Database Users

Got lucky, joining the gang.

Found two 16GB and one 32gb at staples. Bought them all. 32 is for me and my wife, 16 is for my 5 and 1 year old to share.......the other 16 is sealed and on the auction site, lol.
I LOVE this thing so far. Granted it doesn't do anything My LG G2 doesn't do, but the 7" size is far more comfy to watch a show or browse around on when I'm lounging at home.
Couple cases ordered already, but the big question.....to root or not? To Rom or not (I have the 5.0.2 downloaded but haven't installed yet)..........

No reason to root really for general use.
it works fine right out of the box.

taqulic said:
No reason to root really for general use.
it works fine right out of the box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Felt no need to root mine at any time. Any bloat you dont like can be disabled. :angel:

Don't really need to root if you don't want to, but unlocking the bootloader before you get it all configured how you like probably wouldn't be a bad idea, especially if you think you might root in the future.
It makes rooting and not losing data later much easier.

Well, I'm not a crack flasher by any means, but I also know there's some kernels out there that have the knock knock baked in (I absolutely LOVE the knock knock in my G2), and I always appreciate a cleanrom (used to run that on my HTC Rezound), but I'm thinking root for both mine and my kids so I can install adaway at the very least. I'm just trying to verify if having root without installing a custom recovery will block OTA's because I'd like my kids N7 to be able to receive those.

Fastbird said:
Well, I'm not a crack flasher by any means, but I also know there's some kernels out there that have the knock knock baked in (I absolutely LOVE the knock knock in my G2), and I always appreciate a cleanrom (used to run that on my HTC Rezound), but I'm thinking root for both mine and my kids so I can install adaway at the very least. I'm just trying to verify if having root without installing a custom recovery will block OTA's because I'd like my kids N7 to be able to receive those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It won't "block" the OTA from showing up, but it will most likely fail to install when it verifies files. Do you think you'd want your son to just install the update when it comes out, or just that you'd be able to update it?
It can be done, but the OTA usually requires the /system and /recovery partition to be stock. What I've done is use the factory images from Google to reflash the entire system to upgrade it (went from 4.4.4 to 5.0, a few weeks later 5.0 to 5.0.1 and most recently 5.0.1 to 5.0.2). If you edit the "flash_all" batch file before running it to remove the -w flag near the end, it won't wipe any data. Takes about 60 seconds to flash.
After the factory image is done, I just run Chainfire Autoroot (CFAR) again to get root back and I'm on my way. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes with each update.
Note: flashing factory images and running CFAR both require your bootloader to be unlocked. Unlocking will wipe data. If you don't remove the -w flag in the batch file, your data will be wiped when you flash the factory image.

The biggest reason to root IMO is for ad blocking. I use adaway and it's just such a better experiencing browsing etc. Without ads, especially if you use certain sites that do streaming for TV.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app

I just want the option to upgrade to a newer release if I feel like it. Not so much on my kids N7 as much as mine. I upgraded both to 5.0.2 before unlocking and rooting, both went without a hitch. Kind of impressed with Lollipip........hoping they drop it for the G2 someday. Only downside I've really found is lack of Xposed Framework functionality on 5.0.2 which was a bummer.
And yes, AdAway was the FIRST thing I put on the newly rooted N7's. I may try a rom or two on mine, but I'm pretty happy with it as-is after loading up Beautiful Widgets (had this paid for since like 2010) and Apex Launcher. Only thing I'm really exploring is a custom kernel with the knock knock coding baked in since you apparently can't find it as a Standalone.

I have a G2 also along with my Nexus 7. There is a kernel that has KnockOn and off support just like the G2. It is the Elemental kernel. It uses an Aroma installer in recovery to set the options. I didn't get too fancy with it, like the gesture support and all that... I just use Knock On and the status bar to knock off. I think it also allows swiping the status bar for brightness control, which I do use too.
Then I use either Nova or Action Launcher to set double tap > screen off. Works like a champ. I am running Elemental on the stock Lollipop rom.

Root first or update first?

Hello everyone,
My Moto X Pure edition is on the way on the mail. I'm already excited to root it and get twrp on it. However, I believe the phone will come with android lollipop installed, and I should get an option for an OTA update for android 6.0.
My question is: Should I root my phone and install twrp BEFORE receiving the update, or after? I plan to use WinDroid Toolkit to root my phone and install twrp (seems to be the easiest way) so have any of you done it while having 6.0 already installed?

Your phone will most likely arrive with 6.0 pre-installed on it. You can't take an OTA with TWRP installed. I can't answer the WinDroid question.
Edit: It will most likely come with 6.0 already assuming you purchased it from Motorola.

quakeaz said:
Your phone will most likely arrive with 6.0 pre-installed on it. You can't take an OTA with TWRP installed. I can't answer the WinDroid question.
Edit: It will most likely come with 6.0 already assuming you purchased it from Motorola.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your help! It's good that the phone will most likely come with MM. Does Motorola also offer an OTA update to 6.0.1?
I wanted to flash a pre-rooted stock-based ROM because I thought it would be easier to get root. Although, my preference really would be to get the stock update, then just root that. The only reason I wanted to flash an already rooted ROM was because it seems kind of tricky to root it haha. Is the systemless root by ivcarlos the easiest way to root MM? Or have you perhaps found another way to root it on MM?
Additionally, just to make sure before I go on with anything: I should first let the clean phone upgrade to android 6.0.1, AFTER that I should unlock the bootloader, followed by installing TWRP and root, correct? @vertigo_2_20
Thank you for any help you can give me!

Henryy97 said:
Thanks a lot for your help! It's good that the phone will most likely come with MM. Does Motorola also offer an OTA update to 6.0.1?
I wanted to flash a pre-rooted stock-based ROM because I thought it would be easier to get root. Although, my preference really would be to get the stock update, then just root that. The only reason I wanted to flash an already rooted ROM was because it seems kind of tricky to root it haha. Is the systemless root by ivcarlos the easiest way to root MM? Or have you perhaps found another way to root it on MM?
Additionally, just to make sure before I go on with anything: I should first let the clean phone upgrade to android 6.0.1, AFTER that I should unlock the bootloader, followed by installing TWRP and root, correct? @vertigo_2_20
Thank you for any help you can give me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC, that's how I did it (OTA 6.0.1 > unlock bootloader > flash TWRP > root), though I did miss some things along the way that I only found out about after the fact, so I've included warnings about those thing here. Before I rooted, I read the following (and a LOT more, but these are the primary ones I based how I did it on):
ivcarlos' method, which you mentioned
And this, which is what I followed for rooting, though I don't remember why. I also had to use 2.62-3 as mentioned in the instructions vs 2.65 which is mentioned at the end as verified working, since it didn't work for me.
I ran across this as well, probably when 2.65 didn't work, and there's some good tidbits in there, worth reading through.
I also found this, but only after I finished rooting with the other method, and I didn't have the time to mess with it. I don't know enough to say whether it's really a better method or not, but something worth checking out if you have the time.
Just make sure you backup anything you want to keep (phone log, texts, pictures, etc) before unlocking the bootloader. I recommend SMS Backup & Restore with Titanium Backup as a secondary backup. Then, use fastboot to back up your recovery before flashing TWRP (I didn't know to do this until too late). Also, make sure you back up your /system and /boot partitions (don't need /data, since you're dealing with a freshly wiped phone from unlocking the bootloader, so nothing there to back up) with TWRP (and store the backups on the external SD card and/or your computer) as soon as you get TWRP flashed, before you do anything else.
Remember, anything you do that modifies /system can potentially break the "systemless" aspect of this root, thereby breaking Android Pay as well as the ability to receive OTA updates. Examples of things that might do this are AdAway (there's apparently a systemless file that needs to be flashed before installing it, which I didn't realize until too late, so mine may be broken already) and battery apps like GSam and BetterBatteryStats. I've yet to get an answer on if these really do break it, though. One that definitely will is Xposed, but I just found there's a systemless version, so when I get time I plan on trying that out. I think even if you do break it you can just a) reflash your backup (/recovery, /boot, & /system) then take an OTA and reflash TWRP and re-root, or b) flash the updated partitions from the OTA then reflash recovery and re-root. Of course, any of those things that changed /system (AdAway, Xposed, battery apps, etc), will probably be broken by this, and I believe they're supposed to be uninstalled first and reinstalled after.
I wouldn't doubt if I've screwed something up, so hopefully somebody can correct me on anything I did, as well as provide more information regarding the breaking of systemless.

vertigo_2_20 said:
IIRC, that's how I did it (OTA 6.0.1 > unlock bootloader > flash TWRP > root), though I did miss some things along the way that I only found out about after the fact, so I've included warnings about those thing here. Before I rooted, I read the following (and a LOT more, but these are the primary ones I based how I did it on):
ivcarlos' method, which you mentioned
And this, which is what I followed for rooting, though I don't remember why. I also had to use 2.62-3 as mentioned in the instructions vs 2.65 which is mentioned at the end as verified working, since it didn't work for me.
I ran across this as well, probably when 2.65 didn't work, and there's some good tidbits in there, worth reading through.
I also found this, but only after I finished rooting with the other method, and I didn't have the time to mess with it. I don't know enough to say whether it's really a better method or not, but something worth checking out if you have the time.
Just make sure you backup anything you want to keep (phone log, texts, pictures, etc) before unlocking the bootloader. I recommend SMS Backup & Restore with Titanium Backup as a secondary backup. Then, use fastboot to back up your recovery before flashing TWRP (I didn't know to do this until too late). Also, make sure you back up your /system and /boot partitions (don't need /data, since you're dealing with a freshly wiped phone from unlocking the bootloader, so nothing there to back up) with TWRP (and store the backups on the external SD card and/or your computer) as soon as you get TWRP flashed, before you do anything else.
Remember, anything you do that modifies /system can potentially break the "systemless" aspect of this root, thereby breaking Android Pay as well as the ability to receive OTA updates. Examples of things that might do this are AdAway (there's apparently a systemless file that needs to be flashed before installing it, which I didn't realize until too late, so mine may be broken already) and battery apps like GSam and BetterBatteryStats. I've yet to get an answer on if these really do break it, though. One that definitely will is Xposed, but I just found there's a systemless version, so when I get time I plan on trying that out. I think even if you do break it you can just a) reflash your backup (/recovery, /boot, & /system) then take an OTA and reflash TWRP and re-root, or b) flash the updated partitions from the OTA then reflash recovery and re-root. Of course, any of those things that changed /system (AdAway, Xposed, battery apps, etc), will probably be broken by this, and I believe they're supposed to be uninstalled first and reinstalled after.
I wouldn't doubt if I've screwed something up, so hopefully somebody can correct me on anything I did, as well as provide more information regarding the breaking of systemless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply! I'll read the links you sent me, although from what I can see the "root done right" is for the nexus 6, and if it works for the moto x pure it doesn't seem to be overall that much beneficial over the systemless root.
What exactly is the effect of breaking the "systemless" aspect of the root? For example, if I install AdAway, what will happen? I didn't really get that from your post.
Perhaps after all this process, I'll write a how-to guide, heh
So according to your experience, SUPERSU 2.62-3 is the adequate version to use for android 6.0.1?
Thanks again!

Henryy97 said:
Thank you for your reply! I'll read the links you sent me, although from what I can see the "root done right" is for the nexus 6, and if it works for the moto x pure it doesn't seem to be overall that much beneficial over the systemless root.
What exactly is the effect of breaking the "systemless" aspect of the root? For example, if I install AdAway, what will happen? I didn't really get that from your post.
Perhaps after all this process, I'll write a how-to guide, heh
So according to your experience, SUPERSU 2.62-3 is the adequate version to use for android 6.0.1?
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that breaking it will render Android Pay inoperable and will make it so you can't take an OTA, though as I mentioned, it seems you still can by reverting back, it's just a LOT more work. But again, as I said, I'm not completely sure and I haven't been able to get an answer.
As for the supersu version, it doesn't really matter, because you'll just update it once you're rooted and booted into the OS. I just found that, despite what that post said, 2.65 did not work for me, so I had to flash 2.62-3 which did. Not a big deal, was just a little frustrating and scary when 2.65 didn't work because I was worried that I broke something and that the method wasn't going to work.
Edit: Good catch BTW on the link having to do with the Nexus. I didn't even look at what sub-forum it was in. At least it's one less thing to worry about for now, though I do hope it spreads to more devices, because we could always use more, not to mention better (assuming it is) ways of doing things.

vertigo_2_20 said:
My understanding is that breaking it will render Android Pay inoperable and will make it so you can't take an OTA, though as I mentioned, it seems you still can by reverting back, it's just a LOT more work. But again, as I said, I'm not completely sure and I haven't been able to get an answer.
As for the supersu version, it doesn't really matter, because you'll just update it once you're rooted and booted into the OS. I just found that, despite what that post said, 2.65 did not work for me, so I had to flash 2.62-3 which did. Not a big deal, was just a little frustrating and scary when 2.65 didn't work because I was worried that I broke something and that the method wasn't going to work.
Edit: Good catch BTW on the link having to do with the Nexus. I didn't even look at what sub-forum it was in. At least it's one less thing to worry about for now, though I do hope it spreads to more devices, because we could always use more, not to mention better (assuming it is) ways of doing things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I am aware that you can revert back to lollipop, and do the update from there whenever you want to update to a newer OTA MM update. However, my real question is, what does it mean to break the systemless aspect? I know that it will prevent further OTA updates, but will xposed work as it should, etc? If I am rooting my device, it's really to get xposed. So, if it means that I must revert to an unrooted stock rom everytime I wanna update, then so be it. I just want to make sure that breaking the systemless root aspect will not make the ROM unstable. Will it?

Henryy97 said:
Thanks. I am aware that you can revert back to lollipop, and do the update from there whenever you want to update to a newer OTA MM update. However, my real question is, what does it mean to break the systemless aspect? I know that it will prevent further OTA updates, but will xposed work as it should, etc? If I am rooting my device, it's really to get xposed. So, if it means that I must revert to an unrooted stock rom everytime I wanna update, then so be it. I just want to make sure that breaking the systemless root aspect will not make the ROM unstable. Will it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'll find all the info you're looking for and more in those links. But in summary, as I said, AFAIK the only consequence is breaking OTAs. It does not prevent you from using xposed, rather xposed is one of the things that breaks it. Systemless is so called because it roots without affecting the /system partition, therefore preventing the breaking of Android Pay and allowing OTAs. Once /system is modified (unclear if at all or just beyond a point), these two will no longer function. So if you "break" the systemless root by doing stuff that modifies /system (i.e. xposed, etc), you basically now have a standard (non-systemless) root, which simply negates the benefits it provides. But as far as I could tell, systemless is the only option anyway, so you just do it since it works and it's easy, then you either are careful not to break it if Pay/OTAs are important to you, or if you don't care about those then you just do whatever you want just as if you were rooted in the traditional way. But as I said, once I get the time, I plan to try out the systemless xposed, though it may not matter since I might have already broken it, but may as well, and maybe it'll mean not having to uninstall it when it comes time to take an OTA. If you play with it and figure it out, let me know.

vertigo_2_20 said:
I think you'll find all the info you're looking for and more in those links. But in summary, as I said, AFAIK the only consequence is breaking OTAs. It does not prevent you from using xposed, rather xposed is one of the things that breaks it. Systemless is so called because it roots without affecting the /system partition, therefore preventing the breaking of Android Pay and allowing OTAs. Once /system is modified (unclear if at all or just beyond a point), these two will no longer function. So if you "break" the systemless root by doing stuff that modifies /system (i.e. xposed, etc), you basically now have a standard (non-systemless) root, which simply negates the benefits it provides. But as far as I could tell, systemless is the only option anyway, so you just do it since it works and it's easy, then you either are careful not to break it if Pay/OTAs are important to you, or if you don't care about those then you just do whatever you want just as if you were rooted in the traditional way. But as I said, once I get the time, I plan to try out the systemless xposed, though it may not matter since I might have already broken it, but may as well, and maybe it'll mean not having to uninstall it when it comes time to take an OTA. If you play with it and figure it out, let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once again, thanks. I reached the limit of thanks I can give for today, haha. I'm reading up much more on the process, etc. Just one final question, how often do the OTA updates come on average? I always like having the latest software installed, so MAYBE I can consider having an unrooted phone.. although that will be very difficult. I love my xposed. Anyway, I guess if updates only come about once a month, then rooting is fine. Not too much of a loss. I will definitely be making a how-to guide once I'm done with all of this! (and once my device arrives)

Henryy97 said:
Once again, thanks. I reached the limit of thanks I can give for today, haha. I'm reading up much more on the process, etc. Just one final question, how often do the OTA updates come on average? I always like having the latest software installed, so MAYBE I can consider having an unrooted phone.. although that will be very difficult. I love my xposed. Anyway, I guess if updates only come about once a month, then rooting is fine. Not too much of a loss. I will definitely be making a how-to guide once I'm done with all of this! (and once my device arrives)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my phone ~5-6 months ago. When I got it, the MM update was waiting (released late last year). Probably ~2 months later, another update came through. Since then, nothing. So it looks like probably 3 maybe 4 a year. I'd rather be rooted with all the benefits than get a small update, though I'd really rather have both.

6.0.1 is not out yet although there is a reteu version posted which works great. Rooting is as simple flashing su 2.62-3 with twrp.

lafester said:
6.0.1 is not out yet although there is a reteu version posted which works great. Rooting is as simple flashing su 2.62-3 with twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll check it out. Do you mind sharing the link to that version just in case? I am very confused now though, because @vertigo_2_20 says he has 6.0.1, and you say you didn't get it. Perhaps location matters? Can you elaborate a little bit more?
And actually, I've just realized: I think I was looking at too many outdated posts perhaps with all the complicated root procedures such as the one by ivcarlos. The guide that amit.lohar made is very simple which is the one vertigo kindly shared in this OP. One final question @vertigo_2_20 (sorry for so many questions). Does the method by amit.lohar work for 6.0 anddd 6.0.1? I would assume so since they're pretty much very similar. What is your take on this?

I assumed I was on 6.0.1 because I received a system update after being on MM, so I don't know what else it could be. Though it does just say 6.0 in settings. Regardless, I only did it a few weeks ago, so if you're fully updated, you'll be the same as what I was. Even if not, I would think it wouldn't matter. As long as you do a back up before messing with things, worse case scenario is you screw something up and restore the backup.

Henryy97 said:
I'll check it out. Do you mind sharing the link to that version just in case? I am very confused now though, because @vertigo_2_20 says he has 6.0.1, and you say you didn't get it. Perhaps location matters? Can you elaborate a little bit more?
And actually, I've just realized: I think I was looking at too many outdated posts perhaps with all the complicated root procedures such as the one by ivcarlos. The guide that amit.lohar made is very simple which is the one vertigo kindly shared in this OP. One final question @vertigo_2_20 (sorry for so many questions). Does the method by amit.lohar work for 6.0 anddd 6.0.1? I would assume so since they're pretty much very similar. What is your take on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I don't get links for people... this forum is small and easy to read. Dev section has one pre loaded with franken and there are two threads in general.

Henryy97 said:
Once again, thanks. I reached the limit of thanks I can give for today, haha. I'm reading up much more on the process, etc. Just one final question, how often do the OTA updates come on average? I always like having the latest software installed, so MAYBE I can consider having an unrooted phone.. although that will be very difficult. I love my xposed. Anyway, I guess if updates only come about once a month, then rooting is fine. Not too much of a loss. I will definitely be making a how-to guide once I'm done with all of this! (and once my device arrives)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If receiving the OTA updates is something you really want, systemless root will allow you to get them with a lot less effort. The trick is knowing which of the apps that require root privileges will end up modifying your system. Avoid the ones that will and you can enjoy root with less work to get updates. If the only root required apps you are interested in modifies the system, then it will be a matter of what you value more.
Sent from my awesome phone!

That reminds me of another thing I haven't yet figured out. If /system is modified, I'm assuming the OTA will still show up and just won't install, but I wonder if it won't even show up anymore. Anyone know?

aybarrap1 said:
If receiving the OTA updates is something you really want, systemless root will allow you to get them with a lot less effort. The trick is knowing which of the apps that require root privileges will end up modifying your system. Avoid the ones that will and you can enjoy root with less work to get updates. If the only root required apps you are interested in modifies the system, then it will be a matter of what you value more.
Sent from my awesome phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh! I guess I'll just flash ROMS to update my phone then because I need my xposed Besides, after 6.0, if we want root, we can only get the systemless one anyway, right?
Also, I did not quite understand something about systemless root. If the root is 'systemless', then how can apps still edit the system? I've read up that after a memory wipe, the root will actually go away but what happens if I have apps that already modified the system? I just don't quite get how the apps can get into the system and modify it, if the root itself cannot do that because it is systemless. Am I getting the wrong idea here? I've read, and read, and read. I can't find an answer to that :/ According to what you have said though, if I were to get an app that modifies the system, then it would essentially *break* the systemless aspect of it, right? Therefore, it just becomes a normal root?
I feel like I'm going in circles now so I hope someone will be able to explain this for me or just point me in the right direction!

Systemless root does not mean root doesn't have access to /system, it simply means a way of gaining root access without modifying the /system partition, because if you gain root with the old methods, which DO modify /system, it breaks Android Pay and OTAs. Root still has access to modify system, hence why you have to be careful in installing apps, xposed, etc, because if they have root access, they can modify it, and if they do, your systemless root just became useless. The whole point is to NOT modify it so as to keep those certain functions intact, but it doesn't prevent you from doing so after gaining root.

vertigo_2_20 said:
Systemless root does not mean root doesn't have access to /system, it simply means a way of gaining root access without modifying the /system partition, because if you gain root with the old methods, which DO modify /system, it breaks Android Pay and OTAs. Root still has access to modify system, hence why you have to be careful in installing apps, xposed, etc, because if they have root access, they can modify it, and if they do, your systemless root just became useless. The whole point is to NOT modify it so as to keep those certain functions intact, but it doesn't prevent you from doing so after gaining root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience was rooting 5.1.1 on the new phone. I backed up at every stage. I tried a few roms, no big deal. I liked 5.1.1 better due to micro sd card usage. I stupidly allowed the OTA to attempt to install. I knew it would fail but hoped it would stop nagging. The result I did not expect was phone continually rebooting on its own, trying to complete the update. After it completed the reboot it would start to shut down and begin the reboot process again. I restored a backup and froze the Motorola Update app with Titanium Backup. Problem solved. Don't do what I did!

Why would you want to stay on L? M is so much better. Between Doze and permission control, you'll have better battery life and more privacy and security. Not to mention the increased security from having more up-to-date software. I'd recommend just taking the update.

Security implications of rooting Nexus 6P

I have a 6p, and I've had many issues with it. I joined the Android beta program hoping the beta might help, and it did somewhat, then broke it again.
I'm considering rooting the phone so I can adjust noise cancellation and switch to a power optimized kernel, to fix the two major problems with the device.
Can anyone suggest the best way to do this while minimizing security risks, and what are the risks compared to just keeping stock unrooted? FYI I have rooted and flashed ROMs on phones before, so not a total noob.
Thanks!

sashby said:
I have a 6p, and I've had many issues with it. I joined the Android beta program hoping the beta might help, and it did somewhat, then broke it again.
I'm considering rooting the phone so I can adjust noise cancellation and switch to a power optimized kernel, to fix the two major problems with the device.
Can anyone suggest the best way to do this while minimizing security risks, and what are the risks compared to just keeping stock unrooted? FYI I have rooted and flashed ROMs on phones before, so not a total noob.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello...
Working method:
Unlock bootloader
Flash TWRP.img : https://dl.twrp.me/angler/twrp-3.1.0-0-angler.img
Boot into TWRP
Install SuperSU: https://download.chainfire.eu/1021/SuperSU/SR3-SuperSU-v2.79-SR3-20170114223742.zip
Reboot. Done.
From here you can install the kernel of your choice. Recommended kernels: ElementalX or Franco's Kernel.
Well, rooting a phone always.involve risks. Depending what you do with your phone. As long as you don't install apps from bad sources and don't allow root access before you know what it does.
Also, you don't need Root to install a custom kernel if you want.
Just fastboot boot TWRP.img and install kernel zip from TWRP. It may lack some features that need Root to work though...
Good luck...

sashby said:
I have a 6p, and I've had many issues with it. I joined the Android beta program hoping the beta might help, and it did somewhat, then broke it again.
I'm considering rooting the phone so I can adjust noise cancellation and switch to a power optimized kernel, to fix the two major problems with the device.
Can anyone suggest the best way to do this while minimizing security risks, and what are the risks compared to just keeping stock unrooted? FYI I have rooted and flashed ROMs on phones before, so not a total noob.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you unlock your bootloader and root you will get a nag screen saying Android can't ensure that your device is safe. It isn't really dangerous as long as you only download apps from trusted sources and are careful about what apps you give root access to. However, Android Pay and some banking apps won't work on a rooted phone unless you use Magisk and PhilsSu which are currently able to pass Androids Safety Net security measures by hiding root from those apps.

I should add that a handful of games like Pokemon Go require the device to pass safety net to work so again you would need to use the Magisk and PhilsSu combo to play them. If you are going to go to the trouble of rooting I would consider trying a custom rom (other than Pure Nexus) as well as flashing a custom kernel like ElementalEx or The Flash's kernel. It's easy enough to go back to stock of you want to. Cortex is a very good stock based Rom with Pixel features, a responsive developer and very few bugs. I'm currently on Dirty Unicorns (which is not on XDA) because I wanted OMS support for Substratum theming. The Rom is fast and smooth and all my apps work perfectly on it--unlike PN where I encountered some problem or another every time I tried it.

Hello,
No issues at all with Pure Nexus here... :good:
Cheers...

5.1 said:
Hello,
No issues at all with Pure Nexus here... :good:
Cheers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran Pure Nexus 5 separate times, always a completely clean install and never once did I not have issues with it. I think the people who use that Rom have been brainwashed.

jhs39 said:
I ran Pure Nexus 5 separate times, always a completely clean install and never once did I not have issues with it. I think the people who use that Rom have been brainwashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Thank you very much, have a nice day to you too... :good:
Cheers...

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm going to need to do this soon, as the phone is almost unusable sometimes - and battery life is downright awful on stock with this phone. It's now dozing correctly again, but when I'm actually using it I can literally watch the battery gauge drop, even with screen brightness turned way down.

It used to be that when flashing a ROM you were wiping the entire phone - i.e. even personal data has to be reloaded on the phone. Is that still true, or are they on separate partitions?

sashby said:
It used to be that when flashing a ROM you were wiping the entire phone - i.e. even personal data has to be reloaded on the phone. Is that still true, or are they on separate partitions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
To install a custom ROM you need to unlock the bootloader. When unlock it, the userdata partition is entirely wiped. The internal storage (personal data's: photos,, videos, etc...) is part of it.
So be sure to backup your photos, videos, etc... Before you do it...
Good luck...

sashby said:
I have a 6p, and I've had many issues with it. I joined the Android beta program hoping the beta might help, and it did somewhat, then broke it again.
I'm considering rooting the phone so I can adjust noise cancellation and switch to a power optimized kernel, to fix the two major problems with the device.
Can anyone suggest the best way to do this while minimizing security risks, and what are the risks compared to just keeping stock unrooted? FYI I have rooted and flashed ROMs on phones before, so not a total noob.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The full risk is this.
If I can boot your phone into TWRP and you don't have encryption enabled, I can unlock your phone by deleting the correct files.
Once the correct files are deleted I own the phone and your data.
So I've come to the conclusion in the last day while restoring my phone that encryption is a must with an unlocked bootloader.

Questions on VS995 vs US996, hardware diagnostics, and ability to root/custom

I'm expecting delivery of 2 V20s in the next couple of days. These are "refurbs" of the VS995 variety. These are advertised from the seller as "unlocked." I will be using these on Verizon (or MVNO).
I did some basic research before I bought and I was pretty sure I saw info on rooting this model and the ability to do custom ROMS on an unlocked, but I am a little concerned.
I have 3 main questions:
1) I see there is both a VS995 and a US996. I'm having a hard time finding info on the differences spelled out exactly - but it appears that the VS995 is locked to verizon and US996 is unlocked for all GSM. Is this correct? If so, wouldn't an "unlocked" VS995 be equivalent to a US996? If not, what would be different.
2) I want to do a comprehensive check on these phones before I start tinkering to make sure everything works. My last HTC phone had a hidden diagnostics menu which would test everything (battery, compass, gps, sensors, buttons, etc, etc...). I would like to know if the V20 has something similar? Also I want to know what the "problem areas" of V20s are. Things I should check out to make sure they aren't wonky.
3) I need to know if I can root this phone. I've seen a couple methods but I'm not sure now if they apply to my model and if they still work and/or if they are safe (relatively speaking). I definitely need root and would also like to load custom recovery so I can do alternate ROMS, thought I probably will run with stock for a while to get used to it. I would like to upgrade to latest official ROM (for the newest features), but don't want to do any upgrades if it will ruin my chances to root/unlock/etc. What do I need to check on the phone and what is the method I should follow (links are fine for this).

I recently bought a refurb VS995 because I like my original VS995 so much and I am thinking that shortly after the Oreo upgrade comes out, any refurb might come with Oreo and may or may not be easily rootable. (and it is looking very unlikely any phone in the future will come with replaceable batteries) That said, mine came with 15A and I was easily able to roll back to 12A with the 'hacked' LGUP tool and then root it and flash the at-the-time current AlphaRom (now discontinued) without issue. AFAIK *all* current VS995 ROMs can be rolled back to 12A (rootable), up to the latest 1BA. This may or may not change soon (some versions of the V20 CANNOT be rolled back after they take specific updates) The SuperV20 ROM is running the almost up to date version 1AA (with hints of an update coming soon) so you'd be up to date with a close to stock ROM. I will say the rooting process on the V20 is a bit more convoluted than most other phones, which leads to the issue that the rooting threads are nearly incomprehensible anymore-- too many people not following directions, not reading, and complaining about tons of "normal" issues-- static screen (normal after rooting with stock kernel, once the phone boots up fully cover the proximity sensor until the 2nd screen blanks out and then the static will go away-- replace the stock kernel with the mk2000 kernel to fix), phone vibrates on boot after charging (no fix, but will stop the first time it's made to vibrate after booting). I would stay stick to the original rooting thread and READ CAREFULLY. I had issues trying to follow some of the "updated"/new threads where I had issues trying to get the phone to boot properly.
That said, if you do hit a roadblock, DON'T PANIC. The V20 is more resilient than you might think and you can almost always get it back from soft bricking with the LGUP tool (I had to reflash mine 2 or 3 times before I finally got root to stick with the ORIGINAL DirtySanta thread). Basically, the process is flash it back to 12A, use DirtySanta, **boot it once or twice after getting root via DS** (first reboo.t may take a while, with a static screen and vibrating phone, let it sit 10-15 minutes before panicking as it's rebuilding the app cache), then get into TWRP, do a factory reset, flash the new ROM and BTTF kernel, then it should work.
The VS995 has a more limited LTE band selection than the US996. While it can sort of work with other carriers (you'll have to search for instructions/compatibility), the US996 will provide a better experience.
Keep in mind, each version of the phone is SLIGHTLY different, so MAKE SURE you're always using VS995 builds of ROMs/kernerls/recoveries. Apparently you can use US996 ROMs as well but I've never bothered. (you gain a few things, you lose a few things [like wifi calling I think], do your research) Trying to use anything other than VS995 or US996 roms is asking for trouble/limited functionality/soft bricking.
I haven't really used my refurb all that much but it seems mostly fine. The only glitch I see is that the battery seems to drain faster than my original V20 but that might have more to do with the battery condition-- I need to get around to swapping batteries between the phones to see what happens. Given everything else is fine I am very hesitant to return it under warranty. I don't know if there is a way to run a self-test, I would hope there is..!
Good luck, the phone is amazing once you get it tamed...
Links:
Downgrade: the VS995 "all in one" thread has a good video for this. That said I think I had to piece together a working LGUP from a few threads since you need a tweaked DLL file. https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/how-to/lgv20-vs995-verizon-aio-post-06-19-2017-t3624326 (when I tried to follow the root directions in that link I had issues and had to re-flash 12A and start over, YMMV)
DirtySanta: https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/development/ls997vs995h910-dirtysanta-bootloader-t3519410
Once you get a working TWRP from DirtySanta, update it to this one: https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/development/recovery-twrp-3-2-1-0-t3720239
SuperV20 ROM: https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/development/rom-superv20-h918-t3764390
mk2000 kernel (I'd use the "back to the future" version of the kernel to start): https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/development/h918-h910-us996-ucl-mk2000-kernel-t3708330

Buzzy42 said:
Good luck, the phone is amazing once you get it tamed...
[/url]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks.
Been doing research for the past hour or two and am getting a little bit of a better handle. I've seen the downgrade tutorial and looks solid.
I'm not worried about "convoluted" and the phone seems pretty brick proof so I'm good there.
Just to confirm - if I want root I need to go no later than 13A firmware? My understanding is "firmware" in context of this phone is ROM+Kernel rolled into one.
So if I want root, I can't be on the latest stock ROM (18A), right? Looks like features are all the same - although I do like having the latest security updates, but I guess I will need to forgo those for root?
One other thing I'm looking at is that I prefer to root with Magisk. I've seen a couple threads dealing with this and they recommend to use the "reStock" kernel. My understanding is that you would flash the "reStock" after reverting to the 13A firmware. What I'm trying to understand is if the kernel can be separated from the ROM, could one not flash 18A and then the reStock kernel (which is based on 10b)?
Also, still really interested in the answer to my 2nd question in OP regarding accessing diagnostics for the phone and any problem hardware/screen/etc issues to look out for before I accept this "refurb" as golden.

Yeah, the phone is mostly brickproof and most issues you run into can be solved. If all else fails, just re-roll it back to 12Ain download mode (pull battery, hold down volume, plug in USB cord which will make the phone boot into download mode) and start over. I've seen very little signs of anyone TRULY bricking a V20 who wasn't really trying. (I.e., doing major hacking on it or totally throwing caution to the wind and flashing something they shouldn't have flashed)
You have to downgrade to 12A or 13A to root the phone and get TWRP properly installed the first time, but then you can flash any ROM/recovery you want, so you don't need to worry as much about security patches (just find a ROM that's as up to date as possible). There was AlphaRom up to 1AA which works great (and what both of my V20s are on), Super V20 is being updated but apparently has known issues on the VS995 that the developer has issued a patch for... you might want to skim the various ROM threads to know what works for you. My V20s are both using Magisk.
You can flash kernels and ROMs separately. Some ROMs have a kernel baked in-- I usually boot them once or twice and then re-flash the kernel if I want to. Some ROMs need a kernel flashed separately during the install process. So yeah, you could install an 18A based ROM and then the reStock kernel. (some ROM/kernel combinations work better than others, but you'll have to figure out what you want as some kernels do more than others-- specifically look for KCAL color adjustments, as you can slightly tweak the colors on the screen to help with the screen retention issue the phone has)
The kernel versions and ROM versions are different. I don't fully understand it myself either but AFAIK kernels based on 10b are the latest for the VS995. ROMs based on 1BA would be the latest (they're using hex numbers, so releases go 11A, 12A, 13A.... up to 1AA, 1BA). Some variations of the V20 seem to have more versions of the kernels than the 995 does.

Buzzy42 said:
...
You have to downgrade to 12A or 13A to root the phone and get TWRP properly installed the first time, but then you can flash any ROM/recovery you want, so you don't need to worry as much about security patches (just find a ROM that's as up to date as possible). There was AlphaRom up to 1AA which works great (and what both of my V20s are on), Super V20 is being updated but apparently has known issues on the VS995 that the developer has issued a patch for... you might want to skim the various ROM threads to know what works for you. My V20s are both using Magisk....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'm wanting to run stock for a while (with Root though) so I can get a feel for how everything is "supposed" to work.
I'm not sure if I will find benefit in the "Second screen", but if I do I would like to find a ROM that supports it.
I've been running latest LineageOS on my HTC M8 for a while now and wouldn't mind sticking with it. However I would like to find some ROMS that are still being actively developed. Honestly I plan to have this phone for at least 2 years so the most up to date stuff I can find now will hopefully future proof me a little from that angle.

TraderJack said:
Thanks. I'm wanting to run stock for a while (with Root though) so I can get a feel for how everything is "supposed" to work.
I'm not sure if I will find benefit in the "Second screen", but if I do I would like to find a ROM that supports it.
I've been running latest LineageOS on my HTC M8 for a while now and wouldn't mind sticking with it. However I would like to find some ROMS that are still being actively developed. Honestly I plan to have this phone for at least 2 years so the most up to date stuff I can find now will hopefully future proof me a little from that angle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, totally understand not wanting to jump in to custom ROMs right away, especially if you're testing a refurbed phone. Flashable truly stock ROMs have been a weakness of the V20, but I think a version of 17A was floating around if you want something a bit newer than the 12A/13A that are rootable. Someone else might be able to help with that. Sadly there isn't a lot of development-- there have been big bursts of activity, then a lot of silence-- which mostly mirrors LG's seeming abandonment of the phone. You should still be able to flash other kernels (restock, mk2000, etc) over whichever rom you run, though. Be careful not to take any official OTA updates because the rooting process installs a debug-bootloader (someone got a hold of an engineering sample of the phone and dumped that phone's bootloader which is what allowed us all to get rooted with an unlocked bootloader) that gets wiped out and leaves the phone in a weird state.
The second screen is really useful once you look at it as a very powerful LED notification light. It takes a while to get used to but I don't know if would want to use a phone without it (or some sort of always-on feature) now. Unfortunately the Lineage ROMs lose a lot of the cooler functionality of this phone due to it having some many weird non-standard functions, but for some people that's not as big of a deal as staying current, so it's whatever your priority is. I am really hoping once the phone gets Oreo (which seems to be "real soon now"..) that we'll still be able to upgrade to it and use that as a base for a while, but keep root/etc..

Buzzy42 said:
...My V20s are both using Magisk....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a special process to use Magisk instead of SuperSU? My search found some convoluted answers which "required" the reStock kernel to get it working.
I don't know if Magisk has been updated to make it easier...but is there any instructions/link you can forward on how to get rooted with Magisk after I do the 13A downgrade?
Also, it would appear that everything up to 1BA does *not* have anti rollback enabled (ARB=0). Is this correct?
I was told on reddit that you can only root firmware where ARB=0, but clearly this is not the case if you can't root anything past 13A.
Do you have any idea what specifically is the block as to why we can't root past 13A?
thanks

TraderJack said:
Is there a special process to use Magisk instead of SuperSU? My search found some convoluted answers which "required" the reStock kernel to get it working.
I don't know if Magisk has been updated to make it easier...but is there any instructions/link you can forward on how to get rooted with Magisk after I do the 13A downgrade?
Also, it would appear that everything up to 1BA does *not* have anti rollback enabled (ARB=0). Is this correct?
I was told on reddit that you can only root firmware where ARB=0, but clearly this is not the case if you can't root anything past 13A.
Do you have any idea what specifically is the block as to why we can't root past 13A?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to remember what I did for Magisk. There wasn't anything particularly special. That said, I switched to Magisk when I re-flashed the phone (so I flashed the rom/kernel/Magisk together, in that order I think), I didn't try to just swap between SuperSU and Magisk on a running ROM. Once you get TWRP going you *should* be ok to just remove SuperSU and then reboot into TWRP and flash Magisk. I am on the mk2000 kernel with Magisk so you definitely don't need to be on Restock.
I am not sure if it is possible to do the rooting process without SuperSu and using Magisk instead, if that's what you're asking. I think it'd be safest to use SuperSu and then switch it out later once you're sure you're rooted in the first place.
As for the rollback, there are a few different issues here.
12A/13A have the Android vulnerability which allows DirtySanta to work to root the phone. This was patched after 13A, so DirtySanta can't run and you can't root the phone on a later version of the firmware. If you run anything later than 13A you can't start the rooting process (but you can upgrade your rooted phone past 13A using TWRP to flash an appropriate ROM, but not through the OTA process)
ARB (anti-rollback) prevents you from rolling back to a previous version of the firmware. It has nothing to do with rootable/non-rootable. But it prevents the phone from going back to a rootable firmware on SOME V20s. So far, no firmware on the VS995 has enabled this, so you are safe rolling back to 12A and trying to root with any firmware currently available up to 1BA (definitely 1AA but I have read a few comments that 1BA is still safe). On SOME other models of the V20, ARB *has* been set, which prevents you from rolling back to a previous version of the firmware with ARB=0 (if you try to roll back on a phone with ARB=1 you get an unrecoverable brick.)
So if tomorrow Verizon released a hypothetical update with ARB=1 and you updated, you could no longer roll back to 12A or 13A to root your phone, and you'd be stuck without root unless someone developed a new workaround.
Does that make more sense? Keep in mind that with all of the different versions of the V20, what is appropriate (or even relevant) for one model may not apply at all to another. Thankfully the VS995 still is pretty hackable at this moment. This could all change at any time.

Buzzy42 said:
...12A/13A have the Android vulnerability which allows DirtySanta to work to root the phone. This was patched after 13A, so DirtySanta can't run and you can't root the phone on a later version of the firmware. If you run anything later than 13A you can't start the rooting process (but you can upgrade your rooted phone past 13A using TWRP to flash an appropriate ROM, but not through the OTA process)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold on.. So are you saying I can flash 13A, then root with Magisk, then upgrade the ROM itself to 18B to get all the latest patches?
If so, I haven't seen any instructions yet for doing that method, but that would be ideal for me for starters until I want to mess around with custom ROMS and Kernels.

TraderJack said:
Hold on.. So are you saying I can flash 13A, then root with Magisk, then upgrade the ROM itself to 18B to get all the latest patches?
If so, I haven't seen any instructions yet for doing that method, but that would be ideal for me for starters until I want to mess around with custom ROMS and Kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite that simple-- you have to downgrade to 13A if you're not already there when you get the phone.
When you run the DirtySanta rooting process, when it's done, you will end up with a rooted 13A with TWRP and SuperSu. I believe it will have the debug kernel which has a lot of issues, but you can flash any kernel you want at this point (like ReStock to get rid of the static screen you'll see at every boot). That way you'll have a 99% stock (except the ReStock kernel tweaks), rooted, 13A phone.
You can now flash any ROM you want in TWRP. If you want to stay truly stock, I'm not sure what is out there that is flashable, beyond I vaguely remember there was a 17A flashable. You do need to use a repackaged update in TWRP no matter what you want to update to, if you try to just take whatever OTA update the phone offers you (the "software update available" notification pops up and asks you to install while you're using it), you'll lose root and have to do everything over again. This is where you will most likely not be able to get to a truly stock 1BA unless it's floating around.
If I were you, I'd roll it back to 13A, get it rooted (with Supersu), flash the Restock kernel, disable updates (use Titanium Backup to freeze "FOTA Update 7.0") and stay there for a while for testing. If you want to try to switch to Magisk, remove SuperSu and flash Magisk through TWRP. The phone's functionality hasn't changed much/at all. When you're more comfortable, move forward to a ROM based on 1BA.
When you flash a new ROM most will include a kernel or ask you to flash a kernel along with it.
Basically, any updating you do has to go through TWRP. After you get root initially, though, it's really straightforward.

TraderJack said:
I'm expecting delivery of 2 V20s in the next couple of days. These are "refurbs" of the VS995 variety. These are advertised from the seller as "unlocked." I will be using these on Verizon (or MVNO).
I did some basic research before I bought and I was pretty sure I saw info on rooting this model and the ability to do custom ROMS on an unlocked, but I am a little concerned.
I have 3 main questions:
1) I see there is both a VS995 and a US996. I'm having a hard time finding info on the differences spelled out exactly - but it appears that the VS995 is locked to verizon and US996 is unlocked for all GSM. Is this correct? If so, wouldn't an "unlocked" VS995 be equivalent to a US996? If not, what would be different.
2) I want to do a comprehensive check on these phones before I start tinkering to make sure everything works. My last HTC phone had a hidden diagnostics menu which would test everything (battery, compass, gps, sensors, buttons, etc, etc...). I would like to know if the V20 has something similar? Also I want to know what the "problem areas" of V20s are. Things I should check out to make sure they aren't wonky.
3) I need to know if I can root this phone. I've seen a couple methods but I'm not sure now if they apply to my model and if they still work and/or if they are safe (relatively speaking). I definitely need root and would also like to load custom recovery so I can do alternate ROMS, thought I probably will run with stock for a while to get used to it. I would like to upgrade to latest official ROM (for the newest features), but don't want to do any upgrades if it will ruin my chances to root/unlock/etc. What do I need to check on the phone and what is the method I should follow (links are fine for this).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found your thread her and on Reddit and was hoping you have found an answer to the hardware check feature you were looking for. I am having radio off issues with my V20 and was hoping to have the phone run a hardware check. It seems that someone posted the code "##22378" to do this but this does nothing for my older sprint v20 and my Verizon model has the MOBO back in a bag of rice. Is this only code?

redsphinx said:
I found your thread her and on Reddit and was hoping you have found an answer to the hardware check feature you were looking for. I am having radio off issues with my V20 and was hoping to have the phone run a hardware check. It seems that someone posted the code "##22378" to do this but this does nothing for my older sprint v20 and my Verizon model has the MOBO back in a bag of rice. Is this only code?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Verizon V20 (VS995) and these are all the codes I found (from my notes):
Hardware Diagnostics
To run in-built hardware diagnostics use the following phone code:
##228378
Select Device Test > SAAT
Other Diagnostic Menus
##DEBUG
##PROGRAM
##PROGRAM995
##FEATURE
** Service codes for all above should be "000000" **
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure the ##228378 code was the one that brought up a pretty comprehensive hardware test menu. But, as you know each vendor does their own and this very possibly doesn't work on non-Verizon models. Sorry that's all I got!

I'm confused, rooted OnePlus 8 Pro can or can't use fingerprint security

Hello Guys,
I'm about to buy the OnePlus 8 Pro, as I haven't had a root-able phone for a few years and greatly miss it. In choosing the phone to buy, and to save you guys time answering repeated questions, I of course have read many threads related to rooting, which versions can me rooted, issues with rooting, etc. Mind you most of my rooting was with HTC and I never once had an issue.
I'll be buying the US market unlocked variant, rooting it, and I'll likely use Magisk during the process.
1. Do we actually need to flash a bootloader, or can I just load it with the bootloader without flashing to maintain the stock bootloader?
2. What things are broken from root? I'm assuming the google pay features will break, but will I not be able to use the fingerprint scanner? Or is it a hit and miss, intermittent problem for some and not others? This is the question that seems to lack a consolidated, concise explanation.
3. Is it better to use the international version, or the US version, or does it matter?
I rarely use custom roms, but when I do, I prefer to run pure Android. I prefer speed over animations. When I don't, I remove every app I can without breaking the phone. How friendly is this phone to trial and error, and re-flashing to start over while I'm learning?

Camboozle said:
Hello Guys,
I'm about to buy the OnePlus 8 Pro, as I haven't had a root-able phone for a few years and greatly miss it. In choosing the phone to buy, and to save you guys time answering repeated questions, I of course have read many threads related to rooting, which versions can me rooted, issues with rooting, etc. Mind you most of my rooting was with HTC and I never once had an issue.
I'll be buying the US market unlocked variant, rooting it, and I'll likely use Magisk during the process.
1. Do we actually need to flash a bootloader, or can I just load it with the bootloader without flashing to maintain the stock bootloader?
2. What things are broken from root? I'm assuming the google pay features will break, but will I not be able to use the fingerprint scanner? Or is it a hit and miss, intermittent problem for some and not others? This is the question that seems to lack a consolidated, concise explanation.
3. Is it better to use the international version, or the US version, or does it matter?
I rarely use custom roms, but when I do, I prefer to run pure Android. I prefer speed over animations. When I don't, I remove every app I can without breaking the phone. How friendly is this phone to trial and error, and re-flashing to start over while I'm learning?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Previous HTC rooter here. Had the 10, then the 12+
This phone is slightly more root friendly. And no, there is no custom bootloader. You will not need to go and get a token from a website to unlock the bootloader. As far I can tell at a glance, S-OFF isn't a thing.
If you set up magisk properly, google pay will work (for now). I use it every other day. Widevine certification will default to L3, so you can't root and keep that in L1 like you could with HTC. I don't get it myself.
Do: backup persist partition (and modem1 and modem2 I guess? Someone recommended it) For sure. While rare, and particularly an issue with magisk canary, if you want any chance of the fingerprint sensor to last, backup the persist partition. Otherwise, you're technically sitting on a ticking time bomb and it can pop at any time and no longer function. Haven't heard anything too recent, but better safe than sorry. Only other solution is RMA.
HTC phones, least the ones I used, used LCD panels. I love LCD, because it seems more protection from burn in and screen retention, and less issues for screen problems. That said, this is a newer screen and amazing, just not as amazing I feel as an LCD screen (although this is a better screen, via tech upgrades and more). Keep in mind there are rampant reports of green tint or burn in right away, black crush, and other screen issues. If you do go with the phone, I recommend giving that a thorough once over.
Customer service is in par to that famous thing of kids going, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Type stuff. Do not expect anything from customer service outside what directly is stated to contact them (such as RMAs), and then be prepared to fight tooth an nail for it, and prepare for any additives that arise from it. I would have better odds of customer service with comcast (as weird it sounds) than with oneplus' customer service. They will not honor anything outside what you can do on the website yourself.
What I mean by that, is if you have a coupon for a 10 dollars off accessories, and you accidentally "place" an order and forgot something, and want to add it again? Either wait for your current order to expire to then allow for the coupon, or you're SOL. And to add: By far, the oneplus 8 launch was the worst I ever experienced from any industry, especially as it comes to ordering it. So if you stay, keep that in mind.
A lot of people recommend to just forgo the warranty and get your own via other means (my renters insurance provides it for like, 6 bucks a year) as it's literally the same boat as customer service, with reports of people being charged erroneously like, 500 dollars for some incompency from the warehouse.
If you're in the US the global model I believe is the one you want. UK, INDIA, and CHINA have their own model. While it can be possible to use these, keep that in mind that you most likely want the phone to be compatible with the bands of your country. I believe the india / chinese model is the only one who now has the photochrom filter disabled, thus if you do go with one of these, you'll want to either install a magisk rom, or fix it yourself with one of the many guides available.
You can convert the phone to different models more easily. Such as chinese to global, as compared to HTC phones. You don't need to do superCID like you did or similar I believe, and it's very tolerant of that. In fact, the first oneplus phone even shipped with CyanogenMod installed, now more or less known as lineageOS. This device is very customizable friendly. In fact, some roms will even allow you to uninstall practically anything you want.
Speed is the name of the game, and if you like fast devices, this will blow you out of the water most likely. I personally run .5 on all animation speeds myself.
And of course, if there is issues and you really messed stuff up, you can use the MSM tool or whatever it is to correct the issue. (Again, keep that persist backup in case)
The device will detect if you're rooted and installed either the small OTA package, or the full package in case. I used to always have TWRP installed, but I don't even use it anymore myself so much. The full package can flash through the system update too, btw. Only upon unlocking the bootloader will the data partition be wiped that one time.
There is the hole punch camera, and that was a significant selling feature for me for HTC, but... I figured I'd deal with it this once. Keep that in mind if this feature bugs you as it does me.
Ok, this was my tidbit of info. If you need more clarification or something, ask. Otherwise, enjoy.

Great response, thank you!!! I think it'll be fun to pay with. But really, worse customer service than COMCAST!!! Wow. I guess you get the device and nothing more. Hard to justify 800 bones and no customer service though.

Truant_Luce said:
This phone is slightly more root friendly. And no, there is no custom bootloader. You will not need to go and get a token from a website to unlock the bootloader. As far I can tell at a glance, S-OFF isn't a thing.
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Click to collapse
What do you mean by "need to go and get a token from a website"?
Can't I just simply unlock the bootloader like on my Oneplus 5t?
I am getting my 8Pro this week and plan to install the global ROM instead of the Chinese ROM it will come with, then root it and finally install TWRP.
Do I need to install TWRP to both slots? What are those "slots" anyway? My old phone was a 5t so it had no "slots" .
The instructions I have read are a bit confusing, seems like it is more difficult to install TWRP than it was on the 5t.
Thanks.

Camboozle said:
Hello Guys,
I'm about to buy the OnePlus 8 Pro, as I haven't had a root-able phone for a few years and greatly miss it. In choosing the phone to buy, and to save you guys time answering repeated questions, I of course have read many threads related to rooting, which versions can me rooted, issues with rooting, etc. Mind you most of my rooting was with HTC and I never once had an issue.
I'll be buying the US market unlocked variant, rooting it, and I'll likely use Magisk during the process.
1. Do we actually need to flash a bootloader, or can I just load it with the bootloader without flashing to maintain the stock bootloader?
2. What things are broken from root? I'm assuming the google pay features will break, but will I not be able to use the fingerprint scanner? Or is it a hit and miss, intermittent problem for some and not others? This is the question that seems to lack a consolidated, concise explanation.
3. Is it better to use the international version, or the US version, or does it matter?
I rarely use custom roms, but when I do, I prefer to run pure Android. I prefer speed over animations. When I don't, I remove every app I can without breaking the phone. How friendly is this phone to trial and error, and re-flashing to start over while I'm learning?
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Click to collapse
Docomoco said:
What do you mean by "need to go and get a token from a website"?
Can't I just simply unlock the bootloader like on my Oneplus 5t?
I am getting my 8Pro this week and plan to install the global ROM instead of the Chinese ROM it will come with, then root it and finally install TWRP.
Do I need to install TWRP to both slots? What are those "slots" anyway? My old phone was a 5t so it had no "slots" .
The instructions I have read are a bit confusing, seems like it is more difficult to install TWRP than it was on the 5t.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can. So HTC was the exact process, except you had to go to HTC dev, upload a string that was copied from bootloader, it would then create a token file that only your device could utilize and when you pushed it back to the device, that unlocked the bootloader. Oneplus, you just tell it you wanna unlock the bootloader and done. Since they are coming from HTC, why I said that.

Truant_Luce said:
Yes, you can. So HTC was the exact process, except you had to go to HTC dev, upload a string that was copied from bootloader, it would then create a token file that only your device could utilize and when you pushed it back to the device, that unlocked the bootloader. Oneplus, you just tell it you wanna unlock the bootloader and done. Since they are coming from HTC, why I said that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
How about installing TWRP? Would you have any suggestions as to how to go about it?
Also, I read that I better wipe /data before installing anther ROM.
However it seems TWRP still can't format partitions which means I can't wipe data.

Docomoco said:
Thanks.
How about installing TWRP? Would you have any suggestions as to how to go about it?
Also, I read that I better wipe /data before installing anther ROM.
However it seems TWRP still can't format partitions which means I can't wipe data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think mostly it's boot, but there is a way to install it if you must. I personally haven't touched twrp since moving to oneplus. If you're moving between AOSP or oxygen or hydrogen, yes, wipe data. This can be done via factory reset, without need of twrp. Now, don't quote me too closely for AOSP, but as oxygen or hydrogen builds go (Assuming magisk) you don't need to wipe data so much. I'd recommend consulting the individual device threads.

Thanks, will do.

Is there no way to retain L1? I've come from a Mi 9T where as long as your persist wasn't corrupted, L1 was fine. Do oneplus store the widevine certs in the boot partition or something strange?