Related
I apologize in advance for asking the following noob questions. I have been an iPhone user for 3 years and wanted to take advantage of the GS3, which I am loving even without it being rooted. I am fairly tech-savy and believe I'll have no problem rooting my phone. There are just a few things I want to thoroughly understand. I've been sold on the fact that I want to root my phone to gain control of it, remove the bloatware, and extend it's battery life, etc. If there is a thread or posting or website somewhere that explains what I need to know very well, please direct me!!
I was looking for some major tips on the best way to achieve my goal of rooting and flashing to a new ROM...If someone could, PLEASE answer EVERY question. I'd like to fully understand how to get to my goal of rooting and flashing to a desired ROM without bricking it. If this gets desires attention, it could be a great sticky posts for other newbies!
1. First and foremost...What is a kernal? I see things about CM9/CM10 kernals. Is it something like a ROM? How is it related/different?
2. What is the CMW, what is a Touch Wiz?
3. What is the overall best way for a newbie to root their phone and install a desired ROM? Odin or???
4. As I understand thus far, there is rooting, then there is ROM flashing, and then there is something to do with unlocking the bootloader... I'd like to fully understand all of these.
Here's my goal and what I'm seeking help on... I think I want to use the Synergy ROM. What is the first step I must do? Do I somehow root my phone and then use Odin to flash to the Synergy ROM? Or is the first step simply opening Odin, connecting phone, and flashing to Synergy ROM? Do I not even use Odin to flash to Synergy? I'm confused here based on the install info in Synergys FAQ - do I use Odin at all??? Do I need to back anything up? Do I need to download or use some app to block Verizon OTA updates permanently??
In the Q&A of the Synergy ROM thread, it states:
You should have an unlocked bootloader if you wish to take full advantage of this ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must I unlock the bootloader seperately via this thread here, or do ROMs or other kernals (or whatever) have the unlocked bootloader built-in?? Do I install the bootloader before I root or after I root? What's the best way to unlock the bootloader(mmmeff's EZ-Unlock App, Terminal Emulator, or Adam Outler's Casual for Rooting/Cwm/Unlocking Bootloader)? Also, how do I keep the bootloader from being updated OTA, to keep from having problems????
I think that answers most/all of my questions. I'd hugely appreciate a response and answers to clarify all this, or links to some post or site I'm missing that explain all this to me. My goal to to root my phone, likely install a ROM, and do all this without bricking it, and hopefully without voiding any warranties (though not a big deal).
Thanks a bunch in advance!!
All the answers you seek can be found in droidstyle's guide. It's a sticky in the development section.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Introduction to Rooting:
This is meant as a very basic disccussion for people completely new to rooting and Android. As a result, it will omit many details and simplify others. If there is a blatant mistake, please let me know and I'll correct it, but if there's something that's just not QUITE right, chances are it's simplified on purpose. Also, it's not meant to be a rooting guide (as there are excellent ones out there already) so much as an explanation of concepts most of us take for granted, but noobies don't.
DISCLAIMER: I, nor anyone else referenced (or not) in this thread, am not responsible for what you do with your phone. Rooting and otherwise altering your phone has the potential to brick your device, void your warranty, and many other horrible horrible things. Perform these actions at your own risk.
What is root/rooting?
In Unix-style operating systems, "root" is the name of the user who has all permissions and is therefore able to run/modify/change/delete just about anything. If you're familiar with Windows, this account is called Administrator. The default account (that's you!) on an Android phone does NOT have these privileges. Rooting is the process of obtaining them (i.e. obtaining root access). Once you root, you can "flash" new software onto your phone without restriction. This is great because you now have control over what programs are on your phone, what your UI looks like, how your phone handles resources, what kernels you run, and more!
Once your phone is rooted, you don't always wield all of that power. You control your access to all these new abilities with a program called SuperUser (available on the market and baked into ROMS). This program can grant these special rights to any other program that requests them. So let's say a program wants to write data to a place it's not allowed. It will ask SuperUser to up its privileges and then BAM! it can write where it wants to. You yourself can gain SuperUser privileges in a shell by typing su. Then YOU can read, write, and execute to your hearts desire.
Before you root:
Before rooting, there are some basic things you should know. A lot of people rush into it without bothering to learn everything they should. Sometimes it goes well, and sometimes it doesn't.
Phone partitions: Your phone has a number of partitions. The important ones to know at first are:
1. System - this partition is essentially what you think of when you think of the operating system, the Android UI, and preinstalled
apps. When people talk about flashing ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod, Synergy, etc), they are talking about flashing a new system
partition.
2. Boot - this is the kernel and ramdisk. The kernel is responsible for managing the interactions between the phones software (including the ROM) and the
hardware. Altering the kernel can increase/decrease performance, battery life, and more because it manages applications and system resources. When
you flash a new kernel, it flashes to the boot partition. You may not notice a big difference like you do when changing ROMS, but behind the scenes, your
phone's performance can be drastically altered. A *LOOSE* analogy is that the ROM is like the body and interior of your car (including exterior color, AC,
stereo, heated seats, TV in headrests, etc.) and the kernel is like the engine. You may not see it, but you'll know it's there if it's awesome or it sucks.
3. Aboot - this was largely unimportant for newbies until the bootloader lock/unlock situation. The short story is that aboot contains functions which
authenticate the boot partition (that's the kernel, remember?). It checks to see if your boot partition is Verizon legal and if not, it aborts the boot process
and politely tells you to contact Verizon. This authentication is what is referred to as a "locked" bootloader. It prevents you from completely booting the
phone with a custom kernel. The bootloader is "unlocked" by replacing the stock aboot partition with one that does NOT check up on the boot partition.
This is important because it allows us to run whatever kernel we want.
4. Data - this contains user installed apps, settings, contacts, bookmarks, etc, etc, etc. You can wipe this partition (as opposed to the above partitions) and
still boot into the operating system. You will have just lost all your setting and apps. This is called a factory/data reset.
5. Cache - this is stuff that you frequently use so it's kept available for better performance. You can wipe it without much consequence.
6. Recovery - this partition contains a separate operating system that allows you to recover from a corrupted/absent/otherwise jacked up operating system. It
has other functions as well. The big ones are to backup your device and restore said backups, to wipe certain partitions, and to flash things to your
phone (i.e. install new ROMs, recoveries, or other programs). The stock recovery is limited so you will definitely want a custom recovery, created by the
fine devs in the community, on your device.
What is a ROM and what is a kernel? I touched on this above. A ROM is what goes on the system partition. It contains what you think of as the Android OS including the UI and preinstalled apps. It controls how programs interact with you, the user. A kernel controls how those programs interact with the phones hardware. You need both a ROM and a kernel to have a functional phone.
How do I get started rooting and flashing?
There is an excellent guide stickied in the development thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1762709. However, many of us
forget what it's like to be a COMPLETE newbie and to someone who has no idea about anything, even fantastic guides like that can be a little intimidating.
You can follow the steps, but may not understand what you're doing. The steps to take to start out with are:
1. Make sure you understand what I've written above. Make sure you are comfortable with the possibility of bricking your phone.
2. Root your device. As I said above, this is simply gaining root/Admin/whatever you want to call it access on your phone. In and of itself, it does NOT alter
the ROM or kernel or much of anything else. However, there are many different ways to obtain root and some of them DO alter these things. The easiest
and safest way to root (IMO) is to use Noxious Ninjas excellent tool. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1792342. If you like it, I
encourage you to donate or at least "Thanks" him. It works by taking advantage of debugfs permissions to get su (remember this from above??) onto
your phone with permissions set so you can run it. It therefore doesn't change ROMs or anything else. You won't lose data, apps, or anything else. It just
sneaks su right onto your current setup.
3. Install a custom recovery. This will allow you to do all the fun stuff I talked about above. I recommend installing EZ-recovery from the market and flashing
CWM 6.0.1.0.
1. Install EZ-recovery
2. Under the "Recovery" heading, click the Recovery radio button and select CWM 6.0.1.0 next to it.
3. Click flash
4. Backup everything as if your life depended on it. This means backing up your IMEI as shown here
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32397-tutorial-imeibackup-nv-with-qpst-us-variants/ and making a nandroid. A nandroid is an image of your phone
including your ROM, your data, and your kernel(depending on what phone you have). You can restore a nandroid backup and you'll be right back where
you were before flashing or changing things around. The steps to making a nandroid are:
1. Turn off your phone.
2. Hold down volume up, home, and power until recovery appears.
3. Use the volume rocker to go to "backup and restore" and hit the power button
4. Select backup and then select the external (default) or internal (labeled "internal") SD card
You can restore a nandroid in a similar fashion (although you should wipe data/cache first - see below).
5. Unlock the bootloader. You must do this seperately from flashing ROMs and kernels. Refer to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839791 and give appropriate thanks! A warning...if you mess up your aboot partition, there's really nothing (that I know of) you can do to revive your phone besides send it to someone with JTAG or back to Verizon.
You're now ready to start flashing ROMs.
As a precursor, there are ROMS that are based on TouchWiz modified Android from Verizon/Samsung and there are ROMS based on AOSP (e.g. CyanogenMod). TW roms need a TW kernel and AOSP roms need an AOSP kernel. Until you get comfortable with everything, I would stick with TW. Also, some roms come with kernels and will flash the kernel to your boot partition as well as the ROM to your system partition. Some ROMs don't come with kernels. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS read the OP of a rom you want to flash to find out kernel information as well as how to install the rom and anything else you may need to know. The general steps to flashing a ROM are (remember to read the OP for specifics):
1. Backup apps, data, call log, contacts, messages, etc. My program of choice for much of this is Titanium Backup available on the market. Buy it as you'll
use it a billion times.
2. Download the ROM you want and check the MD5
3. Place the ROM on the root of your SD card. Do NOT unzip it.
4. Reboot into recovery and make a nandroid backup
5. Wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. Wipe it more than once if paranoid.
6. Go to "install zip from sdcard" and select the ROM you want
7. If you want/need to flash a kernel, install that zip from the sdcard too with the same command
8. Reboot and restore all that you backed up
Remember:
- ALWAYS backup before doing anything
- verify MD5
- wipe data and cache (unless told not to by the ROM dev)
- NEVER accept an OTA (having a custom recovery should block OTAs anyway)
PS. The techniques, tools, roms, etc in this post are not mine and arte the products of hours of hard work by multiple devs. Please thank them accordingly.
Bleelas said:
Introduction to Rooting:
This is meant as a very basic disccussion for people completely new to rooting and Android. As a result, it will omit many details and simplify others. If there is a blatant mistake, please let me know and I'll correct it, but if there's something that's just not QUITE right, chances are it's simplified on purpose. Also, it's not meant to be a rooting guide (as there are excellent ones out there already) so much as an explanation of concepts most of us take for granted, but noobies don't.
DISCLAIMER: I, nor anyone else referenced (or not) in this thread, am not responsible for what you do with your phone. Rooting and otherwise altering your phone has the potential to brick your device, void your warranty, and many other horrible horrible things. Perform these actions at your own risk.
What is root/rooting?
In Unix-style operating systems, "root" is the name of the user who has all permissions and is therefore able to run/modify/change/delete just about anything. If you're familiar with Windows, this account is called Administrator. The default account (that's you!) on an Android phone does NOT have these privileges. Rooting is the process of obtaining them (i.e. obtaining root access). Once you root, you can "flash" new software onto your phone without restriction. This is great because you now have control over what programs are on your phone, what your UI looks like, how your phone handles resources, what kernels you run, and more!
Once your phone is rooted, you don't always wield all of that power. You control your access to all these new abilities with a program called SuperUser (available on the market and baked into ROMS). This program can grant these special rights to any other program that requests them. So let's say a program wants to write data to a place it's not allowed. It will ask SuperUser to up its privileges and then BAM! it can write where it wants to. You yourself can gain SuperUser privileges in a shell by typing su. Then YOU can read, write, and execute to your hearts desire.
Before you root:
Before rooting, there are some basic things you should know. A lot of people rush into it without bothering to learn everything they should. Sometimes it goes well, and sometimes it doesn't.
Phone partitions: Your phone has a number of partitions. The important ones to know at first are:
1. System - this partition is essentially what you think of when you think of the operating system, the Android UI, and preinstalled
apps. When people talk about flashing ROMs (e.g. CyanogenMod, Synergy, etc), they are talking about flashing a new system
partition.
2. Boot - this is the kernel and ramdisk. The kernel is responsible for managing the interactions between the phones software (including the ROM) and the
hardware. Altering the kernel can increase/decrease performance, battery life, and more because it manages applications and system resources. When
you flash a new kernel, it flashes to the boot partition. You may not notice a big difference like you do when changing ROMS, but behind the scenes, your
phone's performance can be drastically altered. A *LOOSE* analogy is that the ROM is like the body and interior of your car (including exterior color, AC,
stereo, heated seats, TV in headrests, etc.) and the kernel is like the engine. You may not see it, but you'll know it's there if it's awesome or it sucks.
3. Aboot - this was largely unimportant for newbies until the bootloader lock/unlock situation. The short story is that aboot contains functions which
authenticate the boot partition (that's the kernel, remember?). It checks to see if your boot partition is Verizon legal and if not, it aborts the boot process
and politely tells you to contact Verizon. This authentication is what is referred to as a "locked" bootloader. It prevents you from completely booting the
phone with a custom kernel. The bootloader is "unlocked" by replacing the stock aboot partition with one that does NOT check up on the boot partition.
This is important because it allows us to run whatever kernel we want.
4. Data - this contains user installed apps, settings, contacts, bookmarks, etc, etc, etc. You can wipe this partition (as opposed to the above partitions) and
still boot into the operating system. You will have just lost all your setting and apps. This is called a factory/data reset.
5. Cache - this is stuff that you frequently use so it's kept available for better performance. You can wipe it without much consequence.
6. Recovery - this partition contains a separate operating system that allows you to recover from a corrupted/absent/otherwise jacked up operating system. It
has other functions as well. The big ones are to backup your device and restore said backups, to wipe certain partitions, and to flash things to your
phone (i.e. install new ROMs, recoveries, or other programs). The stock recovery is limited so you will definitely want a custom recovery, created by the
fine devs in the community, on your device.
What is a ROM and what is a kernel? I touched on this above. A ROM is what goes on the system partition. It contains what you think of as the Android OS including the UI and preinstalled apps. It controls how programs interact with you, the user. A kernel controls how those programs interact with the phones hardware. You need both a ROM and a kernel to have a functional phone.
How do I get started rooting and flashing?
There is an excellent guide stickied in the development thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1762709. However, many of us
forget what it's like to be a COMPLETE newbie and to someone who has no idea about anything, even fantastic guides like that can be a little intimidating.
You can follow the steps, but may not understand what you're doing. The steps to take to start out with are:
1. Make sure you understand what I've written above. Make sure you are comfortable with the possibility of bricking your phone.
2. Root your device. As I said above, this is simply gaining root/Admin/whatever you want to call it access on your phone. In and of itself, it does NOT alter
the ROM or kernel or much of anything else. However, there are many different ways to obtain root and some of them DO alter these things. The easiest
and safest way to root (IMO) is to use Noxious Ninjas excellent tool. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1792342. If you like it, I
encourage you to donate or at least "Thanks" him. It works by taking advantage of debugfs permissions to get su (remember this from above??) onto
your phone with permissions set so you can run it. It therefore doesn't change ROMs or anything else. You won't lose data, apps, or anything else. It just
sneaks su right onto your current setup.
3. Install a custom recovery. This will allow you to do all the fun stuff I talked about above. I recommend installing EZ-recovery from the market and flashing
CWM 6.0.1.0.
1. Install EZ-recovery
2. Under the "Recovery" heading, click the Recovery radio button and select CWM 6.0.1.0 next to it.
3. Click flash
4. Backup everything as if your life depended on it. This means backing up your IMEI as shown here
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/32397-tutorial-imeibackup-nv-with-qpst-us-variants/ and making a nandroid. A nandroid is an image of your phone
including your ROM, your data, and your kernel(depending on what phone you have). You can restore a nandroid backup and you'll be right back where
you were before flashing or changing things around. The steps to making a nandroid are:
1. Turn off your phone.
2. Hold down volume up, home, and power until recovery appears.
3. Use the volume rocker to go to "backup and restore" and hit the power button
4. Select backup and then select the external (default) or internal (labeled "internal") SD card
You can restore a nandroid in a similar fashion (although you should wipe data/cache first - see below).
5. Unlock the bootloader. You must do this seperately from flashing ROMs and kernels. Refer to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839791 and give appropriate thanks! A warning...if you mess up your aboot partition, there's really nothing (that I know of) you can do to revive your phone besides send it to someone with JTAG or back to Verizon.
You're now ready to start flashing ROMs.
As a precursor, there are ROMS that are based on TouchWiz modified Android from Verizon/Samsung and there are ROMS based on AOSP (e.g. CyanogenMod). TW roms need a TW kernel and AOSP roms need an AOSP kernel. Until you get comfortable with everything, I would stick with TW. Also, some roms come with kernels and will flash the kernel to your boot partition as well as the ROM to your system partition. Some ROMs don't come with kernels. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS read the OP of a rom you want to flash to find out kernel information as well as how to install the rom and anything else you may need to know. The general steps to flashing a ROM are (remember to read the OP for specifics):
1. Backup apps, data, call log, contacts, messages, etc. My program of choice for much of this is Titanium Backup available on the market. Buy it as you'll
use it a billion times.
2. Download the ROM you want and check the MD5
3. Place the ROM on the root of your SD card. Do NOT unzip it.
4. Reboot into recovery and make a nandroid backup
5. Wipe data/factory reset and wipe cache. Wipe it more than once if paranoid.
6. Go to "install zip from sdcard" and select the ROM you want
7. If you want/need to flash a kernel, install that zip from the sdcard too with the same command
8. Reboot and restore all that you backed up
Remember:
- ALWAYS backup before doing anything
- verify MD5
- wipe data and cache (unless told not to by the ROM dev)
- NEVER accept an OTA (having a custom recovery should block OTAs anyway)
PS. The techniques, tools, roms, etc in this post are not mine and arte the products of hours of hard work by multiple devs. Please thank them accordingly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU!!!!! Very helpful! I had no idea I needed EZ-Recovery to flash CWM as the primary recovery tool - that saved me big time as I was about to unlock the bootloader later today.
After posting this last night, and awaiting responses, I was browsing and trying to take in as much as I could. I finally realized that each section in the linked guide is a different way to either root or install a ROM. After I figured this out, and read about Odin being best for newbies, I decided to take the risk and wing it, even though I wasn't 110% sure.
So, now I'm rooted and have ROM manager/CWM installed, TiBu, and ES File Explorer installed. Now I'm just trying to figure out what I can/cannot remove as far as bloatware. A few items I'm sure I'd like to keep (working), so I don't want to mess with anything that might be used in another app/widget....Which brings me to my next question...
What's the best way to remove bloatware? I found an excel spreadsheet online that shows what's safe/unsafe to remove but I'm confused as to what I should do to get rid of items I NEVER want, and how to turn off items I MAY want in the future. If I freeze these items, do they stay frozen upon reboot, and until I unfreeze, or otherwise? What's the difference between a .APK package and a single process, etc?
Thanks in advance! I feel like I entered Android Elementary last night and already graduated to Android Junior High!
P.S. The captchas on this site to post ARE THE WORST CAPTAS IVE SEEN IN MY ENTIRE FRIGGIN LIFE, MY GOD!!!! I must refresh it 20x til something is RELATIVELY clear. Seriously????
ike034 said:
1...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too..... But the post are suppose to me helpful and or contribute in some way....
But at least we can thank all over the place......
Weioo said:
THANK YOU!!!!! Very helpful! I had no idea I needed EZ-Recovery to flash CWM as the primary recovery tool - that saved me big time as I was about to unlock the bootloader later today.
After posting this last night, and awaiting responses, I was browsing and trying to take in as much as I could. I finally realized that each section in the linked guide is a different way to either root or install a ROM. After I figured this out, and read about Odin being best for newbies, I decided to take the risk and wing it, even though I wasn't 110% sure.
So, now I'm rooted and have ROM manager/CWM installed, TiBu, and ES File Explorer installed. Now I'm just trying to figure out what I can/cannot remove as far as bloatware. A few items I'm sure I'd like to keep (working), so I don't want to mess with anything that might be used in another app/widget....Which brings me to my next question...
What's the best way to remove bloatware? I found an excel spreadsheet online that shows what's safe/unsafe to remove but I'm confused as to what I should do to get rid of items I NEVER want, and how to turn off items I MAY want in the future. If I freeze these items, do they stay frozen upon reboot, and until I unfreeze, or otherwise? What's the difference between a .APK package and a single process, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear you're rooted and learning a lot! Now you're opening another HUGE can of worms, namely how Android organizes the application framework, what are services, processes, activities, tasks etc. You may have already found the information you're looking for, but a montrously dumbed down version is that the APK is a package containing the compiled program and all the extraneous files it needs to run while a process is an actively running application. In order to debloat, you can either freeze an application with another program like TiBu, or you can manually freeze it by changing the app extension, or you can delete the APK, or you can remove it from the rom you want BEFORE you even flash it. What you choose depends on your goals...why you want to debloat.
Weioo said:
THANK YOU!!!!! Very helpful! I had no idea I needed EZ-Recovery to flash CWM as the primary recovery tool - that saved me big time as I was about to unlock the bootloader later today.
After posting this last night, and awaiting responses, I was browsing and trying to take in as much as I could. I finally realized that each section in the linked guide is a different way to either root or install a ROM. After I figured this out, and read about Odin being best for newbies, I decided to take the risk and wing it, even though I wasn't 110% sure.
So, now I'm rooted and have ROM manager/CWM installed, TiBu, and ES File Explorer installed. Now I'm just trying to figure out what I can/cannot remove as far as bloatware. A few items I'm sure I'd like to keep (working), so I don't want to mess with anything that might be used in another app/widget....Which brings me to my next question...
What's the best way to remove bloatware? I found an excel spreadsheet online that shows what's safe/unsafe to remove but I'm confused as to what I should do to get rid of items I NEVER want, and how to turn off items I MAY want in the future. If I freeze these items, do they stay frozen upon reboot, and until I unfreeze, or otherwise? What's the difference between a .APK package and a single process, etc?
Thanks in advance! I feel like I entered Android Elementary last night and already graduated to Android Junior High!
P.S. The captchas on this site to post ARE THE WORST CAPTAS IVE SEEN IN MY ENTIRE FRIGGIN LIFE, MY GOD!!!! I must refresh it 20x til something is RELATIVELY clear. Seriously????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you decided on a ROM you want to use yet? Personally I think that takes a lot of the decisions about de-bloating out of the equation. Pick a ROM, flash it, and see what you got? I first did the de-bloated root method and didn't have the stock e-mail app! While it is easy to download an e-mail app from the play store I was still shocked that it was considered bloat by the builder of the particular de-bloated version I chose.
Currently I am on Synergy 1.7 r23 with Darkhorse theme. I also like the Color in HD theme but can't decided between the two.
Bleelas said:
Glad to hear you're rooted and learning a lot! Now you're opening another HUGE can of worms, namely how Android organizes the application framework, what are services, processes, activities, tasks etc. You may have already found the information you're looking for, but a montrously dumbed down version is that the APK is a package containing the compiled program and all the extraneous files it needs to run while a process is an actively running application. In order to debloat, you can either freeze an application with another program like TiBu, or you can manually freeze it by changing the app extension, or you can delete the APK, or you can remove it from the rom you want BEFORE you even flash it. What you choose depends on your goals...why you want to debloat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, the explanation of what a .APK is helped a TON! Thank you!
dan_joegibbsfan said:
Have you decided on a ROM you want to use yet? Personally I think that takes a lot of the decisions about de-bloating out of the equation. Pick a ROM, flash it, and see what you got? I first did the de-bloated root method and didn't have the stock e-mail app! While it is easy to download an e-mail app from the play store I was still shocked that it was considered bloat by the builder of the particular de-bloated version I chose.
Currently I am on Synergy 1.7 r23 with Darkhorse theme. I also like the Color in HD theme but can't decided between the two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you've been helping me in my other thread. Thanks again for everything! I believe you know now, I am on Synergy r46, running quite stable so far but I haven't done much to the phone since flashing.
I've got a noob question... is there any way to back up your IMEI and install the samsung drivers from a Mac besides running Parallels or VMware? I rooted using Adam Outler's Casual and would like to start flashing ROM's but don't want to risk it without backing up my IMEI first.
See the note in this thread that backing up IMEI is obsolete. Nowadays you use the method linked from that thread, which does not involve making a backup first.
Weioo, I'd like to thank you for your intelligent questions, willingness to read, and attitude in this forum. It's good to see someone posting in the correct place, educating theirself, and not coming into the forum saying something like "plz help my phone wont boot and i didnt read enouf". So, respect. :good:
Anyway, to add something to this thread. What version of Clockwork Recovery are you using? If you're using version 6+, let me say a little how to manage your backups. The new CWR stores its backups in /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/, which will only be about 20mb in size - this is normal. The backup file is just sort of an index, and the other couple hundred megabytes meat of the backup is stored as a ton of tiny files in /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs/. If you ever need to clean up space on your phone's storage, always delete the backup file and do not touch the blobs directory. When you make your next backup, CWR will clean up the space freed from deleting that backup file.
What's actually going on is that instead of making one big file as a copy of a phone's complete image (as CWR did in previous versions), it saves space by backing up each file individually. If you have two backups with the exact same file (having the same hash), CWR deduplicates that by only backing it up once. The blobs folder has each fine, with the hash as its filename, and the backup file includes which hashes (filenames) it needs to function. When very few things change in between backups, the new backup only has to add new blobs for the things that changed (and thus have a different hash). You don't delete the blobs directly because it's not obvious which ones are used and which aren't. When CWR cleans up space, it reads the backup files and deletes blobs that aren't associated with any existing backups.
rednukleus said:
See the note in this thread that backing up IMEI is obsolete. Nowadays you use the method linked from that thread, which does not involve making a backup first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks, but if I do flash something and lose my IMEI, to do that process I'd need to be running Parallels or VMware on my Mac. Basically I'm trying to figure out if there is another way to do this using a mac or would I need to buy one of those programs if I lose my IMEI?
Great beginner post
lazarus2405 said:
Weioo, I'd like to thank you for your intelligent questions, willingness to read, and attitude in this forum. It's good to see someone posting in the correct place, educating theirself, and not coming into the forum saying something like "plz help my phone wont boot and i didnt read enouf". So, respect. :good:
Anyway, to add something to this thread. What version of Clockwork Recovery are you using? If you're using version 6+, let me say a little how to manage your backups. The new CWR stores its backups in /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/, which will only be about 20mb in size - this is normal. The backup file is just sort of an index, and the other couple hundred megabytes meat of the backup is stored as a ton of tiny files in /sdcard/clockworkmod/blobs/. If you ever need to clean up space on your phone's storage, always delete the backup file and do not touch the blobs directory. When you make your next backup, CWR will clean up the space freed from deleting that backup file.
What's actually going on is that instead of making one big file as a copy of a phone's complete image (as CWR did in previous versions), it saves space by backing up each file individually. If you have two backups with the exact same file (having the same hash), CWR deduplicates that by only backing it up once. The blobs folder has each fine, with the hash as its filename, and the backup file includes which hashes (filenames) it needs to function. When very few things change in between backups, the new backup only has to add new blobs for the things that changed (and thus have a different hash). You don't delete the blobs directly because it's not obvious which ones are used and which aren't. When CWR cleans up space, it reads the backup files and deletes blobs that aren't associated with any existing backups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should be stickied!!
My apologies for the newb questions, but last night I modded my phone to Eclipse 2.1 version 10-20-12 with the latest GAPPS 10-21-12 ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1934572 ). This latest GAPPS seems to be missing a bunch of applications including GMAIL registration (to access the Play store successfully) as well Google Now and many other Google based apps (Google Maps, Google Voice, etc etc). I don't believe the ROM was installed incorrectly - I went through the prerequisite Wipe Cache/Wipe Partition/Wipe Dvalik Cache and even Fix Permissions. Also the Voice Search application is missing, but maybe that's tied in with the Google suite of apps not running correctly.
Being that I'm a newb on this site I can't post the question over on the Eclipse page (not allowed access with less then 10 posts) but I find it impossible to properly register/access Google Play as well as using any of the Google Apps. I went ahead and downloaded Google Now separately and installed the APKs but this just resulted in the program crashing when the GPS is enabled (keeping it disabled keeps Google Now at the "Initializing" screen).
Thanks for any support that can be provided.
ResolveD
Disregard the previous post - used GAPPS from 10-12-12 (w/o Dvalik cache wipe) and Google Now, Voice Search, G-mail register, Google Play all work fine now. The only issue I see is presently with the Google Now browser not scrolling through links, but you can always use the magnifying glass (which shows you previews of the webpages it finds).
Anyways HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ROM!!! Eclipse 10-20 build (4.1.2) w/10-12 GAPPS. Easily the best ROM out there so far :laugh:
Deleting System apps
Now that I have finally rooted my VZW GS3, and installed Titanium Backup Pro, am I able to delete system apps from there without damaging anything? I have not installed a custom ROM, all I have done is root, unlock bootloader and install CWM. I want to get rid of bloatware (e.g. Polaris Viewer) can I use TI BU Pro?
levilib said:
Now that I have finally rooted my VZW GS3, and installed Titanium Backup Pro, am I able to delete system apps from there without damaging anything? I have not installed a custom ROM, all I have done is root, unlock bootloader and install CWM. I want to get rid of bloatware (e.g. Polaris Viewer) can I use TI BU Pro?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
levilib said:
Now that I have finally rooted my VZW GS3, and installed Titanium Backup Pro, am I able to delete system apps from there without damaging anything? I have not installed a custom ROM, all I have done is root, unlock bootloader and install CWM. I want to get rid of bloatware (e.g. Polaris Viewer) can I use TI BU Pro?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to add that it may be better to just freeze the apps, or at least run a nandroid backup so you can revert to stock. Without all system apps intact an OTA update would fail.
apacseven said:
Just wanted to add that it may be better to just freeze the apps, or at least run a nandroid backup so you can revert to stock. Without all system apps intact an OTA update would fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not worried about an OTA update, and I made a nandroid, I just want to make sure I'm not going to delete anything important. are there any apps you can think of that I would want to delete but it would cause problems?
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
Ok these steps are very important but before anything I also have to thank Lyriquidperfection & Ausdim for setting up their important parts of the instructions inside the links below:
So before you flash anything, or start playing with your gem, follow these important steps below to get all the important parts backed up and safe, so that you will not have to return your device back to samsung broken. Believe me I have seen it happen PLENTY of times in this forum, so read carefully
Make sure you have a Good USB cable and a stable PC and that don't get any power outages or surges, you dont want to be half way through something and you loose power or get a bad connection.
1st: Install Samsung Kies on your PC this will then Install the Samsung USB drivers you will need to connect your device to your PC OR you can get the samsung drivers on there own from the Link in 2nd step, but I recommend you install kies as it may be useful to you in the future.
2nd: Now as your IMEI number is like the heart of your device lets back it up right now: Follow only part of these steps in this link, you will finish the rest of the backups at the end when your rooted. I have copied and bolded the parts you will need to do right now, once finished this section of the backup you should be left with a *.qcn file which is roughly around 250kb of size.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=33048706&postcount=1
*Setting up QPST with your PC:*
*Backing Up IMEI / NV Data:*
*Restore USB Settings after Backup / Restore:*
Now keep that page open because you will return here in step 6 once you are rooted to complete the backup process.
3rd: Now Install Odin V3.04 - You can get the link for odin in the 4th step link, So you may aswell just continue on to 4th step as the instructions inside that link advice you to install Odin aswell.
4th: Now you must Root your device and install CWM recovery , Follow these steps carefully > http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32235061&postcount=1
5th: Once you have root I recommend you instantly make a full backup of your device also known as a Nandroid backup. You must go into recovery mode to do this with the CWM recovery you have just installed in 4th step above. (In recovery mode just click backup/restore and then choose backup, after its done your backup will be placed on your ext sd card , if you dont have ext sd card then choose backup onto internal sd card.)
6th Now lets finish the backup process since we are now rooted, I am going to say this again, this is VERY important incase something goes wrong and you loose your Imei and Data, you need to back it all up. By doing this it will save you returning your device back to samsung like many have done previously because they have not done this, Remember where you left off in 2nd step above? Well now you can go back and complete the partition backup of the efs folders. You should be left with 4 backup files for this final section of the backup process >>> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=33048706&postcount=1
--------====FINISHED====--------
Congratulations you now have your Imei/Nv data backed up , You are rooted and Nandroided. Now you can play around but off-course DO NOT be reckless make sure you know what you are playing with
Peace
PS: Only trust what you see in this I9305 XDA forum, as i have been following the device from day one and I can only recommend the information you see here.
can't find step 4..
Sorry I just fixed all the links
stuck on whether to install the I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5 software and what I risk
EDIT: thread Readers please note. I was a NOOB and I initially and accidentally credited "Lyriquidperfection" (who has also been very considerate in assisting) for the thread when "btemtd" was the original thread creator. "btemtd", I have edited to show appropriate. I am sorry please forgive my oversight.
**
Dear "btemtd"
*Note the following pre-install procedures and verifications confirmed:
1) My phone is NOT bricked and is running stock OEM i9305 installed software with details for the device posted at the end of this reply.
2) prior to doing ANYTHING I verified I can Dial *#7284# on phone and can see the 'Qualcomm USB Settings' button
3) KIES drivers installed and i9305 to PC works in KIES application and drag and drop modes
4) I have downloaded the Param_Bin_I9305.tar.md5 file in case I need it.
5) I have downloaded the I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5 file for use when I install the CWM.
6) I have downloaded the CWM-SuperSU-v0.96 application but have not yet installed it and have not yet learned about how to operate it (I will study and follow your instructions prior to doing so)
7) I have read this entire thread and all replies.
8) I have also read the entire thread and all replies to: [WARNING! + GUIDE] Backup and Restore IMEI / NV Data Procedure for GT-I9305
9) I don’t care about losing any of the media or pictures or applications (whatsapp) installed on my phone as these can all be reinstalled later on.
I have successfully executed the following so far:
1) I installed QPST v2.7.378 program on my PC and backed up a .qcn file. I then restored the .qcn file back to the i9305 and it accepted the restoration without problem. I can see my IMEI number by dialing Dial *#06#
2) I DID NOT back up any of these files below because I was NOT rooted and I DO NOT have a terminal emulator application (I can learn the emulator application if it is necessary and if someone can provide a link to where to get it). IF it is required for me to back up these files PRIOR to proceeding using ODIN please direct me to do so. I would prefer to not have to learn the emulator program unless it is required.
m9kefs1 - Located at: '/dev/block/mmcblk0p4'
m9kefs2 - Located at: '/dev/block/mmcblk0p5'
m9kefs3 - Located at: '/dev/block/mmcblk0p6'
3) I installed ODIN version Odin3 v3.04 (but I still have no clue how to operate this software)
*
This is where I stopped. Why? Well, after reading the instructions "btemtd"provided in thread I became concerned. My primary objective is to first save a backup of my phone. Since I am such a noob I don’t even know what a backup file extension is named (for example a backup for PC might be named xxxxx.img). I suspect that the backup extension file might be named xxxxx.tar.md5 but I still don’t know.
*
As I read "btemtd"instructions further I became concerned about the following items:
1) "btemtd"states in the In the 4th that one should “Now you must Root your device and install CWM recovery”. Well, since I am still such a noob I don’t know how I should root my device. Ideally, I want to make a backup of my phone (I think that will eventually be called a “nandroid”) as quickly as possible so if I inadvertently damage something during an install I will have an original source file to revert to (and hopefully be able to restore). I have a few questions:
A) Is there a special “rooting” software I should be using it or is “rooting” just a process name (like “flashing” a drive for example)? It might help me if I could have some noob instruction on how to root an i9305 without bricking it.
B) If I “root” my phone at this stage (without having made any backups other than the xxxx.qcn file) do I risk bricking my phone and not being able to revert to the stock OEM i9305 software?
2) Another area of concern was as follows. "btemtd"advocates installing the CWM (I presume that is short for clockwork module) application and provides a hyperlink for it (which I read). In this instruction it advocates downloading the file named “I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5”. This is where things get a little murky and hence the advance questions (which hopefully will help other noobs beyond myself and allow "btemtd"to concentrate on the i9305 problems I couldn’t solve in a lifetime). My critical question is as follows: IF I follow the instructions that "btemtd" hyperlinked to (these instructions were posted by senior member “ausdim”) and IF I install the CWM (install via ODIN) file named “I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5” WILL I be replacing my stock i9305 OEM software with this new one created as “I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5”? Could you please apprise on this instruction (remember, my first goal is to make a full backup of my existing stock i9305 OEM software on the i9305 so that I can restore if I late noobify any of the instructions). I want to confirm that by proceeding with the procedures kindly laid out by audsim I will NOT be wiping out my OEM software on the i9305 supplied when the phone was new. IF the answer to that question is “YES, you will be essentially replacing the stock OEM software for the i9305” with the new one created under “I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5.”” then I might have to consider the implications of losing all of the factory OEM software that came on the phone. Please note that I am hoping that this procedure will result in the phone OS changing from:
FROM: stock OEM i9305 software
TO: stock OEM i9305 software + CWM module
*
This post is lengthy, yes, but I hope accurate and hopefully it will provide some clearance, comfort, or guidance to other noobs looking to backup their phone prior to risk bricking it on more risky adventures.
Thanks in advance and donations to "btemtd" for his hard and thankful efforts.
DEVICE MODEL BUILD is as follows:
Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE Hong Kong Version
Model number:GT-19305
Android version: 4.1 .1
Baseband version: 19305ZHALl1
Kernel version
3.0.31-177985
[email protected] #1
SMP PREEMPT Thu Sep 20 23:04:05 KST 2012
First of all I am the one who made this guide with all the links to the appropriate places, You cannot see this? LOL
Anyways.... You asked
" Is there a special “rooting” software I should be using it or is “rooting” just a process name (like “flashing” a drive for example)? It might help me if I could have some noob instruction on how to root an i9305 without bricking it.
B) If I “root” my phone at this stage (without having made any backups other than the xxxx.qcn file) do I risk bricking my phone and not being able to revert to the stock OEM i9305 software?"
A)There is no special rooting software, its basically a file which you flash onto your phone which gives you the root access. If you follow the instructions 100% and nothing on your side fails well then you should not brick your device, reason people brick is becuase they have done the wrong thing or have flashed the wrong thing or it could be bad flash files. But I can confirm none of these files are bad as they have all been used with success.
B) we would hope that the qcn is enough, but maybe not. Only because we have not seen it happen yet, everyone who has lost imei so far has made the mistake and not made any type of backup, But lyriquid says JUST TO MAKE SURE you should also backup those partitions after u root just incase it comes to the point where you need them.
You want a Noob instruction on how to root without bricking it? ummmm What the hell is that! LOL Mate this guide is almost as NOOB as it gets, and OF COURSE if you follow this guide and all the links you wont brick it.
Reason you want root is this will then allow you to further back up the partitions and also allow you to make a nandroid (FULL BACKUP) of your current software/ROM
Only way to do this FULL BACKUP is by having CWM installed:
CWM is NOT firmware it is only recovery module, CWM will only replace your stock recovery module it is Only 7mb. it will NOT replace your stock firmware. Also this recovery module has much more capabilities then your stock recovery. It will also allow you to flash Mods, tweaks,roms if you wish to do so in the future.
Even if you do all of this you can still even return it back to OEM with stock recovery firmware and UNROOT. anything is possible. So my recommendations if you want to start flashing software and want to backup your rom is to follow my steps fully in this thread and click on the links and follow those guides as well. Each link will guide you as well. Once you have root and CWM installed and you want to make a FULL BACKUP of your OEM Softwareall you need to do is boot into recovery mode, then choose Backup/restore and then >>> Backup Thats it very simple which is why i didn't include it in the thread because as soon as you go into recovery mode you will be able to figure it out yourself
By the end of all this procedure you will have
Rooted Stock OEM software + CWM REcovery
EDIT: I reccomend you do what the full guide says, and install a terminal emulator because you dont need to learn code Lyriquidperfection has written down exactly what you type inside the terminal and thats IT your done. Its that easy!!!
For now you type the commands anyway. I am working on updating EFS Pro to have Qualcomm support so you can back up all NV Items from there and also backup and restore other important partitions just with a few clicks. I'll keep everyone updated when something good enough for a beta develops.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2
lyriquidperfection said:
For now you type the commands anyway. I am working on updating EFS Pro to have Qualcomm support so you can back up all NV Items from there and also backup and restore other important partitions just with a few clicks. I'll keep everyone updated when something good enough for a beta develops.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be awesome. must say
Thanks btemtd, great post!
I am also a recent convert (from iphone) to a galaxy s3 and have an i9305T model. I have been doing a bit of research in order to prepare myself to safely root my phone and was stoked to see such a helpful post. I will admit that I am also a noob with this sort of stuff but still do my best to learn what I can.
I just wanted to confirm that the process you have listed will support my aforementioned phone model with telstra as the carrier? I only ask because I remember a previous rooting guide that was only applicable to Optus phones and just want to make sure.
Thanks again for your help
Yes this will work on all i9305 models. No probs bro i was starting to get amazed on how many ppl were flashing the wrong stuff and braking there imei lol so i thought this may come handy
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
nvmd, stupid noob
Sorry about this post. Misread something between steps 4 and 5.
Now fully rooted. Thanks for the great post. Very helpful to someone entirely new to this daunting process. Makes jailbreaking a walk in the park xD
Unroot
"btemtd" Thanks for you above tutorial.
Is it possible to add and process on how to unroot the GT-i9305, if required
Thanks btemtd, I am working on a YouTube Video, to help noobs like me to root their I9305. Would I be able to pm you just incase I need some help on anything regards to rooting and roming?
bleepsake said:
Thanks btemtd, I am working on a YouTube Video, to help noobs like me to root their I9305. Would I be able to pm you just incase I need some help on anything regards to rooting and roming?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes offcourse you can PM me.. Thats a good Idea I might add your video to this guide if you dont mind, this will make it totally complete!!...
FOR NOOBS only
This is written by a noob for other noobs. It contains a set of very detailed instructions and is compilation of varies inputs from lyriquidperfection, audsim, btemtd, and nnnevvv. Without them I would be nowhere. I hope this guide, despite being very detailed, can help others so they don't have to hunt and pester devs for answer. This guide is only an expansion and extrapolation of this post which was kindly created by btemtd.
*
It also involves other work from the developers I credited above.
*
This guide is NOT for you if you have:
1) Bricked your phone
2) have an i9300
3) lost your IMEI
4) installed a custom ROM
5) already have CWM or SU installed.
*
Please remember it is only an expanded set of instructions built upon btemtd original work. Its only intention is to help get it done, right, without using up other's time. If the thread creator or OP ed suggests I amend or remove anything please let me know.
*
Pre-install instructions:
1) Your device is NOT bricked and is running stock OEM i9305 installed software with details for the device posted at the end of this reply.
2) Prior to doing ANYTHING you can Dial *#7284# on device and can see the 'Qualcomm USB Settings' button
3) KIES drivers installed and i9305 to PC works in KIES application OR you have verified that USB drivers work fine for PC to device
4) You have downloaded on to your PC the Odin3 v3.04. application.
5) You have downloaded the I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5 file to your PC.
6) You downloaded the CWM-SuperSU-v0.96. zip file and stored it on the device’s internal memory card. You can store it directly on the device’s INTERNAL SD card (don’t worry, CWM will allow you to navigate to it).
7) You don’t care about losing any of the media or pictures or applications (whatsapp) installed on my device as these can all be reinstalled later on.
8) Battery is charged to 80 percent or more
9) Solid dual use power and data cable tested and working.
10) Back up all of the contacts to SIM Card in case Data wipe.
11) You are okay with warranty being void and binary counter reset being added
Installation procedure
1) Get coffee
2) Install the latest version of Samsung KIES and check that complete cable communication works and that all drivers on the PC are installed. Confirm that KIES communicates with device on PC. DO NOT update your device using KIES to the latest Samsung or Android software.
3) install QPST v2.7.378 program on your PC. The QPST software is a qualcomm product and is a diagnostic tool that has a variety of subtools that you can use to test, manage and edit the form factor device. Click the setup.exe file and follow instructions. This is a qualcomm product and it is not complicated. A user manual (in case you feel like exploring) is available in .pdf.
4) Dial *#7284# on your device to access DeviceUtil and select 'Qualcomm USB Settings' at the bottom. Now scroll down and select 'RNDIS + DM + MODEM' and press 'OK' to return to the previous screen. Now press your 'Back' key to exit DeviceUtil. Your device is now in DIAG Mode.
5) Connect your device to PC via USB. Note, it may showing “loading drivers” on your PC. Wait for USB drivers to load and install.
6) Find the QPST application on your PC and navigate to the 'QPST Configuration' menu. Select it and navigate to the 'Ports' tab. Press 'Add New Port...' button. Select the COM Port that has 'USB/QC Diagnostic' next to it, change the Port Label name (if you wish to) to 'Samsung GT-I9305 diagnostic” then press 'OK'. You should now see your device listed in the 'Ports' tab and the 'State' should indicate 'Enabled'. Close this QPST application.
7) The next step will help you to BACK UP the IMEI/NV Data.
8) Go back to the QPST application Folder and navigate to the 'Software Download' application and then select the 'Backup' tab. You will need to select and name the file. I chose “i9305-qcn-back-up-file.qcn”. Press the 'Browse' button and select a Save Location for your QCN File. Press the 'Start' button and wait for it to finish. DON’T TOUCH YOUR DEVICE during this process. This will back up all your devices NV Items and save them to the QCN Backup File you just named. The resulting QCN Backup File should be about 250KB in size. The QPST application will show the backup has been completed. Verify that the file was actually backed up by looking in the directory to where you selected to store it. Then close the program.
9) The next step will help you to check to RESTORING IMEI / NV Data:
10) Go back to the QPST application Folder and navigate to the 'Software Download' application and then select the ‘Restore’ tab. Press the 'Browse' button and search for the QCN Backup File you created (remember I named mine “i9305-qcn-back-up-file.qcn”). Press the 'Start' button and wait for it to finish. This will restore all your devices NV Items from the QCN Backup File. Your IMEI / NV Data should now be fully restored. Dial *#06# on your device's keypad to check your IMEI is restored. It should show your 17 digit long IMEI number on screen. Write it down and store for future purposes in case you need to recall it one day.
11) The next step is to Restore the USB Settings after you have performed the above QPST Backup / Restore procedure. Dial *#7284# on your device to access DeviceUtil and select 'Qualcomm USB Settings' at the bottom. Now select 'MTP + ADB' and press 'OK' to return to the previous screen. Now press your 'Back' key to exit DeviceUtil. The device will reboot as you ask it to save and reset. Your device is now back to default USB operation.
12) Exit the QPST application.
13) The next step is to install ODIN which you will use to flash the CWM files from your PC to the device.
* Note that ODIN packages can be device specific. For the GT-i9305 I used “Odin3 v3.04.exe”. Navigate to where you have stored the ODIN application and select “Odin3 v3.04.exe” file and double click. ODIN will open.
NOTE: ODIN will not self install on your computer like a standard-install.exe folder. You will need to run the “Odin3 v3.04.exe” file every time to open ODIN up. Forgive my noobness for not knowing what the name of this procedure it.
14) Search for the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5 ‘ file you have downloaded previously in the “pre-install” instructions. For logistics purposes you may wish to drag and drop this file from its current storage location over the ODIN folder directory.
15) If KIES is running shut it down or suppress it on your PC.
16) The next step will involve “installing” the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ file. Actually, this is just a “module” that is intended to “replace” the stock recovery module. To do this, you will need to first set up your device to boot in what is called the “download” mode. To do this you must: POWER off the device first. Then after power is completely off, PRESS and HOLD the ‘power’ + ‘volume down’ + ‘home’ buttons all at the same time. I suggest that you start by pressing the “volume” + “home” buttons first instead of pressing the “power” button as you may inadvertently just power the device up (instead of booting it up into “download” mode). If you did it right you will boot up in “download” mode and Android will then ask if you if you “want to download a custom OS”. You will confirm “continue” by pressing the volume up key.
NOTE: it’s possible your PC computer may want to install device driver software. If so, just let it install and wait for it to finish.
NOTE: to navigate the menus in “download” mode (and also in “recovery” mode) you should use the VolUp / VolDown to go “up” or “down” the menu. Press the “power” button to select items (kind of like a “go” or “enter” function).
17) Now Connect your device (make sure battery is at least 80% charged) to your PC ( it is preferable to connect directly to the computer and not through a USB HUB or port replicator).
18) Open the ODIN application by navigating to the Odin3 v3.04.exe file . Make sure your device is detected and you should see a blue (older models may show yellow color) square in the top left corner.
NOTE: Make sure only the “auto-reboot” and “f reset time” boxes should be checked in the ODIN Application.
19) Click on the box next to “PDA”. And then click the “PDA” and navigate to the area where the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ file is stored. Select it and it will auto populate into the ODIN application. Then, on the ODIN application, press “start”. You will see a series of command actions showing in the ODIN Application which should show the status. Upon completion it should show that CWM was installed in the ODIN application. You may have to repeat this process once again as CWM may not “stick”.
20) There has been considerable debate about different units requiring the battery to be pulled due to the fact that some factory units have been shown to reboot back into its own factory state and therefore exclude the CWM file that you just tried to install in the previous steps. I read of many users who were experiencing this problem. See For further reading please see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32235061&postcount=1 to show how to deal with and manage this problem. I, along with another user that I confirmed with, DID NOT have to do the battery pull method. Why? Well, I think that some factory models require this process and others do not. My device (specifications at end of post) did not require it. Also, the problem may have been created by user’s updating their device software through the KIES application which I recommend not doing until the device has been rooted and CWM and SU installed in this process.
21) After instructing ODIN to install the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ onto the device the device should reboot. If it does not reboot after awhile you can power down your device. What will happen? Well, you have either successfully installed the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ file or your device has reverted back to the factory restore option. You shouldn’t have much risk of bricking the device during this step. The key is to get the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ file to stick during the “download” process. If it does not stick you will need to refer to the thread For further reading please see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32235061&postcount=1 as to how to employ the “2 different battery pull during the reboot process” methods he suggested (again, fortunately I did not need to do this).
22) Now you need to put the device in “recovery mode”. Unplug the device from the USB Cable attached to the PC. To put it in recovery mode you must: POWER off the device and the PRESS and HOLD the ‘power’ + ‘volume up’ + ‘home’ buttons all at the same time. Again, I suggest that you start by pressing the “volume” + “home” buttons first instead of pressing the “power” button as you may inadvertently just power the device up (instead of booting it up into “recovery” mode). If you did it right you will boot up in “recovery” mode and you will clearly see the words “CWM-based Recovery” written in white on the top line. If you don’t see that then your installation of the ‘ I9305_CWM_Recovery.tar.md5’ did not work and you will need to repeat the steps above until you get it right.
23) Next you will be installing the SUSuperuser module while your device is in "recovery mode". Remember you should have stored the “CWM-SuperSU-v0.96.zip” (DO NOT unzip it yourself) on the Device’s internal memory card. Using the volume up/down keys and the “power” button for enter/go you should scroll down and select menu option "install zip from SD card"
select menu option "choose zip from internal SD card"
scroll down to the “CWM-SuperSU-v0.96.zip file and select that using the “power” button. It will then ask you “if you are sure you want to install, it can’t be done”. Scroll down to the “YES” and then select the power button to confirm. It will then mount and install it. Once it is done installing you will then need to scroll to the “go back” choice on the menu. Then go back to the “reboot” device and select that. It will reboot.
24) Your device should reboot and you should be able to confirm that SUSuperuser is installed by looking at the apps page on your device. You should be able to see a little blue Android with a red cape. If you see it, you have successfully installed.
25) Once you have root and CWM + SU installed and you want to make a FULL BACKUP of your settings and software. Using the same methods above, boot into “recovery mode”, then choose Backup/restore (select it with the “power button”). Then, it will begin the “back up” process which will take about (7 ) minutes (it takes longer if you are backing up lots of items). Note that the program will back up the backup items onto the EXTERNAL SD Card in a folder named “2012-11-07.10.57.45 (“time stamped”) and it will contain 6 items including boot image, recovery image, nandroid.md5, and 3 others. Mine was about 1.17 gb in size and DID NOT include any music, videos, or pictures. MAKE SURE that your external SD Card has enough free space to store the CWM back up folders. I suggest that you then copy the entire back up folder over to another secure location on your PC (which you can copy over to the SD card anytime) in the event your current external SD card or device goes whacky.
26) Well, it was not brief but it was detailed and concise and I hope it helps other noobs like myself to successfully install and execute this process as it will lead to further dev opportunities to trying out other ROM’s while being able to reverse the process if things goes really wrong.
27) If I was of help just say “thanks”. Will try to answer PM if you have them but I am just a noob and may be of little use. This was written by a noob and for other noobs. Hope I haven’t annoyed anyone else in the process.
*
Model number:GT-I9305
Android version: 4.1 .1
Baseband version: I9305ZHALI1
Kernel version
3.0.31-177985
[email protected] #1
SMP PREEMPT Thu Sep 20 23:04:05 KST 2012
Build number: JRO03C.I9305ZHALI7
Woahh thats alot of writing, but thanks for your time, I didnt know that myself and the guides in the links that LyriquidPerfection and Ausdim created were that hard to understand But i guess I dont know how a PURE noob thinks, Even though I was a noob in August this year i kind of know my way around a computer but I still think i am a noob compared to these programming devs, Maybe I am not the Noobiest noob anymore if thats a word LOL oh well the more information in this thread the more valuable. I think they should get this entire thread Stickied, I have already asked
btemtd said:
yes offcourse you can PM me.. Thats a good Idea I might add your video to this guide if you dont mind, this will make it totally complete!!...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks buddy. Of course I dont mind you adding the video to this thread. I want to make a few videos actually that you might be able to help with. =)
working on a pm now.
Sent from my Beautiful GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
Ok I will reply when I wake up thanks
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
hey droid!
This is awesome, I hope I can use this for my youtube guide for iOS refugees like me.
Sent from my Beautiful GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
bleepsake, can't wait to see your video.
Is unrooting unique per phone or is it the same? When I search unroot, I've seen guides to unroot only for certain phones.
mrbarbz said:
bleepsake, can't wait to see your video.
Is unrooting unique per phone or is it the same? When I search unroot, I've seen guides to unroot only for certain phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mrbarbs all you need to do to unroot is use odin and flash Official samsung firmware over the top of what you have. Done... its that easy no need for a guide lol
this will also get rid off CWM and put the stock original recovery back in and also stock kernel.... as a matter of fact stock EVERYTHING
[FAQ] [REF]★ All you need to know about Android | Read this before you post/root ! ★
Understanding the Android world before rooting your LG Nexus 5
Here is a *noob friendly* collection of information every user that wants to root their phone should know. Many people blindly follow guides without even knowing what "Rooting" means. Hopefully, this will help new users (and old ones, why not?) understand what is happening with their phone, and what they will put up with.
This may seem as a lot to read, but there are no shortcuts. You either read and learn what you're dealing with, or find out the hard way.
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Contents
Post 1:
★What does rooting mean?
★The advantages of rooting
★The disadvantages of rooting
★What about the internal memory? How does that work?
★Things you hear people talk about
★How to backup your stuff
★Flashing a custom ROM
★ADB and Fastboot
★Restoring your Nexus 5 to STOCK
Post 2:
★Tips and Tricks
★Questions and Misconceptions
Let's get started, shall we?
What does rooting mean?
To 'root' your phone means to gain administrative rights on the file system of your phone (in linux, root is the username of the master admin, kind of being an Administrator on Windows). With root access, you can install and uninstall anything you want on the phone. Android is, in fact, based on Linux.
Most phones come with limited access regarding what you can and can't do on it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it can keep users from accidentally breaking something they shouldn't mess with on the phone, especially in regards to the operating system. However, many manufacturers limit your rights to things that aren't really so mission critical, too, and rooting the phone gets around this.
If you have a few unnecessary applications (bloatware) pre-installed on your phone that you cannot uninstall, rooting will give you this ability. It will also allow you to upgrade to newer versions of Android before your phone's manufacturer and/or cell provider make the updates available to you.
So now you know what rooting means. And I bet you are now thinking "Should I do it, or not?" Well, hope this helps you decide:
The advantages of rooting
-De-bloat your phone. Uninstall any unwanted system apps.
-More control over how the CPU acts. This can increase performance or battery life, depends on how you configure it.
-More control over power consumption. This implies undervolting your CPU, giving it less power, so it consumes less.
-More control over how apps start up. Prevent apps from starting up when they don't need to.
-Change your Baseband (Radio). Try different radio versions, with the purpose of reducing battery drain or improving your signal strength.
-Flash custom ROMs. Bored of the stock ROM and look? Browse through the hundreds of custom ROMs provided by this community, each having different features and looks.
-Backups. The ability to completely backup your phone, and fully restoring it to the time of the backup. This is done with a Nandroid Backup (we'll talk about this later)
-Mods and Inovations. Use many mods, fixes, tweaks or features created by the community!
-Custom Kernels. As a Nexus device, the Nexus 5 will have tons of kernels with different features, supporting better performance, or battery life! To see what a kernel is, keep reading.
-Run apps that need Root Permission. These apps can be very useful, like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, Terminal Emulator and many others!
The disadvantages of rooting
-Rooting will void your warranty (Although reverting root is very easy)
-The process a bit dangerous. Something could (99.9% probably not, but still) go wrong, and end up bricking your phone. So, yes, the process is 0.1% risky. You can end up deleting everything on your phone. You'll have to handle this process gently and with care.
-You will be able to do a lot more mistakes. These may cause damage to your phone (But hey, that's why we have these kind of threads, eh?)
-No more over the air official updates. You'll have to update your phone manually, through your recovery. (Which isn't that hard)
Now that you fully know what rooting implies, let's continue exploring the Android world.
What about the internal memory? How does that work?
Now, as you might already know, each phone has an internal memory. In the Nexus 5's case, it's either 16GB or 32GB. This internal memory needs to hold a lot of things, not only your personal data. This is why you only have available to use 12.9 GB or 28 GB.
An Android's internal memory is partitioned into many chunks that have their separate purposes.
These are all the Nexus 5's partitions, and their names.
Code:
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/system /system
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata /data
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/cache /cache
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/persist /persist
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modem /firmware
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/boot /boot
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/recovery /recovery
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/misc /misc
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/modem /radio
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sbl1 /sbl1
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/tz /tz
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/rpm /rpm
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/sdi /sdi
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/aboot /aboot
/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/imgdata /imgdata
Yes, there are quite a lot. You, as a user, don't need to care about all of them. Here are the ones you will need to know about:
/system- size: about 0.5GB
This partition holds the Android OS itself. Kind of like the C:// disk on your every day Windows PC. This partition has many folders and files you cannot normally get to, due to safety reasons. For example, system/app is where all the system apps are installed.
If something gets deleted from this partition, Android will most probably won't work properly.
/data- size: either 12.9GB, or 28GB
This is where all your personal data is kept. This includes apps, sms, contacts, e-mails etc. It also stores your system settings, like wallpaper, and all those stuff you set up when you got your phone. The most important folders on this partition are data/app (where your apps are stored), data/data (where you app data is stored, like highscores and stuff), and data/media.
Data/media might be considered your sd-card. Yes, I know the Nexus 5 doesn't have an sd-card, but this folder works like one. When you connect your phone to your PC, this is the folder that pops up, with all your music, images, videos, and whatever else you keep on your phone.
Things are getting a bit more complicated, eh? Just bare with me. Next, I will be explaining the different terms you will be encountering throughout your Android experience.
Things you hear people talk about
Kernel
The kernel is an essential part of any Linux based operating system. It's the program that manages input and output requests of the operating system. Imagine you're at a restaurant. You give your order to a waiter. He takes it to the chef, the chef makes your food, then the waiter brings it back to you, and you enjoy it. In this case, you are the Android system, the waiter is the Kernel, and the chef is the hardware. The system gives the Kernel a request, like firing up another processor core when you play a heavy game, and the Kernel fulfills the request.
Here is an image for better understanding
Recovery
This is a secondary, mini operating system that has access to your internal memory. It contains a few commands that would normally help you recover your Android system in case of a failure, like factory resetting. You will see that, for rooting, you will need to install a custom recovery.
The stock recovery does not have the ability to write custom ROMs (I'll explain these later) on your internal memory. A custom recovery has this option, and many more.
Here are some images for you to fully understand:
Stock recovery:
Custom Recovery
You can see that the Custom Recovery has more options, including "Backup and Restore", Advanced, and Install zip from Sd-card.
You can get in Recovery by powering off your phone, then hold Power+Volume Down button until a black screen with colored text appears. Then, use the volume buttons to select 'Recovery", and then press the Power Button to select it.
Bootloader
The bootloader is the first thing that fires up when you open your phone. As the name says (Boot+Loader), this program loads the kernel, which when boots up the Android system.
The same bootloader can also boot in recovery, as explained above.
When you first get the phone, the bootloader is in a locked state. That means that you cannot use fastboot commands like "fastboot flash" or "fastboot boot". With other words, you cannot simply flash a custom recovery. Thankfully, Google gave us the option to unlock the bootloader very easily, and flash a custom recovery of our choice.
Custom ROMs
A custom ROM is a ZIP file that contains an altered version of the Android OS. There will be many custom ROMs for the Nexus 5, made by wonderful and skilled devs for the community. You can install a Custom ROM with your Custom Recovery. Custom ROMs contain the following folders and files:
META-INF- This folder holds the installation info and data. A custom recovery does not know on it's own how to install a ROM. In this folder, there's a txt file that contains a script, with the purpose of telling the recovery what to do.
System- This folder contains the stuff that will be installed on the /system partition that we talked earlier about.
boot.img- Among others, this file contains the kernel that comes with the ROM.
Dalvik Cache
Android is an open source OS, which supports many different architectures. While it's mainly used in the ARM architecture, it could run on x86. Even with in the ARM there are still some variations. Just like in x86, there are many extensions and SSE is an example of that; ARM is no different and there are some variations from one ARM CPU to another. Dalvik is basically a VM(Virtual Machine) engine, this keep the apps to be universal across many architecture. While this is good, this costs processing power. Meaning, if the apps have to run through VM everytime, they will be very slow. Dalvik cache is basically cache of those apps that's already gone through the VM thus it doesn't require to go through the VM everytime. And when an app run, it run from this version instead. Since each ROM may contain different version of app or optimization or even different kernel or Android version, using dalvik cache from different ROM can get you into trouble. Think of it like trying to run application designed for Windows XP on Windows 7 or Windows 8. It may work, it may not work, or it may even crash. Wiping the Dalvik cache will force the Android OS to optimize all the installed apps all over again.
Ok, so now, after you read all this stuff, you're probably thinking "Ok, I will never get the hang of this". Don't worry. With time, you will know all of these from reflex. And, after you got over that, and manned up again, you probably thought "Ok, let's root this damn thing!". Not quite yet. We aren't done. There are still some crucial things that you need to know. So let's continue.
How to backup your stuff
Before you do anything EVER, you'll always have to backup your stuff, even if you don't feel like it, or your dog died (in which case I'm truly sorry), but, no matter what you're about to do, always have a recent backup sitting around.
There are many ways and things you can and will probably have to backup.
1. Backup your entire phone, by creating a Nandroid Backup.
As you saw in the 'Custom Recovery" picture above, you have a "Backup and Restore" option. Here it is again:
With every occasion, it's best to use it as often as possible. It only takes about 2 minutes, but it could be a life saver.
A Nandroid will backup:
/system
/data (Except /data/media, where your "sd-card" is, because it's too large and not that important)
/cache (Yes, there is a cache partition, and it will be backed up, although not really necessary)
kernel (The kernel will be backed up too)
***Optional tip: I always keep a recent nandroid backup on my PC, in case I somehow wipe all my phone's contents, and my backup among with them. The Nandroid backup is saved at this location, which can be accessed with a root file explorer, like ES File Explorer : mnt/shell/emulated/clockworkmod/backup or sdcard/TWRP. If you want to copy it to your storage, just copy the latest backup, and then move it to your PC.
2. Your apps and data only
This can be very useful when changing ROMs. You just got bored of your ROM, and want to move to another one. The only way of taking your apps and data with you is by backing them up with an application like Titanium Backup. The backups will be saved in data/media, and will be restored using the same app with which you backup up on the new ROM.
3. Your SMS, Contacts, MMS etc.
These things can be backed up by special apps on the Play Store. Ok, contacts will be restored by Google Sync ( although not always done properly, that's why I still back them up), but SMS will not be restored. There are many free apps that back them up for you, nice an easily, for them to be restored in case of a ROM change or data loss.
4. Your storage (data/media, sd-card)
You just connect your phone to your PC, select all folders, and copy all over on your PC. This will be useful when you unlock the bootloader. A bootloader unlock will wipe all the stuff on your phone (This can be avoided, read guides). So keeping a copy of your sd-card contents on your PC isn't such a bad idea.
Now you know how to keep it safe by creating backups. I will say it again, you are never too safe! Backup when you do a modification, even if it's tiny. Now, after you've finished reading the above, you will probably attempt to root. You will use one of the guides out there ( I will link one at the end of this thread ) to install a custom recovery, and gain root access. But what to do with it? Well, you will most likely end up flashing a custom ROM.
Flashing a custom ROM
You will get bored of the stock ROM, and will decide to flash a custom ROM. But you haven't done it before, and you don't really understand the process.Before you do anything, you must:
-Make sure that the files are for your phone ! If you flash files that were made for another phone, you might end up with a brick!
-Never panic! There is always a way out! That's what backups are for!
-Read all the instructions! Every ROM thread has instructions. Read them!
{By the way, flashing = installing}
Now, let me take you through the whole flashing process. ( Use the steps in the ROM threads if instructed differently than here )
1. You will search far and wide in these forums for a custom ROM that fits your needs. Every ROM comes as a ZIP file. So when you decide on a ROM, download the zip. For copyright reasons, Google Apps (Play Store, Google Now etc) don't come included with the ROM. So you will have to download them too. They are usually linked on the ROM main thread.
Some ROMs might have addons too, so check them out, and download the ones you want.
2. You now downloaded the ROM, Google Apps, and some addons. The next step will be to put them on your sd-card. Connect your phone to your PC, and make an easy access folder, like "Root Stuffs" where you'll put all these zips.
3. Now, let the backup process begin. You first backup your apps, app data , SMS, Contacts etc., like I explained above. I recommend Titanium Backup for apps and SMS, MC Backup for contacts.
4. Now you are ready to go in recovery. Power down your phone. Then, press and hold the Power Button and the Volume Down button at the same time. You will be brought to the Bootloader Screen. Now, with the Volume Buttons, switch through the options until you find "Recovery". Then press the Power Button again.
5. Now you will be booted in your Custom Recovery. Depending on your recovery, you will have the options on your screen.
CWM Recovery:
6. You will go to the Backup and Restore menu, and select "Backup". If you made a backup before, you can select "Delete" first, and delete it, for space consumption purposes.
7. After the backup finished, you will return to the main screen. There, select 'Wipe data/ Factory Reset". This will wipe everything in /data except /media, so your sd-card will remain untouched. Don't worry, you have a Nandroid Backup!
8. After the wipe finished, you will go to "Install zip from sd-card". You'll have to navigate to the folder where you put the ROM, and select it. You'll see it will nicely install.
9. After the ROM finished installing, you will have to flash the Google Apps zip, and the mods. Install them the same way you installed the ROM itself.
10. After you have flashed everything, you can select "Reboot system now" . First boot will take longer to complete. Again, don't panic. You have a Nandoid bakcup . You will end up with the ROM booted, and you'll continue setting it up.
TWRP Recovery:
6. Go to the "Backup" menu, select "Boot", "System", and "Data", then swipe the thing on the bottom on the screen to start backing up.
7. Once you're done, use the home button to get to the main screen. Select "Wipe", and swipe the thing again to Factory Data Reset. This will wipe data, cache and dalvik cache. This will not wipe your internal storage (Music, photos, etc).
8. After the wipe finished, use the home button again to get to the main screen. From there, select the 'Install" option. You'll have to navigate to the folder where you put the ROM, and select it. Then, by using the "Add more zips" option, add the Gapps package, and and then any addons or mods, in this order. Then swipe the bottom thing to flash.
9. After you have flashed everything, you can select "Reboot" . First boot will take longer to complete. Again, don't panic. You have a Nandoid bakcup . You will end up with the ROM booted, and you'll continue setting it up.
***In case something went bad, like your phone doesn't boot for more than 10 minutes, or the animation endlessly repeats itself (Boot Loop), do the following:
11*. Hold down the Power +Volume Buttons until the phone shuts down. Then release them for a second, and immediately press them again. You will be brought to the bootloader screen. Enter recovery.
12*. In recovery, go to the "Backup and Restore" menu, and select "Restore" for CWM, or "Restore" for TWRP. Then pick the backup you did earlier, and wait for it to complete. Then, select "Reboot system now", and you should be booted back in your original ROM.
Now, let's say that after you flashed a ROM, it either did not boot, or you had some bugs with it. You will go to the thread ROM to report your problem. Here's how to not post:
"This ROM doesn't work"
You will have to be a lot more specific than that. In reporting a problem, you will have to do the following:
-Say what you did (Flashing process)
-What you flashed afterwards
-What you did to reproduce the bug
-What recovery you use
-ROM Version
-even provide a logcat <This is quite advanced> (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1726238)
You have to give as many details as possible, so the developer can sort things out.
ADB and Fastboot
ADB (Android Debug Bridge)
The Android Debugging Bridge is kind of a toolkit, that has many commands to control your Android from your PC. This is an essential part of your Android experience. With ADB, you can do many stuff that you couldn't normally do, like backup your apps, or push and pull packages from your phone.
ADB is also used by many of the useful tools out there, like toolkits, and all sort of programs that enhance your Android experience.
With ADB, you can also Logcat. Logcatting is creating a log of everything that happens on your Android phone while it's on. This is used to find the sources of bugs.
Example of ADB Commands:
Code:
adb pull /system/app/RANDOM APP = creates a copy of a system app on your PC
adb push app /system/app = Copies an app from your PC to your system partition
adb reboot bootloader/recovery = Reboots the phone in bootloader or recovery
adb logcat = Starts a logcat
Fastboot
Fastboot is also a toolkit of commands, but a bit different from ADB. While with ADB, you can do simple actions, with fastboot, you can do major ones, like flashing a whole partition, or formatting one. Fastboot is usually the preferred method to flash a recovery. Also, Fastboot usually works with .img files.
Fastboot is also a very easy method of bricking your phone. Always make sure you are flashing the right files for your phone. Furthermore, fastboot is not the preferred method for recovering your phone. It is the last resort. ADB and/or recovery is much easier and safer.
Example of Fastboot commands:
Code:
fastboot erase boot = Erases the kernel
fastboot erase recovery = Erases the recovery
fastboot flash system system.img = Flashes the System partition with an image
fastboot flash boot boot.img = Flashes kernel
fastboot flash userdata data.img = Flashes Data partition
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img = Flashes a new recovery
fastboot reboot = Reboots the phone
To use ADB and Fastboot, you must first have ADB drivers and Fastboot drivers installed. Here is a very good guide to set up these two useful things:
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-set-up-android-adb-and-fastboot-on-windows-tutorial/
Restoring your Nexus 5 to STOCK
I moved the whole guide here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2513701
Check it out.
Now please proceed to the next post
Tips and Tricks
1. Try to not use toolkits. (I'm not disregarding any toolkit dev. They did a wonderful job)
Chromium_ said:
It has been proven that every time you use a toolkit, god kills a kitten. Save the kittens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Due to the fact that people are lazy in nature , toolkits have been made so that users don't struggle with rooting their phone. But there are many reasons for you to not use one:
-->you won't learn anything from using a toolkit, and, if something goes wrong, a toolkit can rarely fix your problem. It's better if you rely on your own forces.
-->you put the fate of your phone in someone else's hands. If a bit of code is wrong, then your phone could get bricked.
-->you miss out all the fun. Why buy a Nexus device if you don't want to explore the depths of the Android OS?
2. Never panic
Whenever you don't know what to do, and you're stuck, don't panic. There are many people here that can help you. Don't try doing anything blindly. Search the forums, or start a thread in the Q&As section, and we will help you.
3. Read everything carefully!!
(If you read this, post a cat picture in this thread, and you will be rewarded with a thanks from me)
I might have said it a couple of times throuout this post, but always read everything. Someone wrote something for a reason. Usually, if you read everything, and do what you are told, you are bound to be failproof.
4. Battery pull emulation
If you hold the Power Button and both Volume buttons for 10-15 seconds, the Nexus 5 will power off, as if it had its battery pulled out. Useful when you get stuck.
5. Never try to make any system modification(root or flash ROM/recovery) without having enough time and resources to troubleshoot.
While most of the time, this is relatively painless when the you follow the instruction carefully. That said, things can go wrong. So, don't just say I saw a new ROM when I woke up and I wanna try it, and you have 30 minutes before going to work. Even if it only take 5 minutes to flash the ROM, if a thing goes wrong, those 25 minutes you have left may not be enough to fix your problem and you have no phone to use that day.
When you flash something, always make sure you have about an hour of free time, and a PC with ADB and Fastboot, ready to make us of if something goes wrong.
Ok, so now you know pretty much all a normal user should know. But there are still questions that are very frequently asked that need answering. Here are some questions and answers about popular problems and misconceptions. You might encounter these problems later, so give it one more minute of your time:
Questions and Misconceptions
1. My Nexus 5 is getting very hot. Hardware problem?
Nope. There are many reasons that contribute to your phone getting hot, like
-the fact that it doesn't have any way of cooling itself
-the fact that a quad core produces more heat
-etc.
Don't worry. Everything is working as it should. For example, the Ipad gets 3 times hotter than the Nexus.
2. If I am rooted, will I receive OTA updates? (See Return to stock section)
Yes, and no.
You will be able to download the update by having installed the Stock ROM with stock kernel, though it will not be installed automatically, due to the fact that you have a custom recovery. You will need to install it manually.
3. The Nexus 5 audio quality is horrible. Why?
It isn't horrible. It's normal, but the max volume isn't as loud as on other devices. I have been a piano player for 12 years. I have quite a sensitive ear, and I can tell you that the audio quality on the Nexus is comparable with that of an Ipod. The only major difference is that, with the Ipod, you can go deaf with the max volume.
4. Which kernel/ ROM should I use?
Don't ever ask this question. What's good for others isn't necessarily good for you. You'll have to try the many kernels and ROMs yourself.
5. Google Now doesn't activate with "Ok, Google". Why?
Make sure your language is English (United States) in Settings>Language & Input.
6. My battery life is short. What should I do?
-Use a custom kernel made for battery life (like Franco)
-Use the Greenify app from the play store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oasisfeng.greenify&hl=ro)
-Don't use Automatic Brightness. Set the brightness to about 35%.
7. My Baseband and IMEI are unknown. What do I do?
Flash the factory images, and then boot in the stock recovery and do a factory data reset. If it does not solve the issue, repeat. I had to do it 3 times for it to work.
8. What's the difference between "Development" and "Original Development"?
Original Development - Usually original pieces of work, based on the original AOSP source, or coded by yourself.
Development - Projects based on works from the Original Development, or that don't include actual developing (Stock rooted ROMs)
This is all for now. I hope you understand what's up with this Rooting process. If you have any questions, don't be shy to ask in this thread
If there is anything to be added to this thread, please post below
Thank you for the time you allocated to reading this! You are now smarter :good:
Good day, and Happy flashing!!!
For credits, useful links and other stuff, see the post below.
Useful links
[GUIDE] Nexus 5 - How to Unlock Bootloader, Install Custom Recovery and Root
[INDEX] Google Nexus 5 - ROMs, Kernels, MODs, Recoveries, Themes
[HELP THREAD] Nexus 5 | Ask any question
[MODEM] [EFS] Nexus 5 Flashable Modems and EFS Backup
Nexus 5 OTA Help-Desk
Credits and Thanks!!
@rootSU
For providing me a template, inspiration, and much of the info. His original thread in the S3 forums: (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2362743)
@paxChristos
For the logcat part
@efrant
For pointing out some mistakes
@someone0
For this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47474453&postcount=81
Very good post. Im not new to rooting but I am when it comes to Nexus Devices. Im use to rooting phones with external SD cards so I have one question.
When Im going to flash a rom or zip or whatever in custom recovery, I know I have to "Wipe data/factory reset" then "wipe calivk". I know that the data wipe is for apps, app data and system settings. My question is will it also delete pictures, music, videos and other files/file folders like that on the device?
MMontanez347 said:
Very good post. Im not new to rooting but I am when it comes to Nexus Devices. Im use to rooting phones with external SD cards so I have one question.
When Im going to flash a rom or zip or whatever in custom recovery, I know I have to "Wipe data/factory reset" then "wipe calivk". I know that the data wipe is for apps, app data and system settings. My question is will it also delete pictures, music, videos and other files/file folders like that on the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A Factory Data Reset doesn't wipe the data/media folder, where all the things that should be on the sd-card are. You can use the option with no worries.
Very informative, didn't read the whole thing though. I stop at the advantage of flashing custom ROM. In my past experience, gaining root <> able to flash custom ROM. If I understand correctly, even if you can gain root access but not able to unlock the boot-loader, getting a custom ROM would be problematic. IMO, I wouldn't list that there. Sure this maybe beyond noobie scope and doesn't pertain to Nexus 5 specifically. But I wouldn't use that as a rule of thumb. Having used the Sprint Photon 4G, I have respectfully disagree with you on that. Gaining root, mean having admin privilege for the OS not the boot-loader.
---------- Post added at 11:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 PM ----------
MMontanez347 said:
Very good post. Im not new to rooting but I am when it comes to Nexus Devices. Im use to rooting phones with external SD cards so I have one question.
When Im going to flash a rom or zip or whatever in custom recovery, I know I have to "Wipe data/factory reset" then "wipe calivk". I know that the data wipe is for apps, app data and system settings. My question is will it also delete pictures, music, videos and other files/file folders like that on the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand of basic android OS is that the system and apps are sitting on separate partition. And so is you normal partition for data, which usually the phone shown as SD card even though it's not a separate internal SD card. The phone usually have one large pool of storage space, think of it like an SSD drive. Then it got split into many partitions for many things. It has boot sector, recovery partition(for storing recovery method, either stock, CWM or TWRP), boot partition, system partition and maybe may other system relation usage partitions. Those partition are already planed out(fixed) by the people who create the ROM for the device. And the rest of the space will be given for the user to do other thing under one partition. And this partition usually won't get wipe. If you have used any custom recovery like CWM or TWRP, there usually be an option to wipe or not wipe certain things. This is possible because all those things are stored in separate partition.
someone0 said:
Very informative, didn't read the whole thing though. I stop at the advantage of flashing custom ROM. In my past experience, gaining root <> able to flash custom ROM. If I understand correctly, even if you can gain root access but not able to unlock the boot-loader, getting a custom ROM would be problematic. IMO, I wouldn't list that there. Sure this maybe beyond noobie scope and doesn't pertain to Nexus 5 specifically. But I wouldn't use that as a rule of thumb. Having used the Sprint Photon 4G, I have respectfully disagree with you on that. Gaining root, mean having admin privilege for the OS not the boot-loader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yeah, but from being able to flash a custom ROM to being able to get root access in your current ROM, there is only one simple step, that is installing SU binaries, and a superuser app. I just didn't want to confuse new users by changing the term used only for one small step.
I'll just adding things as I read through, while I'm not a noob by any mean, that doesn't mean I don't see thing missing out. Since sometime the author fill in the missing gap in his/her head. I know I did that a few time. As I read, I though, hmm "Understanding the Android world before rooting" that's helpful. But after I start reading, it's more like a guide to understand the rooting world of android. I understand that's not the purpose here to teach people android, hopefully not to the general XDA members audience. But I would say the headline isn't exactly saying it right. The you start throwing the term Linux. Sure I understand what it is, at least to my understanding. But, it probably wouldn't hurt to stated the first time the term linux is use that Android is a linux based OS as well. Not just saying root is an equivalent of admin in linux. If you are going to assume that the intended audiences don't know what root is, then you should assume the audience know that the same targeted audiences don't know that Android has a deep relationship with linux as well.
I would put extra emphasis on dealing with fastboot. Yes you can do a major operation w/ fastboot. That said, greater power come greater responsibility. It's much easier to brick your device w/ fastboot and less chance of unbricking from using fastboot than recovery or adb.
someone0 said:
I'll just adding things as I read through, while I'm not a noob by any mean, that doesn't mean I don't see thing missing out. Since sometime the author fill in the missing gap in his/her head. I know I did that a few time. As I read, I though, hmm "Understanding the Android world before rooting" that's helpful. But after I start reading, it's more like a guide to understand the rooting world of android. I understand that's not the purpose here to teach people android, hopefully not to the general XDA members audience. But I would say the headline isn't exactly saying it right. The you start throwing the term Linux. Sure I understand what it is, at least to my understanding. But, it probably wouldn't hurt to stated the first time the term linux is use that Android is a linux based OS as well. Not just saying root is an equivalent of admin in linux. If you are going to assume that the intended audiences don't know what root is, then you should assume the audience know that the same targeted audiences don't know that Android has a deep relationship with linux as well.
I would put extra emphasis on dealing with fastboot. Yes you can do a major operation w/ fastboot. That said, greater power come greater responsibility. It's much easier to brick your device w/ fastboot and less chance of unbricking from using fastboot than recovery or adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Made some modifications. Thanks!
Credited you
Good thing to see this in the N5 section too.
Great job,dude:good:
Well done! Not a noob, but still learned some things.
jd1639 said:
Well done! Not a noob, but still learned some things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They say we never stop learning
abaaaabbbb63 said:
They say we never stop learning
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, I am 76 and learn new things all the time.
Very good and informative post.
While I knew the subject, I read the whole thing just in case I missed something.
The list of ALL the partitions was something I did not know.
:good:
Rooting may or may not void your warranty, depending on where you are. In the EU they cannot refuse warranty for a rooted device, or even a fully 'hacked' phone with unlocked bootloader, rooted and custom ROMed or even in the case of HTCs super CID'ed devices. The exception is if the fault is software related, if you brick it, you lose it, but any hardware fault is still covered.
ChrisM75 said:
Rooting may or may not void your warranty, depending on where you are. In the EU they cannot refuse warranty for a rooted device, or even a fully 'hacked' phone with unlocked bootloader, rooted and custom ROMed or even in the case of HTCs super CID'ed devices. The exception is if the fault is software related, if you brick it, you lose it, but any hardware fault is still covered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still, it does not apply to the whole EU. In countries where the Nexus 5 isn't sold through Google Play, warranty policies may differ. Retailers tend to take advantage of their monopoly over these countries and strip down the warranty coverage, and say that if you modified the software, it goes in the "Unsuitable Usage" category, and they can't do anything to it, not even hardware wise.
Trust me. Retailers know how to crook you with every occasion.
abaaaabbbb63 said:
Still, it does not apply to the whole EU. In countries where the Nexus 5 isn't sold through Google Play, warranty policies may differ. Retailers tend to take advantage of their monopoly over these countries and strip down the warranty coverage, and say that if you modified the software, it goes in the "Unsuitable Usage" category, and they can't do anything to it, not even hardware wise.
Trust me. Retailers know how to crook you with every occasion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They know how to try. Force the issue and they cave in. I went as far as starting court action over this and they then gave in because they know they would lose. Know your rights and use them.
Very useful info. Thanks.
Quick question. I am coming from htc one x. I have fastboot and drivers installed for that device. Will these work for the n5 or do I need to install new specific ones?
columbo67 said:
Very useful info. Thanks.
Quick question. I am coming from htc one x. I have fastboot and drivers installed for that device. Will these work for the n5 or do I need to install new specific ones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They will work for the n5 (I think.... more like 80% sure). Try and see.
I had a question about the void warranty part. Do you know if it rooting/unlocking bootloader voids the warranty in Canada? I'll be getting the Nexus 5 as my first smartphone but would still like to mess around with rooting after a while, but would Google care if I rooted/unlocked the loader? Also, can you unroot/relock the loader?
Thanks.
--- edited to update from a "Should I do this?" post to "This is what I did" -------
There are some nice How To guides here, but it's tough at times to roll in years late to a model and decipher what has been updated, what is now moot, and what newer break-throughs or pitfalls have and haven't percolated back into the threads. That makes sense with the phone no longer being a big focus of effort. I, like the S5, am past my peak. It took me a lot of reading and trying to connect the dots to figure out where to go and how to get there. I've laid it out below FYI.
This worked for me in Aug 2016, on one phone and one only. Probably my first and last s5, I'll move up to the s7 when the 9 or 10 comes out and try to burn through 3 or 4 year old threads to find that ground truth. So no promises, certainly no support from me, no plans for me to maintain this thread. I'm just a knucklehead who nugged his way through, and figured I'd post my cheat sheet rather than just throw it away. I did update it a bit as I went along.
What I had --
Newly refurb'd Verizon S5 phone with 4.4.2 NCG
eMMC is 15
Target -- (I think appropriate for my modest needs)
Root & update to 5.0 PB1 with OD5 bootloader
Method overview --
root 4.4.2 using Towelroot
install SuperSUme from Play store and update binaries
use Flashfire to make backups of original system
use Flashfire to update ROM, kernel, most other software (except bootloader) to PB1
use Odin to update bootloader to OD5 (5.0 but last downgradeable)
use Titanium Backup to debloat & freeze, and to restore my user apps & data from old phone
Wondering whether I have the target right -- PB1 w/ OD5 bootloader?
Marshmallow is initially referred to as unrootable, but there's a recent way to get there . However, it seems a bit more involved - requires unlocking the bootloader and can only be done with eMMC 15, don't try with an 11. I don't know if the juice is worth the squeeze for a lower end user like me. I didn't try.
There are lots of custom ROMs, none that I know of that leap out as something I should focus on rather than just a little update and debloat, given my modest skills and enthusiasm.
I probably don't need to be able to downgrade my bootloader in the future, so I could go full PB1. But the directions I found had the OD5 bootloader baked in already, so I'll run with that.
My "For Me & Other Dummies" guide follows
(not complete yet, I'll round it out before I dummy my way through, and revise here for other dummies after I test drive it)
Good references
Paniac's guide, great overview. NOOB READ THIS!!!
Franzie's How To
muniz_ri's How To Update to G900V_xxx and Keep Root -- this one has a bit of complexity in its life cycle. It is linked to from Paniac's guide as a how to update to PB1, but the thread's original post has since been updated to run all the way up to PF4. PF4 seems to be a bit more hit & miss. However, post #777 (et al?) quotes the original post so the details are preserved there for getting to PB1.
How to migrate stuff from old phone, see the last method with TB
Steps
Charge up the new phone.
Install latest Samsung USB drivers on computer.
Start running Titanium Backup on old phone to update user apps and data, it will take a while.
Turn on the new phone. Don't bother with SIM yet. Connect to your WiFi.
Sign in to Google account and get the Play store working.
Install from Play store: eMMC brick bug checker and Astro File Manager
Run eMMC brick bug checker. If it checks out (15) then good. If it doesn't (11) then don't follow these steps, the bootloader update part will cause you pain.
Prep phone
1. Enable developer options (settings > about phone > click on build 7 times)
2. Enable usb debugging (settings > developer options)
3. Go to settings >security and allow apps from unknown sources
Root with towelroot. See Franzie's How To post #2. Do the SuperSUme steps, too. Some highlights, but read the original post and the screens as they go by.
1. Go to towelroot.com, Click on the lambda to download the file
2. Use Astro to navigate to the download
3. Click on the .apk and use package installer
4. Run towelroot and Make it Rain
5. Install SuperSU from play store
6. Update binaries with Normal
7. Choose to disable Knox
8. Allow reboot
9. Install Root Checker from Play store and run to verify root
Install Flashfire (see here) from Play store.
Install the PB1 ROM. Use Flashfire.....see post #777, be sure to check all downloads using MD5 checksum, see Paniac's Guide post #3
Install the OD5 bootloader. Use Odin.....again, see post #777, and info in Paniac's guide post #3 on Odin
Now you’ll be on Lollipop, 5.0, PB1 but with a bootloader that is downgradeable in the future. It will be a clean install so you’ll have to reinstall things you just put in, e.g. Flashfire and Astro, but SuperSU is in there.
Use Flashfire to create a backup of your new configuration. See here. Put the files somewhere sage to be able to do a fresh install at this point in the future. See also Odin back to stock
Now customize and move in.
1. This is a handy way to start with debloating
2. See also here for things to Freeze (OTA and security notification) and apps to debloat (though some were 16. Install Titanium Backup Pro from Play Store (buy it). It will probably warn about “mount namespace separation” setting. Consider going to SuperSU settings and disabling. Reboot.
Use TB to get your user apps and data in from old phone.
Activate the phone on Verizon -- move their SIM over. See FAQ here (item 1) and begin here
Once all is settled, go to settings >security and unallow apps from unknown sources
If your on ngc with eMMC 15 you can unlock your bootloader and flash custom roms also if you don't go past BOD5 and don't want to unlock your bootloader you can downgrade back to kit kat
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
That worked. Almost smoothly.
I've udpated the first post with what I learned along the way, and am outta here. No more clogging up the bandwidth of the folks that know what they're doing.
No original work on my part, just a decent bit of effort pulling together the bits and pieces from across a number of super helpful postings to figure out what was still on target for me. I'll just leave my notes for whoever might benefit, rather than flush them and leave the next person to have to chase it all down for themself..