Hey all,
After some browsing on here recently, it looks like a somewhat experimental exploit has been found to gain temporary root access long enough for Sunshine to do its thing. I am planning to use the "Kingroot" method to root and permanently s-off my HTC M8.
It has been some time since I seriously rooted any android phone so I wanted to compile a checklist of the steps I will need to take to fully downgrade my operating system from Lollipop back to Kit Kat once all is said and done. My questions are as follows:
-is it necessary to flash a stock 4.x.x sense rom before flashing a custom 4.x.x build?
- from a stability/performance standpoint what sense kit Kat rom do you find to be the best? I prefer sense for the great widgets and features it provides.
- is flashing a kernel necessary for going from 5.x.x to 4.x.x? I recall doing this to my OG droid several times.
- will flashing new radios be necessary or are the still included in rom builds?
- Is twrp the preferred recovery for the m8 or do alternatives exist which you'd recommend?
Please let me know of any other important steps I will need to take before attempting the downgrade. Thanks in advance.
x25064 said:
Hey all,
After some browsing on here recently, it looks like a somewhat experimental exploit has been found to gain temporary root access long enough for Sunshine to do its thing. I am planning to use the "Kingroot" method to root and permanently s-off my HTC M8.
It has been some time since I seriously rooted any android phone so I wanted to compile a checklist of the steps I will need to take to fully downgrade my operating system from Lollipop back to Kit Kat once all is said and done. My questions are as follows:
-is it necessary to flash a stock 4.x.x sense rom before flashing a custom 4.x.x build?
- from a stability/performance standpoint what sense kit Kat rom do you find to be the best? I prefer sense for the great widgets and features it provides.
- is flashing a kernel necessary for going from 5.x.x to 4.x.x? I recall doing this to my OG droid several times.
- will flashing new radios be necessary or are the still included in rom builds?
- Is twrp the preferred recovery for the m8 or do alternatives exist which you'd recommend?
Please let me know of any other important steps I will need to take before attempting the downgrade. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once s-off if you want stock experience, I would flash kk ruu
This should be in Q&A, not development. Maybe @moderator an move it?
x25064 said:
Hey all,
After some browsing on here recently, it looks like a somewhat experimental exploit has been found to gain temporary root access long enough for Sunshine to do its thing. I am planning to use the "Kingroot" method to root and permanently s-off my HTC M8.
It has been some time since I seriously rooted any android phone so I wanted to compile a checklist of the steps I will need to take to fully downgrade my operating system from Lollipop back to Kit Kat once all is said and done. My questions are as follows:
-is it necessary to flash a stock 4.x.x sense rom before flashing a custom 4.x.x build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean after being s-off? No
- from a stability/performance standpoint what sense kit Kat rom do you find to be the best? I prefer sense for the great widgets and features it provides.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally personal preference. I like CleanROM
- is flashing a kernel necessary for going from 5.x.x to 4.x.x? I recall doing this to my OG droid several times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel is part of the rom you flash. You can flash a different kernel after installing a rom. Just gotta make sure it's compatible with the rom
- will flashing new radios be necessary or are the still included in rom builds?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On HTC devices you have to distinguish between firmware and rom. The firmware is radios, hboot and such. The rom is seperate. In general you have to have 4.4 firmware to run a KK rom and 5.x firmware to run a LP rom. Although I know of people who flashed the 5.0.1 firmware and then went back to CleanROM 3.x (which is KK) without a problem. YMMV
Is twrp the preferred recovery for the m8 or do alternatives exist which you'd recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everybody seems to be running TWRP
Please let me know of any other important steps I will need to take before attempting the downgrade. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot downgrade to KK unless you are s-off. Once you are s-off, flash the firmware for the rom you want to run, then flash the rom
Thanks for the info, that is exactly what I need. I finally have some time today to give this a shot so I will report my results.
Looks like I am already running into issues with Kingroot not opening on my phone. It will install, then once selected from my app drawer it just flashes the screen with no result.
I got another version from a download list on XDA heres the progress so far:
- kingroot gains root after 2-3 tries, no big deal
- sunshine installed and given su permission
- sunshine verifies, I pay them, final tests are run and it reboots
- phone fully rebooted, sunshine asks to continue
- I hit home and minimized Sunshine, went back to kingroot, installed - reboot - Sunshine pops up, minimize, kingroot - repeat until root is successful
- maximize Sunshine from apps tray, continue - s-off successfully
- rebooted the phone into the boot menu and verified that the bootloader is unlocked and s-off has been successfully achieved
I do also concur with other postings that the modified flag has been placed when I enter the boot menu.
Also just to clarify - I CAN download RUU 4.4.3, place it on my root SD directory (FAT32), and go into hboot mode and flash accordingly? This won't brick my phone going from 5.0.1 to 4.4.3 as long as the phone is s-off unlocked?
Ok.. I flashed 4.4.3 which worked.. then went into the play store to grab TWRP - tried to install the recovery and it said something went wrong. I chose to reboot the phone into recovery to check if one was already installed (I thought RUU was bone stock..) and now I can't get kitkat to boot up.. it just goes to TWRP or gives me the red exclamation point....... not sure what to do here but I don't think adb will work since it requires drivers I can't install without the phone being fully booted up..
EDIT: Since I still had a recovery and an SD card with the 4.4.3 RUU on it, I just wiped the system and booted up into the hboot to reinstall the RUU again. Phew..
Now I'm just confused as to why TWRP did that to my phone in the first place? I don't want to install it again now because that was such a pain, but I want to get a rom loaded..
TWRP Manager sucks. The partition layout is slightly different between KK and LP and probably TWRP Manager flashed the recovery to the system partition. That's why it booted straight to recovery.
Use fastboot to flash TWRP.
Thanks man, that makes sense. I'll give it a shot tomorrow!
I was able to RUU TWRP no problem with a RUU zip I found on here. Worked like a charm.
I have to say I didn't realize how bad the official lollipop OTA is compared to running a 4.4.3 version of viperrom. It's like night and day and my battery life is excellent now. So glad the kingroot exploit worked!
x25064 said:
I was able to RUU TWRP no problem with a RUU zip I found on here. Worked like a charm.
I have to say I didn't realize how bad the official lollipop OTA is compared to running a 4.4.3 version of viperrom. It's like night and day and my battery life is excellent now. So glad the kingroot exploit worked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this whole thread! Your detailed process has given me the confidence to finally do this on mine, can't wait to be back to KK and have a working device again!
I am on MIUI 6 v 6.6.6.0 and i want to directly flash MIUI 7 v 5.8.28 on this
I am rooted and with TWRP,
so can i flash this new rom zip directly from the TWRP or do i need to unroot it first and then install the update?
I haven't done the update myself, but have been reading up on it. It seems that flashing via recovery (either original or TWRP) should be OK. OTA after root seems to have issues.
My phone is just 2 days old. I want to observe it for a week before updating to 5.8.28 or later. (Haven't updated the sig yet to reflect the new phone. My first phone without a physical keyboard.)
So I've seen a few threads asking a similar thing but since they're quite old, I'd like to ask again.
Quick info about my setup:
running stock ROM, MOB30H
system-less root
system-less Xposed
kernel: ElementalX
TWRP recovery
I was hoping I'll be able to install OTAs with less hassle thanks to up-to-date SuperSU and a special version of Xposed. I indeed have received an OTA today - a small update, I believe 9 MB. When I tried to install it though, TWRP booted up and nothing happened.
Does someone run a similar setup? Have you been able to install an OTA after flashing stock recovery (which I guess is what needs to be done to install OTAs)? Would I have to reflash SuperSU and/or Xposed?
Hey everyone,
I have a Nexus 5 that I haven't updated in a long time that I'd like to get the latest possible OS for. The only modifications I've made which I think might be important are:
Unlocked bootloader
Rooted using SuperSU (v2.8.2 currently)
Installed XPosed (installer v2.6.1, not sure what version of the framework but it should be the latest supported by 4.4.4) with a few modules
Installed App Ops and removed permissions from some apps
Installed StickMount
I don't believe I have any custom recovery installed (I'd used a script to root and install XPosed originally and I don't know if it made any other changes). I'm comfortable using adb if needed but I'm cool with tools like FlashFire too.
My end goal is to have an updated OS with root and XPosed. I assume I'll need Magisk for XPosed, but not sure about root.
How should I go about doing this? I'm cool with losing all of my data (I'll be making backups with Titanium Backup) though knowing ahead of time if that'll be the case would be nice. If it's possible to update without losing data and without affecting anything that'd be nice, but maybe a clean start would be good? The OTA guide on this forum is only for 5, not 6, and most online guides start with 5. I don't want to mess up obviously. xD
Any advice/steps would be appreciated! Thanks!
Aecyl said:
Hey everyone,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need TWRP. Then to install it. https://forum.xda-developers.com/go...om-android-m-preview-2-flashable-zip-t3157299
pavik62 said:
You need TWRP. Then to install it. https://forum.xda-developers.com/go...om-android-m-preview-2-flashable-zip-t3157299
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link you gave doesn't have the latest 6.0.1 build and it also says that it requires a minimum bootloader (HHZ12h) that I don't have (I have HHZ11k). Would it be possible to use the latest build from Google? What do I do about the bootloader? And would using TWRP as the recovery prevent me from passing SafetyNet?
Thanks for replying!
Could I follow this guide with the latest factory image and then install Magisk, root, and XPosed? https://android.gadgethacks.com/how...actory-images-android-using-fastboot-0175277/
If you're on stock, update using the built in updates. That'll get you all the latest firmware. I'm pretty sure the N5 goes up to 5.0 normally.
Roxasmaker said:
If you're on stock, update using the built in updates. That'll get you all the latest firmware. I'm pretty sure the N5 goes up to 5.0 normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would I have to do anything to XPosed or supersu first? I'd like to update to 6.0.1, too. I've seen online that there are OTA updates for it too.
Nope. But you may have to reinstall root, which is very easy once you're updated. Just let the updates do their thing, and you'll be on your merry way! Hope I helped
I think what I'll do is flash stock 4.4.4 keeping user data and then use the OTAs to update to 6. That way I have a clean system install to use Magisk with without losing any user data. (If that doesn't work I'll just flash 6.0.1 for a clean install.)
Hi, as of now I am running a d1 device (SM-N970/DS) with stock Android 11, TWRP 3.52_9-4 and the ThundeRStormS kernel 2.7 along with the August 2021 security patches and (Magisk 23.0) root via the custom kernel.
Now I would like to update to Android 12 (One UI 4) and update TWRP and install the latest version of the kernel along with root. First of all, how shall I proceed in doing so? Second, I would like to keep my data and do not format internal storage again. Is that even possible? If not I’ll remain on that version.
As I don’t like to spend significant time to fine tune the whole device and debloat the stock ROM again I’m kinda hesitant of upgrading.