I was researching to see if it is cost effective to root my XZP (global). I ran into a thousand problems and probable (documented) bugs.
For the moment I'm still on stock (locked bootloader). But without a doubt, of all the devices I've been fortunate enough to root, this is by far the most complicated.
Not so much for opening the bootloader and flashing things (in that it is very similar to the other devices). But for the fact of losing many features (Cameras, HDR, Widevine L1, LDAC and Hi-Res sound, not to mention more hidden things like Triluminos).
My understanding is that unlocking the bootloader makes you lose the TA (drm / what makes most unique things work). That there are methods for backing up the TA (which I personally find the guide Horrible in the sense that it suffers from information overdose. It is too technical and is full of details that are in principle useless for most cases, as well as too many references, which also loses the focus of the guide. Which is good to mention, but not in the middle of the guide, but at the end or at the beginning). and that there is the drmfix patch.
All this does not really matter (a complaint maybe). But I want to know if there is really a use for backing up the TA. More than just having a backup for the sake of it.
I mention this because (based on the comments on the forum)
1. The roms do not occupy the official drm/ta, but completely occupy the drmfix.
2. Flashing TA removes root and doesn't work beyond stock roms (which there are even pre-assembled versions with drmfix).
3. YOU CANNOT CLOSE THE BOOTLOADER again (even if you manage to close it, the TA is inaccessible, I'm not sure about this, I'm just basing this on forum comments)
4. Flashing TA closes the bootloader (didn't we agreed that the bootloader can't be closed?)
5. Having to downgrade, put a thousand things to have "temporary root" to backup TA is very complicated (the guide is overloaded with irrelevant information. I'm sorry if you think it's rude that I consider the mentions as not relevant. It is not my intention to hide the work of other people, but I think it would be better if these mentions are made at the beginning or at the end of the guide, and not in the middle of the guide).
Related
Ok, so I'm running RC33. I'm ready to root the G1 and take advantage of tethering via wifi.
I have a few questions, though.
I'd like to go back to RC33, I'm assuming there's a JF release that keeps root and upgrades to RC33?
Also, am I going to lose any information already on the phone, as if I were doing a factory reset, or is rooting just going to alter the OS, and my apps and data will still be on the phone?
And what is the potential of "bricking" this device? I'm going to follow the method exactly as posted on the first sticky (except I'm flashing up to RC33). If in the off chance that I do end up with a glorified paperweight, how do I revert it back to its former, locked down, version?
Oh, and hi. I'm new here, I like the device, although it's my 2nd now because of creaky hinge syndrome. I want to screw around with it, and I'm learning Java and I guess I'm learning coding for Android now, too. So, thanks for answering my noob questions.
Yeah, so nvm about the RC33 question... apparently I can't read.
BRB rooting...
1. u answered
2. Yes I am pretty sure you lose all information (atleast I did when I did it)
3. Just make sure its plugged in to a power source and you should be fine
4. Android uses java but not in the same sense as desktop programming... Android has its own classes for java that I believe are based on MIDP (java for mobile devices) so like you wont be able to take frostwire and run it on your phone, but most of the language will still carry over.
To add:
By rooting, you'll be using a factory image that WILL COMPLETELY wipe your phone.
Get mybackup from the market, and backup your bookmarks. You can back up your apps here too, but Astro (also free) is better.
Then, export any info from any apps you can (loot, OI Password Safe, etc) to the sdcard.
Make sure you have full battery.
Also, make sure to apply the hard_spl so that you can never ever brick your phone after this!
If you want a slightly more detailed guide (basically a hybrid of the de facto guide that illustrates what I consider some important points) PM me and I'll send it to you.
I fixed my creak by cutting off the nub.
i was just trying to get a grasp on how to flash bootloaders on android devices. I have got a grasp with how to do it on old WinMo HTC devices, but there seems to be a lot more information regarding the various Android handsets. So here is the rundown of what I have found so far:
General Android: it appears that almost all android phones have the ability to flash from an SD card (by putting an update.zip on it). Can this reflash the bootloader? i don't see a reason why not (the bootloader should be in memory when the updater is running, so the flash should be writable) but having said that, i know on the old HTC devices that I have used, it wasn't possible (you had to load a softSPL or a diagnostic SPL to then run the flashing). Also, would anyone by any chance have a good understanding of what is in the update.zip? i see it referenced a lot, but as far as i can tell, it looks like it is just packages and directories and stuff to copy. Most of the posts I have seen regarding flashing also try replacing the recovery image, and then booting into recovery and telling it to recover. Does this work for bootloaders or just ROMs?
HTC: this appears to be the same as the old WinMo 6 devices I have used. You can use the RUU utility, supply it with an nbh file, and there are no problems. Outside of the Incredible S it would also appear that they don't have any kind of signing or anything to worry about. As such, you can see the SPL in cleartext and is in cleartext on the phone (I am guessing anyways). One question I do have is I have the ancient NBHGen used for the Kaiser (also worked for Hermes, Trinity, etc.), will that work with say the HTC Hero (or insert modern phone here)?
Samsung: Samsungs SBL as far as I can tell is equivalent to the HTC SPL (much the same as the HTC IPL = Samsung PBL). I have actually seen an apk that supposedly updated the SBL for Samsung. Like HTC, it also appears that they leave everything in clear text. If i am not mistaken, Odin is the tool of choice for reflashing on Samsung devices (any good tutorials out there for it and its file formats? i haven't actually looked too hard at that yet)
Motorola: I dont wish to stir up any anger (especially since most of what I read is on the Droid X), but Motorola is the one that is the hardest to find real info on. Motorola, on their more popular phones, appears to have made a habit of adding aggressive anti-tampering to their premier phones (at least after the original droid). I don't believe that their SPL equivalents have been cracked, but I also can't find a straight answer about whether their bootloaders are signed or encrypted (or both). They are two different things, but have been largely used interchangeably on most forums. They also have eFuse protection. I have looked at a few of the SBF files in a hex editor, and they don't appear to be ARM assembly. That said, I wouldn't believe that it is encrypted as there is cleartext within it. This leaves a couple of options. either the data moved is encrypted and it copies over encrypted data that gets decrypted at boot time (that seems like a massive waste of CPU cycles, but i wouldn't put it past them to do something like that). Or it could mean it gets decrypted by whatever loads it onto the phone. And lastly, it could just be x86 assembly (which i wouldn't recognize by looking at it). The last one seems to be the best fitting, but it doesn't answer whether or not it is encrypted on the phone. Since I haven't found an SBF file that contains just a bootloader, i haven't really had the chance to examine it. I also have not sen a way to flash a new SPL to a device (even a more open one like the original droid, which i believe is still locked, just not signed/encrypted).
file formats: this is also kind of confusing. I mentioned the update.zip above, but i have also seen people referencing ,bin and .img and all kinds of other files. If i am not mistaken, a bin and img file are the same with a different extension. Straight up binary, though i believe that the img files are supposed to be partition images. Is that accurate? and are SBF files executable? i swear i saw somewhere that people were running them, though it could just be my imagination...
I know there is a lot there a lot of information there, but I just wanted to check and make sure it is accurate, so I don't sound like a noob to my boss when I present it.
Many thanks!
As a must-rooted user, every time SONY debuts a new device, i have to wait for its stable root solution and it usually take months even years, which make me never ever able to taste the fresh devices.:crying: My questions are:
1. What is the mechanism of those "one-click-root" method, and can they take effect to SONY devices?
2. Root is a common need for many years, and i think this should has been developed very well and easy to process, but the fact is you still need take hours to do that.
3. Since SONY is open to develop programs, why make the root access so complicate, you can't root without losing the drm and low light capture quality.
4. When can we expect for the root solution for XZs?
1. Don't it's ****.
2. root with magisk/supersu
3. save TA partition (no TA backup for the moment above 6.0)
4. yup, just unlock BL
3qvm~ fastbookiing. you absolutely fix my hesitation, i'll take the new XZs!
[DISCUSSION] Root safety, phone migration solutions & alternatives to Titanium Backup
So, I've finally received a shiny and new S8 (Exynos).
And quickly enough, I searched XDA & Google to see if there's a stable root solution.
The main reasons I'd like root (& TWRP recovery) for are:
Topmost priority: to properly migrate my apps & data from my current phone (S6) using Titanium backup, so I can start using the new one as my main device.
Giving me the option to choose a custom ROM, when/if I'll find the right one for me.
You can never know when you'll need an app that requires root access.
Having the option to always have a full image backup of the entire device (TWRP).
Debloating the device by freezing/removing unwanted apps (freezing them with Titanium Backup)
I remember that I had to root my device in order to record phone calls (which is very important for me) - I'm not even sure what its like with the S8, but this could also be a reason to root.
After reading, and watching several videos, I understand that there are quite a few things to be worried about:
The chance of bricking your device, as the current rooting solution is immature (Is it? this one scares me the most)
Losing secure folders/Samsung Pay/Samsung Health, etc. (I'd hate to lose Secure Folders - but I'm sure that I can find alternative solutions, I'd prefer not to lose Samsung Pay & Samsung health, but I can live without them).
Losing warranty - not even sure if that's true, read here: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/...iphone-rooting-android-does-not-void-warranty (Although I can live without the warranty, always rooted my phones while knowing I'll lose warranty).
I also read this discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/GalaxyS8/comments/6bgu7n/psa_do_not_attempt_to_root_your_s8s8/
Since I really want to migrate to the new phone, I've looked for options to safely copy the data without having root:
CloneIT: Didnt migrate the apps' data.
Helium: Apps were backuped, but couldnt restore them. many of my apps are not supported by Helium.
Smart Switch: Not even sure if it can migrate apps' data or not, but unfortunately - it didnt even run properly on my S6, once installed - there's a splash screen coming up, that vanishes after couple of seconds. I've read posts of other users complaining about this very same behavior. couldn't find a solution to make it run. it works find on the S8.
I googled, and found that there are a bunch of companies that sell complete migration tools (that require PC/Mac), did anyone check any of these, and can share a honest review?
None of them is free for use/download.
Here are some that I've found (there are more out there):
https://www.phonetransfer.org/
https://www.recovery-android.com/android-data-backup-restore.html
https://www.coolmuster.com/mobile-transfer.html
https://www.gihosoft.com/mobile-phone-transfer.html
https://www.android-data-recovery.org/phone-transfer
https://mobiletrans.wondershare.com/
I've always rooted my phones, so being root-less is a bit new to me. should I just take the chance and root it?
Both Android and TouchWiz are quite mature now, allowing us to enjoy a smooth and slick operation - when combined with the powerful hardware the S8 is equipped with, right out of the box.
What are your reasons for rooting?
How did all of your migrate your phones? started everything from scratch?
If not - how did you migrate from your previous phone?
Is the current rooting solution safe enough? And if its not - and we'll wait until a 'safe' rooting solution is out - how can we keep our apps & data continuously (in my case: S6--> Non rooted S8 --> Rooted S8)?
Does any of the paid solutions I listed above really work?
Would love to hear your thoughts and advises.
I rooted my phone because I would like to customize my own phone as it is mine. DriveDroid, FolderMount, Titanium Backup, smartdisk, and so on. It doesn't matter how good a phone is without root, for me, it is garbage if I cannot customize it. Get a unrootable phone just as powerful as the desktop PC, and I'll find it garbage regardless of smoothness.
Well put me down for wondering if any of these without root will restore app data....
Hello everyone,
i searched for this topic and found several threads without an answer, but all of them were years old, so heres my hope that things have changed over the years (And that Android finally catches up with what i would consider basic functionality and damn, even iPhones can do it...)
Im looking for a backupsolution directly to my PC. A tool for either my PC (Both Windows of Linux would be fine) or my phone (which is a rooted LG G4 with the last, and therefore very old, official Lineage OS (i intend to upgrade to something newer.) I want to backup every app including appdata, my contacs, sms and mediafiles.
I dont have a lot of space left on my phone which rules out any backupsolution that backs up to my phone. Which means Titanium Backup (which besides looking ugly and not very userfriendly by my usual standards for a user interface but the Pro version can apparently otherwise do everything i want) or Nandroidbackups (assuming that they dont fully backup my phone including the rom and therefore would be unusuable for migration to a new Rom) are out. Also the need to manually copy this over after the backup smacks me as slighly cobbled together, but well that might be just me.
I also dont want to use any internetbased solution. Both for ideological and paranoia reasons. Its my data and i dont intend to giving it to others. Therefore any cloudbased services are out.
Which leaves me with backing up directly to my PC. When i started looking for such a soltion i thought that would be easyly solved since it is such a basic usecase. But oh boy how wrong i was.
What i have found so far:
Syncdroid: Cant backup Apps+Appdata.
Helium: endless spinning wheel while checking root (even though i triplechecked, helium HAS root) and without root i cant backup two thirds of the apps i want to backup like all my instant messaging apps). Apparently the issues with root are known but the Devs are silent.
Apowersoft ApowerManager: Is supposedly able to do what i want BUT doesnt have a trial so i could test it (the free version only allows backups but no restore or anything which comes down to a trust issue) and its simply to expensive (20$ per month with the current superduperspecialpricejustforyouandjustnowoffer) to just buy blindfolded. Also again Trustissues for a tool this expensive without a way to fully try before...
So in conclusion: Do i have to throw away my LG G4 and switch to an iPhone to get this basic functionality or did i just overlook something (maybe a hidden feature in Titanium Backup)?
Bonuspoints if this works over wifi and can be automated (like PC is running, PC suite pings phone, finds phone and updates the backup)