader? I have never rooted my phone or unlocked the bootloader.
Please Help. I'm dying without my phone.
Since you messed up your phone, at this point you might as well try to flash stock firmware in fastboot. Can't get any worse.
Will he need an unlocked bootloader to be able to fastboot stock? I'm new to Motorolas. But I agree, that you need to follow a typical protocol - applying an update.zip when you are already on the update and you are stock, is not typical. Probably causing the issue. I think you can salvage it, I don't think you cannot recover from it. But I could be wrong. Set up Android SDK and go through the processes you'd need to unlock the bootloader and root. Once you have those set up, you can try to fastboot the lollipop return to stock tool.
Read through the mm release thread. In the beginning there are some posts from locked users who successfully flashed stock firmware to recover from issues.
I was wondering if someone could give me a direct answer because i cant seem to find one sifting through the forums.
I originally rooted with root master back when i got the phone. it is still on mje/4.3 stock build. things look a little more complicated then i remember, since my phone hasn't seen an update in over 3 years. I originally froze the verizon ota updates with tibackup, along with all the other bloatware.
My main questions are:
1. I would like to get a 6.0 Rom that looks like the note 7 did, can i do it all with odin and just flash a bunch of files?
2. Do I need a custom recovery like twrp or cwm?
3. I've read about an activation lock but can't find it in my menus, did it not exist yet on 4.3?
If anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it, I really dont wanna brick my phone.
I'm still on MJE firmware, but using an older CM13 (temasek) ROM. So it's marshmallow but no Touchwiz or other Samsung add-ons.
Here are the MJE-specific issues:
1) You can't boot N* or O* stock kernels because of differences in the way that DTB (device tree blobs) are packed into the boot image. I've played with re-packing the boot images, but the kernels seem to run off into the weeds after a few tens of seconds.
2) TowelRoot works on MI9 through NC2(leak) but I think not thereafter - if you wanted to avoid a bootloader firmware upgrade but re-flash via Odin the MJE firmware for "starting from scratch" purposes, you have a means to re-root that does not require a PC.
3) If you retain the MJE bootloader, use the TWRP (hltevzw) -4.3 recovery; the -4.4 recovery will not boot, presumably due to issues similar to (1) above.
4) Not specific to MJE - but important - is the fact that if you want to boot either a custom kernel or custom recovery, you need to unlock your bootloader first. You can unlock your bootloader from any rooted ROM, but be aware that flashing stock firmware with Odin thereafter will re-lock the bootloader.
If you were to "start from scratch" but upgrade to more recent stock software before rooting, be aware that there is no publicly available root for NC4 or NK1; you would need to install stock OB6 or OF1, and follow that by using those "yemen" rooting tools. (Are they safe to use? I don't know frankly)
I am assuming that the N* and O* series bootloaders are backwards compatible with regard to device tree booting issues (see #1 above), because the temasek CM13 roms (having a custom kernel) boot on both OF1- and (my) MJE- bootloader phone. I guess that means it uses a "4.3" DTB packing in the boot image.
You are probably going to want to use TiBu to make important backups, and also copy everything off the phone that is important to you. You should assume that if anything goes wrong, an Odin re-install and factory reset are in the device's future.
Having said all this, I'm not sure there is such a thing as a ROM which "looks like Note7" - this is an old phone with almost no ROM developers left. There might have been more, but the bootloader unlock was achieved 2+ years after the phone's release, and most of the active developers moved on to new phones before that happened.
good luck
Hi there,
I have a rooted Verizon S5 Developer Edition (CID 15, if it matters) running Android 4.4.4 (NK2, bootloader NCG). I am trying to get this phone up-to-date, with root, on at least the newest VZW stock Android release for now, and probably LineageOS in the future.
I’ve been spending hours searching through the forums trying to understand what is the deal with the bootloader requirements for these newer Android versions, and I’m stumped. In this QL1 thread it’s said that the bootloader doesn’t ever need to be changed to install a newer OS version, and LineageOS doesn’t mention anything about needing to do bootloader updates in its installation instructions. However, the ROMs from jrkruse with full installation instructions, like their QA1 ROM, clearly state that the bootloader “MUST BE ON PD1+”.
Can someone please clarify this apparent contradiction for me, so I know the correct way to proceed? I’ve tried reading through the hundreds of pages of comments on those threads as well as the bootloader unlocking thread, and there’s so much noise that I’ve been unable to find the answer, if it already exists.
Also, I know this is kind of an academic point, but if it’s true that the bootloader does need updating, is there a way to get an updated bootloader without changing the phone’s CID, since it is already an unlocked Dev Edition phone? (Search results are absolutely overwhelmed with people talking about “make your S5 a Dev Edition S5” so I have been unable to find any information about the actual Dev Edition phones.) The SamsungCID code seems to append a hard-coded blob of data onto the end of any bootloader; is this really all that needs to be done? The extra data at the end of my original NCG bootloader is 668 bytes, not 256 bytes, so it’s not obvious to me if it really is enough to just copy it straight over.
Thank you!
1CDT said:
Hi there, I have a rooted Verizon S5 Developer Edition (CID 15, if it matters) running Android 4.4.4 (NK2, bootloader NCG)..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you've got a G900V device, with a CID15, you are able to unlock the bootloader. The following threads OP provides the instructions for unlocking the bootloader.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3561529
From there you will be able to install TWRP Recovery and thus install a Custom Firmware like LineageOS.
Regarding the updates, the G900V is the only GS5 variant that doesn't require the Bootloader to be updated. Regarding the Firmware Baseband Modem Updates, the following thread provides them all that you can flash via Odin.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3926673
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless asked to do so, PLEASE don't PM me regarding support. Sent using The ClaRetoX2 Forum App on my Sanyo Juno device.
Hi Ibuprophen,
Thank you for your help!
Ibuprophen said:
Since you've got a G900V device, with a CID15, you are able to unlock the bootloader. The following threads OP provides the instructions for unlocking the bootloader. […]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone already has a TWRP recovery installed, and is a Dev Edition phone so the bootloader is factory unlocked. As such, my understanding is that those unlocking instructions don’t apply unless I need a newer bootloader. Is this correct?
Ibuprophen said:
Regarding the updates, the G900V is the only GS5 variant that doesn't require the Bootloader to be updated. […]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It’s interesting to hear that the G900V is the only variant which doesn’t require the bootloader to be updated along with the system and baseband software, since the other threads I linked with the bootloader requirement are also G900V-specific. Do you know it’s not the case because you’ve personally used an Android 6+ ROM with a pre-PD1 bootloader? I know I could just flash the new ROM to Try It And See, but I’m hoping to avoid wasting time and energy on something that other experienced people know won’t work.
Thanks again!
1CDT said:
Hi Ibuprophen, Thank you for your help! The phone already has a TWRP recovery installed, and is a Dev Edition phone so the bootloader is factory unlocked..........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only stated that the Bootloader doesn't have to be updated for the G900V device.
The Baseband Modem Firmware does require updates (as their released).
Though, it's not harmful to this device to flash the Bootloader, it won't do anything different and you'll actually end up locking the bootloader again and have to go through the process of unlocking it.
The Verizon variant just passes on the same Bootloader image from one Firmware to the next one. This is just a Verizon thing and they don't make sense for allot of what they do.
If you want to update the Bootloader, that's, of course, up to you...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless asked to do so, PLEASE don't PM me regarding support. Sent using The ClaRetoX2 Forum App on my Sanyo Juno device.
So I will keep working on this, but I can’t currently verify that the bootloader doesn’t need to be updated on SM-G900V, based on the work I did today. So far I can only verify that LineageOS will boot and work with an NCG bootloader, except for some bug where it destroys data in the EFS partition which I suppose is not actually bootloader-related
First, after backing everything up in TWRP, I started with the baseband modem and firmware updates to QL1. The steps for this were:
1. Boot into download mode (vol dn + home + power)
2. Run heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --BOOT boot.img --no-reboot using the files from the stock QL1 image (any of them will do)
3. Hold power button to turn off phone
4. Pull battery
5. Boot into download mode
6. Verify that “Current Binary” is ”Samsung Official”
7. Run heimdall flash --MODEM modem.bin --APNHLOS NON-HLOS.bin --RPM rpm.mbn --SBL1 sbl1.mbn --DBI sdi.mbn --TZ tz.mbn using the files from the stock QL1 image (or from the baseband firmware thread, they are the same)
8. Hold power button to turn off phone
9. Pull battery
10. Boot phone back into download mode
11. Run heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp.img to reinstall TWRP
12. Hold power button to turn off phone
13. Boot into recovery (vol up + home + power) to verify the flash and to ensure it doesn’t get erased
14. Reboot to system
This caused every application to crash on boot in the already-installed NK2 system ROM. I don’t know if I did something wrong, or if they are just incompatible; I did wipe cache and dalvik cache from TWRP, but that didn’t make things work. (I had the same problem when I had to roll back everything later; more on that in a bit.)
Since everything suddenly was broken, I assumed that the baseband update must have been successful (I later verified in LineageOS that it was indeed successful), so I followed the LineageOS instructions to sideload LineageOS and Open GApps from TWRP. This was successful and the OS installed and booted to the setup wizard.
The first problem I encountered at this point was that the mobile network wasn’t connecting during the setup wizard. I skipped this step of the wizard and continued on to configuring the OS settings. Eventually the mobile network connected while I was doing that.
When I started installing apps, I noticed that it took a very long time to receive SMS from the network. Upon investigation I discovered that LineageOS was using legacy CDMA for voice and SMS. I did research and discovered that LineageOS does not, and apparently never will, support VoLTE on klte. Since this is a non-starter for me (Verizon will be LTE-only by the end of next year, so I have no idea how LineageOS klte will exist at that point) I opted to wipe and load stock QL1.
While preparing to load stock QL1, I restarted the phone accidentally, and noticed that I’d permanently lost mobile network connectivity. I tried restoring my EFS backup from TWRP; this didn’t seem to fix the problem. I was going to install stock QL1 system anyway due to the VoLTE problem so I didn’t think about it any more.
At this point I followed these steps to flash stock QL1:
1. Boot to download mode
2. Run heimdall --BOOT boot.img --SYSTEM system.img --no-reboot using files from the stock QL1 image
3. Turn off phone
4. Reboot to recovery
5. Wipe data, cache, dalvik cache
6. Reboot to system
After 15 minutes at the Verizon logo while the dalvik cache was built, the setup wizard started and mobile network connection was working and I was able to complete initial setup for stock QL1. However, the system was not OK:
1. Wifi would not enable
2. The back and menu buttons did not work
3. When the phone locked, after a while, the notification LED turned red and the phone wouldn’t respond to any button presses (I had to pull the battery; this happened multiple times)
At this point I needed a working phone, so I found an NK2 stock image (this was difficult because all the links on xda-developers are dead and sammobile wants money for these old versions, so someone might want to reupload these!) and ran these steps to roll back:
1. The same steps above for installing the baseband modem and firmware, except using NK2 images and firmware
2. Boot to recovery
3. Wipe data, cache, dalvik cache
4. Restore NK2 TWRP backups of System, Boot, Data, EFS
5. Reboot to system
Instead of being fully restored, every app was crashing on boot again, like when I had updated the QL1 firmware and rebooted into the old NK2 system. I was finally able to get my full backup restored successfully by following these extra steps:
1. Boot to TWRP
2. Wipe Data
3. Reboot to system, until the setup wizard starts
4. Turn off the phone without running the wizard
5. Boot to TWRP
6. Restore Data
7. Reboot to system, everything is OK now
The hard buttons and wifi problem are noted by @jrkruse on the unlocking the bootloader thread. I had to get my phone back in a working state for tomorrow so I didn’t try the instructions to reflash the PD1 boot+recovery+firmware. I’m not actually sure if it’s correct today to reflash PD1 firmware instead of QL1 firmware; clarity here would be helpful. If anyone also sees a clear mistake in the steps I outlined above, I would be grateful to know that.
If I can’t get stock QL1 to not be broken, and it’s due to the bootloader requirement, then I guess I am stuck unless I start messing with the bootloader (given the “We still are unsure if changing the CID causes app store, verification, activation, provision, or other issues, everything you do is at your own risk!” warning, this means me trying to transplant my dev signature onto the EMMC 15 bootloaders even though my signature is a different size). I’m pretty terrified of doing that since there’s conflicting information about whether it’s possible to flash an old bootloader once you’ve upgraded past certain versions, and I haven’t learned yet how bricked the phone becomes if a bad bootloader is flashed. I know it’s not possible to flash old bootloaders on a retail device; is that true on Dev Edition devices too?
Thanks again for your help! I wish I had more positive news.
1CDT said:
Hi there,
I have a rooted Verizon S5 Developer Edition (CID 15, if it matters) running Android 4.4.4 (NK2, bootloader NCG). I am trying to get this phone up-to-date, with root, on at least the newest VZW stock Android release for now, and probably LineageOS in the future.
I’ve been spending hours searching through the forums trying to understand what is the deal with the bootloader requirements for these newer Android versions, and I’m stumped. In this QL1 thread it’s said that the bootloader doesn’t ever need to be changed to install a newer OS version, and LineageOS doesn’t mention anything about needing to do bootloader updates in its installation instructions. However, the ROMs from jrkruse with full installation instructions, like their QA1 ROM, clearly state that the bootloader “MUST BE ON PD1+”.
Can someone please clarify this apparent contradiction for me, so I know the correct way to proceed? I’ve tried reading through the hundreds of pages of comments on those threads as well as the bootloader unlocking thread, and there’s so much noise that I’ve been unable to find the answer, if it already exists.
Also, I know this is kind of an academic point, but if it’s true that the bootloader does need updating, is there a way to get an updated bootloader without changing the phone’s CID, since it is already an unlocked Dev Edition phone? (Search results are absolutely overwhelmed with people talking about “make your S5 a Dev Edition S5” so I have been unable to find any information about the actual Dev Edition phones.) The SamsungCID code seems to append a hard-coded blob of data onto the end of any bootloader; is this really all that needs to be done? The extra data at the end of my original NCG bootloader is 668 bytes, not 256 bytes, so it’s not obvious to me if it really is enough to just copy it straight over.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I'm the guy who did the bootloader unlock. It's kind of a complicated situation, upgrading bootloaders after having an unlocked retail bootloader. The issue is that once you have a dev device (CID + matching RSA signature, the extra 256 bytes), the bootloader write-protects the eMMC where aboot lives. Normally, if we wanted to upgrade the bootloader and maintain our unlocked bootloader, we'd grab the new bootloader, append our dev blob/signature, and just flash to the aboot partition.
The only way to get the newest bootloader is to flash the latest stock ROM (which locks your bootloader), and then unlock it again by rooting and appending the dev blob. I'm not sure if the latest ROMs can be rooted or not since I don't play with my S5 very often. You don't have to change the CID ever again. If you have a real dev device (you purchased it from Samsung as unlocked, not using our exploit), you will want to back up your device signature by just making a copy of the aboot partition. If this is the case for you, you can feel free to send me your aboot partition, and I'll carve out the signature that you need.
It's more so a limitation of the bootloader trying to prevent people from accidentally re-locking the bootloader. When Samsung signs the real dev device bootloaders, the dev blob/sig is apart of the code being signed, which means we can flash that in Odin while retaining your unlocked bootloader. We don't want to use an ancient bootloader, so this isn't useful. You can PM me if you want and I can walk you through the process, but it's pretty complicated so I feel better not posting the whole process and having people possibly brick their devices.
TL;DR
Just send me a PM and I'll walk you through everything. Don't flash or change anything if you have Developer Edition device that you purchased directly from Samsung. We want to preserve your device-unique "key".