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[App Idea] Plan B for data recovery on broken stock phones.

I feel this idea could be useful for a lot of us, not on our phones since we are likely rooted but on our family members and non tech friends stock phones. Which we usually end up fixing.
My idea if it is possible would be be for a "Plan B" type app for use after a broken screen, were the completely stock phone without ADB enabled needs data extracted.
My hope is that someone could make a app that is remotely installed from play.google.com that automatically turns on ADB debugging (if possible without root)
After that most data can be extracted with "adb backup" or adb pulls.
I can't count how many times this would of helped me in the past if it existed. Any dev up for the job? I am sure it would be appreciated by people.

Guess no one was interested in this idea.

shadowofdarkness said:
Guess no one was interested in this idea.
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I think many of us are interested but one (so far) can help.

would be a good idea.... who ever was in need for something like that will be likely to pay for that... :laugh:

I could see this being a massive security risk. Sure the app could be handy, but it would also make stealing info from a phone very very easy.
So on that note, I don't think it will ever make it through, though I am sure there are ways.
Just install something like SMSBackup+: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync
Set it to automatically back up to their gmail, every so often, and then when it comes time to have to do repairs, you can get all of their calling/sms stuff back, since Google automatically deals with the contact infos.

it wouldn't be a security risk since the only way to install it would be from play.google.com which no one can do without your password. also pour planning with other software is not the point of this since I have been asked to recover data from devices by people that I honestly had no clue they owned the device before they broke it.usually family I don't see on s normal occurrence.

I've always been taught to keep a back up of anything you consider important.
Either way...
There are ADB backup solutions out there, there are recovery apps in the Playstore that will scan for missing or deleted files.
If you have access to the Playstore you have access to all the already available recovery apps. Why the need for an app that will basically root and unlock the device from behind their 'lock screen'?
If you have no direct GUI access, you want an app that you run on your computer that forces the phone connected via USB, to unlock and let you access whatever you want before you restore the phone. This is a massive security problem, because anyone could download that app, and use it to break into phones.
Sound like the 'prior planning' apps, are the best way to go.

I think you are missing my point. I know that prior planning is the best but it it not always possible when dealing with people so tech illiterate that even thought they own the device they barely understand it is not a iPhone because that is what a smartphone is to them.
My intended use is for physicaly broken phones (mainly screen) where I can't control any apps with the screen or turn on ADB from settings.
You thought on the security risk is wrong since out of the ways I can think of to install it via play store on the phone is would not be used since that would mean the attacker could just go into settings and do it the normal way. sideloading is impossible since it would be redundent due to that already needing ADB on.
The intended way via the web is safe enough since the attacker would need your email, password.
Do you hate the "Plan B" app that gps tracks your lost or stolen phone that is already in the play store and gave me this idea. It shows in the store as having between half a million and a million installs. Do you think those people should of went without such a app and lost their phone since they should of just pre planned since it is better.

[Q] Broke the glass on my screen, now I have to give my phone to a technician...

Don't worry, it's a security question alright.
I live in Eastern Europe, which is on the far side of the Samsung support network and I have samsung galaxy s3 phone (GT-9300 i guess). My repair options look a little bit bleak. I must either ship it back to France, from where it is bought, or I must seek help of non-licensed technicians. Thank God, there are quite a lot around here and for problems like this they do wonders.
I am worried though that the technicians may try to meddle with the software of my phone and do something nasty with it while the phone is in their possession. I use the phone quite a lot to access various servers trough ssh and the servers contain semi-sensitive information about customers, phones, the equivalents of social security numbers in my country and etc. Of course I will delete my present information, but how about the future. If someone has hacked versions of the firmware, it will be a child game to get the passwords for my servers.
So I need to secure the software of my phone somehow and I'm not sure of my options, so I'm asking for advice which is better. I have experience with Linux, but about Android I'm a quite noob. I had my Amazon FireHD Tablet rooted and installed with CyanogenMOD, so I know a little bit about ROM images. The phone itself is unrooted with original software and is not locked to a carrier.
Should I:
1. Try to back up my entire ROM image?
There are various questions here. It looks that I cannot download standalone original ROM image directly from Samsung so I must back up mine. But in the bootloader (which opens with volume up/down + home + power) it seems that there are no options for backing up rom image, only for restoring trough ADB of SD card. Should I try to root, install alternative bootloader and then back up everything.
There is one very important sub-question here: Will the phone signal me somehow If someone replaces the original bootloader with say, non-signed one? What If someone changes the bootloader as well as the system image?
2. Should I try to ecrypt my phone.
I cannot get easily information about what exactly is encrypted. Pretty sure that the bootloader itself cannot be encrypted anyway. How about the system image. Is it encrypted ?
I'll be thanful for any help about these two ideas as well as any others?

If you are paying to have the repair done by an entity other than Samsung then you have a great option available. Just out of curiousity, what version of android are you running? If I were in your shoes, I would root the phone and install a custom recovery (either TWRP or Philz). This will allow you to take a complete nandroid backup of the phone to the external SD Card. Confirm the nandroid backup has been saved to the SD Card then remove the card from the phone and store it somewhere safe. Then perform a factory reset to completely wipe the phone and have your phone sent out to be fixed. When you get your phone back, insert the SD Card and restore from the backup. It will be just as you left it and the possibility that anyone has been able to access or tamper with your phone is almost nil... Apart from possibly large national security agencies whom are known for having catalogs of common electronic items that have been compromised in various ways.
I can't speak for your exact phone, but I am quite familiar with encryption as well as the US-model Galaxy S3's. Unfortunately Samsung is known for running their own encryption schemes with are different and most often weaker than the stock. Custom ROMs with generally have an implementation based on AOSP sources. A 4 digit PIN or common passphrase can be easily broken with either, but a sturdy encryption passphrase will almost certainly provide sufficient protection.
Without knowing the specifics of your phone and whatever TouchWiz it's running, I can say this much. If you enable encryption on your phone, it will encrypt /data (application data) at a very minimum. This will almost definitely not include /system. It will probably not include the external SD card or any of the actual applications (the .apk files). The encryption would keep your data secure at rest, but it wouldn't prevent a motivated attacker from installing a hidden malicious application in the system.
You are correct in that the bootloader cannot be encrypted.

84598432951
fadedout said:
If you are paying to have the repair done by an entity other than Samsung then you have a great option available. Just out of curiousity, what version of android are you running? If I were in your shoes, I would root the phone and install a custom recovery (either TWRP or Philz). This will allow you to take a complete nandroid backup of the phone to the external SD Card. Confirm the nandroid backup has been saved to the SD Card then remove the card from the phone and store it somewhere safe. Then perform a factory reset to completely wipe the phone and have your phone sent out to be fixed. When you get your phone back, insert the SD Card and restore from the backup. It will be just as you left it and the possibility that anyone has been able to access or tamper with your phone is almost nil... Apart from possibly large national security agencies whom are known for having catalogs of common electronic items that have been compromised in various ways.
I can't speak for your exact phone, but I am quite familiar with encryption as well as the US-model Galaxy S3's. Unfortunately Samsung is known for running their own encryption schemes with are different and most often weaker than the stock. Custom ROMs with generally have an implementation based on AOSP sources. A 4 digit PIN or common passphrase can be easily broken with either, but a sturdy encryption passphrase will almost certainly provide sufficient protection.
Without knowing the specifics of your phone and whatever TouchWiz it's running, I can say this much. If you enable encryption on your phone, it will encrypt /data (application data) at a very minimum. This will almost definitely not include /system. It will probably not include the external SD card or any of the actual applications (the .apk files). The encryption would keep your data secure at rest, but it wouldn't prevent a motivated attacker from installing a hidden malicious application in the system.
You are correct in that the bootloader cannot be encrypted.
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Thank You for the informative answer!

I had to do this once and what I did was:
- Root phone (which I always wanted to do)
- Perform a full backup to SD card
- Remove SD card and perform a factory reset of the phone
Then off to repairs.
Once back, I did again a factory reset (just in case) and then restore the lot
Seems a lot to do, but I have some sensitive data on it and didn't want to risk it too much. Besides during the restore I took the opportunity to upgrade to 4.3 (at the time)

glass
why dnt you buy a chinese glass and change it yourself its so easy and cheap, around 10 euros or so? i did the same for my old phone

Unknown activity HTC ONE M9

I have unknown activity on my phone.
Along with numerous "unknown" outgoing calls with no number shown on my device (and 2 other M9 phones on the same plan) or any number registering on my carrier's system (when I called R, they said their system did show connected calls lasting various amounts of time, the could not determine what number the calls were going to), there's also a call in the log going to "(unknown)" "***,144***"
Anybody have any clue what's going on? R gave the bs answer that all 3 of us were calling our VM, even while we were sleeping. However, the times we did check our VM, the number did register on the phones and with the carrier's system.
Thanks!

Im adding a question. My M9 was unlocked without my knowledge. I'm guessing that ***,144*** might be the secret unlock code. IS there a way I can determine if it's been rooted as well?

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squidstings said:
I have unknown activity on my phone.
Along with numerous "unknown" outgoing calls with no number shown on my device (and 2 other M9 phones on the same plan) or any number registering on my carrier's system (when I called R, they said their system did show connected calls lasting various amounts of time, the could not determine what number the calls were going to), there's also a call in the log going to "(unknown)" "***,144***"
Anybody have any clue what's going on? R gave the bs answer that all 3 of us were calling our VM, even while we were sleeping. However, the times we did check our VM, the number did register on the phones and with the carrier's system.
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
Interesting issue. I am not sure about the rooting. You are probably going to need to ask experts around here. Hopefully, they can help you with that. As for security, you could try checking if you have any suspicious apps running in the background or installed (You might be using same GPS or another app for example). It could be that one of the malicious apps had access to your calls which lead to them outputting calls to somewhere. You could try disconnecting your internet for a day and see if the calls persist (That is probably not an option for you, but it is an idea). Additionally, you could try a factory reset on one of the phones and see if the problem is still there.

squidstings said:
Im adding a question. My M9 was unlocked without my knowledge. I'm guessing that ***,144*** might be the secret unlock code. IS there a way I can determine if it's been rooted as well?
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just saw this,
https://www.xda-developers.com/htc-says-the-ads-in-its-keyboard-are-a-mistake-fix-icoming/
which reminded me of your issue, though I don't suppose it's linked, but it does make you wonder WTF HTC are up to!
Anyhow with your issue I wasn't going to answer as I don't know the answer but my thoughts may help in some small way. I don't thank the 144 is a phone developers code to "root" or turn of security in some way as that would not show on your provides call logs as they stay internal to the phone (mostly). Also I don't think it's adware callng a premium number as your phone company says it does not register properly, so nobody will be paid.
That only leaves a more malicious form of hacking, I would say. So maybe that code does enable your data to be sent but untrckable over a network. That suggests to me it's possibly your actual network (who are R? What country, is it?) or maybe even your government if you are an activist or something? Though more likely is a criminal or business competitor, assuming the other people affected are business colleagues. So could be your boss trying to snoop on you all, if not HTC or the Chinese Communist Party aparatus!
What to do? As Ross says disconnecting is probably not practicable. If you have malicious activity they probably are using data as well as calls. So I would install a firewall to block most apps and log attempted connections (normally have to pay for this) then check IP addresses tell see if they are legit. However this may not show anything as data may go via root. So setting up a proxy to route traffic to your PC and use a sniffing program to see traffic or at least I P addresses.
You can download root checking apps from play store. Also check your security settings any app with admin rights? Also use a good antivirus you might get lucky, but even if negative you may still be infected.
Only way to really clean your system is to reinstall your OS, though a factory reset will fix often. But first you need to know how you were all compromised and fix that else it will just return, I would think it's most likely your local work network, (but could be your provider R or even something else you connect to in sore way eg Bluetooth, or an app you all have (you can boot into safe mode to disable 3rd party apps, but with HTC system apps possibly containing apps that use the Baidu apk etc that still has a possible backdoor unpatched (as far as I know) safe mode will not help white those!)
You might have to look into freezing/uninstalling all HTC installed apps.

IronRoo said:
just saw this,
https://www.xda-developers.com/htc-says-the-ads-in-its-keyboard-are-a-mistake-fix-icoming/
which reminded me of your issue, though I don't suppose it's linked, but it does make you wonder WTF HTC are up to!
Anyhow with your issue I wasn't going to answer as I don't know the answer but my thoughts may help in some small way. I don't thank the 144 is a phone developers code to "root" or turn of security in some way as that would not show on your provides call logs as they stay internal to the phone (mostly). Also I don't think it's adware callng a premium number as your phone company says it does not register properly, so nobody will be paid.
That only leaves a more malicious form of hacking, I would say. So maybe that code does enable your data to be sent but untrckable over a network. That suggests to me it's possibly your actual network (who are R? What country, is it?) or maybe even your government if you are an activist or something? Though more likely is a criminal or business competitor, assuming the other people affected are business colleagues. So could be your boss trying to snoop on you all, if not HTC or the Chinese Communist Party aparatus!
You might have to look into freezing/uninstalling all HTC installed apps.
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Thank you!
Rogers, Canada. But I've switched carriers within the last few days.
I've actually done the FR 5 times now. Disabeling the pre-installed "Gmail" (I think it's more Google thn HTC related seems to have stopped the calls. I've disabled as much as I could.
so here's the kicker. I'm literally nobody! On disability, no exciting employment history and those In my family who have, aren't in contact, nor do I have contact info. And it was my wife and daughter who had the other phones, but mine was central i think. daughters phone was locked. So nothing so exciting. Which is why I even bothered asking lol

squidstings said:
Thank you!
Rogers, Canada. But I've switched carriers within the last few days.
I've actually done the FR 5 times now. Disabeling the pre-installed "Gmail" (I think it's more Google thn HTC related seems to have stopped the calls. I've disabled as much as I could.
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Ah! Rogers Canada should be a well controlled and trustworthy provider, so probably not them, though a rogue employee or having their network compromised can't be ruled out.
Also if official Gmail app it should be safe though it does have some quite intrusive permissions like full network access, view confidential info etc, but all are legit if you want the full functionality of Gmail. But it shouldn't have access to place phone calls, so should not be able to create the behaviour you describe.
That leaves a rouge app, but you would all need to have it I suppose, HTC app (or system behavior) or local hack ie via your router or via your PC. A good anti virus should find rogue app on phone and similarly on PC. HTC system apps hard to spot without doing the firewall etc etc. So I would also be double checking your local router for firmware update and resetting it with a new strong password, to prevent possible return, so to any Bluetooth devices.
Hope it doesn't return! All the best

been a while but, just how does one get a "," in the phone keyboard? long press * for P, but no ",".
Now that time has passed and more people might be awake and less likely to make excuses, I'm wondering if this issue can be solved, or at lest thought about intelligently. Maybe someone who knows how it CAN happen, instead of trying to find ways I'm mistaken. this was on THREE SEPARATE PHONES in 2 separate cities.

squidstings said:
been a while but, just how does one get a "," in the phone keyboard? long press * for P, but no ",".
Now that time has passed and more people might be awake and less likely to make excuses, I'm wondering if this issue can be solved, or at lest thought about intelligently. Maybe someone who knows how it CAN happen, instead of trying to find ways I'm mistaken. this was on THREE SEPARATE PHONES in 2 separate cities.
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Click to collapse
Check with a root app to see if your device is rooted
check permissions also you can take back permissions with a app on fdroid
unknown app check with virus total or
IF someone has root on your phone they can do what they want and when they want
a app that has call access they can transfer information over a phone connection which can be anything
The troubling thing here is that your phone was unlocked w/o you which implies root access
IF you bought your phone new you might not be anybody but to be put in perspective amazon lets you steal $500 if you use another id and they say it is not you so you do not lose out
but if it is used this can be from the previous user.
The best thing to do if it does not stop is to upgrade the software on the phone if you have already done that then use a Root firewall or change to a rom here on xda (you can all change making the transition easier).

Applied Protocol said:
Check with a root app to see if your device is rooted
check permissions also you can take back permissions with a app on fdroid
unknown app check with virus total or
IF someone has root on your phone they can do what they want and when they want
a app that has call access they can transfer information over a phone connection which can be anything
The troubling thing here is that your phone was unlocked w/o you which implies root access
IF you bought your phone new you might not be anybody but to be put in perspective amazon lets you steal $500 if you use another id and they say it is not you so you do not lose out
but if it is used this can be from the previous user.
The best thing to do if it does not stop is to upgrade the software on the phone if you have already done that then use a Root firewall or change to a rom here on xda (you can all change making the transition easier).
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Thank you for taking the issue seriously and not trying to force kool aid down my throat (if carrier was "trust"worthy, THEY would have solved it).
It didn't show root. 2 of 3 m9s were mysteriously unlocked. the 3rd did prompt for a code, but did also show those "unknown #" calls. However, I'm still stuck on the code. I can't even enter a ",". Didn't check the other units for it, but it's still the only unanswered issue that could explain the unlock (aside from your suggestion). No one's even heard of it, but programmers are known for adding backdoors. If anyone's got a new, s-on unit and feels like trying it, that's about the only way to get an answer.
It's dead now anyways. Battery won't charge unless powered off and went from 24+hours regular standby to about 3 hours with extreme powersave on, overnight and doesn't extend with usb power. usb data comm isn't even recognized. All 3 have failed actually (different ways) so I'm going back to my m7 which still works great. Except, it says s-on but works with different carriers and I can't even enter the code I paid for (no prompt. is there another way?)
So, here's the tinfoil hat part. Although I'm nobody, This all started around the time of the '16 election. when I was arguing with a youtube account named (not looking to attract attention so no name, but you know it) for the person who came 2nd.
Thank you for your help. It's a shame it's pooched before solving the issue. But hopefully, the code will be solved.
But any help entering my sim unlock code a different way would be appreciated. But if other carrier sims work, should root be doable while showing s-on?
Thanks a TON!!

squidstings said:
Thank you for taking the issue seriously and not trying to force kool aid down my throat (if carrier was "trust"worthy, THEY would have solved it).
No one's even heard of it, but programmers are known for adding backdoors. If anyone's got a new, s-on unit and feels like trying it, that's about the only way to get an answer.
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It would seem in your case that it is a setting change that was made and not comparable to other phones. Probably what we are talking about is a connection to a command server. S-on is a protection so that one cannot change the state of certain partitions namely the recovery boot and system however their are ways to get around this. You would need to get a root app to do that.
As a general rule you need to prove something is going on and funny numbers are a indication but nobody in the security community would touch it because it is very open. What you need to do however is
Get a copy of the calls use pcap and
check your firmware with the standard HTC firmware
this will show you what the phone call is doing and will help the android community overall (improved security)
Also programmers do not try to add backdoors they try to have a good product it is the hacking/security teams of _________ that do that. This being a programmer myself.

Spyware tracking software on the phone

So my GF has doubt that her phone (Samsung A5) has been tapped by her ex BF who knew her phone pass and did take care of all devices they posses
Assuming that is the case, will the factory reset remove tracking software from her phone of will I have to flash her phone with fresh OS to be sure the software has been removed completely

gesaugen said:
So my GF has doubt that her phone (Samsung A5) has been tapped by her ex BF who knew her phone pass and did take care of all devices they posses
Assuming that is the case, will the factory reset remove tracking software from her phone of will I have to flash her phone with fresh OS to be sure the software has been removed completely
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Click to collapse
If the ex actually did something like that and embedded into the system partition on the device, a factory reset will not remove it.
You would need to flash the device with the firmware to remove it, you may even need to use the "re-partition" option in Odin when you flash the device.
It would also be wise to change the password on her Google account before flashing the device, to be thorough, change the password and maybe even the email/username while you're at it, then go to system settings and remove the account then sign back in with the new email/password, then flash the device, after flashing and booting, sign back in with the new account details.
I would also change passwords and account details for any other apps on the device, such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, any other email addresses or other email apps and any other types of social media apps or other apps that require an email/username and password. Change any and everything on the device that the ex could have possibly had access to. If she also has other devices or PC's synced with her phone or email, I'd change the details on those other devices/PC's as well. If she has WiFi at home, change its password and maybe even see about changing the IP of her modem/router.
Then, after that, make sure she doesn't click on/open/download anything from anyone that she doesn't know, including multimedia texts/pics, it could be the ex trying to embed something again, opening it will just compromise the device again.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

While what Droidriven is saying is correct first things first. Has the phone been unlocked and/or rooted? If the phone is locked (*Not tampered) then all of that is overkill. Here's a simple test that you can do to see how at risk you are. Start the phone in Bootloader mode and see what it says at the top. It will either say Locked, Locked *Tampered, Unlocked or Unlocked *Tampered. Locked is exactly what it sounds like, the phone is factory locked. Unlocked again means exactly what it says, the phone is factory unlocked. The caveat is the Tampered. So you can unlock a phone and lock it back which will result in the tampered tag/statement. In which case anything could have been done or undone once the phone was unlocked even if it says locked. If the phone simply says Locked, there is no need to panic and simply factory resetting the phone will erase anything that the ex may have done or installed. If the tampered tag/statement appears that's when more detailed steps should be taken, as described by Droidriven. It is always advisable to change passwords after a breakup even if you don't suspect foul play as a precaution. If she fears foul play Google offers 2-Step verification, which I highly recommend anyway, which allows the account holder to use an Authentication app that randomly generates codes to access the account and also prevents anyone from accessing the account without the users phone in their direct possession. Google also offers security screening tools that allows users to see where they are signed in, when the last time that sign in point was accessed, and the ability to sign out of sessions that may still be active. Furthermore Google offers notifications that will text or email a user anytime a sign-in occurs allowing the user full disclosure and control over their account. Although not mentioned, Facebook also offers similar tools and notifications should the concern arise. First thing first however, find out how to log into your Bootloader and verify if the device has ever been tampered with and then work from there.

VidJunky said:
While what Droidriven is saying is correct first things first. Has the phone been unlocked and/or rooted? If the phone is locked (*Not tampered) then all of that is overkill. Here's a simple test that you can do to see how at risk you are. Start the phone in Bootloader mode and see what it says at the top. It will either say Locked, Locked *Tampered, Unlocked or Unlocked *Tampered. Locked is exactly what it sounds like, the phone is factory locked. Unlocked again means exactly what it says, the phone is factory unlocked. The caveat is the Tampered. So you can unlock a phone and lock it back which will result in the tampered tag/statement. In which case anything could have been done or undone once the phone was unlocked even if it says locked. If the phone simply says Locked, there is no need to panic and simply factory resetting the phone will erase anything that the ex may have done or installed. If the tampered tag/statement appears that's when more detailed steps should be taken, as described by Droidriven. It is always advisable to change passwords after a breakup even if you don't suspect foul play as a precaution. If she fears foul play Google offers 2-Step verification, which I highly recommend anyway, which allows the account holder to use an Authentication app that randomly generates codes to access the account and also prevents anyone from accessing the account without the users phone in their direct possession. Google also offers security screening tools that allows users to see where they are signed in, when the last time that sign in point was accessed, and the ability to sign out of sessions that may still be active. Furthermore Google offers notifications that will text or email a user anytime a sign-in occurs allowing the user full disclosure and control over their account. Although not mentioned, Facebook also offers similar tools and notifications should the concern arise. First thing first however, find out how to log into your Bootloader and verify if the device has ever been tampered with and then work from there.
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Click to collapse
As far as I know, Samsung does not have bootloader mode, it uses Download Mode, otherwise known as factory mode or Odin mode. It also does not quite display the information that you described as you described it. Some Samsung devices may or may not display bootloader status as "locked" or "unlocked", I've never seen anything about Samsung devices ever showing anything about *Tampered. I've seen devices show "custom binary" or "official binary" and show system status as "official" or "custom", some show info for secure boot, activation lock, kernel lock or Knox warranty void.
But, none of this necessarily has anything to do with whether something could have been embedded into system. You can push things to system even if the bootloader is locked and without "triggering" anything or being "flagged" by the system.
Plenty of Samsung devices have been rooted without unlocking the bootloader, without tripping Knox or Qfuse and will show binary status as "Custom"(the one thing that does show that the device is rooted/tampered but still doesn't necessarily indicate any malicious code that might have been placed by the ex, just rooting the device and nothing else would give the same result), all locks at default status as "locked"(non-tampered) and system status as "Official".
Given that the ex was the one that took care of and managed all devices that she owned, I would just take the thorough route just to cover the bases just because there are so many points of entry that the ex could have set up among all of the devices/equipment that she has.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

While I'll give you that there may be differing nomenclature for the things I mentioned, I've never heard of anyway to reach the Root of a device without going through the Bootloader and without leaving some evidence. While I cannot find an actual picture of the bootloader screen, in the link below there's a picture of the recovery menu where you can see the second option on the Samsung A5 Reboot into Bootloader. Ultimately it's up to the OP but becoming tech savvy enough to root a device is not for everyone. If the device shows no signs of being rooted, to learn how to root a device just in case seems less than worthwhile. OP you could also try one of the root detectors on the Play Store.
https://www.teamandroid.com/2017/01/28/enter-recovery-mode-samsung-galaxy-a5-2017/

VidJunky said:
While I'll give you that there may be differing nomenclature for the things I mentioned, I've never heard of anyway to reach the Root of a device without going through the Bootloader and without leaving some evidence. While I cannot find an actual picture of the bootloader screen, in the link below there's a picture of the recovery menu where you can see the second option on the Samsung A5 Reboot into Bootloader. Ultimately it's up to the OP but becoming tech savvy enough to root a device is not for everyone. If the device shows no signs of being rooted, to learn how to root a device just in case seems less than worthwhile. OP you could also try one of the root detectors on the Play Store.
https://www.teamandroid.com/2017/01/28/enter-recovery-mode-samsung-galaxy-a5-2017/
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Click to collapse
This tells me that you aren't familiar with Samsung devices because plenty of Samsung devices have been rooted without unlocking bootloader, I couldn't even begin to count them all. Unlocking bootloader is really only necessary if flashing a custom recovery or custom ROM. Not all Samsung devices are rooted by flashing a custom recovery to gain root. Most of the Samsung devices sold in the US have locked bootloader that cannot be unlocked by any means whatsoever, yet these devices can be rooted. Obviously, they have been rooted without unlocking the bootloader.
Yes, it may have the "reboot bootloader" option in recovery, if selected, that will boot you into download mode/Odin Mode. Typically, what you are describing with bootloader mode applies to devices that use fastboot, Samsung does not use fastboot, it isn't compatible with fastboot, adb works with Samsung but fastboot does not work with Samsung in any way, shape, form or fashion.
And it is possible to root a Samsung device, then install something in system and then remove root immediately after(which means that root checker will not see anything) and it won't show anything in Odin mode, won't trip Knox or Qfuse and still show Official in Odin mode. If it is rooted, then an app is pushed to system then root is immediately removed and this was all done without rebooting the device in the process, then the bootloader, Knox, Qfuse and all that never even detects that root was ever there because it was removed, which means it never gets loaded at boot for the bootloader and other security coding to see that root was there. Some can be rooted and then flash TWRP using Loki without unlocking the bootloader, which "shouldn't" be possible with a locked bootloader, yet, it is done.
I'm just saying, it isn't always as detectable as you imply.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

second hand rooted LG V500N with unknowns

Hi,
I got "new" phone, model as per title. It appeared it's been previously rooted and has Magisk installed. Poor creature selling this to me has no idea about those things and he got it like that from his friend in different country.
As this is replacement of my personal phone, after I sunk S9+ and decided to break up with "S", I have not much eagerness to experiment.
Current firmware (as what phone shows) is V30c-KOR-XX seems based on Android 11.
I'd leave as it is but... Google Pay doesn't like the fact phone is rooted. I have no issue with that phone is rooted but with that I can't use Google Pay.
Additionally, despite setting EN-US as language I see lots of Chinese or Korean or Japanese "letters" here and there - not causing any more issues than esthetic. I'd prefer to not have it so probably to load phone with some different firmware. Would be lovely if that could actually have "Polish" (as I am).
Also, I tried to get to "recovery" and phone does not react to Power+Vol Up - please correct me if that's not the right combination. When I used Magisk to reboot into Recovery then I see "No command" message...
Magisk is current - 24.1 and same "app".
So my options would be:
- fixing what is currently (ignore not having Polish on it) and making GPay works
- loading some factory firmware and unrooting it
- loading something different which would also allow to make GPay to work
I'm not complete noob, and got years of Linux exp as this is my only OS I work on. Also I was playing with rooting, firmwares and kernels but that was age of Samsung S2 and S4 when I did it last time, therefore I know many things changed and some might be easier some harder to do. Additionally, this is my first LG as somehow I always had "S's".
What I'd like to ask community here is to help me determine exact (versions, links) software I possibly could use and provide some guidance on how to do this "these days".
So to make things easier, I will ask questions:
1. What firmware should I load and how (preferably using Linux)?
2. How to fix (if necessary) "missing" recovery ?
3. How to make GPay running if suggested firmware is not factory one?
To be clear, I don't mind using current firmware loaded on phone if I can make things work. Less work is better for me as I can't be left without phone for longer than a day.