I'm not tech savvy when it comes to Android and I need some help to root my teen's Motorola Moto E 2015, preferably today.
I need to root it to then disable the guest account, so that when I install the ScreenTime app my son can't bypass it by using the guest account. That's a shortcoming of ScreenTime.
I read a bit about ROMs and would like to use CyanogenMod.
But other than my choice of ROM, I haven't found what I believe to be reliable instructions on what to do now step by step. I really do need idiot-proof step by step instructions.
Is there a super Android geek here who has time to take me through the process or offer advice and links to such sources?
Hello,
Welcome to XDA.
Try the thread linked below, there is a YouTube video in the first post that walks you through rooting your device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e-2015/general/root-moto-e-2015-t3086819
If you have further questions about your device, try posting your questions in the forum linked below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-e-2015/help
The experts there may be able to help. Good luck.
Got this far
Found instructions on CyanogenMod Wiki - wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_surnia[/url
but only got as far as step 5. What terminal on my computer? Command Prompt? I typed adb reboot bootloader into Command Prompt but it said adb command is not recognized.
Unlocking the device
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Enable USB debugging on the device.
3. Enable OEM unlock in the Developer options settings on the device. (Note: Not all devices have this setting, so continue with next step if yours does not.)
4. Connect the device to the computer through USB.
5. From a terminal on a computer, type the following to boot the device into fastboot mode:
adb reboot bootloader
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "<waiting for device>", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", try running fastboot as root.
7. From the same terminal, type the following command to obtain your bootloader unlock code:
fastboot oem get_unlock_data
8. Visit the Motorola Bootloader Unlock website and follow the instructions there to obtain your unlock key and unlock your bootloader.
9. If the device doesn't automatically reboot, reboot it from the menu. It should now be unlocked.
10. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging on the device to continue.
Installing recovery using fastboot
See All About Recovery Images for more information about custom recoveries and their capabilities.
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Download recovery -- you can directly download a recovery image using the link below, or visit twrp.me to obtain the latest version of TeamWin Recovery Project for your device.
Recovery: Downloadmd5: 5fdfe1871589c0a152f3f7e541b6c892
3. Connect the Moto E 2015 LTE to the computer via USB.
4. Make sure the fastboot binary is in your PATH or that you place the recovery image in the same directory as fastboot.
5. Open a terminal on your PC and reboot the device into fastboot mode by typing
adb reboot bootloaderor by using the hardware key combination for your device while it is powered off.
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing
fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "<waiting for device>", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", make sure your UDEV rules are setup correctly.
7. Flash recovery onto your device by entering the following command:
fastboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.imgwhere the latter part is the filename of the recovery image.
8. Once the flash completes successfully, reboot the device into recovery to verify the installation. Boot to recovery instructions: Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
* Note: Some ROMs overwrite recovery at boot time so if you do not plan to immediately boot into recovery to install CyanogenMod, please be aware that this may overwrite your custom recovery with the stock one.
Installing CyanogenMod from recovery
1. Make sure your computer has working adb.
2. Download the CyanogenMod package for your device that you'd like to install to your computer.
Optional: Download 3rd party applications packages, like Google Apps which are necessary to download apps from Google Play.
3. Place the CyanogenMod .zip package, as well as any optional .zip packages, on the root of /sdcard:
* Using adb: adb push filename.zip /sdcard/
Note: You can copy the .zip packages to your device using any method you are familiar with. The adb method is used here because it is universal across all devices and works in both Android and recovery mode. If you are in recovery mode, you may need to ensure /sdcard (sometimes called Internal Storage) is mounted by checking its status in the Mounts menu. If you have booted regularly, USB debugging must be enabled.
4. If you are not already in recovery, boot to recovery mode now.
* Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
5. In Team Win Recovery Project, select menu choices by tapping on the appropriately labelled button.
6. Optional (Recommended): Select the Backup button to create a backup.
7. Select Wipe and then Factory Reset.
8. Select Install (if you're running Cyanogen recovery this is Apply Update).
9. Navigate to /sdcard and select the CyanogenMod .zip package.
10. Follow the on-screen notices to install the package.
11. Optional: Install any additional packages you wish using the same method (if you are installing multiple packages, install CyanogenMod the first and then install any subsequent packages on top of it).
12. Once installation has finished, return to the main menu and select Reboot, then System. The device will now boot into CyanogenMod.
ipzma said:
Found instructions on CyanogenMod Wiki - wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_surnia[/url
but only got as far as step 5. What terminal on my computer? Command Prompt? I typed adb reboot bootloader into Command Prompt but it said adb command is not recognized.
Unlocking the device
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Enable USB debugging on the device.
3. Enable OEM unlock in the Developer options settings on the device. (Note: Not all devices have this setting, so continue with next step if yours does not.)
4. Connect the device to the computer through USB.
5. From a terminal on a computer, type the following to boot the device into fastboot mode:
adb reboot bootloader
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", try running fastboot as root.
7. From the same terminal, type the following command to obtain your bootloader unlock code:
fastboot oem get_unlock_data
8. Visit the Motorola Bootloader Unlock website and follow the instructions there to obtain your unlock key and unlock your bootloader.
9. If the device doesn't automatically reboot, reboot it from the menu. It should now be unlocked.
10. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging on the device to continue.
Installing recovery using fastboot
See All About Recovery Images for more information about custom recoveries and their capabilities.
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Download recovery -- you can directly download a recovery image using the link below, or visit twrp.me to obtain the latest version of TeamWin Recovery Project for your device.
Recovery: Downloadmd5: 5fdfe1871589c0a152f3f7e541b6c892
3. Connect the Moto E 2015 LTE to the computer via USB.
4. Make sure the fastboot binary is in your PATH or that you place the recovery image in the same directory as fastboot.
5. Open a terminal on your PC and reboot the device into fastboot mode by typing
adb reboot bootloaderor by using the hardware key combination for your device while it is powered off.
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing
fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", make sure your UDEV rules are setup correctly.
7. Flash recovery onto your device by entering the following command:
fastboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.imgwhere the latter part is the filename of the recovery image.
8. Once the flash completes successfully, reboot the device into recovery to verify the installation. Boot to recovery instructions: Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
* Note: Some ROMs overwrite recovery at boot time so if you do not plan to immediately boot into recovery to install CyanogenMod, please be aware that this may overwrite your custom recovery with the stock one.
Installing CyanogenMod from recovery
1. Make sure your computer has working adb.
2. Download the CyanogenMod package for your device that you'd like to install to your computer.
Optional: Download 3rd party applications packages, like Google Apps which are necessary to download apps from Google Play.
3. Place the CyanogenMod .zip package, as well as any optional .zip packages, on the root of /sdcard:
* Using adb: adb push filename.zip /sdcard/
Note: You can copy the .zip packages to your device using any method you are familiar with. The adb method is used here because it is universal across all devices and works in both Android and recovery mode. If you are in recovery mode, you may need to ensure /sdcard (sometimes called Internal Storage) is mounted by checking its status in the Mounts menu. If you have booted regularly, USB debugging must be enabled.
4. If you are not already in recovery, boot to recovery mode now.
* Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
5. In Team Win Recovery Project, select menu choices by tapping on the appropriately labelled button.
6. Optional (Recommended): Select the Backup button to create a backup.
7. Select Wipe and then Factory Reset.
8. Select Install (if you're running Cyanogen recovery this is Apply Update).
9. Navigate to /sdcard and select the CyanogenMod .zip package.
10. Follow the on-screen notices to install the package.
11. Optional: Install any additional packages you wish using the same method (if you are installing multiple packages, install CyanogenMod the first and then install any subsequent packages on top of it).
12. Once installation has finished, return to the main menu and select Reboot, then System. The device will now boot into CyanogenMod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you installed the adb/fastboot program? Do a Google search for adb/fastboot for windows. Then verify that you have your moto E USB drivers downloaded and installed. You should be able to enter adb commands when that is set up. To verify that adb is working and that your device is recognized you type: adb devices
That should give you a set of numbers and letters, if so then your device is recognized, continue with the commands from your guide.
The YouTube video will walk you through step by step with a visual guide instead of trying to make sense of written instructions, just emulate the operators' actions following the video and you can't go wrong.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
ipzma said:
Found instructions on CyanogenMod Wiki - wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_surnia[/url
but only got as far as step 5. What terminal on my computer? Command Prompt? I typed adb reboot bootloader into Command Prompt but it said adb command is not recognized.
Unlocking the device
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Enable USB debugging on the device.
3. Enable OEM unlock in the Developer options settings on the device. (Note: Not all devices have this setting, so continue with next step if yours does not.)
4. Connect the device to the computer through USB.
5. From a terminal on a computer, type the following to boot the device into fastboot mode:
adb reboot bootloader
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "<waiting for device>", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", try running fastboot as root.
7. From the same terminal, type the following command to obtain your bootloader unlock code:
fastboot oem get_unlock_data
8. Visit the Motorola Bootloader Unlock website and follow the instructions there to obtain your unlock key and unlock your bootloader.
9. If the device doesn't automatically reboot, reboot it from the menu. It should now be unlocked.
10. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging on the device to continue.
Installing recovery using fastboot
See All About Recovery Images for more information about custom recoveries and their capabilities.
1. Make sure your computer has working fastboot and adb.
2. Download recovery -- you can directly download a recovery image using the link below, or visit twrp.me to obtain the latest version of TeamWin Recovery Project for your device.
Recovery: Downloadmd5: 5fdfe1871589c0a152f3f7e541b6c892
3. Connect the Moto E 2015 LTE to the computer via USB.
4. Make sure the fastboot binary is in your PATH or that you place the recovery image in the same directory as fastboot.
5. Open a terminal on your PC and reboot the device into fastboot mode by typing
adb reboot bootloaderor by using the hardware key combination for your device while it is powered off.
6. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC sees the device by typing
fastboot devices
* If you don't see your device serial number, and instead see "<waiting for device>", fastboot is not configured properly on your machine. See fastboot documentation for more info.
* If you see "no permissions fastboot", make sure your UDEV rules are setup correctly.
7. Flash recovery onto your device by entering the following command:
fastboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.imgwhere the latter part is the filename of the recovery image.
8. Once the flash completes successfully, reboot the device into recovery to verify the installation. Boot to recovery instructions: Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
* Note: Some ROMs overwrite recovery at boot time so if you do not plan to immediately boot into recovery to install CyanogenMod, please be aware that this may overwrite your custom recovery with the stock one.
Installing CyanogenMod from recovery
1. Make sure your computer has working adb.
2. Download the CyanogenMod package for your device that you'd like to install to your computer.
Optional: Download 3rd party applications packages, like Google Apps which are necessary to download apps from Google Play.
3. Place the CyanogenMod .zip package, as well as any optional .zip packages, on the root of /sdcard:
* Using adb: adb push filename.zip /sdcard/
Note: You can copy the .zip packages to your device using any method you are familiar with. The adb method is used here because it is universal across all devices and works in both Android and recovery mode. If you are in recovery mode, you may need to ensure /sdcard (sometimes called Internal Storage) is mounted by checking its status in the Mounts menu. If you have booted regularly, USB debugging must be enabled.
4. If you are not already in recovery, boot to recovery mode now.
* Hold Volume Down & Power simultaneously. On the next screen use Volume Down to scroll to recovery and then use Volume Up to select.
5. In Team Win Recovery Project, select menu choices by tapping on the appropriately labelled button.
6. Optional (Recommended): Select the Backup button to create a backup.
7. Select Wipe and then Factory Reset.
8. Select Install (if you're running Cyanogen recovery this is Apply Update).
9. Navigate to /sdcard and select the CyanogenMod .zip package.
10. Follow the on-screen notices to install the package.
11. Optional: Install any additional packages you wish using the same method (if you are installing multiple packages, install CyanogenMod the first and then install any subsequent packages on top of it).
12. Once installation has finished, return to the main menu and select Reboot, then System. The device will now boot into CyanogenMod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I meant to tell you that the command prompt is where you type your commands.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
The One-for-All Guide to rooting, improving, and fixing various errors in Xiaomi Redmi Go!​Hello everyone! This thread that I made is for all people who wants to modify and gain full access, as well as to repair their Xiaomi Redmi Go devices the well-guided way, I've noticed that nobody has made an all-in-one guide for this phone so I decided to do it, this thread will keep on expanding depending on what I will discover about this phone, but for now, here is the thread, i expect that you have at least a little amount of knowledge when it comes to phones such as ADB and Developer Options.
What can we do with Xiaomi Redmi Go:
1. We can root it, and the best root manager for this phone is Magisk, SuperSU is also good, but if you're planning to use your phone for mobile banking, then Magisk is right for you. (Unfortunately this isn't true right now due to ctsProfile being hard to manipulate, Redmi Go supports hardware backed key attestation which means your device will definitely be not certified no matter what you do, so until we get a new method, don't root your phone if you want to use apps like Google Pay
2. TWRP is the current custom recovery available for this phone, it has flaws, but its currently the best out there, so its worth the shot to install it, the thread for it will guide you.
3. No custom kernels, people said that they have managed to install AOSP 9 and GSI on this device and made it boot up, but for me, it's better to wait for the official ROM update, after all, the device is still supported.
Prerequisites:
1. Xiaomi Redmi Go
2. An internet connection, a strong one is recommended if you want to download a ROM.
3. A computer with SDK Platform Tools ready to use, this is required, the link is here: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools
Don't forget to also get its driver! The link is also here: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb
The drivers are tricky to install but I will guide you on doing it in the easiest way possible, please continue on the thread.
4. SD card, your user data will be erased later, better back your files up, this is a warning.
5. Turning on "OEM unlocking" and USB Debugging in Developer Options, this is also really important!
Table of contents:
1. Unlocking the bootloader (and setting up ADB)
2. Rooting
3. Applying the custom recovery
4. Additional modifications
5. Stock ROM links
6. Bonus Section
WARNING: I am not responsible for anything that happens to your device as you follow my guide, do not blame me if you turned your device into a paperweight, made it explode, made it fly or whatever it may be, you chose to modify this phone and you should be accountable for it, you must know the consequences of what you're doing, try to point your finger at me because of what YOU did and I will laugh at you.
I am ready to assist though, so please feel free to ask some questions!
Let us begin, this will take several minutes, so please be patient and avoid rushing.
1. Unlocking the bootloader.
NOTE: This requires your computer to have SDK Platform Tools extracted to any location as long as its easy to access, and its really complicated to talk about it here, this step doesn't include the method where you request a code from Xiaomi, but I've provided a link for it.
A. First, get your phone up, and open the folder on where the SDK Platform Tools are placed, make sure that your in the directory where you see the .exe files of the SDK, now, hold Shift on the keyboard and click "Open Command Prompt here" and type "adb reboot bootloader", without quotes don't forget! This applies to all the steps that I will provide, don't forget to change the USB connection mode of your phone to PTP for it to be detected by ADB! (Only applies to Windows 8/8.1) Once your phone is asking for an authorization, check "Always allow this computer" then tap allow.
B. Once your device has been booted up into Fastboot or the bootloader, check first if your device is being detected, type "fastboot devices", if yes then proceed, if no, then stop here for now.
1B. If this happens then you may have to check your drivers and see if its installed correctly, once your device can be seen at "adb devices" it should also been seen in "fastboot devices" and when the phone is in adb sideload, if not then you have to reinstall ADB, get the proper drivers and do it again.
C. Now, type "fastboot oem unlock-go", the terminal will warn you that all of your user data will be removed, if you have them backed up then and go ahead and enter the command, if not, then just type "fastboot reboot" and start backing up your files, then do this again.
D. The phone will boot up and say "Erasing", to confirm that your phone has its bootloader unlocked, once it boots up again see if it says "Unlocked" on the bottom part of your screen, if there is then congratulations, it should be unlocked at this point.
1D. https://www.getdroidtips.com/unlock-bootloader-xiaomi-redmi-go/, this one particular link provides you on how to unlock the bootloader by entering a certain code, I believe this is a safer method but requires a bit of time, go here if you're interested.
NOTE: The phone supports the command "fastboot flashing unlock_critical" if you are going to unlock your phone with the normal command (fastboot oem unlock_go/fastboot flashing unlock), consider using this 2nd command too, what it does is that it allows you to also flash partitions you supposedly don't have access to, just be very careful not to flash any wrong file! It will be useful to make the "flash_all.bat" script work that you can find on the fastboot ROM for this device, more below!
Once your bootloader has been unlocked, you can now proceed to the other steps that I provided here, don't forget to enable USB Debugging on your Developer Options.
1.2 Setting up ADB
1. Grab your phone, unlock and open your Developer Options then enable "USB Debugging", then change your connection type to "PTP" if you are using Windows 8/8.1, I am not sure if this is required on 7, but it is not needed on Windows 10.
2. Go to this link: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools and download the .zip file, then extract it to a location that is easy to access, like your desktop.
3. Get the official Google drivers here: https://developer.android.com/studio/run/win-usb download the .zip file as well, and extract it too.
4. Go to the extracted folder of your SDK Platform Tools, and go to the directory where you can see various .exe files such as "adb.exe", now, hold the Shift key then click the Right mouse button, then click "Open command prompt here" If this doesn't work for you, open up CMD with admin rights, then type in cd *the location of your platform tools* say on mine, I will input cd C:\Users\James\Downloads\platform-tools_r31.0.3-windows\platform-tools then enter
5. Open your Device Manager by pressing Windows + R, put "devmgmt.msc" without any quotes then Enter, do not close the Device Manager until you're done with all the steps! And please be fast here too or else ADB will not work, now go to your extracted folder of the Google USB driver, and look for the file "android_winusb.inf", copy the location path of it as you will need the exact location path of the file later, in my case it was "C:\Users\Symphony\Desktop\latest_usb_driver_windows\usb_driver\android_winusb.inf".
4A. There are 3 main ADB devices that you have to install, Android ADB Interface, Android Bootloader Interface and Android Composite ADB Interface, so I will divide this into 3 sections, have your Device Manager, and the exact location of the .inf.
NOTE: Turn off the internet connection of your computer, why? Because, if you let Windows install the drivers for you, the drivers may be incorrect and will break things apart, as we will encounter several "Unknown devices" in the Device Manager and we have to update them with the extracted files from Google.
Android ADB Interface
1. Now, make sure that USB Debugging is enabled, now plug in your phone and let the drivers install WHILE your computer is offline, now go to your Device Manager after the driver installation and you should see that there is a driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark.
2. Select the "Android" driver with an exclamation mark, then click "Update device driver", click "Browse my computer for driver software" then click "Let me pick from the list of devices on my computer", click Next, then click "Have Disk", now, remember the location path you copied earlier? Now paste that path (like C:\Users\Symphony\Desktop\latest_usb_driver_windows\usb_driver\) to the white bar under "Copy manufacturers files from:", overwrite the A:\ with your copied path then Browse, select the "android_winusb.inf" and click OK, now, select the "Android ADB Interface", once the driver has been installed and the interface doesn't give errors such as "The device cannot start", then you're good to go.
NOTE: If you plug your phone and there is no "Android" device with exclamation mark, you can proceed to try and see if adb detects your device by typing "adb devices" in the command right now, it should be since this is what I experienced when setting up my device in Windows 10, this step usually applies only if you are using Windows 8/8.1
Android Bootloader Interface
1. To test, go to the command prompt you opened earlier, and type "adb devices", the device should now be detected at this point, when it does, type "adb reboot bootloader".
2. Now, make sure USB Debugging is enabled on the device before booting it into bootloader, now plug in your phone again and let the drivers install WHILE your computer is offline, Go to your Device Manager after the driver installation and you should see that there is a driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark.
3. Select the "Android" driver with an exclamation mark, then click "Update device driver", click "Browse my computer for driver software" then click "Let me pick from the list of devices on my computer", click Next, then click "Have Disk", now, remember the location path you copied earlier? Now paste that path (like C:\Users\Symphony\Desktop\latest_usb_driver_windows\usb_driver\) to the white bar under "Copy manufacturers files from:", overwrite the A:\ with your copied path then Browse, select the "android_winusb.inf" and click OK, now, select the "Android Bootloader Interface", once the driver has been installed and the interface doesn't give errors such as "The device cannot start", then you're good to go.
Android Composite ADB Interface
1. Before proceeding, type "fastboot devices", the device should now also be detected on fastboot, now, type "fastboot reboot", and afterwards, enable "USB Debugging" on the Developer Options, then go your command prompt, then type "adb reboot recovery".
2. Now, now plug in your phone again and let the drivers install WHILE your computer is offline, now go to your Device Manager after the driver installation and you should see that there is a driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark.
3. Select the "Android" driver with an exclamation mark, then click "Update device driver", click "Browse my computer for driver software" then click "Let me pick from the list of devices on my computer", click Next, then click "Have Disk", now, remember the location path you copied earlier? Now paste that path (like C:\Users\Symphony\Desktop\latest_usb_driver_windows\usb_driver\) to the white bar under "Copy manufacturers files from:", overwrite the A:\ with your copied path then Browse, select the "android_winusb.inf" and click OK, now, select the "Android Composite ADB Interface", once the driver has been installed and the interface doesn't give errors such as "The device cannot start", then you're good to go.
2. Applying the recovery/custom recovery
A. Open up your phone and ensure that USB Debugging has been enabled, now, open up your command prompt just like in Step 1 in Unlocking the Bootloader and type "adb reboot bootloader"
B. Next up, type "fastboot flash recovery path/to/recovery.img", substitute the path/to/ with the actual location of your recovery, and please make sure that the name of the image is "recovery.img"! Or else it will not overwrite/update the recovery, you can also put your recovery.img directly within the platform-tools folder so that all you have to type is "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img" then press enter.
C. Once your done, reboot the phone and press Volume Up + Power at the same time, and the recovery will start. (You may want to do this else the recovery will be automatically removed and replaced with the stock one)
1C. For the stock recovery, once you press the combination, the phone will say "No command", at this point, hold your Power button and press Volume up one time to get into recovery.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/recovery-twrp-3-3-0-redmi-t3929282 here is the link of the TWRP recovery, I encourage you to follow the steps mentioned in the post properly.
WARNING: The fix I provided below is now pushed here for 1 certain reason, before you try to root your phone and do everything else, you must decrypt your internal storage first and it is quite easy, first you must get the decrypt.zip linked in this thread (if the .zip cannot be found, I still have a copy of it), go to TWRP and do "format data", not Wipe Data! How so? Once you reboot to TWRP, it will show you the "Wipe" button, tap that, then the "Format Data" button should show up, this will require you to type in "yes" so type it in, then once it is done formatting, go back to the main TWRP screen, tap "Reboot", then "Reboot to Recovery", afterwards you must go to "Install" then proceed to install the "decrypt.zip", after that you can now flash .zip files from your internal storage too, but beware that you must do this every time you update your device!
3. Rooting your phone
A. To get started, install TWRP for your phone first.
B. Get the .zip file of Magisk/SuperSU so you can install them, the links are https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445 and https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/stable-2016-09-01supersu-v2-78-release-t3452703
C. Reboot your phone to recovery or just plug it in, open the command prompt again just like in the previous step and put "adb reboot recovery" without quotes.
D. Tap "Install" on your TWRP recovery and select the respective installation .zip file of your chosen root management app, and wait for it to finish.
1D. The .zip for both SuperSU and Magisk can be installed through "adb sideload", if incase you don't have an SD card! It may also work with fastboot as well but I need someone to confirm this.
E. When it's done, wipe the cache first, then reboot.
1E. If the root management app didn't appear in your phone after boot, just install the APK of it in the Play Store and check if root has been applied, if not, repeat step C and D again.
BONUS: It may be useful also to grab EdXposed or LSposed for Magisk and the link is here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...or-of-xposed-oreo-pie-q-r-2020-07-19.4070199/ and here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...e-magisk-module-edxposed-alternative.4228973/, please choose only one! You will use the normal Xposed if you're using a different root management app such as SuperSU, the link is here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
What this does is that if the app is an Xposed/EdXposed/LSposed framework module, any modifications it does to your phone will be based on memory only, it won't modify your phone directly which means your device will be clean, and if it incase the said modification bricks your phone, you can easily recover from it too!
BONUS 2: I also recommend getting the Busybox module from Magisk itself, it can easily be downloaded from the Magisk app, you will need this module if you want your root applications to work more efficiently and avoid errors, as most of them requires Busybox to work, don't use the Busybox installer apps on Play Store as they modify /system directly, only use it if you are using SuperSU.
4. Additional modifications
Once you've managed to root your phone and everything else, what I recommend you could do with your device is to get the following apps:
Titanium Backup - It has the ability to back up apps on your phone, and even its data! this app could do so much more than with what I just mentioned.
LSpeed - A root boosting app that has almost every root tweak packed into it, its really convenient to use! I do not recommend using Entropy tweaks as I heard it is a placebo.
Greenify - For me, this is the only legit battery saving app aside from LSpeed which also offers tons of battery saving features, it requires Xposed to have more options you have to buy it to gain full functionality
ROM Toolbox - This app pretty much contains everything a rooted user needs, such as a terminal and root-based file manager.
System app uninstaller (optional) - Just in case if you're planning to remove some bloatware (the list of it is below)
Root Browser - An alternative to ROM Toolbox, this root explorer is really popular and gets the job done without any interruptions.
Terminal emulator - This will allow you to enter various commands on your phone, like being able to reboot the phone without using any keys.
In order to make the phone as fluid as possible, just leave it with stock ROM installed, try to also use lite apps like Facebook Lite to reduce RAM and battery consumption.
Kernel Adiutor - Another great root application, it's like LSpeed but it doesn't automate tweaks, it instead allows you to modify most of it on your own, then it reapplies your tweaks every time your cellphone will boot up if you tap the "Apply on startup" switch. the link for the app is here: https://m.apkpure.com/kernel-adiutor-root/com.grarak.kerneladiutor
NOTE: Most of these apps can be found on the Play Store, and please don't install any more similar root boosting apps such as HEBF, scripts such as V6 Supercharger, or modifying files like build.prop, it is due to the fact that this will conflict with LSpeed, as LSpeed contains most of the tweaks that past scripts and apps provide, this will result in your phone slowing down a lot, Greenify will require Xposed Framework which is mentioned above on the Rooting section, the link to LSpeed is here https://github.com/Paget96/LSpeed, because the app has been removed from Play Store.
WARNING: The perf.zip https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/-t3935220 here, that was provided in Xiaomi Redmi Go forum section must be applied with extreme caution, you have to make a backup of your build.prop in /system, and build.prop + default.prop in /vendor for easy recovery, you can use ZipMe to easily make a backup for these files.
5. Stock ROM links
https://xiaomirom.com/en/rom/redmi-go-tiare-global-fastboot-recovery-rom/, this link so far provides all the ROMs (both recovery and fastboot) available for download on this phone, and they are actually light enough, so it will be easy to download them.
https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/archive/miui/tiare/ a new link I've found recently, this rom contains the .tgz format of the latest ROM for the Xiaomi Redmi Go, which could be used for fastboot and Mi Flash Tool, just search for the model and go for Global.
NOTE: Most of the ROMs for this phone provided on several sites, even on the actual Xiaomi website, has an invalid format of .zip, and doesn't contain a flashall script, as a result, Mi Flash Tool will never be able to use these ROMs, you could not also use adb sideload and fastboot for these ROMs, only the stock recovery of the phone could install the ROM, due to the links provided above finally giving the latest ROM versions for the phone, extracting the stock recovery is very easy now, you can do it yourself but if you need a link, tell me.
5A. Applying the stock ROM
This section will be divided into 2 sections, flashing the ROM through recovery, flashing the ROM through fastboot manually, or automatically with flash_all.bat
Stock recovery method.
A. Download the stock ROM with .zip format and put it into your SD Card.
B. Flash your recovery back to stock with the steps given above, boot into your stock recovery, then using your Power button and volume keys to navigate, select "Apply update from SD card".
C. Select the .zip file and wait for the update to finish.
D. The device will boot up automatically after, if not, just go back to the main menu of the recovery and select "Reboot system", enjoy!
Fastboot manual flashing method.
A. Ensure that you have prepared your device and computer for ADB, now grab the ROM given in this thread in .tgz format, and keep extracting the file until you see the files such as "flash-all.sh" after extraction, as you need to extract the .tgz ROM two times before you could use it properly.
B. Now go to the extracted folder of the stock ROM, go the "images" folder and copy the following image files: boot.img, system.img, recovery.img (make a backup of this file somewhere!), vendor.img, cache.img, userdata.img, persist.img, and splash.img.
C. Paste them to the extracted folder of your SDK Platform Tools where various .exe files are located such as "adb.exe", or in my case the location is "C:\Users\Symphony\Downloads\platform-tools_r29.0.4-windows\platform-tools".
D. Now open your command prompt on this directory, or Shift + Right click, then plug in your phone, now type "adb reboot bootloader" so your phone will go to bootloader, don't forget to enable "USB Debugging" and PTP connection mode before rebooting! (only applies to Windows 8/8.1, it may vary on Windows 7 but it is different on 10, no need for PTP connection mode, you can just turn on USB debugging and that's all)
E. Now, this is a little tricky, but try to follow me as much as you can, make sure first that you are detected with "fastboot devices", input the following commands that I will give so you can flash the ROM to your phone, now go to the command prompt and:
To flash the boot.img to your phone, put the command: "fastboot flash boot boot.img"
For the recovery, the command is: "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img"
For the system or main OS: "fastboot flash system system.img"
For cache: "fastboot flash cache cache.img"
For persist: "fastboot flash persist persist.img"
For the vendor or additional system files: "fastboot flash vendor vendor.img"
For data or apps: "fastboot flash userdata userdata.img"
For splash or probably boot animation: "fastboot flash splash splash.img"
D. After that, type "fastboot reboot", and enjoy!
Fastboot automatic flashing method (NEW!)
A. Extract the fastboot ROM 2 times as instructed, after getting the files, grab all the files and copy it to the directory of your platform tools where files such as "adb.exe" can be found, just copy all the files in there and that's all you have to do.
B. Open the "flash_all.bat" on Notepad and remove the following lines:
fastboot %* getvar product 2>&1 | findstr /r /c:"^product: *tiare" || echo Missmatching image and device
fastboot %* getvar product 2>&1 | findstr /r /c:"^product: *tiare" || exit /B 1
Afterwards, save the .bat file, that should be ready to use now
C. As instructed above, you must also do "fastboot flashing unlock_critical" after unlocking your bootloader the normal way, this will act as your 2nd unlock command, without this, the flash_all.bat will not work as it should be.
D. Boot up your phone in fastboot mode, open up your adb devices and make sure that your phone is seen in "fastboot devices", once it does, type in "flash_all.bat" without any quotes and execute it, the command will now automatically flash everything without you doing anything else, it will also automatically reboot after doing so.
Bonus section:
1. TWRP-compatible stock ROM
For this part, in order for you to generate a TWRP-flashable stock ROM is by basically making it yourself, you have to make sure that your patch is latest, and its pretty much a good idea to just tick everything in the backup selection except for the recovery, as well as the cache as you don't need those.
Once you have it, go ahead and keep it somewhere safe but easy to find, so if case that you need to use it, you could get it immediately, this is extremely useful so please just do it, as of now, I've confirmed that only the /data backup was usable, but please try to confirm if other partition backups are working for you.
Certain custom ROMs that can boot up in this device could be flashed through TWRP though, and the links of them are provided here in this thread.
2. GSI, AOSP 9 and custom ROMs
The link for AOSP is provided here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/redmi-aosp-9-t3922192
The link for GSI is right here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/tested-gsi-redmi-t3924705
These images/ROMs can be applied with TWRP, just make sure to follow the steps mentioned in these posts to avoid inconvenience, don't forget to take precautions too! I haven't tried them, but so far I believe that these are stable to use.
There are also custom ROMs released for the device but I am lazy to link all of them, they can easily be found by going here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/tags/xiaomi-redmi-go/
Please take note that I haven't tested these custom ROMs yet and I most likely never will, since the stock ROM for the device is already good enough, you can comment here and tell me what custom ROMs are stable so I can link them here for future reference.
3. Current status
My phone is still working, yes! and it's still staying strong, updated to 2.25 using the fastboot method and it is still fast, the only issue currently is that SafetyNet is a lot more secure than before, so it will be impossible to use stuff like Google Pay for now.
I usually decided to lay low and just stay with my LSpeed, Kernel Adiutor and Greenify, all I had to do is to tinker with these apps and my phone just reached into a whole new level! The performance improvement is nice, that I didn't need to use a custom ROM anymore.
4. How to install a OTA update after rooting your device
Due to the changes made by Google on SafetyNet, and the fact that this device will always require you to wipe the device every update, it is pretty much the same, it doesn't matter anymore if you are certified or not, you will still receive an OTA update even if your device is not certified as long as you are using the stock ROM, you only won't be able to install it, and if you want to install the OTA update you must install it by flashing the updated fastboot ROM, I have links for it above, you can try installing the OTA updates yourself through the settings but you will still have to do a factory reset anyway, you have to also unroot also and revert to stock recovery, else the installation will fail, and your device may slower afterwards.
5. Bloatware you can safely remove (NEW!)
So, like I said above, as much as how lightweight the device is, there are still bloatware that you can remove if you really want, but it's only 3 of them:
Mi Video
Mint Browser
Mi Music
The rest such as Mi Share and Mint Launcher are also bloatware, you can remove them but to me they are useful so I didn't, do not remove the "Cleaner" app, if it however says something like "com.CleanMaster", you can try removing it but take caution as your Play Store may be removed along with it too.
Credits to everyone who made the apps/tools that I mentioned here! such as @topjohnwu for the Magisk, and @YasiR Siddiqui for the TWRP, @Paget96 for the awesome LSpeed app, @rovo89 for the Xposed Framework and many more, you guys totally rock!
Hello and thank you for this tutorial. I'd like to ask. Do You know a way where I can unlock the bootloader without permissions or oem unlock? I have a soft-bricked device and for me, there is no way I can get into the OS and manually switch the Oem unlock setting. I've tried different softwares, different adb commands, different region firmwares, still no luck. I can't also get into the the download mode. I mean, yeah, I get the "no command" screen but after pressing power button + up volume button my phone restarts into the fastboot mode and there is no way I can normally boot. It's looping to fastboot mode over and over...
TheAngryGuitarist said:
Hello and thank you for this tutorial. I'd like to ask. Do You know a way where I can unlock the bootloader without permissions or oem unlock? I have a soft-bricked device and for me, there is no way I can get into the OS and manually switch the Oem unlock setting. I've tried different softwares, different adb commands, different region firmwares, still no luck. I can't also get into the the download mode. I mean, yeah, I get the "no command" screen but after pressing power button + up volume button my phone restarts into the fastboot mode and there is no way I can normally boot. It's looping to fastboot mode over and over...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please elaborate all of what you've done so far? I will also ask you a few questions.
1. Is your phone usable with the platform tools? I mean with adb and such.
2. Did you try going into recovery and flashing stock ROM through there?
3. Is your phone being detected by "fastboot devices"? The fastboot mode of Redmi Go is its download mode, and i've provided the link for the stock ROM that's usable thru fastboot mode, as well as on how to apply it.
My phone is usable with adb and such, the recovery mode was not working, only the fastboot. I've tried flashing stock rom with the flash tool but I had no success with a bricked soft and a locked bootloader. I've finally fixed it by going into the edl mode by test point method then I flashed the stock rom, and I've fixed my problem this way. I couldn't unlock the bootloader manually from adb or the unlocker tool, but I've did it in the edl way.
TheAngryGuitarist said:
Hello and thank you for this tutorial. I'd like to ask. Do You know a way where I can unlock the bootloader without permissions or oem unlock? I have a soft-bricked device and for me, there is no way I can get into the OS and manually switch the Oem unlock setting. I've tried different softwares, different adb commands, different region firmwares, still no luck. I can't also get into the the download mode. I mean, yeah, I get the "no command" screen but after pressing power button + up volume button my phone restarts into the fastboot mode and there is no way I can normally boot. It's looping to fastboot mode over and over...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TheAngryGuitarist said:
My phone is usable with adb and such, the recovery mode was not working, only the fastboot. I've tried flashing stock rom with the flash tool but I had no success with a bricked soft and a locked bootloader. I've finally fixed it by going into the edl mode by test point method then I flashed the stock rom, and I've fixed my problem this way. I couldn't unlock the bootloader manually from adb or the unlocker tool, but I've did it in the edl way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please elaborate the term "edl mode"?
Good job then, usually, before you modify the phone and start doing something crazy out of stock, your number one step is to really unlock the bootloader, and in order to make things more easier, you should allow your OEM to be unlocked through the developer options, after that you can now unlock the bootloader with fastboot.
_XblackshadowX_ said:
Can you please elaborate the term "edl mode"?
Good job then, usually, before you modify the phone and start doing something crazy out of stock, your number one step is to really unlock the bootloader, and in order to make things more easier, you should allow your OEM to be unlocked through the developer options, after that you can now unlock the bootloader with fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's the emergency download mode. You use it when there is nothing you can do about the soft of your device. It automatically unlock the bootloader and you can flash the stock rom. Well, my problem was another. I did not tried to flash roms or recoveries with a locked bl. My phone automatically rebooted into the fastboot mode and from there I was not able to start my phone normally. I've tried rebooting fastboot from adb, unlock bl from adb, no success. I had to dissamembly the phone and make a short-circuit to the test points while slowly pushing in the mtp cable with the battery disconnected. Once I saw the Qualcomm driver on device manager I was able to flash the stock rom. You can search if you want to, for the test pins of this device. Btw, thank for your advice, you are really helpful to the community! ?
TheAngryGuitarist said:
Yes, it's the emergency download mode. You use it when there is nothing you can do about the soft of your device. It automatically unlock the bootloader and you can flash the stock rom. Well, my problem was another. I did not tried to flash roms or recoveries with a locked bl. My phone automatically rebooted into the fastboot mode and from there I was not able to start my phone normally. I've tried rebooting fastboot from adb, unlock bl from adb, no success. I had to dissamembly the phone and make a short-circuit to the test points while slowly pushing in the mtp cable with the battery disconnected. Once I saw the Qualcomm driver on device manager I was able to flash the stock rom. You can search if you want to, for the test pins of this device. Btw, thank for your advice, you are really helpful to the community!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Woah, you really had to open the phone before doing it, that's an interesting method!
That part where your phone booted into fastboot was kind of scary, any ideas why it booted into fastboot in the first place? It has to be reported if incase, seems like a dangerous bug.
_XblackshadowX_ said:
Woah, you really had to open the phone before doing it, that's an interesting method!
That part where your phone booted into fastboot was kind of scary, any ideas why it booted into fastboot in the first place? It has to be reported if incase, seems like a dangerous bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really sure if a malware caused this issue or a failed system update over-night.
TheAngryGuitarist said:
I'm not really sure if a malware caused this issue or a failed system update over-night.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually had failed system updates numerous times because when i install them, the phone has already been modified by a lot, and that's actually riskier.
That's why i recommend unrooting and putting back the stock recovery before updating first, still works on mine even with "Device is not certified" by Play Store.
The TWRP linked here is for Pie 9, I couldn't get it to boot on my phone, it shows vertical lines.
This is the older version for Oreo 8...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/twrp-xiaomi-redmi-beta-t3918993
I formatted the phone from TWRP it so it was no longer encrypted.
Mounted the drive from TWRP and installed the "decrypt.zip" from the other TWRP...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/recovery-twrp-3-3-0-redmi-t3929282
I unlocked the bootloader successfully.
In the setting up ADB step, I don't clearly understand. When I connect my device to the pc, no drivers are installing. And there is no driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark. But my device is getting recognized in "portable devices >> redmi go". I'm very new with adb it would be a lot of help.
I've attached the screenshot of my device manager,
bhattinb said:
I unlocked the bootloader successfully.
In the setting up ADB step, I don't clearly understand. When I connect my device to the pc, no drivers are installing. And there is no driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark. But my device is getting recognized in "portable devices >> redmi go". I'm very new with adb it would be a lot of help.
I've attached the screenshot of my device manager,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try turning on USB Debugging on Developer Options? Did you try installing the USB drivers from Google?
_XblackshadowX_ said:
Did you try turning on USB Debugging on Developer Options? Did you try installing the USB drivers from Google?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've done everything you told, I also turned the connection mode to PTP also. Somehow it just not showing that android with an exclamation mark.
after that, I even tried to use the 15-second ADB installer. after installing that I tried to flash recovery but that just didn't do anything. After using that flashing command, I had the same stock recovery.
I'm really thankful you took the time to answer my question.
Help!! My device stuck on screen saying your system has been destroyed. What I had done is locked the bootloader using command fastboot oem lock then this happened. Now i can boot device in stock recovery and bootloader too but when i am trying to unlock bootloader it says device is lock and also i am not able to flash anything. Plz help.
I am not able to flash TWRP on my redmi go
How to update the redmi go to the latest version without formatting/Factory Reset should I just follow Fastboot flashing method and if so which files should I just flash. Thank you
bhattinb said:
I unlocked the bootloader successfully.
In the setting up ADB step, I don't clearly understand. When I connect my device to the pc, no drivers are installing. And there is no driver named "Android" with an exclamation mark. But my device is getting recognized in "portable devices >> redmi go". I'm very new with adb it would be a lot of help.
I've attached the screenshot of my device manager,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! sorry for the late reply, if this is the case then it's fine, you can just connect the device, open up adb tools, type adb devices and ensure that your USB debugging is on, and the device will connect immediately, at that point all you need is the adb driver for Fastboot
akki_007 said:
Help!! My device stuck on screen saying your system has been destroyed. What I had done is locked the bootloader using command fastboot oem lock then this happened. Now i can boot device in stock recovery and bootloader too but when i am trying to unlock bootloader it says device is lock and also i am not able to flash anything. Plz help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh no, but why lock your bootloader? you can try using a recovery ROM, you must have a spare SD Card within you, grab a recovery ROM, put it in your sd card then put it into the phone and use it on stock recovery, you should be able to apply it and boot back into the system, please update me
igpraan said:
I am not able to flash TWRP on my redmi go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you must have unlocked bootloader if you want to do so.
niknah said:
The TWRP linked here is for Pie 9, I couldn't get it to boot on my phone, it shows vertical lines.
This is the older version for Oreo 8...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/twrp-xiaomi-redmi-beta-t3918993
I formatted the phone from TWRP it so it was no longer encrypted.
Mounted the drive from TWRP and installed the "decrypt.zip" from the other TWRP...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/recovery-twrp-3-3-0-redmi-t3929282
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's strange, the TWRP I linked isn't giving me any vertical lines
Hello,
I'm posting this guide for those (like me) who can't do without TWRP on their device.
I'm providing only a step-by-step explanation. Credits to @nikamura for his kernel and TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/twrp-3-4-0-0-for-sunfish-testing.4179101/
Credits to @Zackptg5 for his guide, from which I've started: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-unlock-root-safetynet-for-pixel-4a.4153773/
Credits to @topjohnwu for Magisk: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk
DISCLAIMER: I don't take any responsibility if your phone explodes or anything... The guide is provided as is.
FIRST STEP: UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER
Download USB drivers for your phone here: https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=8889791610682922010
Download SDK Platform-Tools for Windows here: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools
Extract the SDK Platform-Tools to a directory of your choice.
Open your command prompt, change directory to where you extracted the Platform-Tools and type "fastboot". Depending on your Windows setup (I'm a linux guy, so I've used an ancient win8.1 installation in a VM...) you might receive a message of a missing dll (api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll): if so, download and install the Universal C Runtime from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-c0514201-7fe6-95a3-b0a5-287930f3560c
If you try the "fastboot" command once more, it should now work.
On your phone go to system settings -> About phone -> tap on 'Build number' several times until Developer Options is enabled.
Back out into settings and go to System -> Advanced -> Developer Options -> Enable 'OEM Unlocking'.
Switch off the phone.
Boot into fastboot by holding Vol Down + Power.
Plug the phone into a usb port of your pc.
In your command prompt type "fastboot devices". If there is no output, it means you have to install the USB driver. So, open "Device Manager" on your pc, right click on your Pixel 4A (should be on top of the list with a yellow exlamation mark) and update the driver choosing the USB drivers you previously downloaded. In Device Manger you should now read "Android Bootloader Interface", with no exlamation mark.
Now back to the command prompt, "fastboot devices" should now output a string with "fastboot" written next to it.
Now type 'fastboot flashing unlock' -> Follow prompt on the device to unlock the bootloader (note that this will FACTORY RESET the device).
The bootloader is now unlocked! You can now safely reboot (or it reboots on its own, I don't actually remember).
Note that after you unlock the bootloader you will see a reminder for a few seconds every time you reboot, reminding you that the phone is unlocked. That's normal and we have to live with that, as far as I know.
SECOND STEP: USING THE FACTORY IMAGE TO DOWNGRADE TO ANDROID 10
At present, TWRP is not available for Android 11. So we have to downgrade.
Download A10 factory image (version qd4a.200805.003) here: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/sunfish-qd4a.200805.003-factory-fac7c08d.zip
If you are paranoid like me, check the SHA-256 checksum of the download with some freeware hashing tool. The SHA-256 checksum should be: fac7c08d3d4cb92078fbcdbcc7e80fc4c438612a1a004d3d12814f51928458f3
Extract the files contained in the downloaded archive into the folder where your fastboot.exe is. To be clear, flash-all.bat should be in the same folder as fastboot.exe.
Place your phone in fastboot mode (Vol Down + Power).
Connect your phone to your PC.
In your command prompt type "fastboot devices" to make sure there is proper connection.
Double click "flash-all.bat".
The phone is going to reboot a few times. Just wait patiently until you read "Press any key to exit..." in the command prompt.
You've now downgraded to Android 10!
THIRD STEP: FLASHING A CUSTOM KERNEL AND TWRP
A custom kernel is needed for TWRP to work, because the stock kernel comes with no LZMA support. Just download the kernel provided by the same developer of TWRP (@nikamura): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nuXc88t0Iokc0ha-AicOtZEUeGCGwQ-R/view?usp=sharing
And download TWRP, obviously: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PZaU9PpYmdcAHlyi0zhNwEGnBsAHDW_E/view?usp=sharing
Place both the kernel and TWRP where your fastboot.exe is.
Note that since you just used the factory image you have to boot Android 10 at least once and run the first boot wizard, before you can flash the kernel and TWRP. Also, turn on "USB debug" in Developer Options (see "FIRST STEP" for how to reach Developer Options).
Now, connect your phone to your PC.
In your command prompt type "adb devices". Follow prompt on your phone to permanently allow the adb connection to your pc.
Type the following commands (without quotes):
"adb reboot bootloader"
"fastboot flash boot TKernel-sunfish_V0.1.img"
"fastboot reboot bootloader"
"fastboot boot sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img"
The phone should now boot into TWRP on-the-fly, but it's not been flashed yet.
Place TWRP file on your phone with the following command:
"adb push sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img /sdcard/"
Now in TWRP go to "Install" > "Install Image" > "sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img" > "Install recovery ramdisk" > Swipe.
Now back to the home of TWRP > "Reboot" > "Recovery".
The phone should now boot into TWRP! And this time it's properly installed (not just sideloaded).
You can now reboot into Android 10.
FOURTH STEP: ROOTING WITH MAGISK
Now, you need to grab your current boot image. To do this, boot into TWRP (Vol UP + Power) > "Backup" > flag only "Boot (64MB)" > "Options" tab > unflag "Enable compression" > "Backup" tab > Swipe.
Reboot to Android 10.
Disable "Automatic System Updates" in Developer Options.
Connect phone to PC.
If you browse your phone, in /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS/xxxxxxxx/xxxxxxx/ there will be a file named "boot.emmc.win". That's your boot image and you can rename it "boot.img". It should weigh exactly 64MB.
Download Magisk Manager apk (credits @topjohnwu): https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/download/manager-v8.0.7/MagiskManager-v8.0.7.apk
Copy Magisk Manager apk to your device.
Install Magisk Manager apk.
Open Magisk Manager. My locale is not English, so the following commands might slightly differ from what you will see, but still they should be easy to understand. Select 'Install' (Magisk) -> 'Select and Patch File' -> select your boot.img file -> 'Go!' -> it'll output the patched boot image to your Download folder.
Copy the magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img from Download folder to your pc, where your fastboot.exe is.
In your command prompt type:
"adb reboot bootloader"
"fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img"
"fastboot reboot bootloader"
You're now rooted!
Enter recovery to make sure TWRP is still working.
Reboot system.
Check in Magisk Manager the resulting installed version of Magisk is 21.4 (=rooted).
This worked great for me - thank you for the post!
Why would you patch the boot.img via Magisk Manager when you can just flash the Magisk v21.4 zip in TWRP?
I;m still confused AF why you would Patch the Boot.img with a working TWRP.img?
BTW: Are you passing safety net, not that it matters, but i figured i'd would on stock Android 10 at least....
Moto_Fan said:
Why would you patch the boot.img via Magisk Manager when you can just flash the Magisk v21.4 zip in TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that should supposedly work the same, although not personally tested.
Moto_Fan said:
I;m still confused AF why you would Patch the Boot.img with a working TWRP.img?
BTW: Are you passing safety net, not that it matters, but i figured i'd would on stock Android 10 at least....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before flashing TWRP you need custom kernel.
Safetynet is ok, at the moment. Just need to flash this Magisk module: https://github.com/kdrag0n/safetynet-fix/
nor-ric said:
Yes, that should supposedly work the same, although not personally tested.
TESTED AND WORKED PERFECTLY!!!
Before flashing TWRP you need custom kernel.
Safetynet is ok, at the moment. Just need to flash this Magisk module: https://github.com/kdrag0n/safetynet-fix/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I already found out about the module, and it did indeed work and passed safety net after cts profile failed.
Now on too Pixel 4a #2 ON android 12 PDP1, too ROOT or NOT to ROOT??? We'll find out soon enough i guess???
nor-ric said:
Hello,
I'm posting this guide for those (like me) who can't do without TWRP on their device.
I'm providing only a step-by-step explanation. Credits to @nikamura for his kernel and TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/twrp-3-4-0-0-for-sunfish-testing.4179101/
Credits to @Zackptg5 for his guide, from which I've started: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/guide-unlock-root-safetynet-for-pixel-4a.4153773/
Credits to @topjohnwu for Magisk: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk
DISCLAIMER: I don't take any responsibility if your phone explodes or anything... The guide is provided as is.
FIRST STEP: UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER
Download USB drivers for your phone here: https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=8889791610682922010
Download SDK Platform-Tools for Windows here: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools
Extract the SDK Platform-Tools to a directory of your choice.
Open your command prompt, change directory to where you extracted the Platform-Tools and type "fastboot". Depending on your Windows setup (I'm a linux guy, so I've used an ancient win8.1 installation in a VM...) you might receive a message of a missing dll (api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll): if so, download and install the Universal C Runtime from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-c0514201-7fe6-95a3-b0a5-287930f3560c
If you try the "fastboot" command once more, it should now work.
On your phone go to system settings -> About phone -> tap on 'Build number' several times until Developer Options is enabled.
Back out into settings and go to System -> Advanced -> Developer Options -> Enable 'OEM Unlocking'.
Switch off the phone.
Boot into fastboot by holding Vol Down + Power.
Plug the phone into a usb port of your pc.
In your command prompt type "fastboot devices". If there is no output, it means you have to install the USB driver. So, open "Device Manager" on your pc, right click on your Pixel 4A (should be on top of the list with a yellow exlamation mark) and update the driver choosing the USB drivers you previously downloaded. In Device Manger you should now read "Android Bootloader Interface", with no exlamation mark.
Now back to the command prompt, "fastboot devices" should now output a string with "fastboot" written next to it.
Now type 'fastboot flashing unlock' -> Follow prompt on the device to unlock the bootloader (note that this will FACTORY RESET the device).
The bootloader is now unlocked! You can now safely reboot (or it reboots on its own, I don't actually remember).
Note that after you unlock the bootloader you will see a reminder for a few seconds every time you reboot, reminding you that the phone is unlocked. That's normal and we have to live with that, as far as I know.
SECOND STEP: USING THE FACTORY IMAGE TO DOWNGRADE TO ANDROID 10
At present, TWRP is not available for Android 11. So we have to downgrade.
Download A10 factory image (version qd4a.200805.003) here: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/sunfish-qd4a.200805.003-factory-fac7c08d.zip
If you are paranoid like me, check the SHA-256 checksum of the download with some freeware hashing tool. The SHA-256 checksum should be: fac7c08d3d4cb92078fbcdbcc7e80fc4c438612a1a004d3d12814f51928458f3
Extract the files contained in the downloaded archive into the folder where your fastboot.exe is. To be clear, flash-all.bat should be in the same folder as fastboot.exe.
Place your phone in fastboot mode (Vol Down + Power).
Connect your phone to your PC.
In your command prompt type "fastboot devices" to make sure there is proper connection.
Double click "flash-all.bat".
The phone is going to reboot a few times. Just wait patiently until you read "Press any key to exit..." in the command prompt.
You've now downgraded to Android 10!
THIRD STEP: FLASHING A CUSTOM KERNEL AND TWRP
A custom kernel is needed for TWRP to work, because the stock kernel comes with no LZMA support. Just download the kernel provided by the same developer of TWRP (@nikamura): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nuXc88t0Iokc0ha-AicOtZEUeGCGwQ-R/view?usp=sharing
And download TWRP, obviously: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PZaU9PpYmdcAHlyi0zhNwEGnBsAHDW_E/view?usp=sharing
Place both the kernel and TWRP where your fastboot.exe is.
Note that since you just used the factory image you have to boot Android 10 at least once and run the first boot wizard, before you can flash the kernel and TWRP. Also, turn on "USB debug" in Developer Options (see "FIRST STEP" for how to reach Developer Options).
Now, connect your phone to your PC.
In your command prompt type "adb devices". Follow prompt on your phone to permanently allow the adb connection to your pc.
Type the following commands (without quotes):
"adb reboot bootloader"
"fastboot flash boot TKernel-sunfish_V0.1.img"
"fastboot reboot bootloader"
"fastboot boot sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img"
The phone should now boot into TWRP on-the-fly, but it's not been flashed yet.
Place TWRP file on your phone with the following command:
"adb push sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img /sdcard/"
Now in TWRP go to "Install" > "Install Image" > "sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img" > "Install recovery ramdisk" > Swipe.
Now back to the home of TWRP > "Reboot" > "Recovery".
The phone should now boot into TWRP! And this time it's properly installed (not just sideloaded).
You can now reboot into Android 10.
FOURTH STEP: ROOTING WITH MAGISK
Now, you need to grab your current boot image. To do this, boot into TWRP (Vol UP + Power) > "Backup" > flag only "Boot (64MB)" > "Options" tab > unflag "Enable compression" > "Backup" tab > Swipe.
Reboot to Android 10.
Disable "Automatic System Updates" in Developer Options.
Connect phone to PC.
If you browse your phone, in /sdcard/TWRP/BACKUPS/xxxxxxxx/xxxxxxx/ there will be a file named "boot.emmc.win". That's your boot image and you can rename it "boot.img". It should weigh exactly 64MB.
Download Magisk Manager apk (credits @topjohnwu): https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases/download/manager-v8.0.7/MagiskManager-v8.0.7.apk
Copy Magisk Manager apk to your device.
Install Magisk Manager apk.
Open Magisk Manager. My locale is not English, so the following commands might slightly differ from what you will see, but still they should be easy to understand. Select 'Install' (Magisk) -> 'Select and Patch File' -> select your boot.img file -> 'Go!' -> it'll output the patched boot image to your Download folder.
Copy the magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img from Download folder to your pc, where your fastboot.exe is.
In your command prompt type:
"adb reboot bootloader"
"fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_xxxxxx.img"
"fastboot reboot bootloader"
You're now rooted!
Enter recovery to make sure TWRP is still working.
Reboot system.
Check in Magisk Manager the resulting installed version of Magisk is 21.4 (=rooted).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would like to go this route for reasons you have stated above. Have a few questions:
1: If you use normally use Linux why did you use a Windows VM rather than simply do all operations in a Linux terminal?
2: After the above transition will SU required programs such as Titanium Backup and Adaway install and function as they have in the past? I had previously rooted current P4a and neither of the above programs would install?????
3: Will SuperSuperuser be installed under this environment?
I have rooted several devices in the past using varied methods and things seem to have changed drastically since my previous Nexus 6p
Thanks
CarlInMO said:
2: After the above transition will SU required programs such as Titanium Backup and Adaway install and function as they have in the past? I had previously rooted current P4a and neither of the above programs would install?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the above steps and titanium backup, root explorer and other root apps work great.
CarlInMO said:
3: Will SuperSuperuser be installed under this environment?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will NOT use a separate SU app - Magisk has a built-in SU interface that will pop-up and grant SU permission when an app asks for it - just like the old SU app used to do.
JohnC said:
I did the above steps and titanium backup, root explorer and other root apps work great.
You will NOT use a separate SU app - Magisk has a built-in SU interface that will pop-up and grant SU permission when an app asks for it - just like the old SU app used to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick response, again!!! I like this phone but it looks at this point as if it has a rather small following here. Are you using the stock build or have you moved on to a custom ROM?
CarlInMO said:
Thanks for the quick response, again!!! I like this phone but it looks at this point as if it has a rather small following here. Are you using the stock build or have you moved on to a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using stock android 10 image from google because TWRP and Edxposed are stable with android 10, not 11.
And what happens to root & TWRP after upgrade back to Android 11. I assume installed apps continue to operate OK
TWRP has now been modded and is working with A11! Details in the TWRP thread!