Related
Since the original link to this guide is buried in another thread, I've re-posted it here (and the guide in full) in order to help people that might've missed it. The latest version of the guide will always be available at http://www.karrderized.com/romguide/ however, and is a more printable version as well, so please check there too.
Installing the Hero ROM on your HTC Magic
Version 1.2 - 13 August 2009 - by KarrdeNZ
Disclaimer: I am not responsible if you brick your phone. This is only a guide. These instructions have worked for me, but there is no guarantee that they will for you as well. Follow this guide at your own risk.
Feel free to print off this guide if it makes things easier to follow. Please do not, however, steal this guide and claim it as your own. Updates to this guide will be posted here - http://www.karrderized.com/romguide/ - link, but don't steal. Thanks.
Things you'll need
Back up your settings
Installing the Android SDK
Determine your phone's version
Download the correct recovery ROM for your version
Download the correct Hero ROM for your version
Setting up the fastboot connection
Boot the recovery ROM
Back up your phone with Nandroid
Wipe your phone
Load your new ROM
Boot into your new ROM
Things to note
Acknowledgements
Changelog
1 . Things you'll need
A HTC Magic phone (obviously) running Cupcake (1.5) and with a SD card
A USB cable for your HTC Magic
A PC. These instructions assume you're running a Windows variant, though the same procedures can be performed on a Linux machine. Don't ask me about Macs. If you're running Windows, note whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit OS, it becomes relevant later on.
The Android SDK - current release as of this writing is 1.5 Release 3, available here.
Recovery ROM - Which particular one you want to use will depend on your phone's version (I'll cover this later on).
A signed Hero ROM to install. Again, this is version dependent.
Got all that? Good.
2. Back up your settings
Now, before we start, back up. I'm of the opinion that you can never have too many backups. Take a copy of everything on your phone's SD card, make sure your contacts etc are synced, any apps you want that you can't easily get back from the Market are backed up, all that stuff.
Another thing you should note are the APN settings for your particular provider. These are in Settings, Wireless Controls, Mobile Networks, Access Point Names. You may have multiple APNs listed - go into each one and note down all the settings. You'll likely need to re-enter these manually once you've installed your new firmware.
Once you're satisfied you've got everything backed up, we can start setting up our environment.
3. Installing the Android SDK
Download the latest release of the Android SDK - here at the time of writing - for your relevant OS. I'll be using Windows from here on in. Extract the .ZIP file to somewhere convenient - I've got mine on my C: drive under C:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3. We need the SDK for the tools it provides in the tools subfolder, fastboot in particular, as well as the USB drivers for your phone.
4. Determine your phone's version
As of this writing, there are two distinct versions of the HTC Magic - PVT32A and PVT32B. The primary differences between these two versions is the amount of RAM (288MB on the 32A, 192MB on the 32B) and the radio (Qualcomm MSM7200a for the 32A, Qualcomm MSM7201a for the 32B). Generally, if your phone is HTC branded, it's a 32A, and if it's carrier branded (Google, Vodafone, etc) it's a 32B. Mine's a PVT32B from Vodafone NZ. But let's find out for sure what yours is.
Grab your phone and turn it off. Now, while holding the Back button down, power it back on. Your phone should now boot to a screen with a white background, some lines of text, and some skateboarding androids at the bottom. Welcome to fastboot.
The first few lines on the screen, in green, are what we're looking for. Mine reads as follows:
Code:
SAPPHIRE PVT 32B SHIP S-ON G
HBOOT-1.33.0004 (SAP10000)
CPLD-10
RADIO-2.22.19.26I
Apr 9 2009,23:30:40
Yours will likely differ slightly. The number we're looking for is in that very first line - PVT 32B in my case. Make a note of this. The next item we're looking for is the second line, which indicates your SPL version. Some SPL versions do not allow ROM flashing, notably those of T-Mobile's myTouch3G variant of the HTC Magic. At this writing, HBOOT-1.33.0006 and HBOOT-1.33.0010 are the two known "perfect SPL" versions that do not allow flashing. If you have either of those versions, stop now. There is a complicated procedure you will need to follow first.
Otherwise, for now you can turn your phone back off (by pressing MENU).
5. Download the correct recovery ROM for your version
Head to this thread and download the recovery ROM for your particular phone version, as we determined in step 4. Save it in the tools subdirectory of the Android SDK (in my case, C:\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3\tools).
6. Download the correct Hero ROM for your version
If you have a 32A, this thread should help you find a signed ROM (I'd suggest Fatality's Hero ROM): here
If you have a 32B like me, try Qteknology's Hero port here- the swap version is the fastest Hero ROM I've found so far. It does however require you to repartition your SD card in order to provide swap space to speed the ROM up - a guide for this is available from the linked forum post.
Note I have only tested the one I linked for the 32B as that's the version I have. Download whichever ROM you need to somewhere handy, and rename it to update.zip. Please note: if you have file extension display turned off (default in XP) then just rename the file to update instead - the .zip extension will already be set. Once you've done this, copy it to the root directory of your phone's SD card. You can do this using the standard USB connection system that the phone provides, or if you prefer using a card reader.
7. Setting up the fastboot connection
Start your phone in fastboot mode as we did in step 4 (hold down Back while turning the phone on). Once the fastboot screen is up on the phone, plug the phone into your computer with the USB cable.
At this stage, my computer asked for drivers for the phone - these are included with the Android SDK, in the usb_driver subdirectory. Users with 32-bit versions of Windows should use the drivers in the x86 subdirectory under that, and 64-bit versions should use those in the amd64 subdirectory. Once the drivers have installed, leave the phone attached to your PC - you're ready to proceed with booting the recovery ROM.
[Guide] Installing the Hero Rom on your HTC Magic - part 2
8. Boot the recovery ROM
We're going to use the Android SDK's fastboot utility in combination with fastboot mode on the phone to perform a one-off boot of the recovery ROM so that we can back up the existing setup, wipe the phone and then load the new ROM. At this stage, it would be wise to make sure you've synced contacts and backed up whatever you want to hold onto.
Open a command prompt window on your PC (Start, Run, cmd) and change to the tools subdirectory of where you installed the Android SDK, for example:
Code:
cd\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3\tools
The prompt should change to indicate you're now in that directory. Now we make sure the phone is properly configured to communicate through fastboot. Type the following:
Code:
fastboot devices
If you see your device listed, we're about ready to go. Let's boot into the recovery ROM:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery-RAv1.2.0G.img
If the recovery ROM you downloaded is named differently, substitute it's name for recovery-RAv1.2.0G.img.
All going well, your phone should kick into the recovery ROM now - you'll come to a pretty green texted menu with the HTC logo in the background. This ROM is being loaded via the fastboot software and is NOT on your phone, just in it's memory. We have yet to make any modifications to your phone at all.
9. Back up your phone with Nandroid
Let's make one more backup to be safe. The recovery ROM we booted into provides us with Nandroid backup and restore, which we can use to backup the firmware and data currently on the phone to the SD card.
On your phone, use the trackball to scroll down to Nandroid v2.2 backup and click. This will start the backup process, and you'll see some yellow text start to appear at the bottom of the phone's screen. Once it's complete, you have a backup.
Use the trackball to select the Reboot system now option and click. It should load back into it's normal firmware. You can now mount the SD card as usual and copy the nandroid directory from the SD card to your computer. This is also a prime opportunity to back up your entire SD card.
10. Wipe your phone
WARNING: This is the absolute LAST point at which you can back out of this procedure. After this, it's all or nothing. Proceed at your own risk.
Boot your phone back into fastboot with USB attached (see step 4) and then load the recovery ROM again:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery-RAv1.2.0G.img
Use the trackball to move down to Wipe data/factory reset. This will erase all the data on your phone, ready for you to install the new ROM. Click. Congratulations, you have just wiped your phone! You are now ready to load your new ROM.
11. Load your new ROM
Still in the recovery ROM menu, scroll to Apply sdcard:update.zip. This process extracts the ROM from the update.zip file we placed on your SD card earlier and installs it onto your phone. It may take a little while so be patient. It'll tell you when it's done.
12. Boot into your new ROM
Select the Reboot system now option and click. Your phone will now restart with it's shiny new ROM! First boots can take a while, so bear with it. You'll probably see a new splash screen or two on startup, and eventually you'll get into your phone. You may or may not be prompted with a request about giving an app root access on your first boot - you can safely Always Allow this, as it's writing a swap file to your SD card in an effort to speed things up. You'll also need to go through the setup process on the phone again as if it were new, because for all intents and purposes it is. This includes setting up your Google account syncing, as well as the new Hero functionality such as your Facebook, Flickr and Twitter integration (if you so desire).
And from here on out, it's all up to you! Enjoy your new firmware, make it your own. There's some great new functionality in Hero over the standard Magic firmware.
13. Things to note
This firmware isn't perfect. I'm loving it and see myself using it from here on in, but there are some quirks. These may or may not be fixed with your particular versions of ROM, especially once this guide has aged a little, but I'll try and keep it up to date.
The main thing you'll likely notice (especially if you're using a 32B like me) is the slowness. There's a lot going on with this new ROM so lag is fairly common. The phone will speed up a bit once you've used it some more, so bear with it. Your initial setups and playing around will be slow because of initial caching and your non-typical use of the phone, but this should clear up. Various ROMs have tried for workarounds for this, for example Qteknology's Hero port uses a swap partition on your SD card to help speed things up. CompCache is also a popular method, but my own experience with CompCache hasn't been very successful.
There are also reports of SMS messages sometimes not arriving on the latest Qteknology ROM - I mostly didn't experience this until recently, but it seems to be an occasional issue. The ROM builders are working hard on the issues they come across so fingers crossed for resolution on this one.
14. Acknowledgements
This guide wouldn't exist without the xda-developers forum. The bits and pieces I gathered from thereabouts are what I used to run this procedure on my phone, and hence build this guide. The people there are much more experts at this than I am, so I defer to their wisdom.
I must also give props to Jesse of Radix's Gadget Blog. His instructions were incredibly helpful in getting my head around what exactly to do.
And also to papalazarou, whose forum thread prompted me to write this guide.
- KarrdeNZ
15. Changelog
Version 1.2 - 13 August 2009
Added Changelog
Updated links and references to ROMs to account for new versions
Changed ROM recommendations to Qtek for 32B based on personal experience
Removed references to now fixed bugs, added reference to SMS bug on Qtek's ROM
Added "perfect SPL" note
Version 1.1 - 29 July 2009
Added note about update.zip naming with regard to file extensions
Added SD card issue
Version 1.0
Initial release
First rate stuff mate, thanks very much. Now all I need is the new release of Jerp's ROM and I'll be embarking upon my first upgrade. Makes so much difference having everything you need in one coherent place. This post really should be stickied.
+1 for sticky.
Needs to be in one place, will cut down on 'how do i' and 'where can i find' threads
(note i said cut down, and not cut out lol)
This applies to all roms actually.
Great write-up! Thx for the effort, this will surely be handy in all other topics, where these questions are asked again and again (logically IMHO, as it isn't basic stuff for everyone).
Well done!
Now that is a quality tutorial cheers!
+1 sticky
I had posted these replies elsewhere before I realised you had posted the guide in it's own thread. I've run into a problem and it's really confusing me as to why it's not working
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KarrdeNZ, mate I followed your guide to the letter. I got all the way down to step 11 and then a problem occurred.
When I clicked 'Apply sdcard:update.zip' it just said cannot find or cannot load update.zip, or something like that, then said operation aborted?
I was trying to install the EXACT same ROM as you, I downloaded it to my laptop, renamed it update.zip and moved it to the root of the SD card.
Yet it didn't work, I can't for the life of me think where it's gone wrong as everything else up to that point had gone smoothly.
Any idea's?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well I tried downloading the same file again. No luck this time either!
This is what it says when I click the install from sdcard button:
--install from sdcard...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
E: Can't open /sdcard/update.zip
(no such file or directory)
Installation aborted.
Now I get that it's saying that it can't find the file but I really don't understand why? I mean the file is there, do I have to unzip the file onto my computer 1st and then put it on the sdcard?
I thought i just stuck the zipped file onto the root of the card making sure i renamed it 'update.zip'
Please help me out guys, thanks.
i did have the same issues, sorted it by:
Formatting the sd card (fat32)
Changing the permissions on the zip file
Moving files to the sdcard then sticking the sdcard into another computer to check that the files had been moved.
And it worked!
Roy_Drage said:
When I clicked 'Apply sdcard:update.zip' it just said cannot find or cannot load update.zip, or something like that, then said operation aborted?
I was trying to install the EXACT same ROM as you, I downloaded it to my laptop, renamed it update.zip and moved it to the root of the SD card.
Yet it didn't work, I can't for the life of me think where it's gone wrong as everything else up to that point had gone smoothly.
Any idea's?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't know if this is the exact same error, but i had a similar situation and it freaked me out, all you have to do (in my situation) is wait a few seconds or so. i think the phone is still in the process of mounting the SD card or initializing the card component. give it a few seconds (30 sec) and try the update again.
I formatted the card in the phone before I started, did u format yours in the actual computer itself?
Also how do I change the permissions on the zip file?
n1ck75 said:
i did have the same issues, sorted it by:
Formatting the sd card (fat32)
Changing the permissions on the zip file
Moving files to the sdcard then sticking the sdcard into another computer to check that the files had been moved.
And it worked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is 5 star
thanx works gr8
Excellent guide. All the other tutorials/guides/instructions totally went over my head. Yours was extremely clear and easy to understand. Two thumbs up!
Excellent
Thank you for an excellent guide.
KarrdeNZ said:
I must also give props to Jesse of Radix's Gadget Blog. His instructions were incredibly helpful in getting my head around what exactly to do.
- KarrdeNZ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet.. I get a mention! Glad my guide helped you get started and now you're writing a guide too to help others - this is what a community is all about!!!!
KarradeNZ - you've made a great start to a guide here - but I really think this should all be in the XDA Wiki so everyone can contribute/update/maintain it. Then we just get one link stickied at the top and everyone goes there..
I just started to write up a skeleton of what I think should be in the 'Ultimate Guide to Sapphire Hacking' on the Wiki page at:
XDADeveloperWiki - HTC_Sapphire_Hacking
You want to help me improve it?
Heck.. if you want we can use your guide as a basis if you like - I just braindumped what _I_ think should be in it and I can immediately see stuff I've overlooked that's in your guide!
Feel free to take inspiration/snippets/whatever from my guide for it - just throw a link to it in there as well. I prefer to keep the guide itself separate but am happy to have it contributing to the wiki.
And there's only one A in my name.
When I apply sdcard:update.zip I get the following Error
E:cant open/sdcard/update.zip
(No such file or directory)
installation aborted
Please help and suggest what could be wrong ?
Just rename the file update mate.
Then try again.
Thanks Roy_Drage for the fast reply you sorted my .zip problem.
Also well done and thanks to KarrdeNZ for putting such a great guide together that even a noob like me could follow. My new Magic is now running Hero looks awesome !
bajax said:
Thanks Roy_Drage for the fast reply you sorted my .zip problem.
Also well done and thanks to KarrdeNZ for putting such a great guide together that even a noob like me could follow. My new Magic is now running Hero looks awesome !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BT works? (can you connect to a BT headset?)
Facebook integration works?
have you notice any issues?
Hi guys, i am brandspanking new at android as i have only had my phone (lg p500) for 2 weeks. i have however quickly picked up on roms,kernels,basebands etc.. I would really appreciate it if one of you TopDogs would explain to me which i should do first? My question is what sequence must items be installed in ie Rom the gapps then kernel then baseband? or is it baseband first then kernel then rom then gapps?? i really do appologise if this sounds stupid but i will need direction in this regard to be confident enough to go through with flashing a rom which im actually lank amped to do.
Anyways, thanks in advance and keep up the awesome work boys.
Okay..
In regards to baseband, kernel, rom type info, I believe most kernels are packaged with the roms themselves, and if there's any other information about a special installation it would be included on the rom page.
First thing you wanna do is research a bit about your phone and what roms are available to see if you even want to risk bricking your phone for the additional features. You can search for your phone at the top right hand side of the XDA forums. From there you can see what forms of development are available. Most popular forms are NAND and SD based roms. Research a bit on each to see which fits your needs more. NAND will completely replace the stock system but also presents more opportunity for things to go wrong and potentially damage your phone. SD doesn't replace your system, but runs off of your SD card. In any case, selecting the method that works for you is the first step. There will be indications on the rom download pages as to what type of rom it is (NAND or SD).
Second step is prepping your device for the right system. I have and HTC HD2, and it was required for me to install HSPL and update the device radio. These are very important steps and must be done properly or everything following will likely not work.
Next you want to install your boot loader (if one is required). For my device, cLK and Magloader are the popular onese, however yours will likely be different if you need one at all.
Next you will install ClockworkMod(CWM) Recovery on your device, which is the core system that allows the flashing of roms, storage management, and a few other things. Make note of the partition information of the rom you select, because when you flash CWM you will need to partition the boot/system/cache. If you don't do this properly you will likely encounter a boot loop or total failures to boot.
Once you've got CWM on your device, you can download the rom you've selected on your pc and transfer it to your SD card on your phone (which is done by enabling mass storage through CWM). After you've got the rom on your sd card you do the following:
In CWM, select "flash zip from sd" >> "choose zip" >> select your rom zip file >> approve the flash
Sometimes the developers of these roms allow for some selection or customization in the flashing process, so be sure to pay attention to what's going on. You may also need to write down error codes if something goes wrong and you need help.
That's really all there is to it, though it can be more or less complicated than I explained depending on your device and which roms you pick.j
Hope this helps, good luck!
Enter Recovery,
Full Wipe/ Factory Reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe System
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Select Zip, Flash ROM
Reboot
Krystov said:
Okay..
In regards to baseband, kernel, rom type info, I believe most kernels are packaged with the roms themselves, and if there's any other information about a special installation it would be included on the rom page.
First thing you wanna do is research a bit about your phone and what roms are available to see if you even want to risk bricking your phone for the additional features. You can search for your phone at the top right hand side of the XDA forums. From there you can see what forms of development are available. Most popular forms are NAND and SD based roms. Research a bit on each to see which fits your needs more. NAND will completely replace the stock system but also presents more opportunity for things to go wrong and potentially damage your phone. SD doesn't replace your system, but runs off of your SD card. In any case, selecting the method that works for you is the first step. There will be indications on the rom download pages as to what type of rom it is (NAND or SD).
Second step is prepping your device for the right system. I have and HTC HD2, and it was required for me to install HSPL and update the device radio. These are very important steps and must be done properly or everything following will likely not work.
Next you want to install your boot loader (if one is required). For my device, cLK and Magloader are the popular onese, however yours will likely be different if you need one at all.
Next you will install ClockworkMod(CWM) Recovery on your device, which is the core system that allows the flashing of roms, storage management, and a few other things. Make note of the partition information of the rom you select, because when you flash CWM you will need to partition the boot/system/cache. If you don't do this properly you will likely encounter a boot loop or total failures to boot.
Once you've got CWM on your device, you can download the rom you've selected on your pc and transfer it to your SD card on your phone (which is done by enabling mass storage through CWM). After you've got the rom on your sd card you do the following:
In CWM, select "flash zip from sd" >> "choose zip" >> select your rom zip file >> approve the flash
Sometimes the developers of these roms allow for some selection or customization in the flashing process, so be sure to pay attention to what's going on. You may also need to write down error codes if something goes wrong and you need help.
That's really all there is to it, though it can be more or less complicated than I explained depending on your device and which roms you pick.j
Hope this helps, good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Krystov, thank you very much for the awesome reply, you are the man.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA
I have flashed most of the ROMS on HTC 32A magic ..
The Below process i have followed always and achieved expected results
1. Must Have custom recovery Image which supports your Phone Borad
2.Download and keep the custom ROM ready
3.Copy the Rom to root of SD card
Reboot phone into Recovery
Enter Recovery,
Full Wipe/ Factory Reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe System
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Battery Stats(Optional)
Select Zip file which you would like to Flash ROM
After Successful flashing
Reboot
Phone will start with New custom ROM
Cheers
Happy Flashing
Thanks
HTC MAGIC 32A
HTX MIUI 0.23 HINTAY MOD
NR 6.35.x.x.
Yeah I forgot that part. you do want to clear your data, cache, and system files while in CWM, otherwise you'll be writing over your old system. A lot of roms are custom teaked and packed in way different than the stock rom and it can just get screwy if you don't. Make it a good habit of doing that before you flash! You can also back up your roms through CWM so if you don't like the changes you've made after a flash you can always revert back like nothing ever happened. Just don't wipe your SD card or you'll lose your backups! Only do that if you're okay with losing the data on your SD.
As mentioned above...
Full Wipe/ Factory Reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe System
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Flash ROM
Flash Kernel
Flash gapps
Reboot
This should work out, if you do the kernel flash before the ROM, it will be replaced with whatever kernel that was packaged with the ROM. If you are trying to flash an ICS based ROM, you may need to flash the ROM a couple times (if it installs too quickly, as in 5 to 10 seconds). This is a known issue.
Hi young grasshoppers
I'm an aging PC hacker (down to disassembling viruses with Softice and the works, I'm THAT old!) with a splendid TF101 and I could use an upgrade to my brain and my TF101. I looked for a thorough FAQ to get a clue, but clue I didn't get.
Long story short, one year ago I rooted my TF101 in a rush with success, but didn't have enough time to do the homework and RTFM as I am used to (damn crisis!).
Presently the TF101 has Prime! 1.4 (Android 3.1), Kernel 2.6.36.3-00001-gf377a2b, CWM Recovery 3.1.0.1 Solarnz-R3-230511
My goals are two:
1. trying the new 4.x roms on my TF101;
2. get a clue;
My mental framework comes from PC: mobo holds flashable ROMs and BIOS, hd holds Operating System(s), Apps and Bootloader. As I don't know how the TF101 and Android's structureI'm a little bit lost and I don't want to brick it or upgrading without understanding how to restore it to its present state.
As far as I understood, the TF101 has: Internal SD (holding apps and kernel ? ), external SD aka MicroSD holding media and apps movable to SD, some flashable memory for ROM (?).
As I was cosidering trying Android Revolution HD 3.5.1, I noticed that it requires: CWM v3.2.0.1 and a Super Wipe Full which scared the hell out of me...what is it going to Wipe??? ...and rooting made by RazorClaw
What I would like to understand is:
1. How do I backup the present Kernel and Apps and eventually restore it ? Under CWM 3.1.0.1 I just did a (I believe it's called) Nandroid System Backup that was stored to the MicroSD (external SD) ... what did I just back up ? Kernel,apps,both?
1.1 CWM also offers the Factory Wipe/ Reset function: what does it do? Does it restore the OLD (original as bought) Rom and wipes the Kernelt (and deletes the apps) so that it basically reverts to my original unrooted TF101 as-bought?
1.2 Upgrading the CMW would need: copying the new CWM zip into the external SD card, launcing CWM and using the upgrade procedure?
2. As apparently I need to root throught RazorClaw, I think the present rooting might interfere w/ ARevolution installation. So what would the correct unrootin procedure would be, considered my situation? I'm aware that some apps are able to unroot, but not being sure I'd rather ask.
Finally, I would absolutely love to know if there's a post generally addressing my doubts, giving me an overview of a. what's get modded by rooting b. and where c. and what ROM, Kernel, Bootloaders are in a TF101 or (more generally) in the Android world.
Thanks a lot for your help and for giving me some clues! :laugh:
Ill try to answer your questions as best i can
1.0 Nandroid backs up your rom, apps and appdata not the kernel
1.1 Factory reset wipes apps, data and internal sd it does not change your rom or kernel
1.2 Yup just copy over the new cwm (rouge or twrp are my favorites) and navigate to the file in cwm and hit install
2. If you already on prime you are already rooted so thats not a problem
Rooting just allows you elevated privileges like read/write in the system and things like that. Its like su is essentially sudo
All rooting is is putting the su.sh and busybox.sh into the system using an exploit
You really should not restore a kernel from android 3.1 on anything but 3.1 or your going to have a bad time
Before you update make sure to back up your apps. Titanium Backup is a good choice
Most the roms that are currently active are Jelly bean betas which are a little unstable so i would go with a nice stable ICS rom like megatron or revolver
There is a lot of info in the android general form that you might want to read through but a most development seems to be device specific
elpapacito said:
Hi young grasshoppers
I'm an aging PC hacker (down to disassembling viruses with Softice and the works, I'm THAT old!) with a splendid TF101 and I could use an upgrade to my brain and my TF101. I looked for a thorough FAQ to get a clue, but clue I didn't get.
Long story short, one year ago I rooted my TF101 in a rush with success, but didn't have enough time to do the homework and RTFM as I am used to (damn crisis!).
Presently the TF101 has Prime! 1.4 (Android 3.1), Kernel 2.6.36.3-00001-gf377a2b, CWM Recovery 3.1.0.1 Solarnz-R3-230511
My goals are two:
1. trying the new 4.x roms on my TF101;
2. get a clue;
My mental framework comes from PC: mobo holds flashable ROMs and BIOS, hd holds Operating System(s), Apps and Bootloader. As I don't know how the TF101 and Android's structureI'm a little bit lost and I don't want to brick it or upgrading without understanding how to restore it to its present state.
As far as I understood, the TF101 has: Internal SD (holding apps and kernel ? ), external SD aka MicroSD holding media and apps movable to SD, some flashable memory for ROM (?).
As I was cosidering trying Android Revolution HD 3.5.1, I noticed that it requires: CWM v3.2.0.1 and a Super Wipe Full which scared the hell out of me...what is it going to Wipe??? ...and rooting made by RazorClaw
What I would like to understand is:
1. How do I backup the present Kernel and Apps and eventually restore it ? Under CWM 3.1.0.1 I just did a (I believe it's called) Nandroid System Backup that was stored to the MicroSD (external SD) ... what did I just back up ? Kernel,apps,both?
1.1 CWM also offers the Factory Wipe/ Reset function: what does it do? Does it restore the OLD (original as bought) Rom and wipes the Kernelt (and deletes the apps) so that it basically reverts to my original unrooted TF101 as-bought?
1.2 Upgrading the CMW would need: copying the new CWM zip into the external SD card, launcing CWM and using the upgrade procedure?
2. As apparently I need to root throught RazorClaw, I think the present rooting might interfere w/ ARevolution installation. So what would the correct unrootin procedure would be, considered my situation? I'm aware that some apps are able to unroot, but not being sure I'd rather ask.
Finally, I would absolutely love to know if there's a post generally addressing my doubts, giving me an overview of a. what's get modded by rooting b. and where c. and what ROM, Kernel, Bootloaders are in a TF101 or (more generally) in the Android world.
Thanks a lot for your help and for giving me some clues! :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK here goes:
You have a custom recovery (CWM) which will allow you to flash whatever you like. There are other versions of recoveries out there CWM, rougue, etc. They all do the similar things, but some have more features than others. The nice part is that you can use one recovery to flash another. My personal preference is for the simpler versions.
1) The nandroid backup backs up system and data, but not the kernel (aka boot.img). This is typical for TFs- I think it's because the kernel is usually flashed through the staging partition and not directly in recovery, like many other android devices. The issue with not having a kernel backup when you restore a backup to "go back" but you have an incompatible kernel. This could happen if you flash a jelly bean rom and then decide to restore a backup to go back to prime (honeycomb). You'll get boot loops and hangs, but you will be able to go back to recovery and flash a compatible kernel.
1.1) Factory wipe will wipe the data partition, which is where all your info is kept. Other roms, this is called userspace. The system partition is untouched, so it will still boot, but you will have to reconfigure wifi, email, bookmarks, etc.
1.2) Essentially, yes. If you can get a CWM flashable version of a recovery, you can flash it in CWM or any other custom recovery. It will be a zip file. Be warned, some versions of recovery don't see or use the external SD card, so be sure your files are somewhere you can get to them. If only I had a $1 for every time someone flashed CWM 5.x and then did a superwipe- it uses the internal SD card and the superwipe erases all the roms and backups they had.
2) You are already rooted because you have Prime 1.4. You can use CWM to flash any rom you like, including stock, as long as you don't overwrite the recovery.
Most android users are obsessed with wiping and super-wiping. It's usually only necessary when going from a custom (a la ASUS) rom to an AOSP rom or vice-versa, and even then it will probably be fine.
---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:13 PM ----------
As far as rooting goes, it's usually an exploit that allows root level access to the file system.
I think technically, all that is needed is the su binary installed in the system folder so that it is persistent and executable. Of course, the system folder on stock roms is usually read only, which makes the exploit necessary. On custom roms, su is usually pre-installed in system/bin or system/xbin.
Follow these steps... download TWRP (its a recovery), download either ICS jelly bean ROM... place both of them in your SD card ( internal and external). Place it both because I don't know what version of CWM you are using... now restart you tablet into recovery ( press both power and volume down buttons together and as soon as tablet turns on press volume up button)... now go to the folder where you placed your recovery (TWRP.ZIP) flash/install it and reboot into recovery... now wipe (factory data, cache wipe, dalvik wipe, system, internal memory)... after these steps install the required kernel and flash the ROM... wipe dalvik cache and cache again and restart... you are good to go...
If you want to back up your old OS.. select backup and recovery option in recovery and do a backup..
Link for twrp
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28454456
Link to kernel
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29010487
Link to jelly bean ROM
AOSP ROM
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28915296
Team eos ROM
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28992514
Coming to your questions
Root access..... it gives you administrator access called superuser by which you can remove/modify/change system apps or configurations. Since you already have cwm access i assume you have superuser/root privileges. So don't worry about it... all you need to do is download the latest recovery from above link and install it through recovery. To install choose "install from SD card" and not "update from SD card"
I wouldn't advice you to back up anything because there is no use and sometimes backed apps with data give problems like random restarts/force close etc... if you still want then you can backup from recovery but it won't back up the kernel... it backs up all your system but not kernel.
Your tablet is already rooted because you have recovery access. So don't worry about rooting... if you want to unroot anytime then search for easy flash/nvflash method..
Ask questions if you have more doubts
GOOD LUCK
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
udupa82 said:
Follow these steps... [...]. now wipe (factory data, cache wipe, dalvik wipe, system, internal memory)... [...]
If you want to back up your old OS.. select backup and recovery option in recovery and do a backup..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First socks, then shoes!
WOW thank guys, many answers and many very detailed options! You rock!
Gee One: oh I see, so Superwise indeed does delete and format, so bye bye to any Titanium Backup on the internal SD.
Brilliant, so I guess I have to move the backup directory to the external (microsd).
Two more fast questions : what's the difference (roughly) between a "custom (a la ASUS)" ROM and an AOSP rom?
And the second one: you state that "You can use CWM to flash any rom you like, including stock, as long as
you don't overwrite the recovery." Oh wow, makes sense..without recovery it's pretty darn difficult to flash anything...but
where does Recovery reside? On the internal SD? I wouldn't like to accidentaly Wipe it out the machine.
Udupa82: wow thanks for the very detailed instructions. For the time being, I guess I'll go with Ice Cream
as I gather that Jelly Beans are still not stable...unfortunately I can't really afford the luxury of having TF101 misbehaving or
behaving weirdly (that's why I staid one year with a stable rom, I already have enough issues to address in work life, so I have
to have the Transformer running and upgraded within the week..so that if problems arises, I still have time to fix it).
Anyhow I succesfully installed CWM v3.2.0.1 - but your detailed indications made me wonder one thing: is it safer to
always place the ROM/other zip packages ALSO in the root of the internal SD (assuming having SU privileges allows me to write
in the root dir of the internal SD) ?
I also gather that restoring an Apps Backup may not be the brightest idea when doing such a jump from a 3.1 to 4.0.3 or higher,
so I guess the Titanium Backup at this point may generate more problems than It would solve.
All: as for the Kernel, I figured by the very few modded kernels (fewer people know how to mess with it properly) I've found
on XDA and by their description that kernels indeed manage the core functions of the machine, which had me wondering if any
of you guys had issues with Kernel 2.6.36.3-00001-gf377a2b in combination with some ICS or Jelly Bean Rom.
Thanks a lot for your precious directions!
elpapacito said:
Gee One: oh I see, so Superwise indeed does delete and format, so bye bye to any Titanium Backup on the internal SD.
Brilliant, so I guess I have to move the backup directory to the external (microsd).
Two more fast questions : what's the difference (roughly) between a "custom (a la ASUS)" ROM and an AOSP rom?
And the second one: you state that "You can use CWM to flash any rom you like, including stock, as long as
you don't overwrite the recovery." Oh wow, makes sense..without recovery it's pretty darn difficult to flash anything...but
where does Recovery reside? On the internal SD? I wouldn't like to accidentaly Wipe it out the machine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ASUS rom is just the stock firmware that comes with the TF. It has whatever bloatware they ASUS decided to put on there. The AOSP is built from the google code and usually contains little or no bloatware. The AOSP roms are usually cooked up by devs here on XDA. CyanogenMod is a AOSP based rom, for example.
The recovery is located on the SOS partition. I don't think you can erase it by wiping or even super wiping. Wheelie or nvflash (which is the nvidia bootloader) can wipe the partition.
elpapacito said:
WOW thank guys, many answers and many very detailed options! You rock!
Gee One: oh I see, so Superwise indeed does delete and format, so bye bye to any Titanium Backup on the internal SD.
Brilliant, so I guess I have to move the backup directory to the external (microsd).
Two more fast questions : what's the difference (roughly) between a "custom (a la ASUS)" ROM and an AOSP rom?
And the second one: you state that "You can use CWM to flash any rom you like, including stock, as long as
you don't overwrite the recovery." Oh wow, makes sense..without recovery it's pretty darn difficult to flash anything...but
where does Recovery reside? On the internal SD? I wouldn't like to accidentaly Wipe it out the machine.
Udupa82: wow thanks for the very detailed instructions. For the time being, I guess I'll go with Ice Cream
as I gather that Jelly Beans are still not stable...unfortunately I can't really afford the luxury of having TF101 misbehaving or
behaving weirdly (that's why I staid one year with a stable rom, I already have enough issues to address in work life, so I have
to have the Transformer running and upgraded within the week..so that if problems arises, I still have time to fix it).
Anyhow I succesfully installed CWM v3.2.0.1 - but your detailed indications made me wonder one thing: is it safer to
always place the ROM/other zip packages ALSO in the root of the internal SD (assuming having SU privileges allows me to write
in the root dir of the internal SD) ?
I also gather that restoring an Apps Backup may not be the brightest idea when doing such a jump from a 3.1 to 4.0.3 or higher,
so I guess the Titanium Backup at this point may generate more problems than It would solve.
All: as for the Kernel, I figured by the very few modded kernels (fewer people know how to mess with it properly) I've found
on XDA and by their description that kernels indeed manage the core functions of the machine, which had me wondering if any
of you guys had issues with Kernel 2.6.36.3-00001-gf377a2b in combination with some ICS or Jelly Bean Rom.
Thanks a lot for your precious directions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I remember CWM 3.2.0.1 will give you access to external SD card so no need to place the zip file in internal memory... but creating a copy in internal is always better... remember CWM 5.x.x.x version doesn't allow external SD access so never install it...
Do not use restore apps from backup as I always faced problem of force closing. If you still want to then back up any app which is important to you using titanium backup..
Asus stock ROM= its the ROM from Asus with some added softwares from Asus..
AOSP= Android Open Source Project is a OS usually written from scratch using Google's / android's source codes as android is a open software, it comes without any added software(plus point) and more setting/ tweak options(plus point)
There are some good and stable ROMs... but if you don't want much issues then I advice to go for rooted/detoxed stock ROMs because they dont need any custom kernels
Revolver ICS
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=23000467
Android Revolution HD
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17202357
Good luck
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
Android Revolution HD
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17202357
Good luck
Thanks guys, the upgrade was succesfull! Indeed there's a world of a difference in speed from 3.1 to ARevolution HD..smooth as silk so far Thanks a lot for the help!
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
Dear Friends,
About to pull a trigger on an AT&T LG G4, can someone give me a short answer, ASAP?
Is it possible to have permanent Root and Xposed on the AT&T variant WITHOUT ridiculous bugs like a "green dot" in the camera of the phone? (what does the green dot even mean? It's on every picture? Is it a watermark? Just on the GUI?)
If possible, how? And should I buy the phone?
Appreciate any QUICK responses, about to buy now! Thanks so much in advance!
I just bought the G4 a couple of days ago. I was able to root, but there is no twrp or xposed as far as I know. I also don't have the green dot and everything is working fine!
Thanks for the quick response, my friend. Can you share the method/thread/image you used to Root?
I think you can install Xposed without TWRP via FireFlash? Can someone please confirm?
Thanks guys!
Just got my G4 two days ago. You can root and you can install Xposed with FireFlash. Root requires pushing a rooted version of whatever software version you are currently running. If you can't find one you can inject root into your own system.img using Ubuntu. After root get FireFlash and the right xposed zip and be patient, it can sit black screen, appearing dead for 20-30 minutes. Over all not too hard. Took me a couple hours from The un-boxing to Xposed. Definitely do it. The green dot on camera comes from the PR system.img. I'd stay clear of that. Everything is working great on mine!
@Nowak4G - Thanks bud, that's what I read too. Can you point me to the guide and img file you used that worked for you? I doubt I'd prefer the Ubuntu way...
One other question... Is there a way/app/Xposed module that's kind of like G3TweaksBox for us? Letting us change the Status bar icon colors and toggle colors?
I highly doubt themes work for us since we can't Flash them without custom recovery?
Thanks again!
GravityBox works for status bar stuff and yeah here are the threads I used. Good luck bud!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=62028519
http://forum.xda-developers.com/g4/general/lg-g4-100-root-success-directives-root-t3180586
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=62664473
I'm not totally sure what stuff can and can't be flashed using FireFlash. But for applying icon themes with Xposed I use this module, Unicon:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nrydqmmOBUdFoyV0FBLUM1OVE/view?usp=docslist_api
I've had my LG G4 rooted and running Xposed with a lot of modules enabled.
If the phone you buy is on the 10G software version (and want to stay on that version), you should be able to root it following the method in the LG G4 Low Effort Root thread. Follow it to the dot and enjoy partial freedom.
If the phone you buy is on 10I, there is a rooted image floating around. So you could take the 10I update (or make sure your phone's on the 10I version), and root it using the Low Effort Root method.
I would also recommend the following:
1. keeping a copy of your untouched fresh system image in your internal memory (as early as possible after buying the phone). In case of a bad flash you have something to possibly go back to - otherwise you'll end up with the PR ROM and the green dot. The method and commands to extracting the system image is very similar to rooting, except instead of dd'ing into the system partition from SD, you do the opposite (from system partition to SD)
2. disabling system apps and system updates using the debloater tool and a tutorial here on the forums
Regarding flashing files via recovery, I usually extract the files and place them in the correct directory with the right permissions. Usually most files use 0644 permissions, but I would first check the existing permissions with ES File Explorer.
Hello @Nowak4G and @mu3g,
Guys thank you for your response. I can confirm that the seller I bought the phone from took the 10l upgrade. I have little to no experience rooting locked bootloader phones, and I have to be honest, I am more confused than I have the answers. Now that I have confirmed that I will end up with 10l update, can you guys give me a noob boost and give me step by step on how to root, Xposed, and possibly back up my stock image, since I do NOT want to end up with the PR build, with the green dot, in case things go wrong?
Am I correct that the right answer to my problem is, Low Effort Root with the floating 10l rooted img file, located here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B54ceS-n3ZAiaVAxMkJFLXNMYmM/view?pli=1
Please help me out guys, would even appreciate more if we can maybe connect on Google Hangouts for some dynamic help? Please let me know and thank you again for your wonderful so far !
Yes, exactly. Use the floating around 10I rootedsystem.img with the Low Effort Root instructions. But definitely keep a unrooted system.img on the internal storage as a backup. Instructions are in the LER thread. Just read carefully and follow the steps and you should be fine. All copy and pasting.
You have the correct 10I rooted system img file. I would recommend following the LER steps and backing up the system image for 10I (see post 2 of the LER thread). This would give you the stock image for later use. Then follow the LER steps to the dot using the rooted system image file you have from the google drive link. The LER thread has pretty clear instructions on backup and flashing system image files for the G4. Just make sure to rename your downloaded file as "system.rooted.h81010i.img" and use it in the command...the file name here is the most important!
Thank you guys, couple of follow up questions:
1. Do I run the backup command to copy my Non Rooted image, right after the step that gives us the DIAG Port Number? Or do I do it after the "id" step?
2. The generated back up, I assume will be done as an .img file in the root of my phone, correct? I assume I just back this up on my computer and/or External HD?
3. This is the scariest step. When I am running the step for flashing the rooted img, I need to rename the downloaded file to, "system.rooted.h81010i.img" as @mu3g recommended? Why not, "system.rooted.h81010m.img" for example?
4. I just use the exact file name we determined above for my downloaded rooted 10l image file, in the flash command when following the LER guide? Exactly that file name, correct?
Thank you again for all your help and excuse me for my continuous noobness!
Answers:
1. Run the backup command in Step 7 of the LER root ("Run the command specified in the section below titled 'Commands to Run' to flash the rooted system image.") <<---replace the commands to run with the command to backup your unrooted clean system image to your internal memory ---- if you compare the commands, it will become obvious on how the data is being moved (pushed or pulled from the phone).
2. The generated backup will be on the root of the internal memory of the phone. Yes, you can then move it to your computer or any other location for safekeeping AFTER you've booted your phone up properly - don't do any of this while you're still in the LER state.
3. I just gave you a recommendation on the name..you can name the rooted system image file whatever you want - you can even leave it as the way it is....just make sure to use the EXACT file name for the image in the commands to run (also 10I, 10M etc. are software version numbers..I'm not aware of a 10M version being released for AT&T. In any case, just use the EXACT file name for the rooted image.
Thank you @mu3g! I think I am now ready to go through the process myself with confidence.
I am, however, still a bit confused about the file name of the rooted image that I will be flashing. If the phone already has 10l installed, and I leave the name of the rooted image intact, that is, "system.rooted.h81010l" would the phone still accept/get tricked into, thinking that it's getting an "update"? Or did you mean that the file name could literally be anything like, "filename.img" and if the commands match it, all will be installed correctly? As in, when the system boots, it will have all the correct build and software information with it being a 10l update and etc?
Please forgive the annoying, detailed questions, but I want to not mess this up, since every guide triple emphasizes the importance of the command being absolutely right! Thank you!
You can literally name it blahblahblah.img as long as you use blahblahblah.img in the commands to run for the rooted system image. The file naming scheme has nothing to do with the acceptance or rejection of a system image. When you're in the bootloader mode ready to download files (which is the mode for LER), you can inject any file into any partition, anywhere on the phone...it's just whether the phone can use it or not properly and whether or not it ends up being a brick
Your file name for the system has nothing to do with the build number showing on the phone after booting up.
EDIT: The only reason I gave you that file naming scheme is because you don't seem to be too comfortable with the command line, thats all..that way you could copy paste the command from the LER guide and just replace "g" with "i" - that's all..if you're good with the command line and careful, you'll be fine..just make sure the file name is correct..you can't get much else wrong.
Understood brother, just needed that clarity. I am not an absolute noob with cmd line, but you know how it goes when you're rooting your phone, the perpetual fear of an expensive paperweight!
I cannot find the thanks button here, wish I could, so I could thank you over and over and @Nowak4G, but either way, thank you so so much @mu3g!!
good luck!
How did it go? Were you able to go through with it?
While the green dot does usually appear on 810 phones running the PR KDZ, I have heard reports of it on some 815 ...its pretty random. I just did a warranty exchange for my 810 so I will likely be staying on the ATT software.
Hi Guys, wanted to update this thread with my results...:
I successfully rooted on H810l (AT&T) with 0 issues, following the Low Effort Root. Per the recommendations of the process, I also backed up my Stock, Unrooted, .img file for restoration to Stock, if it were needed. Well, I might be moving on from this phone and need to return to stock. Can someone advise the exact steps/commands to return to stock using the unrooted .img file I backed up before pushing the rooted .img? And can you confirm that you did this successfully as well?
I would really appreciate it! Thank you!
I have not done it myself, but if you uninstall all your root apps completely, make sure to enable any and every disabled app you may have (like for example AT&T apps etc.) using the debloater software and then follow LER to install the stock image on it, it should come back to bone stock. Remember, the key here to to ensure that no root apps exist on the phone - I guess SU will get wiped out, but its better to do it clean. And secondly, any disabled apps need to be re-enabled for a smooth process. These are just my $0.02...so proceed with caution.