Database Info

Installing OTA after TWRP + Magisk = fail to boot

I'm at my wit's end here. I know I'm probably missing some critical step, but I haven't been able to install any OTAs since installing TWRP and Magisk. Fortunately, I was able to update to the latest TWRP before trying (the one that has working decryption) and backup Boot, the two Systems, and Data. I cannot stress enough how important this is!.
The OTA installer detects the device is rooted (or unlocked, if magisk isn't installed) and downloads the OTA. It then asks to install (which is does while booted to system, presumably to the side (A or B) that isn't updated), and asks to reboot. After reboot, the system fails to boot, then goes to the original OnePlus recovery (with the Chinese characters).
I seem to remember reading somewhere that I needed to shut the phone down instead of rebooting, but that doesn't seem to help. I want to know the correct procedure for updating, but I also want to better understand what is actually going on. I'm guessing the boot image on the other side gets overwritten by the OTA, which then flips you to that side, but I don't understand why it doesn't boot. Non-patched boot.img, I suppose?

These steps worked for me:
1 install ota
2 flash TWRP_A_B_Retention_Script-Magisk.zip via magisk
3 install magisk on inactive slot
4 reboot

RocketGeeezer said:
These steps worked for me:
1 install ota
2 flash TWRP_A_B_Retention_Script-Magisk.zip via magisk
3 install magisk on inactive slot
4 reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. I had not even heard of the retention script, but it sounds like exactly what I'm missing.
As for step 3, how do you install Magisk on the inactive slot?

Flapjack said:
Awesome. I had not even heard of the retention script, but it sounds like exactly what I'm missing.
As for step 3, how do you install Magisk on the inactive slot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open magisk, click the first install option and download that zip. Then a box with four options should appear. Click the last option to install on another slot.

whatthekj said:
Open magisk, click the first install option and download that zip. Then a box with four options should appear. Click the last option to install on another slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Trying now!

Flapjack said:
Thanks! Trying now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. Let me know if you have any issues.

Well, it's different (booting to TWRP instead of stock recovery), but it still didn't work. It booted through the "warning...unlocked bootloader" screen twice, then went to TWRP, though without encryption. I was able to switch the boot slot and get into system again (just as it was before the flash), but I don't know what I did wrong.
The only thing different I did was use the tools under EX Kernel Manager to flash the TWRP retention script, as I couldn't find where Magisk could do that.
**EDIT**
Now when I try to do the OTA, I get a "System update installation failed".

I cleared the cache and tried it again, this time doing the retention zip from inside Magisk > Modules > Add (+ sign) option, which is what I'm assuming you did.
It did the exact same thing. After step four, I rebooted, and it went straight into recovery (without the option to decrypt).

I think you have to root your phone again If you have the chinese twrp you can do it via twrp. Otherwise put tj magisk installer on a USB stick

RocketGeeezer said:
I think you have to root your phone again If you have the chinese twrp you can do it via twrp. Otherwise put tj magisk installer on a USB stick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can install/uninstall Magisk all day long, now that I've put TWRP 3.3.1-30 on. Even after a failed update, where it fails to ask to decrypt, I can still sideload via USB and install it (even though I can't see the internal storage).

Flapjack said:
I can install/uninstall Magisk all day long, now that I've put TWRP 3.3.1-30 on. Even after a failed update, where it fails to ask to decrypt, I can still sideload via USB and install it (even though I can't see the internal storage).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you lflash the ota image again? And after that twrp and after that magisk again. After that reboot to system again. This worked on my pixel. Not shure if this works on the 7 pro...
Maybe do some research first. There is also a unbrick thread

RocketGeeezer said:
Can you lflash the ota image again? And after that twrp and after that magisk again. After that reboot to system again. This worked on my pixel. Not shure if this works on the 7 pro...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried that... several times. I wish it worked.
Maybe do some research first. There is also a unbrick thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been doing a lot of research. There are some pretty in-depth threads on reddit how the A/B treble system works. Nothing I didn't already know. It's certainly different than pre-treble, but not rocket science... something is wrong with the phone. I would just like to know what I did wrong in the first place so I don't do it again.
Fortunately, I still have a bootable system with root on my B partition, so I was able to run TB and backup everything, along with all my pictures and such. I'll be restoring it to stock and just going from there. Looks like I don't have any other choice.

Flapjack said:
I've tried that... several times. I wish it worked.
I've been doing a lot of research. There are some pretty in-depth threads on reddit how the A/B treble system works. Nothing I didn't already know. It's certainly different than pre-treble, but not rocket science... something is wrong with the phone. I would just like to know what I did wrong in the first place so I don't do it again.
Fortunately, I still have a bootable system with root on my B partition, so I was able to run TB and backup everything, along with all my pictures and such. I'll be restoring it to stock and just going from there. Looks like I don't have any other choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I updated just like we do with our pixels when we flash a custom ROM. TW RP flash your ota.zip,TWRP zip, reboot to recovery that will switch slots , because your update just flashed to the other slot, then flash magisk then reboot. That's how I did this last update. Oh and it's got to be the full ota from what I read anyways.

Tried Multiple Ways to get Android 10...All Result in some sort of Bootloop

So I have a rooted Pixel 3 through Magisk that I have been updating monthly up until this point via flashing the factory image with the flash.bat edited to remove "-w" from it to ensure that my phone does not become wiped after flashing each month's update. Afterwards, I would boot up the temporary TWRP image to then install the Magisk zip to re-root it. This had worked well up until this point. However, this month with the Android 10 update, this method has failed me. For this month, I did the exact same thing...download the factory image extract the image and other parts (including the flash.bat file), edit the flash.bat file and run. The issue was after flashing, the phone would try to boot and then get stuck at the G-logo with the loading bar under. It would use up about 5-10 mins to try and boot up, then fail, and then reboot again, fail again a second time and then just go fastboot mode. I tried this with both the .019 and .020 firmware and both failed me. In order to fix my phone, I'd just install the factory image of the August update instead, which had no issue.
I next attempted to ADB sideload the OTA update. I made sure to start with an unrooted install of the August update (by doing what I said above), and then using stock recovery would use ADB sideload with the new Sept OTA update. After sideloading, when trying to boot up the phone would attempt to boot around 7-9 times and just fail as it kept trying and trying to load up. Again, needed to fix it by flashing the August update.
I've done a bit of reading and it seems people have done factory resets and wipes of the phone before finally having success updating their phone to Android 10. I'm really hoping a method to fix this WITHOUT needing to do a factory wipe of my phone....

if you haven't already, try downloading the latest fastboot binaries from google.
Also FYI rooting Android Q on Pixel 3 is still difficult because TWRP doesn't support Android Q yet.

guest12233213113 said:
if you haven't already, try downloading the latest fastboot binaries from google.
Also FYI rooting Android Q on Pixel 3 is still difficult because TWRP doesn't support Android Q yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you referring to the SDK Platform tools? I was using version 29.0.2 from July for the past week until I recently saw 29.0.3 popup in the last day or so (was released a few days AFTER the factory images for Android 10 were released). Have tried with 29.0.3 and still not working. I get the issue "no valid slot to boot".

You might have already tried it but if not you could try flash without -w both slots just to make sure everything is synced up? I've had to do this once in a while to correct weird stuff. There may be better ways but when I remove -w I then add --skip-reboot. Then you can change slots with 'fastboot set_active SLOT' after the flash without rebooting and then simply run the flash again.

ktdt00 said:
You might have already tried it but if not you could try flash without -w both slots just to make sure everything is synced up? I've had to do this once in a while to correct weird stuff. There may be better ways but when I remove -w I then add --skip-reboot. Then you can change slots with 'fastboot set_active SLOT' after the flash without rebooting and then simply run the flash again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried your suggestion of flashing to both slots. Unfortunately, same result.

Toronadian said:
Just tried your suggestion of flashing to both slots. Unfortunately, same result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of magisk manager are you using? You need the canary build. Then modify the boot image with it and flash that thru fastboot. You can't flash the magisk zip in twrp anymore, at this time.

jd1639 said:
What version of magisk manager are you using? You need the canary build. Then modify the boot image with it and flash that thru fastboot. You can't flash the magisk zip in twrp anymore, at this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since attempting to switch to Android 10, I've been using the latest Canary build of Magisk Manager, currently 7.3.3-f383d11d (234).
The thing though is that it's bootlooping before I even attempt to root. Like after attempting to update the firmware on it's first attempt the device is bootlooping. It's happening when it's stock (no patched boot image. I've tried it with both the stock firmware, and also flashing the patched boot image before it's first boot up after the update and both cases there's a bootloop.

Toronadian said:
Since attempting to switch to Android 10, I've been using the latest Canary build of Magisk Manager, currently 7.3.3-f383d11d (234).
The thing though is that it's bootlooping before I even attempt to root. Like after attempting to update the firmware on it's first attempt the device is bootlooping. It's happening when it's stock (no patched boot image. I've tried it with both the stock firmware, and also flashing the patched boot image before it's first boot up after the update and both cases there's a bootloop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You possibly need to completely uninstall magisk. But of course twrp is not working on 10 so that's a non- starter. See the last 3 or 4 pages of the twrp thread for the 3xl. @Tulsadiver has a boot image file that i think will work for you.

jd1639 said:
You possibly need to completely uninstall magisk. But of course twrp is not working on 10 so that's a non- starter. See the last 3 or 4 pages of the twrp thread for the 3xl. @Tulsadiver has a boot image file that i think will work for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you referring to uninstalling Magisk on Android Pie before trying to flash Android 10?

Toronadian said:
Are you referring to uninstalling Magisk on Android Pie before trying to flash Android 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i think you need to do it now. You have some half installed magisk and it's not letting you boot. You need a work around that to get it to boot. If i read correctly, you've already tried to flash the stock firmware with the - w in the flash all batch file. But check out that thread in the 3xl forum and see if others have been successful with it.

jd1639 said:
No, i think you need to do it now. You have some half installed magisk and it's not letting you boot. You need a work around that to get it to boot. If i read correctly, you've already tried to flash the stock firmware with the - w in the flash all batch file. But check out that thread in the 3xl forum and see if others have been successful with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're talking about right now, I'm back on August update, so still Android 9, with my phone rooted via Magisk and everything is currently functional. So use TWRP, flash the latest Magisk Uninstaller?
Afterwards what should I do after? I'm looking in the TWRP thread for the 3XL, is THIS the boot image you would like me to try? Should I be flashing that boot image AFTER updating to Android 10 (if it works)?

Toronadian said:
Are you referring to uninstalling Magisk on Android Pie before trying to flash Android 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try fastboot boot image-new.img, this image. It should boot core-only mode and you can then see if you have some modules installed that need to be removed (/data/ADB/modules). It is not zipped. Just rename it as image-new.img
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=1899786940962585361
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
Toronadian said:
If you're talking about right now, I'm back on August update, so still Android 9, with my phone rooted via Magisk and everything is currently functional. So use TWRP, flash the latest Magisk Uninstaller?
Afterwards what should I do after? I'm looking in the TWRP thread for the 3XL, is THIS the boot image you would like me to try? Should I be flashing that boot image AFTER updating to Android 10 (if it works)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, flash uninstaller if you can or maybe in magisk manager click uninstall. Modules survive updates and you might have pie modules that obviously aren't meant for Android 10.

Tulsadiver said:
Try fastboot boot image-new.img, this image. It should boot core-only mode and you can then see if you have some modules installed that need to be removed (/data/ADB/modules). It is not zipped. Just rename it as image-new.img
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=1899786940962585361
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
Yes, flash uninstaller if you can or maybe in magisk manager click uninstall. Modules survive updates and you might have pie modules that obviously aren't meant for Android 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright I'll try running the magisk uninstaller zip in twrp later tonight.
I haven't installed any modules but I did use the systemless hosts setting (for Adaway) and I do see it in my "modules" tab. Wonder if that's the culprit.
The boot image you have posted, is that to be flashed after/if Android 10 boots up successfully after flashing the factory image?

Toronadian said:
Alright I'll try running the magisk uninstaller zip in twrp later tonight.
I haven't installed any modules but I did use the systemless hosts setting (for Adaway) and I do see it in my "modules" tab. Wonder if that's the culprit.
The boot image you have posted, is that to be flashed after/if Android 10 boots up successfully after flashing the factory image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious, how do you run the uninstaller in TWRP without a working TWRP?
The image I posted is to recover from bootloop caused by bad modules. Phone should boot up with modules disabled.

Tulsadiver said:
Try fastboot boot image-new.img, this image. It should boot core-only mode and you can then see if you have some modules installed that need to be removed (/data/ADB/modules). It is not zipped. Just rename it as image-new.img
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=1899786940962585361
---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
Yes, flash uninstaller if you can or maybe in magisk manager click uninstall. Modules survive updates and you might have pie modules that obviously aren't meant for Android 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tulsadiver said:
Curious, how do you run the uninstaller in TWRP without a working TWRP?
The image I posted is to recover from bootloop caused by bad modules. Phone should boot up with modules disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I boot the temporary TWRP image for Android 9 as it works on that. I'd assume I would use the install option with the uninstaller zip? Keep in mind currently I'm on Android 9 right now (every time I bootloop due to the Android 10 flashing not working, I run the flash.bat script to reinstall the August firmware).
And speaking of nonworking TWRP on Android 10...if for some reason magisk causes bootloop, in order to uninstall magisk, would I need to adb sideload it then?

OK seriously....really have no idea what the issue is. In TWRP on Android 9, I flashed the Magisk Uninstaller zip then attempted to run the flash.bat file to try and flash Android 10. Exact same issue before with the bootloop. Before that, I also tried flashing Android 10 after I had removed the Systemless Hosts "module" that was there (yes, I did restart the phone first after removing it), same thing with the bootloop. I have no clue.

Update Sept. 24:
Whelp, seems like people are just as out of ideas as I am. I tried today the NEW firmware Google just released (.20.C3, differs from the one released earlier in the month) as well as the newest SDK Platform Tools (29.0.4, a second update that was released in September), still not working. I installed the factory image using the edited flash-all.bat file (removing "-w") and again, device tries to boot up twice and then restart back in fastboot mode, with the issue being "no valid slot to boot".
EDIT: Re-flashed August firmware back onto the phone, and then tried to sideload the new .20.C3 firmware as a OTA (yes, I made sure to use the OTA zip and not the factory image), now just continuously bootlooping. I think I'm on bootloop #5 or 6 right now.

FINALLY have a positive update. I have Cerberus, an anti-theft app on my phone that I tried to uninstall just for the sake of trying to see if some apps were causing compatibility issues. I was trying this after reading one of the really long threads on the Google support threads that someone managed to get the Android 10 update to work AFTER removing some apps. After taking some time to finally remove Cerberus for the time being, I once again tried to flash the factory image for Android 10 (the newest one, .20.C3) and it ACTUALLY managed to work. I'm now finally on Android 10.
With my own device finally figured out, I think I may give my wife and dad's devices a try to update to Android 10 (they're on Pixel 2 and 2XL respectively). I installed Cerberus on their devices as well and I think I'm gonna try removing that first and seeing if that manages to allow me to update the Pixel 2 and the 2XL to Android 10.

Messed up upgrading to 10.0.1

So I messed up while flashing 10.0.1 just now.
I mean, it worked, technically. But I'm on the AA rom, and flashed a patched boot image from 10.0 to get magisk and TWRP.
But now I can't turn on WiFi and I have no audio.
Volume is maxed out, slider switch is in the ring position, but I have no audio at all.
I'm guessing it's due to the incorrect boot image being used, but I couldn't find a patched 10.0.1 image to use.
I know, I goofed.
Any way to fix things without having to wipe and start over?

Reflash 10.0.1 with the system Updater in settings using local upgrade option. Use Oxygen Updater to re-download if you removed the file. Then through fastboot, boot up twrp (fastboot boot twrp.img) and flash magisk. Unofficial TWRP for Android Q is available in the development forum.

Thank you!
Did exactly what you said and now I have WiFi and sounds again!

E30Nova said:
Thank you!
Did exactly what you said and now I have WiFi and sounds again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. This was due to boot.img mismatch with system. I'd recommend staying away from downloading and flashing patched images.
There's a thread here that explains how to update without losing root, always follow those steps.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-7-pro/how-to/successfully-upgraded-to-9-5-7-t3937414
To summarise:
- Download the zip through Oxygen Updater.
- Settings > System > System Update > Cog icon > Local upgrade.
- Select zip. Don't reboot after flashing.
- Open magisk & click install.
- Select after OTA option and then reboot.
If you want to keep TWRP, I would suggest re-downloading the installer and flashing it from magisk instead of using the retention script. After reinstalling magisk (after OTA) and rebooting, you should flash the twrp installer through magisk and then reinstall magisk with the direct install option.

Yeah, I knew it was going to screw stuff up, but I did it anyway.
It's not the first time I knew I shouldn't do something but did it anyway, lol.
At least it was a simple fix, and I didn't lose any data. Maybe my stupidity will hopefully be a lesson to others. If it seems like a bad idea or common sense says not to do it, don't do it, lol.
Thanks again.

E30Nova said:
So I messed up while flashing 10.0.1 just now.
I mean, it worked, technically. But I'm on the AA rom, and flashed a patched boot image from 10.0 to get magisk and TWRP.
But now I can't turn on WiFi and I have no audio.
Volume is maxed out, slider switch is in the ring position, but I have no audio at all.
I'm guessing it's due to the incorrect boot image being used, but I couldn't find a patched 10.0.1 image to use.
I know, I goofed.
Any way to fix things without having to wipe and start over?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried to post the rooted boot img for 10.1 for your but it says the file is too large, if you send me your email address i can send it to you.
---------- Post added at 09:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 AM ----------
disbeyad999989 said:
I just tried to post the rooted boot img for 10.1 for your but it says the file is too large, if you send me your email address i can send it to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just remember that you should only flash this if you are trying to root without twrp otherwise follow the instructions in the thread the other guy a few posts up showed you.

disbeyad999989 said:
Just remember that you should only flash this if you are trying to root without twrp otherwise follow the instructions in the thread the other guy a few posts up showed you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always simply boot twrp.img without flashing. (Just make sure you use the right image matching the currently installed android version) I would consider it much safer to flash magisk with twrp and let it patch the boot image rather than downloading a boot image that someone else patched since it might not match with your system.
EDIT: This user has solved his problem though. Only commenting for posterity.

kgs1992 said:
You can always simply boot twrp.img without flashing. I would consider it much safer to flash magisk with twrp and let it patch the boot image rather than downloading a boot image that someone else patched since it might not match with your system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very true i didn't think about that also, go that route better

[Guide] Update and Retain Root

*Note* Some people have had success with this, while some others have not. You do this at your own risk.
Prerequisites:
Magisk Manager might need to be unhidden based on reports from some users.
Magisk needs to have a backup of stock boot.img.
Preserve AVB 2.0/dm-verity must be enabled. (Have gotten mixed reports on this it might or might not be needed)
Check the following post if you don't meet the prerequisites
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=81186247&postcount=73
Update Process
When phone detects update
1. Disable any desired Magisk modules, ex. Edxposed (I usually disable all modules just to be safe)
2. Reboot
3. In Magisk, select Uninstall, press Restore Images
4. Do NOT Reboot
5. Install OTA Update via Settings -> System -> System Updates
6. When prompted to reboot, Do NOT Reboot
7. In Magisk Manager press Install
8. Select Install to Inactive Slot
9. Reboot
10. Enable the Magisk modules one by one
In case of bootloop after enabling a module there are 2 ways that I know of on how to retain root and fix bootloop.
One requires ADB
While phone is stuck in bootloop, connect phone to PC and run this commands via ADB.
adb wait-for-device shell magisk --remove-modules
adb reboot
This will remove all modules and you should be able to boot.
The second way is via fastboot. More information in this thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-4-xl/themes/magisk-modules-disabler-booting-magisk-t3990557
Some information that might help some people.
eg1122 said:
I know some users flash patched boot.img that someone else patched, thus bypassing the creation of a backup. I think choosing or not choosing to preserve avb 2.0/dm-verity also affects if phone will take OTA. I always preserve mine and always patch my own boot.img so I haven't ran into any issues. I'll just have to wait and see what happens on my end once I get the update. This reminds me of some issues some people where getting early on when rooting. Some people had to flash the patched boot.img to both a/b slots and some people didn't. Having both slots with a patched boot will also break the restoring of stock boot.img as Magisk only restores the active slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you do it this way you'll be using the patched boot image from the previous update and not the current one.

airmaxx23 said:
If you do it this way you'll be using the patched boot image from the previous update and not the current one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it doesn't. When you select install to inactive slot it patches the newly installed boot.img that has been installed to the inactive slot. Only reason phone promts you to reboot after an update is to switch slots.

For whatever reason, whenever I would try to do Uninstall - Restore images (in step 3 of the OP), I would get a toast error saying "Stock backup does not exist"
I'm not sure why the expected backup files hadn't been created. I suspect it has to do with the process of manually patching the boot image whilst initially rooting, as suggested in this Git issue.
Anyway, I was ultimately able to work around this, and was eventually able to get Uninstall - Restore images to work.
I wrote about my workaround method here.

pdfruth said:
For whatever reason, whenever I would try to do Uninstall - Restore images (in step 3 of the OP), I would get a toast error saying "Stock backup does not exist"
I'm not sure why the expected backup files hadn't been created. I suspect it has to do with the process of manually patching the boot image whilst initially rooting, as suggested in this Git issue.
Anyway, I was ultimately able to work around this, and was eventually able to get Uninstall - Restore images to work.
I wrote about my workaround method here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, there needs to be a backed up stock boot img for this to work. Being able to restore images the way stated in the issue would solve this as you could just restore a stock boot.img then continue doing the steps.

So does this work for every update? Just do the steps and it works? Im a complete noob when it comes to this stuff i just follow the write ups and pray!

DemonicMurderer said:
So does this work for every update? Just do the steps and it works? Im a complete noob when it comes to this stuff i just follow the write ups and pray!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it has worked for me all the time. These are the exact steps recommended by topjohnwu, I just made them more readibly available to users. Here is a link to his tutorial.
https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/tutorials.html#ota-installation

This work for the Verizon Pixel 4 XL???

SAMCR02018 said:
This work for the Verizon Pixel 4 XL???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you need to since your not rooted with a locked bootloader? Just take the OTA.

Badger50 said:
Why would you need to since your not rooted with a locked bootloader? Just take the OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok the can the Verizon version get the BL unlocked?

SAMCR02018 said:
Ok the can the Verizon version get the BL unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Unless you got lucky and they sold you a google version by mistake.

SAMCR02018 said:
Ok the can the Verizon version get the BL unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a write up for that.

Does anybody know if this also work with a custom kernel? I thought removing root and let magisk install old (boot) image should reinstall stock boot.img (if magisk first was installed through fastboot with stock kernel). Then i can take ota, patch inactive slot with magisk and then reboot. After reboot i can install custom kernel again througj ex kernel manager app. Does anybody know if this works?

Donric13 said:
Does anybody know if this also work with a custom kernel? I thought removing root and let magisk install old (boot) image should reinstall stock boot.img (if magisk first was installed through fastboot with stock kernel). Then i can take ota, patch inactive slot with magisk and then reboot. After reboot i can install custom kernel again througj ex kernel manager app. Does anybody know if this works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this method works with custom kernel. Magisk removed custom kernel when it restores stock boot.img

When does the dec patch come out, on the 5th?
I just started the process then realized it wasn't out yet so I haven't rebooted. When I go to the step of installing to the inactive slot I get a warning that you should only do this after the ota update - does anyone know if I'll be OK to go ahead with it even though I haven't done the ota yet?

in_dmand said:
When does the dec patch come out, on the 5th?
I just started the process then realized it wasn't out yet so I haven't rebooted. When I go to the step of installing to the inactive slot I get a warning that you should only do this after the ota update - does anyone know if I'll be OK to go ahead with it even though I haven't done the ota yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't do it until the Dec ota comes out and that may be later today or sometime this week. Which is weird since all the other Pixels got it but hey it's Google

in_dmand said:
When does the dec patch come out, on the 5th?
I just started the process then realized it wasn't out yet so I haven't rebooted. When I go to the step of installing to the inactive slot I get a warning that you should only do this after the ota update - does anyone know if I'll be OK to go ahead with it even though I haven't done the ota yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since it's not out yet, just do a direct install in Magisk to re-install it

Thanks for this guide !
Does anyone know how to update and maintain root for manually updating using OTA files ? Usually the update takes a long time to reach my phone, so I update using OTA files.

mkpansare said:
Thanks for this guide !
Does anyone know how to update and maintain root for manually updating using OTA files ? Usually the update takes a long time to reach my phone, so I update using OTA files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The other way I update is using full factory images. Once you download the zip, extract it and find and open (via Notepad++ or similar advanced text editor) the flash-all.bat or flash-all.sh (depends on your system), find this line
fastboot -w update
replace with
fastboot update
Basically remove the -w, this will prevent a factory reset (wipe) on your device. Once it is done you will need to patch new boot.img via magisk and flash the newly patched boot.img via fastboot.
Hope this helps!
ps. I recommend to always disable Magisk Modules before updating as they could cause FC

eg1122 said:
Since it's not out yet, just do a direct install in Magisk to re-install it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks that worked perfect... Was gonna be a long week without adblocker and lmt pie lol

General Rooting with Magisk

Just a heads up to anyone who is wondering about root for this phone - I successfully rooted it with Magisk. It was pretty easy. Basically I just followed the same steps as outlined in this thread, which was for rooting last year's Moto G Stylus model, and it worked. Obviously you need to have already unlocked the bootloader before doing any of this.
I got the stock boot.img from the firmware linked in this thread. I patched it using Magisk Manager (v8.0.7) then flashed it via fastboot. My installed Magisk version is 21.4 (21400).
-- A WORD OF CAUTION: --
As of now there is no TWRP or any other custom recovery for this phone that I am aware of, so if you mess something up due to root, your only option to fix it might be to reflash the stock firmware.
A note about mobile banking apps:
After I installed Magisk Manager, my banking app stopped working and SafetyNet check was failing. After flashing the patched boot.img and rebooting, the SafetyNet check passed but my banking app still wasn't working. I used Magisk Hide and checked off the banking app in the list, but that didn't help either. What I had to do was use the Hide Magisk Manager option where it reinstalls Magisk Manager under a different name. Now my banking app is working again.

DM.IDOL said:
... - I successfully rooted it with Magisk. It was pretty easy. Basically I just followed the same steps as outlined in this thread, which was for rooting last year's Moto G Stylus model, and it worked. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked for me too. It was also easy for me because the only RETUS upload on the mirrors.lolinet site was my exact firmware version. Downloaded that, extracted and used that boot.img for magisk-patching.
The only issues I'm left with are:
1. Adaway isn't working (can't write to any of the canned hosts file paths) and I haven't figured out where I might be able to store a writable hosts file, and . . .
2. Titanium Backup (Pro) works to freeze almost every app that I wanted to disable. The one exception was Motorola Update Service. TiBu toasts that it was disabled and "invisible from the app drawer", but it actually wasn't disabled and still isn't. It still shows under System Applications. So I dunno . . . it's not a deal breaker as long as auto updating stays turned off.
Bootloader is unlocked and rooting via Magisk worked on my Stylus 2021, exactly as advertised.
Update: My solution for AdAway was here, AdAway 5.3 (newest version I believe).
Update2: Sans freezing Motorola Update Service, updates are of course frozen from actually running because of system changes by root & TWRP. So no big worries, just the nuisance of notifications.

cant the new maagisk be used as an alternative custom recovery? Something about renaming the apk to zip and then flashing zip file on recovery?

Mr.Morgan said:
cant the new maagisk be used as an alternative custom recovery? Something about renaming the apk to zip and then flashing zip file on recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Magisk is not custom recovery.
There are two ways to install Magisk, using the .zip version, with a custom recovery like TWRP or
Using the magisk app to patch a boot.img then flash with fastboot.exe

sd_shadow said:
No, Magisk is not custom recovery.
There are two ways to install Magisk, using the .zip version, with a custom recovery like TWRP or
Using the magisk app to patch a boot.img then flash with fastboot.exe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the knowledge, but perhaps you can shed some light on what the app means by " Custom Recovery lovers, no worries! The Magisk app APK itself is a custom recovery flashable zip, just like MAGIC. Check out the updated installation guide for more info"

Mr.Morgan said:
I appreciate the knowledge, but perhaps you can shed some light on what the app means by " Custom Recovery lovers, no worries! The Magisk app APK itself is a custom recovery flashable zip, just like MAGIC. Check out the updated installation guide for more info"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are partly correct, there has been a big change with Magisk.
You can just change the Magisk.apk to Magisk.zip
But the zip does not replace a custom recovery.
It just eliminates the need for a separate manager.zip
In some custom recoveries, the installation may fail silently (it might look like success but in reality it bootloops). This is because the installer scripts cannot properly detect the correct device info or the recovery environment does not meet its expectation. If you face any issues, use the Patch Image method as it is guaranteed to work 100% of the time. Due to this reason, installing Magisk through custom recoveries on modern devices is no longer recommended. The custom recovery installation method exists purely for legacy support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magisk in Recovery
If your device does not have ramdisk in boot images, Magisk has no choice but to be installed in the recovery partition. For these devices, you will have to reboot to recovery every time you want Magisk.
When Magisk is installed in your recovery, you CANNOT use custom recoveries to install/upgrade Magisk! The only way to install/upgrade Magisk is through the Magisk app. It will be aware of your device state and install to the correct partition and reboot into the correct mode.
Since Magisk now hijacks the recovery of the device, there is a mechanism to let you actually boot into recovery mode when needed: it is determined by how long you press the recovery key combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This does not replace the stock recovery, just patches the recovery.

I recently purchased this phone, Moto G Stylus 2021, from Amazon. When I enter the dev options menu, OEM Unlocking is greyed out. I did a bit of research and found another thread online where another two users had the same problem, for all of two days.
After two days, the option to enable OEM Unlocking was no longer greyed out for the both of them. Fascinating! I may return this phone before that time is up, but if I don't, I'll report back on any changes for sure.
EDIT: I've decided to return this phone and get a Galaxy Tab S7 instead; there's more room to draw and a better pen!

Can't find my firmware on lolinet (boost mobile qpc30.q4-31-93)
Tried lenovo's rescue tool to see if I could grab the firmware that way and it just kept giving me errors.
If anyone has some how acquired the appropriate firmware would you mind sending it to me?

I can't remember exactly where I seen someone else commenting on this topic but they had lost their cellular network after rooting ,
My problem / question is that I have also my lost my cellular network connection after rooting but not completley only to the original carrier I got t this phone with witch is boost, but if I try another carrier such as tmobile or sprint or even metro it will work because they are basically all 1 company now , but how do I fix this problem to get my phone to read my sim card as valid (I get the invalid sim msg) when I put my original sim in and I just went and got a brand new replacement sim from them to see if that would solve the issue.also going off reading the forums on here I went with the mask retus firmware for flashing because there isn't one on there anywhere for so any help would be hysteria l greatly appreciated. This is my only problem I'm having since rooting everything else is working perfectly fine.

BobbyBlunt said:
Can't find my firmware on lolinet (boost mobile qpc30.q4-31-93)
Tried lenovo's rescue tool to see if I could grab the firmware that way and it just kept giving me errors.
If anyone has some how acquired the appropriate firmware would you mind sending it to me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just an idea but on the site that has all the firmware im thinking could submit a request to them using that telegram messenger thing for the firmware needed.....it may be kind of a longshot but just thought of that myself and the closest one i see to what you posted is the metro version

riggin said:
just an idea but on the site that has all the firmware im thinking could submit a request to them using that telegram messenger thing for the firmware needed.....it may be kind of a longshot but just thought of that myself and the closest one i see to what you posted is the metro version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the lenovo recovery tool again and this time it was able to find the appropriate firmware. I was able to successfully root

Hey well i just installed latest magisk and patched boot img and moved it to my pc and went thru fast boot and just did fastboot flash boot patched.img and it works fine. I dunno if latest update fixed whatever was wrong on yours but if i installed the older one it would not even let me pick the boot img to patch *shrugs* but all working on mine now...we just need full device tree etc so we can get us a a recovery def want that before i go adding mods. If it helps any I have cricket same as ATT the person who lost cell may need to redo their apn or take sim card out and reapply it hope that works.

Moondroid said:
The one exception was Motorola Update Service. TiBu toasts that it was disabled and "invisible from the app drawer", but it actually wasn't disabled and still isn't. It still shows under System Applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been having the same problem trying to disable the update prompts. Titanium Backup doesn't work, nor can I disable it via terminal using pm. The system update screen will pop up multiple times a day, interrupting whatever I'm currently doing to tell me I have an update. It's really annoying that it can't be frozen.

Well after a few days of LTE connection my own unlock now works got root

riggin said:
just an idea but on the site that has all the firmware im thinking could submit a request to them using that telegram messenger thing for the firmware needed.....it may be kind of a longshot but just thought of that myself and the closest one i see to what you posted is the metro version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey was just wondering since im kinda in the same situation you were in with not being able to obtain exact firmware need at first for boost model if maybe you can proovide tthe brief steps you made to get the lmsa tool to recognize it and pull the corerct firmware....ty so much if u can

riggin said:
hey was just wondering since im kinda in the same situation you were in with not being able to obtain exact firmware need at first for boost model if maybe you can proovide tthe brief steps you made to get the lmsa tool to recognize it and pull the corerct firmware....ty so much if u can
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, either LMSA determines the correct firmware or it doesn't, there isn't anything that can be done to fix it, except contacting Motorola.
For other options see
[Guide] Using Fastboot.exe with Motorola devices
Guide: Using Fastboot.exe with Motorola Devices If your device has its own section please post in that section. You can ping me with @sd_shadow MediaTek or Qualcomm Chip? Do I have a MediaTek Device? see post #26 Info: If you have a MediaTek...
forum.xda-developers.com

Hey Guys, I'm continuing on this thread since I've gotten further. I used LMSA to download the firmware zip using the Resuce button. Afterwards I copy that zip (2+ gigs) to my download folder. I open up Magisk and select intall and select the firmware zip. I starts out successfully but then fails. I get this in the log folder.
- Device platform: arm64-v8a
- Installing: 23.0 (23000)
- Copying image to cache
- Unpacking boot image
Parsing boot image: [/data/user_de/0/com.topjohnwu.magisk/install/boot.img]
! Unsupported/Unknown image format
! Installation failed
I even tried to resuce the phone using the firmware provided by the LMSA program which essentially wipes my phone and try again with a clean Magisk load and I'm getting the same. The only thing I'm thinking is I could be getting my Magisk from another source. I'm using version 23 from github.

steppinthrax said:
Hey Guys, I'm continuing on this thread since I've gotten further. I used LMSA to download the firmware zip using the Resuce button. Afterwards I copy that zip (2+ gigs) to my download folder. I open up Magisk and select intall and select the firmware zip. I starts out successfully but then fails. I get this in the log folder.
- Device platform: arm64-v8a
- Installing: 23.0 (23000)
- Copying image to cache
- Unpacking boot image
Parsing boot image: [/data/user_de/0/com.topjohnwu.magisk/install/boot.img]
! Unsupported/Unknown image format
! Installation failed
I even tried to resuce the phone using the firmware provided by the LMSA program which essentially wipes my phone and try again with a clean Magisk load and I'm getting the same. The only thing I'm thinking is I could be getting my Magisk from another source. I'm using version 23 from github.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't a zip file it's a folder or at least every firmware I have downloaded is automatically unzipped by LMSA.
You only need to copy the boot.img and maybe the recovery.img to the device.

sd_shadow said:
It isn't a zip file it's a folder or at least every firmware I have downloaded is automatically unzipped by LMSA.
You only need to copy the boot.img and maybe the recovery.img to the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I figured it out last night. I also figured out pretty quickly that once you root a phone certain applications will no longer function. I didn't deal with this before, but since I work from home I have to use some of those apps that create a "Work Profile". The one app "Intelligent Hub" removed itself and my work profile. When trying to re-install and authenticate with my work it literally said "Won't provision a compromised device".
Within Magsik I used the Magsik hide feature and tried selected that app and hiding all methods that it could detect root. I even then rebooted, removed/reinstall etc. Nothing worked. The app still kept detecting root. I know that the Xposed Framework modules may work in hiding root but I decided to go all the way back to normal since there's little benefit for me to root except for the ability for me to remove bloatware. This is a retail unlocked and there's little if any bloatware on the device.
I removed Magsik and any other junk, turned on OEM locking and rebooted and I'm back to mormal. Thank you everyone this was a leaning exp. I haven't rooted in like 5 years.

DM.IDOL said:
I've been having the same problem trying to disable the update prompts. Titanium Backup doesn't work, nor can I disable it via terminal using pm. The system update screen will pop up multiple times a day, interrupting whatever I'm currently doing to tell me I have an update. It's really annoying that it can't be frozen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, for posterity, instead of getting multiple notifs per day I just tap and let it try to update. It fails quickly and the notification is nixed for a while.