Installing ROM through "Apply Update From SD Card" ?!

Installing ROM through "Apply Update From SD Card" ?! - Moto G4 Plus Questions & Answers

Hi, I currently own my Moto G4 Plus with the locked Google account.
I think that because it is blocked I can not connect will usb actually generates errors when I try.
My idea: Download a custom ROM, and use the "Apply Update from SD Card" option in default Recovery.
However, this option will not reset and clean the system, causing the "Apply Update from SD Card" option to install a new "ROM" system right?
I need urgent help, I need to change the ROM and test if it will unlock ...

Hey!!! Calm down man, the thing u r talkin' about is nearly impossible, stock recovery with locked bootloader...
Before sharing some idea, first search about it on google and try to learn..
Locked bootloader means, whatever is in your Phone (Ur phone consist of several partitions containing data to make phone boot and use, also a partition to store data) must be signed with a key from OEM..
Plus, stock recovery... It can apply update from only those zips which are signed by OEM, any breakage to that signature results in OTA fail...
Plus, custom rom uses either no signature or custom signature

Related

[F31xx][F32xx][Guide][MM] How to root your Xperia XA (as noob friendly as possible)

Hi all,
I'm happy to share with you an updated guide on how to root the Xperia XA and Ultra, big thanks to @luis1981 for the update.
This guide is Only for Marshmallow (Android 6.0), for Nougat (Android 7.0) it's here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xa/how-to/f31xx-how-to-root-xperia-xa-noob-t3638727
## How to root the Sony Xperia XA
The Sony Xperia XA is a midrange smartphone with a bezeless design. It has adequate specs and run Android aptly. These aspects make this phone a great daily driver, however the Sony stock Android is plagued with trashware and all the hurdles Android itself has several privacy problems.
By rooting the phone one can circumvent these limitations. You will be able to install the Xposed framework, improve sound with Viper4Android, block hosts, install dns-crypt and improve overall customability. In the follwing sections I will present the steps to root your phone.
But before proceeding a word of caution (or why you wouldn't like to root your phone):
1. Unlocking your BootLoader will void your warranty, break your device DRM and lose X-Reality and image optimisation on low light when taking pictures, I found a workaround here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xperia-z1-z2-z3-series-devices-drm-t2930672, use zip for Z3+ devices.
2. You can save your DRM keys (TA backup) by following this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/universal-dirtycow-based-ta-backup-t3514236. You have to do it BEFORE unlocking the bootloader, for now you can't restore your backup.
3. You can re-lock your phone but it will not restore DRM
4. Unlocking your bootloader will wipe the device (factory reset)
5. If you have confidential files in your phone don't unlock your bootloader, as long as your phone is locked your data are officially secured.
## Method
1. Find out whether if you bootloader is unlocked, which is needed to proceed. Type: *#*#7378423#*#* then choose Service info ---> Configuration ---> Check for "Bootloader unlock allowed: Yes". At this point if the phone has No or any other answer at the screen you shouldn't porceed as rooting will be impossible.
2. Download XA ADB and Fastboot drivers: https://developer.sonymobile.com/downloads/drivers/
3. Download FLASHTOOL with integrated Xperifirm 0.9.22.3 for Windows, note that you can also use it to unlock your bootloader(http://www.flashtool.net/downloads_windows.php)
4. Follow the official Sony instructions for getting the unlock code from [here](https://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/). Further paste the code in BLU menu of Flashtool. You can also find video instructions [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lKWd5LlUoA).
5. Root Your Stock Rom with TWRP and in order to do that you will need the proper files for your phone version:
SuperSu zip package for all XA: http://www.supersu.com/download
For XA single sim = F3111, F3113, F3115
TWRP recovery: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xa/development/f3111-f3113-f3115-twrp-recovery-xa-t3606488
Boot: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...3111-f3113-f3115-stock-kernels-built-t3573119
For XA dual sim = F3112,F3116
TWRP recovery: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...3112-f3116-twrp-recovery-xa-dual-sim-t3606232
Boot: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...12-f3116-stock-kernels-built-sources-t3526496
6. Copy SuperSu zip package on your MicroSD.
7. Enter the phone in Fastboot mode (when power off, hold Vol+ and plug the phone). The led should be blue.
8. Flash recovery and boot with "fastboot flash boot boot.img" and "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" commands (rename downloaded boot/recovery image if needed). The simplest way is to use fastboot from Flashtool in x10flasher folder, copy recovery and boot in it, open command prompt, flash them and then delete them.
9. Unplug the phone, hold "Vol-" and "Power" buttons. Release all buttons after phone vibrate.
10. You are in TWRP recovery, on password prompt press "Cancel"
11. On next screen press "Swipe to allow".
12. Go to "Install", "Select Storage", click "Micro SDCard". Optionally, you can format "userdata" partition now and remove internal encrytion for restoring TWRP backups/acces of /data partition, go to "wipe" and tap "format data".
13. Go to your SuperSu zip directory and click on it to install. Optionally, If you want to flash Xposed, DRM fix or any flashable zip, repeat the previous step for each zip. You can mount your SD to PC in TWRP for easy access.
14. Reboot the phone, during init the phone will reboot one more time.
15. Your phone is rooted
You can optionally switch from SuperSu to Magisk by following this guide:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-xa/how-to/guide-how-to-install-magisk-xperia-xa-t3555911
## Conclusion
After these steps your phone should be rooted and you will be able to have root access to the system. This tutorial comes with no garanties that it will work and the author does not take any responsibility for you bricking your device. Also, installing third party files are a security liability, you should be aware of that. Despite these issues, rooting the Xperia XA has been confirmed to work in all models.
Note that this the guide is the same for XA Ultra, the only differences are the boot/recovery files. You can find files for XA Ultra in their respective forums.
## Old guide with video
Hi all
As requested I make a "how to" video to be more noob friendly, the video is probably not perfect and my English too but I do my best to be understandable to all
PLEASE READ
I'm not a dev and I have no responsability if you flash my files.
As said in the video you must wipe "userdata" partition when flashing IF your phone memory IS crypted or if you don't know the uncrypt password, someone on the web speak of "default password" but what is it ?? If cryped (with no password) you can't backup /data and can't mount internal memory in TWRP. You can manually enable encryption and be able to set YOUR OWN password, but you can't revert back. And in theory you can make full nandroid backup and mount /data partition when in TWRP but can't mount inernal memory.
Regarding mounting /system rw in TWRP, seen on other tuto, you must never "swipe to allow modification" when prompted, after installing root package /system is mounted rw with no problem (look at "mount" menu). EDIT: tested on my device without issues but be careful.
IF YOU UPDATE OR FLASH STOCK BOOT and power on the device to Android, it will encrypt again the internal memory and if you shutdown the device before the end (xperia screen for hours) it will corrupt your data, not the SD card).
For futur, if you want to update, ask me and will release modified boot. I don't know what it does if you update stock after setting password encryption :/
Why I changed that by replacing "FORCENCRYPT" by "ENCRYPTABLE" in fstab Boot:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...-mandatory-device-encryption-for-new-devices/
and
http://www.androidcentral.com/inside-marshmallow-adoptable-storage
Before continue, you must understand that unlocking your BootLoader will void your warranty, break your device DRM and lose X-Reality and image optimisation on low light when taking pictures (seen some workaround but not for XA).
You can't re-lock your phone and it will not restore DRM.
If you have confidentials files in your phone don't unlock your bootloader, as long as your phone is locked your data are officially secured.
This will be repeated when following Sony step by step guide. YOU ARE AWARE !
To verify bootloader lock state after unlock, on phone dialer:
*#*#7378423#*#* ---> Service info ---> Configuration ---> Check for "Bootloader unlocked: Yes" IT MUST BE YES !!!
By rooting your phone you will be able to install/uninstall system apps, install Xposed framework (Gravity Box, Dark Pokemon Go,...) or Viper4Android for an awesome sound! You can tweak and mod your phone deeper (battery,CPU,...), build and flash custom ROMs and many other things
If you have problems or want to unroot you can flash stock firmware like in the video with Flashtool, no need to wipe userdata.
Please watch my video one time before begin, to understand what you have to do.
Free to you to distribute or modify my files but please link this thread as source.
BY FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE YOUR PHONE WILL PERFORM A FACTORY RESET WHEN UNLOCKING BL ( it will not format SD card) , MAKE BACKUPS !
Edit 3/08/2016: Found a workaround for Sony DRM function restoration for UB devices based on Z line and working on XA Please read the thread, download package zip for Xperia Z3+ and install it with TWRP, that's all! I recommend you to install it just after SuperSU zip package (working too if not doing this). Thanks to @jimRnor
http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xperia-z1-z2-z3-series-devices-drm-t2930672
EDIT 13/08/2016: TWRP is 99% working (can't wipe /cache), you can do all as you want, as long as no encrypted partition is present or locked.
Let's begin!
YOU NEED:
My first video guide : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnOoLo31ka0
MP4 offline video download: https://mega.nz/#!RlwVSAKC!6lTBZxVnLQ-Mxz8er0_dg1r36dCNnUWIq8lEUfSp4Zw
Download XA ADB drivers, all models for Windows
http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/drivers/Xperia_XA_driver.zip
Download XA Fastboot drivers, all models for Windows (if needed, installation is same as ADB drivers in video)
http://developer.sonymobile.com/downloads/drivers/fastboot-driver/
Download FLASHTOOL with integrated Xperifirm 0.9.22.3 for Windows
http://www.flashtool.net/downloads_windows.php
(if needed you can unlock bootloader with it, I unlocked my device with it)
Just follow official way and when you get the unlock code, paste it in BLU menu of Flashtool. (faster way)
The step by step guide to unlock BootLoader by official way:
http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/
Video (not mine): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lKWd5LlUoA
(Just select Xperia XA when asked)
Now depending the firmware you want to root ( the one you downloaded with Xperifirm) choose your rootpack:
For XA single sim (33.2.A.x.xx) = F3111, F3113, F3115
33.2.A.x.x: https://mega.nz/#!ZsQhwbTC!rvw437H0ZujR5Ic02Rhlap6fQ4sLLyPmSRjyfZlMFiU
For XA dual sim (33.2.B.x.xx) = F3112,F3116
33.2.B.x.x: https://mega.nz/#!xgoXxBTa!DKAwKELVs0UvkZN0X53ZVM7I4U_XnCgG73RswzMPUi0
EDIT 29/11:
I see some users who ask without searching (a very little) before, PM messages inclued, some others who spam threads not related to their problem or create new thread for nothing and who do not know what politeness is at all . Until now I was nice and answered them but now I will change that, NO MORE HELP FOR THAT KIND OF USER !!!
Now if you have no answer from me you will know why.
Good luck

Many thanks for the effort mate. Will try it.
Btw, what is the bug with google store and user data, right after root.
edit
01/039/2016 11:39:08 - ERROR - Processing of boot.sin finished with errors. As u said data wipe is needed when unlocking the bl, but i have my BL unlocked earlier without data wiped...so i started the flash method ,on my old version of flashtool.Now i have the newest version, so got to try it...or i should skip the flash and go to root step...
edit2
01/006/2016 13:06:39 - INFO - Ending flash session
01/006/2016 13:06:39 - INFO - Flashing finished.
For this phone use the newest version of flashtool.
Edit3: I need to enter some kind of password on boot menu.Now what ?

rrvuhpg said:
Hi all
As requested I make a "how to" video to be more noob friendly, the video is probably not perfect and my English too but I do my best to be understandable to all
PLEASE READ
I'm not a dev and I have no responsability if you flash my files.
As said in the video you must wipe "userdata" partition when flashing IF your phone memory IS crypted or if you don't know the uncrypt password, someone on the web speak of "default password" but what is it ?? If cryped (with no password) you can't backup /data and can't mount internal memory in TWRP. You can manually enable encryption and be able to set YOUR OWN password, but you can't revert back. And in theory you can make full nandroid backup and mount /data partition when in TWRP but can't mount inernal memory.
Regarding mounting /system rw in TWRP, seen on other tuto, you must never "swipe to allow modification" when prompted, after installing root package /system is mounted rw with no problem (look at "mount" menu).
IF YOU UPDATE OR FLASH STOCK BOOT and power on the device to Android, it will encrypt again the internal memory and if you shutdown the device before the end (xperia screen for hours) it will corrupt your data, not the SD card).
For futur, if you want to update, ask me and will release modified boot. I don't know what it does if you update stock after setting password encryption :/
Why I changed that by replacing "FORCENCRYPT" by "ENCRYPTABLE" in fstab Boot:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...-mandatory-device-encryption-for-new-devices/
and
http://www.androidcentral.com/inside-marshmallow-adoptable-storage
Before continue, you must understand that unlocking your BootLoader will void your warranty, break your device DRM and lose X-Reality and image optimisation on low light when taking pictures (seen some workaround but not for XA).
You can't re-lock your phone and it will not restore DRM.
If you have confidentials files in your phone don't unlock your bootloader, as long as your phone is locked your data are officially secured.
This will be repeated when following Sony step by step guide. YOU ARE AWARE !
To verify bootloader lock state after unlock, on phone dialer:
*#*#7378423#*#* ---> Service info ---> Configuration ---> Check for "Bootloader unlocked: Yes" IT MUST BE YES !!!
By rooting your phone you will be able to install/uninstall system apps, install Xposed framework (Gravity Box, Dark Pokemon Go,...) or Viper4Android for an awesome sound! You can tweak and mod your phone deeper (battery,CPU,...), build and flash custom ROMs and many other things
If you have problems or want to unroot you can flash stock firmware like in the video with Flashtool, no need to wipe userdata.
Please watch my video one time before begin, to understand what you have to do.
Free to you to distribute or modify my files but please link this thread as source.
BY FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE YOUR PHONE WILL PERFORM A FACTORY RESET WHEN UNLOCKING BL ( it will not format SD card) , MAKE BACKUPS !
Tested on my device F3112 and reported as working on F3116, other models may work as well if you do ALL steps. Will confirm after positive feedbacks.
Let's begin!
YOU NEED:
My first video guide (will be on youtube after validation) : https://mega.nz/#!RlwVSAKC!6lTBZxVnLQ-Mxz8er0_dg1r36dCNnUWIq8lEUfSp4Zw
Download XA ADB drivers, all models for Windows
http://dl-developer.sonymobile.com/drivers/Xperia_XA_driver.zip
Download XA Fastboot drivers, all models for Windows (if needed, installation is same as ADB drivers in video)
http://developer.sonymobile.com/downloads/drivers/fastboot-driver/
Download FLASHTOOL with integrated Xperifirm 0.9.22.3 for Windows
http://www.flashtool.net/downloads_windows.php
(if needed you can unlock bootloader with it, I unlocked my device with it)
Just follow official way and when you get the unlock code, paste it in UB menu of Flashtool. (faster way)
The step by step guide to unlock BootLoader by official way:
http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/
Video (not mine): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lKWd5LlUoA
(Just select Xperia XA when asked)
Now depending the firmware you want to root ( the one you downloaded with Xperifirm) choose your rootpack:
For XA single sim (33.2.A.2.xx) = F3111, F3113, F3115
33.2.A.2.73: https://mega.nz/#!ZsQhwbTC!rvw437H0ZujR5Ic02Rhlap6fQ4sLLyPmSRjyfZlMFiU (NOT TESTED)
For XA dual sim (33.2.B.2.xx) = F3112,F3116
33.2.B.2.35: https://mega.nz/#!5lZFhapC!SrYt1HmOICEyMh2Afl2EUn4nY0bRwL-Pd1f0Bpkireg
33.2.B.2.73: https://mega.nz/#!xgoXxBTa!DKAwKELVs0UvkZN0X53ZVM7I4U_XnCgG73RswzMPUi0
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this work with F3116 running 33.2.B.2.66 firmware?

@hp6830s you talk about bugs seen in video? If I remember, error in TWRP is about wiping /cache but no a real problem and in video got 2 force close of Play service because I'm updated from .35 without wiping userdata (not crypted /data) and I think update wasn't fully finished. Never FC again after that and no problems. But if YOU have errors about /data in TWRP it's because of encrypted phone memory. During tests I got 1 bootloop in TWRP but can't repeat the problem again after wiped userdata on first root. That's why I recommend wipe. And that's strange if your phone not wiped when unlocked, for me no choice...
@tthmatt It works but really not recommended (for boot.img), as ramdisk and kernel are from an other firmware. For recovery it's less problematic. You can try and feedback us

Ok ,how to remove phone encyption on boot menu ,so i can install custom user ?

hp6830s said:
Many thanks for the effort mate. Will try it.
Btw, what is the bug with google store and user data, right after root.
edit
01/039/2016 11:39:08 - ERROR - Processing of boot.sin finished with errors. As u said data wipe is needed when unlocking the bl, but i have my BL unlocked earlier without data wiped...so i started the flash method ,on my old version of flashtool.Now i have the newest version, so got to try it...or i should skip the flash and go to root step...
edit2
01/006/2016 13:06:39 - INFO - Ending flash session
01/006/2016 13:06:39 - INFO - Flashing finished.
For this phone use the newest version of flashtool.
Edit3: I need to enter some kind of password on boot menu.Now what ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the password to enter, seem to be randomly generated on first init by phone or a unknown default password is set. That's why you have to wipe userdata and after if you want you can recrypt phone in security menu and set your own password to use in TWRP. Have you seen a password in my video?? As said before I'm not a dev and my help is limited, my step by step guide is working, confirmed on F3116 and tested many times on my device. But if you want to not follow all steps you can but you will probably have problems. I said to use 0.9.22.3 Flashtool since first days, you use an older one and have problem. I said to flash and root and you want to root directly. I said to wipe and you don't do it... and finally problem again. Please follow ALL steps as described and at end if you have problems I will help you. If you want to continue with experimental way, just click Cancel on password prompt, on next screen don't swipe to allow modification, press "keep read only". At end if you have a recovery bootloop or corrupted userdata, don't ask why I don't want to say that my way is the only one but for now it's the working one (if you follow it carefully)

I didnt said - not following your guide. I did every step, as soon i discovered error on flashing (from the older version). But i did wipe everything, now my phone is empty. Yet it asks for password in order to install superUser, do i need to perform factory reset from recovery menu ?
edit: Wipe/ Factory - OK. FORMAT - YES...and password should be gone.
edit2: phone is rooted, and installing apps.

hp6830s said:
I didnt said - not following your guide. I did every step, as soon i discovered error on flashing (from the older version). But i did wipe everything, now my phone is empty. Yet it asks for password in order to install superUser, do i need to perform factory reset from recovery menu ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash full stock firmware with Flashtool and check "userdata" in "wipe" column as in the video (don't wipe/factory reset from Android) , JUST AFTER flash boot.img and recovery.img with Fastboot (don't boot android before that) . Boot to Android to verify and set up your phone, when finished reboot to TWRP to install UpdateSuperSU.zip No passwords needed if followed that, if you defined pin/password for lockscreen or to start phone, try it. Or don't set any password before the end of root process. I don't understand why it ask for a password

Its all set.Battery seem more stable now...but cant find some of diagnostics tools in About Phone, like battery optimization (but i use greenify now) and move apps to SD card wizzard.
Do i need to create backup from flashtool / boot ?

hp6830s said:
Its all set.Battery seem more stable now...but cant find some of diagnostics tools in About Phone, like battery optimization (but i use greenify now) and move apps to SD card wizzard.
Do i need to create backup from flashtool / boot ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You finally successfully rooted your phone :good:
You can find battery optimization in "settings " --> "battery". You can't move apps on external SD since a looong time (or with workaround) , just pictures, videos, music ????
For that go "settings" --> "storage and memory".
Android 6 have a new feature "Adoptable Storage" to integrate external SD as phone memory like "ARCHOS Storage Fusion" (but it encrypt SD and is no more readable on PC with USB readers, disable acces to internal memory, not good if you break your phone) but seem to not be present in our firmwares. Next challenge is to enable feature and make encryption as a choice for user.
And for your last question I recommend you make full backup with TWRP, by this way you can backup all partitions. Not sure if it works for XA with Flashtool.

rrvuhpg said:
You finally successfully rooted your phone :good:
And for your last question I recommend you make full backup with TWRP, by this way you can backup all partitions. Not sure if it works for XA with Flashtool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx ,but i cant backup, my m card is less than 8 gb (8.2 gb backup img) so i have to wait till my 16 gb card arrives.i
btw what is Xposed framework , Viper4Android. And how to tweek my battery settings more deeper...or greenify hibernate its fine.

hp6830s said:
btw what is Xposed framework , Viper4Android. And how to tweek my battery settings more deeper...or greenify hibernate its fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is your friend ????
http://www.howtogeek.com/195476/7-t...ramework-on-a-rooted-android-phone-or-tablet/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191223
I will make a guide for installing Xposed and Viper4Android with all working packages for XA.

Yippee-ki-yay! DRM keys are back! Noice reduction and screen optimizations are working again. Used DRM fix found on XDA. Look screens of DRM keys state and the time stamps. Verified with comparative pictures/screenshots :fingers-crossed:
Link to the fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xperia-z1-z2-z3-series-devices-drm-t2930672
Use zip for Z3+

rrvuhpg said:
Yippee-ki-yay! DRM keys are back! Noice reduction and screen optimizations are working again. Used DRM fix found on XDA. Look screens of DRM keys state and the time stamps. Verified with comparative pictures/screenshots :fingers-crossed:
Link to the fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/xperia-z1-z2-z3-series-devices-drm-t2930672
Use zip for Z3+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There not really back there still gone for good, know idea how he does it, but it fools/emulates the keys tricking the Sony software into reactivating the Bravia engine+x-reality+camera imaging/low light algorithms. Good to know that there are two ways to do it now though. If I can be bothered I need to try this ivyroot tool for backing up your drm keys before unlocking the Bootloader. Until I know I can back up the keys I won't be unlocking the Bootloader.
Sent from my Xperia XA using XDA Labs

aidy.lucas said:
There not really back there still gone for good, know idea how he does it, but it fools/emulates the keys tricking the Sony software into reactivating the Bravia engine+x-reality+camera imaging/low light algorithms. Good to know that there are two ways to do it now though. If I can be bothered I need to try this ivyroot tool for backing up your drm keys before unlocking the Bootloader. Until I know I can back up the keys I won't be unlocking the Bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iovyroot seem to use a security exploit in LP (kernels before Dec 2015) but patched in MM (or missed the news) and no LP firmware for XA to flash, next exploit for MM can take months or more to come... But I can understand your opinion, the choice is difficult, root or warranty. For me rooting my phones is not optional, when you used custom ROMs, Xposed, Viper4Android, Lucky Patcher and GameKiller one time you can't stay without them after and say f**k to the warranty . If we talk about Xperia X I'm fully OK with you as it cost $$$ and will try to preserve the warranty.
EDIT: The fix is really good, ALL is working again (backup with Xperia PC Compagnon too) and very interesting thing it can show my REAL warranty date in Xperia Care as before. That's strange ...

Looking forsome help
Umm I got the boot loader unlock code. From sony on there web sit, I am new to this. But do I have to flash the phone if my bootloader is unlocked?? I don't want to mess it up I just got it and payed full price i rooted my other phones easy I just am new to android 6

just check XFirmware and xxx.73 version is only available in Brazil
should I tried it?
my version is customizedVN :crying:

Willismetal said:
Umm I got the boot loader unlock code. From sony on there web sit, I am new to this. But do I have to flash the phone if my bootloader is unlocked?? I don't want to mess it up I just got it and payed full price i rooted my other phones easy I just am new to android 6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can test, don't worry about phone brick as long as you don't play with preloader, in Flashtool stay in "normal" mode. I hard bricked XA many times during my private tests (no screen, no sound, only charging led) and always unbricked Mtk are strong for that.
@caosugai you can flash without problem but don't know if it's good for daily use. Tested .66 TW on .35 FR before . 73 out for France, but for test only.
Look here for more:
http://techbeasts.com/how-to-download-sony-xperia-official-firmware-and-create-ftf-file/

Think i lost access to my personal prediction settings, the one that pinpoints my email when entering on login screens over the apps /web ( for example on typing Us3r ,the texting app predicts my mail : [email protected] ,so i dont need typing the whole email over and over )

rrvuhpg said:
You can test, don't worry about phone brick as long as you don't play with preloader, in Flashtool stay in "normal" mode. I hard bricked XA many times during my private tests (no screen, no sound, only charging led) and always unbricked Mtk are strong for that.
@caosugai you can flash without problem but don't know if it's good for daily use. Tested .66 TW on .35 FR before . 73 out for France, but for test only.
Look here for more:
http://techbeasts.com/how-to-download-sony-xperia-official-firmware-and-create-ftf-file/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then it's a soft brick not a hard brick. A hard bricked Xperia is irreversible. Bootloop is always recoverable as is a device with only led response when connected to USB and if it does nothing on connection to USB and pc doesn't recognize the device it's a paperweight, that's what I learnt when I first got into rooting and modding my old m2 device.
Sent from my Xperia XA using XDA Labs
---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 PM ----------
hp6830s said:
Think i lost access to my personal prediction settings, the one that pinpoints my email when entering on login screens over the apps /web ( for example on typing Us3r ,the texting app predicts my mail : [email protected] ,so i dont need typing the whole email over and over )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mines the same or at least it was earlier on not bringing up email address when logging on to pretty much anything, maybe it's something to do with this SwiftKey thing going off where it predicts someone else's email address and stored words. Maybe it's turned off at there end while sorting the issue out.
Sent from my Xperia XA using XDA Labs

General Questions regarding my P9 lite

Hi,
I am new to the P9 lite forum, just received my P9 lite last week.
I am quite experienced with flashing my Galaxy S2 and from what I read so far Huawei is quite different in some aspects.
I would like to raise a few general questions:
1. Can I debrand my device with only flashing a new stock ROM or do I also need to flash an oeminfo? (I do have C150, so it would be C432 for me)
2. What of the following is possible without bootloader unlocking?
- flashing a stock rom
- flashing a stock recovery
- flashing an oeminfo
3. Does the device stay unlocked, whatever I flash, or does the bootloader automatically get locked as soon as I flash a stock ROM and or recovery?
4. Unlocking the device fpr dual SIM does not have any disadvantages, so I still could use an SD Card in 2nd Sim slot, right?
5. Is the /data partition encrypted in stock firmware?
6. In case it is encrypted, this would mean my SD Card also getting encrypted if I install it as internal memory?
7. This is hard question and only guesses can be made, but do you believe this device could get an official Lineage OS eventually? From what I can see, at least the P8 lite got an official status with CyanogenMod.
8. Could I make an image /system (ROM) and would be able to reflash it? I guess not in a way ROMs get normally delivered (zip) and it would not be signed, so it could not be flashed with a locked bootloader. I am aware that a dd image could work with root and unlocked bootloader.
9. Is there a seperate partition like on Samsung devices, where the IMEI is stored and which should be backuped before flashing?
10. What is the /cust partition for?
Some questions are only for general understanding, as I am going to root and debrand it eventually.

push

1. Some people flashed stock ROM but their region remained the same, so if you want to change region you have to flash oeminfo.
2. Without unlocking bootloader the only thing you can do is to flash stock ROM.
3. The device will relock only if you flash stock ROM through the three buttons mode, flashing a zip will keep the device unlocked.
4. Yes, unlocking dual sim still allow you to use SD card. I did it without problem.
5. Yes Huawei has encrypted data partition.
6. If you use SD card as internal storage it will be encrypted, and if you remove it, the only way to use it again is to format it.
7. I don't think we will ever get official LineageOS, but hope is the last to die .
8. You can flash a zip only through TWRP (so with unlocked bootloader), otherwise it will not work.
9. As I know it's not necessary to backup IMEI if you don't do very weird thing with your phone.
10. Cust should be where oeminfo is stored (I think?), If I am wrong, someone correct me .

Thanks for your answer.
So basically de-branding is only possible, if you unlock your bootloader and therefore can flash a different oeminfo?
Refereing encrypted as internal formated SD Card. Shouldn't it be possible to decrypt via Linux CLI with cryptsetup....? Or is Android not using dm-crypt?

fireburner-de said:
Thanks for your answer.
So basically de-branding is only possible, if you unlock your bootloader and therefore can flash a different oeminfo?
Refereing encrypted as internal formated SD Card. Shouldn't it be possible to decrypt via Linux CLI with cryptsetup....? Or is Android not using dm-crypt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tried to debrand as my device was stock, but you should try first to flash the stock firmware (B160 suggested).
Anyways in EMUI the function to use SD card as internal storage is disabled by default because of Huawei security policy I guess, but some users found a way to enable it in fastboot if I remember correctly. I don't know if it's possible to decrypt it in Linux sorry :/

Hello, I registered for the beta test emui 5.0 in france. In the meantime, do you think I can reinstall b336.zip and returned to MM when they go to publish ota beta-nougat.

[Guide] Hacking, customizing and managing Huawei Mate 9 - a comprehensive overview

Hi,
I received my dual-sim Huawei Mate 9 Europe version a few weeks back. I selected this as the natural choice after running Samsung Note 3 for several years. There was no other phone that quite fit the bill as this one -
Big screen
Excellent battery
Excellent performance
I am a reasonably advanced user of my android phones - keeping them rooted, unlocked, flashing different roms are just by my alley
However after tinkering around with this new baby, I realized that this is quite different than what I was used to with Note 3.
Never before had I to read so many different forum threads to gain a full understanding of how to do things that I could do very easily with my Note 3 earlier without the need to have an indepth knowledge - just copy the steps and execute was good enough to get what I wanted. i.e.
The bureacratic boot loader unlocking process (never had to deal with this before from Samsung)
Rooting
Flashing custom recovery
Flashing custom rom
Backing up and restoring the different partitions through custom recovery
Flashing stock rom in case things don't work out as expected with the new rom
etc. etc.
I have spent several days reading practically all the forum threads on Mate 9, in order to get a good overview of how to manage this awesome device.
I am usually prone to forgetting things. So I knew after a few weeks, there will be something else that will catch my fancy and whatever I have learnt about Huawei Mate 9 after investing so many days will have gone to waste and I would have to scour the threads again if I need to do something with my Mate 9.
So I started to write down a basic guide in a text file to act as a refresher capsule whenever I decide to open the hood again after a few months
I also wanted to share my summarized learning capsule back to the community, since I have learnt so many from the various threads and the experiences from so many people.
This prompted me to actually create an XDA account (even though I have been a voracious consumer of XDA for several years, but never created an account).
Just one last tip - if you are a new user of Mate 9 trying to understand all the concepts from scratch, then try to read this guide in its entirety. Some concepts are introduced in the beginning, which might be confusing at the start, but you will understand it well after it is covered again towards the later part of the guide. Once you have a good hang of the different concepts involved, then you can jump directly to the specific section for reference.
So enough background to this thread and now out with the content.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phone Information
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Model number of my phone is MHA-L29. It is a dual sim phone hence L29 at the end.
Single sim version has model number MHA-L09 i.e. L09 at the end.
The firmware version that I am running is : MHA-L29C432B156
Here is the breakup of how to read this number or the naming convention
Naming convention
L29 = Dual sim
C432 = Europe region (there are other regions as well e.g. C636 for Asian and so on)
B156 = version (this is the actual version number of the firmware)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to best use the phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For best results in order to get the full power from the hood, you will use the phone with
bootloader is unlocked
phone is rooted
either Custom recovery of TWRP or Stock recovery will be on the phone depending on the situation.
For daily usage, keep stock recovery on your phone since in case of tough situations requiring unbricking etc. stock recovery is the best to have around.
You will also remove the crapware/bloatware. It is difficult to list all the bloatwares, since they differ based on the region.
Factory resets
Reset due to minor issues
In such situations, typically your data partition is messed up but other partition (system) is fine.
If you have software issues due to software which has been additionally installed or phone has become slow etc. then boot to recovery (stock recovery) and do a factory reset. If you are running custom recovery (TWRP), then first you will need to flash the stock recovery. Then do a factory reset through the stock recovery. This action will format the data partition and copy the necessary stuff from the system partition over.
Restart the system.
Reset due to major issues
In such situations, typically your data as well as system partition is messed up. This will typically happen in case you have software issues due to un-installation of core system applications (as a root user) which have resulted in them being removed from the system partition and now you cannot restore them by an ordinary factory reset (since factory reset does not modify/reset the system partition, it only resets the data partition).
This step also requires you to have initially backed-up the system partition using TWRP. If you haven't backed-up the system partition, then you can also extract the system partition by using Huawei Update Extractor tool on the stock firmware of your region and version, which will give you the image file of the system partition that can be used further below.
Steps -
If you are running stock recovery, then first you will need to flash custom recovery (TWRP).
Using TWRP wipe the system partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Format (not wipe) the data partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Wipe the dalvik cache and cache.
Now from the already backed up TWRP partition backups
(a) restore the system partition (or the system partition image file extracted using Huawei Update Extractor)
(b) restore the data partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Wipe the dalvik cache and cache.
Restart the system.
The above should be enough for full reset. An alternative to 7.(b) above is to flash the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications (you might get "error 7", but that is normal).
Upgrades
You can continue to receive over the air (full or incremental) upgrades from huawei even in a rooted and bootloader unlocked phone.
However in order to apply the received updates, you will need stock recovery, as only stock recovery has the capabilities to install the received updates. Thus before applying any update, if you are running custom recovery (TWRP), then first you will need to flash the stock recovery.
Make sure you backup all your private data and do a full installation (instead of incremental). You can select to install the full package by clicking on the 3 dots on top right corner of update screen and selecting to download the full installation package.
After this process, do a full factory reset, so your system is fully reset and updated based on the latest version.
It might happen that after the update, bootloader is locked again and you have lost your root privileges. In that case follow the steps below for unlocking the bootloader and rooting the phone again.
Also after this step, do the below.
Download the new stock firmware from hwmt.ru (as below) and the related 2 zip files zip files containing region specific and other related system applications for the new version and back them up
Make a TWRP backup of all the partitions and and back them up.
This is necessary as you might need them for other activities e.g. flashing stock recovery of the new version, doing full factory resets etc.
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General information on Rooting / Bootloader unlocking / Firmware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The device that you get from the factory is bootloader locked with a region specific firmware.
Partitions
The phone has several different partitions (e.g. boot, data, system etc.)
The "BOOT" partition contains the boot image which boots the system and reads from other partitions
The "DATA" partition contains the user private data (e.g. contacts etc.) and is encrypted by the boot partition (Android Nougat feature). When the Android operating system starts, the boot partition decrypts the data partition and then reads it. This is the reason why other "parallel" softwares like TWRP will not be able to read from data partition, since when they read it, then it is already encrypted. Due to this TWRP will be able to backup(clone) all the other partitions except for data partition, as data partition is encrypted on the first boot of a new system. The other way to backup the data partition is to make the backup before you have booted the system (which results in encryption of the partition).
You can do this by the following steps -> "format (not wipe)" the data partition through TWRP + reboot again to TWRP + flashing the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications (you might get "error 7", but that is normal). After this immediately backup the data partition.
The "RECOVERY" partition contains the stock recovery which you can replace with custom recovery TWRP
The "RECOVERY2" partition contains the "Huawei eRecovery mode" and "Huawei updater mode"
Unlocking bootloader
You can unlock the bootloader with the help of unlocking code. You get this from Huawei. Read further below on how to go about it.
Rooting phone
In order to root the phone there are 2 ways
Old method
This requires you to patch your boot partition and replace the stock boot image (which encrypts the data partition), with a custom boot image which does not encrypt the data partition.
After this you format (not wipe) the data partition, so that it is replaced by an unencrypted data partition and then you root the system in which the root exploit is directly injected in the unencrypted data partition.
New method
This does not require you change your boot image. You basically just install the custom recovery TWRP and then root using the PHH super user zip file. Read further below on how to go about it.
Recovery
If you are rooting using the new method, then you will replace the stock recovery with TWRP.
The disadvantage of TWRP recovery is that it is only the Stock Recovery that has the capability to do a proper "Factory Reset" the phone. Basically when you do a factory reset, then you "format (not wipe)" the data partition. But Huawei firmwares, also have some region specific and other related system applications (e.g. themes, camera, system updates etc.), which are also installed on the data partition. The stock recovery recognizes this and does the factory reset carefully (either by removing everything except for necessary system applications OR by doing a complete format (not wipe) of data partition but then re-applying the necessary system applications). TWRP also can do a "factory reset", but TWRP will simply format the data partition dumbly and not take care of re-installing the necessary system applications on the data partition. If you happen to do a "factory reset" or format "data" partition through TWRP, then you will need to manually flash the zip files containing region specific and other related system applications. You can get those zip files (e.g. update_data_public.zip & update_hw_eu.zip) through the same routine for downloading stock firmware detailed below. When installing these zip files through TWRP, you might get "error 7", but that is normal and you can ignore it.
Stock recovery is also useful for managing OTA updates. Typically when you download firmware updates, then they boot to stock recovery for further processing.
Hence even if you have installed TWRP, you will need to flash stock recovery for factory resets or handling new firmware updates.
Thus as mentioned before, for regular daily usage, keep stock recovery on your phone.
In order to get the stock recovery image, you can extract the stock recovery image file by downloading the "update.zip" of the target firmware and extract the "UPDATE.APP" file and then running the "Huawei Update Extractor" tool on it. Commands to flash the obtained stock recovery image file are similar to the command to flash TWRP recovery below.
Note, when you run the "Huawei Update Extractor" on UPDATE.APP file, then you will see RECOVERY.img, as well RECOVERY2.img
RECOVERY refers to the stock recovery and RECOVERY2 refers to huawei eRecovery mode & huawei updater mode.
Stock firmware
Huawei has region based firmwares e.g. in my case, the region is europe (C432)
There are stock firmwares of each region. However except for 2 regions (C636 and AL00), all other stock firmwares cannot be directly flashed. This is by design from Huawei. Even though the stock firmwares are easily available for all regions, but it is only for these 2 regions that firmwares have the PACKAGE_TYPE token set to OFFLINE_UPDATE. The PACKAGE_TYPE tokens for other region's stock firmwares are set to ONLINE_UPDATE, which makes it not possible to flash those through Huawei Updater.
Thus if you are majorly messed up or bricked, then the only way out is to rebrand your phone to a C636 (i.e. changing the OEMINFO partition from C432 (europe) to C636) and then flash that stock firmware for C636.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656
https://funkyhuawei.club/rebranding
In order to flash the C636 stock firmware, download the "update.zip" of the target firmware and extract the "UPDATE.APP" file into the "dload" folder created at the root of an external SD card and then starting the phone in a "Huawei Updater mode".
In order to get back to your region (C432), you will then have to use tools like "Firmware Finder" (FF), which spoof Huawei servers through DNS and network and make it possible for the updater to download and flash their stock firmwares thinking it is downloading it online from the huawei servers. You might not be able to update to the latest firmware using FF (since Huawei doesn't authenticate for latest versions sometimes), but you can try to update to an older version first and once that is sorted out, then you can update directly within system update settings to move to the latest update.
As a short-cut and if situation permits, you can also use FF, to directly flash your own region's firmware, without needing to go through the C636 route first.
However if that doesn't work, then flashing the C636 as described above is the only way out.
Also the eRecovery mode or recovery through hisuite only works if you are on a C636 region firmware.
Some useful links -
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/development/oeminfo-library-t3555353
https://funkyhuawei.club/rebranding
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656/page5
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ma...urb175v1-0-t3575146/post71812906#post71812906
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71804525&postcount=393
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ma...lost-ideas-t3561569/post71208272#post71208272
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-installing-b138-using-firmware-t3557089
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FRP Lock (Factory Reset Protection)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes during normal usage of the phone, if the phone detects some security anomaly, it would engage the FRP lock .
It has also been found that the phone enters FRP lock mode also when you do a "Reset to default" in the developer mode. So try to avoid doing that.
Basically what happens when you reset the developer mode is that the "OEM Unlock" setting goes back to disabled, and typically when OEM Unlock is disabled, then FRP lock is enabled. However if the bootloader is unlocked, then you will find that it is not possible to change the "OEM Unlock" setting in developer mode, because if bootloader is unlocked then this setting is greyed out and not possible to change.
In short ->
Bootloader is Locked -> "OEM Unlock" setting is greyed out
"OEM Unlock" is enabled -> FRP Lock is Unlocked
"OEM Unlock" is disabled -> FRP Lock is Locked
FRP lock is to prevent mis-use of the phone in case of theft. Since it requires you to enter your google sign-on information again after doing a factory reset before you can use the phone..
FRP lock disables entering any fastboot command, which is a big issue since it means you cannot do anything in bootloader mode i.e. no flashing another recovery, no lock/unlock OEM etc.
In order to check if your phone is FRP locked or not, enter the bootloader mode. Over there it will be mentioned "FRP Lock" or "FRP Unlock", the former indicating that the phone is FRP locked.
In such scenarios, the only way out of the FRP lock mode is to flash the stock firmware again (which means your phone will be restored to totally factory condition i.e. bootloader will be locked, phone will be unrooted).
At the point when the phone enters FRP Lock, if you happen to have stock recovery, then you have a better situation as compared to if you have custom recovery (TWRP).
This is because if you have stock recovery, then you can simply use FF to flash your region's stock firmware. However if you have TWRP, then you have to flash the C636 version (asian) using Huawei Updater mode and then move on to your region's stock firmware.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using Firmware Finder (FF)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firmware Finder basically spoofs the Huawei servers by using a local proxy server leading the phone to thinking that there is a firmware update available, and thus allowing you to flash the firmware you wish (with some restrictions of course).
Using Firmware Finder requires you to have stock recovery.
If you are trying to install European regional firmware from scratch, then start by installing version B138 through FF and then move to higher versions using normal system update (or if you are not getting prompted for a normal system update automatically, then of course update through FF.)
For getting the full version of B156 (2.2 GB) through FF, at the time of writing this it was not yet authenticated by Huawei, so if you try to download it you will get authentication error after the download is completed and being verified. Thus, you will instead need to download a partial update of 409 MB through FF (if you are moving from B138 to B156). If you are moving from B126 to B156 then you will need to download the partial update of 473 MB through FF. This will allow you to have B156 on your phone.
The limitation of FF is that it only allows you to install firmwares which are authenticated(approved) by Huawei. Thus in order to install the latest and greatest, you might not be able to use FF. In such cases you can use paid services such as FunkyHuawei which allows you to install even non authenticated(approved) latest and greatest Huawei firmwares.
Though personally, I feel that it is for a good reason that Huawei does not authenticate the latest and greatest since they are beta versions and it is not that big an issue to not have them on the phone.
FF has 2 APKs for the phone - one is the actual application and the second one is a proxy server. The usage is simple - you find the firmware to install using the main application and then send the selected firmware over to download through the proxy server application on the phone. You will also need to change your Wifi settings to add a local proxy server (localhost:8080) before trying to check through system update on availability of new firmware.
FF firmware download on the phone has 3 phases.
Phase 1
The first phase requires you to modify the wifi network config to have localhost and 8080 as proxy to go through the FF Proxy application, which will spoof the Huawei servers and allow the handshake to happen to download the right firmware.
Phase 2
Once the download has started, then move on to the second phase, in which you pause the download, and then once again modify the wifi network config to remove the proxy configuration and then resume the download. This will allow you to download the update at full speed without any proxy intervention
Phase 3
The third phase starts at the last phase of the download in which you pause the download at last remaining 1%. After that you turn off wifi and start mobile data and resume the download from there. This is good because after the download is complete, the firmware will be verified and a last authentication handshake will be done to huawei server, and this doesn't need to be spoofed or be through wifi. Instead it is better that it should be originating through your mobile network.
i.e. a spoofed connection is only required in the first phase of the download
After updating from FF, you will need to do a factory reset of the phone. Then proceed with normal installation, bootloader unlocking, custom recovery installation, rooting. If necessary also flash the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications. After this revert back to stock recovery and do a factory reset again. After this the phone is fully clean and ready to use.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to download stock firmware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to this site (replace the MHA-L29C432 part of the string at the end with the model number of your own Mate 9 device)
http://hwmt.ru/oth/HWFF/info/view.php?find_model=MHA-L29C432
In the "Тип" column, you should only filter by FULL (no OTA, as that update is only eligible for usage by a paid service called funkyhuawei)
Check that the link in the "Список изменений" column is almost the same as "Файл обновления" column. Only difference should be the last part which should be changelog.xml in former and update.zip in the latter.
Now using the link, change the last part of the link to filelist.xml
This will give the xml path with the details of the files as part of that version.
Example
Code:
<vendorInfo logfile="changelog.xml" name="common" package="update.zip" subpath=""/>
<vendorInfo logfile="" name="public" package="update_data_public.zip" subpath="public"/>
<vendorInfo logfile="" name="hw/eu" package="update_hw_eu.zip" subpath="hw/eu"/>
Now change the url to download the above 3 zip files using the subpath i.e
Code:
$URL/update.zip
$URL/public/update_data_public.zip
$URL/hw/eu/update_hw_eu.zip
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Information on entering the various modes on the phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineer mode
In a powered ON phone
enter the following on the dialler
*#*#2846579#*#*
Huawei Updater mode
In a powered OFF phone
hold volume up + volume down + power for a long time (around 10 seconds)
Recovery mode
In a powered OFF phone
hold volume up + power
In a powered ON phone
enter the following through the command line on computer
adb reboot recovery
Huawei eRecovery mode
In a powered OFF phone
power on the phone through the power button
at the prompt that "Your device has been unlocked and cannot be trusted", it will tell you to press the power up button for 3 seconds to enter the eRecovery mode
Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode
In a powered OFF phone
keep the volume button pressed down
connect the USB cable to the computer and the phone
In a powered ON phone
enter the following through the command line on computer
adb reboot bootloader
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Information on using adb or fastboot commands on your phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure that "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" program is installed on your computer
Make sure USB debugging is enabled in phone settings
Make sure all reasonable permissions have been allowed as per the developer options
Make sure that hisuite is installed (which will ensure that USB drivers are installed)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on unlocking the bootloader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps to obtain unlock code
Entry page for unlocking bootloader is
http://emui.huawei.com/en/
Then click on Download. And then click on "Unlock bootloader"
OR
Visit this page
https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/detail
Enter the required details on the form
Steps to unlock the bootloader
Make sure that USB Debugging is enabled on the phone and the phone has been verified to connect to the computer and phone has permanently accepted the RSA id and connected in debug mode.
Also make sure that "Enable OEM Unlock" has been enabled in the developer options.
Put the phone in "Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode"
Enter the following commands
fastboot oem unlock $CODE
fastboot reboot
In the above command, replace $CODE with the actual code received from Huawei
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on installing custom recovery (TWRP)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy the "twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660.img" file to the "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" directory
Put the phone in "Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode"
Enter the following commands
fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660.img
fastboot reboot
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on rooting the phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure that the version of TWRP installed is twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660
Copy superuser-r275.zip into an external SD card
Boot into TWRP recovery mode and install the above zip file
Restart the phone in normal mode and install the "Superuser_2.0_Beta_9.apk" application
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachments referred in the guide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4pklpmVwGHqOWs3SlpWOEdUcUk

Top work ???

Good job...:good::good::good::good::good::good::good:

Nice. Thanks.

Good summary.
Add the supersu SuperSU-v2.79-MATE9-init.d_support.zip.
This is the method to get busybox and viper4android installed, for they use fix paths of supersu.
My device: Mate 9 supersu b156 Mediapad X2 GEM 701->703 B212 KangVIP (AJ mod)

Hi saurabhg9, I just starting reading you incredible Mate 9 summary guide and had to stop only to say that I simple love the way you explain everything, so simple, so clear, so useful... Thanks a lot for you to share your refreshing capsules, they are just the medicine my Mate 9 and I needed! :good::good::good:
Going back to continue the treatment!
Edit to ask for a little help... Recently I installed the L09C432B181 using Funky services and used it rooted by THIS method and all was going fine. Then I decided to give a try to RomAur but went back to stock restoring system and data. All well apart from root, so I rerooted flashing the 3 zips again but no way to get proper root back. It works but doesn't ask permission any more, the log is empty and it ask for binaries update in each boot. My main reason for root is to control the phone with gestures but only one of the commands of GMD app works.
I tried your 2.-Reset due to major issues using the twrp backup system and data without any result. Tried also the root superuser-r275.zip from the last section with no success either.
Tried as a last option spend another Funky credit in the B182 but always get the same "getting package info failed" error, what should be happening?
Any idea? Maybe extract a clean system and flashing it by adb (edit: tried but get "target reported max download size 471859200 bytes" error)?
Thanks again!

Thanks Peppus!
Sounds like you might need a clean start for your phone and do a "full reset".
In order to do that, I suggest doing a clean stock install of C432B138 using FF and then update to B156.
After that you could unlock the bootloader and root. This will atleast give you a clean base to start with for further experimenting depending on where you would like to go from there.

Epic work, but there are too many things which are absent and can cause mess up knowledge.
No info about MHA-AL00
No info how hard to unlock bootloader on MHA-AL00
No info what is difference between simple root and root with additional functional like dm-verity...
And more, and more....
P.s. I don't want to blame, cause I know that it is too hard to gather information from thousands threads.

5[Strogino] said:
Epic work, but there are too many things which are absent and can cause mess up knowledge.
No info about MHA-AL00
No info how hard to unlock bootloader on MHA-AL00
No info what is difference between simple root and root with additional functional like dm-verity...
And more, and more....
P.s. I don't want to blame, cause I know that it is too hard to gather information from thousands threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback!
I really wish there was a "wiki" functionality at XDA, so guides such as these could be developed with the joint knowledge of its members.
Unfortunately, that is also reflecting above, where most of the content is based on my own personal experience and what I have learnt in past few days based from various threads. and what works for me.
If you could provide me the specific text to be updated above (in regards to the things that you mentioned above), I would gladly add it
I am sure lot of others, including me would benefit from such.
Cheers!
Saurabh

saurabhg9 said:
Thanks Peppus!
Sounds like you might need a clean start for your phone and do a "full reset".
In order to do that, I suggest doing a clean stock install of C432B138 using FF and then update to B156.
After that you could unlock the bootloader and root. This will atleast give you a clean base to start with for further experimenting depending on where you would like to go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, that is what Audioralf recommended me and I was trying to avoid but I think it is the only option I have now. Thanks for your interest :good:

Peppus said:
Hi, that is what Audioralf recommended me and I was trying to avoid but I think it is the only option I have now. Thanks for your interest :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - clean scratch install is good!
I do mine at far lesser problems than yours

saurabhg9 said:
Yes - clean scratch install is good!
I do mine at far lesser problems than yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, does anybody know which is the latest build installed in a L09C432? by Firmware Finder? Thanks!

My good guess would be for b138, since the version numbers for L29 and L09 are quite similar at least for the c432 region.
Try doing a FF install for L09C432B138. Then partial update using FF to 156, if you are not prompted by system update automatically

Hi,
Just updated the guide with some new information relating to -
* FRP Lock
* Using Firmware Finder
Also updated various miscellaneous parts of the guide with additional information and clarification.

hi
this guide is just awesome
top work
for the mate 9 beginners now all is crystal clear
thx for the guide and explenation
greetz benji

Benji1983 said:
hi
this guide is just awesome
top work
for the mate 9 beginners now all is crystal clear
thx for the guide and explenation
greetz benji
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Glad you found it useful.

Hi,
Thx for your awesome collection of how-to's and how everything works!!!!
Tried to start with all the stuff like you did, but some things were/are too strange for me, so i decided to wait until i found an "encyclopedia" like this :good:
Saved a lot of time i guess
So again thx for your great work. Appreciate that

saurabhg9 said:
...In order to get back to your region (C432), you will then have to use tools like "Firmware Finder" (FF), which spoof Huawei servers through DNS and network and make it possible for the updater to download and flash their stock firmwares thinking it is downloading it online from the huawei servers. You might not be able to update to the latest firmware using FF (since Huawei doesn't authenticate for latest versions sometimes), but you can try to update to an older version first and once that is sorted out, then you can update directly within system update settings to move to the latest update...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi saurabhg9, do you mean that you can rebrand to another region using Firmware Finder? I thought that you only can install the same region roms by it.
Thanks for the update!
Cheers!

Yes.
There are 2 steps to rebranding.
First step is to ensure that your oeminfo files match that of the targeted region. This can be easily done through twrp.
Second step is to flash that regions firmware using FF.
As mentioned in my guide, you might not be able to flash the bleeding edge versions (you need paid services i..e. funky for that). But if you keep things simple and reasonable then you can get the huawei approved ones of most of the regions (e.g. B156 through FF has been verified personally by me for Europe. I haven't tried higher versions since even this version is fairly new and good)

Also I have read that to flash C636, you do not even need to flash the oeminfo of that region (asia).
Haven't verified this personally but have read some guys do it successfully while they were trying to revive their messed up Europe (C432) phones and they had just placed the C636 UPDATE.APP in dload folder and installed it using the Huawei Updater Mode (3 button method)

Failed to Update (OTA, SD-Card ant ADB)

Hello,
i bought my Axon this week from Amazon Warehouse.
My problem is, that im not able to update my ROM.
I tried OTA, Install over Recovery (SD-Card), Install over Recovery (ADB Sideload).
All methods failed..
OTA is downloading the update, rebooting and than crashing. Hard to tell why, because i dont see any error logs. Just the information "Update Failed".
Next method i tried was to install over SD-Card. I downloaded the Update from ZTE, moved to my SD and tried to update. But my Smartphone always tells me "Couldn't mount /sdcard".. I tried to Format it with extFAT and FAT32 but both failed.
The last method I tried was using the ADB Sideload. I tried it with the update file, and also with the STOCK-Rom from this site: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/download-center-factory-images-ota-t3606547. But also i get an error message.. ADB tellst me "Total xfer 0.00x"...
Have i bougth a bricked Axon? Can I update somehow to the new version?
I have the option to send it back to Amazon, but it was 100€ cheaper, so i would love to fix the problem.
Kind regards,
t4ggno

Recovery stock and SD card seem to be the most reliable method.
Did you check the md5 of the zip? Also update.zip to put on root of the SD card should be the final zip, not the zip that contains another zip.
Also when booting in Android, I assume your SD is recognized, isn't it?
If so, instead of going to recovery then update from SD card, you can try to update from inside Android, from Phone settings, then Update item.
The phone should indicate the current version and the version to be updated to. Then follow the phone indication to update.

Nope, i dont checked MD5. But shouldn't be the problen. I tried many different update files, always same error.
Yes, after booting the SD card is connected and i could use it. Just the recovery mode cant mount the card.
Also the updater recognize my update. But he just boot in the recovery mode and try to update -> Same error: "couldn't mount /sdcard"
Edit 1:
But i can check the MD5 files if necessary. I just need the "correct" MD5 value to compare.

Just a guess:
Is your micro SD card size greater than or equal to 128 GB? Some version has this bug, size less than or equal to 64 GB should work better. To try if this is the case.

t4ggno said:
Hello,
i bought my Axon this week from Amazon Warehouse.
My problem is, that im not able to update my ROM.
I tried OTA, Install over Recovery (SD-Card), Install over Recovery (ADB Sideload).
All methods failed..
OTA is downloading the update, rebooting and than crashing. Hard to tell why, because i dont see any error logs. Just the information "Update Failed".
Next method i tried was to install over SD-Card. I downloaded the Update from ZTE, moved to my SD and tried to update. But my Smartphone always tells me "Couldn't mount /sdcard".. I tried to Format it with extFAT and FAT32 but both failed.
The last method I tried was using the ADB Sideload. I tried it with the update file, and also with the STOCK-Rom from this site: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/download-center-factory-images-ota-t3606547. But also i get an error message.. ADB tellst me "Total xfer 0.00x"...
Have i bougth a bricked Axon? Can I update somehow to the new version?
I have the option to send it back to Amazon, but it was 100€ cheaper, so i would love to fix the problem.
Kind regards,
t4ggno
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are you using an SD card though? Put it in the root of the internal storage and it will surely pop up, then try again from Updates, not the recovery (and get the SD off the phone to avoid the phone from detecting the zip there)
Otherwise root and get TWRP and flash Tron1's stuff
---------- Post added at 11:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------
t4ggno said:
Hello,
i bought my Axon this week from Amazon Warehouse.
My problem is, that im not able to update my ROM.
I tried OTA, Install over Recovery (SD-Card), Install over Recovery (ADB Sideload).
All methods failed..
OTA is downloading the update, rebooting and than crashing. Hard to tell why, because i dont see any error logs. Just the information "Update Failed".
Next method i tried was to install over SD-Card. I downloaded the Update from ZTE, moved to my SD and tried to update. But my Smartphone always tells me "Couldn't mount /sdcard".. I tried to Format it with extFAT and FAT32 but both failed.
The last method I tried was using the ADB Sideload. I tried it with the update file, and also with the STOCK-Rom from this site: https://forum.xda-developers.com/axon-7/how-to/download-center-factory-images-ota-t3606547. But also i get an error message.. ADB tellst me "Total xfer 0.00x"...
Have i bougth a bricked Axon? Can I update somehow to the new version?
I have the option to send it back to Amazon, but it was 100€ cheaper, so i would love to fix the problem.
Kind regards,
t4ggno
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, bricked means totally unusable, so no it isn't bricked lol

dnlilas said:
Just a guess:
Is your micro SD card size greater than or equal to 128 GB? Some version has this bug, size less than or equal to 64 GB should work better. To try if this is the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a 64 GB card Should i try a <= 32 GB card? Could be I have some lying around. Just to be sure its not a special case.
I will test it tomorrow if i found one

Choose an username... said:
Why are you using an SD card though? Put it in the root of the internal storage and it will surely pop up, then try again from Updates, not the recovery (and get the SD off the phone to avoid the phone from detecting the zip there)
Otherwise root and get TWRP and flash Tron1's stuff
---------- Post added at 11:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------
Also, bricked means totally unusable, so no it isn't bricked lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, last time it only recognize the update file on my SD card. I will try it tomorrow again and will post the result.
TWRP isnt a option, because i dont want to lose my warranty. Also i read that TWRP can be incompatible with Stock-ROM?!

t4ggno said:
Hm, last time it only recognize the update file on my SD card. I will try it tomorrow again and will post the result.
TWRP isnt a option, because i dont want to lose my warranty. Also i read that TWRP can be incompatible with Stock-ROM?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know where you read that, but the closest answer that I can give you is: if you don't install SuperSU, Magisk, or the dm-verity patch, TWRP will get replaced with the stock recovery and you'll have to flash it again (~2 minutes anyways). But it is in no way incompatible. Also you can relock and stuff, but yeah better keep the warranty at least until you're sure that your phone is good.
You unpacked the zip that you downloaded right? to get the update.zip inside? Or did you download it from raysteff's thread? It should work anyways
Another thing: What is your phone's model (G, U, chinese) and what is the update that you're trying to install? I guess it will fail if it is from another model, and if you're trying to jump fron a very old MM build to a very new N build it will probably fail too. Keep that in mind.

First, what is the version of your device?
I'm guessing you are using a chinese device with modified rom. Those units can't install updates unless you first restore to original chinese rom.

Choose an username... said:
I don't know where you read that, but the closest answer that I can give you is: if you don't install SuperSU, Magisk, or the dm-verity patch, TWRP will get replaced with the stock recovery and you'll have to flash it again (~2 minutes anyways). But it is in no way incompatible. Also you can relock and stuff, but yeah better keep the warranty at least until you're sure that your phone is good.
You unpacked the zip that you downloaded right? to get the update.zip inside? Or did you download it from raysteff's thread? It should work anyways
Another thing: What is your phone's model (G, U, chinese) and what is the update that you're trying to install? I guess it will fail if it is from another model, and if you're trying to jump fron a very old MM build to a very new N build it will probably fail too. Keep that in mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt unpacked the folder. A recovery normally installs zip files?! The zip file isn't packed twice. The zip contains the files directly.
I tried the package A2017G-MM-B11 and A2017G-N-B01 from the link I posted, also i tried the oficiell patch files from the axon website (B10 and Nougat)
otaconremo said:
First, what is the version of your device?
I'm guessing you are using a chinese device with modified rom. Those units can't install updates unless you first restore to original chinese rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a A2017G (that information i found on the back of my phone).
My phone overview tells me:
Modelnumber: ZTE A201G
Build-Number: ZTE A2017GV1.0.0B08
Android-Version: 6.0.1
Security-Patch: 1. December 2016
I can try to install the B09. Probably this patch is required to go to version 10 (and than to nougat)?

Don't know if it applies to your situation, but when the OTA for 7.x came out, there was a bug that would not allow the update to be applied if there was an SD card installed. I know I had to pull my card to get the update to take. Might try running the OTA without the card installed and see if it works.

karlkarloff said:
Don't know if it applies to your situation, but when the OTA for 7.x came out, there was a bug that would not allow the update to be applied if there was an SD card installed. I know I had to pull my card to get the update to take. Might try running the OTA without the card installed and see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it, but doesn't work :/
The update stops at 33% with the error message "Package Mismatch".

t4ggno said:
I didnt unpacked the folder. A recovery normally installs zip files?! The zip file isn't packed twice. The zip contains the files directly.
I can try to install the B09. Probably this patch is required to go to version 10 (and than to nougat)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, B09 was a patch only for Spain.
The zip you download from the ZTE website has a bunch of numbers as name and has an update.zip inside and a PDF or sth like that. The one you have to flash is the update.zip inside, just sayin'...
If you download the zips from raysteff's thread they are already unpacked.
Try installing an older zip, like B03, then B10

Choose an username... said:
No, B09 was a patch only for Spain.
The zip you download from the ZTE website has a bunch of numbers as name and has an update.zip inside and a PDF or sth like that. The one you have to flash is the update.zip inside, just sayin'...
If you download the zips from raysteff's thread they are already unpacked.
Try installing an older zip, like B03, then B10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The big problem still exists -> I cant mount my SD card in recovery mode, so I cant install any patch.
I really want to try B03 as you suggested, but i am unable to install it.
I will search another SD card an try to use it. Probably my SD card has some problems.
Edit: I download my files from these side: http://www.ztemobile.de/support/downloads/?product_id=2100
They dont contain a update.zip. Only many .dat, .bin, .img and .mbn files.

t4ggno said:
The big problem still exists -> I cant mount my SD card in recovery mode, so I cant install any patch.
I really want to try B03 as you suggested, but i am unable to install it.
I will search another SD card an try to use it. Probably my SD card has some problems.
Edit: I download my files from these side: http://www.ztemobile.de/support/downloads/?product_id=2100
They dont contain a update.zip. Only many .dat, .bin, .img and .mbn files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But install it from the internal storage and with thr Updates option on Android itself... You need to put it in the root of the internal storage or it most likely won't find the zip

Choose an username... said:
But install it from the internal storage and with thr Updates option on Android itself... You need to put it in the root of the internal storage or it most likely won't find the zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! That worked very well. I did a factory reset and moved the update file directly to the root of my internal storage. After that the updater detected my update and I could install the Patch B011. After that i was able to update to Nougat trough OTA. No errors, every worked fine.

otaconremo said:
First, what is the version of your device?
I'm guessing you are using a chinese device with modified rom. Those units can't install updates unless you first restore to original chinese rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it seems that I got this one with modified rom. is there anyway to get it back to the official chinese rom?

Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL cannot flash any ROMs or restore recovery. TWRP installed

Posted this as well over on the official Asus site, but I've always found XDA to be full of great answers (& awesome devs) so posting here as well. Okay, so my fault for being impatient to wait for the gradual OTAs but now here's the problem. I rooted the phone and unlocked the bootloader, then installed TWRP for recovery. I backed up my phone. Then I tried to install (flash) new ROMs, starting with some official ones from the ASUS website, then branching out to Lineage, CM, Ressurection, Dirty Unicorns, and uh, something else, don't remember. Anyway, nothing works. I cannot install from SD card, from phone, or from ADB sideload. Nor can I now restore my backup.
ALL ROMs give me errors, I took screenshots of some recent attempts all saying zip signature verification error, lots of other ones indicating the wrong ROM. I researched that error, don't remember exactly what it said, but the workarounds posted were to unzip the ROMs and edit a file, deleting the part that checks for the right version. I can understand if a third party ROM has this problem, but ALL the ROMs - even the ones downloaded directly from Asus?!? No, I think there is another problem here though I could be wrong. Trying to restore my backup gives me either MD5 failed to match or Extracktarfork() Error 255.
So now the system partition is wiped and so nothing will boot at all. The one silver lining is that I CAN still boot into TWRP recovery. Another issue which may or may not be related is that (Just before the system partition got wiped during another attempted ROM flash) I lost the ability to write anything to the external SD card. The contents were readable but I could not write anything to it at all. I would chalk all my ROM problems up to a screwy SD card except that ADB sideloading didn't work either so ... I don't know what to do here. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
If you need any additional info, just ask - I probably just forgot to put it in the post. Just in case, I am working with a Asus Zenfone Selfie, ZD551KL, Z00UD, Android WW, 32G internal, 3G RAM. Oh, one last thing, probably just a bum cord but sometimes especially now ADB in windows doesn't see anything & I have to use linux.
Was originally hoping to get the latest Android N installed - Lineage/CM, but at this point I would gladly just go back to the stock ROM if I could finally get it to work. Thank you all again for reading my question & for any help or suggestions you can offer.
EDIT: The more info the better the help, right? I removed the SD card- trying to retrieve my info from it. I can view, just not copy (or write) so using a data recovery program to copy my files off, then I will try to reformat it. Anyway, I tried sideloading and installing from both CM and official Asus zips so I could post the errors - & they have changed a bit. Sideloading remains the same: CM gets to around 50% then stops with the line "Total xfer: 1.00x". The Asus ROM never starts. It gives the error "cannot read ..." but checked it with 7zip and it says there are no errors. On the phone side, obviously nothing on the Asus ROM since it never even starts, but the CM says "assert failed: ....", then gives an ERROR: 7. Copying the files to internal storage & trying to flash them from there, Asus ROM says Zip signature verification failed. Then "Unable to mount storage". CM says assert failed, ERROR: 7, & Unable to mount storage. Hope that helps!
EDIT2: Also tried the suggestion of deleting the asserts part of the ROM, but it says "Invalid zip file format". Any ideas on what the proper zip file format would be? If you open up 7zip as a program there are some options there, what would I need to do differently?

Did you fix your problem cause I fix mine my device can boot to fast boot mode if you
Did you fix your problem cause I fix mine my device can boot to fast boot mode if yours can I will send you the original recovery boot manger then download the latest firmware from the official webpage the go to bootloader and update the file it will work for sure but now have a software touch problems I tried to change theme and enable gloves mode it worked fine for a little time

Same issue..
Hey Lobstercat,
I am having the same problem as you..
I have tried TWRP (format /cache, /dalvik, /system and /data) with an unlock bootloader from an Asus Selfie. I have made a backup of it before trying the above. TWRP was able to restore the UL-Z00T-WW-1.12.40.382 OS fine.
But when install through TWRP, on UL-Z00T-WW-1.13.40.661-user.zip, it gives up on authentication, of which I also turned off with the same result.
In sideload mode it failed with the following message;
sudo adb sideload UL-Z00T-WW-1.13.40.661-user.zip serving: 'UL-Z00T-WW-1.13.40.661-user.zip' (~79%) E: fota_return_code 408
I have also tried "sudo fastboot flash system system.img" it failed, with the message "system.img was too large" this rendered my device unbootable and TWRP cannot restore the backup grrr..
I have the latest fastboot and adb from google went through the same above procedure with the same result, TWRP terminal shows files which I cannot be deleted with rm -rf command
I need to update with the OTA updates to UL-Z00T-WW-1.15 from Asus first before moving over to LOS.
Lobstercat said:
Posted this as well over on the official Asus site, but I've always found XDA to be full of great answers (& awesome devs) so posting here as well. Okay, so my fault for being impatient to wait for the gradual OTAs but now here's the problem. I rooted the phone and unlocked the bootloader, then installed TWRP for recovery. I backed up my phone. Then I tried to install (flash) new ROMs, starting with some official ones from the ASUS website, then branching out to Lineage, CM, Ressurection, Dirty Unicorns, and uh, something else, don't remember. Anyway, nothing works. I cannot install from SD card, from phone, or from ADB sideload. Nor can I now restore my backup.
ALL ROMs give me errors, I took screenshots of some recent attempts all saying zip signature verification error, lots of other ones indicating the wrong ROM. I researched that error, don't remember exactly what it said, but the workarounds posted were to unzip the ROMs and edit a file, deleting the part that checks for the right version. I can understand if a third party ROM has this problem, but ALL the ROMs - even the ones downloaded directly from Asus?!? No, I think there is another problem here though I could be wrong. Trying to restore my backup gives me either MD5 failed to match or Extracktarfork() Error 255.
So now the system partition is wiped and so nothing will boot at all. The one silver lining is that I CAN still boot into TWRP recovery. Another issue which may or may not be related is that (Just before the system partition got wiped during another attempted ROM flash) I lost the ability to write anything to the external SD card. The contents were readable but I could not write anything to it at all. I would chalk all my ROM problems up to a screwy SD card except that ADB sideloading didn't work either so ... I don't know what to do here. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
If you need any additional info, just ask - I probably just forgot to put it in the post. Just in case, I am working with a Asus Zenfone Selfie, ZD551KL, Z00UD, Android WW, 32G internal, 3G RAM. Oh, one last thing, probably just a bum cord but sometimes especially now ADB in windows doesn't see anything & I have to use linux.
Was originally hoping to get the latest Android N installed - Lineage/CM, but at this point I would gladly just go back to the stock ROM if I could finally get it to work. Thank you all again for reading my question & for any help or suggestions you can offer.
EDIT: The more info the better the help, right? I removed the SD card- trying to retrieve my info from it. I can view, just not copy (or write) so using a data recovery program to copy my files off, then I will try to reformat it. Anyway, I tried sideloading and installing from both CM and official Asus zips so I could post the errors - & they have changed a bit. Sideloading remains the same: CM gets to around 50% then stops with the line "Total xfer: 1.00x". The Asus ROM never starts. It gives the error "cannot read ..." but checked it with 7zip and it says there are no errors. On the phone side, obviously nothing on the Asus ROM since it never even starts, but the CM says "assert failed: ....", then gives an ERROR: 7. Copying the files to internal storage & trying to flash them from there, Asus ROM says Zip signature verification failed. Then "Unable to mount storage". CM says assert failed, ERROR: 7, & Unable to mount storage. Hope that helps!
EDIT2: Also tried the suggestion of deleting the asserts part of the ROM, but it says "Invalid zip file format". Any ideas on what the proper zip file format would be? If you open up 7zip as a program there are some options there, what would I need to do differently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Resolved..
I was able to sort it out through this link.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone-2-laser/orig-development/rom-cyanogenmod-13-0-t3317515
"In order to update your firmware to MM one you can either flash ASUS MM rom in stock recovery or flash a package that will update your fw which you can download right here"
Download that link, sideload it with no issues and lineage OS 14 with no issues.
Now running Lineage OS 14. Damn its quick!

Getting failed to mount'/persist'(invalid argument) while flashing custom rom lineage
Lobstercat said:
Posted this as well over on the official Asus site, but I've always found XDA to be full of great answers (& awesome devs) so posting here as well. Okay, so my fault for being impatient to wait for the gradual OTAs but now here's the problem. I rooted the phone and unlocked the bootloader, then installed TWRP for recovery. I backed up my phone. Then I tried to install (flash) new ROMs, starting with some official ones from the ASUS website, then branching out to Lineage, CM, Ressurection, Dirty Unicorns, and uh, something else, don't remember. Anyway, nothing works. I cannot install from SD card, from phone, or from ADB sideload. Nor can I now restore my backup.
ALL ROMs give me errors, I took screenshots of some recent attempts all saying zip signature verification error, lots of other ones indicating the wrong ROM. I researched that error, don't remember exactly what it said, but the workarounds posted were to unzip the ROMs and edit a file, deleting the part that checks for the right version. I can understand if a third party ROM has this problem, but ALL the ROMs - even the ones downloaded directly from Asus?!? No, I think there is another problem here though I could be wrong. Trying to restore my backup gives me either MD5 failed to match or Extracktarfork() Error 255.
So now the system partition is wiped and so nothing will boot at all. The one silver lining is that I CAN still boot into TWRP recovery. Another issue which may or may not be related is that (Just before the system partition got wiped during another attempted ROM flash) I lost the ability to write anything to the external SD card. The contents were readable but I could not write anything to it at all. I would chalk all my ROM problems up to a screwy SD card except that ADB sideloading didn't work either so ... I don't know what to do here. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
If you need any additional info, just ask - I probably just forgot to put it in the post. Just in case, I am working with a Asus Zenfone Selfie, ZD551KL, Z00UD, Android WW, 32G internal, 3G RAM. Oh, one last thing, probably just a bum cord but sometimes especially now ADB in windows doesn't see anything & I have to use linux.
Was originally hoping to get the latest Android N installed - Lineage/CM, but at this point I would gladly just go back to the stock ROM if I could finally get it to work. Thank you all again for reading my question & for any help or suggestions you can offer.
EDIT: The more info the better the help, right? I removed the SD card- trying to retrieve my info from it. I can view, just not copy (or write) so using a data recovery program to copy my files off, then I will try to reformat it. Anyway, I tried sideloading and installing from both CM and official Asus zips so I could post the errors - & they have changed a bit. Sideloading remains the same: CM gets to around 50% then stops with the line "Total xfer: 1.00x". The Asus ROM never starts. It gives the error "cannot read ..." but checked it with 7zip and it says there are no errors. On the phone side, obviously nothing on the Asus ROM since it never even starts, but the CM says "assert failed: ....", then gives an ERROR: 7. Copying the files to internal storage & trying to flash them from there, Asus ROM says Zip signature verification failed. Then "Unable to mount storage". CM says assert failed, ERROR: 7, & Unable to mount storage. Hope that helps!
EDIT2: Also tried the suggestion of deleting the asserts part of the ROM, but it says "Invalid zip file format". Any ideas on what the proper zip file format would be? If you open up 7zip as a program there are some options there, what would I need to do differently?
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Click to collapse
I am on latest version of TWRP have done all the process
unlocked bootloader
Rooted my phone
On latest version of TWRP
Official lineage os 14.1
But all time getting failed to mount'/persist'(invalid argument)
Even not able to go back to stock recovery through back2stock.zip process
currently operating my phone through restoring backup
What I need to do please anybody have any solution of this please reply thanks in advance

Jayants susner said:
I am on latest version of TWRP have done all the process
unlocked bootloader
Rooted my phone
On latest version of TWRP
Official lineage os 14.1
But all time getting failed to mount'/persist'(invalid argument)
Even not able to go back to stock recovery through back2stock.zip process
currently operating my phone through restoring backup
What I need to do please anybody have any solution of this please reply thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excuses excuses, but bottom line just don't get around to things very fast very often. Did you ever figure it out? It was a long time ago now so I assume you did....

Database Users

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