Hi everyone,
Before blasting away with comments as to why I would do this, here's my story,
I live in Canada and just brought home a i9508, a China variant of the S4. It belonged to my dad and he didn't want it so I just took it. The i9508 doesn't have Play Store, and it doesn't work on Canadian 3G network.
So to me, the phone is useless right off the start (don't intend on selling it either, who wants it?) So I had 2 options:
1) Leave the phone as it is, and probably use it once every 1-2 years when I visit HK
2) Flash custom roms on it fully aware of the risk it will have so that there's a possibility I can make it more usable
So in the end I went with option 2.
I followed a guide and flashed TWRP for i9505 using Odin onto the phone, and used TWRP to install chainfire SU, and it actually worked (but SU wouldn't open because some sort of security on the phone is blocking it)
Next step, I downloaded the CM version for i9505 and flashed onto the phone, and that worked too. Only problem I've encountered was that the phone would only boot after a fresh install. If I installed CM, turned the phone off after the initial start up, the phone wouldn't boot pass the Samsung logo.
Up until this point, I didn't make a backup, because of my arrogance, cause I have available a copy of the official firmware, in case anything happens.
So I figured at this point, maybe if I restore the original firmware, and try the whole process again, the custom rom would work. So I went into Odin, flash the firmware with PDA, and failed. It just wouldn't work. After retrying it a couple of times, and downloading different updates of the firmware, nothing worked. Only thing working right now is, I can get into Download mode, and I can get into TWRP recovery (but for some reason, I can't flash the zips that I've adb pushed onto the phone, zip can't open)
For me, if it can't be fixed, then it's really SOL. But if there's a way to fix it, I'm open to testing anything people have in mind, cause afterall, this phone is paper weight either way. I'm interested in seeing if I could enable 3G by flashing a i9505 radio, despite warnings, although, I've never actually came across a thread where someone had actually tried it before.
Either way, if someone has any idea on how to fix the phone, and wouldn't mind sharing it, that'll be greatly appreciated.
Working
I can get into Download mode, but Odin is failing (if you need the error please let me know and I'll post it)
I can get into TWRP recovery, but can't flash files
I can get into adb
This isnt the correct forum for your phone. XDA don't follow clones
Unfortunately a section for i9508 doesn't exist, so I figure the closest one would be i9505.
Anyhow, if someone has an idea of how to fix it, I'm more than happy to do testing on it, like flashing other roms or radios.
I've rooted and replaced the ROM on 3 other Android devices. I've spent two or three nights on this. Googling and reading page after page to try to get this right. I know I'm seriously lacking in knowledge, but I just can't stand the bloatware and lack of control over an OEM ROM. I knew I was taking a risk, but I did my best to be diligent without spending an excessive amount of time. All that said, I appreciate, in advance any help anyone can offer me. Whether that's direct advice or directing me to proper resources that I can't seem to find.
Samsung S5 SM-G900P (kltespr)
I had rooted it. I replaced the Sprint stock ROM (5.0.1 I think) with CM12.1 (which just got an OTA). I had TWRP 2.8.7 on it.
Unfortunately, I needed my research suggested I needed a Touchwiz ROM in order to activate phone service on the cell provider I'd chosen (Ting).
So I selected MOAR v7 and started following the directions here:
at galaxys5root.com/sprint-galaxy-s5-custom-roms/moar-lollipop-rom-for-sprint-galaxy-s5-w-2-8ghz-oc
I made a backup. I wiped the system/cache/davlik/etc.
I installed the Android 5.0 Bootloader TAR (G900P NDK Lollipop) per the instructions via Odin and using the Bootloader option. The flash failed. I can repeat the failure (ran Odin as admin, tried multiple USB ports, restarted the computer etc). I've since tried to send several recovery ROMS or OS ROMS (pardon if I'm using the wrong terminology here) to the device, but all I can get is download mode or a screen that says Samsung Galaxy S5 powered by Android (with Kernel is not Seandroid enforcing at the top). Sending TWRP via Odin has worked with a PASS, but still can't startup the device.
I can provide more detailed logs or information about where I'm stuck and how, but on the off chance that this is an obvious thing I'm going to stop here unless more detail would be useful.
Again, I'm grateful in advance for any help.
Moshker
Follow up and how I fixed my brick
This post is intended as a follow up in case anyone runs into a similiar problem and stumbles onto my post.
After trying several different bootloaders, including the stock ones from Samsung (multiple download attempts, very slow speeds, some didn't pass md5 check), and full ROM efforts via Odin 3.10.7 I was finally able to get one ROM to take.
G900PVPU3BOG1_G900PSPT3BOG1_SPR from androidfilehost.com/?fid=24052804347794921
After getting the phone activated on Ting I used Odin to push Chainfire Auto Root (408). I verified root after restart. Used Nandroid to make a new backup. I used Flashify to install TWRP 2.8.7. I restarted to recovery and DID NOT use TWRP to wipe the system/data/etc and instead loaded the MOAR7.0.OA6 ROM. During the ROM install process it asked if I'd like to wipe system/cache/davlik/etc. I did. The ROM installed successfully. I ran a Nandroid restore to bring back my apps and data. Most restored properly.
I still don't really understand what went wrong, why my efforts to fix it failed, and why the last thing I tried worked.
Really loving MOAR. I'm using the Numix theme and it's just incredibly clean and fast. CM12.1 had intermittent micro-freezes/lags that were driving me a little nuts and MOAR is really smooth and quite fast. I was pretty disappointed in CM as I had it a long time ago on an original DInc (7.2!).
Anyway, if you're phone is bricked, keep on fighting the good fight.
I installed TWRP bootloader onto my OEM Unlocked Samsung Galaxy Core Prime G360P Via Odin, and afterwords attempted to boot into Bootloader.
Upon doing so the phones screen goes black, and it acts like its turned off. My computer can't detect it with ADB, and I can't boot it back on without removing the battery and then inserting it again, after which it boots normally.
So yes my phone is working, but I need to get the bootloader working, I don't even have the normal android one right now because of this odd bug, i have rooted phones and tablets before both via Kingroot, and ADB depending on the needs of the device, and have some slight experience with it but limited technical knowledge, i have found seemingly similar problems but all said to solve via ADB, which doesnt really work as my ADB cant detect my phone when it is in this dead state it goes into instead of bootloader.
I would like a fix that will allow me to have TWRP installed, nothing that requires root as i have attempted all one-click rooters and none work for my phone, and i cannot install a custom OS as I am on textnow wireless and getting it to work with one is the biggest pain on earth (plus my calling would become sh^te without the custom textnow rom calling)
So basically i need to fix the bootloader without installing a new OS altogether, without deleting any of my inbuilt apps, and without factory resetting as I cant get to the bootloader to factory reset anyway, honestly i just need a way to get TWRP to work. If the answer involves another way of rooting my phone via Odin (yes i can still get to the odin downloader) and then running a root requiring app to fix my recovery thats fine but i dont know how to do that or what it would entail
im using: twrp-3.0.2-0-cprimeltemtr
Textnow wireless uses a custom os that is slightly modified from the default, I don't know what that entails but i know that affects what fixes may/may not work so i am mentioning it
before i get the same answers i have tried:
redownloading TWRP and flashing the new copy instead in case of corrupted image
removing the battery after flashing and then booting directly into bootloader so as to stop it restoring anything
I have tried flashing other recoverys, however upon doing so found that when i tried to boot into the bootloader it would then boot to Odin instead and give me an error saying it was unable to boot normally, so i reflashed the TWRP one and it gave me the same blackscreen once again.
Any advice would be very helpfull, im at my wits end and id like to be able to recover my phone should it have problems later, id much prefer i not get stuck
Software Version: G360PVPS2APE2
Hardware Version: G360P .03
Model #:SM-G360P
Android Version : 4.4.4
Android Security Patch Level: 2016-06-01
Kernel Version:2.10.28-675169
Build #: TNG360PVPS2APE2
SOLVED
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ime-sm-g360p-root-t3217885/page2#post70113291
I found something that worked highly reccomend this autoinstaller for Odin
Search the forums for stock rooted deodexed sm-g360p, thats the TWRP that I use ... almost to much. The rom is also alot more susceptible to root,mods,and tweaks. The rom is sprint, boosts a sprint partner. Its helped me get the 4glte i couldnt pickup with the boost. But definitely find that post. Twrp isn't official to our variant(that i know yet) but it works the same tho a lil dated.
As the title implies, I've failed in my attempt to root my S7 Edge. I can access the custom download tool as well as the TWRP tool that I installed via Odin. However, I have no SD card and my attempts to use ADB have been unsuccessful. Right now I am looking for an option to reset my device to factory settings. I don't care about my previous data, as this is a relatively new phone. However, I believe my warranty is voided, and that is why I am posting here.
What are my options at this point? If it helps, a micro SD is arriving via Amazon tomorrow afternoon. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to install a custom ROM or root my existing Nougat that I started with (my original intention).
As for how the process may have failed, the tutorial I watched didn't seem to make it clear that I had to enable USB debugging. I enabled OEM Unlock, but not USB Debugging. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :good:
EDIT: Smart Switch does not support the device for emergency recovery. I really think I messed up my phone
EDIT 2: After suddenly disconnecting during the download process of a fresh firmware via sammobile, I restarted the device to reach an error screen telling me to use Smart Switch Emergency recovery. However, my device was not supported. Following a guide online, I clicked on the More tab at the top right corner of the Smart Switch program and chose "Emergency software recovery and initialization". I entered the relevant information for my device and the recovery process began (fingers crossed). After it has completed, I am now once again booting my factory firmware. I'll leave this post here because I couldn't find a similar post on the first couple pages of the forum or with the search function.
Now, can anyone direct me to a proper beginners' guide to rooting the S7 Edge? I'm fresh off of iOS, which I've used and been jailbreaking for the past nine years. I thought it would only slightly more complex, but I see due to the many different versions of the same device, rooting can be quite tricky.
Edit 3: New question which I can't find the answer to anywhere... Do you need an SD card to root? I'm resetting my phone for the second time now. Got a boot loop after using ADB sideloader to install supersu.
Where did you get the stock firmware? I have the unlocked sm-g935u... made an unbelievable stupid mistake and my three day old s7 edge is partly functional (only bare essentials), but whatever I did before wasn't wiped when I did a factory wipe so my phone thinks it's rooted even though it most certainly is not. (And many features and apps won't work bc of it. )
I can't find anything useful about theNougat firmware. I'm really desperate. My company bought me this and i broke it within a week. :'(
Okay, so I've been trying to get some answers regarding custom ROMs for the past few days but I haven't even got one...and it seems I'm not the only one looking for them. So...lay it in this thread maybe we can start something up.
I am on stock OREO B04, phone's software has never been tampered with anything, TWRP, BL unlock and so on.
This is the premise of the thread, not only for me but for other users who find themselves in the same situation.
Oreo seems to be a bit of a hassle right now for migrating to custom ROMs, and this is not helped by the fact guides in the A7 section are all over the place as well, some may be outdated and there's no clear "Don't use this on x.x version" warning.
I am not even going to attempt to unlock the BL until I clear answer on wether it's possible or not. So let's start with this:
-Is it possible to unlock the BL on OREO?
-If not, what stock official ROM should we install in order to successfuly attempt to unlock the bl?
-Which guide or method is the best for doing so? I've found 2, one from 2016 on MM ROMs and one provided by TurkDevs that seems to work on some Nougat ROMs.
Then comes the recovery section:
-What TWRP should we install on a freshly unlocked device, the official releases, or the Nfound custom ones?
-Also, what are the prerequisites for installing TWRP...I hear that fastboot commands are gone since Nougat and that some flashing methods don't work, then I hear somehow you can do it by bringing back fastboot. How? There's only replies saying "type that command in fastboot" but nobody says if they had it or reinstalled it somehow.
Then comes the ROMs section:
-All custom ROMs seem to require a vendor partition as most if not all of them are Treble based. How do we get that to work?
- I am aware of the fact that the ROM threads have a prerequisites section, but none of them redirect you to a guide on how to get those prerequisites working. I understand that it's not the dev's responsability, I am not bashing anyone here, but a little bit of info cleaning and structuring should be in order in this section.
What I want for me and others in my situation is a clear answer on how to proceed, not a "flash this flash that". There's no secret that the A7 still has life in it especially with the new PIE ROMs.
I've recently seen a reply in one of the threads, encouraging the dev of one of this ROMs to not be disappointed by the seemingly low interest in PIE ROMs. I don't think there's a low interest in them, I think there are users that don't want to risk a bricked phone because of outdated guides and unlcear steps.
There's a lot of confusion going around here so I hope this thread will become a source of updated info on what's possible and what not. Thanks in advance!
Hi, I'm not the best person to help you with this since i've unlocked my Axon 7 a long time ago and I can't remember everything but I will try to help you based on my experience and on what I can remember.
Let's go
Starting with the bootloader, I unlocked mine on stock Nougat B09 using EDL Tool (Oreo wasn't even out when I unlocked my bootloader so I don't know if you can do it while running Oreo but just to be safe you should downgrade to Nougat)
It should be quite easy to unlock the bootloader, here's a simple step by step (please anyone correct me if I'm wrong)
- Download the EDL tool from the link above
- Downgrade your phone to Nougat (Using the updater on the phone itself or an EDL Package with EDL Tool or MiFlash - you can find the stock ROMs on @raystef66 's Download Center
- Once running Stock Nougat, turn on USB Debugging and Allow OEM Unlocking on Developer Settings
- Plug the phone to your computer and open EDL Tool (that should reboot the phone into EDL mode automatically)
- Navigate through the EDL Tool using the number keys on the keyboard, and it should be easy to find the Unlock Bootloader option. Unlock it and you should be done.
Once again that's the way I did it, I don't know if this is the easiest one available. You have more methods available like this one
Now onto the recovery situation, I think each developer recommends a specific TWRP version for their ROM's, like for example
@raystef66 likes NFound's TWRP 3.2.1-8 as you can see on his ROM's posts (check the first line in the installation guide)
@OrdenKrieger likes the official TWRP as you can see on Lineage OS 16.0 post
Generally, official TWRP should work just fine with any ROM.
On a recently unlocked Nougat Stock ROM, I recommend maybe an older version of TWRP, like 3.2.1 for example and you can flash it also using EDL Tool.
But when moving to Pie I recommend you use the latest TWRP version or the version that the ROM developer recommends. You probably know this but you can update your TWRP version by flashing it over the current version you have.
Now about the ROM's, the new ones have a Vendor partition so you have to create it when you're coming from Stock (because our Axon 7 doesn't support Project Treble) and to do that you can use @Oki 's PARTY Tool and after that you can flash the ROM normally, using the proper Bootstack and Modem files.
You could also try GSI's but I can't help you with that because I never tried them.
And this should be all.
I tried to keep it simple for now but i can help you further
I'm not the best person to guide you but at least I tried Feel free to ask me something and good luck!
@joaocandeias Well, dang it worked. Everything you described:
-going back to Nougat
-unlocking the bootloader with the EDL tool
-flashing TWRP-
creating the Vendor partition, and installing the new ROMs.
There were a few hiccups on the road, mostly driver related from my previous attempt, but nothing severe or something that would cause the device to brick.
I just installed @raystef66 's ResRemix ROM and it works fine. I'll start testing more of them in daily use and see which suits my needs best.
Thanks for the assistance!
TorqueSsS said:
@joaocandeias Well, dang it worked. Everything you described:
-going back to Nougat
-unlocking the bootloader with the EDL tool
-flashing TWRP-
creating the Vendor partition, and installing the new ROMs.
There were a few hiccups on the road, mostly driver related from my previous attempt, but nothing severe or something that would cause the device to brick.
I just installed @raystef66 's ResRemix ROM and it works fine. I'll start testing more of them in daily use and see which suits my needs best.
Thanks for the assistance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad I could help
Since you're not the only person with questions on how to migrate from stock to custom, I'm thinking about writing a full post so more people can see it.
Btw what method did you use to downgrade to nougat?
@joaocandeias Sorry for the delayed response, I've got a really f'd up sleeping schedule these days. I'll write the exact steps I've done.
1. So, I first downloaded the B09 Nougat full stock ROM from the download center and tried to downgrade using the normal software updater in the phone (OTA window, local option).
It didn't work at first, I received a compatibility error, saying that the update is for "ailsa_ii" devices, while the device is not(or to be more exact, my device was " " ), which I found odd.
But, I thought that maybe I need the linked versions(like the last Nougat ROM before Oreo) so I downloaded the B10 Nougat ROM, and used the same procedure.
2. I set up the phone as a dud(skip everything, no Google account), turned USB debugging and OEM unlocking on, installed the original ZTE drivers straight from the phone and rebooted it into EDL to proceed with unlocking the BL.
At this point, I had the QUSB_BULK driver stick from my previous use of Zadig, so one quick "uninstall device software" and relpuging the phone go me the Qualcom 9008 driver in order.
3. I started the EDL tool, navigated through it and started the BL unlock procedure.
Once the phone rebooted I was greeted by the password screen.
One factory reset later and repeating the procedure greeted me with the "Bootloader unlocked" message. Sucess!
4.Now for TWRP, Vendor and ROM, got all the files onto the SD card, I flashedTWRP 3.2.1-8 NFound, then, from TWRP, I used the party tool, then flashed the UBv2(at which point it reverted TWRP to 3.2.3, flashed the 3.2.1-8 again with EDL ), modem, ROM, GApps, rebooted, set it up, then flashed Magisk...and everything seems fine.
The only issue I have now seems to be the camera, both stock app and GCam.
Open camera works , has the correct photo and video res, 60FPS doesn't work and the flash seems a bit laggy, but for me it's ok.
The DAC however is there, alive and kicking, Neutron detected the Hi-Res codec at launch and switched to it. It sounds the same as stock OREO to me so it is great, as this was my greatest fear when migrating to PIE. The DAC-AMP combo is like 60% of the reason I bought this phone in the first place.
TorqueSsS said:
@joaocandeias Sorry for the delayed response, I've got a really f'd up sleeping schedule these days. I'll write the exact steps I've done.
1. So, I first downloaded the B09 Nougat full stock ROM from the download center and tried to downgrade using the normal software updater in the phone (OTA window, local option).
It didn't work at first, I received a compatibility error, saying that the update is for "ailsa_ii" devices, while the device is not(or to be more exact, my device was " " ), which I found odd.
But, I thought that maybe I need the linked versions(like the last Nougat ROM before Oreo) so I downloaded the B10 Nougat ROM, and used the same procedure.
2. I set up the phone as a dud(skip everything, no Google account), turned USB debugging and OEM unlocking on, installed the original ZTE drivers straight from the phone and rebooted it into EDL to proceed with unlocking the BL.
At this point, I had the QUSB_BULK driver stick from my previous use of Zadig, so one quick "uninstall device software" and relpuging the phone go me the Qualcom 9008 driver in order.
3. I started the EDL tool, navigated through it and started the BL unlock procedure.
Once the phone rebooted I was greeted by the password screen.
One factory reset later and repeating the procedure greeted me with the "Bootloader unlocked" message. Sucess!
4.Now for TWRP, Vendor and ROM, got all the files onto the SD card, I flashedTWRP 3.2.1-8 NFound, then, from TWRP, I used the party tool, then flashed the UBv2(at which point it reverted TWRP to 3.2.3, flashed the 3.2.1-8 again with EDL ), modem, ROM, GApps, rebooted, set it up, then flashed Magisk...and everything seems fine.
The only issue I have now seems to be the camera, both stock app and GCam.
Open camera works , has the correct photo and video res, 60FPS doesn't work and the flash seems a bit laggy, but for me it's ok.
The DAC however is there, alive and kicking, Neutron detected the Hi-Res codec at launch and switched to it. It sounds the same as stock OREO to me so it is great, as this was my greatest fear when migrating to PIE. The DAC-AMP combo is like 60% of the reason I bought this phone in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! That will help me a lot to write a full guide. You'll be credited, don't worry
And yeah, when you migrate to custom roms you'll have to sacrifice camera quality and functionality and also a bit of speakers sound quality (all dolby atmos ports I tried are quite buggy and don't work well ; i only use atmos with the speakers). Headphones sound quality is great though.
If you don't use camera that much (not my case) and you're okay with the speakers sound quality then custom roms are probably the best option out there.
@joaocandeias
I was fully aware of the camera issues I might encounter, this has been the case with my old Mediatek devices when going to custom as well, same camera issues, but at least...it works here. Yeah, I lost some functionality, but to me it's a good trade-off. It can still take snaps and film properly so it's enough for me.
I am kind of going to miss Dolby on speakers (never liked it on headphones though), as it did a really good job for podcast style videos on YT, but it still sounds way better than a lot of phones without it so it's fine. I just need to crank the volume up a little more than usual.
I've heard that treble Pie Roms require a oreo bootloader, is this true? I am still confused how to install on my A2017G. In which order would I install bootloader and vendor partition?