Are their other Custom Recoveries than TWRP - Shield Android TV Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Alas with the upcoming Update, on Monday I find myself in a plexing place on how to reinstall SuperSU once more via a TRWP that just terminates on a Black Screen on my 4k TV.
I had thought to try patching though my Computer Monitor via a HDMI to DVI Connector. And, allthough it does work well enough once fully booted. There is not a chance in Hell of it liting up for TWRP, or even the Bootloader for that matter.
While TWRP may we'll be the best recovery I was wondering if anyone has ever bothered to port a different Recovery to the Shield (e.g. Philz, ClockworkMod etc..)
Just as an aside would any of these other Recoveries suffer from the same bug? It would be a PItA if I had to wait a week before I went to visit my Old Man just to go though the motion (and embarrassment), of having to flash SuperSU on his FHD TV again.

While this doesn't exactly answer your question, TWRP does have a CLI. Once installed and in TWRP recovery, and connected via ADB, I believe all you have to do is issue the TWRP command to see it's listing of features and other commands. I've flashed su and other .zips to my shield this way a few times.
Here's the relevant link and documentation.
https://test.twrp.me/doc/openrecoveryscript.html
So, example would be
adb shell
twrp install /sdcard/SuperSU.zip

Are those commands to be sent via ADB, or Fastboot, or something totally other again?
~crap... I spent way to much time trying to fix the Old Man's GPS (WinCE) Device. I can't read any more lol.
Ok I think I managed to get as far as ...
Code:
# twrp install /sdcard/SuperSU.zip
TWRP does not appear to be running. Waiting for TWRP to start . . .
I can only suspect that it's hanging on the Permissions change Switch that you have to swipe though before actually getting into TRWP.
It may or may not be helping that I'm also loading TWRP off of the /sdcard/ instead of bricking my recovery fully by installing it outright.
NOT that it would kill the Shield off or anything as drastic as this. But I doubt I'll ever see the recovery again. Lol to heck with 4k!

Ok so I went back and, actually installed TWRP as the Shield's Recovery. And now it's working. So if I have to reinstall SuperSU, as I suspect I'll will after tomorrow's Update to Nougat. Then I should hopefully be able to reinstall SuperSU though the ADB Shell (as above)...
Again thank you kindly a signed a 4k'er!

Related

Device Encryption and Root

Hi everyone,
it's my first post on the xda-developers forum, so if the kind of my posting mismatches any rules, please let me know!
I'm using this forum for quite long time now, but so far all of my questions were answered by search & read... Some weeks ago I had another question, for which I colun't find an explicit answer yet. So based on some hints from different sources (thanks to google!) I did some experiments aka try and error and would like to share my experience with you (to give something back to the comunity, who helped me a lot in the past) and see whether I finally found the answere to my question... So please let me know, whether it worked for you as well or whether you know a different / better way to solve this kind of problem.
As usual: Use this guide at your own risk!
Problem statement:
I wanted to have my SM-P900 (stock rom) both rooted and encrypted (using device encryption). I've already done this for GT-I9100 (Galaxy S II) and GT-I9192 (Galaxy S4 Duo) in the past and it worked like a charme. But for some reason I couldn't get it working on the SM-P900...
Trial log (for short version see below):
I have successfully rooted this device via the CF-Auto-Root method by Chainfire (many thanks for the greate job!). When I later tried to activate the device entcryption, it first looked like the process has started (I got a black screen with a green android manikin), but after some time (~1min) the device just re-started and booted in normal mode. I tried it several times with the same end of story - no success, no harm either.
After some time of googling I found a hint, that on KitKat devices Superuser should be temporarily de-activated in order to get the device encryption starting properly and activate it after the encryption process has finished. So I tried that and indeed, this time the encryption process started after the reboot. I let it finish and after a reboot it looked like I was where I wanted to be at. But then I realized that I wasn't able to activate the Superuser back (SuperSU said "Can't find the su binary... You need to restore it manually" or something similar). Damned! I thought "OK, let's try CF-Auto-Root again". The root process itself seemed to work, but after that the device just hang at boot... Soft-brick... :crying:
Taking a more deeper look at the script source of an Update-Super-SU package from Chainfire I realized that it also does some writes to the /data partition. Well, I guess this broke the partition, since it was encrypted... (If anyone has a better explanation for this, please let me know!)
So everything back to the start: I flashed the stock rom, did a factory reset and re-ran CF-Auto-Root... Now the device was operating properly and was rooted, but no encryption. Before starting another try of encryption, I wanted verify that the temoprary un-root wasn't broken by the encryption. So I did a temorary un-root (by removing the tick at the option "Activate Superuser" in SuperSu settings) and then activated it back right away. This worked fine. I rebooted (just to confirm everything is still working) and Superuser still worked as expected. Then (to try one more thing) I "de-activated" su again and rebooted. Trying to activate it back after the reboot, I realized that I now was at the same situation as just after the encryption, but without the encryption. I.e. the problem was not the encryption itself, but kind of a bug in SuperSU - it was not able to activate su back after a reboot (I'll try to check it via a bug report to Chainfire).
So I digged a bit deeper into this and realized that SuperSU was simply deleting the su binary in /system/xbin on de-activation and writing it back on activation. And it looked like it wasn't able to write it back after a reboot (probably because of missing permission).
Knowing that, I decided to go a step further: I flashed the TWRP (many thanks to the TeamWin guys!), booted into recovery, mounted /system and copied the su binary manually to /system/xbin. After a reboot I tried once again open SuperSU, but it still said, it couldn't find the su binary. Hmmm... There must be something more... Having another look at the script source of the Update-Super-SU package I found that at the end it was calling the su binary with the option "-install". So I booted back to recovery and tried that as well... Hurra!!! After a reboot SuperSU was finally starting and the root-apps were able to get su access... So this seemed to be the desired solution.
I deactivated su again, rebooted and started the encryption. It ran and finished successfully, as expected. After that I booted to recovery and installed su manually, as I've done it before... Reboot... finger crossed... Tadaa!!! System is back, encrypted and root is working! :good:
Solution approach:
Device is not rooted and not encypted (if already rooted, scip 2; if already encrypted, decrypt or do a factory-reset - don't try CF-Auto-Root on an encrypted device, it'll soft-brick)
Root the device (e.g. using Auto-Root-CF by Chainfire (it'll trigger the Knox-counter)
Temporarily un-root the device (when using SuperSU: go to Settings and remove the tick at the option "Activate Superuser")
Reboot
Activate the device encryption (the battery must be at least at 80% and the device must be plugged in the wall charger)
The device will restart after a short period of time and start the encryption (this will take some time, but you should see a progress bar indicating how far it is)
After the encryption is finished the device will reboot and ask for the password, just log in
If not yet done, flash a custom recovery where you have a console access or can use ADB as root (I used TWRP)
Boot into recovery
Mount /system (it's not mounted automatically, at least not in the version I used - TWRP 2.7.1.0).
Open the console or ADB shell
Copy the su binary (if you use SuperSU: cp /system/xbin/daemonsu /system/xbin/su)
Execute the installation (if you use SuperSU: /system/xbin/su --install)
Reboot
You should be done
Thank you for the info and the simple steps. I was considering something similar to what you wanted with your device.
bruzzy,
I've followed your steps and managed to re-enable SuperSU after encryption! (used twrp)
Thank you!!!!!
Hello Bruzzy,
Thanks so much for the awesome post!
I am just having difficulty with the final steps. I am a complete newbie in regards to rooting and using these android tools.
Everything else was quite clear in your post except for these final steps.
Could you please simply a bit more step by step how I proceed to do the final steps listed below?
[*]Mount /system (it's not mounted automatically, at least not in the version I used - TWRP 2.7.1.0).
[*]Open the console or ADB shell
[*]Copy the su binary (if you use SuperSU: cp /system/xbin/daemonsu /system/xbin/su)
[*]Execute the installation (if you use SuperSU: /system/xbin/su --install)
[*]Reboot
Thanks so much!
EndlessAdventurer
bruzzy said:
Hi everyone,
it's my first post on the xda-developers forum, so if the kind of my posting mismatches any rules, please let me know!
I'm using this forum for quite long time now, but so far all of my questions were answered by search & read... Some weeks ago I had another question, for which I colun't find an explicit answer yet. So based on some hints from different sources (thanks to google!) I did some experiments aka try and error and would like to share my experience with you (to give something back to the comunity, who helped me a lot in the past) and see whether I finally found the answere to my question... So please let me know, whether it worked for you as well or whether you know a different / better way to solve this kind of problem.
As usual: Use this guide at your own risk!
Problem statement:
I wanted to have my SM-P900 (stock rom) both rooted and encrypted (using device encryption). I've already done this for GT-I9100 (Galaxy S II) and GT-I9192 (Galaxy S4 Duo) in the past and it worked like a charme. But for some reason I couldn't get it working on the SM-P900...
Trial log (for short version see below):
I have successfully rooted this device via the CF-Auto-Root method by Chainfire (many thanks for the greate job!). When I later tried to activate the device entcryption, it first looked like the process has started (I got a black screen with a green android manikin), but after some time (~1min) the device just re-started and booted in normal mode. I tried it several times with the same end of story - no success, no harm either.
After some time of googling I found a hint, that on KitKat devices Superuser should be temporarily de-activated in order to get the device encryption starting properly and activate it after the encryption process has finished. So I tried that and indeed, this time the encryption process started after the reboot. I let it finish and after a reboot it looked like I was where I wanted to be at. But then I realized that I wasn't able to activate the Superuser back (SuperSU said "Can't find the su binary... You need to restore it manually" or something similar). Damned! I thought "OK, let's try CF-Auto-Root again". The root process itself seemed to work, but after that the device just hang at boot... Soft-brick... :crying:
Taking a more deeper look at the script source of an Update-Super-SU package from Chainfire I realized that it also does some writes to the /data partition. Well, I guess this broke the partition, since it was encrypted... (If anyone has a better explanation for this, please let me know!)
So everything back to the start: I flashed the stock rom, did a factory reset and re-ran CF-Auto-Root... Now the device was operating properly and was rooted, but no encryption. Before starting another try of encryption, I wanted verify that the temoprary un-root wasn't broken by the encryption. So I did a temorary un-root (by removing the tick at the option "Activate Superuser" in SuperSu settings) and then activated it back right away. This worked fine. I rebooted (just to confirm everything is still working) and Superuser still worked as expected. Then (to try one more thing) I "de-activated" su again and rebooted. Trying to activate it back after the reboot, I realized that I now was at the same situation as just after the encryption, but without the encryption. I.e. the problem was not the encryption itself, but kind of a bug in SuperSU - it was not able to activate su back after a reboot (I'll try to check it via a bug report to Chainfire).
So I digged a bit deeper into this and realized that SuperSU was simply deleting the su binary in /system/xbin on de-activation and writing it back on activation. And it looked like it wasn't able to write it back after a reboot (probably because of missing permission).
Knowing that, I decided to go a step further: I flashed the TWRP (many thanks to the TeamWin guys!), booted into recovery, mounted /system and copied the su binary manually to /system/xbin. After a reboot I tried once again open SuperSU, but it still said, it couldn't find the su binary. Hmmm... There must be something more... Having another look at the script source of the Update-Super-SU package I found that at the end it was calling the su binary with the option "-install". So I booted back to recovery and tried that as well... Hurra!!! After a reboot SuperSU was finally starting and the root-apps were able to get su access... So this seemed to be the desired solution.
I deactivated su again, rebooted and started the encryption. It ran and finished successfully, as expected. After that I booted to recovery and installed su manually, as I've done it before... Reboot... finger crossed... Tadaa!!! System is back, encrypted and root is working! :good:
Solution approach:
Device is not rooted and not encypted (if already rooted, scip 2; if already encrypted, decrypt or do a factory-reset - don't try CF-Auto-Root on an encrypted device, it'll soft-brick)
Root the device (e.g. using Auto-Root-CF by Chainfire (it'll trigger the Knox-counter)
Temporarily un-root the device (when using SuperSU: go to Settings and remove the tick at the option "Activate Superuser")
Reboot
Activate the device encryption (the battery must be at least at 80% and the device must be plugged in the wall charger)
The device will restart after a short period of time and start the encryption (this will take some time, but you should see a progress bar indicating how far it is)
After the encryption is finished the device will reboot and ask for the password, just log in
If not yet done, flash a custom recovery where you have a console access or can use ADB as root (I used TWRP)
Boot into recovery
Mount /system (it's not mounted automatically, at least not in the version I used - TWRP 2.7.1.0).
Open the console or ADB shell
Copy the su binary (if you use SuperSU: cp /system/xbin/daemonsu /system/xbin/su)
Execute the installation (if you use SuperSU: /system/xbin/su --install)
Reboot
You should be done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@EndlessAdventurer,
I'm sorry, but I don't know, what you mean with "more step by step". There are no more steps in between, the steps are as granular as possible. If you use TWRP, there is a menu "Mount" (go there and tick /system) - you should have seen it already (if not, have a look at the TWRP documentation). But you could also mount your system from the console or ADB shell.
If you don't know, what "mount", "console" or "ADB" is and are not able to use google to lern it yourself, then you should really not use this guide and even avoid rooting your device...
Beeing a newbie is not an excuse, it's completely up to you to spend some time and change this!
Please avoid quoting the whole post! If you want to reference some part of a post, pick only the relevant part and quote that.
Alternative Method
Hi,
I have used another method that also works. It worked with my Galaxy S4, Note 10.1 and now with Note Pro. Hope this can help:
1-Root your device and install/update SuperSu;
2-Convert SuperSu to system app (there is an option in SU config). Reboot.
-OBS: If your root method has already installed SuperSu as a system app, this step can be skipped;
3-As SuperSu is now a system app, it can be deactivated through Applications Management in settings. Deactivate it;
-OBS: does NOT use deactivate in SU own config;
4- Reboot in Safe Mode. This can be done pressing both Volume Up/Down while rebooting;
5-Start encryption the normal way and wait until it finishes. Enter your password and wait device boot normally;
6-Go to Applications Management in settings and activate SuperSu;
7-Reboot one more time and your system is encrypted with SuperSu working normally.
I was able to follow all of the posted solutions through but for some reason my phone insists on just booting back into Android instead of actually encrypting my phone. Any ideas?
I have a SM-G900T, TWRP, SuperSU
m33rkat said:
I was able to follow all of the posted solutions through but for some reason my phone insists on just booting back into Android instead of actually encrypting my phone. Any ideas?
I have a SM-G900T, TWRP, SuperSU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is some more things that you can try with the solution I´ve posted:
1-Put original recovery instead of TWRP. I have never tried to encrypt with custom recovery;
2-When you boot in "Safe Mode", go to Application Management, running applications and stop as much processes as you can (do not stop google services).
OBS: To ensure that you have booted in Safe Mode, look at the bottom left corner of the screen an see if it shows “Safe Mode”.
rooting and encrpytion
The alternative method worked like charm....Thanks guys
NB:My tab got soft bricked after I did the factory reset and tried to root. I had to install a stock rom b4 proceeding with the guide.
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just ran into this issue for the first time. (Thanks for posting this, btw, it's encrypting as we speak). A couple questions....what happens if we apply an OTA update after doing this? Will that cause any problems when we try to re-root it? I'm guessing after doing this CF Auto root won't be much of an option without soft bricking, right? I can always install custom recovery and fix root manually after an OTA. I'm just wondering what happens when (you know, some year) we eventually get 5.0. Thanks again!
To be on the safe side, I always unencrypt my device before a FW update with ODIN or Kies or OTA, because I root again after the update.
If you use OTA or Kies you can do the update with the device encrypted, BUT, as you are going to root again, when you install CFAutoroot your device won´t boot, because of the difference in kernel. This is the reason that I unencrypt before FW updates and proceed with encryption again after I check that everything is working as expected.
I may just fully unroot it temporarily, install the update, and then root after with custom recovery. We shall see. I suspect since we're still on 4.4.2 on the Note 10.1 2014 I got quite some time before I have to worry about it. LOL
P.S. I asked because 5.0 is going to turn encryption on by default, so decrypting may not be an option going forward.
After hours of trying to get encryption an root at the same time for my Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014), temporary disabling SuperSU just worked. Thanks! :good: (I even could skip the part with copying the su binary, probably chainfire has fixed the bug. Just tried enabling SuperSU did it perfectly.)
Hi there
I'm facing a similar problem like you on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 LTE.
I have my device:
- rooted
- twrp recovery installed
- run custom ROM
However even when I disable SuperSU and reboot the device and then start encrypting. I only see the Android Logo and no progress. AFter a while (10 minutes or so), it reboots the tab and I end ab at screen lock login and devices is not encrypted. Any ideas?
Thank you for your great effort to help!
But, none of the methods, including the alternative from Nickfreedom did not help me...
I have a Sony Xperia Z1 with rooted Lollipop and SuperSU.
I tried to kill daemonsu with ADB before encrypting, I tried to disable the SuperSU app and I always booted into safe mode before starting encryption.
Nothing helped.
In previous times I had Xposed framework on my device, but as far as I can see, Xposed framework is no longer on my device, I installed a fresh, clean Sony ROM from scratch, I think this has erased Xposed.
Does anyone has a hint?
Thanks to everyone for the posts on this topic. I too have struggled to get my Sprint Note 4 to encrypt after rooting. I was able to encrypt with the stock unrooted ROM but I flashed the Noterized ROM and was not able to get encryption to work. I have verified the following:
1) Busybox is installed and is the latest version
2) SuperSU is deactivated. I tried this through terminal emulator and also the process defined in this thread within the SuperSU app itself. I also verified through Root Checker that SU was not active.
3) Tried in normal and safe mode with the same result
I am getting the Android screen for a few minutes and then the phone reboots. Each time I was hoping to see the encryption start but it just reboots the phone and never works. I am at a total loss for what could be causing this as the reason is beyond my capability. If anyone has ideas let me know because I am willing to try anything.
As a longshot I tried to flash back to stock ROM and encrypt which worked fine. I then tried to flash the Noterized ROM back on the phone and that didn't work. I froze on the Sprint yellow screen of death for over 6 hours.
Simplified steps for rooting &encrypting your device.
Thanks Bruzzy, I took your instructions and applied them to the Note 4. I also simplified them. I will make a universal instructions set for pretty much ALL DEVICES! Will let you guys know here when i take the time to do that.
Here is the SIMPLIFIED INSTRUCTIONS:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/not...sk-encryption-root-easy-steps-how-to-t3197425
bruzzy said:
Solution approach:
Device is not rooted and not encypted (if already rooted, scip 2; if already encrypted, decrypt or do a factory-reset - don't try CF-Auto-Root on an encrypted device, it'll soft-brick)
Root the device (e.g. using Auto-Root-CF by Chainfire (it'll trigger the Knox-counter)
Temporarily un-root the device (when using SuperSU: go to Settings and remove the tick at the option "Activate Superuser")
Reboot
Activate the device encryption (the battery must be at least at 80% and the device must be plugged in the wall charger)
The device will restart after a short period of time and start the encryption (this will take some time, but you should see a progress bar indicating how far it is)
After the encryption is finished the device will reboot and ask for the password, just log in
If not yet done, flash a custom recovery where you have a console access or can use ADB as root (I used TWRP)
Boot into recovery
Mount /system (it's not mounted automatically, at least not in the version I used - TWRP 2.7.1.0).
Open the console or ADB shell
Copy the su binary (if you use SuperSU: cp /system/xbin/daemonsu /system/xbin/su)
Execute the installation (if you use SuperSU: /system/xbin/su --install)
Reboot
You should be done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve your problem whit encryption on t805 ?
sjau said:
Hi there
I'm facing a similar problem like you on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 LTE.
I have my device:
- rooted
- twrp recovery installed
- run custom ROM
However even when I disable SuperSU and reboot the device and then start encrypting. I only see the Android Logo and no progress. AFter a while (10 minutes or so), it reboots the tab and I end ab at screen lock login and devices is not encrypted. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve your problem whit encryption on t805 ?
I have the same problem on T800 on 5.0.2.
On 4.4 encryption whit CFroot works good, but on 5.0.2 its not work
Vitaly_G said:
Did you solve your problem whit encryption on t805 ?
I have the same problem on T800 on 5.0.2.
On 4.4 encryption whit CFroot works good, but on 5.0.2 its not work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys,
there is an alternative instruction from Nickfreedom in my original thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54679223&postcount=6
I used for several devices and it works like charme (and is much simpler)...
Hey guys this is probably a dumb question but what is the advantage of encryption and does it matter if the knox is tripped since these notes are out of warranty or is it due to resale? I found a cf autoroot link that supposedly wont trip knox which is the odin method since towelroot wont work.

[Q] Can someone help me resolve a root access issue?

I have a Advent Tegra Note 7
Upgraded to kitkat and OTA 2.4.1
Used Tomsgt supertool 2.4.1 tool to root, installed TWRP (and made a backup image of my freshly installed system)
I've since added some games and apps and spent a fair bit of time customizing the system, but when I attempt to run Titanium Backup it tells freezes when "asking for root rights" so I ran "root checker basic" from playstore, which tells me I don't appear to have proper root access..
Here's a break down of what I've done, I've tried to keep it conscise...
I have tried installing a SuperSU, SuperUser and SU Update fixer, Also reinstalling the SuperSU-v1.94.zip using both cwm and twrp... Still no proper root access.
Ideally I'd like to try some other things to get root access before reflashing and having to reinstall my apps and settings, can anyone help or suggest anything else I could do.? I can't think of anything I could of accidentally done to break root access, this is still quite a clean system just setup in the past two days.
P.S.When using the supertool impacter tool and scan for usb driver I get a "no such device" error, even though the device is listed in the previous screens.. also I suspect the correct drivers are there as ADB seems to work fine
they flashing SuperSU-v1.99r4.zip from http://download.chainfire.eu/447/SuperSU/. I haven't had issues with root via either method.
If that fails you can use the n7root.img which is downloadable here: https://github.com/linux-shield/shield-root/blob/master/root_tn7.img?raw=true then go into fastboot mode and then type fastboot boot root_tn7.img. DO NOT USE FASTBOOT FLASH BOOT with this image as it will make it bootloop, just use fastboot boot command.
SOLVED
Thanks for the pointers hacktrix2006.. I tried supersu-v1.99r4.zip also v2 no luck. Had a quick look for how to get into fastboot mode.. couldn't access it from the bootloader.. so decided to take a backup image and restore to stock kitkat 4.4.2 via tomsgt latest tool 2.4.1 including doing Wipe data. then reinstalled TWRP then applied root.... AND noticed a screen saying something like ROOT ACCESS MAY BE FAULTY.. WOULD YOU LIKE TO FIX THIS.. I also think there was a warning about "be careful this action is irreversable" - I suspect the previous time I hadn't understood this properly and selected NO !! Anyway this time I said yes and now have ROOT YAY!
Now I start a re setup of the system and installation of apps etc.. I guess it's often a bit smoother 2nd (or 3rd 4th etc) time around
OK thx again for the encouragement, plus now I have a little more experience to offer someone else who may be struggling in this area.
no problem!

Why no root yet ?

First off I am not criticizing the amazing XDA developers here, and all the people that help make root and ROM's happen.
This is aimed at Essential the company themselves
I was under the impression the Essential Phone was sort of like a Pixel, or Nexus, or OnePlus type of phone. Meaning running a near stock Android OS, an unlocked device, easily rooted. For example when a new OnePlus phone is released, root is out super fast. But the reason the Essential Phone has not been rooted yet is because of Essential holding back the factory images on us still. I guess I have to ask why would Essential do this ? I thought they touted this phone as a open platform, very similar in idea to the old Nexus line ?
The Essential Phone has been out 2 months now, and the important files for rooting still have not been officially released to the public yet ? What's up with Essential holding back so long ?
https://ibb.co/mgaVcb Mine ist rooted
Z-Fire821 said:
https://ibb.co/mgaVcb Mine ist rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last I read was the boot image that was pulled didn't enable root with magisk and hadn't seen anything more from it. Did you have to do anything specifically?
Z-Fire821 said:
https://ibb.co/mgaVcb Mine ist rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interedasting.
It'd be great if you could provide further proof/instructions.
Thanks a bunch.
There was a thread about someone working on LOS earlier this week but now I don't see it. Can't remember the user's name but he said that he had TWRP (no touchscreen though) working on the ROM, and posted some screenies of it booted and invited anyone who wanted to develop to his Discord. The same person was over on the /essential thread too on reddit too but now I don't see that thread either.
The Essential staff did an AMA over there yesterday too but noone asked about releasing the source code to my knowledge. I'm not sure what's going on. They'd sell more phones if people knew they are ROM friendly.
*Found the thread here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/help/bootloader-root-t3695583
kchino said:
There was a thread about someone working on LOS earlier this week but now I don't see it. Can't remember the user's name but he said that he had TWRP (no touchscreen though) working on the ROM, and posted some screenies of it booted and invited anyone who wanted to develop to his Discord. The same person was over on the /essential thread too on reddit too but now I don't see that thread either. Maybe it was a Larp ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Essential staff did an AMA over there yesterday too but noone asked about releasing the source code to my knowledge. I'm not sure what's going on. They'd sell more phones if people knew they are ROM friendly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure the staff that did the AMA was just the design staff, not software staff. As soon as the files are released it will take about a day I bet for root. I remember seeing a thread on reddit that you are referring to as well. I think the people who can root it won't until the files are released. One **** up and they have a very expensive brick.
Thanks for the replies. So any idea as to when this source code image files will get released from Essential ? What's their holdup ?
Agreed, dicey proposition with no factory images.
We have devs working on it. Root has been achieved and there's a TWRP build but the touchscreen doesn't work you have to use a mouse to navigate. Also, there's no factory images yet to go back to stock in case of a problem. Once they iron out the issues I'm sure someone will release a guide.
Currently on the Nexus 6P, that's getting bad. I really want the Essential phone, but only if root comes out for sure, also ROM's would be great.
Otherwise I may just wait for the OnePlus 5T announcement, and if it's $500 go that route instead. At least the 5T will have good development
Z-Fire821 said:
https://ibb.co/mgaVcb Mine ist rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man how did u root?? I really wanna root
I rooted with this Guide from the Discord Server from bmg1001: "In order to flash Magisk, you'll need the Magisk zip, TWRP, the stock boot image, and A USB OTG MOUSE (used to control TWRP for the moment). Boot into the stock recovery and perform a factory reset, then reboot into the bootloader. You need to flash TWRP via "fastboot flash boot twrp-mata.img". Once flashed, you need to boot into TWRP via the bootloader menu. When you boot into TWRP, move the Magisk zip and stock boot image into the phone's storage. Then, flash the boot image within TWRP, then flash Magisk."
Z-Fire821 said:
I rooted with this Guide from the Discord Server from bmg1001: "In order to flash Magisk, you'll need the Magisk zip, TWRP, the stock boot image, and A USB OTG MOUSE (used to control TWRP for the moment). Boot into the stock recovery and perform a factory reset, then reboot into the bootloader. You need to flash TWRP via "fastboot flash boot twrp-mata.img". Once flashed, you need to boot into TWRP via the bootloader menu. When you boot into TWRP, move the Magisk zip and stock boot image into the phone's storage. Then, flash the boot image within TWRP, then flash Magisk."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you provide the file for TWRP and boot img?
drocny87 said:
Can you provide the file for TWRP and boot img?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just join the Discord Server and load it from there.
Z-Fire821 said:
I rooted with this Guide from the Discord Server from bmg1001: "In order to flash Magisk, you'll need the Magisk zip, TWRP, the stock boot image, and A USB OTG MOUSE (used to control TWRP for the moment). Boot into the stock recovery and perform a factory reset, then reboot into the bootloader. You need to flash TWRP via "fastboot flash boot twrp-mata.img". Once flashed, you need to boot into TWRP via the bootloader menu. When you boot into TWRP, move the Magisk zip and stock boot image into the phone's storage. Then, flash the boot image within TWRP, then flash Magisk."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 PM ----------
Z-Fire821 said:
Just join the Discord Server and load it from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the link to it?
ROOT
Guys, if you truly, truly want to root your device, follow these steps. Just remember, I am not responsible if you end up bricking your device (and neither are the main developers currently working on TWRP and Lineage). YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU DO ON YOUR OWN DEVICE! (also this probably voids warranty btw)
THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR NMJ20D.
Now, one more thing. Remember, this TWRP build is very much in alpha stages and there are some major bugs with it, including no touch support and no crypto. Also, when I rooted, I had to use my USB OTG Mouse in order to maneuver around TWRP, but with this method, hopefully anyone can do it, without the mouse. The boot.img I will provide is the NMJ20D boot.img with the patches that Magisk puts in when you install it, so it's not exactly stock. Also, you might need to factory reset your device via the stock recovery (and make sure not to boot it back up until after you flash Magisk) just in case, since TWRP is buggy with crypto atm.
You can find a dump of NMJ20D here, in case you need to fix a bootloop (due to a bad Substratum theme, etc...) -- (you'll likely need only boot_a.img and system_a.img (within the system_a.zip).
If you wish to return to stock in order to accept OTAs, feel free to flash the unofficial factory images here and, should OTAs still fail, you may be required to wipe your data, which can be done via "fastboot -w". (Side Note: I believe the script included within the unofficial factory images also flashes the firmware to both partitions, so if your fingerprint sensor is seemingly absent or not working, this might actually fix it, as it has for some custom ROMs on the Essential.
Anyways, lets get started!
Make sure to download Magisk v14.3 and the alpha build of TWRP. Also, make sure to grab my boot.img with the Magisk stuff in it. And of course, your bootloader must be unlocked.
1. Reboot your Essential into fastboot mode. Once in fastboot mode, flash TWRP via
Code:
fastboot flash boot twrp-mata.img
2. Then, from within the fastboot menu, go to "recovery mode" and select it. After TWRP has booted up, type
Code:
adb shell twrp sideload
and then
Code:
adb sideload magisk.zip
3. Once Magisk finishes installing completely, reboot back to fastboot. Now that you're back in fastboot, flash the boot.img I provided via the good ol' command
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot_a.img
4. Now reboot! You should now have root and stuff via Magisk!
Appreciate the root guide, guess I can pick one of these up now to play around with. Awesome!!
[
Anyways, lets get started!
Make sure to download Magisk v14.3 and the alpha build of TWRP. Also, make sure to grab my boot.img with the Magisk stuff in it. And of course,
2. Then, from within the fastboot menu, go to "recovery mode" and select it. After TWRP has booted up, type and then
3. Once Magisk finishes installing completely, reboot back to fastboot. Now that you're back in fastboot, flash the boot.img I provided via the good ol' command
4. Now reboot! You should now have root and stuff via Magisk![/QUOTE]
I followed the whole guide, got to the side loading, and I couldn't get magisk to side load..
shooterlgk said:
[
Anyways, lets get started!
Make sure to download Magisk v14.3 and the alpha build of TWRP. Also, make sure to grab my boot.img with the Magisk stuff in it. And of course,
2. Then, from within the fastboot menu, go to "recovery mode" and select it. After TWRP has booted up, type and then
3. Once Magisk finishes installing completely, reboot back to fastboot. Now that you're back in fastboot, flash the boot.img I provided via the good ol' command
4. Now reboot! You should now have root and stuff via Magisk!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the whole guide, got to the side loading, and I couldn't get magisk to side load..[/QUOTE]
What happens when you attempt to sideload Magisk? Does the adb sideload prompt on TWRP pop-up correctly after running "adb shell twrp sideload"?
bmg1001 said:
I followed the whole guide, got to the side loading, and I couldn't get magisk to side load..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happens when you attempt to sideload Magisk? Does the adb sideload prompt on TWRP pop-up correctly after running "adb shell twrp sideload"?[/QUOTE]
I should of took a picture cuz I can't remember but it does give me an error tho ..I'm gonna retry when I get home from work but I literally sat there for almost 3 hours attempting to root to no success

Fire TV 3 (needle/stark): TWRP

Disclaimer: If you go through with this and encounter issues, I (or the others here) will try to help you, but the risk is all yours.
I see a few posts mentioning TWRP for the AFTV3, so here it is for the pendant (needle): link. Extract twrp.img from the archive, copy it to /sdcard, and flash as follows:
Code:
adb shell
su
dd if=/sdcard/twrp.img of=/dev/block/recovery
Note: You will need a Y (OTG) cable to connect a mouse and/or a keyboard.
I have tested this on the pendant (needle), but it should also work for the cube (stark).
You can also boot or flash this from fastboot (reboot bootloader or run from aml_reboot in the root thread) if you so desire.
To enter recovery from a terminal running on the AFTV3:
Code:
reboot recovery
To enter recovery from ADB:
Code:
adb reboot recovery
For those interested, here's what I did:
-- Rather than build from scratch, I used an existing TWRP for Amlogic's S905X as the base. Quite a few of them are here.
-- You can't just use a random TWRP and expect it to work on the AFTV3 (due to hardware and partition mismatch). I first replaced (and repacked) the ramdisk with that from needle's boot image (using magiskboot).
-- While TWRP booted up, USB OTG was absent. Without OTG, TWRP is not of much use (w/o OTG, I used openrecoveryscript as a workaround). Turns out the random TWRP images lack the correct USB modules. I extracted the correct modules from the AFTV3, copied them to the TWRP image, and everything works.
If something doesn't work, please post here.
Great job, i flashed it from fastboot.
adb reboot bootloader (or install a app that will reboot into bootloader)
fastboot flash recovery C:\(this TWRP version)
Seems to be functional.
the old Firestick 1's you could control the mouse from a adb shell. I dont know how to make that functional for those without a OTG.
Confirmed, it works on the cube (stark) as well...
That's really a great job. As stated here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78958467&postcount=165 I (hopefully soft) bricked my pendant trying to install Google services. Now it just reboot at the white amazon logo. Ordered a OTG cable to test TWRP but was trying random versions. Now this confirmed woirking version is a life saver to me. Now I just have to find a way to remove the offending google service apk.
Thanks again.
Sorry to bother again.
I still have my pendant in bootloop (bad google service installation).
Tried OTG cable but using it doesnt let me go in fastboot mode and I dont know how to navigate in recovery without it.
Since now the pendant is rooted and can recover OTA files maybe my next attempt could be to try to find a .bin rom file and flash it using fastboot?
If so does anyone know if there is such a file yet (pre rooted version should be great)?
Thanks.
Does anyone know where to get the updated firetv3 roms? with TWRP now i would like to attempt updates.
Michajin said:
Does anyone know where to get the updated firetv3 roms? with TWRP now i would like to attempt updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None available yet, but there are a couple of methods by which we may obtain them.
The first one has some risk involved. you would have to re-enable OTA updates and allow the device the check for and download the current version
and then again disable the OTA update apps. Then pull a copy of the update from the device before clearing the cache.
I have noticed that as long as the device is busy, say running a sideloaded app, it will not initiate a downloaded update.
The second is dependent upon if the individual will help us. There is a member on this forum who has modified the DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk for OS 5
that allowed update check and download to stay enabled because the installation procedure was removed from the APK. So you could simply pull the
update from the cache at any time. I will pull a copy from OS 6 and post it today and see if he would be willing to assist.
I'm with you, I'd like to update mine as well after seeing some of the changes that have been posted.
2WhlWzrd said:
None available yet, but there are a couple of methods by which we may obtain them.
The first one has some risk involved. you would have to re-enable OTA updates and allow the device the check for and download the current version
and then again disable the OTA update apps. Then pull a copy of the update from the device before clearing the cache.
I have noticed that as long as the device is busy, say running a sideloaded app, it will not initiate a downloaded update.
The second is dependent upon if the individual will help us. There is a member on this forum who has modified the DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk for OS 5
that allowed update check and download to stay enabled because the installation procedure was removed from the APK. So you could simply pull the
update from the cache at any time. I will pull a copy from OS 6 and post it today and see if he would be willing to assist.
I'm with you, I'd like to update mine as well after seeing some of the changes that have been posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would the update fail anyway if I replaced Amazon recovery with TWRP?
Michajin said:
Would the update fail anyway if I replaced Amazon recovery with TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, TWRP would be over written by an OTA update.
2WhlWzrd said:
No, TWRP would be over written by an OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you sure about that? i just screwed up and was rooting my "tanks" and forgot to update one. Then i took the update, it ran the amazon update though open recovery TWRP and updated. Booted without issues, i know its a firestick2, but almost thinking i should test on a pendant...
Michajin said:
you sure about that? i just screwed up and was rooting my "tanks" and forgot to update one. Then i took the update, it ran the amazon update though open recovery TWRP and updated. Booted without issues, i know its a firestick2, but almost thinking i should test on a pendant...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a difference between writing outside of TWRP and with TWRP, it's hard to overwrite something that's doing the writing.
If you read in the first post of the tank rooting thread, the author explicitly states: "Only ever flash boot/recovery images using TWRP",
anything outside of that will not be root aware. Better to be safe, than sorry.
How may I get the "su". It said, I don't have permision.
eSephiroth said:
How may I get the "su". It said, I don't have permision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open Magisk Manager, Select the Menu in the top left corner.
In the sidebar navigate to "Superuser", you should see "com.android.shell".
Toggle the switch to right to enable it.
2WhlWzrd said:
Open Magisk Manager, Select the Menu in the top left corner.
In the sidebar navigate to "Superuser", you should see "com.android.shell".
Toggle the switch to right to enable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you didn't root the device, how can you have superuser?
eSephiroth said:
If you didn't root the device, how can you have superuser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assumed you were already rooted. Since you are not, start here:
[ROOT] Rooting the FireTV Cube and Pendant with FireFU
Anything from firmware 6.2.5.8 and up, the exploit has been patched.
This is the most complicated root method I have ever seen. Mine is 6.2.8. too bad.
eSephiroth said:
This is the most complicated root method I have ever seen. Mine is 6.2.8. too bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't the root thread. But yeah, it's the only thing we've got for these devices, so we make it work
Hi,
I was able to recover my Pendant using a finally working OTG cable and using mouse with your TWRP and finally delete the offending google.gsm app so thanks a lot for that.
The only thing I noticed is that adb doesn't work for me once booted into TWRP (I wanted to use adb backup to backup bigger partitions directly to my PC). Is that just my issue or it's happening for everyone?
Thanks.
Pino.
moving it to the right place.
anyone have interest in the update files? If i turn on my update, download the update, but before rebooting copy the .bin file to a different folder, delete from the cache folder then disable updates again. I can share the file if anyone wants it to see if we can modify to keep root and update? I am thinking i might download it, move it and change it to a .zip, then reboot into TWRP. Flash the update and flash magisk before a reboot. Anyone have thoughts about risk of a BRICK?

I keep loosing root after reboot, Pls help.

Hey guys,
first time posting here so i dont kow how to style the text, so sorry about that.
last time i rooted a phone was on my sony xperia sp , where all i had to do was to go to towelroot .com and click to root.
I tryed to root my OP6T yesterday, after some setbacks i managed to sucessfully do it.
I did it like this:
1. Downloaded full ROM of OOS 10.3.2,
2. copied the payload to a program called payload dumper that extracted the boot image.
3. Copied the boot image to the phone
4. opened Magisk manager and selected install from source where i chose the boot.img
5. it created a copy called magisk_patched.img
6. booted in fastboot
7. on my pc used the command prompt to "fastboot boot magisk_patched.img"
booted normally and i had root.
but then problem appeared
#Problem 1
everytime i rebooted my phone i would loose root and it would say Magisk not installed. To get it back i would need to perform step 7 again and it was not ideal to do that everytime i turned off my phone.
#Problem 2
While tryng to solve problem 1 i read that i needed to open magisk manager and "Install to Inactive Slot (After OTA)."
After doing that it rebooted but now it wont boot at all, even if i try to "fastboot boot magisk_patched.img" the cmd gives me error:
fastboot boot magisk_patched.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.838s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: unknown command)
finished. total time: 0.845s
now my phone is just sitting there i dont want to reset it again. it would be the 4th time that i need to set up my phone in 2 days, so im trying to see if there are alternatives.
If reset is really the only way, i read that with root you can make a full backup of your phone and then restore it. How to do that? can i do it in the situation im in?
How can i root my OP6T running OOS10.3.2, and keep it? Whats the right method bc the one i followed seemed flawed.
I also tried one that had TWRP but maybe i did something wrong bc it didnt work., also there is no official one working for 10.3.2.
What is happening is normal with those instructions (they aren't right).
All you need to do is install TWRP. Do not use the official one, it is out of date. Use TWRP from this thread Link here. The TWRP from that thread is from the official maintainer. It works fine with OOS 10.
- You need to get the phone in fully working order again. Which may mean you need to use the fastboot ROM, as you've probably "goofed" something up at this point. (no offense meant). Make sure your phone boots and such after this.
- For OOS 10 with the phone in fastboot, fastboot boot recoveryimgfilename.img (<-- For OOS 10 you will need TWRP 3.3.1-32 Q Unofficial by mauronofrio from the thread I linked to above) This will boot to TWRP.
- Now run TWRP 3.3.1-32 Unofficial Installer by mauronofrio this will install TWRP. The installer is the same for Android 9 and 10, doesn't matter.
- Once the installer runs, click back, choose reboot to recovery. If you boot to the system, you have to start over. Reboot to recovery!
- Install Magisk 20.3 <-- The current version. The official download page. After that you can reboot to the system. You should now have a rooted, phone with Magisk, and TWRP installed.
Any questions ask.
OhioYJ said:
What is happening is normal with those instructions (they aren't right).
All you need to do is install TWRP. Do not use the official one, it is out of date. Use TWRP from this thread Link here. The TWRP from that thread is from the official maintainer. It works fine with OOS 10.
- You need to get the phone in fully working order again. Which may mean you need to use the fastboot ROM, as you've probably "goofed" something up at this point. (no offense meant). Make sure your phone boots and such after this.
- For OOS 10 with the phone in fastboot, fastboot boot recoveryimgfilename.img (<-- For OOS 10 you will need TWRP 3.3.1-32 Q Unofficial by mauronofrio from the thread I linked to above) This will boot to TWRP.
- Now run TWRP 3.3.1-32 Unofficial Installer by mauronofrio this will install TWRP. The installer is the same for Android 9 and 10, doesn't matter.
- Once the installer runs, click back, choose reboot to recovery. If you boot to the system, you have to start over. Reboot to recovery!
- Install Magisk 20.3 <-- The current version. The official download page. After that you can reboot to the system. You should now have a rooted, phone with Magisk, and TWRP installed.
Any questions ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So getting it straight, i need to first reset my phone and then do the steps you described.
Can i backup the data first with TWRP to restore it later and avoid setting up everything again?
Davide1713 said:
So getting it straight, i need to first reset my phone and then do the steps you described.
Can i backup the data first with TWRP to restore it later and avoid setting up everything again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Supposedly. I've never used that function of TWRP. Some people have luck with, some people restore things that shouldn't be restored and end up having to wipe the phone again. Personally I just use TitaniumBackup like I always have. I would search for information on that in the TWRP thread if you want to try method. I don't know enough on that to provide solid information.
OhioYJ said:
Supposedly. I've never used that function of TWRP. Some people have luck with, some people restore things that shouldn't be restored and end up having to wipe the phone again. Personally I just use TitaniumBackup like I always have. I would search for information on that in the TWRP thread if you want to try method. I don't know enough on that to provide solid information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man,
Thank you so much. It worked and i stay rooted even after reboot.
May i ask how you use the Titanium Backup, i think back in the days all i used it for was uninstalling system apps. Or if you know some nice guides. If you know other good things to checkout now that i have root i would appreciate it, i have been far away from rooting for too long.
Once again thank you so much
Davide1713 said:
Hey man,
Thank you so much. It worked and i stay rooted even after reboot.
May i ask how you use the Titanium Backup, i think back in the days all i used it for was uninstalling system apps. Or if you know some nice guides. If you know other good things to checkout now that i have root i would appreciate it, i have been far away from rooting for too long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use it to back up app and app data primarily. It allows me to restore data to apps after a clean install. Since I have the Pro version it's just a batch action (one click essentially). There is also a way to create a flashable .zip you can use in TWRP, although I haven't tried that method, as I'm typically not restoring apps, just data. I also use it remove apps from time to time.
OhioYJ said:
I use it to back up app and app data primarily. It allows me to restore data to apps after a clean install. Since I have the Pro version it's just a batch action (one click essentially). There is also a way to create a flashable .zip you can use in TWRP, although I haven't tried that method, as I'm typically not restoring apps, just data. I also use it remove apps from time to time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, im sorry i am once again in need.
Idk why but at first i can reboot the system normally without issues. but after a while once i set up everything it just doesnt boot anymore. Am i missing something? do i have to do anything with magisk? download a module or something?
Could it be that google security update is the fault?
Davide1713 said:
Hey man, im sorry i am once again in need.
Idk why but at first i can reboot the system normally without issues. but after a while once i set up everything it just doesnt boot anymore. Am i missing something? do i have to do anything with magisk? download a module or something?
Could it be that google security update is the fault?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you installed everything originally did you fix everything with a clean install? Both slots are the same version of Android? (Like you don't have something weird going on like Android 9 on one and Android 10 on another?)
You definitely have something abnormal going on. There shouldn't be anything in Magisk that you have to do, at least not to prevent crashing. I normally hide it, but that has to do with keeping apps from detecting root.
OhioYJ said:
When you installed everything originally did you fix everything with a clean install? Both slots are the same version of Android? (Like you don't have something weird going on like Android 9 on one and Android 10 on another?)
You definitely have something abnormal going on. There shouldn't be anything in Magisk that you have to do, at least not to prevent crashing. I normally hide it, but that has to do with keeping apps from detecting root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it to boot by uninstalling magisk,
I am 100% sure i dont have two different version of android in different slots, bc yesterday i was in big trouble and nothing was working and i flashed on both slots the same version of android 10(dont remember exactly wich one as i tried a couple, but they were the same).
Today when i couldnt boot anymore i went into stock recovery, factory reset -> when it booted i placed the stockOS.zip file in the phone and applied update from local file -> after that i factory reset again from the system settings, so i think the phone should have installed it properly.
Only after that i did what you told me and installed TWRP and Magisk. and as i said it worked and i could restart my device etc..
After a while when i restarted i couldnt boot anymore and went to bootloader. Removing Magisk fixed it,apperantly on install magisk creates a copy of the boot.img that it restores on uninstall, and i booted to system.
Now i can use my phone but dont have root.
Im very thankful for you being there and helping me out trough this, i cant thank you enough
GuestD2272 said:
I got it to boot by uninstalling magisk,
I am 100% sure i dont have two different version of android in different slots, bc yesterday i was in big trouble and nothing was working and i flashed on both slots the same version of android 10(dont remember exactly wich one as i tried a couple, but they were the same).
Today when i couldnt boot anymore i went into stock recovery, factory reset -> when it booted i placed the stockOS.zip file in the phone and applied update from local file -> after that i factory reset again from the system settings, so i think the phone should have installed it properly.
Only after that i did what you told me and installed TWRP and Magisk. and as i said it worked and i could restart my device etc..
After a while when i restarted i couldnt boot anymore and went to bootloader. Removing Magisk fixed it,apperantly on install magisk creates a copy of the boot.img that it restores on uninstall, and i booted to system.
Now i can use my phone but dont have root.
Im very thankful for you being there and helping me out trough this, i cant thank you enough
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you're still having this issue but I'll post the solution just in case anyone gets stumped, does a google search, and comes across this post. You were using the wrong command.
"fastboot boot" just lets you boot with the img so you can verify that root works.
"fastboot FLASH boot" will flash it and root will stick after reboot.
No need to jump through hoops with TWRP and such.

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