Database Users

[GUIDE] Recover Moto Maxx from HARD BRICK

WHAT IS HARD-BRICK?​
The Hard-Brick, translated means device NULL, without function neither one! This happens a lot for forced updating: AS ANDROID 4.4.4 FOR 5xx ....
Most of the time, the cell phone stays in BOOTLOOP (infinite loop), another case as hard brick gets on the black screen with LED access.
Then you ask me?
Wagner, I Brickei my device, how to recover?
YES! There is always a way to recover. More remembering that each device has a way of doing, some are easier and others more complicated. We just need to find the right files.
So let's go!​
MOTOROLA DRIVER
Drivers required for device recognition on PC.
If you have already installed, you do not have to install again.
Download
HAND-BRICK.exe
It will install the drives, recover the cell phone and recover the fastboot.
Download
STEP BY STEP​
1- Turn off the phone and enter the fastboot mode:
Yes, I know the phone is off!
Plus the device is in operation and we need the phone to be turned off and enter the Fastboot mode.
HOW DO I DO THAT? I discovered two ways!
- Fast and easy mode:
OPEN THE PHONE AND DISCONNES THE BATTERY, IT WILL PLACE THE FATBOOT MODE.
IF YOU MAKE ERRORS IN COMMANDS, YOU CAN GET THE FASTEST ANSWER.
- Time-consuming and need patience:
PLUG THE PHONE TO CHARGE "INTO THE SOCKET", THE LED GOES ON, WAITES THE LED OFF.
If the LED does not turn on?
SAFETY THE POWER BUTTON ON + THE DOWN VOLUME, FOR 2 SECONDS OR ACCOUNT UP TO 30!
THEN PLACE INTO THE OUTLET, AND OBSERVE THAT THE LED WILL TURN ON! And wait until the LED turns OFF.
Why did I say I had to be patient?
Well, you're going to do this straight, each made the commands go wrong.
And it will only work again if the phone restarts. Many times the LEDs do not light up among other things like not recognizing on the PC.
HOW DO I KNOW THAT IT WORKS?
When using the unbrick, it will show you a path:
EXP:
C: / USERS / NAME / DESKTOP / MOTO MAXX / PORTUGUESE [BR] / 2 - REVIVER FB / UNBRICK - 5.1> .QBOOT BLANK - FLASH
AND THEN HE SHOWS THE RECOGNIZED FILES.
When of FAILED?
(BLANK-FLASH: **********):
THE FILES WILL BE DEMANDED TO BE RECOGNIZED, THEN IN THIS CASE THE COMMANDS WILL NOT WORK! AND AI FOLLOW THE STEPS AGAIN THE LED!
OK! now that the phone is off and ready to use the unbrick.
Remember, every time you use the unbrick and appear errors, you will have to repeat the STEP to turn on the LED!
2 - Connect the device to the PC, and check that the device is being recognized as QUSB-BULK.
Search the device manager for your PC.
And look in the part (Ports (COM and LPT)) and see if you recognize the device!
3- Install the MOTOROLA + Qualcomm USB drives.
In the Device Manager will shows that the device is being recognized as QUALCOMM.
4- Choose the Unbrick option and execute the files "GO" and wait ends up to 100%
NOTE THAT: THE PHONE WILL BECOME LIFE, AND SHOW THE BOOTLOADER WITHOUT ANDROID!
If it looks like FAIL - You have to repeat STEP 1 to turn on the LED, done that, Test other files
Contains GPT.BIN files from Android 4.4.4 to the latest version 6.0.1!
CASE NOTHING WORKS USE THIS FILE "download"
1 - REMOVE THE ARCHIVE
2- EXECUTE THE FILE WITH THE NAME "GO.bat"
3- NOTHING EVEN? ENTER WITHIN THE "DATE" FOLDER AND EXECUTE THE "01 GO.bat"
4 - NOTHING EVEN? EXECUTE THE FILE "02 GO.cmd"
ONE OF THOSE FILES MUST WORK, BECAUSE THERE IS ONLY THIS FILE!
Now go to the Fastboot option and execute the files "GO"
Contains GPT.BIN files from Android 4.4.4 to the latest version 6.0.1!
THE NEW VERSION IS MARKED WITH RED!
6. Ready! the cell phone will restart with Android 5.0.2, but this one with ERROR does not connect in the WIFI!
To correct this error, turn off the phone
Enter Fastboot mode
Choose a ROM STOCK "here" and install.
If you want a customized ROM First:
Download the new version of TWRP "here"
Choose a CUSTOM ROM "here"
And the GApps according to Android Chosen "here"
READY! YOU CAN BE HAPPY AND INSTALL ANY ROM THAT YOU WANT.
REMEMBER THAT THE ROM Stock 4.4.4 CAN NOT BE UPDATED OVER.
Hope this helps!
do not forget to leave your LIKE and SHARE, leave your comment than you found.

Hi Wagner! The "HAND-BRICK.exe" download link isn't working. Could you provide a new download link, please? Thanks in advance!!!

My experience with FRP lock and how I solved it...

So my nephew brings me his galaxy s6 t-mobile phone... He forgot his lock pin so he factory reset it. Now he can no longer get into the phone because he doesnt know the correct email or password. I did some digging through the net watched a few videos... and found none of the methods they used to bypass the lock would work on his phone. Then I read about the Combination Rom (Factory Binary)... At this time I do not have any windows pc's and my VM will not read the usbs of the phone... (im not that experienced with vm to set this up) So i grabbed JOdin for linux and proceeded to try to flash the binary. However, JOdin did not work for me. So i found Heimdall and installed to learn that i had to find some weird way to run it as SU for it to work... Tho Heimdall worked like a charm.... With Heimdall I had to take the rom and completely extract it to a folder and find all the img files in it to install on heimdal like sboot, boot, cm, system, and quite a few others as well.I used the "PIT" file from the combination rom (which came in the download). When done installing the phone boots into Factory Binary... Interesting little rom... From here you can access settings, tho the instructions tell you to enable developer options and turn on usb debugging... in this rom they are set on by default i believe, so that was kind of a waste of time... then from the main menu you click the icon that looks like a calculator and type in "*#0808# where you are then presented with usb options. Select the last one on the list with adb at the end of it, click save and reboot. At this point I thought i was supposed to install the stock rom back (that was where i was lost) however all you have to do is let it boot back to binary. After it has reloaded... plug it into the pc and send it the proper adb instructions to disable frp lock. Techeligible has a batch file for use in windows, however if you dont have windows like me that does no good... So I went into the batch file with a text reader and extracted the information i needed ( 3 adb commands).In terminal i made sure my adb and fastboot were updated and working. I learned that when you type "adb devices" it will show the phone and if it says nothing else you are good to go. However it may give you a problem with permissions. If this is the case then unplug and make sure usb debuggin is on, you can also check that the adb is enabled again by doing the *#0808# command again and make sure the last selection is checked. When all is in order... At first I thought all commands must work for it to succeed... However this is not true at all. Only one of the adb commands will not give an error and at that time you can reboot into download mode and install the stock rom back on. After installation the phone will reboot and FRP Lock is no longer on... Now you can go into settings open up developer settings (tap build number till it unlocks) and select "OEM Unlock" and turn it on. Make sure usb debugging is on and you can boot back into download mode and install TWRP without a hitch.
I tried installing a couple of custom roms, however I have had no success with getting one to boot. (always stuck in boot loop even with wipe or factory reset) so I gave up and left him with the stock rom. If anyone has any idea of how i could get passed the bootloop maybe i can try again for him sometime and see how he likes various custom roms, but now he is happy he has his phone back working and it only took me a week of off and on frustration to figure it out... Hope this helps someone... (please dont ask for links) but if you do need help or have questions feel free to ask.

How I Rooted Walmart Onn Tablets (No TWRP Needed)

I'll be making a video for this with the 7 inch tablet on Nov. 29th or 30th (depending on the time I have)
General Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you brick your tablet. This is how I did it personally as other methods here didn't work for me. I have yet to test this method on a 7 inch, also do not have access to the Surf variants. This has only been tested on the 10.1 inch with the keyboard. Will update when I test with the 7 inch.
What's Needed:
MTK Fastboot Drivers: https://online.mediatek.com/Public Documents/MTK_Android_USB_Driver.zip
Magisk Manager Canary: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/dev-magisk-canary-channel-bleeding-edge-t3839337
Stock Boot Image: https://forum.xda-developers.com/wa...eral/stock-stock-backups-images-otas-t3998227
ADB and Fastboot: https://www.xda-developers.com/what-is-adb/
Prerequisites:
Personally, I had issues getting my PC to recognize the tablets in Fastboot mode. The drivers wouldn't install. This might be optional for some of you, but I thought I'd include it just in case.
Installing MTK Fastboot Drivers from the link above
If you plugin your device in fastboot mode and your PC doesn't recognize it, follow these steps. If it did, skip this part.
1.) Download the drivers above and unzip the Zip file somewhere on your PC (desktop or My Documents is easiest)
2.) Boot your Tablet into Fastboot Mode by holding Vol + and Power, then select Fastboot from the Menu
*NOTE* There is a bug with these tablet's that the volume buttons are mislabeled. Really dumb, but I guess that's why they were 55 bucks for the 10 inch on black friday
3.) Plug the device into your PC and open Device Manager by pressing WinKey+R and typing devmgmt.msc, hit Enter
4.) If there's an Other Device listed called Android, follow these steps. If it isn't there, follow the next set of steps
5.) Open a Command Prompt window as Admin and type the following command
Code:
bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks on
6.) Hit enter, then restart your PC
7.) Once the PC is restarted, make sure your tablet is connected in Fastboot mode and open Device Manager again
8.) Right click Android under Other Devices and select Update Drivers
9.) Click the Browse my Computer for driver software button and select the MTK Folder you extracted from the download link above
10.) From there, you can open command prompt, type fastboot devices and see if your tablet shows up and move on to root!
Unlocking your Bootloader
From here, you can unlock your bootloader very easily to Root your device
This will wipe all data off the tablet!
0.) Enable OEM Unlock and USB Debugging on the tablet by going to Settings->About and tap Build Number 7 times. From here, enter the new Developer Options that unlock and turn on OEM Unlock and USB Debugging.
1.) Boot your tablet into Fastboot mode and connect it to your PC
2.) Open a Command Prompt window and type the following command, then hit enter
Code:
fastboot flashing unlock
3.) Follow the instructions on screen to unlock your bootloader
4.) Now Boot your device and we'll move on to making a rooted Boot Image
Creating a Rooted Boot Image with Magisk Manager
0.) Make sure you already have Wifi setup and connected before the first time you open Magisk Manager on your device! Make sure it auto connects as well
1.) Download Magisk Manager Canary from the link above
2.) Install it to your device
3.) Download boot Image from the Stock Boot Image part of the Prerequisites above and put the boot.img on your devices internal memory
4.) Open Magisk Manager and select Install Magisk
5.) Select Patch File and select the boot.img from your internal storage
6.) Once its done patching the image, take magisk_patched.img from the downloads folder of your device and move it onto your PC
7.) Boot your tablet into Fastboot mode and plug it into your PC
8.) Open Command Prompt and type the following command and hit enter (make sure you know your magisk_patched.img file location)
Code:
fastboot flash boot magisk_patched.img
9.) Reboot the device and you'll be Rooted!
Optional Steps like Modules and Debloating
My basic debloat script: https://forum.xda-developers.com/wa...s-general/root-walmart-bloat-remover-t4011639
Will be testing GSI roms on the spare 7 inch and will list those here
Recommended Magisk Modules:
Viper4Android Legacy
FDE.AI
MagiskHide Props Config
Systemless Hosts
Youtube Vanced Black
Magisk Setting to Enable:
Magisk Hide
Rename Magisk Manager App (keeps app from detecting magisk root)
Credits:
Myself for this root method @byproxy for reminding me to add the steps for OEM Unlock and enabling wifi before opening Magisk Manager for the first time

I'll start this off saying i'm an amateur at this, but I cannot for the life of me get an option to show up in magisk to patch the boot image even though it's on my 7" tablet. Any thoughts?
The bootloader was unlocked and it was successful so that's not the issue.

Are you online? I had the same problem.
Xavster2 said:
I'll start this off saying i'm an amateur at this, but I cannot for the life of me get an option to show up in magisk to patch the boot image even though it's on my 7" tablet. Any thoughts?
The bootloader was unlocked and it was successful so that's not the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Xavster2 said:
I'll start this off saying i'm an amateur at this, but I cannot for the life of me get an option to show up in magisk to patch the boot image even though it's on my 7" tablet. Any thoughts?
The bootloader was unlocked and it was successful so that's not the issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, been a busy few days, but make sure you're connected to Wifi, close Magisk Manager, then reopen it and you'll be good to go!

Onn 8" walmart tablet
I purchased the 8" Onn walmart tablet second hand from a store called dirt cheap. Box didnt look to be opened but it had been. The tablet had been setup with someones gmail account that i do not know. The tablet was for a 4yo girl to use to learn preschool. Is there just any simple way to remove this google FRP lock ? I dont care if i lose the info on it as its not mine. I just want her to be able to use the tablet. Any help would be much appreciated please

CoachDad said:
I purchased the 8" Onn walmart tablet second hand from a store called dirt cheap. Box didnt look to be opened but it had been. The tablet had been setup with someones gmail account that i do not know. The tablet was for a 4yo girl to use to learn preschool. Is there just any simple way to remove this google FRP lock ? I dont care if i lose the info on it as its not mine. I just want her to be able to use the tablet. Any help would be much appreciated please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forced factory reset should do it. There is small pin hole near the power button. I believe pressing this hidden button(with a Sim card ejector, or paper clip).
If pressing does not do anything. Maybe press the button then hold power button too

mrmazak said:
Forced factory reset should do it. There is small pin hole near the power button. I believe pressing this hidden button(with a Sim card ejector, or paper clip).
If pressing does not do anything. Maybe press the button then hold power button too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for responding so fast. I've boot into recovery mode /wiped everything...its back to factory. The pinhole reset button does nothing other than reboot it . Ive tried all combos to with the reset button but nothing. Also i've read that its possible to use odin? if i can get it into download mode.
Ive downloaded the stock rom posted on an sdcard wondering if i can possibly update in recovery mode? Im sorta a newb at this stuff. I've been reading for 4 days on this matter. I've practiced a root on an old tablet with success. I guess at this point unless i can sell it as is giving the customer that it has this frp lock on it. If the know how to fix it so be it. Im not sure there is a working solution for frp bypass on these tablets.

CoachDad said:
Thank you for responding so fast. I've boot into recovery mode /wiped everything...its back to factory. The pinhole reset button does nothing other than reboot it . Ive tried all combos to with the reset button but nothing. Also i've read that its possible to use odin? if i can get it into download mode.
Ive downloaded the stock rom posted on an sdcard wondering if i can possibly update in recovery mode? Im sorta a newb at this stuff. I've been reading for 4 days on this matter. I've practiced a root on an old tablet with success. I guess at this point unless i can sell it as is giving the customer that it has this frp lock on it. If the know how to fix it so be it. Im not sure there is a working solution for frp bypass on these tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an mtk device not Samsung. So there is no Odin or download mode. There is spflash tool, and preloader.
And if you flash firmware (with default frp partition) then frp lock is cleared.
But you will have to find that file. It maybe in the stock firmwares that are shared, I do not know.

EDIT:
i was having issues but figure it out. maybe it should be so common knowledge that it shouldn't need to be included as a step, but since i don't do this THAT often i didn't think about it and it took me a bit to figure out why i was having issues.
once you get your computer to recognize your device (mine did without needing to mess with any drivers) you need to first make sure to got into the tablet settings -> about and then tap on the build number 7 times to access developer options. then you need to go into developer options and turn on OEM Unlocking & USB Debugging.
THEN follow the guide to unlock bootloader.
then (since the tablet is factory reset once you unlock) do the above AGAIN to turn USB Debugging back on after you reboot.
also note that you need to have an internet connection on the tablet to utilize magisk. once you got all that square, then continue on with steps for full root.
hope that helps!

byproxy said:
EDIT:
i was having issues but figure it out. maybe it should be so common knowledge that it shouldn't need to be included as a step, but since i don't do this THAT often i didn't think about it and it took me a bit to figure out why i was having issues.
once you get your computer to recognize your device (mine did without needing to mess with any drivers) you need to first make sure to got into the tablet settings -> about and then tap on the build number 7 times to access developer options. then you need to go into developer options and turn on OEM Unlocking & USB Debugging.
THEN follow the guide to unlock bootloader.
then (since the tablet is factory reset once you unlock) do the above AGAIN to turn USB Debugging back on after you reboot.
also note that you need to have an internet connection on the tablet to utilize magisk. once you got all that square, then continue on with steps for full root.
hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not realize I didn't include that step. Total noob mistake when typing a tutorial up for android. I do this almost daily at work, so I forget to include it

CoachDad said:
Thank you for responding so fast. I've boot into recovery mode /wiped everything...its back to factory. The pinhole reset button does nothing other than reboot it . Ive tried all combos to with the reset button but nothing. Also i've read that its possible to use odin? if i can get it into download mode.
Ive downloaded the stock rom posted on an sdcard wondering if i can possibly update in recovery mode? Im sorta a newb at this stuff. I've been reading for 4 days on this matter. I've practiced a root on an old tablet with success. I guess at this point unless i can sell it as is giving the customer that it has this frp lock on it. If the know how to fix it so be it. Im not sure there is a working solution for frp bypass on these tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to remove FRP lock on one of mine by flashing the stock rom with SP Flash Tool. I used the full wipe and download selection with every partition selected including boot.

no worries! i didn't think about it either until i was having issues. thanks for the tutorial... it was super helpful!! btw it definitely works on the 8" tablet.

Hello! I'm new to all of this, but what I'm trying to accomplish is removing the Google account from this tablet and putting a new image on the ONA19TB002, ONA19TB003, ONA19TB007, Surf 7 and 10 tablets. I followed all of the steps as far as installing the drivers. I had to go through hoops to get the MediaTek Drivers installed, but I have a "warning" cone by it. I haven't been able to find any resolution to this. Any help would be appreciated. I' have a Windows 10 64-bit system that I'm using and the tablet I'm specifically working on at the moment is the ONN ONA19TB003 tablet. The tablet is not being recognized by my laptop when I run the 'fastboot devices' command in PowerShell. Is there something that I'm missing? Any help would be appreciated.

'Quis said:
Hello! I'm new to all of this, but what I'm trying to accomplish is removing the Google account from this tablet and putting a new image on the ONA19TB002, ONA19TB003, ONA19TB007, Surf 7 and 10 tablets. I followed all of the steps as far as installing the drivers. I had to go through hoops to get the MediaTek Drivers installed, but I have a "warning" cone by it. I haven't been able to find any resolution to this. Any help would be appreciated. I' have a Windows 10 64-bit system that I'm using and the tablet I'm specifically working on at the moment is the ONN ONA19TB003 tablet. The tablet is not being recognized by my laptop when I run the 'fastboot devices' command in PowerShell. Is there something that I'm missing? Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I avoid PowerShell at all costs. This kinda stuff has always just seemed to work better with CMD.exe instead of Powershell.
These tablets are kind of a nightmare for this. If you've done the mediatek drivers and still have the warning cone icon, I'm not sure what's next as I haven't hit that wall myself. All I can maybe recommend is right click delete drivers in Device Manager, then start over with the driver install
Removing the Google Account would be needing a FRP Bypass. Someone above stated "I was able to remove FRP lock on one of mine by flashing the stock rom with SP Flash Tool. I used the full wipe and download selection with every partition selected including boot. " so if you can get it recognized, try that

KaptinBoxxi said:
Personally, I avoid PowerShell at all costs. This kinda stuff has always just seemed to work better with CMD.exe instead of Powershell.
These tablets are kind of a nightmare for this. If you've done the mediatek drivers and still have the warning cone icon, I'm not sure what's next as I haven't hit that wall myself. All I can maybe recommend is right click delete drivers in Device Manager, then start over with the driver install
Removing the Google Account would be needing a FRP Bypass. Someone above stated "I was able to remove FRP lock on one of mine by flashing the stock rom with SP Flash Tool. I used the full wipe and download selection with every partition selected including boot. " so if you can get it recognized, try that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thank you! This is a shot in the dark, but in order for ADB to work, USB debugging has to be enabled. I can't do that as the tablet is locked by FRP and I have looked countless times on Google and MSN to see if it's possible. Do you have any tips for that?

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but for some reason I can't seem to get. The tablet to stay in fastboot mode. It just says waiting for device.

will this root onn 8 inch tablet running android 9

soateufel said:
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but for some reason I can't seem to get. The tablet to stay in fastboot mode. It just says waiting for device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for late reply. Been away from home with work. When fastboot mode indicates "waiting for device," it generally means that your device is not properly communicating with your PC or laptop. This is nearly always due to missing or incorrect drivers 9n your computer. There are several comprehensive guides here on XDA for installing necessary ADB & Fastboot drivers.

installed magisk manager on onn 8 and also have img zip but win i go to patch it magisk manager crashes

when you mean patch boot img do mean to unzip file on onn 8

Newbie corner: How to unlock, install some OS on Galaxy S6

Hello there,
I am a very, very, very newbie in mobile and android, event the vocabulary is new, so please be indulgent. Moreover, I am old school and running Linux (opensuse Leap 15.2) and I hate GAFAM stuff.
I got an old Galaxy S6 SM-G920F. I don't have access to it, no SIM card, I'd guess no data. I want to learn how to change the OS (I think the good word is mod) to something like Lineage.
I have read a lot but there has been evolution in methods and I can't find the easy way to do it.
As it seems WINDOWS OS is needed to success, I installed WIN 10 in a laptop (what a chit!). BUT if you have a way to go with Linux, please I'd prefer.
First I wand to know the main part of the process. I think the first on is to unlock the bootloader.
I tried the following in the phone: Press and hold three physical keys of Home, Power and Volume Down. Release them when the screen is lightning, and then press the Volume Up key. I got on the screen:
Code:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SM-G620F
CURRENT BINARY: Custom
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom
REACTIVATION LOCK: OFF
Secure Download : Enabled
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 1 (0x0500)
AP SWREV: B:5 K:2 S:2
I'd guess the bootloader is unlocked, could you confirm?
Now, what to do? Could you
- Explain the main steps without detail then
- Point me on a good recent HowTo or write it here.
Many thanks for your help
Edit: BTW what does mean debloat and deknox?

MrNice said:
Hello there,
I am a very, very, very newbie in mobile and android, event the vocabulary is new, so please be indulgent. Moreover, I am old school and running Linux (opensuse Leap 15.2) and I hate GAFAM stuff.
I got an old Galaxy S6 SM-G920F. I don't have access to it, no SIM card, I'd guess no data. I want to learn how to change the OS (I think the good word is mod) to something like Lineage.
I have read a lot but there has been evolution in methods and I can't find the easy way to do it.
As it seems WINDOWS OS is needed to success, I installed WIN 10 in a laptop (what a chit!). BUT if you have a way to go with Linux, please I'd prefer.
First I wand to know the main part of the process. I think the first on is to unlock the bootloader.
I tried the following in the phone: Press and hold three physical keys of Home, Power and Volume Down. Release them when the screen is lightning, and then press the Volume Up key. I got on the screen:
Code:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SM-G620F
CURRENT BINARY: Custom
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom
REACTIVATION LOCK: OFF
Secure Download : Enabled
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 1 (0x0500)
AP SWREV: B:5 K:2 S:2
I'd guess the bootloader is unlocked, could you confirm?
Now, what to do? Could you
- Explain the main steps without detail then
- Point me on a good recent HowTo or write it here.
Many thanks for your help
Edit: BTW what does mean debloat and deknox?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
as I have installed a custom ROM myself on my S6 G920f only a few weeks ago, I can help you out as far as my knowledge goes and as far as I haven't forgotten it. Bear in mind though that I am not an expert and had to look up a lot of stuff myself.
First, after trying many different up-to-date ROMs and after becoming very frustrated, I kind of accepted that there is currently no up-to-date ROM for the S6 that does not have one or the other big flaw. Some didn't even Boot and instead did load for 5 minutes and rebooted into twrp. The critical flaws on the others were random shutdowns, microphone issues ranging from my voice not being transmitted at all to constant feedback where the other person was hearing her or his voice. The feedback issue I experienced on all the ROMs. Also, with the ROM that I thought I could arrange with I noticed that sometimes, randomly, the calls coming in were just blocked/didn't come through for whatever reason. Also, fast charging is an issue and the camera is bad since you won't have Samsung's camera app and the necessary framework that optimizes it. Google safety net was a big issue with the Android 10 ROMs too, but magiskhide props solved that for me.
I'm sure many people have different reasons to use ROMs but for me it was just not worth it at this time. Maybe this will change later. Just wanting to let you know since you asked for it. I found my current happy place with the Marduk Stock Rom which you can find in the S6 Development section. It is based on the stock ROM which is Android 7, I find it to be fast, it has a good battery life and for me it is very stable. Also no microphone or connectivity issues, fast charging works only with screen off, camera is good since it's the original camera app. No google safety net issue.
Now to your questions.
Debloat means the pre-installed apps that you cannot uninstall and that clutter your phone are removed. Deknoxed as far as I know refers to Samsungs knox which is a safety plus as long as you use your phone unrooted but (tries to) restrict rooting and installing custom ROMs etc. Don't know much more than that tho.
Yes, your bootloader seems to be unlocked.
Now install twrp first. Go to twrp website and download the version you need for your phone. To flash TWRP recovery, you don't need odin. I have used heimdall myself and found it to be very easy.
- Install heimdall. You can also install samsung usb driver for linux if you have issues connecting your phone to your pc.
- Boot into Download Mode (For me volume down + home button + power button)
- Have phone plugged in to pc and at least 60% charge
- Start Terminal, Cd into folder with your recovery.img and use this command to install your recovery (of course replace "recovery.img" with your recovery):
heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot
- Now turn your phone off, and since my phone automatically rebooted at this point, try to stop this by instantly using your key combo as soon as the screen turns black to boot into recovery mode (volume up+home button + power). I had issues here. If you don't manage to do this and get stuck in bootloop just boot into download mode again and install recovery once more to try again.
- Now you can download your preferred rom, boot your phone into twrp recovery and connect to your pc to copy, wipe everything in twrp (obviously save any file you'd like to keep) and install your Custom ROM.
- Most ROMs (but not all! read ROM description!) come without GAPPS installed so you will have to download and install it manually after you have installed your ROM (I recommend GAPPS pico for your custom ROM version). You don't have to do this if you don't want to use google applications.
- Before leaving twrp and booting into your OS install Magisk in TWRP(Download latest version and install in twrp after GAPPs).
- Wipe Cache/Dalvik
- Now reboot into System (and don't install TWRP manager system app)
- Install Magisk Manager after after restart
ROMs:
The best LineageOS ROM I have found to be this: https://lineageos.wickenberg.nu/zerofltexx
It seemed to have the least amount of flaws. The bugs for me were no fast charging unless you reboot plugged in. So no fast charging when you plugin and dont reboot and stay plugged in after reboot. Random connectivity issues. Microphone feedback. Camera crashes and camera issues whilst videocalling etc. Google safety net failure by default, but you can fix this with MagiskHide Props.
Haven't tried the Pixel one here but it seems to have the same microphone issue where nobody can hear your voice.
The Marduk Debloated Stock ROM, also here on XDA, is based on the older Android 7.0 but works very well. Lacks the extended settings and features you find on LineageOS, but least buggy and fast and battery efficient.
Have fun

waffelschnitten said:
Hello,
as I have installed a custom ROM myself on my S6 G920f only a few weeks ago, I can help you out as far as my knowledge goes and as far as I haven't forgotten it. Bear in mind though that I am not an expert and had to look up a lot of stuff myself.
First, after trying many different up-to-date ROMs and after becoming very frustrated, I kind of accepted that there is currently no up-to-date ROM for the S6 that does not have one or the other big flaw. Some didn't even Boot and instead did load for 5 minutes and rebooted into twrp. The critical flaws on the others were random shutdowns, microphone issues ranging from my voice not being transmitted at all to constant feedback where the other person was hearing her or his voice. The feedback issue I experienced on all the ROMs. Also, with the ROM that I thought I could arrange with I noticed that sometimes, randomly, the calls coming in were just blocked/didn't come through for whatever reason. Also, fast charging is an issue and the camera is bad since you won't have Samsung's camera app and the necessary framework that optimizes it. Google safety net was a big issue with the Android 10 ROMs too, but magiskhide props solved that for me.
I'm sure many people have different reasons to use ROMs but for me it was just not worth it at this time. Maybe this will change later. Just wanting to let you know since you asked for it. I found my current happy place with the Marduk Stock Rom which you can find in the S6 Development section. It is based on the stock ROM which is Android 7, I find it to be fast, it has a good battery life and for me it is very stable. Also no microphone or connectivity issues, fast charging works only with screen off, camera is good since it's the original camera app. No google safety net issue.
Now to your questions.
Debloat means the pre-installed apps that you cannot uninstall and that clutter your phone are removed. Deknoxed as far as I know refers to Samsungs knox which is a safety plus as long as you use your phone unrooted but (tries to) restrict rooting and installing custom ROMs etc. Don't know much more than that tho.
Yes, your bootloader seems to be unlocked.
Now install twrp first. Go to twrp website and download the version you need for your phone. To flash TWRP recovery, you don't need odin. I have used heimdall myself and found it to be very easy.
- Install heimdall. You can also install samsung usb driver for linux if you have issues connecting your phone to your pc.
- Boot into Download Mode (For me volume down + home button + power button)
- Have phone plugged in to pc and at least 60% charge
- Start Terminal, Cd into folder with your recovery.img and use this command to install your recovery (of course replace "recovery.img" with your recovery):
heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot
- Now turn your phone off, and since my phone automatically rebooted at this point, try to stop this by instantly using your key combo as soon as the screen turns black to boot into recovery mode (volume up+home button + power). I had issues here. If you don't manage to do this and get stuck in bootloop just boot into download mode again and install recovery once more to try again.
- Now you can download your preferred rom, boot your phone into twrp recovery and connect to your pc to copy, wipe everything in twrp (obviously save any file you'd like to keep) and install your Custom ROM.
- Most ROMs (but not all! read ROM description!) come without GAPPS installed so you will have to download and install it manually after you have installed your ROM (I recommend GAPPS pico for your custom ROM version). You don't have to do this if you don't want to use google applications.
- Before leaving twrp and booting into your OS install Magisk in TWRP(Download latest version and install in twrp after GAPPs).
- Wipe Cache/Dalvik
- Now reboot into System (and don't install TWRP manager system app)
- Install Magisk Manager after after restart
ROMs:
The best LineageOS ROM I have found to be this: https://lineageos.wickenberg.nu/zerofltexx
It seemed to have the least amount of flaws. The bugs for me were no fast charging unless you reboot plugged in. So no fast charging when you plugin and dont reboot and stay plugged in after reboot. Random connectivity issues. Microphone feedback. Camera crashes and camera issues whilst videocalling etc. Google safety net failure by default, but you can fix this with MagiskHide Props.
Haven't tried the Pixel one here but it seems to have the same microphone issue where nobody can hear your voice.
The Marduk Debloated Stock ROM, also here on XDA, is based on the older Android 7.0 but works very well. Lacks the extended settings and features you find on LineageOS, but least buggy and fast and battery efficient.
Have fun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you waffelschnitten (no waffel icon) for your extensive answer.
I've learn a lot yet.
As this phone is for experiment, I'll try your Howto.
Forgive my ignorance but the first step is not clear for me. TWRP looks to be an Android app. So I have to install it on the phone, but as I mentioned in my previous post I can't access in it, I don't have the code.
Is it possible to bypass the code? Maybe this device is only good for the recycling? Could you be more accurate in the process?

No worries. No your device should be fine.
TWRP stands for Team Win Recovery Project. It is a Custom Recovery System, it's not an app. You don't need to boot into your System OS to install it. You have to flash it onto your phone by using the Samsung Download Mode. Only with a Custom Recovery System such as TWRP you can easily install new ROMs, Root your phone etc.
To install TWRP, you first need to download TWRP for the S6 onto your PC: https://eu.dl.twrp.me/zeroflte/. Download the .img file version.
Now you have to boot into the S6 Download Mode. To do this, make sure your phone is turned off. Then boot it up by pressing and holding Volume Down Button+Home Button+Power Button at the same time for a few seconds. This should get you into Download Mode.
When in Download Mode, connect your phone to your Linux PC via USB.
Make sure you have installed heimdall on Linux. Start Linux Terminal. Remember, your phone should be connected to your PC and in Download Mode. Now check if heimdall detects your phone with this command:
heimdall detect
If it is not detected, try and install Samsung USB drivers for Linux.
If it is detected, navigate to the folder with the TWRP file in your Linux Terminal with the Cd command.
Then, flash your twrp.img file on your phone with this command:
heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot
Replace recovery.img with your twrp.img file. For the latest one it should be twrp-3.3.1-0-zeroflte.img
So this would be the command:
heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp-3.3.1-0-zeroflte.img --no-reboot
Just to make sure, do you know how to navigate/use the linux terminal?
If you have followed these steps, you should have installed your Custom Recovery. With this you have access to your File System etc. Continue as described in my first reply. As already said, to boot into your newly installed TWRP recovery, you have to press Volume up+Home Button+Power Button at the same time and hold for a few seconds, even after the S6 logo appears.

Many, many thanks,
I am not too bad with Linux, user for around 10 years, only newbie with mobile devices and Android.
I had to wait long time for the battery be empty and the phone power off. I can't find other way with buttons.
I did a download mode restart and connected to my Linux box. Then detect OK, then flash the phone.
Code:
heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp-3.3.1-0-zeroflte.img --no-reboot
Heimdall v1.4.2
Copyright (c) 2010-2017 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/
This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.
If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/
Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...
Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.
Beginning session...
Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!
Session begun.
Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.
Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful
Ending session...
Releasing device interface...
After that I power off with Vol-, Vol+, Home, Power together long time but had no time to restart in TWRP mode.
I wait again to discharge the battery and try again.
See you

MrNice said:
Many, many thanks,
I am not too bad with Linux, user for around 10 years, only newbie with mobile devices and Android.
I had to wait long time for the battery be empty and the phone power off. I can't find other way with buttons.
I did a download mode restart and connected to my Linux box. Then detect OK, then flash the phone.
Code:
heimdall flash --RECOVERY twrp-3.3.1-0-zeroflte.img --no-reboot
Heimdall v1.4.2
Copyright (c) 2010-2017 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/
This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.
If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/
Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...
Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.
Beginning session...
Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!
Session begun.
Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.
Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful
Ending session...
Releasing device interface...
After that I power off with Vol-, Vol+, Home, Power together long time but had no time to restart in TWRP mode.
I wait again to discharge the battery and try again.
See you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can force your phone to turn off by pressing Vol- and Power Button together and holding it until it turns off, maybe this helps. Good luck!

Very good, now I am in TWRP and I have a lot of questions.
I did WIPE, Format Data, "yes" and Back.
Should I reboot now? What will be the OS/ROM at self reboot? Should I reboot with Vol up, Home, Power instead?
I connected the phone to my linux computer but no connection.
How (with detail as you did perfectly) to upload the new ROM image to the phone?
As you are happy with Marduk Stock Rom, I'll try it.
Could you provide the link to the thread and the download to this rom?
Thanks a lot again
Edit:
In Marduk Stock Rom, is there any GAFAM app/link/account needed?
Is the version v4.5 (12/10/2019) the last one?
Is it the good link to the thread?
Edit 2:
After disconnect and reconnect, I got the phone in my file manager in Linux (Internal Storage). I can transfer the rom file. What should be the extension of the file? .img or .zip or other? Waiting to your confirmation for the version.

MrNice said:
Very good, now I am in TWRP and I have a lot of questions.
I did WIPE, Format Data, "yes" and Back.
Should I reboot now? What will be the OS/ROM at self reboot? Should I reboot with Vol up, Home, Power instead?
I connected the phone to my linux computer but no connection.
How (with detail as you did perfectly) to upload the new ROM image to the phone?
Asyou are happy with Marduk Stock Rom, I'll try it.
Could you provide the link to the thread and the download to this rom?
Thanks a lot again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Advanced Wipe everything (but USB)
If you reboot without going into TWRP you will probably face bootloop. But that's no issue since you can always boot down and up into recovery. In TWRP, you can also go to Menu -> Reboot -> Recovery
If you connect your phone via USB to your PC in TWRP it should be detected, so that is weird. You can try to use different usb cables and USB ports on your PC, you can also try to install Samsung USB Drivers and ADB if nothing helps and try again.
Marduk ROM you can find here:
[ROM][ESE3][MAY PATCH] Galaxy S6 Marduk Stock ROM v4.1 [04/07/2019][G920/5/I/F]
WELCOME TO MY S6 MARDUK STOCK ROM No one is allowed to modify or use anything from ROM without first contacting me. READ INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS TO AVOID ANSWERED QUESTIONS INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS: - Do full wipe and factory reset -...
forum.xda-developers.com
See his/her instructions for your model:
- Do full wipe and factory reset
- Flash ROM using latest TWRP recovery
- Flash latest Magisk Manager
- Reboot
- First boot will take a while
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need GApps for this, but you need additional Magisk. magiskmanager.com
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/download/v21.4/Magisk-v21.4.zip
When you have finished and installed your OS install the magisk manager app as an App.
Downloading Magisk App... | Magisk Manager
The download will automatically start in 5 seconds, please click here to access the download URL directly. If you are confused and want to know how to install the Magisk Manager on your phone you can click here.
magiskmanager.com

MrNice said:
Very good, now I am in TWRP and I have a lot of questions.
I did WIPE, Format Data, "yes" and Back.
Should I reboot now? What will be the OS/ROM at self reboot? Should I reboot with Vol up, Home, Power instead?
I connected the phone to my linux computer but no connection.
How (with detail as you did perfectly) to upload the new ROM image to the phone?
As you are happy with Marduk Stock Rom, I'll try it.
Could you provide the link to the thread and the download to this rom?
Thanks a lot again
Edit:
In Marduk Stock Rom, is there any GAFAM app/link/account needed?
Is the version v4.5 (12/10/2019) the last one?
Is it the good link to the thread?
Edit 2:
After disconnect and reconnect, I got the phone in my file manager in Linux (Internal Storage). I can transfer the rom file. What should be the extension of the file? .img or .zip or other? Waiting to your confirmation for the version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Extension should be zip. Version 4.5 is the right one. Dont forget to flash Magisk after installing the ROM and wiping Cache/Dalvik right after flashing Magisk. Then reboot into OS and wait

Ahrrr...
After Wipe, Advanced Wipe, select all but not USB Storage, Wipe then reboot, Recovery, when I connect to PC, I get SAMSUNG Android device and Internal Storage. If I open this directory I get error:
Code:
The forlder contents could not be displayed.
Sorry, could not display all the contents of "Internal Storage". The connection is closed
I tried to reboot with 3 buttons, same issue.
In Linux dmesg says:
Code:
[23088.108086] usb 2-4: new high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[23088.265639] usb 2-4: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
[23088.265647] usb 2-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[23088.265652] usb 2-4: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[23088.265656] usb 2-4: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[23088.265661] usb 2-4: SerialNumber: 0815f83172eb2d01
[23088.267224] cdc_acm 2-4:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
[23096.897800] pool[17212]: segfault at 54b62d50 ip 00007feb702ed9d6 sp 00007feb65ffab68 error 4 in libc-2.26.so[7feb70252000+1b1000]
[23383.203939] pool[17338]: segfault at 54b62d50 ip 00007f4154ef69d6 sp 00007f4142ffcb68 error 4 in libc-2.26.so[7f4154e5b000+1b1000]
I'll try more
Any idea?

MrNice said:
Ahrrr...
After Wipe, Advanced Wipe, select all but not USB Storage, Wipe then reboot, Recovery, when I connect to PC, I get SAMSUNG Android device and Internal Storage. If I open this directory I get error:
Code:
The forlder contents could not be displayed.
Sorry, could not display all the contents of "Internal Storage". The connection is closed
I tried to reboot with 3 buttons, same issue.
In Linux dmesg says:
Code:
[23088.108086] usb 2-4: new high-speed USB device number 13 using ehci-pci
[23088.265639] usb 2-4: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=6860
[23088.265647] usb 2-4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[23088.265652] usb 2-4: Product: SAMSUNG_Android
[23088.265656] usb 2-4: Manufacturer: SAMSUNG
[23088.265661] usb 2-4: SerialNumber: 0815f83172eb2d01
[23088.267224] cdc_acm 2-4:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
[23096.897800] pool[17212]: segfault at 54b62d50 ip 00007feb702ed9d6 sp 00007feb65ffab68 error 4 in libc-2.26.so[7feb70252000+1b1000]
[23383.203939] pool[17338]: segfault at 54b62d50 ip 00007f4154ef69d6 sp 00007f4142ffcb68 error 4 in libc-2.26.so[7f4154e5b000+1b1000]
I'll try more
Any idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe install Samsung USB drivers

More and more I think the issue is in the phone.
When I wiped with: Wipe, Advanced wipe, select all but USB Storage, this selection included "Internal Storage".
Now in this window, I can "Repair or Change File System" directories. When I select System or Data or Cache or USB Storage, and press "Repair or Change File System" button, I get info on the selected item and I could do more. When I select "Internal Storage" instead, I get error: "Invalid partition selection".
As I can;t find it with the file manager, my question is
This directory has issue, is it a real dir or a soft link to a real dir?
How to restore as previous?
Edit 1:
In phone, Wipe page I can read on top:
Wipes Data, Cache and Dalvik
(not including internal storage)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does mean "not including internal storage"?
Should I not wipe it?

MrNice said:
More and more I think the issue is in the phone.
When I wiped with: Wipe, Advanced wipe, select all but USB Storage, this selection included "Internal Storage".
Now in this window, I can "Repair or Change File System" directories. When I select System or Data or Cache or USB Storage, and press "Repair or Change File System" button, I get info on the selected item and I could do more. When I select "Internal Storage" instead, I get error: "Invalid partition selection".
As I can;t find it with the file manager, my question is
This directory has issue, is it a real dir or a soft link to a real dir?
How to restore as previous?
Edit 1:
In phone, Wipe page I can read on top:What does mean "not including internal storage"?
Should I not wipe it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you allow modifications here?
https://www.android-hilfe.de/attachments/default-twrp-welcome-screen-jpg.643125/
You can try to mount partitions in TWRP mount option.
I dont know about the Repair options. I didn't have to do that. Also, I dont think your issue is with corrupted file directories.
I would first try to reboot into DOwnload Mode and try and see if USB works in Download Mode. Maybe ADB sideload is possible in Download mode? I don't know about this, though.
If I were you, I would try to connect it to the PC, install Samsung USB and ADB drivers. If it still doesnt work, connect to a different PC, maybe your Windows 10 OS. If that doesn't work, Flash TWRP again and try again.
Wipe/Cache Dalvik does not include internal storage. That is just to make clear that you can wipe it without losing your os or phone data. You should still wipe it, and it will not block wipe of internal storage.

Following this howto I succeeded to transfer and install the new ROM.
I didn't reboot so far as I have to install Magisk.
I downloaded Magisk-v21-4.zip but I don't know how to transfer and install it as I still can't access to "Internal Storage"
I am in the good way, any help?

Nice. So you used ADB sideload to transfer your ROM onto your device? Do the same with the Magisk.zip and flash it just like you have flashed the ROM. Then wipe Cache/Dalvik and reboot into OS.

I did the same process with Magisk, OK then wipe and reboot without TWRP install.
I had to wait at least 5mn then got the new screen.
It seems to work fine and I started to follow setting.... but I got a Google account to create and other thing like that I don't like at all...
I see this ROM is not what I want but I will try a bit
Thank a lot for your help
See you

MrNice said:
I did the same process with Magisk, OK then wipe and reboot without TWRP install.
I had to wait at least 5mn then got the new screen.
It seems to work fine and I started to follow setting.... but I got a Google account to create and other thing like that I don't like at all...
I see this ROM is not what I want but I will try a bit
Thank a lot for your help
See you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, yes this ROM is not de-googled. Sorry for that. Go ahead and try other ROMs. Good job installing the Marduk ROM though and have fun

I spend some time to test some features.
So far I found that the fingerprint is not working.
I removed the Google icon but can't remove the apps in Settings > Apps. Is it possible?
How I could install alternative apps store like Apkpure, Aptoide? There are a lot of them but I don't know if I can trust them.
Do you know trusted app shop, good one?
Later if needed, I'll change the ROM. Just to be sure, should I use the same process as previously: Boot to TWRP > ADB sideload > Install the ROM > Install again Magisk.zip (?) > Wipe Cache/Dalvik and reboot into OS.
Question about Magisk.
If fact I don't understand the usage. I have read it's usefull to root devices. My device is rooted, so why I need it? What is the difference between Magisk.zip and Magisk Manager that I have in the apps?
When I start Magisk Manager, at the top page, there are 2 links "Install" to update Magisk and Manager, both look up-to-date. Strange, as the apps are up-to-date why I see these links? Have you the same?
Thank you for your patience.
Edit:
Just to say I don't have any browser where I could display and download apps. Maybe I should start first to install one. BTW what do you advise as browser outside GAFAM?

MrNice said:
I spend some time to test some features.
So far I found that the fingerprint is not working.
I removed the Google icon but can't remove the apps in Settings > Apps. Is it possible?
How I could install alternative apps store like Apkpure, Aptoide? There are a lot of them but I don't know if I can trust them.
Do you know trusted app shop, good one?
Later if needed, I'll change the ROM. Just to be sure, should I use the same process as previously: Boot to TWRP > ADB sideload > Install the ROM > Install again Magisk.zip (?) > Wipe Cache/Dalvik and reboot into OS.
Question about Magisk.
If fact I don't understand the usage. I have read it's usefull to root devices. My device is rooted, so why I need it? What is the difference between Magisk.zip and Magisk Manager that I have in the apps?
When I start Magisk Manager, at the top page, there are 2 links "Install" to update Magisk and Manager, both look up-to-date. Strange, as the apps are up-to-date why I see these links? Have you the same?
Thank you for your patience.
Edit:
Just to say I don't have any browser where I could display and download apps. Maybe I should start first to install one. BTW what do you advise as browser outside GAFAM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can manually degoogle your phone I am sure, but I would advise you to just install a (stable) ROM that is already de-googled.
You can try lineageOS 17.1 if you want (best version I have found was this: https://lineageos.wickenberg.nu/zerofltexx), or look for older official lineageOS builds in this forum, or just any other ROMs.
My fingerprint sensor works, so I dont know about yours. But it won't work without Google apps, I think. At least not on this ROM I guess.
Yes, if you want to change your ROM later, that is what you would do. IF you want Google Apps and it is not included in the chosen ROM, you would have to install GApps additionally. But since you dont want google, you only need to Root and flash Magisk.
Most people use FDroid for a free App Store I think.
About your Question regarding Magisk:
Magisk.zip is the thing you root your phone with. Usually you have to root your phone again every time you install a new ROM.
Magisk Manager is an App that helps you manage your root permissions, so you can grant root access to apps or deny them. It is also there to hide your root from the google system and from apps that require un-rooted devices. I guess you can't run them without Google safety net etc anyways. Furthermore, there is a repository in the magisk manager app from which you can download various tweaks and scripts etc for your phone and flash it directly onto it, without needing to boot into recovery first.
Yes, I see the same installation buttons even though it is up to date. Maybe it is there to give you the option to re-install things to fix issues.
I would advise using Firefox as your browser.

Thank you again waffelschnitten I learn a lot with you.
So far I installed
F-Droid, APKPure
Firefox, Opera, Brave
Signal but I can't start it because I need to update Google Play Services. I had reading about it and understand it is very difficult to avoid as it is a layer between hardware and software (?).
As you know I don't like GAFAM stuff but I'll be pragmatic and use it unless you know another way.
The issue now is when I start Signal, it ask to update Google PS and I am back to the previous window when I click update button. I checked that it is installed version 11.9.75 and the 2 buttons Disable and Force Stop are grey out.
Any idea how to get ride of this issue?
BTW what Instant Messaging app do you advice/use?

RFinder B1 Classic, B1+ (14) rooting.

EDIT: Instructions for updating the ROM are in the third message and they work for everyone, rooted or not.
This is specifically for the RFinder B1+ with 6 GB of system RAM and 128GB of built in ROM but with or without the First Responder designation or Band 14. It will likely work with all three RFinder B1+ radios as they use the same MediaTek chipset.
***THE B1 CLASSIC ROOT METHOD IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT***
***I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DAMAGE OR DESTROY YOUR DEVICE***
***I AM ALSO NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU VIOLATE FCC RULES OR WHATEVER THE EQUIVALENT AGENCY US IN YOUR COUNTRY***
In a nutshell, if something goes wrong, it's up to you to fix it. Though there are very few ways to brick the RFinder, keep in mind it's also a two way radio, so don't blame me if yours falls apart, you burn yourself on an exposed part of the antenna, the family cat runs off, you manage to summon security on their local DMR channel, or if it gets stuck in an infinite loop showing sample Pac Man footage.
For those unfamiliar, there are a few combo radio and Android units. The RFinder B1+ is one of them. I see no advantage to rooting on the radio side; most amateur radios offer you as much access as you need. AnyTone offers access to *everything*, they're completely unlocked. Motorola Solutions (not the Motorola seen most often here) keeps strict control of what you can access. Analog only devices vary but have a lot of access through the program Chirp.
Now that we've worked out you're here to root the Android part instead of the radio, let's dive on in.
Here's what I used:
A laptop running Windows 11
My Moto G7 (Mobility, not Solutions)
A typical USB-A to USB-C cable
ADB tools
MediaTek drivers
Magisk 23
The latest RFinder firmware, which can be found here:
Index of ./B1-Plus-APKs/
While there you may need to grab the latest APKs. Towards the end of this post I'll explain a bit about DMR and analog radio, this will help you understand what the B1 does and if it's worth the investment ($1,600 currently) to you.
Please be patient, it may take a couple of tries to download the firmware.
I don't see a need to change the recovery. If you have other ham radios with you, you will likely have a computer as well which can be used to reflash the ROM to the radio if need be.
First, back everything up. Files and whatnot can be backed up to SD cards, radio info is to be backed up to the cloud. Install the latest firmware (this will include the ROM) as per RFinder's instructions. It takes a little digging to find it. My B1 has the firmware I linked to, so I used that. With the latest firmware installed, shut the B1 down and either charge it or attach a fully charged battery.
Over on the G7 (you may use any phone that runs Magisk Manager 23) I extracted boot.img from the downloaded firmware. You also need to extract vbmeta and lk.bin (depending on your preferences). lk.bin can be added to clean up the boot screen. I used a blank vbmeta intended for a rooted Onn 10.1 tablet, but it's better to use the one that comes with the firmware.
Next I patched the boot.img with the Magisk Manager 23 on my rooted G7 and took note of the file name. I have several patched boot images for different devices, no need to risk flashing the wrong image and possibly turning my radiophone into a light bulb.
Then I hooked up the laptop to the phone. ADB tools are in the most basic directory I could make: c:\adb. I put the patched boot.img in there. You'll need to copy vbmeta and lk.bin as well. I disconnected the laptop from the G7 and hooked it up to the B1, then started the B1 normally. Windows 11 recognized it immediately and installed the drivers. I enabled developer options (settings->system->about phone, then tap build number several times) and enabled OEM unlocking through Developer Options.
Next I unhooked the B1 and rebooted it to the super simple MediaTek bootloader by holding power and volume UP together for a few seconds. I followed the on screen prompts to get into fastboot mode.
With the laptop and the B1 connected, I went to C:\adb on the laptop, right clicked, and opened a terminal. This may be listed as open PowerShell or command prompt depending on your version of Windows.
For the next part, we're telling certain programs to do certain things to certain partitions within the radiophone with certain files. Imagine giving someone a command: "Fastboot, please flash the boot partition with the boot.img. file." That's the flow of each command.
The first command was to verify the laptop and PC could communicate, so I typed (without quotes)
"fastboot devices"
The RFinder put a number up on the laptop screen. All good so far.
Next
"fastboot flashing unlock"
This unlocks the bootloader and frees up every bit of storage on the radio's installed ROM storage.
Next, without quotes or parentheses, I typed "fastboot flash boot (whatever Magisk named the patched boot image).img
Last was "fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img"
At this point if you want to patch the lk.img file and have that nice, clean battery warning specific to the B1, patch it in a hex editor, put it into the ADB folder, and type:
"fastboot flash lk (whatever you named the patched lk.img).img
If for some reason you want to re lock the boot loader,
"fastboot flashing lock" should do it. I left mine unlocked.
Once that's done, reboot the B1. You can power cycle it or type
"fastboot reboot"
That will either get it booted to Android 9 or into a boot loop. If it boot loops, re check your work and try again. Worst case scenario you can flash the respective files from the firmware you downloaded, start with vbmeta, though!
The last step is to install Magisk Manager 23. It should recognize the Android part is rooted.
You can use a later Magisk or even a different root solution. I used 23 because it's the latest one I'm familiar with.
Now... just what exactly does this oversized, bulky piece of hardware do?
Most any radio, your cell phone included, has to connect to a central point and identify itself to be allowed to use that connection. For a cell phone, we call that a "tower", for ham radios, it's called a "repeater". Shocking idea...they both do the exact same thing: take in information and then repeat it either over the air or via physical connection (backhaul for cell, network for radio) so that other devices can receive it. Some radios can talk directly to one another without all of this.
When your radio connects to a repeater, it also sends certain information to activate that repeater. Both analog and digital modes require this, but the digital identification carries more information.
Enter DMR radio. An analog repeater has one or maybe two "channels". A DMR repeater accesses a network called Brandmeister or sometimes DMR_MARC which contains thousands of channels known as "talkgroups".
In either case, someone has to program those ID signals and the desired channels into the radio. No two repeaters are exactly the same, but someone with a lot of patience can set the radio up to automatically access each repeater on a long trip much the way a cell phone roams from tower to tower.
Most programmable two way radios have to have all this info entered at least once by hand. The B1 does it automatically.
Aside from that, there are obvious advantages to an amateur radio operator with a single device that can serve as their cell phone, their handheld radio, and possibly even their wallet. There's also an advantage to being able to simply switch out a dead battery for a charged one, the B1 is offline for perhaps a minute while this is done rather than being captive to a power bank and cable for an hour or two.

OK, post #2. I like to put my ham and GMRS call signs on my radios' boot screens, and I hate that orange mode warning, so a good place to put change that is in the lk.bin file.
Dumb skull moment #1: fastboot flash lk onn_10_lk.bin (should have flashed the B1+'s lk.img, not some bin file from a cheap tablet...oops!)
Dumb skull moment #2: fastboot reboot.
Step 3: Enjoy my new $1,800 brick. Smartphones ain't cheap!
I went through the same steps I normally would to unbrick a Walmart tablet because the chipsets are almost identical. Bob designed a next gen B1+ and added some lifesaving features to a few of them for first responders, then ran a batch or two with the better hardware but no access to US cell band 14 for the rest of us. In the end, we got a good ham radio with a solid cell phone as the front end and batteries that absolutely devastate what would normally be in the phone.
Here's the catch: the RFinder B1+ flash memory is formatted a little different than a standard MTK 6765. The scatter file used in the ROMs doesn't play nice with SP flash tool because of this. This is actually fairly common among different radio models, but before now I've had to do some soldering to repartition a handful of AnyTone units. What I did was grab a generic MTK 6765 scatter file and compare it to the B1+. I changed line numbers and memory addresses on the generic file to match the RFinder official ROM, but left the generic file structure intact. I double checked my work and it matched up. Next I loaded it into SP Flash Tool and hit download without the B1+ hooked up. It stalled where I expected it to. A quick driver update, some frustration with Windows 11 (I said the magic words a few times), then back to Windows 10 because that laptop is working still... another driver update and presto! The radio swallowed a stock lk.img faster than I wolf down steak and taters.
Another warning: on the B1+, if you need to use SP Flash Tool, only use the "download" function and untick ALL the boxes except just what you need! If you're hacking up the scatter file, one mistake can soft brick the radiophone, but if that mistake isn't on a partition you're flashing it won't matter.
Anyway, back to hackin' devices and yakkin' on the radio!
-73

ROM updating:
If you open the RFinder HAM app and go to "Advanced Settings" it may prompt you for an update. If it's updating the app itself, follow the on screen instructions.
If it's updating the ROM, follow the instructions to download the file, then STOP. Back everything up including the radio memories, then unmount any SD cards you have, power down, and remove them from the radio.
Re attach the battery to the radio and charge it fully. Once it's charged, unplug the USB and remove the radio from the cradle.
ROOTED USERS ONLY (all others skip to "ALL USERS"):
Get the radio into fastboot mode and connect a USB cable. Locate the downloaded zip file that matches the ROM you have, unzip it into a folder on your PC that's easy to find, and then use fastboot to flash *stock* files from that zip file into the radio to replace any files you've patched or modded. Specifically you'll need the boot.img and the vbmeta.img and they MUST match the ROM currently in the radio. Open a command prompt, then change to the directory where your fastboot is installed. I recommend you put the official vbmeta and boot files in this directory.
"fastboot devices" and wait for your B1+ to show up.
"fastboot flash boot boot.img" where boot.img is the official boot image that matches the one in the radio. Double check your typing, then hit enter.
"fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta" Again, you need to be sure it's the matching official vbmeta.img. Double check typing, then hit enter.
Double check everything.
"fastboot reboot" Your B1+ will boot back into Android.
Go to Settings -> Reset Options -> Erase All Data, then read the text and hit "Reset Phone".
Alternately you can reset from the B1+'s Recovery Menu (power +vol down IIRC, if not try power +vol up).
Sideload the Magisk app. Again, I used 23, which is older but it's the one I understand best.
ALL USERS:
Plug in a live USB cable (preferably to a USB power outlet, not a computer).
Go to settings -> System -> About Phone -> System Upgrade. Click that and choose update from local storage, then choose the update file the radio downloaded or that you received from the customer support team. Follow the instructions. The radio will shut down. You may have to power it up manually. It'll go into a mode that looks like recovery, then it'll say it's updating. If something isn't right the update will abort and generate an error message. If everything is OK the update takes around five minutes. The first reboot hangs on the tower splash screen for a while, so please be patient!
Non rooted users are done. Hooray!
ROOTED USERS:
Once the update is finished, go to your fastboot folder on the PC and replace vbmeta with the empty one you used with the old *rooted* boot.img.
Unpack the new update file, copy it to the radio's internal storage, and use Magisk to patch it. Copy the patched file back to your PC, preferably into the folder with fastboot.
Get the radio into fastboot mode and connect it to your PC with a USB cable.
Use fastboot the same way you did above except this time, flash the patched boot.img and the empty vbmeta.img.
Double check everything you just flashed, then type "fastboot reboot" and hit Enter.
Once the radio loads up, download a root verification app and run it. You should get a superuser request. Hit grant, read the root checker output, and voila!
Next find the RFinder HAM apk and install it. Ideally you should have a backup of it, if not, get it from RFinder.wiki.
Make any other mods you need to make, then reinstall any SIM and SD cards, update the RFinder HAM and IMEI apps if necessary, restore your memories into the RFinder HAM app. Reload your other apps, restore any backups they have, re grant root access as needed, and you're done.

B1 Classic rooting.
If you got hold of one of these, you're in for a rough ride. If it's got the latest update, version 25, you have your work cut out for you. The best way to get hold of the ROM is from Bob Greenberg with RFinder support. RFinder has an official and an unofficial Facebook group and a Zoom channel. Bob is proactive in contacting people who post with issues in either of those groups. He has a number of beta roms available as well as beta RFinder software. Serious, go sign up and ask.
If you're NOT on 25 or you'd care to chat via Zoom, things are a lot easier.
I started with a B1 classic from a silent key That operator was part of a Jeep club out of Oregon and for whatever reason they sold off his B1 Classic as part of the estate.. That's a term of respect for a ham operator who has passed on. Obviously if the person had a startup PIN on the device, it soft bricks when hey pass on unless someone knows it. You also have the FRP lock to deal with, however, this operator had either logged out of Google before he passed or never logged in.
Here's what I did:
To remove the startup lock, shut the unit off and remove the battery. Cherge the battery it its cradle (the B1 Classic will not charge via USB). Reinstall the battery, press and hold "Power" and Volume down, release them after a few seconds. This gets you to recovery. Factory reset the radiophone from here.
Once the B1 restarts, head over to RFinder.wiki and get the latest RFinder ham apk. Install it, go into settings, and Advanced Support. If you're not on version 25, you'll get a notice to update an an option to download a ROM. Do both, and save the ROM file whe n you're finished.
Unzip the ROM file and locate the boot.img and the scatter.txt. You know what to do with the boot imagw: get it onto a device that has the Magisk apk, rooted or not, and patch it. Put it back into the folder with the unzipped ROM file.
Shut down the B1 Classic and remove the battery. Unplug the USB cable from your PC.
Next grab a scatter file for a stock MTK 6763. Go through it and the scatter file from RFinder, match up the start points of all the partitions and as man of the sizes as you can. You'll need to delete one of the partitions in the stock file and do all of your edits on the *stock* MTK file, not the RFinder one. Chenge the "is download" value on ALL partitions except the Preloader and the Boot to FALSE. Save that in the unzipped ROM folder.
Now grab SP Flash tools. The B1's bootloader can be unlocked, but it's difficult and I happen to like my data. Open SP Flash tools (unzip, find flashtool.exe and double click it). Hit "browse" and go to the unzipped ROM folder, then click on your scatter file. If everything went well, you should have only two lines showing on the download screen: Preloader and Boot.
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU TO MODIFY THE PRELOADER! Uncheck that option. You have to have the line populated or SP Flash Tools will throw an error, but you MUST UNCHECK IT. If the two lines don't populate, find the respective images in the unzipped rom. Click the empty line, then find the image and click that. Ensure the Boot line is checked, preloader unchecked, double check your work, then hit "download".
Grab the B1, plug the loose USB cable into it. Press and hold Volume Up and Volume Down while you plug the other end of the USB cable into your computer where SP Flash Tools is waiting. You do not need a battery. SP flash Tools will connect to the B1, the progress bar will turn RED, then it will verify your work and attempt to download your changes to the B1. If that's successful, the bar will turn yellow. When it's finished, it'll notify you of the results.
DO NOT FORMAT ANYTHING IF IT ASKS YOU TO. That's an error which needs addressed, so fix it and try again.
Unplug the cable, attach the battery, and boot the B1. You will not need to reinstall anything save for an SU manager (Magisk is fine) and a root checker.
Keep in mind that we didn't touch the bootloader, it is still LOCKED. I was all over it trying to unlock it to no avail, and I didn't care to dig out my old Toughbook for Ubuntu. Not everyone has an old Toughbook with Ubuntu on it anyway, you may be on Windoze.
I strongly suspect this method will work for future updates to the other B1 models as well, and since we're not fooling around with the bootloader, no data will be lost. Runbo puts out quit a few ROM updates for their stuff (yes, Runbo) so those who own the newer devices will be re rooting a time or two.
E81 owners: if these methods work, please let us know! Or if you flashed a B1 to an E81 or vice vera, let us know how that went.