Database Info

[TOOL] [BETA] [Windows] Android Flash Recovery

Introduction
Since I'm not a ROM developer or Java coder, I thought I could help by donating this little tool, that was origionally written for my personal use, for all to utilize in an attempt to give back to this community.
WinFastboot - Flash Recovery has been renamed to Android Flash Recovery
Requirements
- A PC running Microsoft Windows. 32 or 64 bit.
- Correct Android USB drivers installed for your device
- An Android powered device with debugging enabled
Description
Android Flash Recovery is a Windows GUI front-end for the Windows version of fastboot. This particular tool is designed to simplify flashing an Android device's recovery partition. Android Flash Recovery WILL NOT repair a bricked device. The device must be able to be put in to fastboot mode for Android Flash Recovery to be able to work. Since Android Flash Recovery is just a GUI for fastboot, the same applies for fastboot.
Beware. Android Flash Recovery unfortunately will not work with every single Android device. I am however, attempting to make strides in that direction
Installation
Installing Android Flash Recovery is simple too. Just unzip to a folder of your choice and then execute androidflashrecovery.exe, assuming your device drivers are already installed.
If you haven't installed your drivers yet, then they will need to be installed before using Android Flash Recovery as your device won't be detected.
If you are an LG user, the latest LG United Mobile USB drivers are are in a sub-folder of Android Flash Recovery, titled "USB". If you have attempted to install your USB drivers in the past with no success or with errors, go to Control Panel and uninstall any LG driver setup program you may find. Reboot your computer. Run the driver installation program. Make sure your device is NOT connected to the PC. Reboot your PC once more. Enable USB debugging on your device the power it off, trust me. After your PC has fully booted, plug your device into a USB port. Do not plug in to a USB hub. Windows may detect your device at this point and begin searching for or installing drivers. Power on your phone. Wait for all devices to be installed. For Froyo and GingerBread phones this is normally 5 or 6 devices. For ICS and JB this is 4 devices I believe. The important one is 'Android Single Sooner Interface'. This won't be installed if USB debugging isn't enabled on the device. Now your drivers should be installed and you can use Android Flash Recovery at your leisure.
Using
Using Android Flash Recovery is even easier than installing it. Browse for the recovery you wish to flash and press the 'Flash Recovery' button. NOTE: In order for Android Flash Recovery to flash, your device MUST BE in fastboot mode.
Included with Android Flash Recovery are the adb binaries with support libraries as well as fastboot. Android Flash Recovery is written to use the binaries included in it's package. Also included is the driver setup application for LGE Android Mobile devices ( United Mobile USB Drivers ).
Post questions here. I will try to answer them as I can. I have a regular full-time job so I am not a full-time developer. You may also email me at [email protected]. Set your subject line to "Android Flash Recovery". If the subject line isn't correct your email will be ignored.
Download
Latest version here -> Android Flash Recovery

Reserved...

Removed

Since I have had zero feedback about my previous post, I've decided to rename "WinFastboot - Flash Recovery" to "Android Flash Recovery". I'd also like to mention that it will be updated later this evening. I have a few more minor things to wrap up and then I'll upload and post a new link.
I've had quite a few downloads, so I know my app is being tried. I really need some feedback folks. If you have issues with, a feature request, or even a simpe UI improvement/suggestion. I'm also curious as to the types of devices that my app is being used in conjunction with. What works and what doesn't.
Thanks.

if a device is able to go into recovery mode, does it mean this app is applicable?

oldsap said:
if a device is able to go into recovery mode, does it mean this app is applicable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no. The device must be in fastboot/bootloader mode.

bill.weckel said:
Unfortunately no. The device must be in fastboot/bootloader mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well there goes every samsung device that isnt a nexus

jamcar said:
well there goes every samsung device that isnt a nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a way to install a ROM with adb so I'd say it may be possible to do a recovery too. I'll do some investigating. Might be able to do something.
Sent from my LG-P506 using xda app-developers app

bill.weckel said:
There is a way to install a ROM with adb so I'd say it may be possible to do a recovery too. I'll do some investigating. Might be able to do something.
Sent from my LG-P506 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you keep us posted on you research?

jamcar said:
could you keep us posted on you research?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than happy to. I've have a little more to do as far as completing this piece of software then I'll look into using adb as an alternative for the purpose of this thread and possibly for devices such as yours that do not have access to the bootloader/fastboot mode for whatever reasons.

bill.weckel said:
More than happy to. I've have a little more to do as far as completing this piece of software then I'll look into using adb as an alternative for the purpose of this thread and possibly for devices such as yours that do not have access to the bootloader/fastboot mode for whatever reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for samsung phones you would look into using the dd if=[recoveryimg] of=[recovery partition] to copy the recovery image to the recovery partition. this is how you manually do a samsung phone's recovery flash. so a way to implement this into the app for, let's say the GS3 would be
adb push [user selected recovery img] \sdcard\recovery.img ( or some other way of copying the user selected recovery img to the root of the sdcard )
su
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18
and that will flash the recovery to the gs3.
of course the main issue is that the recovery partition is not always the same name of the block so /dev/block/mmcblk0p18 will not always be the name of the recovery block. The way to overcome this ( i think ) would be to program in a part of the app that reads in Build.MODEL which will give you the model device the user has plugged in and then you can determine from there what the block title is by programming in the blocks for each samsung phone model. To make it simpler befoer you do that, filter out stuff that can just be fastbooted...something like...
if(Build.Manufacturer == 'HTC' || Build.Manufacturer == 'Motorola' ||... etc)
// just do fastboot
else
{
switch(Build.MODEL) { // if switching strings is supported in Android ( it was introduced in java se 7 ) otherwise use enums
case GS3:
block = 'mmcblk0p18';
break;
}
//move the file to the SD card if the model is supported
//do the su and dd command here
}
anyways...im bored at work so just figured ide give my 2 cents, not sure how much support you wanna give this haha...hope this helps

For me it's not working i am in Fastboot mode but winfastboot tells me i am not ... it recognized that the device is connected but not in fastboot mode even tough on my phone it says "fastboot usb" :\
Phone : HTC Wildfire
s-off
radio 3.35.15.31
ROM : CM9
Yeah i just saw "ICS( 4.0.* ) and JB( 4.1.1 ) devices are not detected correctly by the driver software. Some devices may not get installed." in the readme ...
Cant you do anything about this to fix it ?

That's strange. I figured there would be some devices that this wouldn't work for. Are your USB drivers installed correctly? All other fastboot screens say "Fastboot mode started\nudc_start()". I will look into it tho.
Sent from my LG-P506 using xda app-developers app

Updated. Check first post for downloads

Yep , USB drivers installed correctly , other things worked everytime i tried to do something ...

Commandox said:
Yep , USB drivers installed correctly , other things worked everytime i tried to do something ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking into a workaround for your HTC device and from what I've heard I may need one for some Samsung devices as well. I'm sorry the update I posted doesn't contain this workaround. It is something that I will look into. I do have a regular full-time job tho, so it may take a few days for me to figure out what I need to do, how to do it, then writing the code for it.
As for the fixing how device drivers are installed, that's not something that I can fix. I believe it is actually an issue with the ICS and JB ROMs themselves.

For those of you who are having issues with Android Flash Recovery, I really need the names of your recovery mount points. HTC owners and Samsung GS3 owners for sure.
I can't fix these issues without your input folks. I'd really like to be the guy that has the one universal recovery tool that no one can live without. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

bill.weckel said:
More than happy to. I've have a little more to do as far as completing this piece of software then I'll look into using adb as an alternative for the purpose of this thread and possibly for devices such as yours that do not have access to the bootloader/fastboot mode for whatever reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we have download mode instead of fastboot/bootloader we can use ODIN, samsungs recovery tool (tool not mode, meaning the program ODIN is on a computer)
EDIT: sprint galaxy s III is /dev/block/mmcblk0p18

I believe I've stumbled upon a universal method to check a device for mount points. I'm going to throw together a little test app and then upload here for y'all to test out if you would. If my suspicions are correct, I will then be most able to write the
universal recovery tool for windows.
@jamcar
Thanks for your response. I've actually heard of ODIN.

bill.weckel said:
For those of you who are having issues with Android Flash Recovery, I really need the names of your recovery mount points. HTC owners and Samsung GS3 owners for sure.
I can't fix these issues without your input folks. I'd really like to be the guy that has the one universal recovery tool that no one can live without. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Galaxy Note International (GT-N7000) it should be - /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
i just need to confirm that

[Q] Are windows fastboot drivers device specific

Are windows fastboot drivers device specific do i have to get the right driver for my particular model phone?

joerichards said:
Are windows fastboot drivers device specific do i have to get the right driver for my particular model phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adb fastboot is for most (most Chinese phones and fake tablets and such are so poorly built adb doesn't even recognize them) android phones(samsung dosent use it much unless people are modding but htc and motorola have a better way of protecting their phones from root/custom recoverys/ custom roms.) there are some situations where there has to be a sort of special fastboot drivers for speciifc phones but most of the time fastboot goes the same for all phones.
correct but dont hiss and spit at me if im wrong

The problem is AIO Flasher doesn't see my Pantech P9060
Trozzul said:
adb fastboot is for most (most Chinese phones and fake tablets and such are so poorly built adb doesn't even recognize them) android phones(samsung dosent use it much unless people are modding but htc and motorola have a better way of protecting their phones from root/custom recoverys/ custom roms.) there are some situations where there has to be a sort of special fastboot drivers for speciifc phones but most of the time fastboot goes the same for all phones.
correct but dont hiss and spit at me if im wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is AIO Flasher doesn't see my pantech p9060

Problem resolved by reinstalling Android SDK
joerichards said:
The problem is AIO Flasher doesn't see my pantech p9060
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This problem has been resolved by reinstalling the android sdk Instructions i originally followed online said to check the box for android sdk platform tools but it was already installed by the time i'm opening the sdk manager and checking the box actually uninstalls it so that's what i did wrong Now fastboot in aio flasher works fine

No operating system found.

Totally new to xda forum, and pretty much a noob. Nexus 5 (US model). I was trying to unroot my Nexus 5. I bought it from a friend who had rooted it using TWRP, and it was running CM. Anyway, I managed to completely wipe the operating system ... completely. It will boot using the power/volume down configuration, but when I try to start the phone, it says, "No operating system found." All the threads I have been reading (yes, I have done a lot of reading), assume a couple of things: 1) that the phone can get into Settings/Developer Mode; and, 2) that my PC finds my phone when I plug it in. I have tried the adb and fastboot driver downloads, and wound up with some weird app that was almost impossible to uninstall off my PC. Ten-something or other. I tried doing the flash-all thing, but got a message that there was no such command. Can anyone help me, either directly, or by links to what I need? Once again, I have no operating system on this phone. Thanks.

There's a cool tool kit called wugs nexus toolkit that will help some http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1766475
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 01:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 AM ----------
Also, here's mostly all the roms stock & custom here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...dex-google-nexus-5-roms-kernels-mods-t2475401
Did you say you can still get into recovery? Because there's an unroot rom thats flashable somewhere... Itd take you to stock everything.....
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I second that recommendation. With a caveat. Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit is a superb piece of programming which should enable you to set up your PC with all the necessary drivers and also let you specify the ROM you want to install, download it for you, and install it. You should obviously take the latest MMB29V.
But...
I see that you've done a lot of reading, and I understand that Android is initlally hard to grasp, but please don't (a) think you'll never understand it and (b) think that NRT is the answer to all your problems - it isn't. There are lots of reports of people saying "NRT has broken my phone" either because the've used it incorrectly or because they've used it before Wug has had a chance to update it to cater for all the latest tweaks that Google have introduced (particularly on Marshmallow root). If you're careful, set up your drivers properly, and install the correct version for your phone (Hammerhead MMB29V), NRT should give you back a working phone. But after that, read more, and investigate manual update methods, which are particularly useful for installing the monthly security updates without losing your data or waiting for the OTA (over-the-air) rollout from Google.

In fastboot, but can't flash operating system
dahawthorne said:
I second that recommendation. With a caveat. Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit is a superb piece of programming which should enable you to set up your PC with all the necessary drivers and also let you specify the ROM you want to install, download it for you, and install it. You should obviously take the latest MMB29V.
But...
I see that you've done a lot of reading, and I understand that Android is initlally hard to grasp, but please don't (a) think you'll never understand it and (b) think that NRT is the answer to all your problems - it isn't. There are lots of reports of people saying "NRT has broken my phone" either because the've used it incorrectly or because they've used it before Wug has had a chance to update it to cater for all the latest tweaks that Google have introduced (particularly on Marshmallow root). If you're careful, set up your drivers properly, and install the correct version for your phone (Hammerhead MMB29V), NRT should give you back a working phone. But after that, read more, and investigate manual update methods, which are particularly useful for installing the monthly security updates without losing your data or waiting for the OTA (over-the-air) rollout from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the fastboot mode, and I can get into TWRP, but I can't get my PC to recognize the phone. I've followed every rabbit trail I can find, but the phone doesn't show up. The USB ports are fine, and all the USB drivers are up to date. This is what is on my phone screen:
FASTBOOT MODE
PRODUCT NAME - hammerhead
VARIANT - hammerhead D820(E) 32GB
HW VERSION - rev. 11
BOOTLOADER VERSION - HHZ12k
The rest is serial number and so forth. I can get into TWRP, but can't ADB Sideload because the phone is not showing up. Giving me an error 43.

" I've followed every rabbit trail"
Have you followed this one?
"Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit"

kakid56 said:
Totally new to xda forum, and pretty much a noob. Nexus 5 (US model). I was trying to unroot my Nexus 5. I bought it from a friend who had rooted it using TWRP, and it was running CM. Anyway, I managed to completely wipe the operating system ... completely. It will boot using the power/volume down configuration, but when I try to start the phone, it says, "No operating system found." All the threads I have been reading (yes, I have done a lot of reading), assume a couple of things: 1) that the phone can get into Settings/Developer Mode; and, 2) that my PC finds my phone when I plug it in. I have tried the adb and fastboot driver downloads, and wound up with some weird app that was almost impossible to uninstall off my PC. Ten-something or other. I tried doing the flash-all thing, but got a message that there was no such command. Can anyone help me, either directly, or by links to what I need? Once again, I have no operating system on this phone. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup use wugfresh toolkit ... download the factory image https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#hammerhead
and boot into bootloader.. then u knw what to do

kakid56 said:
I'm in the fastboot mode, and I can get into TWRP, but I can't get my PC to recognize the phone. I've followed every rabbit trail I can find, but the phone doesn't show up. The USB ports are fine, and all the USB drivers are up to date. This is what is on my phone screen:
FASTBOOT MODE
PRODUCT NAME - hammerhead
VARIANT - hammerhead D820(E) 32GB
HW VERSION - rev. 11
BOOTLOADER VERSION - HHZ12k
The rest is serial number and so forth. I can get into TWRP, but can't ADB Sideload because the phone is not showing up. Giving me an error 43.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't disagree with the NRT suggestion but am confused. Sorry if I'm missing something obvious. When you are in the bootloader, do you get a cmd response from "fastboot devices" (no quotes in the command)? ADB doesn't work from the bootloader as you probably know, but since you identify as a noob, thought I'd throw it out there. You can flash the system using fastboot commands if your PC recognizes (part of the confusion) the device in fastboot. If not, then you do need to get the drivers set up. If you just need adb/fastboot drivers, I recommend this which I used recently when NRT didn't seem to have the SDK version I needed for my N9 to sideload the latest OTA. Since it installs at the system level, you can place flashable files at the root of C rather than in a specific platform-tools folder. I'm on Windows 10; don't know if that makes any difference for this minimal install. As far as the flash-all. bat not working, that's not uncommon; the files can be extracted and flashed separately.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

QS5509A (Axia from AT&T) Boot Help

Hello, I just got a new phone. It's probably my first actual phone in many years, as I'm mostly a PC kind of guy. I have been having trouble getting it booted for a while now. Someone informed me that it might be an Axia phone from AT&T, but I don't know the validity of that. It says Q-Innovations every time I use it on Google stuff. Does anyone here know of the phone or know how to boot one?
Thanks a lot in advance!

CamShirayuki said:
Hello, I just got a new phone. It's probably my first actual phone in many years, as I'm mostly a PC kind of guy. I have been having trouble getting it booted for a while now. Someone informed me that it might be an Axia phone from AT&T, but I don't know the validity of that. It says Q-Innovations every time I use it on Google stuff. Does anyone here know of the phone or know how to boot one?
Thanks a lot in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The model number seems to be the AT&T version of that phone.
When you say that you can't get it booted, what do you mean exactly? What is the device doing when you try to boot it?
Have you tried holding volume up+power(let go when you see the splash screen) to boot into recovery, then factory reset and wipe cache partition?
Some devices have to hold volume down+power, then at the bootloader menu, choose the recovery option.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

What do you mean? I didn't think it was that easy to boot a phone? I wanted to put Linux on my phone instead of the current android version or even put them both on there.

CamShirayuki said:
What do you mean? I didn't think it was that easy to boot a phone? I wanted to put Linux on my phone instead of the current android version or even put them both on there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to do some research to get familiar with how android devices actually work. Android devices are not like PC, you can't just install whatever OS you want, android devices are not "generic" like that. Operating systems for android devices have to be built specifically based on the hardware in the device, down to the kernel level, the kernel has to be specific to the device. You need to do some reading about how android stock recovery and custom recovery actually work , you also need to research how android stock firmware and custom operating systems are flashed on android devices.
It is "possible" to remove android and install Linux on an android device, but only certain devices can do it, depending on the security built-in to the bootloader that is installed on the device. There isn't a universal way to install Linux on android.
It is also possible to install Linux on top of android in a sort of emulator/VM then use a VNC to .
There are some apps to install linux on top of android, such as:
1) Linux Deploy
2) Complete Linux installer
3) UserLAnd
I installed and tested UserLAnd last night. Try this and see what you think.
https://github.com/CypherpunkArmory/UserLAnd
View the README.md for instuctions to set it up.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Proper OS cleanup of new OnePlu7 Pro

Hi Everyone,
Living in Japan, we have no official channel to purchase a OnePlus handset here.
Really wanted to get a OnePlus 7 Pro as I felt it is the best model on the market as of today.
Knowing that, I got mine on Amazon Japan from a HK online shop which had very good reputation.
Now, the problem is these phones always come already opened as they say they need to confirm operation before sending it.
I have been reading news and article about this where we see more third party companies flash their roms with malware/ransomeware already built in...
In these situation, the best way to clean the phone is to do a full re-install of the OS.
I did review a bunch of article on XDA and it seems that now, due to the A/B partition setup, we can't just use official OnePlus image to load from the fastboot easily.
We have to rely on community provided too and stock rom to be able to do so....
When I raised the question to OnePlus and Oneplus forums, they mentioned to me that installed the updated like here (Page: support.oneplus.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4312/~/oxygen-os-for-oneplus-7-pro)would do the trick using the local update function.
What I was directed to do is use the recovery boot to delete system settings/cache and everything data user and then, run the local update. Doing so, that would do it while not using community tools.
Here are my questions and which I would hope to get your experience:
1 Is the process I did really does use a brand new clean OS and do not rely/integrate part of the OS that came with the handset originally (that was the target).
2 Is there a way for me using OnePlus only provided tools and image to fully delete the phone and install the OS (maybe I am thinking this too much like a PC which I have more experience with...)
3 The OS looks fine and no strange apps shows up at all but how can I be sure nothing dodgy is running? Is there tools I could use to confirm this?
Sorry if I sound paranoid. Ideally, I understand the best thing to do was to buy directly from Oneplus and work a way to have it shipped to Japan but thought it would be interesting for me to learn more about android.
With previous Oneplus, it was easier as they were provided this type of official file for recovery but they stopped...
Thank you again for your time and hopping to learn more about how new android setup works.

Is the bootloader locked? Is Widevine (Netflix HD) certification still there? You can check these things to see if the phone has been tampered with.

brissoukun said:
Hi Everyone,
When I raised the question to OnePlus and Oneplus forums, they mentioned to me that installed the updated like here (Page: support.oneplus.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4312/~/oxygen-os-for-oneplus-7-pro)would do the trick using the local update function.
What I was directed to do is use the recovery boot to delete system settings/cache and everything data user and then, run the local update. Doing so, that would do it while not using community tools.
Here are my questions and which I would hope to get your experience:
1 Is the process I did really does use a brand new clean OS and do not rely/integrate part of the OS that came with the handset originally (that was the target).
2 Is there a way for me using OnePlus only provided tools and image to fully delete the phone and install the OS (maybe I am thinking this too much like a PC which I have more experience with...)
3 The OS looks fine and no strange apps shows up at all but how can I be sure nothing dodgy is running? Is there tools I could use to confirm this?
Thank you again for your time and hopping to learn more about how new android setup works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good questions. Before you start, check the model number of your device through Settings > About. I'm assuming it's the international/global/unlocked version (GM1917).
With regard to question 1, a full build downloaded from the link you provided should contain every part of the OS, and flashing it through local update should overwrite anything that was there before. Before flashing, I would perform a full data wipe through recovery like you mentioned.
Q2: There is an MSM tool that will completely flash a system image for the OP7 Pro. I don't think they're generally intended for public use but they always get leaked anyways. They write an image (in the case of OnePlus, a .ops file) to the phone using a PC and USB connection. Here is a link to a thread which contains the MSM tool:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-7-pro/how-to/guide-mega-unbrick-guide-hard-bricked-t3934659
Download the tool for the model of your phone (probably the international, firmware GM21AA), and extract its contents into a directory. In order for the tool to work, you need the OnePlus USB drivers installed on your PC. Plug the phone into your PC with it on, and enable USB file transfer. Open File Explorer and you should see a drive labeled "OnePlus drivers" or similar. Open it and run the driver setup executable file. You'll also need ADB to make your phone reboot into a mode that will allow the tool to perform its tasks. Here is a guide to installing ADB:
https://www.xda-developers.com/what-is-adb/
Once you've set that up, make sure the phone is plugged into the PC and the MSM tool is open. Make the phone boot into edl mode by typing
Code:
adb reboot edl
and once it says Connected next to a COM port in the tool, press start. Don't interrupt the process until it completes the download and the status message turns green. The phone should automatically reboot. This method is arguably more risky than using the local upgrade option, so do it at your own risk.
Q3: Make sure that OEM unlocking is turned off in developer settings and that the bootloader is locked (if the bootloader is unlocked, you'll see a yellow warning message after you power on the device from a power off state). Without an unlocked bootloader it would be pretty difficult to make any deep modifications to the device.

Hi @Zocker1304 and @TManchu,
Please let me thank you very much first for your kind and detailed reply, this is really welcome.
@Zocker1304:
I checked using the ADB/Fastboot connection that indeed, the Bootloader is locked so, that looks good.
Also installed (using a separate Google account) DRM Info app to confirm that the Widevine is properly installed and at L1 level which indeed again, looks good.
@TManchu
Thank you again for your very detailed reply! This was exactly what I needed as information.
I did already exactly as mentioned for the #1 so, it looks I should be good now with a proper rom from OnePlus (and did a full wipe in the Recovery boot mode)
For #2, I think I will skip that since as you rightly said, with #1, it should be fine so, prefer to keep with the recommended step.
For #3, we are covering what Zocker1304 mentioned too and I could confirm it.
My only concern about #3 was that you can actually relock the bootloader but (and please correct me If I am wrong), you can only do so if you are using stock OnePlus images (to date...seems like dev teams are working to have this changed? Bootloader locked with custom firmware?) which then means the image is safe.
I suppose the last item was my only open query for your thoughts but so far, the handset looks fine.
Thanks to you and the community, I have learned about the A/B partition scheme, msm tool, Fastboot/Recovery mode and Bootloader and ADB tools.
It is always good to learn more about the tech we use (especially phones, we have so many sensitive information stored into them today).
Not being careful could potentially means quite a lot of troubles down the road with Ransomeware/data leak tools.
Of course again, I could have simply purchased a JP phone from a brick and mortar shop next to my place and be fine with it. :silly:

brissoukun said:
.
For #3, we are covering what Zocker1304 mentioned too and I could confirm it.
My only concern about #3 was that you can actually relock the bootloader but (and please correct me If I am wrong), you can only do so if you are using stock OnePlus images (to date...seems like dev teams are working to have this changed? Bootloader locked with custom firmware?) which then means the image is safe.
I suppose the last item was my only open query for your thoughts but so far, the handset looks fine.
Thanks to you and the community, I have learned about the A/B partition scheme, msm tool, Fastboot/Recovery mode and Bootloader and ADB tools.
It is always good to learn more about the tech we use (especially phones, we have so many sensitive information stored into them today).
Not being careful could potentially means quite a lot of troubles down the road with Ransomeware/data leak tools.
Of course again, I could have simply purchased a JP phone from a brick and mortar shop next to my place and be fine with it. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! I’ve just done some reading and from what I understand, re-locking the bootloader on anything other than a completely stock ROM will result in a bricked phone. I believe this is due to the way Android handles data encryption. If what you’ve heard is true, being able to lock your bootloader on a custom ROM would be great for device security. However, should something go wrong with the ROM having a locked bootloader might make it more difficult to fix.

I know that there are ways to sign system and boot images so that you can lock the bootloader with them installed, but I think that would still show a warning though I'm not sure.
Anyways, if all the build dates and numbers in the system info are correct, the firmware should be stock and as long as the bootloader is locked too, I don't believe you can tamper with that.

Hi Gents,
Thank you very much for the answer to the thread and much appreciated.
Apologies for not getting back to you all earlier as yesterday was family day...haha!
Well, since things looked good on the OS and the build, I went ahead and started to use the phone properly setting up my accounts. It did give me some incentive to get all my sensitive accounts setup with 2FA so that in case I get hacked with my passwords in the future...they would still need the 2fa (using Google Authenticator).
I did check also all system apps/running process and didn't see anything shady.
Just for reference, here were the type of articles I was refering too for the OS being plagued with malware even out of the box:
Page_theverge.com/2019/6/6/18655755/google-android-malware-triada-ota-rom-ads-spam-oem (sorry gents, new account, cannot put links yet)
However here, it seems it is due to lax review from the maker to third party tools which were including malware...
To have the same level on the oneplus I bought from the HK shop, they would have needed access to OnePlus Dev team to inject the malware in official image (knowing anyway I have re-installed a new image from the local update).
Otherwise, I was reading on the web about the fact to relock the bootloader with a custom roam and there seems to have a lot of messages but not concrete steps. It seems it depends a lot on phone model and brand.
When you are checking
Page_gizmochina.com/2019/06/10/relock-bootloader-oneplus-7-pro/
This is where you can read at the end:
"The above method only works if OnePlus 7 Pro is running on stock recovery and stock firmware. The ability to relock devices running custom recovery is expected in the next few weeks. "
That was published last month so, not sure if they got this to work on the OnePlus 7 pro yet.
So that's it, I am now using my new device which looks to work great and hopefully, won't get any bugs down the road.
I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me and will continue to learn about android.:good: