I originally posted this on the Asus TransformerForums. Still no update from .13
__________________________________
Root-Unroot-Restore-Lessons learned
Hello all. I've had my TF now since September or October and enjoying every minute of it. Bought mine in Japan so it was HTKXX.JP_epad-version B70 model. Like so many of us the first thing I wanted to do was root it and install custom ROMs. Being the B70like many I had to wait until Razorclaw was released but as soon as it was I was ready to root.
Let me say I'm not well versed in rooting, intalling, and troubleshooting Android devices...and like many the tablets are new to me. So, to help me figure it out I search and read the forums, re-read, and search again. Notice I said "search the forms", that is very important before posting questions as most of our questions have already been asked and answered. That being said, its ok to post a question, I've found the admins, mods, and other people with experience, problems, and solutions all willing to help. Don't forget, these people do this freely so always respect them even if you dont like the answers or advice they give you. Many of us would have some very shiny paper weights if not for the help from the many on here.
Now..to continue my little adventure. And root I did, Prime! 2.1.0, Revolver, Revolutions HD, and back to Prime! when I had questions I turned to the forums, and sometimes was even able to give a little advice myself. With ICS on the horizion and the latest OTA I thought I should look at unrooting and returning my device back to stock. So, again I turned to the forum for information. Because my TF was the JP model I was concerned there may be something with the build that would prevent this or I wouldnt be able to get the right firmware. You see...there isnt a lot of information related to JP models on the forum. I didnt realize they are all "pretty much the same".
Either way, I eventually posted a question and right away was helped with information or unrooting and reflashing back to stock. All the information however was to restore the US model. After some discussions with one of the RS guys I decided what the heck...gonna try it anyway. (the tinker/challenger in me)
Very good instructions for everything I wanted to do were there. If you think I'm joking, check the signature of RS Team Lead Frederuco. It's all there.
End result my TF was unrooted and now have ver 3.2.1 US.epad-8.6.5.13-20110925 kernel ver [email protected]#1. hmmm...I was worried because everyone was talking about ver.19 and .21...am I in trouble? I've tried various things to get caught up even with a version that I could possibly re-root. Oh boy....even trying to go back and get the JP update from ASUS didnt work, my device is now a US.epad device. My thoughts were...well, at least its still working.
Then I decided to do a bit more investigation, so i went to one of the local computer stores and checked the build and kernel version. I was suprised to see that the only difference in what I now have and what's in the stores is the JP & US. So, maybe what I'm waiting for hasnt gotten to Japan yet...or the ones in the store just haven't been updated. (more likely the case)
Either way, the point and advice here is this. if you decide to unroot and restore I dont recommend to the weak hearted to use a SKU other than what came on your device. It worked yes but not sure where I'm going from here. For me, it doesnt matter as I can always manually update when the versions are on the ASUS site. Worse case, I would have just bought another device and ....yep probably rooted it right away
We all know the risks we take when rooting, tinkering, etc. If you take the plunge, search, read, asks. And respect the people helping.
I hope this in someway helps someone
Update:
I've been able to get my TF from US.epad-8.6.5.13-20110925 to WW_epad-8.6.6.19-20111101 If nothing else I can at least root again. Will probably wait to see if I am actually getting OTA or not. The steps followed can be found in dev post "possible fix for lost root with 8.6.5.21" Sorry, I cant post links yet...
Note that I've changed the SKU on my device from JP to US to WW. So far I haven't seen any problems because of this. (still, if you aren't sure I recommend you dont)
Hello
I am aware that there isn't any warranty at all here that anything you do won't have negative effects on your phone. I've flashed quite a few roms on phones like the oneplus one, sony xperia sp, samsung galaxy core plus, nexus 5x, lg cookie, moto defy plus,... I've had tens of soft bricks, but never anything I couldn't recover from.
Anyways, I'm sick and tired of the laggy MiFavor UI on this phone, and would like to install CM13. I've an A2016G. I've seen some EU folk have issues with Tenfar's unlocking method, having hard bricked them since they can't get into a certain (EDL?) mode.
My question is this: if I read every thread and follow every step very carefully, is there a major risk my axon 2016G turns into a 450 euro paperweight? Is there perhaps another unlock method that's 99% secure?
Thank you
Jan
Hate to be that guy, but is there no-one with some knowledge around this?
Thanks.
Controllerboy said:
Hate to be that guy, but is there no-one with some knowledge around this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me be the second guy, I'm amazed no one replied...
I'm in the same predicament; do I stay stock and use a great piece of hardware with crap software, or do I dare take the plunch and be able to make the phone as it ought to be at the risk of ending up with a very expensive paperweight...
What the hell did ZTE think when developing the A2017G model. And why is there after all these month no clear answer/procedure for this model. Is it that rarely used? How come there is no solution even though the firehose files are out there?
Hope someone finds a fullproof solutions soon....
Cheerz,
/Cacti
Verstuurd vanaf mijn ZTE A2017G met Tapatalk
I have the US model and I won't use tenfar's method on the phone for which it's intended. It's a questionable method
Unlocking your bootloader and Flashing CM13 is pretty easy and I don't really think there is much risk of permanently bricking your phone. However as of right now it really isn't worth the effort. I flashed CM 13 yesterday and it ran well, but the camera wasn't working so I decided to go back to the stock software. So unless you don't need the camera I'd skip flashing for now.
lag?
Controllerboy said:
Hello
I am aware that there isn't any warranty at all here that anything you do won't have negative effects on your phone. I've flashed quite a few roms on phones like the oneplus one, sony xperia sp, samsung galaxy core plus, nexus 5x, lg cookie, moto defy plus,... I've had tens of soft bricks, but never anything I couldn't recover from.
Anyways, I'm sick and tired of the laggy MiFavor UI on this phone, and would like to install CM13. I've an A2016G. I've seen some EU folk have issues with Tenfar's unlocking method, having hard bricked them since they can't get into a certain (EDL?) mode.
My question is this: if I read every thread and follow every step very carefully, is there a major risk my axon 2016G turns into a 450 euro paperweight? Is there perhaps another unlock method that's 99% secure?
Thank you
Jan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, where is this lag? I've been using it stock since I got it after the Note 7, which was very laggy, and have failed to notice any lag.
Zero lag here as well, buttery smooth at all times. Heads and shoulders above the Note 7 that I came from in terms of responsiveness and general performance.
Sent from my ZTE A2017 using Tapatalk
jawz101 said:
I have the US model and I won't use tenfar's method on the phone for which it's intended. It's a questionable method
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the US model, you can get an unlocked bootloader & all the trimmings without using tenfar's tool at all, although it's a bit more of a roundabout method.
Just unlocked mine working great.
Hi,
Just thought I'd add as I'm one of those who did end up in DFU mode permanently. I have a reasonable understanding of the issue at hand and I've been one of the few who have been vocal about not calling the current method safe of us.
My suggestion if you have a A2017G is not to bother using tenfar's tool unless you're willing to RMA or make use of your warranty. I'm not in a position where I can do that, but since most are there hasn't been much interest in a solution.
I don't have the firehose itself to begin working on fixing the issue, though I do have a rough idea of how do so using the partition table for TWRP but I don't think I have the time to learn how to put it all together myself. Particularly when I'm replacing my Axon 7 with a Mi Note 2.
What is needed is an unbrick tool, ZTE have made and released them for their own devices before, why they don't do that with Axon 7 is beyond me.
rendler said:
Zero lag here as well, buttery smooth at all times. Heads and shoulders above the Note 7 that I came from in terms of responsiveness and general performance.
Sent from my ZTE A2017 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be using the US or CN model, because the EU model is laggy as hell. It's by far the laggiest ROM I used on a phone with high-end specs..
keessonnema said:
You must be using the US or CN model, because the EU model is laggy as hell. It's by far the laggiest ROM I used on a phone with high-end specs..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, using Chinese model with 128GB of storage.
Sent from my ZTE A2017 using Tapatalk
Just my 2 cents having unlocked the bootloader on my A2017G. I used tenfar's tool to backup the boot and stock recovery images and flashed the TWRP recovery and didn't run into problems fortunately. I wouldn't recommend to flash the rooted boot.img by tenfar until (hopefully) we'll have a unbrick tool for the G version.
My recommendation ----- On the G version don't mess around with the bootloader! ----- My recommendation
I've been able to unlock the bootloader on B03, reflashed stock recovery with tenfar's tool and successfully updated to B05 from the SD card.
If you want root I recommend to go the unlock bootloader - flash SuperSU 3.65 route instead of flashing the pre-rooted boot.img from tenfar with a locked bootloader as chances of things going haywire seem to be greater with the second method on the G version.
In case you have any reservations I definitely recommend to wait for a unbrick method of the G version before you try any of this. If and when such a method will come is undetermined at this point in time.
@lag of G version: Can't confirm that on B05, everything running smooth so far. There are a few graphical glitches though (stock browser displaying left side first und has sometimes trouble to show the content fullscreen.
Pull down notification bar has double lined icon text slightly cut off on the bottom once you switch to landscape mode and pull down the notification bar.
jawz101 said:
I have the US model and I won't use tenfar's method on the phone for which it's intended. It's a questionable method
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen this said a couple of times (or maybe it's just you in different threads, I don't know), but I don't understand it. By its very nature, rooting your phone is "questionable". Why is tenfar's method/tool any worse than any other method or tool? Do you have some technical insight to provide (and if so, please do so) or is it just an opinion based on nothing? I certainly don't have any issue with the latter, but I find it odd that people without any technical expertise speak as if they're an authority of some kind.
rczrider said:
I've seen this said a couple of times (or maybe it's just you in different threads, I don't know), but I don't understand it. By its very nature, rooting your phone is "questionable". Why is tenfar's method/tool any worse than any other method or tool? Do you have some technical insight to provide (and if so, please do so) or is it just an opinion based on nothing? I certainly don't have any issue with the latter, but I find it odd that people without any technical expertise speak as if they're an authority of some kind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's probably me and a few others. Ok, answer me these questions:
What does the tool specifically modify on the phone?
What is a "firehose mbn" anyway? Tenfar mentioned it is how it gains access to the phone. I don't know if that is a tool to do so or if it's a file that gets put on the phone in a more permanent chipset-level storage only meant to be altered by Qualcomm or phone manufacturers. I'm find with replacing a recovery, kernel, ROM- the boot.img or anything lower than that is closed source for a reason. Probably because it's talking directly to the hardware and code at that lower level can circumvent anything in a kernel, recovery or ROM.
Would it affect Snapdragon SmartProtect?
https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/security/smart-protect
Why do virus scanners call it a Windows trojan if it's an Android hack?
Yes, I call it questionable because I have questions. Since the file is encrypted you can't answer those questions for me. All I can gather is everyone who has used it has basically said "I used it and it did what I wanted it to do so it must be safe."
---------- Post added at 10:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 AM ----------
@rczrider
Here are the posts in the thread by a security expert asking questions about the method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?searchid=430010789
Here is tenfar's response to him
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axo...r-unlokced-t3441204/post68301899#post68301899
Here's a post from him on ZTEUSA
https://community.zteusa.com/message/50425
Here's a blog post he made about it
https://blog.onedefence.com/signed-firehose-images-and-why-theyre-dangerous/?pk_campaign=zte-forums
jawz101 said:
It's probably me and a few others. Ok, answer me these questions:
What does the tool specifically modify on the phone?
What is a "firehose mbn" anyway? Tenfar mentioned it is how it gains access to the phone. I don't know if that is a tool to do so or if it's a file that gets put on the phone in a more permanent chipset-level storage only meant to be altered by Qualcomm or phone manufacturers. I'm find with replacing a recovery, kernel, ROM- the boot.img or anything lower than that is closed source for a reason. Probably because it's talking directly to the hardware and code at that lower level can circumvent anything in a kernel, recovery or ROM.
Would it affect Snapdragon SmartProtect?
https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/security/smart-protect
Why do virus scanners call it a Windows trojan if it's an Android hack?
Yes, I call it questionable because I have questions. Since the file is encrypted you can't answer those questions for me. All I can gather is everyone who has used it has basically said "I used it and it did what I wanted it to do so it must be safe."
---------- Post added at 10:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:46 AM ----------
@rczrider
Here are the posts in the thread by a security expert asking questions about the method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?searchid=430010789
Here is tenfar's response to him
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axo...r-unlokced-t3441204/post68301899#post68301899
Here's a post from him on ZTEUSA
https://community.zteusa.com/message/50425
Here's a blog post he made about it
https://blog.onedefence.com/signed-firehose-images-and-why-theyre-dangerous/?pk_campaign=zte-forums
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, It would be nice if people would inform themselves about this but unfortunately this is the state of XDA now... so here we go
- Firehose is a protocol used to communicate to the qcom chipset directly at a level lower than OS. Since there are security measures in place, in order to talk to it you need a signed firehose withe a coresponding certificate that is burned into the SBL. This is what ZTE uses to directly flash the units at factory and can also be used at repair centers. Tenfar is in possession of such a file and his flasher utilizes it to write modified boot and recovery that would otherwise be discarded by SoC's security protocols. Since it's obfuscated code to hide the firehose plus in addition uses comm libs and code that probably reads and writes other files, it is no wonder it gets flagged by AV software. I had ODIN flagged by Avast once.
- The boot.img is not closed-source, it is actually kernel and ramdisk and can be unpacked so you can see what's inside. It can be compared to stock as well and in fact that is exactly what his are, patched stock boot images. The boot image has been patched in order to allow the modified boot img with root to boot since SecureBoot is still in place due to locked bootloader. In addition is modifies SE Linux to allow root to run. And that brings us to why this tool exists in the first place. It is to allow you to bypass SecureBoot and have root and was created in the period before unlock method was provided by ZTE. It is still the only method to use on non-US model. It is a hack tool by definition and has made development on this phone move ahead way further then it would.
- The security concerns raised were more along the line of how bad it is that the signed firehose is in the wild, not so much to what tenfars tool does or how it does it. The expert even wanted the firehose to be posted on the forum(SMH), which tenfar refused since he did not wanted it to spread and hence obfuscated the code. The signed firehose would present a security vulnerability if someone came in physical contact with your phone since they could dump data or load something on it without your knowledge, as pointed out on the sec blog and other posts, but it has nothing to do with whether you use tenfars tool or not.
- Smart Protect is an API feature that the an AV app would have to use, it exists in the SoC but does nothing on it's own so is irrelevant but i figured i'd clarify it (again)
Most either understand that or don't care. This is the XDA, where we break our warranties and bypass SafetyNet in order to have different emojis Thanks to tenfars tools i have noticed that ZTE has broken the FDE on their stock builds since TWRP was able to decode /data with default password even though it shouldn't. So in my book it's a net plus, at least i know how unsafe it is now.
xtermmin said:
On the US model, you can get an unlocked bootloader & all the trimmings without using tenfar's tool at all, although it's a bit more of a roundabout method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would that be this method?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/bootloader-unlock-t3437778/page1
And thank you @peramikic for the answer. I've been googling forever on the mbn stuff but never found much on what it exactly is save that it's a manufacturer's tool. This clears up a lot for me. My biggest concern was if an mbn was something that actually rewrites code on the chip itself. Sounds like it's just an external tool a manufacturer uses to put their image onto the phone.
jawz101 said:
Would that be this method?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/bootloader-unlock-t3437778/page1
And thank you @peramikic for the answer. I've been googling forever on the mbn stuff but never found much on what it exactly is save that it's a manufacturer's tool. This clears up a lot for me. My biggest concern was if an mbn was something that actually rewrites code on the chip itself. Sounds like it's just an external tool a manufacturer uses to put their image onto the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. The mbn itself is just a file format. In this case it has information about emmc partitions. It is also signed with proper certificate. That let's it talk to the chip and is pretty much just a low lever read/write interface.
As far as that method linked, it will work only if you are on the B20 release, US model only. The file looks for a particular build signature as well as partition signatures so it will not flash on anything else.
peramikic said:
No problem. The mbn itself is just a file format. In this case it has information about emmc partitions. It is also signed with proper certificate. That let's it talk to the chip and is pretty much just a low lever read/write interface.
As far as that method linked, it will work only if you are on the B20 release, US model only. The file looks for a particular build signature as well as partition signatures so it will not flash on anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. At this point I think I'm too lazy to futz with downgrading, patching, then upgrading, and all that. Probably just go with the tenfar tool then 0_o
jawz101 said:
Would that be this method?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/bootloader-unlock-t3437778/page1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I used that method because I was already on B20, and my PC runs linux so :effort: to setup a Windows VM to use tenfar's tool. Using that (ZTE's official B20_Boot) and ZTE's official B20 image, you can have an unlocked BL and be on B29 without using tenfar's tool.
tl;dr: Whatever version you're on -> B20 -> B20_Boot -> unlock BL -> B20 -> OTA to B27 -> OTA to B29 (-> flash TWRP, SuperSU, whatever)
Hello all,
this is my first post on XDA so I hope I am doing everything according to the rules. If I do something wrong, apologies and I will do better next time.
So, I recently purchased a Zenfone 3 MAX in the US in a hurry out of necessity. So I was quite annoyed to find out that ASUS has hidden the ability to format the SD card as internal memory. However I found out there is a way to un-hide the feature via adb. But the procedure I found is tested to work with Marshmallow, and I had already updated the phone to Nougat. Indeed, the adb command has had no effect on my phone.
So, now I am trying to downgrade back to Marshmallow. I am definitely a newbie to this world, but I have been able to find this (https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-3/help/how-to-downgrade-zenfone-3-nougat-to-t3573241) thread, which contains a link to a downgrading procedure (https://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-164531-1-3.html). However, it is not for ZC520TL but for ZE520KL.
I was hoping I could use the same procedure for my phone, if I find the right firmware, but I am not sure I have been looking in the right places. The ASUS website has various firmware versions for the US and I assume the oldest one is Marshmallow (Version US-13.1.4.43), but the procedure above requires two different firmware files and I do not know enough to understand what is the difference and where I can find them.
Anyone can shed some light on this for me?
Thank you
Ityboy said:
Hello all,
this is my first post on XDA so I hope I am doing everything according to the rules. If I do something wrong, apologies and I will do better next time.
So, I recently purchased a Zenfone 3 MAX in the US in a hurry out of necessity. So I was quite annoyed to find out that ASUS has hidden the ability to format the SD card as internal memory. However I found out there is a way to un-hide the feature via adb. But the procedure I found is tested to work with Marshmallow, and I had already updated the phone to Nougat. Indeed, the adb command has had no effect on my phone.
So, now I am trying to downgrade back to Marshmallow. I am definitely a newbie to this world, but I have been able to find this (https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-3/help/how-to-downgrade-zenfone-3-nougat-to-t3573241) thread, which contains a link to a downgrading procedure (https://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-164531-1-3.html). However, it is not for ZC520TL but for ZE520KL.
I was hoping I could use the same procedure for my phone, if I find the right firmware, but I am not sure I have been looking in the right places. The ASUS website has various firmware versions for the US and I assume the oldest one is Marshmallow (Version US-13.1.4.43), but the procedure above requires two different firmware files and I do not know enough to understand what is the difference and where I can find them.
Anyone can shed some light on this for me?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask for it. A user in Canada obtained the downgrade. Please write in this thread and share it.
https://www.asus.com/zentalk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=165621&extra=page=1&page=2&mobile=2
MezzaLuna said:
Ask for it. A user in Canada obtained the downgrade. Please write in this thread and share it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.
I have looked at the thread you linked, but I could not see any reference to someone successfully getting their phone downgraded to M by Asus. If anything some people in there stress how unhelpful is Asus with the whole thing. So I am not any closer to the solution than I was before.
Ityboy said:
Thanks for your reply.
I have looked at the thread you linked, but I could not see any reference to someone successfully getting their phone downgraded to M by Asus. If anything some people in there stress how unhelpful is Asus with the whole thing. So I am not any closer to the solution than I was before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at this for more info.
https://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-172018-1-1.html
By the way the Zenfone 3 max was a total mess for me so I used my right of withdrawal on the amazon.
I was successfull in downgrading my ZE552KL to M using the raw firmware
Visit this link and download the appropriate raw firmware for your phone
https://vnrom.net/cac-dong-may-khac/asus/
vishal1286 said:
I was successfull in downgrading my ZE552KL to M using the raw firmware
Visit this link and download the appropriate raw firmware for your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. I have looked around and found a firmware for the ZC520TL. However I am not sure it is the right one for me because it is my understanding that I need a firmware whose name starts with UL, rather than WW. I am not sure what would happen if I used firmware of a different zone. Moreover, I have been able to recover the right firmware from the ASUS website. What I need is the "RAW firmware" as defined in the procedure I have linked in my original post. But I don't know how that is different from the firmware. As I said, I am very new to this world.
Ityboy said:
Thanks for the link. I have looked around and found a firmware for the ZC520TL. However I am not sure it is the right one for me because it is my understanding that I need a firmware whose name starts with UL, rather than WW. I am not sure what would happen if I used firmware of a different zone. Moreover, I have been able to recover the right firmware from the ASUS website. What I need is the "RAW firmware" as defined in the procedure I have linked in my original post. But I don't know how that is different from the firmware. As I said, I am very new to this world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WW stands for global firmware, however I am not sure what UL is for. You can contact the person in that website asking for your firmware. They will help.
This is a Bug bounty thread to get root on ZTE Blade A5 2019.
Thanks to ZTE this model doesn't have bootloader unlockable, so root should be made through an exploit. I'm sick of their excuses, i personally believe they were instructed by the governement to do things this way and use eula and "security" as excuse, same happened to axon 7, they said, it's because of security, and i think this is a lie (and i would say i'm not the only). Is unacceptable that experienced people that want to mod their devices can't because to unlock the bootloader you need a signed image, is unacceptable, unlocking bootloader is to flash unsigned images and you tell me that to unlock it i need a signed image from zte or the signature itself? Well i call this "lock users out of their own devices".
But returning on the root topic: I would suggest or CVE-2020-0041:https://github.com/bluefrostsecurity/CVE-2020-0041 that allowed some xperia to get root or CVE-2019-2215:https://github.com/grant-h/qu1ckr00t that has a 32bit version available here:https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/root-with-cve-2019-2215.3979341/post-80748711 another thing that could be tried is this:https://research.nccgroup.com/2022/09/02/theres-another-hole-in-your-soc-unisoc-rom-vulnerabilities/ (note that if we use this maybe would be possible to make an universal root method for unisoc getting bootrom context, but i'm not sure about that.
I also extracted kallsyms so the dev doesn't have to:https://www.mediafire.com/folder/uvde49kcna40o/ZTE_A5_2019_Stuff
Kernel Sources included since zte mirror is really slow.
N.B. Is suggested to flash an old firmware, for example Claro one has 5 January 2019 patch and because of this is vulnerable to qu1ckr00t, also it has fastboot and no updates at all.
if some dev is interested please contact (i'm not a dev so i would need one), also if people want this root to go ahead donate (I will also obliviously), you can tell how much you want to donate and after you can donate to the developer directly (these rules can be changed if the dev is trusted i guess), nb i'm not responsible for any issues, i hope won't succeed nothing badly.
I say this because i also had bad experiences.
About donations i would suggest to do those after the root process is verified to work.
I would stay fine with only a temp root
Hello, I noticed your thread while I was using my fresh script to warp pages fast. I was a person who was involved into exploiting several devices, and You can get yourself a root on this device if I put in enough time into this, Please, provide contacts so I could get in touch with you. We will discuss prices and other stuff somewhere else privately.