Database Info

[Q] Unlocked custom boot

Okay, as a newby poster on this forum, I can ask this question here, hopefully someone reads here that can help *smile*.
I've followed the rooting guide for my post JB OTA updated Galaxy S3. My phone is now apparently rooted, I can grant root access to apps and all. I should have a custom recovery installed as well (I chose TWRP since a lot of people seem to choose CWM, and I'm a rebel without a cause), but I'm not sure, since when I booted out of recovery after installing the SU app, I didn't see the "Disable recovery flash" prompt. And I haven't tried to boot into recovery mode yet to verify whether the TWRP version that I installed is still there. Doesn't seem to have affected the resulting root access ability one way or the other, though.
My question is that when I boot my phone normally now, I see an unlocked lock icon, and "CUSTOM". Since I re-flashed the stock boot when I was done, this is a bit disturbing, I didn't expect that. I've read that if I have a custom recovery that I'll see this even if I have stock boot. Is this true? I think that stock boot is a good idea, but am not convinced that I have it. Is there any way to tell if I have a stock boot or not?
A little puzzled, although I definitely like the rooted phone better than the non-rooted one, so thanks much for that.

Just rebooted the phone into TWRP recovery a couple of times this morning, so I guess that I still have the custom recovery installed *smile*. And I'm also assuming that flashing the stock boot at the end of rooting worked, despite the unlocked lock icon and "CUSTOM" when I boot my phone now.
I guess there's no need for a reply here, since I've answered at least part of my own questions. I'm assuming then that I'm seeing "CUSTOM" and the unlocked lock icon when I boot because I have the custom recovery installed, and when I un-root it will go away. I've already set my flash count back to 0, since I wanted to remember to do that while I still had root, in case I un-root to send the phone to Samsung, and forget to do that.
Again, thanks for the guide thread on rooting, very helpful. The only first-time snag was booting into TWRP from Odin mode so I could install the SU app. Eventually figured out how to do that, so when/if I do this again should be much quicker.

[Q] Root Keeping Stock Recovery

Hi,
I would like to root my phone mantaining the stock recovery, and booting temporarily a custom recovery
If i execute a "fastboot boot customrecovery.img" and then i install from zip the "UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.69.zip" for example, I know that i will have a rooted phone with stock recovery.(right?)
I would like to do this in order to receive OTA without manual installation (i'm right?), thing that i have already done on my "old " Galaxy Nexus and now i would like to avoid doing it on the N5. I know that, in a case like this, i will lose root and then i have to do the process again.
The question is: There's just some contraindication doing this?
Thank you very much. I already tryed to find an exaustive answer searching the forum.
PS. Sorry for my poor English

Chainfire has the solution for you. Root and keep everything else stock.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2507211
You will have to unlock your bootloader if you haven't already done so.

DreamLinker said:
Hi,
I would like to root my phone mantaining the stock recovery, and booting temporarily a custom recovery
If i execute a "fastboot boot customrecovery.img" and then i install from zip the "UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.69.zip" for example, I know that i will have a rooted phone with stock recovery.(right?)
I would like to do this in order to receive OTA without manual installation (i'm right?), thing that i have already done on my "old " Galaxy Nexus and now i would like to avoid doing it on the N5. I know that, in a case like this, i will lose root and then i have to do the process again.
The question is: There's just some contraindication doing this?
Thank you very much. I already tryed to find an exaustive answer searching the forum.
PS. Sorry for my poor English
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your method of booting a recovery image will work fine. That's the way I would do it.

Thanks you all very much!

Getting to 4.3...got past 402 error!

Apologize in advance if this is intuitively obvious to other but after searching and reading a better part of the day, I can't figure it out...
In any case...I rooted my 4.1.2 phone a while back with the casual root. Didn't unlock the bootloader or install a custom recovery, just rooted. So that puts busybox and supersu on my phone. Later on, I installed a custom sound thing to get some decent volume out of this thing.
Now I tried taking the OTA and it failed. I thought it would just wipe out the root stuff and be on it's merry way (like other devices I've had in the past). So, I used the one touch unroot in SuperSu and tried again. Still failed. And it still showed me busybox in the app drawer.
So, here's my question...
Do I need to remove my custom volume thing as well as do the unroot?
And do I need to uninstall busybox before doing the unroot via supersu? Or do i just go to the apps and install it there after the SuperSu unroot?
And, if none of those work right, do I fall back to flashing 4.1.2 directly - or maybe better to flash 4.3 directly? I plan on using saferoot once I'm up to 4.3.
If anyone can help me sort this out, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm rerooted for the moment.
Thanks!

doncaruana said:
Apologize in advance if this is intuitively obvious to other but after searching and reading a better part of the day, I can't figure it out...
In any case...I rooted my 4.1.2 phone a while back with the casual root. Didn't unlock the bootloader or install a custom recovery, just rooted. So that puts busybox and supersu on my phone. Later on, I installed a custom sound thing to get some decent volume out of this thing.
Now I tried taking the OTA and it failed. I thought it would just wipe out the root stuff and be on it's merry way (like other devices I've had in the past). So, I used the one touch unroot in SuperSu and tried again. Still failed. And it still showed me busybox in the app drawer.
So, here's my question...
Do I need to remove my custom volume thing as well as do the unroot?
And do I need to uninstall busybox before doing the unroot via supersu? Or do i just go to the apps and install it there after the SuperSu unroot?
And, if none of those work right, do I fall back to flashing 4.1.2 directly - or maybe better to flash 4.3 directly? I plan on using saferoot once I'm up to 4.3.
If anyone can help me sort this out, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm rerooted for the moment.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA will look for any rooted app and fail so you best bet is just Odin the full 4.3 then root with saferoot. This is you also have a nice clean install.

buhohitr said:
OTA will look for any rooted app and fail so you best bet is just Odin the full 4.3 then root with saferoot. This is you also have a nice clean install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Been a looong time since I messed with Odin...this will just be firmware - no data or store apps will be touched, right?

doncaruana said:
Thanks!
Been a looong time since I messed with Odin...this will just be firmware - no data or store apps will be touched, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but flashing the full firmware will wipe everything bring it back to factory stock phone, so you need to backup all your stuff.

Well, just to share with everyone, I did not flash back to stock. For a number of reasons, that wasn't really an option.
My first step was removing viper4android. That actually got rid of the "custom" screen with the open lock on boot.
Then I uninstalled busybox from within itself. Unfortunately, as noted elsewhere, that leaves several hundred symlinks in xbin, so I removed all of those (I was only left with dexdump and su there). After that, I actually uninstalled busybox via the app manager.
Then I used the unroot option in supersu to clean up the rest and remove it.
At this point, I should be completely unrooted, but still got the 402 error when failing to upgrade with the OTA.
So...I plugged the phone in and ran the software upgrade assistant that shows up on the "CD" that presents itself from the phone when you plug it in to USB to the computer. And, actually, that successfully completed the upgrade to 4.3!
Haven't embarked on re-rooting yet (using saferoot) but that's the plan at least.

[Q] Root preventing update to 5.0. PLEASE HELP!

For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone.
Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps.
The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.
I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.

1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read

Upgrading to 5.0
Though you don't know it, you most likely just dodged a bullet. 5.0 is not yet ready for prime time, or visa versa. Puzzle and Dragons can't launch under it (and probably won't for months.) My bank's app likewise won't launch under 5.0, and there are other impositions and quirks and annoyances. So maybe better that you couldn't do so.
I just put mine back to 4.4 and am very glad to have my old friend back. Installing 5.0 reminded me of installing Windows 8, and then wondering why the F*** I did so.
Good luck... enjoy 4.4 as long as possible. If you're not up for fixing the root issue you just described, you're also not ready for putting the phone back to 4.4 if, like me, you find 5.0 intolerable.

tthomas12 said:
For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone. . Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps. The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.. I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the EXACT same problem as you. I rooted my phone with towel root, then i flashed a custom recovery with an app called flashify. after that i flashed the proper supersu.zip file with the custom recovery. Next i rebooted my phone. I used an app called root checker to see if my root was working, and it was. Then i flashed my custom recovery back on. I tried updating my phone with the OTA Android 5, it was updating until around 25% once it hit that stage it just said error. Then i un rooted my phone and tried it again i got the same error. I did a factory reset and tried it again but i got the same result? i dont know why this is happening i need help!
---------- Post added at 07:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 PM ----------
rootSU said:
1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello rootSU, you seem pretty experienced when it comes to stuff like flashing custom roms and rooting... My nexus 5 is on stock android 4.4.4, i have the stock recovery,i never flashed a rom....
When i try to use the OTA update and update to android 5.0 it always says error when its flashing. When the notification pops up i click it, then i click the button to start the download. once its downloaded and verified i click install. It takes me to my recovery and shows the android flashing logo thing and it says updating, when the progress bar reaches to 25% give or take a few percent an android logo pops up with a warning sign and it says error. I've tried multiple times and i got the same result. I even factory reseted my nexus and it still didn't work. Help ASAP please.
Regards,
cyberusman

Can't help with OTA. I refuse to use them. You can follow other advice from me in my thread in my signature

cyberusman said:
I have the EXACT same problem as you. I rooted my phone with towel root, then i flashed a custom recovery with an app called flashify. after that i flashed the proper supersu.zip file with the custom recovery. Next i rebooted my phone. I used an app called root checker to see if my root was working, and it was. Then i flashed my custom recovery back on. I tried updating my phone with the OTA Android 5, it was updating until around 25% once it hit that stage it just said error. Then i un rooted my phone and tried it again i got the same error. I did a factory reset and tried it again but i got the same result? i dont know why this is happening i need help!
---------- Post added at 07:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 PM ----------
Hello rootSU, you seem pretty experienced when it comes to stuff like flashing custom roms and rooting... My nexus 5 is on stock android 4.4.4, i have the stock recovery,i never flashed a rom....
When i try to use the OTA update and update to android 5.0 it always says error when its flashing. When the notification pops up i click it, then i click the button to start the download. once its downloaded and verified i click install. It takes me to my recovery and shows the android flashing logo thing and it says updating, when the progress bar reaches to 25% give or take a few percent an android logo pops up with a warning sign and it says error. I've tried multiple times and i got the same result. I even factory reseted my nexus and it still didn't work. Help ASAP please.
Regards,
cyberusman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever remove any of the system apps? If you did, you will need to put them back or you will get an error with the OTA.

rootSU said:
1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xda6969 said:
Did you ever remove any of the system apps? If you did, you will need to put them back or you will get an error with the OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy life to help me, i already found a solution but thanks.
---------- Post added at 01:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 AM ----------
tthomas12 said:
For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone.
Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps.
The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.
I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, like i said in one of my previous posts i had the same problem as you. But i looked around and found out how to fix it. The new android OTA update checks if every single file and system app is there, if u make any changes you cant use the OTA lolipop update.To fix this you have to flash a factory image. Flashing the factory image maks your nexus have a stock android rom on it. The instructions are really easy...
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
^^go on this website^^ and look for the android 4.4.4 or 5.0 factory image. There are instructions on how to flash it.

Hello Cyberusman. This isn't new in Android. Even in past versions of Android, if you removed or renamed apps or if you changed app permissions, the OTA would fail. Flashing the factory image is one way of fixing it but you could also put any removed apps back with correct permissions and that would work as well.

Bootloop from root app permissions

Alright, where do I start?
So I'm not really and expert on flashing stuff on Android. I was pretty comfy not rooting my phone for more than a year. TBH, I didn't really need it, because I was not a power user, but I've recently installed a root app called King User (King Root, etc.). Before you say anything... YES! I know it is the lazy way to do it. It made things easy for the very few apps I could not use without root permission. However, when I received the latest OTA (5.1.1. security update) I had to disable root authorization in order to install it. So I disabled it using the app's built in authorization setting.
The OTA update failed and gave me the error with the opened up android and the red exclamation mark. So I thought that the app messed something up. Disabling in house did nothing. Uninstalling it did nothing. So I decided to replace it with SuperSU using this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/help/replace-kinguser-supersu-t2903003. I bet I'm not the only one who had problems after doing this. This, obviously, made things even worse. After SuperSU deleted KingUser and updated itself the phone remained stuck inside a bootloop. So I figured this replacement process messed up permissions.
Here is where it gets tricky, or rather stupid... My bootloader is locked and I have no custom recovery (because like I said, I just needed temporary root access for a couple of apps and wanted to avoid the hassle). When I enter Recovery mode in default fastboot it gives me the "No command" error (probably because of SuperSU permission). Now I don't even know if the phone is rooted or not. USB debugging was not enabled last time the phone was on and now I think I'm stuck in this point where nothing works without something else. I've been reading a couple of threads around here and elsewhere and I don't know what to do next... Doing a full recovery now would probably be asking for a lot, but right now, I would be happy if I could just do a factory reset or something...
Anyone?

val3nteen said:
Alright, where do I start?
So I'm not really and expert on flashing stuff on Android. I was pretty comfy not rooting my phone for more than a year. TBH, I didn't really need it, because I was not a power user, but I've recently installed a root app called King User (King Root, etc.). Before you say anything... YES! I know it is the lazy way to do it. It made things easy for the very few apps I could not use without root permission. However, when I received the latest OTA (5.1.1. security update) I had to disable root authorization in order to install it. So I disabled it using the app's built in authorization setting.
The OTA update failed and gave me the error with the opened up android and the red exclamation mark. So I thought that the app messed something up. Disabling in house did nothing. Uninstalling it did nothing. So I decided to replace it with SuperSU using this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/help/replace-kinguser-supersu-t2903003. I bet I'm not the only one who had problems after doing this. This, obviously, made things even worse. After SuperSU deleted KingUser and updated itself the phone remained stuck inside a bootloop. So I figured this replacement process messed up permissions.
Here is where it gets tricky, or rather stupid... My bootloader is locked and I have no custom recovery (because like I said, I just needed temporary root access for a couple of apps and wanted to avoid the hassle). When I enter Recovery mode in default fastboot it gives me the "No command" error (probably because of SuperSU permission). Now I don't even know if the phone is rooted or not. USB debugging was not enabled last time the phone was on and now I think I'm stuck in this point where nothing works without something else. I've been reading a couple of threads around here and elsewhere and I don't know what to do next... Doing a full recovery now would probably be asking for a lot, but right now, I would be happy if I could just do a factory reset or something...
Anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start here, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53439068. I'd return to stock and start all over, it will wipe your device, see the return to stock thread linked there. Then don't be lazy and read some more in the thread I linked you to. The n5 is one of the easiest devices to work with and you don't need kingroot, tool kits and junk like that
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

You should flash TWRP custom recovery on your phone that way you can copy your personal data to your pc first, then you should flash the factory image

deelan_chan said:
You should flash TWRP custom recovery on your phone that way you can copy your personal data to your pc first, then you should flash the factory image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but that is not possible, as I have not enabled USB debugging before bootloop. I need to unlock the bootloader (wipe) to install TWRP and backup data.

Can you get into fastboot mode? You can flash twrp from there no USB debugging needed
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Problem is his bootloader is locked, so follow fastboot for unlocking bootloader and then clean install latest factory image. Also, flash twrp after everything is working (and relock bootloader if you want) so this does not happen again.

wangdaning said:
Problem is his bootloader is locked, so follow fastboot for unlocking bootloader and then clean install latest factory image. Also, flash twrp after everything is working (and relock bootloader if you want) so this does not happen again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did just that. All fine now. However, I had to flash all .img files separately in fastboot (system, boot, cache, etc.), because adb was not working. Had some problems with the drivers. The device did not show up correctly within device manager. Fortunately, I did not loose anything. Had all my contacts and apps backed up with Google.
Thanks for all advice! I appreciate everyone's guidance.

val3nteen said:
Did just that. All fine now. However, I had to flash all .img files separately in fastboot (system, boot, cache, etc.), because adb was not working. Had some problems with the drivers. The device did not show up correctly within device manager. Fortunately, I did not loose anything. Had all my contacts and apps backed up with Google.
Thanks for all advice! I appreciate everyone's guidance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it is so fun to use fastboot. I remember almost dunking my wife's G2 until I got it to fastboot. Pain in the butt, but the command prompt does not lie