Database Info

[FIX] FED-Patcher v8 (ForceEncrypt Disable Patcher)

Hello everybody,
I created a tool - initially for the nexus 9 (flounder|flounder_lte) - that gets rid of the ForceEncrypt flag in a generic way (meaning it should work no matter what rom you are on). It does that by patching the currently installed boot.img.
I enhanced that tool to make it work for other devices too. (See the list below to see if your device is supported)
Disclaimer
Code:
/*
* Your warranty is now void.
*
* I am not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards,
* thermonuclear war, or you getting fired because the alarm app failed. Please
* do some research if you have any concerns about the features in this tool
* before using it! YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if
* you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you. Hard. A lot.
*/
Background
The Android CDD (Compatibility Definition Document) suggests demands that all devices with the appropriate horse power SHOULD MUST enable full disk-encryption (FDE) by default. Even though I support every step towards more security I have to criticize this approach. Full-disk-encryption comes at a price. Encryption takes time because some component has to de- and encrypt the stuff on the disk at some point and in current devices it's the CPU's task. Even though modern devices have quite fast CPU cores you can still easily feel the difference between FDE in the on- or off-state. The I/O is faster and boot-times take only half as long. (I did not do any scientific measurements though)
There is an ongoing discussion about this topic in cyanogenmod's gerrit for the nexus 9. Although it's a fun read it is pretty clear that this exchange of views is not going anywhere near a useful outcome. Additionally, Google's stock ROMs always have forced encryption enabled on newer devices.
Because performance is important to me and at least my tablet does not need the extra security I created the FED-Patcher (ForceEncrypt Disable Patcher).
How does it work?
FED-Patcher is a simple flashable ZIP that is supposed to be run in a recovery that has busybox integrated (like TWRP or CWM). This is what it does:
Checks if your device is compatible
Dumps the currently installed boot.img.
Unpacks the dump of your currently installed boot.img. The unpacking process is done via a self-compiled, statically linked version of unmkbootimg.
It patches the filesystem tables which include the force-encrypt flags. This process will change "forceencrypt" to "encryptable".
Then, if necessary, it patches the filesystem tables to not use dm-verity. This is done by removing the "verify" mount-parameter.
Creates a new boot.img. The unpacking process is done via a self-compiled, statically linked version of mkbootimg.
Flashes the modified boot.img
Supported devices
HTC Nexus 9 WiFi (flounder)
HTC Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte)
Motorola Nexus 6 (shamu)
LG Nexus 5X (bullhead)
Huawei Nexus 6P (angler)
Version History
v1 - Initial version with HTC Nexus 9 WiFi (flounder) support
v2 - Added Motorola Nexus 6 (shamu) support
v3 - Added support for HTC Nexus 9 LTE (flounder_lte)
v4 - Added support for signed boot-images
v5 - Changed error handling to compensate for missing fstab files. Some roms seem not to ship with the complete set of boot-files from AOSP.
v6 - FED-Patcher will enforce the same structure for the patched boot.img that the original boot.img had. Additionally, the kernel commandline will also be taken over. This should fix pretty much every case where devices would not boot after patching.
v7 - FED-Patcher will now disable dm-verity in fstab to get rid of the red error sign on marshmallow roms.
v8 - Added support for LG Nexus 5X (bullhead) and Huawei Nexus 6P (angler)
What do I need to make this work?
A supported device
An unlocked bootloader
An already installed ROM with forceencrypt flag. (like cyanogenmod CM12.1)
A recovery that includes busybox (TWRP, CWM)
How do I use it?
Make a thorough, conservative backup of your data if there is any on your device
Go into your recovery (TWRP, CWM)
Flash fed_patcher-signed.zip
If your device is already encrypted (You booted your ROM at least once) you need to do a full wipe to get rid of the encryption. This full wipe will clear all your data on your data-partition (where your apps as well as their settings are stored) as well as on your internal storage so please, do a backup before. If you don't do a backup and want to restore your data... well... Call obama.
How do I know if it worked?
Go into your "Settings"-App. In "Security", if it offers you to encrypt your device it is unencrypted. If it says something like "Device is encrypted" it indeed is encrypted.
IMPORTANT: If you update your ROM you have to run FED-Patcher again because ROM-updates also update the boot-partition which effectively removes my patch. So, if you are on CM12.1 for example and you used my patch and do an update to a newer nightly you have to run FED-Patcher again. If you don't do so Android will encrypt your device at the first boot.
Is it dangerous?
Well, I implemented tons of checks that prevent pretty much anything bad from happening. But, of course, we're dealing with the boot-partition here. Even though I tested FED-Patcher quite a lot there is still room for crap hitting the fan.
Screenshot
Scroll down to the attached thumbnails.
Credits
* pbatard for making (un)mkbootimg (dunno if he is on xda)
* @rovo89 for his xposed framework - I used some of his ideas by reading the source of his xposed installer flashable ZIP for FED-Patcher.
GibHub: https://github.com/gladiac1337/fed-patcher
XDA:DevDB Information
FED-Patcher, Tool/Utility for all devices (see above for details)
Contributors
gladiac, rovo89
Version Information
Status: Beta
Current Beta Version: v8
Beta Release Date: 2015-10-27
Created 2015-10-27
Last Updated 2016-10-23

Hi @gladiac and first of all thanks for the work and time spent developing this amazing tool.
I'm currently running stock Marshmallow on my Nexus 6 and i plan to stay like that, but would like to test my device with ForceEncrypt disabled. Here are my doubts.
1 - Does this work on stock?
2 - Would i be able to flash the monthly security update images without having to wipe my device every time?
3 - In your opinion, do the speed gains justify the all the work?
Thanks in advance.

cyberon said:
Hi @gladiac and first of all thanks for the work and time spent developing this amazing tool.
I'm currently on stock Marshmallow and i plan to stay like that, but would like to test my device with forcencrypt disabled. Here are my doubts.
1 - Does this work on stock?
2 - Would i be able to flash the monthly security update images without having to wipe my device every time?
3 - In your opinion, do the speed gains justify the all the work?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi @cyberon,
good questions!
Yes, FED-Patcher works on stock! Marshmallow made it necessary to do a new release, v7, to get rid of an error message at boot but other than that, FED-Patcher works just fine on Android 6.
Well, I don't know how the monthly security-updates will be deployed. I guess it will be done by OTA (Over the Air) updates. OTA will probably not work after modifying the boot-image. However, flashing factory images should work just fine. Additionally, most of the time, OTA-zips are being posted here on xda or androidpolice whenever they become available so doing manual OTA updates is another possibility to do updates.
To get back to your question - wiping should not be necessary after an upgrade - be it via OTA or factory images. Google did a fantastic job with the upgrade-functionality in newer Android versions. However, whenever you do an update, be sure to run FED-Patcher afterwards because, in case the boot-partitions got updated, forced encryption will be in place again and on the first boot it will encrypt you device.
Well, I do all my tests on a HTC Nexus 9 (flounder). It is a pretty fast beast. However, on an unmodified stock rom, it was clearly tangible that the GUI had more latency than necessary. Apps loaded pretty slowly - compared to my Sony Xperia Z1 (honami) it took like twice as long to start youtube - and in general it just did not behave like a beast. This was why I started writing FED-Patcher. In my opinion it was worth my time. (it wasn't that much actually)
I hope I could help.
Enjoy, gladiac

Thanks for the quick and detailed answer @gladiac, now regarding point number 2.
I never wait for the OTA, but always flash the images manually.
As far as i understand from your answer, it would it be ok to flash all the img files manually, then flash TWRP and finally flash FED without booting the OS.
Am i missing something?

cyberon said:
Thanks for the quick and detailed answer @gladiac, now regarding point number 2.
I never wait for the OTA, but always flash the images manually.
As far as i understand from your answer, it would it be ok to flash all the img files manually, then flash TWRP and finally flash FED without booting the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty much how I would do it. You don't even have to flash TWRP if you just skip flashing the recovery.img which is included in the factory-image package.

Thanks @gladiac, will try that way.
PS: I have a feeling that if we had this option added to a toolkit like Wugfresh Nexus Root Toolkit, it would be an instant success.

hi @gladiac
first of all thanks for your patch
I'm on Nexus 6 with stock Marshmallow and all I want to do is disable encryption and enable root.
Is your patch + SuperSU enough or I need something else?
Thanks a lot

Worked on my N9 - thanks!

provolinoo said:
hi @gladiac
first of all thanks for your patch
I'm on Nexus 6 with stock Marshmallow and all I want to do is disable encryption and enable root.
Is your patch + SuperSU enough or I need something else?
Thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi @provolinoo,
well, FED Patcher will disable the forced encryption for you. However, SuperSU will not work so easily. The reason for that is that the stock ROM has SeLinux enabled in "enforcing" mode. SuperSU does not work without adding more SeLinux Policies to the stock ROM. Unfortunately, it's not in the scope of FED Patcher to add SeLinux policies for SuperSU. This should be done inside the flashable ZIP of SuperSU instead.
The last time I tested SuperSU with marshmallow stock was with version 2.52 BETA. It did not work. The result was a boot-loop because of one or more SeLinux denials. A little more info on that matter is here.
So, to get SuperSU working you would have to set SeLinux to "permissive" mode. Alternatively, you can use @Chainfire's boot.imgs to make SuperSU work.
Have fun, gladiac

Thank you gladiac. Your FED patcher (v8) works flawlessly on my Nexus 9. Edit: I am using TWRP 2.8.7.1
The gerrit conversation you linked is interesting. I am grateful that someone with your skills decided to support our ability to choose whether or not to encrypt. CM thinks I am smart enough for root priveleges but I am too stupid to be trusted with decryption?
Don't some major vendors allow the disabling of encryption from within Android?
Anyway, thanks for the patcher.

dmantilal said:
Thank you gladiac. Your FED patcher (v8) works flawlessly on my Nexus 9.
The gerrit conversation you linked is interesting. I am grateful that someone with your skills decided to support our ability to choose whether or not to encrypt. CM thinks I am smart enough for root priveleges but I am too stupid to be trusted with decryption?
Don't some major vendors allow the disabling of encryption from within Android?
Anyway, thanks for the patcher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I love CM roms but their decision to force encryption when most of cm users are power-user is a nonsense

Sooo....basically, I cannot use a stock Marshmallow that is FEDpatched and with root (using SuperSU, unless there is alternative)? If I want those, I have to get one of the custom ROMs?
EDIT: also, I tried using Chainfire's modified boot. It is stated that it will disable the forceencrypt. It didn't work in mine, still encrypted.

jamesalfred said:
Sooo....basically, I cannot use a stock Marshmallow that is FEDpatched and with root (using SuperSU, unless there is alternative)? If I want those, I have to get one of the custom ROMs?
EDIT: also, I tried using Chainfire's modified boot. It is stated that it will disable the forceencrypt. It didn't work in mine, still encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you follow the directions and format the entire "data" partition?

dmantilal said:
Did you follow the directions and format the entire "data" partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have the same problem didnt work for me.
im on the the new 6.0 L build but went ahead and flashed the modified boot image for K build just so I could flash the TWRP img.
Once TWRP was installed, I installed the Fed path ZIP and that went well supposedly. and then after that I did a factory reset, then I WIPED the DATA, CACHE and Dalvik.. I rebooted setup my device and it still shows encrypted.

nextelbuddy said:
I too have the same problem didnt work for me.
im on the the new 6.0 L build but went ahead and flashed the modified boot image for K build just so I could flash the TWRP img.
Once TWRP was installed, I installed the Fed path ZIP and that went well supposedly. and then after that I did a factory reset, then I WIPED the DATA, CACHE and Dalvik.. I rebooted setup my device and it still shows encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It did not work because you did not follow the directions.
Flash TWRP. Flash FED. Full wipe (or format, depending on your choice of terminology). OP goes on to clarify by saying "This full wipe will clear all your data on your data-partition (where your apps as well as their settings are stored) as well as on your internal storage so please, do a backup before.", meaning if you did not lose everything on data, which includes "/sdcard", you most likely did it wrong.
Give us more info so we can help (assuming you fid it right initially).
P.S. - 6.0 is M(arshmallow), not L(ollipop).

dmantilal said:
Did you follow the directions and format the entire "data" partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dmantilal said:
It did not work because you did not follow the directions.
Flash TWRP. Flash FED. Full wipe (or format, depending on your choice of terminology). OP goes on to clarify by saying "This full wipe will clear all your data on your data-partition (where your apps as well as their settings are stored) as well as on your internal storage so please, do a backup before.", meaning if you did not lose everything on data, which includes "/sdcard", you most likely did it wrong.
Give us more info so we can help (assuming you fid it right initially).
P.S. - 6.0 is M(arshmallow), not L(ollipop).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i solved my issue. i was wiping DATA but not choosing internal storage. i did that and rebooted and now it says ENCRYPT not ENCRYPTED
THANKS!
so currently I have a modified boot image from the K build, TWRP and now a modifier boot.img kernel for no force encrypt BUT I am not rooted and dont plan on it. does this mean I can still get OTAs?> i would guess not since my boot image has been modified and i am unlocked? would i even want an OTA? wouldnt that just give me a stock boot.img again causing me to get encrypted on the next boot after OTA?

nextelbuddy said:
i solved my issue. i was wiping DATA but not choosing internal storage. i did that and rebooted and now it says ENCRYPT not ENCRYPTED
THANKS!
so currently I have a modified boot image from the K build, TWRP and now a modifier boot.img kernel for no force encrypt BUT I am not rooted and dont plan on it. does this mean I can still get OTAs?> i would guess not since my boot image has been modified and i am unlocked? would i even want an OTA? wouldnt that just give me a stock boot.img again causing me to get encrypted on the next boot after OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Side-loading the OTA then following that with a FED flash seems much safer.
Loading an OTA directly would over-write the boot.img with a ForceEncrypt boot.img, logically Forcing Encryption (derp) at boot.

I am using chroma ROM which doesn't force encryption and my device is still encrypted. Can I still use this?

jamespat93 said:
I am using chroma ROM which doesn't force encryption and my device is still encrypted. Can I still use this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can if you want But if you want to unencrypt your phone, backup your ROM, copy sd content to your computer, wipe everything! in recovery (twrp) including Format Data, Factory reset, internal storage etc. Connect your phone while in recovery to your computer (you'll see 25.98GB instead of 23.03GB), copy sd content back to your phone, restore your rom backup and you'll be fine.

I can't get it work on Nexus 6 and chroma rom r26.
My steps: wipe everything, push folder (rom,patcher and gapps), flash chroma, flash gapps, flash patcher, wipe everything but system
after boot in setting/security it is again encrypted. what I am doing wrong?

No Encrypt Device Option ? Why ?

Why is there no Encrypt device in settings security ? this is hugely important and i can't understand why Oppo decided it's a good idea to remove this ! is there a way to force-enable it ?

To enable encryption you
1. need a ROM that support it. Oppo does not.
2. need a partitioning that support it, r7plusf's doesn't.
3. want a recovery that can decrypt it.
1. CyanogenMod and aicp works. Need one or two fixes though.
2. /data need to be repartitioned, it does not have space for the encryption footer.
3. twrp(3.0.2) can currently not decrypt the device.
1 and 2 is not hard to do, but you still want the recovery to work for updates and backups. I changed a few things and got aicp running with encryption, but found no way to decrypt data in recovery.
Wait and see if Oppo release mm for r7+f, it might have encryption on it (it should have).

teemo said:
To enable encryption you
1. need a ROM that support it. Oppo does not.
2. need a partitioning that support it, r7plusf's doesn't.
3. want a recovery that can decrypt it.
1. CyanogenMod and aicp works. Need one or two fixes though.
2. /data need to be repartitioned, it does not have space for the encryption footer.
3. twrp(3.0.2) can currently not decrypt the device.
1 and 2 is not hard to do, but you still want the recovery to work for updates and backups. I changed a few things and got aicp running with encryption, but found no way to decrypt data in recovery.
Wait and see if Oppo release mm for r7+f, it might have encryption on it (it should have).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it ! Thanks for the info !

[ROM] [7.1.2][MARKW] ViperOS 3.1.1 Final by qwertyTom

ViperOS for markw is here!
Thanks to qwertyTom, karevn, Razziell, Anomalchik,TheScarastic for working on the source code for MARKW.
Kernel: Nosgoth V3 +
Security system from Dec'17
Current version 24/12/2017: Final
Highlights:
1) Beautiful animations.
2) Beautiful design.
3) Advanced functionality settings.
4) Shuster.
5) Very fast fingerprint scanner. (Personally, tester's fingerprint scanner fires very quickly, faster than on other OSes)
Changelog:<full>
Code:
24-12-17
-Final version
-Enabled camera2api (hal3)
28-11-2017
* kernel/xiaomi/markw/
5ccdc6f core_ctl: disable at config [Nikolay Karev]
5b37dcc DTS housekeeping [Nikolay Karev]
70a3c66 Merge branch 'core_ctl' into experimental_work [Nikolay Karev]
Downloads:
20171224-Server, MD5:
20171224-Gdrive
20171128-Gdrive
20171116-Gdrive
Original Thread: 4pda
Final update announcement!
Shared here instead of ROM section as sources are not disclosed.

Hello my Friend,
Please share screenshots for this ROM.

Mithrandir107 said:
Hello my Friend,
Please share screenshots for this ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll find screenshots on 4pda thread.
I haven't tried this rom yet. In distant future, maybe. I'll post my own screenshots then, and move this thread on rom section.

Here you go...
Mithrandir107 said:
Hello my Friend,
Please share screenshots for this ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

How is battery life brother?

saravuthream said:
How is battery life brother?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say how's the battery life.
I just flashed this ROM and after flashing Magisk 12, Gapps and restoring some settings from Titanium Backup, I've got areally nasty overheating on my device and just went back to my previous ROM (AOSiP).
Btw, I've been using Dual Boot Patcher app to test all recent ROMS (RR, AoSiP, Validus...). Good app to switch between ROMs easily (screenshot attached).

BJumperBR said:
I can't say how's the battery life.
I just flashed this ROM and after flashing Magisk 12, Gapps and restoring some settings from Titanium Backup, I've got areally nasty overheating on my device and just went back to my previous ROM (AOSiP).
Btw, I've been using Dual Boot Patcher app to test all recent ROMS (RR, AoSiP, Validus...). Good app to switch between ROMs easily (screenshot attached).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share the thread you followed for dual boot? Or write a thread on it? I've dual boot patcher apk, ends up booting into recovery every time I want to boot into secondary rom. If the ramdisk file of primary rom is modified, it also ends up booting into recovery.

I remember having some partition encryption issues when I first started using DBP and I had to format data/system partition to remove encryption.
As you can see from the screenshot I posted, I've been using all ROMs as "DATA" slots. Secondary ROMs don't work for me either.
kibria.mgk said:
Can you share the thread you followed for dual boot? Or write a thread on it? I've dual boot patcher apk, ends up booting into recovery every time I want to boot into secondary rom. If the ramdisk file of primary rom is modified, it also ends up booting into recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

BJumperBR said:
I remember having some partition encryption issues when I first started using DBP and I had to format data/system partition to remove encryption.
As you can see from the screenshot I posted, I've been using all ROMs as "DATA" slots. Secondary ROMs don't work for me either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have data partition formatted, phone shows not encrypted now. I'll try installing in data slot.
No extra tweaks are required then?

Just patch the ROM zip to a new data slot and flash it from TWRP.
And remember to patch all zip files you want to flash on the ROM (GAPPS, SuperSU/Magisk) to the same slot you used for the ROM.
kibria.mgk said:
I have data partition formatted, phone shows not encrypted now. I'll try installing in data slot.
No extra tweaks are required then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Nice rom. But Vpapers did not work.

BJumperBR said:
Just patch the ROM zip to a new data slot and flash it from TWRP.
And remember to patch all zip files you want to flash on the ROM (GAPPS, SuperSU/Magisk) to the same slot you used for the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks. Applied rom in data slot booted up successfully.

BJumperBR said:
Here you go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you friend!

New 281117 build.
Download: Server, Gdrive
Changelog: <textfile>

hello,friend,can you help me to tell ZMIJGORYN something?i find Lineage OS 14.1 Extended one issue,can't set USB to Charge this device only work on Transfer files when i connect the mobile to computer,thanks a lot.And i waiting for him Lineage OS version

lovekobeme said:
hello,friend,can you help me to tell ZMIJGORYN something?i find Lineage OS 14.1 Extended one issue,can't set USB to Charge this device only work on Transfer files when i connect the mobile to computer,thanks a lot.And i waiting for him Lineage OS version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked the settings in Developers option? You can switch default usb option there.

kibria.mgk said:
Have you checked the settings in Developers option? You can switch default usb option there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah,i try it to solved that,thanks.

New 20171222 build is up, comes with hal3.
Download: server

BJumperBR said:
I can't say how's the battery life.
I just flashed this ROM and after flashing Magisk 12, Gapps and restoring some settings from Titanium Backup, I've got areally nasty overheating on my device and just went back to my previous ROM (AOSiP).
Btw, I've been using Dual Boot Patcher app to test all recent ROMS (RR, AoSiP, Validus...). Good app to switch between ROMs easily (screenshot attached).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. Im new to flashing and I want to use the dual boot. Where can I download it and how can I use it? A thread for our device would be nice. Thanks

I tried to download the latest build from qwertytom.cloudapp.net but the site can't be reached. Is there another download link?

Question TWRP?

I understand that the TWRP team is apparently still working on an official release for Android 13, but is there even an unofficial build available for the P7Pro? If not, is there a recovery alternative? I really want to be able to do a full system (all partitions) backup of my device. Thanks!

You can create dumps of your partitions using ADB shell in system; TWRP is not required to do this.

Though it wouldn't necessarily be any good for doing full partition backups, I'm currently running the recovery from the StagOS ROM in combination with the stock Pixel ROM. I like it because it allows flashing recovery zips without having to say "Yes" every time due to signature stuff.

A very similar thread with the same topic has been discussed a few days ago - you can check here

Anyone can compile TWRP - it's opensource. Pixel 6+ owners are unlikely to get an official build from TWRP since it requires a volunteer to maintain the repo, deal with bug reports, etc.
It's recommended to simply compile the image on an individual basis (you really don't want to rely on a third-party supplied image when you have no way of knowing whether it's safe or not). Compiling isn't a difficult process, but does require an hour or two of reading TWRP's and Google's applicable developer pages, along with ~30 - 60 minutes of set up time on a PC/laptop (I prefer to compile within an Ubuntu VM, but I believe it can also be done in Windows' WSL).

robroy90 said:
I understand that the TWRP team is apparently still working on an official release for Android 13, but is there even an unofficial build available for the P7Pro? If not, is there a recovery alternative? I really want to be able to do a full system (all partitions) backup of my device. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They still haven't finished official support for Android 12. Since recovery resources on A12+ are located in vendor_boot, bigbiff is trying to figure out a decent way for TWRP to live there, at least as far as the Pixel 5 is concerned. Not sure what other obstacles may be present on the Pixel 6 series and above.

nooted1 said:
Though it wouldn't necessarily be any good for doing full partition backups, I'm currently running the recovery from the StagOS ROM in combination with the stock Pixel ROM. I like it because it allows flashing recovery zips without having to say "Yes" every time due to signature stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for this! How did you flash just the recovery partiton on the Pixel? I am an old hand with Odin on the Samsung devices, but Google official devices are still new to me. Will the StagOS recovery recognize an external USB-C flash drive for storage?

s3axel said:
A very similar thread with the same topic has been discussed a few days ago - you can check here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I went over there and read everything. Much appreciated!

DivestOS

@SkewedZeppelin
Hello, I installed the latest DivestOS version today as I was previosuly pretty dissapointed with standard LineageOS due to the amount of google and propiertry blobs it contained. I have followed divestOS for a while now and when my Lineage boot looped this morning I thought it was a good time to test DivestOS.
First off, I am very impressed with DivestOS, extremely slimmed down OS and I am much more comfortable with the privacy aspects that DivestOS is accomplishing. So thank you for all your efforts with the OS, it really is great and I would without a doubt recommend anyone who hasn't given it a spin to try it asap.
Now, I have a few issues I hoped @SkewedZeppelin or anyone else for that matter might be able to help me with. I have read the DivestOS documentation completely so understand what the recommendations and preferences of the developer is and why. I get it. That being said, we don;t live in an ideal world and unfortunately I do have some specific requirements that I can't go without and so I wanted to see how/if they could be incorporated. First of, which I know is a big no-no for the DivestOS developer, I need to root. I absolutely require call recording and without the native ability to automatically do it I have to really on a very good magisk module. Secondly, I need to be able to use TWRP with the ROM. I know TWRP has not been great with Lineage build but, I was able to unencrypt lineage-20.0-20230105 with the last @Siddk version, which the developer has now discontinued. So https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-11-12-13-unofficial-twrp-for-oneplus-6-6t.4382121/ is the last version I can use. Unfortunately @Siddk TWRP does not unencrypt the latest DivestOS. I need TWRP for recovery, like this morning when my lineageos boot looped for no apprent reason all my private data was lost, only for @Siddk TWRP saved the day and allowed me to unencrypt and adb pull it all out.
So to overcome these hurdles I would like to install an older version of DivestOS that would allow @Siddk TWRP to work. I had a copy of divested-20.0-20230123 so tried that but it is also too new and not working with TWRP. I would then assume that although the DivestOS is strongly against rooting, I would be able to flash Magisk as normal and then flash TWRP as my recovery. So i end up with an older DivestOS, running TWRP recovery, rooted with Magisk so I can run the call record magisk module. I am aware that rooting will effect future updates however I won't be wanting future updates because I need to stay on the same version to make sure TWRP continues to work.
Sooo, a very long winded way of asking for some links to older DivestOS builds, based on lineage-20.0-20230105 that @Siddk TWRP will work on and also to double check that I can infact still root the OS (even against the advice of the developer) if that is what i need to do.
Many thanks

You don't need an older build.
Just use the latest LineageOS recovery to flash Magisk and then you'll have root for your call recorder app.
Backup your device using Seedvault + copying files over MTP.
Also note there is a known issue recently on these devices where they may appear to bootloop, but it is just a race-condition and you can reboot a few times and they'll work: https://gitlab.com/LineageOS/issues/android/-/issues/5587

Thanks. I prefer a custom receovery (TWRP) that can decrypt the phone so when the phone does crash I have access to my data and it can be saved. If I couldn't use TWRP yesterday then everything since my last backup would have been lost for me. Do you have any links to older builds? Is it something you could possible provide?

Dissapointing that you chose just to ignore my last post. Pretty valid points on my part. Guess you want to keep your build locked down rather than having it open to user. Always a privacy and security concern when developers go down that route.

xs_pam said:
Dissapointing that you chose just to ignore my last post. Pretty valid points on my part. Guess you don't want to keep your build locked down rather than having it open to user. Always a privacy and security concern when developers go down that route.
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mate the source code is right here, if you don't like my decisions you're welcome to compile with anything you want included: https://github.com/divested-mobile
there is even a written and video version of the build guide to make it very easy: https://divestos.org/pages/build

xs_pam said:
TWRP
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Is not supported by DivestOS due to the stronger encryption used: https://github.com/Divested-Mobile/...d_system_extras/0001-ext4_pad_filenames.patch
you'd have to compile TWRP with that patch included

I understand, it's your ball, your decisions. Open source developers usually make previous releases available to allow users to snag issues etc, that was all I was asking but I accept your decison.
If TWRP would not work in any event, that means that there is no effective data recovery mechanism for your OS? You are maybe isolating a large part of your market there, I understand there is trade off between security and accesss but I would suggest the option to recover personal data form a bricked/looped OS would be more in demand than having data that absolutely no one can recover, including by the owner. At the end of the day having a recovery option uses the same access decryption method as the general phone access, means the data would still be as secured with a recovery option as it would be on a functioning os. It's the same methos to decrypt.

xs_pam said:
Open source developers usually make previous releases available
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That is hundreds of gigabytes for each release batch, do you wanna pay that server bill?
That idea of yours wouldn't even work and as noted isn't even neccessary to get Magisk installed.
xs_pam said:
no effective data recovery mechanism for your OS
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Seedvault is included for app backups.
xs_pam said:
no one can recover
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it is your responsibility to make backups of your data regardless of what software you use

Fairpoint, I didn't realise the server costs were such an issue.
Your conflating back-up and recovery, they are two seperate things. Backing up is scheduled and planned, recovery is not. Unless you are backing up and then extracting that backup from your phone multiple times per day then you are at risk of losing important data should the unexpected occur. Data recovery is AS important but seperate to backing up. An OS without a data recovery option, or that blocks data recovery options, is significantly lacking. I understand that you use the lineage recovery but that does not provide an option to recover data.

xs_pam said:
Fairpoint, I didn't realise the server costs were such an issue.
Your conflating back-up and recovery, they are two seperate things. Backing up is scheduled and planned, recovery is not. Unless you are backing up and then extracting that backup from your phone multiple times per day then you are at risk of losing important data should the unexpected occur. Data recovery is AS important but seperate to backing up. An OS without a data recovery option, or that blocks data recovery options, is significantly lacking. I understand that you use the lineage recovery but that does not provide an option to recover data.
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there are workarounds to what you are trying to achieve, i don't own a oneplus but i have achieved it with this OS.