Hi all, I bought a new TF700 two days ago. I proceeded to successfully unlock, root, flash Cromi-x. After some teething problems got it working beautifully. Unfortunately my girlfriend noticed what looks like a big smear of some type of adhesive inside the glass. Kind of looks like something has wiped the back of glass or the panel itself, and has dried but with residue. Anyway its only visible when the screen is off or on a black background but I contacted Asus anyway and they immediately advised me to get it replaced at place of purchase.
I realise they don't normally allow this but they've given me the Return Authorisation number and the store has shipped the replacement device to my nearest store for collection. SO, do I just go ahead and swap it or do you think it will come back to bite me later on? Even if they do come back later and say they found it was unlocked, Ill have already unlocked + flashed the replacement so I figure whats the worst that can happen?
It seems the rumored 'database update' back to Asus when unlocking isnt accurate as I got through no problems and they checked serial number etc.
Any thoughts?
Great Minds Think Alike!
rogannzb said:
Hi all, I bought a new TF700 two days ago. I proceeded to successfully unlock, root, flash Cromi-x. After some teething problems got it working beautifully. Unfortunately my girlfriend noticed what looks like a big smear of some type of adhesive inside the glass. Kind of looks like something has wiped the back of glass or the panel itself, and has dried but with residue. Anyway its only visible when the screen is off or on a black background but I contacted Asus anyway and they immediately advised me to get it replaced at place of purchase.
I realise they don't normally allow this but they've given me the Return Authorisation number and the store has shipped the replacement device to my nearest store for collection. SO, do I just go ahead and swap it or do you think it will come back to bite me later on? Even if they do come back later and say they found it was unlocked, Ill have already unlocked + flashed the replacement so I figure whats the worst that can happen?
It seems the rumored 'database update' back to Asus when unlocking isnt accurate as I got through no problems and they checked serial number etc.
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A fellow immediate modder...I like it
For me, you've already answered your own question. Once you've got your new tablet, what do you care? Even if they do notice that your original tablet was rooted, what are they going to do, force you to give the new one back....threaten to sue you if you don't? Not likely. You've got to remember that it's all about money for these guys, so once you've got your new tablet, even if they do spot your rooted original, it's going to cost them more to try to get the new one back from you than it would for them to just repair & re-sell the original.
I think that once you've got your new one, start enjoying it
Ok so Im taking it back tomorrow for replacement. But before I do...
For my reference can anyone explain to me how to flash this back to the stock Rom? I downloaded from Asus website, rebooted into TWRP and tried to install the stock software, which failed.
Also I'd like to know if I should be 'removing TWRP somehow? I know I cant reverse the unlock process but can I revert everything else back to factory configuration?
When one reboots via power and holding volume down, you get the menu with RCK, Android and Wipe Data - what are the definitions of RCK and Android? From what I gather one boots recovery and the other the installed ROM?
Finally - when one does a Restart from within Cromi and there are options for Bootloader and Recovery - what is the difference between these two options? Do they achieve the same things as the point above (ie reboot to recovery versus the installed rom?)
Thanks, sorry for the noob questions.
Unzip the zip from Asus first and you will see an update zip inside. Flash this from twrp and it will reset you back to stock.
rogannzb said:
Ok so Im taking it back tomorrow for replacement. But before I do...
For my reference can anyone explain to me how to flash this back to the stock Rom? I downloaded from Asus website, rebooted into TWRP and tried to install the stock software, which failed.
Also I'd like to know if I should be 'removing TWRP somehow? I know I cant reverse the unlock process but can I revert everything else back to factory configuration?
When one reboots via power and holding volume down, you get the menu with RCK, Android and Wipe Data - what are the definitions of RCK and Android? From what I gather one boots recovery and the other the installed ROM?
Finally - when one does a Restart from within Cromi and there are options for Bootloader and Recovery - what is the difference between these two options? Do they achieve the same things as the point above (ie reboot to recovery versus the installed rom?)
Thanks, sorry for the noob questions.
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Click to collapse
If you flash the stock firmware it will replace TWRP with the stock recovery.
If you bot with Power + Volume down you boot into the bootloader menu. Your correct on RCK and Android.
It is not recommended to use Wipe Data fro the bootloader if you have a custom recovery installed, btw. If you want to wipe do it fro TWRP.
The Restart options are just a more convenient way to boot into the bootloader or recovery .
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk HD
Thanks to you both for the replies.
@ sbdags - Its funny I actually noticed the zip within the zip and after it failed the first time removed the zip out on its own. I astill got the same error message. To be clear, I was using the install option from within TWRP and selecting this file on my external sd card. Im re-downloading it now to test this again.
rogannzb said:
Thanks to you both for the replies.
@ sbdags - Its funny I actually noticed the zip within the zip and after it failed the first time removed the zip out on its own. I astill got the same error message. To be clear, I was using the install option from within TWRP and selecting this file on my external sd card. Im re-downloading it now to test this again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done it lots of times and it works fine for me.
Here's a step-by-step of what happened:
Two days ago (I think) the KitKat update for XT925 was released. When the download was done, as I was playing CoC on my phone, my handset asked for permission to instal it. Right after I allowed it, I left for lunch or w/e, and when I came back my phone was on this boot image, with the motorola "M" logo sitting there, laughing at me. Went the rest of the day without my phone because I thought it was still finishing the installing. When I finally got home at night, still the same screen.
I DID root it, but no such things as CyanogenMod or anything else were flashed to it, so I got no backups. Bootloader is still locked. Already tried wiping cache and a factory reset from the recovery mode. After googling it for some good time now, this is my last hope. What am I supposed to do? I encrypted it if that helps in anything. Complete newbie here.
phmrr said:
Here's a step-by-step of what happened:
Two days ago (I think) the KitKat update for XT925 was released. When the download was done, as I was playing CoC on my phone, my handset asked for permission to instal it. Right after I allowed it, I left for lunch or w/e, and when I came back my phone was on this boot image, with the motorola "M" logo sitting there, laughing at me. Went the rest of the day without my phone because I thought it was still finishing the installing. When I finally got home at night, still the same screen.
I DID root it, but no such things as CyanogenMod or anything else were flashed to it, so I got no backups. Bootloader is still locked. Already tried wiping cache and a factory reset from the recovery mode. After googling it for some good time now, this is my last hope. What am I supposed to do? I encrypted it if that helps in anything. Complete newbie here.
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Click to collapse
being locked, i believe the only way to "try" and fix it would be to re-flash the kk sbf for your region with rsd. however, if the update is just rolling out, i doubt that is available yet.
im pretty sure you are stuck until you find this stock file, or it is released.
What was your battery at when you started the update?
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I've got a rooted S7, apps backed up with Titanium Backup, etc.
Is there anything I need to know about getting this transferred over to a Pixel, which will presumably be running Oreo or Pie? I'd certainly like to take the opportunity to upgrade; I'm still on MM on the S7 mostly because it's just hassle to reflash the ROM (running Superman ROM, not stock).
I assume Nova Launcher will come across okay? What about things like Good Lock? It presumably won't work, but will it break anything or will I need to remove it from my backups before restoring?
Titanium allows me to create a zip of all my backups. Do I just flash that in TWRP? I don't think it's used from within the app itself, is it?
Any ROM recommendations? I use GravityBox so something AOSPish would be ideal, Pie would be awesome but I'd settle for Oreo. I'm not sure what Pie's release status is at the moment - I didn't think it was out yet but it seems to be. This is a very rushed thing (the S7 just stopped working and will be too expensive for repair to be worthwhile), so everything's very scrambled in my head at the moment and I'm just throwing thoughts out there, largely. EDIT: Actually, I assume Xposed and such aren't set up for Pie yet? If so Oreo would be the way to go.
Since I have GMail and such installed as user apps, not system apps, and backed up as such, I'm assuming I'll need to find a way to arrange the same with the Pixel? Superman ROM offers the option to install those apps or not through the Aroma installer.
Does anyone have any input on this?
I'm also curious as to the differences between rooting with/without tripping SafetyNet. I'm assuming there are some, or everyone would do the latter?
Do you have your Pixel, yet? Unlock the bootloader, install the latest factory image, use the latest TWRP & Magisk (do it properly, & a SafetyNet check will pass). When your phone is booting up fine and rooted, we can talk about transferring data.
I don't, but it should be arriving today. I like to be prepared, rather than getting into a situation where I have the phone and want to get everything sorted immediately, only to end up rushing and causing issues. I think I was reading and asking questions about two weeks ahead of my purchase of the S7. As I said, I'm replacing the S7 due to a fault, and I've been without it for a couple of weeks now, so the more I can get my head around before it arrives and I get all "OMG do everything immediately", the better.
If you really need Xposed, you can install a Magisk version of Xposed. Personally, I am no longer using Xposed; Magisk gives me root, and I can install all the modules I need.
Do you have the Pro version of Titanium Backup? You have to jump through some hoops to get it to recognize your Pro key. I would just transfer your entire backup directory to the backup directory on your new phone, then use the app to select which apps to restore. Do the app restores in waves, to help you narrow down a problematic restoration.
Even if you already have the latest version of Android installed on the Pixel, download the full factory image so that you can extract the boot.img file from it. Flashing the stock boot.img can get you out of most bootloops. Here's some reading material to help you understand what has changed.
Personally, I'm happy with the stock ROM, rooted. I suggest you look at Tulsadiver's mod. It has some sorely needed customization options.
:good:
post-mortem said:
If you really need Xposed, you can install a Magisk version of Xposed. Personally, I am no longer using Xposed; Magisk gives me root, and I can install all the modules I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So Xposed modules work in Magisk? Or....? I have GravityBox for notification control, as I find the default LED blink speed too low and like to change the sound/LED colour on a per-app basis far more than the apps themselves allow, along with Unbeloved Hosts, MinMinGuard, Airplane Mode Helper, Screenshot Delay Remover, Secure Settings, XToast and YouTube AdAway.
Do you have the Pro version of Titanium Backup? You have to jump through some hoops to get it to recognize your Pro key.
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Click to collapse
I do. There's an option to just create a flashable install of Titanium, and to back up its settings, which is what I've always done in the past. Is this different now?
EDIT: Which guide do I follow to install TWRP and Magisk? I thought this would be the go, but reading through it requires a custom ROM to begin with.
I followed this guide. I really don't know if it's actually necessary to uninstall com.android.phone, though I did it. The command you'll want to use to unlock the bootloader is fastboot flashing unlock, as stated at the top of this Google page.
If the enable OEM unlocking option under developer settings remains grayed out, you might have to get out of the settings and reenter them, restart your phone, or even reflash and start all over. For some reason, a number of people have reported that executing the command am start com.android.chrome in a terminal or adb shell allows the OEM unlocking options to become toggleable.
post-mortem said:
I followed this guide. I really don't know if it's actually necessary to uninstall com.android.phone, though I did it. The command you'll want to use to unlock the bootloader is fastboot flashing unlock, as stated at the top of this Google page
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Click to collapse
Why "flashing" and not "oem"? And then how do I install TWRP? The page you linked to has "install" zips and normal zips, not sure which I'm meant to download.
EDIT: Phone arrived, and is running 7.1.2.
Read the top of the Google page with the links to the Factory Images.
TWRP is temporarily booted using a PC with fastboot boot <TWRPfilename.zip> . Once you're in TWRP, you install the TWRP installer zip like any other zip. So the .img file stays on your computer (fastboot will load it onto your phone and boot into it), and the .zip goes on the phone so that you can install the TWRP installer.
post-mortem said:
TWRP is temporarily booted using a PC with fastboot boot <TWRPfilename.zip> .
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Click to collapse
Should that be the .img file, not the .zip file? Just guessing from context, otherwise you're using the zip file twice and the img file never.
So:
Unlock bootloader
Flash TWRP
Use TWRP to flash TWRP
Use TWRP to flash Magisk
Yes?
EDIT: Wait, that doesn't include flashing the system thing. When and how do I do that?
Unpopular opinion, but...
If I were you I would just use the phone as it is for at least a couple of days.
I don't want to sound like a Pixel fanboy but I'm liking the stock firmware much better than any custom ROM on this phone.
Of course I'm rooted and running a custom kernel, but I'm positive that Magisk will have the answers to most of your modding needs.
You got a new phone, why go out of your way and risk messing up stuff just to make it feel like your old one?
I mean, I'm cool with stock in theory, I just liked the debloated ROM I had last time because, well, debloating. And GMail and YouTube and such are now user apps on the S7, so my backups treat them as such.
Where do I find the drivers? I installed an "adb setup" thing that claimed to have them, but my PC isn't recognising the Pixel. Google's links to OEM drivers include a bunch of brands that aren't Google, so I'm not sure what to download.
EDIT: Okay, got it. Now running Android 9. When I'm installing TWRP, do I need to wipe anything? I miss the S7 forums and their one clear rooting guide that went step by step through everything.
koberulz said:
I mean, I'm cool with stock in theory, I just liked the debloated ROM I had last time because, well, debloating. And GMail and YouTube and such are now user apps on the S7, so my backups treat them as such.
Where do I find the drivers? I installed an "adb setup" thing that claimed to have them, but my PC isn't recognising the Pixel. Google's links to OEM drivers include a bunch of brands that aren't Google, so I'm not sure what to download.
EDIT: Okay, got it. Now running Android 9. When I'm installing TWRP, do I need to wipe anything? I miss the S7 forums and their one clear rooting guide that went step by step through everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. just fastboot twrp img > flash zip via booted twrp. Reboot to system. That's all you gotta do
How do I boot into TWRP once installed? And come to that, what's the point of installing if I can boot to it regardless?
koberulz said:
There's an option to just create a flashable install of Titanium, and to back up its settings, which is what I've always done in the past. Is this different now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, this seems not to work. I've tried flashing it and there's no sign of the app at all.
koberulz said:
How do I boot into TWRP once installed? And come to that, what's the point of installing if I can boot to it regardless?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't the command fastboot boot twrp.img just boot it?
It does that for me, then I just have to flash twrp pixel installer.zip and it sticks.
I do this every time I update my factory image (which resets recovery to stock)
Anyways, I'm in. Had to manually install TB, then restore all my backups...and it screwed everything up big-time. Contacts are horribly broken; they initially kept crashing and now it says there's no contacts app installed. GMail crashes every time I open it. And the vibration has been replaced with a quiet beep.
I expected that... Just reflash latest factory image
Look, don't restore any apps, yet, especially any apps made by Google. You shouldn't need to restore any data, as all Google info is in the cloud, anyway. Just launch the app and log in to your Google account.
You don't need to "permanently" install TWRP if you don't want to.
I don't use Drive, so no it isn't.
I've managed to get everything over except my contacts. They killed it last time so I'm disinclined to try again. Not sure how else to get them over though.
My S7 had an "only display contacts with a phone number" option, does Pixel have an equivalent?
Since I don't have Xposed, I don't have any of my ad blockers. Are there options available?
I also had a lock screen with a tray of apps I could drag up to unlock straight into that app, the clock on the right instead of the left, and a percentage instead of just a battery icon on the lock screen and without swiping down. Any way I can set that up?
I tried Light Flow, but it doesn't seem to be working, I'm not getting any LED lights. It was working fine while I was setting up last night, but I unplugged the phone to go to bed and it's stopped.
I've looked at that Pie Aroma Mod Installer thing, but there's three files offered for download and I'm not sure what they are?
Is there a way to stop the screen turning on and the phone making a sound when I plug/unplug it?
I downloaded a Magisk module to test out that purported to bypass DRM of netflix, Amazon, and a couple others and it put my phone into a boot loop. I installed a recovery magisk module zip for recovery that allowed me to disable the module from TWRP but it didn't matter because it just stopped the module and didn't replace the changed DRM file. After that I just gave up and fully formatted my phone with the All in One tool using "Decrypt phone / erase all data" and then installed a fresh stock ROM image via fastboot. The problem is, even after doing all of this, the DRM file that this module changed is still changed and I can't use streaming services and my phone is incredibly unstable. When I open Netflix for instance, it says I need an update and when I go to the play store it tells me "Netflix is not compatible with your device". Also, even after a full wipe, Nova launcher is still installed, and it's not supposed to be, I have no clue how these files are persisting through a full wipe. I've been tinkering with my phone for over a year now and this is the first problem I've found that not even fastboot can seem to fix. I'm on Tmobile and originally was able to unlock my bootloader by flashing Android 10 Developer preview 3, which they accidentally allowed you to unlock the bootloader with. I did that to unlock my bootloader then rooted and I've been using international ROM's ever since. I'm worried if I have to go back to Stock tmobile ROM I won't be able to get my bootloader locked again, and I still have no clue if this will even fix the issue. Does anyone have any clue how to fix this? If you search "drm" on magisk modules you'll find two things, one that removes all drm, and one from 2019 that attempts to bypass it. (I figured I'd test this out to see if I could watch Netflix in 1440p with my bootloader unlocked and didn't expect it to work, just didn't expect it to find a way to soft brick my phone) I'm using the 2019 one. Is it possible if I re-root my phone to somehow aquire the original DRM files this thing changed and replace them? Are these not included as part of a stock ROM? I don't understand how I can't fix this. My last plan is to reinstall TWRP and wipe literally every option on there then flash a ROM via fastboot, but I doubt it's going to work if formatting the entire phone doesn't work
Edit: Installed TWRP, wiped literally every option so I didn't even have an OS anymore, used fastboot to decrypt / erase all data then when installing stock ROM I chose again to wipe all data. If nova launcher and the changed DRM persists through this I'm going to be completely stumped. The only thing I can conclude is that somehow my phone is not actually fully wiping itself even though I'm using 3 different methods to do it
Edit 2: This still didn't work. I think I'm gonna have to use the MSM tool and go back to tmobile stock. If I flash far back enough I should in theory still be able to flash Android 10 DP3 and unlock my bootloader again, it's just gonna be an unexpected pain in the ass task to deal with today
Edit 3: Thank god for modified msm tool, I didn't know they were able to modify it to convert your tmobile phone to international and unlock the bootloader. This is going to be much easier than anticipated as long as doing this actually fixes my drm files and really wipes everything
Edit 4: Even using MSM tool to install a factory international ROM fixed the Netflix issue but somehow Nova Launcher is persisting through every single kind of wipe I've done lol. Despite the bootloader being locked (wasn't supposed to be) after this update, Netflix still wouldn't play in HD which is kind of odd. I'm now going through the process of installing Android 10 DP3 and unlocking my bootloader then downgrading back to pie to root and install TWRP again. I'm just going to have to accept that Nova Launcher is a part of my phone now lol
Maybe I'm wrong but didnt op7 pro have an irreversible e-fuse that once triggered with root it wiped out the ability to see HD forever ? Something to do with downgrading widevine drm levels if I remember correctly... The nova thingy I cant explain but hey it could be worse you could be stuck with Microsoft's launcher [emoji1787]
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---------- Post added at 10:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 PM ----------
Just a thought that crossed my mind, could it be that Nova is surviving as a system app in A or B slot? Are you sure you are wiping system in both slots?
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