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[Q] New to flashing - Basic questins

This forum is really big and I am new. I apologize if I am asking this in the wrong place. I have been reading a lot about how android working, and serving Google for answers.
I always thought that the only way to hard brick a device was to erase or corrupted the bootloader. Since even if the ROM and recovery had problems, you could use fastboot mode to fix things.
Now I am reading that Roms ussualy include a kernal, and flashing a kernal can lead to a hard brick. Does this apply to the Nexus 7 2012, or just devices that use download mode/ODIN instead of fastboot?
I always thought of a boot loader like an i intersection where you normally keep driving strait (into the main rom), or turn left (into recovery), or stay at the intersection (fastboot). How does a kernal tie into this? Do all Roms include their own kernal, or are different kernals and Roms usually flashed sepretly?
Thank you for helping me to understand this better.

Anyone?
If I posted this in the wrong place or something, please let me know.
Thank you

flyoffacliff said:
This forum is really big and I am new. I apologize if I am asking this in the wrong place. I have been reading a lot about how android working, and serving Google for answers.
I always thought that the only way to hard brick a device was to erase or corrupted the bootloader. Since even if the ROM and recovery had problems, you could use fastboot mode to fix things.
Now I am reading that Roms ussualy include a kernal, and flashing a kernal can lead to a hard brick. Does this apply to the Nexus 7 2012, or just devices that use download mode/ODIN instead of fastboot?
I always thought of a boot loader like an i intersection where you normally keep driving strait (into the main rom), or turn left (into recovery), or stay at the intersection (fastboot). How does a kernal tie into this? Do all Roms include their own kernal, or are different kernals and Roms usually flashed sepretly?
Thank you for helping me to understand this better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Waouh...a lot of questions for one post.
You have several things to do.
Before if you don't know all functionalities of Android go to read these pages => xda Wiki
After, all you need for your N7 wifi (2012) it's here => Google Nexus 7
You need a lot of time for reading and learning and finally you will be happy for using your device with pleasure
Good luck

Revive Soft Bricked Device through Identical 2nd? (LG l21g Destiny Tracfone)

Long story short:
How do i get my current working android device to revive an identical soft-bricked device. More challenging than you think: there is no boot menu accessible in the devices. Which means the only other choice is to use a usb connection to a PC to perform all tasks, i.e. create a rom system image backup of the working device, then use that to restore the system onto the soft-bricked one.
So is there a way to revive the s/bricked device with a rom image of the working twin?
The long story:
After using the super-sume app, my device got softbricked. Phones of my type are uncommon and are therefore not worked on by the android hacker community as much as flagship devices are. And little is known or discovered about them. So after doing more research, i've sadly come to know that there are other users here and there, having suffered the same problem as I. But enough about that.
As far as i've read and come to understand, i would need to re-flash the firmware to bring it back from it's softbrick issue easiest/safest way.
Though am not sure how the android platform would work. With PCs, i could restore a messed up system from a cloned image. What i need to confirm is if the firmware is separate from the OS (roms i believe) the same way device drivers are separate from the windows OS on PCs.
So am not sure if flashing firmware is enough and would need to stock rom too. Or is the rom considered both firmware and OS all in one?
I mentioned "restore from a clone image backup" because I have another, exact same model of my softbricked device, that functions still properly.
So i wonder if there is a way that i could use my working device to revive the soft-bricked one. In the sense that i would need to make a system image copy of my working one, to restore onto the s/bricked one.
What the problem looks like when starting the phone:
As for the softbrick appearance, the phone boots into the LG logo screen and is frozen there. It doesn't quite look like it's boot looping since the screen Never fades to black quickly just to come right back. It's just frozen there. This recovery mode screen is the only other thing i can get to besides the frozen LG screen: https://wcrates.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/lg-g3-recover-mode.jpg
I've come to learn (but may need correction on) that Tracfone devices are deliberately handicapped in a way i've never seen before. That is, their devices have no other boot type of menu besides the Recovery Menu (found before os begins boot) that is basically a factory reset. It just deletes all user data and resets system settings so that the phone works like it would at first when right out of the box. For the s/bricked device, that screen can be accessed, though executing that just resorts to the frozen boot screen again. If there is a boot menu to backup/restore from, clear cache, install from zip and what not, then please enlighten me. Because as i've tried everything, the tracfone-devices have nothing compared to non-tracfone-devices
So in order to install an updated rom, i may need to get into a type of system boot menu from where i would be able to select the option to install a rom or update it and what not. To some degree i assume that connecting the device through USB to a computer, one may do the same rom installation action through the PC, but it's in cases like these where i would need the help of and expert's first hand experience with such things or ways.
I don't mind if you want to leave a link to some tutorial some other guy has made that may closely related to (if not exactly) to help solve this issue. But i do prefer to get into contact with someone who i can report to with how the solution process is progressing. Mostly because me being a noob at this point of my android experience, but am confident since i've done this with pc's a lot.
I'm still trying to figure out what most of the android community speaks of when it comes to methods of backing up their stock roms and what kinds of software on PC or apps on the device are needed to accomplish a worthy backup. I do realize i'd need ADB and what other LG device compatible PC software out there. Here is a link where i think firmware files can be found, but since it's all in Chinese, i'm not sure how reliable the site is/can be. It's been about a month since i contacted some of their users. At this point it seems like they're no hope:
http://mobile.gaodi.net/Firmware-669539-1-1.html
I hope that i can find success so that i can post it up to help others who are in the same situation as me, and also for the many more who may yet fall into this situation.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Device: LG l21g (aka lgl21g) Destiny (model) by TracFone
Android: 5.0.1

Installing TWRP per instructions and now phone DOA...

Hi all,
I've been ROM'ing since 2013 on multiple devices so I am somewhat familiar with adb/fastboot flashing and commands, what to do, what not to do, etc.... I just picked up a used pixel and first thing I did was unlock the bootloader - no problem. Next I go to root, so I began following this tutorial https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/root-your-google-pixel-pixel-xl-0174670/ , as instructed I DL the required drivers, image files, patch file etc...and follow this tutorial for installing TWRP https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/install-twrp-custom-recovery-your-pixel-pixel-xl-0175163/ , I get to step 8 and instruct via the command window to fastboot boot twrp.img, just as instructed. Everything appeared to be going the way it should as it started to boot to TWRP but almost as quickly the phone just died. I mean dead as a door nail. It won't do a thing. It won't even charge now. I have never had a phone just die like this. I fear I have met my first true full on brick.
I mean, yeah, I have soft bricked phones many a times but always had a backup to restore or was able to dig my way out one way or another but that was explainable by messing with questionable ROM's or something similar. Here I was just booting to the phone specific most recent version of TWRP by a solid well known tutorial with solid links, no indication that these could be the wrong images or zip's at all....but I'll be damned if this phone is dead as hell. I'm hoping someone can shed some light as to what happened or even miraculously tell me that it can be fixed.
Guys, is this a worst case scenario full on brick with no hope or getting it back to life? If so, why? Where did I go wrong? If this is going to be what I fear it is I hope to at least understand how it happened so I can avoid it in the future. This was a very expensive F-up on my part. I am beside myself with grief and disbelief that I could have done this with as many times as I have unlocked bootloaders, rooted, installed TWRP, flashed ROM's, etc.. I mean I 'm not the best but I am not a noob by any means. I feel like such a dumb ass right now!
Appreciate any help or explanation anyone can offer. Thanks.

We don't flash avb or any other patches anymore and haven't for like an android version and a half. For future reference look for more current information when modding a phone and for simple things like root guides go to xda don't just ask Google.

@kerryh420,
Those are some pretty old tutorials!
After plugging in the charger and wait for say 10seconds, can you boot into bootloader with button combo?
(Power + volume down or power + volume up for recovery as alternative)
Cheers
Sent from my Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 using XDA Labs

No offense, if you've been ROM'ing since 2013 you'd know not to go to other websites for tutorials! XDA is your best friend to follow instructions on Rooting, Flashing a recovery, and etc! Sorry that happened to ya. If it's literally dead you're probably out of luck and I know that's not what you want to hear. My best advice is to not follow tutorials on other websites. Good luck on your next device!

Proper OS cleanup of new OnePlu7 Pro

Hi Everyone,
Living in Japan, we have no official channel to purchase a OnePlus handset here.
Really wanted to get a OnePlus 7 Pro as I felt it is the best model on the market as of today.
Knowing that, I got mine on Amazon Japan from a HK online shop which had very good reputation.
Now, the problem is these phones always come already opened as they say they need to confirm operation before sending it.
I have been reading news and article about this where we see more third party companies flash their roms with malware/ransomeware already built in...
In these situation, the best way to clean the phone is to do a full re-install of the OS.
I did review a bunch of article on XDA and it seems that now, due to the A/B partition setup, we can't just use official OnePlus image to load from the fastboot easily.
We have to rely on community provided too and stock rom to be able to do so....
When I raised the question to OnePlus and Oneplus forums, they mentioned to me that installed the updated like here (Page: support.oneplus.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4312/~/oxygen-os-for-oneplus-7-pro)would do the trick using the local update function.
What I was directed to do is use the recovery boot to delete system settings/cache and everything data user and then, run the local update. Doing so, that would do it while not using community tools.
Here are my questions and which I would hope to get your experience:
1 Is the process I did really does use a brand new clean OS and do not rely/integrate part of the OS that came with the handset originally (that was the target).
2 Is there a way for me using OnePlus only provided tools and image to fully delete the phone and install the OS (maybe I am thinking this too much like a PC which I have more experience with...)
3 The OS looks fine and no strange apps shows up at all but how can I be sure nothing dodgy is running? Is there tools I could use to confirm this?
Sorry if I sound paranoid. Ideally, I understand the best thing to do was to buy directly from Oneplus and work a way to have it shipped to Japan but thought it would be interesting for me to learn more about android.
With previous Oneplus, it was easier as they were provided this type of official file for recovery but they stopped...
Thank you again for your time and hopping to learn more about how new android setup works.

Is the bootloader locked? Is Widevine (Netflix HD) certification still there? You can check these things to see if the phone has been tampered with.

brissoukun said:
Hi Everyone,
When I raised the question to OnePlus and Oneplus forums, they mentioned to me that installed the updated like here (Page: support.oneplus.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4312/~/oxygen-os-for-oneplus-7-pro)would do the trick using the local update function.
What I was directed to do is use the recovery boot to delete system settings/cache and everything data user and then, run the local update. Doing so, that would do it while not using community tools.
Here are my questions and which I would hope to get your experience:
1 Is the process I did really does use a brand new clean OS and do not rely/integrate part of the OS that came with the handset originally (that was the target).
2 Is there a way for me using OnePlus only provided tools and image to fully delete the phone and install the OS (maybe I am thinking this too much like a PC which I have more experience with...)
3 The OS looks fine and no strange apps shows up at all but how can I be sure nothing dodgy is running? Is there tools I could use to confirm this?
Thank you again for your time and hopping to learn more about how new android setup works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good questions. Before you start, check the model number of your device through Settings > About. I'm assuming it's the international/global/unlocked version (GM1917).
With regard to question 1, a full build downloaded from the link you provided should contain every part of the OS, and flashing it through local update should overwrite anything that was there before. Before flashing, I would perform a full data wipe through recovery like you mentioned.
Q2: There is an MSM tool that will completely flash a system image for the OP7 Pro. I don't think they're generally intended for public use but they always get leaked anyways. They write an image (in the case of OnePlus, a .ops file) to the phone using a PC and USB connection. Here is a link to a thread which contains the MSM tool:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-7-pro/how-to/guide-mega-unbrick-guide-hard-bricked-t3934659
Download the tool for the model of your phone (probably the international, firmware GM21AA), and extract its contents into a directory. In order for the tool to work, you need the OnePlus USB drivers installed on your PC. Plug the phone into your PC with it on, and enable USB file transfer. Open File Explorer and you should see a drive labeled "OnePlus drivers" or similar. Open it and run the driver setup executable file. You'll also need ADB to make your phone reboot into a mode that will allow the tool to perform its tasks. Here is a guide to installing ADB:
https://www.xda-developers.com/what-is-adb/
Once you've set that up, make sure the phone is plugged into the PC and the MSM tool is open. Make the phone boot into edl mode by typing
Code:
adb reboot edl
and once it says Connected next to a COM port in the tool, press start. Don't interrupt the process until it completes the download and the status message turns green. The phone should automatically reboot. This method is arguably more risky than using the local upgrade option, so do it at your own risk.
Q3: Make sure that OEM unlocking is turned off in developer settings and that the bootloader is locked (if the bootloader is unlocked, you'll see a yellow warning message after you power on the device from a power off state). Without an unlocked bootloader it would be pretty difficult to make any deep modifications to the device.

Hi @Zocker1304 and @TManchu,
Please let me thank you very much first for your kind and detailed reply, this is really welcome.
@Zocker1304:
I checked using the ADB/Fastboot connection that indeed, the Bootloader is locked so, that looks good.
Also installed (using a separate Google account) DRM Info app to confirm that the Widevine is properly installed and at L1 level which indeed again, looks good.
@TManchu
Thank you again for your very detailed reply! This was exactly what I needed as information.
I did already exactly as mentioned for the #1 so, it looks I should be good now with a proper rom from OnePlus (and did a full wipe in the Recovery boot mode)
For #2, I think I will skip that since as you rightly said, with #1, it should be fine so, prefer to keep with the recommended step.
For #3, we are covering what Zocker1304 mentioned too and I could confirm it.
My only concern about #3 was that you can actually relock the bootloader but (and please correct me If I am wrong), you can only do so if you are using stock OnePlus images (to date...seems like dev teams are working to have this changed? Bootloader locked with custom firmware?) which then means the image is safe.
I suppose the last item was my only open query for your thoughts but so far, the handset looks fine.
Thanks to you and the community, I have learned about the A/B partition scheme, msm tool, Fastboot/Recovery mode and Bootloader and ADB tools.
It is always good to learn more about the tech we use (especially phones, we have so many sensitive information stored into them today).
Not being careful could potentially means quite a lot of troubles down the road with Ransomeware/data leak tools.
Of course again, I could have simply purchased a JP phone from a brick and mortar shop next to my place and be fine with it. :silly:

brissoukun said:
.
For #3, we are covering what Zocker1304 mentioned too and I could confirm it.
My only concern about #3 was that you can actually relock the bootloader but (and please correct me If I am wrong), you can only do so if you are using stock OnePlus images (to date...seems like dev teams are working to have this changed? Bootloader locked with custom firmware?) which then means the image is safe.
I suppose the last item was my only open query for your thoughts but so far, the handset looks fine.
Thanks to you and the community, I have learned about the A/B partition scheme, msm tool, Fastboot/Recovery mode and Bootloader and ADB tools.
It is always good to learn more about the tech we use (especially phones, we have so many sensitive information stored into them today).
Not being careful could potentially means quite a lot of troubles down the road with Ransomeware/data leak tools.
Of course again, I could have simply purchased a JP phone from a brick and mortar shop next to my place and be fine with it. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! I’ve just done some reading and from what I understand, re-locking the bootloader on anything other than a completely stock ROM will result in a bricked phone. I believe this is due to the way Android handles data encryption. If what you’ve heard is true, being able to lock your bootloader on a custom ROM would be great for device security. However, should something go wrong with the ROM having a locked bootloader might make it more difficult to fix.

I know that there are ways to sign system and boot images so that you can lock the bootloader with them installed, but I think that would still show a warning though I'm not sure.
Anyways, if all the build dates and numbers in the system info are correct, the firmware should be stock and as long as the bootloader is locked too, I don't believe you can tamper with that.

Hi Gents,
Thank you very much for the answer to the thread and much appreciated.
Apologies for not getting back to you all earlier as yesterday was family day...haha!
Well, since things looked good on the OS and the build, I went ahead and started to use the phone properly setting up my accounts. It did give me some incentive to get all my sensitive accounts setup with 2FA so that in case I get hacked with my passwords in the future...they would still need the 2fa (using Google Authenticator).
I did check also all system apps/running process and didn't see anything shady.
Just for reference, here were the type of articles I was refering too for the OS being plagued with malware even out of the box:
Page_theverge.com/2019/6/6/18655755/google-android-malware-triada-ota-rom-ads-spam-oem (sorry gents, new account, cannot put links yet)
However here, it seems it is due to lax review from the maker to third party tools which were including malware...
To have the same level on the oneplus I bought from the HK shop, they would have needed access to OnePlus Dev team to inject the malware in official image (knowing anyway I have re-installed a new image from the local update).
Otherwise, I was reading on the web about the fact to relock the bootloader with a custom roam and there seems to have a lot of messages but not concrete steps. It seems it depends a lot on phone model and brand.
When you are checking
Page_gizmochina.com/2019/06/10/relock-bootloader-oneplus-7-pro/
This is where you can read at the end:
"The above method only works if OnePlus 7 Pro is running on stock recovery and stock firmware. The ability to relock devices running custom recovery is expected in the next few weeks. "
That was published last month so, not sure if they got this to work on the OnePlus 7 pro yet.
So that's it, I am now using my new device which looks to work great and hopefully, won't get any bugs down the road.
I appreciate you taking the time to get back to me and will continue to learn about android.:good:

What roms are available for Ulefone Armor 5s?

Hello, I've tried to install multiple roms on my phone and none of them work.
I tried to install many versions of twrp without success. Some of them include twrp for Ulefone Armor 6, Armor 2, twrp for mediatek mt6750, mt6739, and even supposedly twrp for Ulephone Armor 5 (not to be confused with my model, which is 5s) and others.
I even tried orangefox, philz, redwolf and clockworkmod.
None of them worked. What happened is when I tried to boot into recovery, it would turn on, turn off, turn on again and boot into the stock OS.
I even tried to install ROMS without a custom recovery, using fastboot.
I tried a custom version of lineage os, supposedly made for ulefone armor 5 (I tried the arm64 a only version.) : https [column//] sourceforge [dot] net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-16.x/
I tried resurrection remix too (oreo arm64 a only)
the command I used is fastboot flash system custom_rom.img
After installing each rom, each time I tried to boot a custom rom, it would turn on, show me the message that my device is in the orange state, shut off, reboot and repeat. So yeah, I bricked my phone. Then, I installed the firmware for ulefone armor 5s with SP flash tool and I'm back to square one.
I don't know if I should try graphene os, since inside a folder containing the image files, there is a text file which states that a sargo board is required, whatever that means. ("require board=sargo")
So yeah, I don't know what to do. I need a rom that is open source, and without gapps.
Any help is appreciated.

I'm even willing to try ubuntu touch, if that works
I'm even willing to try ubuntu touch, if that works

3simplex said:
This phone is a tank, I don't want to be stuck with Android 9 forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do a Google search for:
"Custom ROMs for (your specific model number)"
If there are any ROMs for your device, that search will find them, if it does not find anything then there is nothing for your device. This means that if you want to use custom ROMs on your device, you will have to build your own TWRP or port TWRP from a similar device to work on your device then you will have to build your own custom ROMs or port custom ROMs from a similar device. If you're wanting or waiting for someone to build them for you, you are in for a very long wait. Developers build ROMs for the devices they personally own, they do not build ROMs for devices that other people own if the developer does not own the device. In other words, around here, we help people find what they are looking for but we will not do the work for them. If you want it but it doesn't exist, you will have to be the one to create it for yourself, not someone else.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

3simplex said:
Great advice we are obviously idiots, thanks for pointing it out for us. I will Google search and see if I can find your balls. Hmm, nope I guess they don't exist. Troll elsewhere douche.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who is trolling? Trolls get reported here, which I could do to you for the words you are using. I'll give you a pass this time because I'm a nice guy but that is your only freebie from me, your next disrespectful post will not receive the same exception.
What I posted is how things go here and what to expect, you just didn't want the truth. If that offends you, then that is a failing on your part. You're more than welcome to find another android website where they are willing to lead you by the hand and spoonfeed you when you want something that you are too lazy to find, do for yourself or have the ability to achieve on your own mental merit, because you surely won't find that here at XDA. If you choose to stay at XDA, be prepared to do the real work yourself.
Accept it or not, that is the way it is. Spouting childish insults won't change that.
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