Database Info

[Q] 100% Original Stock ROM backup before root?

Hi there,
I am new to xda and new to Android hacking.
What I wanna ask is, (I guess it's of most newbies concern as well), can we have a 100% backup of our system (stock ROM)? Obviously, it is important because:
If we perform an official (OTA) update to a new Android version. And we don't like it. It is possible to get back to the old original one which we are used to. (not everybody likes new things, and/or not every new thing is good)
If our phones are having some problems. And we have to give it back to the company for a fix. In most cases they will flash a new ROM for us. If we wanna keep using the old one (explained in #1), we have to keep a copy of it by ourselves.
If we want to try new custom ROMs, we may want to switch it back after trying.
Whenever we do any modifications, it's always better to keep a backup/roll-back point. In case anything goes wrong, we have a safeguard.
For the official warranty issue.
Yup I do see there are some official stock ROMs downloads for some particular phones. But those are not really a backup of our original ROMs. And it's always hard to verify if those downloads are the original official releases. And, if those downloads are 100% stock ROMs, this means some guys out there could make it, so what is the way to do so?
Or, how those mobile phone companies do it in their labs?
I have been doing researches on this topic for a few days. Some posts claim that their methods are "backup stock ROM" or "backup before rooting". But after digging into it, they requires rooting and/or flashing CWM. Here comes a few questions:
Questions
Rooting will in fact changes some files/data of the system. So backup after root is NOT getting the original stock ROM. Is it?
Is there a method to "un-root", so ALL the changes are TOTALLY reverted?
Installing/flashing things like CWM in phone requires rooting, which would make the ROM not original. Is there a way to extract the system backup from a computer externally?
In addition, I have found some related pieces. which could be useful to anyone viewing this post, and might be useful for you to solve this (my) question. :fingers-crossed:
* as I'm a new user, I can't post links directly. Please delete the blank spaces in between.
ht tp://www .modaco .com/topic/351269-backup-original-rom/
In reply #5, user C3C0 raised a method of backing up the original stock ROM without root. But it seems he is flashing CWM and that method is only for ZTE Skate.
adb backup tool of Android SDK
At the first sight i came across this approach, I thought it is the official method to do whole system (ROM) backup (WOW - how nice!). But after studying for a few more posts, I think adb backup can only backup app+app_data, and possibly some system settings only. Am I correct? And also, adb backup is only for ICS (Android 4.0), isn't it?
adb backup usage: ht tp://forum.xda-developers .com/showthread.php?t=1420351
(But mentioned in the bottom of #1 the poster is having some issues on using adb backup. Perhaps there are some bugs and not reliable(?)
One more question on adb backup: Can it backup just one app+app_data, and restore just one app+app_data, without affecting other things? If yes, we don't need to root and don't need Titanium Backup (which requires root) for backup app+app_data. Isn't it?
** In case I have said anything or any terms wrongly in this thread, please DO correct me, for helping me and helping others.
P.S. i am using LG Optimus 3D.
Thanks a lot, wholeheartedly,
midnite_

Backup phone before root
Hello all this is my first post here...woohoo!:fingers-crossed: This forum is amazing as to the amount of information available. I just wish that in looking for what I need to do I did not need to look in so many places. I feel that if I want to root my T-Mobile GS3 that all the information should be in one subsection of the forum, but it is not that simple I guess....lol Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have a Samsung GS3 with T-Mobile that I want to root. Everyone says to back up the phone before you do it but I am not really seeing how to make a backup before I start. It appears that most of the guides to root just say to backup without telling you how to fo it. Another thing (correct me if I am wrong) I see the nandroid backup that I think is a backup of the phone however it seems to be done after you make changes to the phone and I thought the backup was supposed to be done before you do anything. Is it that there is not a way to make a complete backup with an unrooted phone?
My question is basically the same as the OP here. I have been reading and reading and reading posts here in the forum. There is much information here and much of it is duplicated with slight variances in some of the duplicates. I am not certain as to which rooting method I should use. There seem to be so many choices. As a new person to this forum I will say that you can find just about everything about any phone which is awesome. The hard thing is sifting through the many options to pick one to use for your issue.
I do see that Mr. Robinson has a thread with backups of the original roms. The only thing is that they are default roms that are like an out of the box phone and not my phone with my apps and my settings. That is what I want to backup...My phone with my settings and my apps.
:good: Thank you in advance for any one that can shed some light on this for me and the OP'er

ASharpEdge said:
Hello all this is my first post here...woohoo!:fingers-crossed: This forum is amazing as to the amount of information available. I just wish that in looking for what I need to do I did not need to look in so many places. I feel that if I want to root my T-Mobile GS3 that all the information should be in one subsection of the forum, but it is not that simple I guess....lol Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have a Samsung GS3 with T-Mobile that I want to root. Everyone says to back up the phone before you do it but I am not really seeing how to make a backup before I start. It appears that most of the guides to root just say to backup without telling you how to fo it. Another thing (correct me if I am wrong) I see the nandroid backup that I think is a backup of the phone however it seems to be done after you make changes to the phone and I thought the backup was supposed to be done before you do anything. Is it that there is not a way to make a complete backup with an unrooted phone?
My question is basically the same as the OP here. I have been reading and reading and reading posts here in the forum. There is much information here and much of it is duplicated with slight variances in some of the duplicates. I am not certain as to which rooting method I should use. There seem to be so many choices. As a new person to this forum I will say that you can find just about everything about any phone which is awesome. The hard thing is sifting through the many options to pick one to use for your issue.
I do see that Mr. Robinson has a thread with backups of the original roms. The only thing is that they are default roms that are like an out of the box phone and not my phone with my apps and my settings. That is what I want to backup...My phone with my settings and my apps.
:good: Thank you in advance for any one that can shed some light on this for me and the OP'er
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ya,
It's so nice that you are having the same concern as I do.
As far as i know, the approaches of rooting differ from phones to phones. So we may have to find our own specific rooting method in the phone model sub-forums. It won't be hard for your popular S3
I would like to have a look at that Mr. Robinson's thread. If he can backup the stock ROM, those app+app_data wont a big issue (i guess).
cheers,
midnite_

midnite_ said:
Questions
Rooting will in fact changes some files/data of the system. So backup after root is NOT getting the original stock ROM. Is it?
Is there a method to "un-root", so ALL the changes are TOTALLY reverted?
Installing/flashing things like CWM in phone requires rooting, which would make the ROM not original. Is there a way to extract the system backup from a computer externally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi midnight, welcome to a new and exciting world of Android and trying new things. First, let me assure you, what you want is NOT something new. People have been doing this type of thing for years. That is flashing and testing roms. As you will learn, it actually becomes quite addictive. We call those folks that get addicted to flashing: Flashaholics or crackflashers, lol
First let me talk about "root". This process consists of unlocking a lower level of the Android system known as the bootloader. Unlocking the bootloader of your device allows you to flash a custom recovery, flashing a custom recovery allows you to flash the Superuser binary and Superuser.apk, This is what allows you to use apps that require "root". The bootloader is not an OS file. So when you are unlocking your bootloader you are not modifying your stock rom. Only when you have flashed the Superuser package have you modified your stock rom. And even that isn't really modifying anything. When you flash the Superuser package, it adds two files to your rom at certain locations of the file system. It adds the Superuser.apk file to system/app and it adds the SU binary to system/bin. Basically you CAN have a totally S-OFF (unlocked) bootloader and still have an entirely stock rom if you want. But the real benifit is flashing a custom recovery like ClockworkMod Recovery and then flash the superuser package.
As far as extracting the stock system, you should try giving adb a go. Do it right now if you like. Ensure you have the android sdk installed and properly set up on your computer and your computer can recognize your phone. Ensure your phone is in debugging mode, connect your phone to your computer, open up a command window, and run this command:
Code:
adb pull \
This command will pull everything off your phone except for data which is where your market or Google Play apps are stored.
Beyond XDA there are aso more resources to learn from. For example, http://www.android.com is a good place to start, and to learn more about adb check out http://developer.android.com/tools/help/adb.html
If you need to learn how to setup the sdk here is the place to learn how: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
I'm sure others will add to this as well which is the good thing about this community.
Welcome to XDA, I hope you have fun learning, and maybe share back someday things you learn along the way.

wildstang83 said:
Hi midnight, welcome to a new and exciting world of Android and trying new things. First, let me assure you, what you want is NOT something new. People have been doing this type of thing for years. That is flashing and testing roms. As you will learn, it actually becomes quite addictive. We call those folks that get addicted to flashing: Flashaholics or crackflashers, lol
First let me talk about "root". This process consists of unlocking a lower level of the Android system known as the bootloader. Unlocking the bootloader of your device allows you to flash a custom recovery, flashing a custom recovery allows you to flash the Superuser binary and Superuser.apk, This is what allows you to use apps that require "root". The bootloader is not an OS file. So when you are unlocking your bootloader you are not modifying your stock rom. Only when you have flashed the Superuser package have you modified your stock rom. And even that isn't really modifying anything. When you flash the Superuser package, it adds two files to your rom at certain locations of the file system. It adds the Superuser.apk file to system/app and it adds the SU binary to system/bin. Basically you CAN have a totally S-OFF (unlocked) bootloader and still have an entirely stock rom if you want. But the real benifit is flashing a custom recovery like ClockworkMod Recovery and then flash the superuser package.
As far as extracting the stock system, you should try giving adb a go. Do it right now if you like. Ensure you have the android sdk installed and properly set up on your computer and your computer can recognize your phone. Ensure your phone is in debugging mode, connect your phone to your computer, open up a command window, and run this command:
Code:
adb pull \
This command will pull everything off your phone except for data which is where your market or Google Play apps are stored.
Beyond XDA there are aso more resources to learn from. For example, ht tp://www .android .com is a good place to start, and to learn more about adb check out ht tp://developer .android .com/tools/help/adb.html
If you need to learn how to setup the sdk here is the place to learn how: ht tp://developer .android .com/sdk/index.html
I'm sure others will add to this as well which is the good thing about this community.
Welcome to XDA, I hope you have fun learning, and maybe share back someday things you learn along the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Wildstang,
Thanks very much for your warm welcome and very informative reply. So are you a Flashaholics or Crackflashers yet?
As I am a newbie, please forgive me if I am asking dumb questions.
As far as I understand,
The steps of root is
1. Unlock the bootloader
2. Flash Superuser binary & Superuser.apk
** does "flash a custom recovery" means "flash Superuser binary & Superuser.apk"?
"Flash Superuser binary & Superuser.apk" is just "add SU binary to system/bin" and "add Superuser.apk to system/app". Then why not just copy them into place?
I just found on the web that "flashing" means replacing the OS of the phone with a new ROM. Would that still keeping the stock ROM?
To have a backup of the original stock ROM, can I
1. Unlock the bootloader
2. Flash Superuser binary & Superuser.apk
3. Perform the backup
And later, after I have flashed a new ROM, or whatever I do, as long as I didn't brick it, when I want to rollback my phone to its original, I can
1. Restore the backup
2. Delete "SU binary in system/bin" and "Superuser.apk in system/app"
3. re-lock the bootloader
Is this correct?
I don't mean to challenge you. But does adb pull \ really backup the system, or just all the files?
Thanks very much again!
midnite_

Hey midnite_,
I am a newbie too and have a lot of blank spots in my understanding of what we can do with android. I also came here with same question. I found how to root, this isn't a secret. Like you, I want to know how do I fix it if I break it.
So, with regards to your questions.
1. Unlock the bootloader
Not clear on this one, as not every tutorial even mentions this part. My feeling is that this might be specific to some phones, like HTC.
2. Flash Custom Recovery (such as AmonRa, CWR, TWRP...)
Recovery is an intermediate stage of phone booting process after bootloader but before OS.
It is there to allow OTA (Over the air) updates. During those, the OS is halted and replaced with a newer one.
What this means for us is that the recovery is capable of replacing OS (ROM - are these terms interchangeable?).
Recovery is the same as hidden partition on windows, that is sometimes present on a PC. It has a limited interface.
It can replace one OS image with another. It probably checks the checksum and creates the new one after the update. It is probably the gatekeeper.
Stock recovery will not replace OS with an image from SD card or from PC through USB. Only OTA.
This is the reason for flashing the custom (hacked) recovery on.
Custom recovery is made to allow additional options, such as allowing image sources such as PC or SD card, and also a ROM backup (write OS image to PC).
3. Flash update file using "upgrade from SD card" function of custom recovery now in place.
In this step, the Superuser.apk and bin files are placed. Stock recovery will not let us do that.
Also, I think the reason we can't just use ADB to "copy" superuser package to phone is because the system is either running or exists as an image (compressed?), and is probably protective of its modification. (So, likely the superuser package also replaces the checksum that the OS uses to check if it has been compromised?) Yes, this modifies your rom.
I assume that unrooting could be done after this by updating again with a file that removes superuser package and that would make your rom stock again.
4 OR flash custom ROM, which usually includes superuser package. Of course using custom rom means you no longer have stock rom.
To have a backup of original ROM, you would :
1 Unlock bootloader,
2 Flash (install) custom recovery
3 superuser doesn't matter here
4 Use custom recovery function to back up your stock ROM.
I want to know the answers to the rest of your questions as well as some clarifications to mine.
Personally, I am looking for a way to backup the stock recovery as well.
I know there are some people asking about this. The procedure appears to be as follows:
(pieced together so don't take it as a tutorial)
1 Unlock bootloader (again, unclear on this. Also some mention S-OFF and others don't)
2 With USB debugging allowed (meaning connect as device requiring a driver), Connect to a PC with ABD, and a driver installed.
3 From ADB, issue a command "adb boot recoveryimage.name" instead of the usual "adb flash recoveryimage.name".
This will make the phone boot into a custom recovery image that is residing on PC, without first writing it to the phone.
4 Unclear how, but make that custom recovery now being live to back up stock rom to pc.
5 Unclear how, but make that custom recovery now being live to flash either root or custom rom to the phone.
6 Disconnect, reboot the phone. Once in OS, use root privileges to mount recovery partition ? (this makes it visible as drive)
7 Don't know how, but use root privileges to back up now visible stock recovery partition to PC as image.
( This should give you two out of three original parts.)
Keep in mind that even if my peace-by-peace "know-how" ever works, there is at least one clearly faulty step:
The back up of the original state of the boot loader has been never made. I do not know if it is easily can be toggled back and forth from lock to unlock and back without leaving any trace. Also, like yourself, I probably don't quite understand what am I talking about, but I have tried to make as much sense of what I have read here and there.
This is my first smart phone, and my experience with linux is limited to building a minecraft server on MineOS, which was pre-made so that not much was required to make it run. I have "mounted" a partition for the first time last week, trying to break Win7recovery, booting it with Knoppix. This is why I think this is probably will come in play here too, as the recovery partition on W7 was hidden. Until then I didn't understand what mounting means, as windows always does it for you. So, take everything I say with a bunch of salt.
Please, let me know too, if you find out more. I want to flash the hell out of my Prism, but I want to be smart about it.

bump... midnite_ r u still around?

Hi Descent2,
Yes i am still around but i am busy with other stuffs at this moment. Thanks very much for your reply. You have studied a lot and you really did good summarisations. Very informative and I learnt a lot from it. Hope some of the masters or experienced ones would come by and bring us out of the mist
cheers,
midnite_
Descent2 said:
Hey midnite_,
I am a newbie too and have a lot of blank spots in my understanding of what we can do with android. I also came here with same question. I found how to root, this isn't a secret. Like you, I want to know how do I fix it if I break it.
So, with regards to your questions.
1. Unlock the bootloader
Not clear on this one, as not every tutorial even mentions this part. My feeling is that this might be specific to some phones, like HTC.
2. Flash Custom Recovery (such as AmonRa, CWR, TWRP...)
Recovery is an intermediate stage of phone booting process after bootloader but before OS.
It is there to allow OTA (Over the air) updates. During those, the OS is halted and replaced with a newer one.
What this means for us is that the recovery is capable of replacing OS (ROM - are these terms interchangeable?).
Recovery is the same as hidden partition on windows, that is sometimes present on a PC. It has a limited interface.
It can replace one OS image with another. It probably checks the checksum and creates the new one after the update. It is probably the gatekeeper.
Stock recovery will not replace OS with an image from SD card or from PC through USB. Only OTA.
This is the reason for flashing the custom (hacked) recovery on.
Custom recovery is made to allow additional options, such as allowing image sources such as PC or SD card, and also a ROM backup (write OS image to PC).
3. Flash update file using "upgrade from SD card" function of custom recovery now in place.
In this step, the Superuser.apk and bin files are placed. Stock recovery will not let us do that.
Also, I think the reason we can't just use ADB to "copy" superuser package to phone is because the system is either running or exists as an image (compressed?), and is probably protective of its modification. (So, likely the superuser package also replaces the checksum that the OS uses to check if it has been compromised?) Yes, this modifies your rom.
I assume that unrooting could be done after this by updating again with a file that removes superuser package and that would make your rom stock again.
4 OR flash custom ROM, which usually includes superuser package. Of course using custom rom means you no longer have stock rom.
To have a backup of original ROM, you would :
1 Unlock bootloader,
2 Flash (install) custom recovery
3 superuser doesn't matter here
4 Use custom recovery function to back up your stock ROM.
I want to know the answers to the rest of your questions as well as some clarifications to mine.
Personally, I am looking for a way to backup the stock recovery as well.
I know there are some people asking about this. The procedure appears to be as follows:
(pieced together so don't take it as a tutorial)
1 Unlock bootloader (again, unclear on this. Also some mention S-OFF and others don't)
2 With USB debugging allowed (meaning connect as device requiring a driver), Connect to a PC with ABD, and a driver installed.
3 From ADB, issue a command "adb boot recoveryimage.name" instead of the usual "adb flash recoveryimage.name".
This will make the phone boot into a custom recovery image that is residing on PC, without first writing it to the phone.
4 Unclear how, but make that custom recovery now being live to back up stock rom to pc.
5 Unclear how, but make that custom recovery now being live to flash either root or custom rom to the phone.
6 Disconnect, reboot the phone. Once in OS, use root privileges to mount recovery partition ? (this makes it visible as drive)
7 Don't know how, but use root privileges to back up now visible stock recovery partition to PC as image.
( This should give you two out of three original parts.)
Keep in mind that even if my peace-by-peace "know-how" ever works, there is at least one clearly faulty step:
The back up of the original state of the boot loader has been never made. I do not know if it is easily can be toggled back and forth from lock to unlock and back without leaving any trace. Also, like yourself, I probably don't quite understand what am I talking about, but I have tried to make as much sense of what I have read here and there.
This is my first smart phone, and my experience with linux is limited to building a minecraft server on MineOS, which was pre-made so that not much was required to make it run. I have "mounted" a partition for the first time last week, trying to break Win7recovery, booting it with Knoppix. This is why I think this is probably will come in play here too, as the recovery partition on W7 was hidden. Until then I didn't understand what mounting means, as windows always does it for you. So, take everything I say with a bunch of salt.
Please, let me know too, if you find out more. I want to flash the hell out of my Prism, but I want to be smart about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

check here
All your answers can be found here: [REF] [GUIDE] Welcome to your device, the Galaxy S III. For more XDA related issues check here: [GUIDE] - XDA New User Guide - Getting started on XDA
Good Luck!
mf2112
XDA Moderator
ASharpEdge said:
Hello all this is my first post here...woohoo!:fingers-crossed: This forum is amazing as to the amount of information available. I just wish that in looking for what I need to do I did not need to look in so many places. I feel that if I want to root my T-Mobile GS3 that all the information should be in one subsection of the forum, but it is not that simple I guess....lol Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have a Samsung GS3 with T-Mobile that I want to root. Everyone says to back up the phone before you do it but I am not really seeing how to make a backup before I start. It appears that most of the guides to root just say to backup without telling you how to fo it. Another thing (correct me if I am wrong) I see the nandroid backup that I think is a backup of the phone however it seems to be done after you make changes to the phone and I thought the backup was supposed to be done before you do anything. Is it that there is not a way to make a complete backup with an unrooted phone?
My question is basically the same as the OP here. I have been reading and reading and reading posts here in the forum. There is much information here and much of it is duplicated with slight variances in some of the duplicates. I am not certain as to which rooting method I should use. There seem to be so many choices. As a new person to this forum I will say that you can find just about everything about any phone which is awesome. The hard thing is sifting through the many options to pick one to use for your issue.
I do see that Mr. Robinson has a thread with backups of the original roms. The only thing is that they are default roms that are like an out of the box phone and not my phone with my apps and my settings. That is what I want to backup...My phone with my settings and my apps.
:good: Thank you in advance for any one that can shed some light on this for me and the OP'er
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks mf2112. But those resources are seem only for GS3. And it seems it is not teaching us to backup our stock ROMs, it provides stock ROMs for us to download instead. Is there a general way to backup our stock ROMs?
Thanks,
midnite_
mf2112 said:
All your answers can be found here: [REF] [GUIDE] Welcome to your device, the Galaxy S III. For more XDA related issues check here: [GUIDE] - XDA New User Guide - Getting started on XDA
Good Luck!
mf2112
XDA Moderator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You must unlock your bootloader then flash a custom recovery. You will then use that custom recovery to make a backup of your rom. That backup will be stored on your sd card.
Now, I have tried to help you and so have a couple other folks. You expect us to just give you answers step by step. I am sorry but this is simply not how XDA works. XDA is set up in a way which makes it for any users to find quickly what they want to know. Use the search feature on the site and you will find many answers. I tell you to go do your own research now and be proud of what you learn on your own. And if you cannot, please do not try to modify your phone further, you may just brick it if you aren't careful.

midnite_ said:
Thanks mf2112. But those resources are seem only for GS3. And it seems it is not teaching us to backup our stock ROMs, it provides stock ROMs for us to download instead. Is there a general way to backup our stock ROMs?
Thanks,
midnite_
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put in the GS3 links since the OP was using that phone. Every phone will be different so I don't think a general way or guide would be practical.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium

How to Root and upgrade from ice cream sandwich to jelly bean??

Dear all,
I received an Asus Transformer Tf101 for Christmas, 16gb internal RAM,
OS 4.0.3 (ice cream). Can someone please guide me how to enable root and upgrade the os?
I tried to rooted with Sparkyroot but, kept getting " exploit not found". Please help!
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app

Check to make sure the rooting method works with your device. Have you checked out the sticky threads here about it ? I remember that I tried three different ways of rooting (all from here) before it worked - I think it was a PC driver issue and a lack of support for one.
After that, you will need to install a custom recovery in order to flash from. I really like TWRP, and was advised to download "Goomanager" from the Play Store - from there you can go to the menu dots in the upper right and choose "Install OpenRecoveryScript" and it will install it. I also like the "Reboot2Recovery" app, although it's not as useful on a custom ROM that includes the feature, but is easier than holding down buttons just right for that first time.
After that, you can flash a ROM via that custom recovery you installed (on TWRP it is very user-friendly and very obvious what you need to do as long as you know what you need to "wipe" beforehand - all you need is to use the "Install" button and thereafter).
ROM+Kernel(optional)+GAPPS(Google proprietary apps) . You need to wipe both caches, /system and internal data. You could use Titanium Backup prior to this to backup apps and of course back up data to an external source. A Kernel is sort of an underlayer of the "OS" that works on a low level with the hardware. You can read about some of the available ones in the Development section and see why people are using them, what possible benefits they get, et cetera.

arabic support
do custom roms support foreign languages and fonts, i use to visit arabic web sites and arabic tweets, do CM10, AOSP or Teom eos support such fonts
Pennycake said:
Check to make sure the rooting method works with your device. Have you checked out the sticky threads here about it ? I remember that I tried three different ways of rooting (all from here) before it worked - I think it was a PC driver issue and a lack of support for one.
After that, you will need to install a custom recovery in order to flash from. I really like TWRP, and was advised to download "Goomanager" from the Play Store - from there you can go to the menu dots in the upper right and choose "Install OpenRecoveryScript" and it will install it. I also like the "Reboot2Recovery" app, although it's not as useful on a custom ROM that includes the feature, but is easier than holding down buttons just right for that first time.
After that, you can flash a ROM via that custom recovery you installed (on TWRP it is very user-friendly and very obvious what you need to do as long as you know what you need to "wipe" beforehand - all you need is to use the "Install" button and thereafter).
ROM+Kernel(optional)+GAPPS(Google proprietary apps) . You need to wipe both caches, /system and internal data. You could use Titanium Backup prior to this to backup apps and of course back up data to an external source. A Kernel is sort of an underlayer of the "OS" that works on a low level with the hardware. You can read about some of the available ones in the Development section and see why people are using them, what possible benefits they get, et cetera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You should be fine with foreign languages as the custom rom is generally built on what Android uses, so if you can do it on stock than you should be fine on custom.
I use a different recovery than the above post, but if you follow his steps then you should be fine. You don't NEED a custom kernel to run JB per say, but it does give you a bit more power if you want to get into overclocking etc. Also, I try to stress, once you have custom recovery and are ready to flash whatever rom you chose, wipe everything. My first and only real panic was a bootloop from not wiping everything.

Like somebody mentioned above, make sure your device is compatible with each tool. Look at your serial number on the bottom of the tablet next to the usb port. Should see B60blahblah or B70blahblah, or maybe something higher (if it's newer).
I use a nice tool put together by whitekidney called EasyFlasher. It's an all in one package where you can root, install custom recovery, and install new firmware. Check this thread. It works very well for me, and is super easy.
whitekidney says:
Works for:
ANY TF101:
SBK1 (B10-B70)
SBK2 (B70,B80,B90++)
Some B70 models are SBK1, some newer B70 are SBK2, if you don't know which one you have, try both!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's real easy to use. Put your tablet into apx mode by holding the power button and the volume up button. The screen will look like it's off but if you plug it into your Windows computer, you should hear the sound when a device is plugged it. Then it'll try to install the drivers for an apx device, or some MTP drivers, I believe. If they fail to install, download PDAnet and install it. This will correctly install your drivers. There's also another method of getting your drivers to install correctly. Here's a universal driver package that 1wayjonny put together. To clarify, only use PDAnet or the universal driver package if your drivers didn't install correctly when you plugged your transformer (which should be in apx mode) into your computer.
Now you can use EasyFlasher to install a custom recovery. I left it on the very first option, (a touch recovery, so you don't have to use your buttons to change your selection). During this process, EasyFlasher should first open up a command prompt (it might pop up behind your current programs running so you won't see it until you minimize everything except for EasyFlasher). The cmd prompt will ask you to overwrite some files on your device, just type a for "always" and let it do it's thing. It's really running NVflash which you should also get familiar with too.
After you have a custom recovery installed, flash your ROM of choice. Here's a nice JB 4.1 that I've tried out. Download that file, put it on a micro sd card, pop it in your transformer, and reboot into recovery by holding volume down and the power button. When it reboots, press volume up to enter your new custom recovery (like it should say on the screen). If you installed the same recovery that I recommended above (hopefully these are the correct steps, as I don't have my device in front of me), click on flash .zip, then click on from sd card. You should see the zip that you transferred from your computer, click on it, and it should install.
Once that's finished, reboot your transformer, let it load the new rom, either set it up or skip all the junk in the beginning. Once you're on the main home screen, remove your micro sd card and transfer the superuser zip that you can find inside the tools folder in EasyFlasher's directory (on your computer) to your sd card. Reboot into recovery, and now flash that super user zip the same way you flashed the rom.
Now you have a brand new, 4.1.2 JB rooted device!

Quick question, do i need to connect my asus eee transformer pad tf101 to my windows xp pc to root it? Or can i used my ibook g3. The reason i ask is because i keep getting an error about MTP error. I have search everywhere for this error and i cant find a solution.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app

jbusti75 said:
Quick question, do i need to connect my asus eee transformer pad tf101 to my windows xp pc to root it? Or can i used my ibook g3. The reason i ask is because i keep getting an error about MTP error. I have search everywhere for this error and i cant find a solution.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure it can be done, but most of the tools (like EasyFlasher) use Windoze.
Even if you are getting an MTP error, it should not matter as you will be using the APX device. Just make sure you have the APX driver and update the unknown device that appears after you boot to APX mode.

[Q] Exchange the whole UI stack on Android

Hi
I am new to hacking android. I have built linux distros in the past, and have worked with Linux for 15 years,
I have just rooted a ZTE V965. It doesn't come pre-installed with Play store, and has all sorts of ZTE-specific Chinese apps. It has a good baseband circuit, a good screen, reasonable camera and I think is a great value phone, apart from the awful UI.
It is an android phone, although heavily customised. It has an MTK6589 processor coupled with 4Gb ROM and 512Mb RAM.
I have other phones which operate a much more "Vanilla" android. For example, the Guophone 9105 which also uses an MTK6589. This has a troubling tendency to reboot every random interval. Approx 6 times a week.
I have had success in the past running Linux systems built for much earlier kernels on later kernels. This suggests the ABI (application binary interface) for the Linux kernel changes rather slowly.
I am wondering how well the userland apps are separated from the kernel and drivers on Android.
Specifically, is it feasible to dump all the UI stuff from one phone onto another then change the init to launch the other UI?
Would this risk bricking the phone, or would the shell commands and ADB infrastructure still likely operate?
I guess I should change the bootloader to one that supports fastboot first, right? Is ther a how-to on achieveing this from the root shell?
Thanks for any thoughts
Nick.

Nick Hill said:
Hi
I am new to hacking android. I have built linux distros in the past, and have worked with Linux for 15 years,
I have just rooted a ZTE V965. It doesn't come pre-installed with Play store, and has all sorts of ZTE-specific Chinese apps. It has a good baseband circuit, a good screen, reasonable camera and I think is a great value phone, apart from the awful UI.
It is an android phone, although heavily customised. It has an MTK6589 processor coupled with 4Gb ROM and 512Mb RAM.
I have other phones which operate a much more "Vanilla" android. For example, the Guophone 9105 which also uses an MTK6589. This has a troubling tendency to reboot every random interval. Approx 6 times a week.
I have had success in the past running Linux systems built for much earlier kernels on later kernels. This suggests the ABI (application binary interface) for the Linux kernel changes rather slowly.
I am wondering how well the userland apps are separated from the kernel and drivers on Android.
Specifically, is it feasible to dump all the UI stuff from one phone onto another then change the init to launch the other UI?
Would this risk bricking the phone, or would the shell commands and ADB infrastructure still likely operate?
I guess I should change the bootloader to one that supports fastboot first, right? Is ther a how-to on achieveing this from the root shell?
Thanks for any thoughts
Nick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Nick, I have the same phone. I'm also very new to android, last phone was iOS and before that windows. I managed to root the V965 using Vroot. I also managed to install SuperSU and CWM. However, the CWM is not fully functional, I can only do a factory reset, not install any packages or roms. Probably the phone has a locked bootloader. I can't check, because the USB driver with the phone doesnt support fastboot.
I really need to get google play working in this phone, read a lot of stuff, tried many things, but I havent succeeded yet. Please let me know if you make any progress.
In China they are flashing this phone, found some ROMs even, but I am not sure how they manage and google translate isn't much help there.
http://www.romjd.com/Device/zte-v965/hot/all/1

Hmmm my V965 is having some issues now
After a factory reset, the setup wizard keeps crashing. Even after another resest. So I can't get in the phone anymore.
Any chance you can send me the USB drivers that are on the phone? My phone isnt deteceted anymore, so I can't access the drivers, which I want to reinstall. And of course they are not on the ZTE website.

Byte_Me said:
Hmmm my V965 is having some issues now
After a factory reset, the setup wizard keeps crashing. Even after another resest. So I can't get in the phone anymore.
Any chance you can send me the USB drivers that are on the phone? My phone isnt deteceted anymore, so I can't access the drivers, which I want to reinstall. And of course they are not on the ZTE website.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
You can temporarily download the ZTE v965 USB drivers from
www dot nickhill dot co dot uk forward slash ztev965usb dot zip

Byte_Me said:
Hi Nick, I have the same phone. I'm also very new to android, last phone was iOS and before that windows. I managed to root the V965 using Vroot. I also managed to install SuperSU and CWM. However, the CWM is not fully functional, I can only do a factory reset, not install any packages or roms. Probably the phone has a locked bootloader. I can't check, because the USB driver with the phone doesnt support fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fastboot and ADB appear to be standard protocols, at least on my Ubuntu, which don't need special drivers. However, it does appear that the stock boot loaader on the v965 does fail to incorporate the fastboot option.
If you remove the battery, replace it then turn on holding the volume down, you will get a menu, but fastboot is not there.
I don't know for a fact, but I do suspect that if you have access to the running android system as root, then you could in principle change any of the internal flash data. Therefore, in principle, I guess you could replace the boot loader or anything else in the running android system. Anyone please correct me if I am wrong, or confirm if I am right.
The feature set of this phone seems to be the same as the feature set of my Guophone. MTK6589, dual SIM, etc. So this image may be a good place to start if considering a transplant.
If you have ROMs, then perhaps it is possible to flash the ROM from a root terminal. I'm thinking add the uncompressed ROM to the Micro SD card, then using the dd command, block copy it to the appropriate image area on the internal ROM, reboot, reset to factory defaults.
If anyone more experienced than me with the nuts and bolts of Android can confirm or deny this will work, or where it should be put, please let me know.

An important factor is that the NAND is not locked on the ZTE V965. So if you have a root shell on the phone, you can issue the following command:
mount -o remount,rw /[email protected] /system/
Once you have done this, you will have read/write access to the system partition.
The only thing I then need to know is what should I avoid changing that may break the ADB bridge/root console?
And is all the UI stuff kept together, if so, where?
Shuffle it around a bit, make a new ROM

Thanks for the driver!
Unfortuntely it doesn't help
I found out the culprit, I tried to install gapps (google apps package) to the system app folder. I thought these changes would be reversed with a factory reset, but they are not. Setupwizard.apk keeps crashing and is preventing me from accessing my phone, so I must find a way to remove it from the system app folder. However, since this error occurred, I am not able to contact the phone in any way from the PC. Adb toolkit does not detect it, even when I reinstalled your driver. It's quite puzzling, I dont understand why in recovery mode I cannot connect adb-toolkit anymore.

Got my V965 working again, but it was a lot of hassle with shell access. Still not fully functional, no drives detected when i connect to USB, which is quite annoying, but not more than that. If you ever make any progress with google apps or flashing, please keep me informed, that would make this phone much more useable. I'll also keep hacking away at it, but without a bootloader unlock (I still think this is the problem), I don't think it will be possible.

I'm convinced it's possible to flash the phone, it seems they do it a lot in China.
I found a website with a couple of custom ROMs specific for the V965:
http://www.romjd.com/Rom/Detail/17086
And what I suspect is a rooting & flashing tool. Rooting works, I haven't figured out flashing yet.
http://dl.vmall.com/c0xa12brvo
I've also tried flashing from the settings - update menu in the phone, but it never finds the ROM (update.zip)
I did find another problem, I can't be reached on my phone, it always goes to voicemail. Same SIM in another phone works fine. No idea what's causing this.

Byte_Me said:
Got my V965 working again, but it was a lot of hassle with shell access. Still not fully functional, no drives detected when i connect to USB, which is quite annoying, but not more than that. If you ever make any progress with google apps or flashing, please keep me informed, that would make this phone much more useable. I'll also keep hacking away at it, but without a bootloader unlock (I still think this is the problem), I don't think it will be possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I might be able to help you with the problem.
I have a mint, unused ZTE v965. I have used MTK Droid root and tools to extract a backup of the entire new phone. It is currently uploading to www dot nickhill dot co dot uk forward slash ZTE-V965_new_backup.zip
You should be able to write this back to your phone using flashtool.exe.
I don't know for sure if this will work, so entirely at your own risk! Just trying to help. If unsure, ask around.
I am new to this forum, so please remember to click the thanks button if you find anything I have done helpful!
Meanwhile, the MTK droid root and tools has a function to remove much of the chinese stuff (once the system has been installed) and there is always the cyanogenmod gapps package. This may be worth investigating.

Nick Hill said:
Hi
I might be able to help you with the problem.
I have a mint, unused ZTE v965. I have used MTK Droid root and tools to extract a backup of the entire new phone. It is currently uploading to www dot nickhill dot co dot uk forward slash ZTE-V965_new_backup.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file size should be 635,972,093 bytes and should finish uploading at 04:00 GMT
md5sum 17ecfdd1040d5dbfab70a3adbc24e07a

Thanks for the ROM, i'll give it a go. I will try to install it using the update option in the settings, that seems the safest.
Be careful with gapps. setupwizard.apk + factory reset = a lot of problems (if you install in system app folder)

OMG that tool is awesome. created CWM boot, installed your ROM, then installed a clean ROM, then installed gapps, all working!!!

Byte_Me said:
OMG that tool is awesome. created CWM boot, installed your ROM, then installed a clean ROM, then installed gapps, all working!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, I'm glad it's working for you.
Secondly, which tools did you use? Did you unpack the zip, open flashtools, select the scatter file then program the phone, or did you use some other method?
Which clean ROM did you then install, and how did you install it?
Did you then use MobileUncle to install CWM then use the cyanogenmod 10.1 gapps, or did you do something different?
It is useful to remember that MTKdroidtools has a useful function to remove chinese stuff. I think if more people contributed to the list of Chinese files that are safe to remove, that would be blade.
A detailed step-by-step guide might be helpful for anyone else with the same problem. One of the general problems I find is that there are plenty of guides around referring to this program, or that program, but few are detailed enough for someone who doesn't already know about those programs to use.
I pretty much bricked a Lenovo A766 yesterday, and it took several hours to learn about the tools to eventually unbrick it.
I would have rather spent my time understanding what is really going on, rather than spending my time learning vaguely what tool achieves what end result. If I understood more about the Android system, and built that knowledge on my understanding of Linux, I reckon I could achieve much more.
One thing I notice is that tablets and smartphones are actually replacing desktops and laptops. February this year, windows machines were down 7% YOY. I use Ubuntu for my main computer. Using these tools on Windows led me to significant frustration! This has led me to understand why there is a move. Maybe the tools provided for windows need to eventually move to android. We could then potentially use USB OTG to service other android devices. MTKdroidtools and flashtools runnng as a host on a separate Android system would be cool.

Nick Hill said:
Firstly, I'm glad it's working for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, me too
Secondly, which tools did you use? Did you unpack the zip, open flashtools, select the scatter file then program the phone, or did you use some other method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used MTK tools as described in that topic, rooted, made backup, installed CWM
Which clean ROM did you then install, and how did you install it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the update tool from CWM to flash this ROM:
http://www.romjd.com/Rom/Detail/17086
That ROM is not very clean though, You might as well clean your own ROM
Did you then use MobileUncle to install CWM then use the cyanogenmod 10.1 gapps, or did you do something different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM is installed using MTK Droid Root and Tools:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44660171&postcount=417
This gapps version I installed: gapps-jb-20121011-signed
It's installed using CWM bootloader: install .zip package
It is useful to remember that MTKdroidtools has a useful function to remove chinese stuff. I think if more people contributed to the list of Chinese files that are safe to remove, that would be blade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the delete China function, but it didnt catch very much. But with all the functions available now, it's quite easy to clean manually.
A detailed step-by-step guide might be helpful for anyone else with the same problem. One of the general problems I find is that there are plenty of guides around referring to this program, or that program, but few are detailed enough for someone who doesn't already know about those programs to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I plan to make a topic for this phone, but at the moment I am still testing many things.
I pretty much bricked a Lenovo A766 yesterday, and it took several hours to learn about the tools to eventually unbrick it. I would have rather spent my time understanding what is really going on, rather than spending my time learning vaguely what tool achieves what end result. If I understood more about the Android system, and built that knowledge on my understanding of Linux, I reckon I could achieve much more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know how you feel, I was ready to toss this phone in the trash
One thing I notice is that tablets and smartphones are actually replacing desktops and laptops. February this year, windows machines were down 7% YOY. I use Ubuntu for my main computer. Using these tools on Windows led me to significant frustration! This has led me to understand why there is a move. Maybe the tools provided for windows need to eventually move to android. We could then potentially use USB OTG to service other android devices. MTKdroidtools and flashtools runnng as a host on a separate Android system would be cool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea about the possibilities there. I'm not a programmer, just someone who is good with computers and knows a little bit of everything.
PS. I could also use some thanks as well, maybe get some respect around here

Nick Hill said:
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you give it a try yet? Another user did and google apps are working for him, so thats 2 for 2.
Are you still on your original ROM? If so, I have a question for you. Do you get notification badges on your icons, for instance, when you have a missed call, is there a red box with a 1 on the phone icon? Also, do your contacts get ID-ed when they call you? I have some problems with that, caused by the country code prefix. I am still running that ROM I downlaoded from the Chinese forum, but if your ROM doent have these issues, I will switch back ASAP.

Nick Hill said:
Firstly, I'm glad it's working for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as you are a Lenovo a766 owner, may you help me with this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=49076877#post49076877

Where are configuration settings stored accross factory resets?
I have come to the (perhaps erroneous) conclusion that the user interface and what the user will experience is governed primarily from:
the APKs in
/system/app/
/system/vendor/operator/app/
and the configuration files pertaining to the installed apps, which is located at:
/data/user/0/
I guess that when the android device is factory reset, the /data partition is completely cleared, right?
Is there a set of standard configurations which are unpacked from somewhere into /data/user/0/ after a factory reset, or is it normal for all configurations to be stored in their respective APKs?

[Q] Looking for root basics, list etc.

As the title states, I need help with understanding the basic steps on rooting the ASUS TF300.
I am not a programmer, I do not know the lingo or terms, and searching on the site has yielded very confusing results.
Basic steps?
1. Unlock boot loader - Why? What does this do?
2. TWRP? I have no clue, but I see references all over the place
3. Custom Recovery - What does this do? Do I need it?
4. Kernel - What is this?
5. ROM - What is this?
6. Install Super SU or SuperUser (what's the difference?, what does this do?
7. Install a root check app (to check if rooted I presume)
8. Install some form of file explorer (I have Fx File Explorer) and backup/control app (I have Titanium backup)- both paid forms
9. De-bloat with caution!
Where does the OEM firmware/software fit in this scheme? Does it exist as a backup or is it over-written? Do I have a choice?
As you can guess I'm lost. Reading threads after searching for "root TF300" or even the guides or the very good index, I have more questions than answers. How does one know what to do if the acronyms used are cryptic? (example TWRP~ what does this even stand for?)
I believe that not all steps are required, but I also believe the order I do things is important, and I'm concerned about bricking my TF300 by doing something wrong. I also don't want to assume that this is the same for every device or phones. (what steps work for a phone may not be the best for a tablet)
All I want to do is root and remove bloat. After I get this, I may consider upgrading the OS (kernel? Rom?) to something better.
Any links would be greatly appreciated. Please just bear in mind I'm so noob to this I don't know a ROM from a Kernel yet. (When I search, all answers are overly complicated developer definitions.)
Thank you!

Here is a "simple Step by Step" with notes in red as to how my mind tries to grasp this:
1. Upgrade your tablet to the desired firmware: 4.1 or 4.2 I assume they mean any OTA upgrade~ my tablet is current with JB 4.2.1 and I do not believe ASUS will plan on upgrading this anytime soon)
2. Be sure the correct drivers for your tablet are installed!! Installed where? on my PC? How do I know what are the correct drivers? Where can I get them?
3. Download the updated rooting toolkit: Updated Motochopper rooting toolkit -OK, I can do this!
4. Download TWRP for your firmware version:
- 4.1: TWRP 2.5.0.0 for Jellyeban 4.1
- 4.2: TWRP 2.5.0.0 for Jellybean 4.2 -This makes sense to me, as I am jellybean 4.2.1
5. Rename the downloaded TWRP blob file to twrp.blob and copy it to the root of your sdcard -what is a blob file? Is there a size requirement for the SD card? Does the SD have to be blank?
5. Extract the rooting toolkit to a place you like. -I assume the above mentioned motochopper? Does this answer my question above about the SD card?
== Part 2 - Rooting ==
1. Open up the folder where you placed the rooting toolkit. - with what program? A simple file explorer I assume?
2. Open the run file and follow the instructions -I hope there aren't any cryptic/over my head choices to make!
After installation the tablet should reboot and you should be rooted. -Does this install all the SuperSu stuff or is this it? What about customer recovery? Can I go back? what are the limitations of doing it this way assuming it works....
And this is just PART of the process!

I'll answer in logical order:
broderp said:
5. ROM - What is this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the Operating System that's running on your tablet, i.e. what is called Lollipop or KitKat, or even further what makes the difference between Android and iOS.
Your ROM may come with some preinstalled apps, but with some ROMs they are separate (i.e. the Google apps).
broderp said:
1. Unlock boot loader - Why? What does this do?
2. TWRP? I have no clue, but I see references all over the place
3. Custom Recovery - What does this do? Do I need it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On your ASUS tablet you can, by default, only install ASUS supplied ROMs (i.e. updates).
In order to install a new ROM you need to unlock your device. You do that by unlocking the boot loader. Once you have unlocked the boot loader, you can install a custom recovery, such as TWRP (there are many custom recoveries, but for your device TWRP is recommended).
Once you have a custom recovery, installing a new ROM, or rooting your device, becomes a lot easier. No need to type in commands, but you can now use touch.
broderp said:
4. Kernel - What is this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your kernel is the most important part of your ROM. It's the software between apps and your actual hardware, the lowest level actually. The kernel determines if you can talk to certain pieces of hardware or not. If the kernel does not support certain hardware, that's it, you can't use it.
When your tablet boots up, the first thing it loads its the kernel, the kernel loads all other programs. Another responsibility of the kernel is to allow you to run multiple programs at once.
broderp said:
6. Install Super SU or SuperUser (what's the difference?, what does this do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They allow you to execute programs with root privileges (i.e. no limit to privileges, can do anything), but also give you some protection so malicious programs cannot become root: you have to give explicit permissions for every app.
broderp said:
7. Install a root check app (to check if rooted I presume)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
broderp said:
8. Install some form of file explorer (I have Fx File Explorer) and backup/control app (I have Titanium backup)- both paid forms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Optional, pick whatever you like.
broderp said:
9. De-bloat with caution!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No clue!
broderp said:
Where does the OEM firmware/software fit in this scheme? Does it exist as a backup or is it over-written? Do I have a choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firmware often is part of the hardware: it gets written to special memory, and "sticks", i.e. when you reboot it stays there. If you get a T300 you should let ASUS run all the updates as it installs new firmware. Some firmware gets written when your device boots, meaning the special program, the kernel, starts, and at some point writes updated firmware to hardware.
So firmware is software that makes hardware a bit more flexible: else everything is hard-wired, if there's a problem you can't fix it, but with software you sometimes can fix a hardware issue.
Hope this helps!

First, to unlock the bootloader, you need to go the asus site and register your tablet. Then you can download the unlock app from the asus site as well. Next, move the unlock app from where ever it downloaded on your pc to your tablet. You can put it on the tablet RAM or on an SD card, it doesn't matter. On your tablet, go into the settings menu. under security(I think it is there) and enable 'unknown sources' for app installation. I haven't had the stock ROM for so long, I can't recall where that option is. Run the unlock app. It may take a couple times to unlock the tablet. WARNING! this will void your warrenty! So if your tablet is relatively new, think hard about this. Once your tablet is unlocked, then you can worry about TWRP and ROMS
TWRP is a custom recovery. It is officially Team Win Recovery Project, hence TWRP. It is a program that will allow you to back up your tablet before you make changes(very important in case you screw something up) and a host of other things including flashing custom ROMs. If you go into the LP 5.1 for the TF300 thread in the development area, it will have all the links for stuff like the current TWRP, Gapps packages and the newest LP ROM. It is great for our tablets and really wakes it up. Oh yeah, the TWRP site will have instructions for flashing TWRP on your newly unlocked tablet as well.
All this seems very intimidating for noobs, I was one about 4 months ago. I now feel sort of not-noobish. To install TWRP you will need either Fastboot or ADB on your computer. Google Fastboot or ADB and you should find plenty of answers. There are also 'lite' versions of Fastboot out there too. If you are on Windows 8 or 8.1 you will need one of those. Windows doesn't like fastboot or ADB for some reason
HTH

Thoughts about the BLU Life One X2/X2 Mini & getting root.

So, I think that it's a good time to start another thread about the One X2. I own an X2 Mini & am really liking it.
The first thing I can say is to BACKUP your install several times until you get root. MAKE SURE to include your boot.img as part of the backup.
1. Going thru unlocking the bootloader (easy), Installing TWRP (moderate) & Rooting (very frustrating) was an interesting experience. Unlocking the bootloader was by far the easiest I have ever done on any phone. Just enable developer options & tic the switch....That being said---the rest of the process was a PITA.
2. Installing TWRP was easy/moderate--having to do it twice & finding that the tool I used installed an early version that put everything upside-down was "interesting" but not really too difficult (I'm a linux guy, so a trip to the terminal & ADB fixed that without too much trouble).
3. Then came the Magisk install--that took a couple of days & quite a bit of help from forum members to get "sort-of" ironed out. There is protection on the boot/kernel that takes a bit of work to get in the right order to get root. With the Stock ROM you need to either run the AutoRoot script from BLOX2.com ( http://blox2.com/how-to-root-the-blu-life-one-x2/ ) or if you are terminal-savvy there are manual instructions also. I'm NOT a Windows guy, but tried the auto route first......That in retrospect was not the best way for the X2 Mini---the version of TWRP that it installs is early & upside-down so controls do not work. I got past that & found thru trial & error I needed to install Magisk 12.0 (via TWRP zip install) & MagiskManager 4.33 (with a APK Manager after reboot) FIRST. (as Ieatgravity pointed out...)
4. After you get to root this way you can just stay there (depends if you need SafetyNet or not) or get the more modern version of Magisk. As AlienTeck points out, you MUST install zips inside of TWRP due to the way the boot/kernel protection works. Installing inside of TWRP works outside of the booted system & gets the install done. You can't at present install inside of a running system without a reboot as soon as the kernel detects a system-wide change. This would prevent several "on-the-fly" root modifiers from working. I would hope someone will see the need to create a new boot.img & Kernel to side-step these issues.
5. There is only one custom ROM available right now---DRAX, & with my current experience, it seems to work MUCH better than the Stock ROM. It changes the spacing on-screen (for the better) & is debloated....definitely is faster/smoother than Stock.
Well---I'm not the FINAL authority on the X2/X2/Mini...there are several great people on the forum...I did this just to give a brief info list for people to look at without TOO much searching. You will find all the answers in the main thread----it just takes a bit of digging to get to them.
My hope is that this thread starts a "how-to" thread for people to refer to...And if I've miss-stated any info I've posted above, please feel free to correct me.

I downloaded the very latest Magisk from git ( https://github.com/kantjer/MagiskFiles ) version 13.3-170812-zip & then removed the Magisk App-booted into recovery-flashed the Remove-Magisk zip-cleared cache-rebooted into recovery-flashed the new version & NOW I have Magisk working properly.

I thought I'd offer a newbie perspective on the big brother BLOX2 (Life One X2 4 gigs /64 gigs).
I was planning to use BLOX2 AutoRoot, but I couldn't make it work. It got as far as unlocking the bootloader, then just sat there doing nothing. Same thing for BLOX2 ToolKit. (I think both problems were caused by my computer, not the software.) So then I decided to do the unlock via ADB, then Flash TWRP f=and BLOX2 Core from an SD Card.
My laptop (Lenovo ideapad FLEX4 running Win 10 Home 64 bit) does not like to recognize my phone. When I open a command prompt window and type in 'ADB devices' (ENTER) the computer pops up a notice telling me "the last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned and Windows does not recognize it." ADB returns an ambiguous statement that "a list of devices is attached" (to what, I have no idea). NONETHELESS, when I got frustrated and ran "fastboot oem unlock" it unlocked my boot loader in less than 2 seconds. Go figure.
I had to install TWRP a couple-three times as well before it "took" and stayed even after a reboot to system. I remember reading in a guide to rooting the Blu R1HD (if memory serves) that one ought to reboot into recovery after each step in order to make sure that the original image does not overwrite the new one. Don't know if this is related, but I followed that dicta from that point on. Lucky for me, TWRP installed right-side-up.
As for installing BLOX2 Core, the hardest part of this was putting the file onto an SD card in such a way that TWRP would recognize it. After that I popped it into the phone, booted up, opened TWRP. I found the BLOX2 Core file, flashed it and sat back to watch the magic happen. Line upon line upon line of pretty little code bits rolling by -- and all of it in black! No angry red lines to be found anywhere! As someone who is so far much better at bricking phones than modding them, this was truly a lovely site.
After this, there was really nothing left for me to do but BACKUP EVERYTHING! First I did a TWRP backup. (I have not been able to convince Nandroid itself to function on demand. It works fine on a scheduled basis, but when I try to run it directly it runs for three seconds, announces it is finished, and presents me with a non-file.) Then I installed one of my favorite apps: Titanium Backup. I setup TB to backup all system data and user apps on a schedule, and then ran the first one directly.
In all the excitement, I had forgotten all about Magisk, but a few hours later I noticed an icon labeled "Magisk." I clicked on it just to see if it was actually installed or just sitting there to install if I wanted to. When I saw that it was indeed the installer I just shut it down and left it alone. I strongly suspect that it was SU-Magisk failing to play nice that led to my bricking my first BLOX2, so I wanted to research how to get rid of it safely. Well, before I could get anywhere on that, the system on my BLOX2 started acting weird in familiar ways. Apps that I had not opened started 'closing' suddenly -- each one flashing a popup at the bottom of the screen that immobilized the touch screen until it was dismissed. When my first BLOX2 started doing this I thought I must have gone overboard with one of the longer-battery-life (Xposed) modules. So I frantically started zeroing them out to stock. This didn't help and the slippery slope had been crossed.
With my second BLOX2 I was a bit better prepared. I immediately uninstalled MAGISK and frantically ran every utility I could think of to be sure that there were no bits and pieces left to irritate SU into killing my phone. Just to be on the safe side I reflashed the entire BLOX2 Core zip, then backed up the result with both Nandroid and TB. This was a couple days ago, and my phone seems content.
I know that the BLOX2 Core I am running is not technically a "custom" ROM, but it still runs noticeably more smoothly than the original. Right now Settings shows 3.6GB total Ram, with 2.1GB free, which means that it is using about 1.5GB with screen on but only background stuff running.
As to my laptop's refusal to see my phone, I think the problem is in my PC. I have had nothing but problems with SP Flash, ADB, and all the various Qualcom-related tools. I have tried QFIL, SN-Write, WRTool, and the like. Even MTK DroidTools gives a message that there is nothing connected to the computer, then freezes. Go figure.

One thing I've learned is that an OTG cable is a real nice thing to have & TWRP will recognize it with a simple click in storage. Put your downloads on a Stick--connect it to an OTG cable, plug it into the phone & you are set.

debianmain1 said:
One thing I've learned is that an OTG cable is a real nice thing to have & TWRP will recognize it with a simple click in storage. Put your downloads on a Stick--connect it to an OTG cable, plug it into the phone & you are set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DOH!!!!!!
This little thing is so cool. Right now I am doing a Nandroid backup (via TWRP) and storing the backup on my USB drive.
I wondered what that funny little cable was.... It came with my BLU VIVO 5R, which I probably could have saved from the brick-yard if I had known what that little cable could let me do.
Thanks!

Augieboo said:
DOH!!!!!!
This little thing is so cool. Right now I am doing a Nandroid backup (via TWRP) and storing the backup on my USB drive.
I wondered what that funny little cable was.... It came with my BLU VIVO 5R, which I probably could have saved from the brick-yard if I had known what that little cable could let me do.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No prob...glad the info helps.

Does the mini use the same twrp as full phone?
I ordered a BLU Life ONE X2 Mini - 5.0" Unlocked Smartphone -4G LTE - 64GB + 4GB RAM -Grey.
So just googling for root and so far, won't have phone til next week, so no rush.
Thanks for any information.
debianmain1 said:
So, I think that it's a good time to start another thread about the One X2. I own an X2 Mini & am really liking it.
The first thing I can say is to BACKUP your install several times until you get root. MAKE SURE to include your boot.img as part of the backup.
1. Going thru unlocking the bootloader (easy), Installing TWRP (moderate) & Rooting (very frustrating) was an interesting experience. Unlocking the bootloader was by far the easiest I have ever done on any phone. Just enable developer options & tic the switch....That being said---the rest of the process was a PITA.
2. Installing TWRP was easy/moderate--having to do it twice & finding that the tool I used installed an early version that put everything upside-down was "interesting" but not really too difficult (I'm a linux guy, so a trip to the terminal & ADB fixed that without too much trouble).
3. Then came the Magisk install--that took a couple of days & quite a bit of help from forum members to get "sort-of" ironed out. There is protection on the boot/kernel that takes a bit of work to get in the right order to get root. With the Stock ROM you need to either run the AutoRoot script from BLOX2.com ( http://blox2.com/how-to-root-the-blu-life-one-x2/ ) or if you are terminal-savvy there are manual instructions also. I'm NOT a Windows guy, but tried the auto route first......That in retrospect was not the best way for the X2 Mini---the version of TWRP that it installs is early & upside-down so controls do not work. I got past that & found thru trial & error I needed to install Magisk 12.0 (via TWRP zip install) & MagiskManager 4.33 (with a APK Manager after reboot) FIRST. (as Ieatgravity pointed out...)
4. After you get to root this way you can just stay there (depends if you need SafetyNet or not) or get the more modern version of Magisk. As AlienTeck points out, you MUST install zips inside of TWRP due to the way the boot/kernel protection works. Installing inside of TWRP works outside of the booted system & gets the install done. You can't at present install inside of a running system without a reboot as soon as the kernel detects a system-wide change. This would prevent several "on-the-fly" root modifiers from working. I would hope someone will see the need to create a new boot.img & Kernel to side-step these issues.
5. There is only one custom ROM available right now---DRAX, & with my current experience, it seems to work MUCH better than the Stock ROM. It changes the spacing on-screen (for the better) & is debloated....definitely is faster/smoother than Stock.
Well---I'm not the FINAL authority on the X2/X2/Mini...there are several great people on the forum...I did this just to give a brief info list for people to look at without TOO much searching. You will find all the answers in the main thread----it just takes a bit of digging to get to them.
My hope is that this thread starts a "how-to" thread for people to refer to...And if I've miss-stated any info I've posted above, please feel free to correct me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

vampirefo said:
Does the mini use the same twrp as full phone?
I ordered a BLU Life ONE X2 Mini - 5.0" Unlocked Smartphone -4G LTE - 64GB + 4GB RAM -Grey.
So just googling for root and so far, won't have phone til next week, so no rush.
Thanks for any information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update
I see they use different twrps,.

vampirefo said:
Update
I see they use different twrps,.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get the Mini one on BLOX2.com

Just for anyone that can't find the TWRP for the Mini: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6h1RP64aWh0a1UyaUc2ZlNzQ1E

You guys are using very old roms join Yureka Black and tinno p7210 common group for new roms and discussions - http://t.me/yuyurekablack