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Hey everyone,
I'm new to the unlocking of android world and I need some guidance as to the process on unlocking a phone properly to minimize the chance of bricking the phone.
I have a Motorola RAZR HD XT925 and its just running so horrible. When I connect to Wifi, the phone gets hot and it lags for days. When I'm not on Wifi it still gets its episodes of running so... slow... It is a constant daily piss off and a struggle. I have been trying to read up on the step by step process on unlocking an android phone but I just cant find out the whole process and quite frankly, I'm a little confused as to when to flash certain things. If you guys can help me on the following:
1. The process laid out in steps
2. Best way to backup my phone (copying photos/videos, etc onto computer?)
3. When to root
4. When/how to flash boot loader
5. Which custom ROM is best for my phone which gives tweakability (new english word)
I found this link to a forum discussion on this site here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2247250. I am unsure what do to with all of it and where to start.
My phone is incredibly frustrating at the moment. I keep the phone clean so Im not sure why its acting like a 1980's prototype. I just want all factory **** off and my own custom ROM on it so it can run the way it should.
Thank you all in advance.
Hey, no worry. The best way to back up a phone's internal memory is a nandroid back up and before flashing a custom rom back up your sdcard to your pc. Use cwm recovery to backup the os and all the apps installed on your phone.
When you press the vol+, home and power button your phone goes into recovery mode. From there you need to select apply update from sd card and browse your sd card for cwm.zip file. Use the volume buttons to scroll up and down and the home button to go back to the previous menu. The cwm recovery mode will have an option to backup your phone. Now, before flashing a custom rom download odin packages. These are official firmwares which are flashed via pc. The process is quite easy. Its not essential but advisable since they can help you to recover your phone should you brick it.
Cwm is vital in flashing custom roms. And custom roms are vital in our day to day life. And you really should get rid of that os. Each custom rom has advantages and drawbacks. Read the threads carefully to see if anyone had any problem. Experiment with different roms that have little or no problems. Dont test out new roms that are in development stage until you have got hang of things. Choosing a custom rom is upto the user. Download and try out till you find the right one. All custom roms that i have known are pre rooted. Otherwise it would have been just a factory os. Its very important that you read the instructions carefully when flashing a rom. I really dont know much about bootloader since i never flashed it and i have had my share of experience with custom roms. Dont know if bootloader is essential
I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Thanks!
rambomhtri said:
I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm neither an expert in PCs or Android, so I might just be blowing hot air. I think the difference is that with a PC, it's designed to run Windows, thus Windows (obviously) will work on it (depending on version and processor compatibility). Linux runs because it's designed to run on that hardware. With Android however, everything is manufacturer-specific, and device-specific beyond that. If the firmware and kernel isn't written for that specific device, you'll brick your phone.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda? Maybe? I don't know.
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could come from either. Flashing the wrong recovery (like TWRP for a Galaxy S3 Exynos instead of a Snapdragon model) would brick, and flashing the wrong ROM would brick as well.
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"ROM", in Android parlance, is indeed the OS. Sometimes also referred to as the firmware. Yes, both are misnomers. The use of "ROM" to refer to the OS I think comes from ROM image, when referring to gaming console emulation, but I could be mistake. "Firmware" typically refers to the programming in an electronic device that doesn't have a proper OS, per se. Like a basic mp3 player, VCR, cable modem, microwave oven, etc. It could be argued that Android is indeed a "firmware", by definition, even though "operating system" is more appropriate. Regardless, "ROM", and "firmware", in the Android world, both mean the OS.
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing installs, but installing isn't necessarily flashing. "Flashing" is typically done at the recovery level (or through ADB), in the form of zips, tars, and other formats. It isn't incorrect to say that you installed a Gapps package through recovery, or you installed a newer version of TWRP, even though such actions are commonly known as "flashing". However, one wouldn't say that you flashed Clash of Clans through the Play Store, because that's not what you're doing. Flashing can refer to both firmware and software. For example, you can flash apps (like a Gapps package) TWRP batch back-ups, or even individual apps, and these are all software. You can flash nandroid backups or ROMs, and these are operating systems (and software/data). You can also flash proper firmware, such as radios/modems. You can flash kernels. Again, it's not wrong to say you "installed" it, but saying "flashed" is a more appropriate (in the Android community) and specific term.
rambomhtri said:
I'm kind of expert in the PC/laptop world, but a little rookie in Android and smartphones world. I don't get how a phone can get bricked.
As far as I know, an Android device has internal memory, and a portion of this internal memory is ROM (read-only memory), where the OS/firmware is installed. It's ROM because you don't want to mess around changing things of the OS, because you're not supposed to change things of the OS for the sake of a correct behavior of the phone.
The thing is that if you accidentally mess up something in the OS/firmware, you can, or should be always able to, re-install the OS again and start all over again. I mean, if I delete some Windows files in my PC and completely mess Windows up, I can always turn off the PC, turn it on, go to BIOS menu, boot from a Windows CD and re-install it. No problems at all.
1. So... where's the BIOS in Android? The recovery menu in Android is like the BIOS in Windows?
2. Bricking a phone is like damage the software of the hard disk drive (windows) or is it like mess up the BIOS?
3. Is there any difference between Operative System (android), firmware and ROM?
Well, ROM is memory, a physical drive/electronic device, completely different to a program/software/OS, but I'm referring to the conception you guys usually use (wrong I must say).
4. Why is it said that you flash a firmware, and not you install a firmware? Is it because it's done in a ROM, so it's called then flash?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A BRICKED phone is a phone that can't be fixed,no matter how hard you try.In other words,bricking your phone is altering the OS of your device in a way that causes it to become unusable/inoperable.
A BRICKED phone will not be able to Boot/Display any information/Boot into Recovery Mode.And thus your device turns into a very costly BRICK or Paperweight.
I have never seen any BRICKED device but heard about 2-3 cases here on XDA.I guess there are slight chances of getting your phone bricked until you do something HORRIBLY wrong or you do something,you don't have any idea about.
AFAIU,following factors can lead your device to BRICKING.
1.Overwriting the Firmware of the device or System softwares.
2.Interrupting Firmware update process (Half-written firmware ).E.g. Your device loses power during the process/data cable is pulled out during adb or rooting (That's the reason you get notifications or warnings as “Do not power the device off” when performing firmware updates and "Make sure your Battery is charged")
3.Flashing a ROM/MOD/Kernel that's not compatible to specific Device and Carrier.
Hope this helps!!
Regards
Do tell...
optimusodd said:
A BRICKED phone is a phone that can't be fixed,no matter how hard you try.In other words,bricking your phone is altering the OS of your device in a way that causes it to become unusable/inoperable.
A BRICKED phone will not be able to Boot/Display any information/Boot into Recovery Mode.And thus your device turns into a very costly BRICK or Paperweight.
I have never seen any BRICKED device but heard about 2-3 cases here on XDA.I guess there are slight chances of getting your phone bricked until you do something HORRIBLY wrong or you do something,you don't have any idea about.
AFAIU,following factors can lead your device to BRICKING.
1.Overwriting the Firmware of the device or System softwares.
2.Interrupting Firmware update process (Half-written firmware ).E.g. Your device loses power during the process/data cable is pulled out during adb or rooting (That's the reason you get notifications or warnings as “Do not power the device off” when performing firmware updates and "Make sure your Battery is charged")
3.Flashing a ROM/MOD/Kernel that's not compatible to specific Device and Carrier.
Hope this helps!!
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That being said,
To my understanding so long as you flash your phones specific Kernel after flashing a carrier-incompatible ROM you will not BRICK. That is the only time I've bricked a device. It was an S3 and after 3 days of research I learned an SD card can be used to bring it back to life by basically flashing your .img onto it, albeit I could never boot the device without it again, though I could take it out afterward.
It was strange... but since using that device as a learning toy I believe that is something I learned from the experience, but correct me if I'm fatally wrong please before I get someone in trouble.
trinathaniel said:
That being said, To my understanding so long as you flash your phones specific Kernel after flashing a carrier-incompatible ROM you will not BRICK. That is the only time I've bricked a device. It was an S3 and after 3 days of research I learned an SD card can be used to bring it back to life by basically flashing your .img onto it, albeit I could never boot the device without it again, though I could take it out afterward. It was strange... but since using that device as a learning toy I believe that is something I learned from the experience, but correct me if I'm fatally wrong please before I get someone in trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Short answer: If you can boot into Fastboot Or Recovery mode,you are not Hard bricked and there is still some hope
The scenerio you are talking about is Soft Brick.In this case your device don't boot but you can still get into Recovery.To fix it you boot into Recovery and restore the backup / flash the system image.You don't need to flash a kernel to make it working.
A hard bricked device won't show any sign of life,you won't be able to boot into Fastboot or Recovery to run Fastboot commands / ADB shell commands / Flash any image or zip.
Hope this helps!!
Plug out your Phone on flash Befor he finish boting
optimusodd said:
Short answer: If you can boot into Fastboot Or Recovery mode,you are not Hard bricked and there is still some hope
The scenerio you are talking about is Soft Brick.In this case your device don't boot but you can still get into Recovery.To fix it you boot into Recovery and restore the backup / flash the system image.You don't need to flash a kernel to make it working.
A hard bricked device won't show any sign of life,you won't be able to boot into Fastboot or Recovery to run Fastboot commands / ADB shell commands / Flash any image or zip.
Hope this helps!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally understand what you're conveying and trust and believe when I say I've had my fair share of both types of Brick. What I mean is.... essentially the Kernel is going to be the defining difference between Hard Bricking vs Soft. For instance, I'm using a Note 5 Sprint (SM-N920P). If I were to flash BlahRom_N920T.zip then try and boot to system it'd definitely Hard Brick me, but if I were to flash an N920P Kernel immediately afterwards THEN boot to system out wouldn't. It might be kind of jacked up and buggy, but that's the determining factor as far as I understand.
Long story short:
How do i get my current working android device to revive an identical soft-bricked device. More challenging than you think: there is no boot menu accessible in the devices. Which means the only other choice is to use a usb connection to a PC to perform all tasks, i.e. create a rom system image backup of the working device, then use that to restore the system onto the soft-bricked one.
So is there a way to revive the s/bricked device with a rom image of the working twin?
The long story:
After using the super-sume app, my device got softbricked. Phones of my type are uncommon and are therefore not worked on by the android hacker community as much as flagship devices are. And little is known or discovered about them. So after doing more research, i've sadly come to know that there are other users here and there, having suffered the same problem as I. But enough about that.
As far as i've read and come to understand, i would need to re-flash the firmware to bring it back from it's softbrick issue easiest/safest way.
Though am not sure how the android platform would work. With PCs, i could restore a messed up system from a cloned image. What i need to confirm is if the firmware is separate from the OS (roms i believe) the same way device drivers are separate from the windows OS on PCs.
So am not sure if flashing firmware is enough and would need to stock rom too. Or is the rom considered both firmware and OS all in one?
I mentioned "restore from a clone image backup" because I have another, exact same model of my softbricked device, that functions still properly.
So i wonder if there is a way that i could use my working device to revive the soft-bricked one. In the sense that i would need to make a system image copy of my working one, to restore onto the s/bricked one.
What the problem looks like when starting the phone:
As for the softbrick appearance, the phone boots into the LG logo screen and is frozen there. It doesn't quite look like it's boot looping since the screen Never fades to black quickly just to come right back. It's just frozen there. This recovery mode screen is the only other thing i can get to besides the frozen LG screen: https://wcrates.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/lg-g3-recover-mode.jpg
I've come to learn (but may need correction on) that Tracfone devices are deliberately handicapped in a way i've never seen before. That is, their devices have no other boot type of menu besides the Recovery Menu (found before os begins boot) that is basically a factory reset. It just deletes all user data and resets system settings so that the phone works like it would at first when right out of the box. For the s/bricked device, that screen can be accessed, though executing that just resorts to the frozen boot screen again. If there is a boot menu to backup/restore from, clear cache, install from zip and what not, then please enlighten me. Because as i've tried everything, the tracfone-devices have nothing compared to non-tracfone-devices
So in order to install an updated rom, i may need to get into a type of system boot menu from where i would be able to select the option to install a rom or update it and what not. To some degree i assume that connecting the device through USB to a computer, one may do the same rom installation action through the PC, but it's in cases like these where i would need the help of and expert's first hand experience with such things or ways.
I don't mind if you want to leave a link to some tutorial some other guy has made that may closely related to (if not exactly) to help solve this issue. But i do prefer to get into contact with someone who i can report to with how the solution process is progressing. Mostly because me being a noob at this point of my android experience, but am confident since i've done this with pc's a lot.
I'm still trying to figure out what most of the android community speaks of when it comes to methods of backing up their stock roms and what kinds of software on PC or apps on the device are needed to accomplish a worthy backup. I do realize i'd need ADB and what other LG device compatible PC software out there. Here is a link where i think firmware files can be found, but since it's all in Chinese, i'm not sure how reliable the site is/can be. It's been about a month since i contacted some of their users. At this point it seems like they're no hope:
http://mobile.gaodi.net/Firmware-669539-1-1.html
I hope that i can find success so that i can post it up to help others who are in the same situation as me, and also for the many more who may yet fall into this situation.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Device: LG l21g (aka lgl21g) Destiny (model) by TracFone
Android: 5.0.1
I'm fed up with people on this forum. I keep trying to engage people in a discussion, a conversation to explain some things to me and No one seems willing. It's like there are No Rooting gurus that can answer my simple questions. On a forum full of Android developers, I'm very disappointed, I thought i'd get tons of help. If you read this, Please consider staying to have a discussion/conversation with me.
Preface to The Discussion:
I have used both Android and Linux in the past, I know what Super User is, I use it in Zorin 12 Linux and own a rooted (kingroot) android tablet. I am trying to get information on rooting my Figo Atrium phone by trying to understand Rooting better in general. perhaps this discussion will make since to you and together you can help me find a way to root my phone - But I Must have a back and forth or I'll never understand this. - I know there are many exploits to root a phone used by tools like kingroot. I know these exploits are many and varied depending on your phone's CPU architecture, and software and not all root tools with work with my device. . I know the bootloader has to be unlocked and one must have USB Debugging enabled in Developer Options. I know some phone manufacturers make tools that help you root your phone (MTK Droid Tools) So far, none of these tools can root my phone.
Let's Start The Discussion Here:
I was able to not root but my Upgrade my phone from Lollipop to Marshmallow. I did this using SP Flash Tool and these instructions (which were badly translated and which as you can see by the comments in the video, I had to correct due to bad translation) See this video and comments by me to understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEIJM2YjNzE - I used SP Flash Tool and a Rom Figo provided. After I figured out the botched instructions, I was able to upgrade my device with no problems.
Question 1: Isn't this essentially the same process that is used for Rooting? It proves my bootloader is unlocked and the phone does have the ability to flash a new Rom. <- Based on That, doesn't it seem to you that my phone would be in fact Rootable?
If you think so, tell me why, if you think Not, tell me why.
Question 2: If you think So, then: Someone suggested to me that using a tool like Magisk or SuperSU may be able to root my device. Does this seem likely to you based on what I've told you so far? No one in the SuperSU sub forum can answer this question.
If you think No, then we'll discuss this more. I'll wait for your replies. Thank you.
Rooting is, simply said, placing a 'su' binary in the system folder. SU means switch user, when you give that command you're instructing Android to give you root user privileage. OEM's don't want that to happen so they won't include it in their ROMs. Tools like supersu are made to copy that 'su' file to the system partition. There are a lot of ways to explain this, I'm just giving you something quick and easy to understand.
Now regarding your questions;
1) Flashing anything requires the bootloader to be unlocked on most phones. BUT MTK phones don't. (Except some HTC phones). SP Flash Tool can flash any partition without needing to unlock. It's dangerous security wise, but this means its also easier to root.
Infact all MTK phones are rootable. So don't worry about that.
2) How to root? The best way to root is with supersu. (You can also try magisk if you want to use Android Pay).
You need a custom recovery like TWRP first.
I found one here which is for your same CPU. https://www.needrom.com/download/twrp-recovery-13/
^I am just giving you a link to recovery which uses the same CPU so It may or may not work. PLEASE take a backup of your original recovery before doing anything.
Now download SuperSU zip file from here https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/supersu/download/zip/SuperSU-v2.82-201705271822.zip
Don't open it, just keep it in your sd card.
Flash the recovery using SP Flash Tool (check only the recovery box and select this file). Now unplug the phone and press Volume Up+Power Button to boot into recovery.
Then if it says swipe to allow modifications, swipe.
Now goto Install->Select the Supersu.zip file you downloaded->Swipe and reboot.
That's it! You're rooted!
Thanks.. again, you've answered things others couldn't. Much appreciated.
You say, " You need a custom recovery like TWRP first.
I found one here which is for your same CPU. https://www.needrom.com/download/twrp-recovery-13/
^I am just giving you a link to recovery which uses the same CPU so It may or may not work. PLEASE take a backup of your original recovery before doing anything."
Lets say Twrp doesn't work. What is this for, just to re-flash your original rom in case twrp fails at making a backup? ( I assume the tool makes your installed rom flashable in case the root doesn't work and you need to revert back to your original system) I have the SP Tool and the Rom for Marshmallow that works with my device from Figo. Can I use that if Twrp fails - or am I not understanding what twrp is used for? Just checking before I start this. Otherwise, I'll try to follow your instructions to the letter and see what happens.
Still Looking ?
STILL Looking? IF so, a few thoughts .... It is a nice phone for the price. The newer version eventually coming out looks even nicer, and for now, it is still my backup phone to my Figo Gravity. Discovered Figos when I got totally fed up with BLU phones.
ONE - If you have upgraded your Atrium to Marshmallow, as I did, none of the rooting methods that worked on Lollipop will work, so forget about them.
TWO - Down in Developer Settings you need to make sure OEM unlocking is allowed.
THREE - ASSUMING you have a TWRP build that will work, it is pretty simple. Take the ROM image that FIGO sent you and replace the "recovery.img" file with the TWRP (re-name it recovery.img and save the old one as recovery.old JUST IN CASE) file. It will be much larger than the factory ROM recovery image and that's fine. The scatter table, if you read hex addresses, provides for enough space to do this. Flash ONLY the recovery (TWRP) image, and be sure to DOWNLOAD ONLY with the SP FLASH tool. If uncertain, DO NOT PROCEED. It can be a real pain in the arse to re-do things if you accidentally format or upgrade things you didn't mean to. ASSUMING that worked, you can boot into TWRP by holding down the power / volume buttons (I assume you are familiar with this sequence).
FOUR - it is entirely possible that the next time you boot the thing normally, TWRP will be blown away. Happened to me a few times. There is some setting down in the boot image that causes this and I will have to dig up my notes to see exactly what the heck it was. It required taking apart the boot image - I used Carliv - fixing the one setting, and then re-packing and re-flashing it, BUT, you can ALWAYS keep replacing the TWRP image as needed. Inconvenient, but better than a sharp stick in the eye.
FIVE - when booted into TWRP, you should be able to flash SU, which will give you root, and it should STAY rooted after that unless and until you uninstall SU. FLASHIFY is STRONGLY recommended as a VERY useful app for rooted devices. TWRP, if you are unfamiliar with it, is SO MUCH MORE than just a recovery replacement. Handiest whole device backup there is. Has saved my bacon on several devices through numerous acts of personal stupidity. :crying:
SIX - IF ALL ELSE FAILS, you can ALWAYS revert to the factory image ROM. Just DOWNLOAD ONLY rather than Upgrade and DO NOT Format.
Team Win Recovery Project
Code:
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
/*
* Your warranty is now void.
*
* I am not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards,
* thermonuclear war, or you getting fired because the alarm app failed. Please
* do some research if you have any concerns about doing this to your device
* YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if
* you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you.
*/
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
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"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Disclaimer:
- I am not responsible about any damage of any kind that this custom binary may cause.
- Please read the whole main post & related ones before proceed and follow the guide as it is wrote. I will not offer support for any issues that have been already stated.
- Your Knox Warranty Bit will be blown once you flash this or others custom binaries, preventing you to use Knox TZ Features. It can't be resetted in any way, so think twice before flashing this.
- Bugs can be reported here in XDA or via our Telegram Group. Please be more clear as possible and make sure you provide detailed info when reporting bugs (device variant and logcat).
- If you like my work please hit the "Thanks" button to support me. You're also free to donate me via my donation link here in XDA.
What is TWRP?
Oh come on, you know what it is - don't try to fool me!
In case you're serious, though...
Team Win Recovery Project is a custom recovery for Android devices.
It allows you to back up and restore your data, flash custom ROMs to your device, repair broken file systems, root your device and more.
Read more about TWRP here: https://twrp.me/about/
How to flash and setup it completely?
- First, make sure your phone isn't RMM Locked.
- Download Odin3 v3.13.1, Samsung USB Drivers, latest TWRP's tar for your variant, latest no-verity-opt-encrypt zip and RMM Bypass v3 zip.
- Go to Settings App, Developer Options and enable OEM Unlock (If you don't see Developer Setings, go into About phone>Software info and tap "Build number" 10 times to show Developer Options menu).
- Do a backup of all your important data and files in your phone.
- Shutdown the phone. Once it's off, Power it On in Download Mode (Press and hold Power, Vol + and Vol - buttons together)
- Connect your phone in your PC, open Odin3, go in Option section and untick "Auto-reboot". Once that click the "AP" button and select the TWRP tar you downloaded before, then press the "Start" button.
- Once Odin3 finished to flash the recovery (you should see a "PASS" message), force reboot your phone (Press and hold Power and Vol - buttons together) and once the screen is off, press and hold Power and Vol + buttons together to boot in TWRP.
- Once TWRP is booted you first need to decrypt your /data partition. To do so touch Wipe>Format Data and follow the instructions in screen.
- Once it finished go back at the home screen and touch Reboot>Recovery. TWRP should be able to mount your data partition. Now copy the no-verity-opt-encrypt and RMM Bypass zip you downloaded before and flash them (touch Install and select each zip to flash it)
- You're now able to reboot to your OS without re-encrypting /data partition and without RMM Prenormal lock.
Download:
Galaxy A8 2018 (jackpotlte):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxya82018.html
Galaxy A8+ 2018 (jackpot2lte):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxya8plus2018.html
Sources:
Kernel Source Code: https://github.com/devkingsteam/android_kernel_samsung_universal7885/
Device Tree (jackpotlte): https://github.com/TeamWin/android_device_samsung_jackpotlte
Device Tree (jackpot2lte): https://github.com/TeamWin/android_device_samsung_jackpot2lte
Changelog:
Check Post #2.
A8 2018 Community Telegram Group:
Invite Link
Credits:
- Samsung for kernel source code
- TeamWin for their awesome recovery
- @ananjaser1211 and @McFy for their help and support
- @SaboorTheCool for testing out the recovery
XDA:DevDB Information
TWRP for Galaxy A8+ 2018, Tool/Utility for the Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018)
Contributors
BlackMesa123
Source Code: https://github.com/TeamWin
Version Information
Status: Stable
Current Stable Version: 3.3.1-0
Stable Release Date: 2019-05-20
Created 2018-07-18
Last Updated 2019-06-17
Changelog:
Note that this page only includes device-specific changes. For global TWRP changes, go to twrp.me.
20180921 (3.2.3-0)
- Updated kernel source code
- Fixed USB OTG
- Enabled FBE support (general AOSP only, Samsung method is still not supported)
20180730 (3.2.3-0)
- Removed /preload from partitions table
- Added /system_image (raw system partition backup)
- Enabled software encryption support (general AOSP only, Samsung method is still not supported)
20180718 (3.2.2-0)
- First release
Reserved
Plan to do nightlies for TWRP?
SRIHARI_GUY said:
Plan to do nightlies for TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, gonna update it just if omni/A8 sources gets updated
TWRP 3.2.3 released. Enjoy!
Will this work with A8+ oreo?
Bad.Server said:
Will this work with A8+ oreo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP isn't built for a specific OS since it's totally separated from OS, so it works on all of them if there aren't significately changes in bootloader/kernel. Even if it was, mine is compiled with latest Oreo kernel source code and based on omniROM 8.1, so...
I lost mobile network?
Hi all. I have an unlocked A8+. I rooted when I had Nougat. I installed the oreo firmware from Columbia and the phone works great. I like the enhancements. I followed the instructions to install the new twrp. Took a bit but got magisk working and root explorer but had issues with busy box and titanium bkup. No biggie. The issue I had is the when I went to send a text I got an error and then I noticed I had no signal. So I checked and low and behold I had no mobile networks in the connections list. Does anyone have a clue as to why it disappeared? Did I miss something? I tried it 2 times with the same result. And help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. OEM unlock is enabled as well as USB debugging enabled also.
Really proud to announce my request to became the official TWRP Maintainer for Galaxy A8/A8+ 2018 has been accepted! You can download the new build of TWRP directly from twrp.me now.
BlackMesa123 said:
Really proud to announce my request to became the official TWRP Maintainer for Galaxy A8/A8+ 2018 has been accepted! You can download the new build of TWRP directly from twrp.me now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good work
Help Flash odin erro
Flash odin file twrp 3.2.3 erro “only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed” help me..
vantanvu0804 said:
Flash odin file twrp 3.2.3 erro “only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed” help me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please read and follow the RMM State guide linked in OP.
Congrats on getting Official xD
vantanvu0804 said:
Flash odin file twrp 3.2.3 erro “only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed” help me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to me.
had to download and install the whole firmware.
downloaded from this
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-a8-plus/how-to/pie-a8-pie-a730fxxu4csb9-t3908703
probably happened because I still have RMM lock (can't do anything to unlock) in oreo. Bootloader got unlocked in Pie so I thought i can now flash custom binaries. Turns out, you still can't
Its been a long time since I had this phone, June 2018 when I had my first "A" series phone. Since then, I'm planning to root it right away but reading a bunch of forum saying new security patch that samsung did some tells its worst than frp locked something about rmm locked and they say if it happens, theres no way to fix the device unless you have to wait for 7 days without turning off the phone and stay connected and after a week of waiting the "OEM Unlock" option will now be available. There after, with that option now ticked you can now proceed to the common thing here in xda usually do, which is "FLASHING" after that is "CUSTOMIZING" for us to have a unique device amongst others and also enhancing anything to the very limit can handle, system app we only need without those useless bloatwares...
Flashing, rooting and customizing sure is fun and satisfies our needs but it comes with risk. Even we have same device model flashing custom rom in other but same device can experience bugs and some are not, some will experience less issue and some even worst so that caution about the disclaimer always there and proceeding means you take the risk and if something went wrong you're the one responsible and no one but your self will be the only person to blame so if you have no idea what you're doing just stop for a while.
If you really want to start rooting your phone just like me, all you need to do is read, study and understand every aspect, because in some complicated proceedure, there's no room for error and you'll end up crying with a dead phone...
Few months ago from time to time of visiting xda, I have a positive feeling and also I'm completely aware that I can now flash my A8+ 2018 without a doubt, just a piece of cake!
While reviewing step by step, downloaded everything, preparing for every "what if" then the problem came up...
Well, just a little problem, but that small little problem thing suddenly stop me to proceed.
(Read more)
To fully understand the procedure, it took me time, very long waiting time. Passing almost a year now and I'm still stock with the same phone running also in stock os.
Although it's in the "mid-end" phone, having such as this device for almost a year was long enough to love it, enough to get used to it.
Until now, this mid-end phone with stock Android 8.0.0 official operating system runs impressively very smooth and not a single issue ever experienced and to be honest, it exceeds my expectations but still, there's a limitation and that's the customization. To make it possible, I need privilege access to these "four letters" R O O T.
We all know that with a stock os, accessing root surely not possible, it need the superuser (su) to grant permission to access the root and installing su ofcourse is not just like the ordinary apk that can easily be installed, it needs to be flash manually but not in odin. It will be flash in recovery mode but flashing it there still be impossible because that su.zip file cannot be flashed with the stock recovery, you need to modify the recovery mode... Do you how to mdofy it? Well, if you can, that's good and you will have a unique version of it, but me? No way I can modified it...
So, to those people like me who cannot make a customized recovery, NO WORRIES! good news for us because xda geniuses made us for free, custom recovery like twrp, hurray!
It must be flashed via odin, after flashing twrp you can now flash su and congrats, your done rooting...
How I wish rooting todays device was that easy do...
BUT IT'S NOT!
IT'S GETTING MUCH COMPLICATED NOW...
THANKS TO THE GENIUSES HERE IN THE XDA!
Like what I said, it took me too long to fully understand, long enough to like it a lot that putting lots of apps, games, gig to gig files in my secured folder, dozen of duplicated media apps and multiple accounts, in short "LOTS OF THINGS" and for me all those are important and I can't afford to lose a single file...
In the step by step procedure, when everything was already correct settings and before to click and start the flashing of twrp recovery via odin there's instructed or warning that must not be ignored, something like this:
BE SURE "AUTO-REBOOT" IS NOT CHECKED and then after the successful flashing and see the PASS message, force reboot your phone (Press and hold Power and Vol -+ buttons together) and once the screen is off, press and hold Power and Vol + buttons together to boot in TWRP.
Not following the "EXCACT" instruction? Well, it still boot hopefully to normal but then if you try to check if the custom recovery is there... SURPRISE! Nothing's new! Just the same old samsung recovery and you just made your newly flashed recovery useless because it will revert back to stock recovery, instantly replace the twrp recovery you've flashed. That's the reason it have to force reboot to recovery mode.
But there's more, if you start the procedure without enabling the OEM Unlocked somehow kick-in the device "enhanced" security and trip the RMM "TO LOCKED" (not locked yet but it will as soon as the device reboot) if that happens, your'e in some kind of trouble now because at that moment the OEM automatically locked meaning the bootloader will also locked and also means NO FLASHING CAN BE MADE and there's no way the OEM to unlocked because the "OEM Unlocked" option in the developer setting will removed and "UNABLE" to access it for exactly 7 days and forcing odin to flash it again without waiting the said time not an option because doing so while OEM is locked will trip next the Factory Reset Protection aka FRP Locked and it's very hassle. Doing it again and again will not help, the 7 days period will only reset 0 so if it happen, just be patient.
Now back to:
BE SURE "AUTO-REBOOT" IS NOT CHECKED
after successfully flashing your custom recovery it will manage to reboot to your new recovery which is twrp (preferably latest)
Next step to do is yet very simple and easy up to the last step of the procedure...
Its been a long time since I had this phone, June 2018 when I had my first "A" series phone. Since then, I'm planning to root it right away but reading a bunch of forum saying new security patch that samsung did some tells its wosrt than frp lovked something about rmm locked and they say if it happens, theres no way to fix the device unless you have to wait for 7 days without turning off the phone and stay connected and after a week of waiting the "OEM Unlock" option will now be available. There after, with that option now ticked you can now proceed to the common thing here in xda usually do, our only and always be our favorite to do... which is "FLASHING" after that is "CUSTOMIZING" for us to have a unique device amongst others and also enhancing anything to the very limit can handle, having an app that we need and removes those useless bloatwares...
Flashing, rooting and customizing sure is fun and satisfies your needs but it comes with risk. Even we have same device model flashing custom rom some device can face bugs some is not, some will experience less issue and some even worst so that caution about the disclaimer always there and proceeding means you take the risk and no one but your self will be the only person to blame so if you have no idea what you're doing just stop for a while.
Like me, if you really want to make it happen, all you need to do is read, study and understand, because in some complicated proceedure, there's no room for error and you'll end up crying with a dead phone...
Few months ago from time to time visiting xda, I have a positive feeling and completely aware that I can now flash my A8+ 2018 without a doubt, just a piece of cake!
While reviewing step by step, downloaded everything, preparing for every "what if" then the problem came up...
Well, just a little problem, but that small little problem thing stops me to proceed.
(Read more)
To fully understand the procedure and , it took me time, very long waiting time. Passing almost a year now and I'm still stock with the same phone running also in stock os.
Although it's in the "mid-end" phone, having such as this device for almost a year was long enough to love it, enough to get used to it.
Until now, this mid-end phone with stock Android 8.0.0 official operating system runs impressively very smooth and not a single issue ever experienced and to be honest, it exceeds my expectations but still, there's a limitation and that's the customization. To make it possible, I need access to these "four letters" R O O T.
Accessing it is not possible, I need the superuser to grant me permission to access the root and su ofcourse is not just like the ordinary apk that can easily be installed, it will be flash, not in odin but recovery but flashing it will not be possible because that su.zip file cannot be flashed with the stock recovery, but custom recovery can like twrp.
It must be flashed via odin, after flashing twrp you can now flash su and congrats, your done rooting...
How I wish rooting todays device was that easy do...
BUT IT'S NOT!
IT'S GETTING MUCH COMPLICATED NOW...
THANKS TO THE GENIUSES HERE IN THE XDA!
Like what I said, it took me too long to fully understand, long enough to like it a lot that putting lots of apps, games, gig to gig files in my secured folder, dozen of duplicated media apps and multiple accounts, in short "LOTS OF THINGS" and for me all those are important and I can't afford to lose a single file...
In the step by step procedure, when everything was already correct settings and before to click and start the flashing of twrp recovery via odin there's instructed or warning that must not be ignored, something like this:
BE SURE "AUTO-REBOOT" IS NOT CHECKED and then after the successful flashing and see the PASS message, force reboot your phone (Press and hold Power and Vol -+ buttons together) and once the screen is off, press and hold Power and Vol + buttons together to boot in TWRP.
Not following the "EXCACT" instruction? Well, it still boot hopefully to normal but then if you try to check if the custom recovery is there... SURPRISE! Nothing's new! Just the same old samsung recovery and you just made your newly flashed recovery useless because it will revert back to stock recovery, instantly replace the twrp recovery you've flashed. That's the reason it have to force reboot to recovery mode.
But there's more, if you start the procedure without enabling the OEM Unlocked somehow kick-in the device "enhanced" security and trip the RMM "TO LOCKED" (not locked yet but it will as soon as the device reboot) if that happens, your'e in some kind of trouble now because at that moment the OEM automatically locked meaning the bootloader will also locked and also means NO FLASHING CAN BE MADE and there's no way the OEM to unlocked because the "OEM Unlocked" option in the developer setting will removed and "UNABLE" to access it for exactly 7 days and forcing odin to flash it again without waiting the said time not an option because doing so while OEM is locked will trip next the Factory Reset Protection aka FRP Locked and it's very hassle. Doing it again and again will not help, the 7 days period will only reset 0 so if it happen, just be patient.
Now back to:
BE SURE "AUTO-REBOOT" IS NOT CHECKED
after successfully flashing your custom recovery it will manage to reboot to your new recovery which is twrp (preferably latest)
***Next step to do is very simple and easy up to the last step of the procedure...
Once TWRP is booted you first need to decrypt your /data partition. To do so touch Wipe>Format Data and follow the instructions in screen.
Can do it with a couple of swipes to wipe (format data), reboot to recovery again flash su, flash no-verity and also RMM bypass zip just for sure... after that fun stuff can now be available, flash custom roms, blah.. blah.. etc. Boot normally without worries.
About the:
" ***Next step to do is very simple and easy "(above)
Yet very simple and very easy, that's the actual problem dive-in...
As I've mentioned above about having this device from such time and putting lots of apps, games, gig to gig files in my secured folder, dozen of duplicated media apps and multiple accounts, in short "LOTS OF THINGS"
The next step was about formatting and it's a must thing to do to make it work and using unrooted device is impossible to make NANdroid backup, the 64Gb internal storage were almost full and because of that it makes much harder backing-up...
Any advise?
Please help...
@BlackMesa123, please build latest twrp for A8 star, source https://github.com/sabpprook/android_device_samsung_astarqlte
mark0021 said:
bla bla bla...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the answer is no of course, if you don't wipe your /data partition it will be unreadable from TWRP, equals you can't flash anything that needs to write data in that partition, like Magisk itself. Was it necessary to write that whole post when all you're asking is just a way to avoid /data partition wiping? You basically blamed the "master XDA devs" (which I feel like I'm part of it, sort-of) because "they made the steps for root so hard". I imagine you know "we" aren't the "bad guys that wanna make you lose your precious time" and if I wrote all those steps to follow in the main post (that you copy-pasted twice in your post, without any sense I'd add since users can read the steps from there instead of reading a 1500 lines post) are there because... they are needed? You even noticed and wrote yourself that if you miss one you break something in the way and you get no TWRP if you don't follow all the steps correctly... Wanna blame someone? Then blame the OEMs that add all those security features instead of blaming people that dedicated their time to bypass those and bring you custom softwares for your phone.
inunxelex said:
@BlackMesa123, please build latest twrp for A8 star, source https://github.com/sabpprook/android_device_samsung_astarqlte
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but I'm not interested on that phone (since I don't even own it), ask the device tree maintainer to do that.
pls someone help me. Everytime I install TWRP through odin my entire system wipes, and in TWRP it recognizes as 0mb. How can I install TWRP without wiping the entire phone?