Database Info

Is sources from the vendor required?

If the vendor (in this case Vodafone) don't provide sources, does it mean I'm unable to create a ROM for it?
Put it another way, is it possible to create a ROM using only a running device?

The Original Leppa said:
If the vendor (in this case Vodafone) don't provide sources, does it mean I'm unable to create a ROM for it?
Put it another way, is it possible to create a ROM using only a running device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you want to build a "true" custom ROM you will need the stock source code for your device.
If you can root, you can use adb or Terminal Emulator to do a "ROM dump", or dump just a copy of your system.img, then modify that system.img and then use adb to push the modified system.img to your device. It will be considered a modified stock ROM, it won't be a "custom" ROM but you can modify it quite heavily with things like Xposed, Gravity Box, and a few other good mods and themes.
Or you can get a copy of your stock firmware(not the same as source code), then find other devices with the exact same hardware that have a better version of Android than yours, then use your stock firmware to port the better version to work on your device.
Building a true custom ROM is "possible" without stock source code but it would require VERY extensive programming and developer knowledge to do it because you'd have to do every bit of it from scratch with no resources to work with.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk

So, I'm screwed, in terms of porting?

The Original Leppa said:
So, I'm screwed, in terms of porting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would help if you had stock firmware for your model then you can find another device with the same hardware architecture(chipset), if they are similar enough you can port it.
It's possible to port between devices that aren't exactly the same chipset but that also requires extensive developer knowledge.
If you aren't experienced then you're pretty much out of luck.
If you want to customize android devices then you need to get less obscure devices. Next time, research the device first to see if there is a known rooting method for it and whether there is custom development available for it before you get it. Or if you get a device that just came out, get a device that you are certain that developers will support, typically a flagship/popular device.
The cheap low-mid range devices usually don't get support from developers and the ones that do get support are not supported by real develoers, they are supported by members that took it on themselves to learn how to build android just so they can update their device but their work usually isn't exactly right due to their lack of experience.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk

[call for dev] Any dev working on device specific support over GSI image?

As you all know GSI image alone not sufficient to get fully functional robust stable OS running on Lenovo p2. There are many flashable zip files which need to be flashed individually to get most of the features working. Which makes GSI image meaning less.
So post/discuss all the available GSI and device specific features for Lenovo P2 here.
It will be helpful for Devs and users.
** Requesting Devs to work on device specific feature support over GSI image. **
So far our Dev helped us getting up to this level. We need little more effort to make the GSI image successful on our device.
Expecting Users active support for Devs.
Edited: request only to make device specific features which lacks in GSI image.
Refer post #3.

What do you mean by device specific GSI? What's the point of doing this while GSI (Generic) means (for us) that you can actually flash it over multiple Treble devices out there?
If you recompile system image with device specific patches it will be basically device specific standard ROM (but with Treble which is basically not needed now) and not GSI anymore.
I don't get why are you people actually need "Treble" compatible ROM while existing standard ROMs are working great for now. Because they're Treble ROMs? What does it change? GSIs created using phhusson scripts are one big hack at the moment and their state is experimental. Of course they will work but they're lacking of device specific build.prop's.
Oreo one's are actually fully compatible with Lenovo P2 and stable because I tested them myself. Probably all of them (but all I tested) share the same device specific bugs. Even FP gestures works but this function needs to be activated by "setprop persist.sys.fp.navigation 1" after boot. The fix zip provided in P2 Mods subforum is actually copying script to system which will actually do that after every boot, nothing more. Google told on their AMA that they will make official documentation of making GSIs in the near future so I believe that will fix our current problems and device specific build.props could be generated and added to ROMs without touching system partition integrity state and recompiling them.
Until Android Pie ROMs will be stable as GSIs you will also not benefit too much from creating device specific system image because you will need to wait for Mike or someone else to create compatible vendor image and kernel (Probably Mike will be the first so you will need to wait for official release of LOS16).
Recompiling ROMs just for adding few fixes is a waste of resources. You need approx ~250GB of memory to compile and maitain one ROM, time (depending on memory you are using) and a lot of electricity.
In my personal opinion, creating Magisk module for P2 devices which will fix build.prop systemless-ly and add that command for activating FP gestures will be better alternative for now. I could personally look into it when I get some time.
If you still think that you need these device specific system images for every ROM at all costs, you could build them and maitain yourself or ask someone who will do this. Maybe Fullbustah will be eager to do some requests because he already built some popular ROMs on Mike's sources lately. You could also extract system.img's from his last builded ROM's and they will be device specific system images you are looking for . The only problem is that I don't think he is willing to maitain all of them at once.

I'm sorry if my previous post conveyed wrongly.
All we need is GSI images should be flashed directly. I didn't conveyed anywhere to build a sperate image from GSI.
May be I asked to maintain device specific vendor/system tweaks in a one place which will be flashed on top of any GSI image to get all the features working in our device.
Hope this helps!

MAILUS said:
I'm sorry if my previous post conveyed wrongly.
All we need is GSI images should be flashed directly. I didn't conveyed anywhere to build a sperate image from GSI.
May be I asked to maintain device specific vendor/system tweaks in a one place which will be flashed on top of any GSI image to get all the features working in our device.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, okay. It changes a lot. I tested few Oreo GSIs about a month ago an everything was working fine and stable for me. The only tweak needed was FP gesture fix but it was messing with the system partition and I was too lazy to make to improve it so I just gave up using it. And another missing thing was build.prop because device is named "Phh's Treble ARM64" or something like that after installing GSI. Also build fingerprint is always messed up so I had problems passing SafetyNet even with Magisk.
Only these fixes are required for making Oreo GSI's working perfectly or almost perfectly (like official LOS) so I'm going to do Magisk module that will cumulate all of these fixes into one, easy to install solution. If I missed something just let me know.

HELP ME ROOT !!!!

sorry if you felt I'm shouting in the title. I want to root my Lenovo K33a42, Android 7.0 (yes an old phone). I tried to root using KingRoot, KingoRoot, FramaRoot, Root Master (including PC versions) and none of them were able to root my phone. I seriously want to root my phone and I don't wanna risk bricking it as it's my primary. I know the method of Flashing TWRP and then flashing Magisk or SuperSU, but I'm scared of bricking. is there any better method to root my phone?

DamnBro304 said:
sorry if you felt I'm shouting in the title. I want to root my Lenovo K33a42, Android 7.0 (yes an old phone). I tried to root using KingRoot, KingoRoot, FramaRoot, Root Master (including PC versions) and none of them were able to root my phone. I seriously want to root my phone and I don't wanna risk bricking it as it's my primary. I know the method of Flashing TWRP and then flashing Magisk or SuperSU, but I'm scared of bricking. is there any better method to root my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well always do everything with extra care. I cound not assure that you will not brick your device.
Your phone is Lenovo K6 power.
Also, I recommend updating to a newer android version as android 7 is already too outdated and not safe to use. An example is this, which you can also flash in TWRP (wipe before installing)
[ROM][11.0.0_r19]LineageOS 18.1 for Lenovo K6 Power
LineageOS is a free, community-built, aftermarket firmware distribution of Android 6, which is designed to increase performance and reliability over stock Android for your device. LineageOS is based on the Android Open Source Project with extra...
forum.xda-developers.com
If you want to know why one click root apps doesn't work, those apps highly depends on a bug occuring on android 4.0 to android 6.0. Android 7 have this 'issue' , or exploit, patched, so one click root apps died instantly.

@DamnBro304
No Magisk, TWRP, SuperSu, etc.pp is needed to root a phone what has Android 5 and higher running.
Because your device's Android is version 7 to get the superuser access to be able to control various aspects of Android OS means you need to perform a certain modification that will root your phone's Android.
Here is what you have to do to root your device's Android: Replace Android's Toybox binary - what is a restricted version by default - by unrestricted Toybox v0.8.5. This can get achieved by means of ADB.
Toybox v0.8.5 is available here:
Index of /toybox/bin

jwoegerbauer said:
@DamnBro304
No Magisk, TWRP, SuperSu, etc.pp is needed to root a phone what has Android 5 and higher running.
Because your device's Android is version 7 to get the superuser access to be able to control various aspects of Android OS means you need to perform a certain modification that will root your phone's Android.
Here is what you have to do to root your device's Android: Replace Android's Toybox binary - what is a restricted version by default - by unrestricted Toybox v0.8.5. This can get achieved by means of ADB.
Toybox v0.8.5 is available here:
Index of /toybox/bin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your quick reply but I'm still kinda new to this flashing and stuff so can you give me the exact commands to root my phone? and I see there are many options of downloading toybox in the link you gave me I don't know which one I need so can u help me out in that too?

LR7875 said:
Well always do everything with extra care. I cound not assure that you will not brick your device.
Your phone is Lenovo K6 power.
Also, I recommend updating to a newer android version as android 7 is already too outdated and not safe to use. An example is this, which you can also flash in TWRP (wipe before installing)
[ROM][11.0.0_r19]LineageOS 18.1 for Lenovo K6 Power
LineageOS is a free, community-built, aftermarket firmware distribution of Android 6, which is designed to increase performance and reliability over stock Android for your device. LineageOS is based on the Android Open Source Project with extra...
forum.xda-developers.com
If you want to know why one click root apps doesn't work, those apps highly depends on a bug occuring on android 4.0 to android 6.0. Android 7 have this 'issue' , or exploit, patched, so one click root apps died instantly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as I said in my previous reply I am new to these stuff and I see that the lineageos is of Android 6 and had a doubt. will flashing that ROM give me root access without doing anything else?

DamnBro304 said:
as I said in my previous reply I am new to these stuff and I see that the lineageos is of Android 6 and had a doubt. will flashing that ROM give me root access without doing anything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah **** posted wrong link, this is the right one:
[UNOFFICIAL][9.0.0_r46] Pixel Experience - Plus [karate]
PixelExperience Plus for Lenovo K6 Power(karate) What is this? Pixel Experience is an AOSP based ROM, with Google apps included and all Pixel goodies (launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, bootanimation) Our mission is to offer the maximum...
forum.xda-developers.com
You need to flash magisk.
jwoegerbauer said:
@DamnBro304
No Magisk, TWRP, SuperSu, etc.pp is needed to root a phone what has Android 5 and higher running.
Because your device's Android is version 7 to get the superuser access to be able to control various aspects of Android OS means you need to perform a certain modification that will root your phone's Android.
Here is what you have to do to root your device's Android: Replace Android's Toybox binary - what is a restricted version by default - by unrestricted Toybox v0.8.5. This can get achieved by means of ADB.
Toybox v0.8.5 is available here:
Index of /toybox/bin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well how? Not heard about that, can you please elaborate? Thanks.

IMO out of scope of this thread, it would require a separate thread everyone on XDA can make use of,
May be I'll create one, stay tuned ...

LR7875 said:
Ah **** posted wrong link, this is the right one:
[UNOFFICIAL][9.0.0_r46] Pixel Experience - Plus [karate]
PixelExperience Plus for Lenovo K6 Power(karate) What is this? Pixel Experience is an AOSP based ROM, with Google apps included and all Pixel goodies (launcher, wallpapers, icons, fonts, bootanimation) Our mission is to offer the maximum...
forum.xda-developers.com
You need to flash magisk.
Well how? Not heard about that, can you please elaborate? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very very very much. Now what I have to do is just extract the boot.img from this OS and then patch it with Magisk and then flash this OS right? correct me if I'm wrong bcoz I don't at all wanna brick this phone and please mention the FULL method if I'm wrong and I'm new too new to these stuff. I will forever be indebted to you

DamnBro304 said:
thank you very very very much. Now what I have to do is just extract the boot.img from this os and then patch it with Magisk and then flash this right? correct me if I'm wrong bcoz I don't at all wanna brick this phone and please mention the FULL method if I'm wrong and I'm new too new to these stuff. I will forever be indebted to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.

LR7875 said:
yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool so this will get 3 advantages. I will get root + android 9 + Pixel Experience very noice thanks man ily

Is it possible to build android on non Google Phone?

I have an old Samsung phone running on Marshmallow. I want to build android and flash it on the old phone. Many take Google Pixel to show how to do it and say it’s not possible to do it on non-Google device. Is there a way to get around it?

KrishnaD3V said:
I have an old Samsung phone running on Marshmallow. I want to build android and flash it on the old phone. Many take Google Pixel to show how to do it and say it’s not possible to do it on non-Google device. Is there a way to get around it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. Here's some reading material on how to build a custom Android operating system. https://www.androidauthority.com/build-custom-android-rom-720453/
If it all seems too much, you could instead install a custom Android operating system prebuilt by others. One such example is LineageOS which has its own website and installation instructions.
You will have to first determine the exact model and sub-variant of your Samsung phone.
Then determine whether it is network carrier unlocked.
Then determine whether the bootloader is allowed to be unlocked (allow oem unlocking).
LineageOS Downloads
download.lineageos.org

Thanks for the reply
Do you know how to obtain proprietary binaries for a device?

KrishnaD3V said:
Thanks for the reply
Do you know how to obtain proprietary binaries for a device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on the the exact device model? (Go to settings =>About phone) (or in the dialler, type *#0*# then tap on 'version'). Then search the XDA forum for that device, then spend some time scrolling through the posts to find the info you're searching for. https://forum.xda-developers.com/c/samsung.11975/

*#0*# doesn’t give any option for version. So I thought to see in settings. What ‘version’ should I look for?

Go to settings =>About phone
Look for a code which which looks similar to SM-GTI9100

KrishnaD3V said:
Thanks for the reply
Do you know how to obtain proprietary binaries for a device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either extract them from phone's Stock ROM file, or pull them out of phone.

zpunout said:
Go to settings =>About phone
Look for a code which which looks similar to SM-GTI9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It’s SM-A800I running android 6.0.1 . And it’s not on the list that you sent. What can I do?

jwoegerbauer said:
Either extract them from phone's Stock ROM file, or pull them out of phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have the stock rom file but I can’t find guide on how to do so. I found a video where person extracts it from lineage os. Is the process going to be the same? And by the way does it matter which version of stock rom I have because the phone came with android 5 and I updated it to 6 with official update.

KrishnaD3V said:
It’s SM-A800I running android 6.0.1 . And it’s not on the list that you sent. What can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, there's not much development on that device, I read somewhere that Samsung supposedly never released the source code. It is hard to search for, but I did find this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...al-cyanogenmod-13-for-galaxy-a800f-i.3344081/
I did find out that the nickname of your SM-A800I model is "a8hplte" which might help you in search engines.
Looks like a dead end to me though.

KrishnaD3V said:
I do have the stock rom file but I can’t find guide on how to do so. I found a video where person extracts it from lineage os. Is the process going to be the same? And by the way does it matter which version of stock rom I have because the phone came with android 5 and I updated it to 6 with official update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The so-called binary blobs are kinds of hardware drivers, you can't simply extract them of a Custom ROM, you have to extract them from a phone's original Stock ROM, as I told you this already earlier.
These binary blobs typically are found under /vendor/lib(64), some also under /system, /etc and /bin.
Most of the blobs are executable files or libraries, run as independent services on phone's boot.

jwoegerbauer said:
The so-called binary blobs are kinds of hardware drivers, you can't simply extract them of a Custom ROM, you have to extract them from a phone's original Stock ROM, as I told you this already earlier.
These binary blobs typically are found under /vendor/lib(64), some also under /system, /etc and /bin.
Most of the blobs are executable files or libraries, run as independent services on phone's boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info

zpunout said:
Yeah, there's not much development on that device, I read somewhere that Samsung supposedly never released the source code. It is hard to search for, but I did find this link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...al-cyanogenmod-13-for-galaxy-a800f-i.3344081/
I did find out that the nickname of your SM-A800I model is "a8hplte" which might help you in search engines.
Looks like a dead end to me though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so beginner friendly I guess . I try my luck extracting the blobs as described by
jwoegerbauer.​

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!