Database Develop

What to do with a rooted Nexus One?

I'm considering rooting my phone, but I'm kind of on the fence. First, I don't really want to void my warranty, but since I bought the phone used do I even have a warranty anymore? Second, I'm not really that interested in custom ROMs at this point since I'm new to Android OS and I'm happy with the way things are stock for now. So my question is... What can I do with a rooted phone running the stock Froyo ROM? Anything cool/interesting, or does it not even pay to bother rooting if I'm going to keep it stock?

I waited 3 months before rooting and I thought the same as you, wasn't interested in custom ROMs and all. Once I finally rooted and loaded cyanogen ROM, it completely changed my thinking. I highly highly recommend using cyanogen if you root. I can't stress enough. Things wkt can do with root are many, 720p video hack, black notification bar, themes, meta morph, audio volume hack, ROM manager, titanium backup, nand backups! The list is endless. Hell nand backup alone is worth rooting.

Is there a place or a link I can find more information about just stuff that I can do with a rooted phone BESIDES installing custom ROMs? Everything I usually find is just about ROMs. I want to just get my feet wet a little before I decide to just jump right in. For now I'm just interested in stuff I can do with plain old vanilla android once it's been rooted.

Look for apps that require root, see what they are and if you need any of them.

Here's my current list of things "to root for", I haven't yet..
Reasons to root:
Just root, nothing else:
- Adblock host file
- ClockSync
- GScripter
- Remove built-in crap (Amazon MP3)
- Screenshots
After installing recovery image
- Nandroid
After installing custom rom
- Black notification bar

Depending on where you live, you might still have warranty. For example, in Europe, the warranty is by default 2 years on the device. So it doesn't matter if you got it second hand, as long as the device still has warranty, you're OK.
Secondly, you can root your device without unlocking the bootloader. Check this thread for more info. At step 18, before doing the 2 'exit' commands, also take the time to rename /system/etc/recovery-install.sh & install + make executable a file called flash_image (google it to find a download) into /system/bin. This way you can install a custom recovery (e.g. for doing nandroid backups) and will make installing custom ROMs later a lot less painful.
A rooted stock FRF91 can already do many things, search for 'root' in the market and you can find tons of apps that require root privileges and that will run fine on stock. However, the really interesting things (like color trackball alert, firewalling, proxy support, ...) will require you to install a custom ROM.
I rooted my stock N1 with the above procedure a couple of weeks ago, and installed Cyanogen6 RC2 ROM to get some of the more advanced functionality. Been working like a charm and I've actually managed to get a lot more out of my device AND have longer battery life

[Q] Cyan 6.1 to Stock 2.2.2, no root? No superuser? No clockwork?

I am a noob.
I followed some instructions to prepare my N1 for the OTA 2.3.3 update and messed some things up. I cleared EVERYTHING from Clokwork recovery, but, then phone would not boot anymore. So I manually loaded a Cyan 6.1 and GApps zip and got the phoen to load. Finally ran clockwork, rom manager, backed it up. Then I downloaded the stock image FR91 from ROM manager, clear cache/data and rebooted. Phone updated from 2.2 to 2.2.2. Now I have all my apps back and stock ROM, but superuser will not work. I cannot flash clockwork now, and cannot use ROm manager. Titanium prompted me to update superuser binary thru a zip file, but it will not run. Now, I tried to access recovery thru bootloader, but it just give me the Android with the ! and nothing more.
Alos, ROM manager keeps saying my phoen is not rooted, but when I bought it (used) it had Cyanogen 6.1. I know it's rooted, I get the unlocked boot screen, but why the problems now? How can I regain superuser functions to use ROm manager again?
Thanks in advance.

This is what happens when people don't read and don't understand what they're doing.
ROOT is a user in OPERATING SYSTEM = Android OS.
LOCK is a property of BOOTLOADER = a program that boots the phone.
Stock = NOT ROOTED, until you root it.
UNLOCKED = allows you to flash ROMs and other partitions directly from bootloader.
The 2 have no relation whatsoever, besides one - being UNLOCKED makes it easier to gain ROOT.
This has been discussed here a zillion of times. Do yourself and XDA a favor, please, and invest some time in reading Wiki - it points to several 101's (things to know) and guides.

So in my case I have unrooted the phone and should research on how to root again?
Thanks for the reply. I suppose I just confused myself.
So if I root again this will/will not affect the OTA update?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Wiki contains rooting guide.
Rooting won't affect OTA.
Custom recovery will affect OTA, unless signature checking is turned off in it.

You will have to root it.
A stock rooted rom will get the OTA. It will update as long as you don't remove stuff from stock. Like Amazon, twitter.
Please read the wiki.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Update 4.2 failet with trinity kernel

Please help, my nexus was unlocked rooted with trinity kernel. When i pushed update, my tablet restarted with clockwokmod and failed to update
to 4.2. i believed it was because of custom kernel so i then flashed to stock factory, and re locked using nexus toolkit.
When i go to setting for update, it's showing me that my system is up to date 4.1.2. I don't understand. I thought flashing it back to stock factory will solve the problem.
Thanks a lot in advance for you hep

diamondx911 said:
Please help, my nexus was unlocked rooted with trinity kernel. When i pushed update, my tablet restarted with clockwokmod and failed to update
to 4.2. i believed it was because of custom kernel so i then flashed to stock factory, and re locked using nexus toolkit.
When i go to setting for update, it's showing me that my system is up to date 4.1.2. I don't understand. I thought flashing it back to stock factory will solve the problem.
Thanks a lot in advance for you hep
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) If you are using a custom kernel and/or custom recovery and/or removed/froze required system apks and/or modified build.prop and/or have a dozen other "custom" things, then the OTA update will NOT work. Period. You need to revert ALL of that. Stock kernel, recovery, system apks, build.prop, etc. Because if any of those aren't stock, the install will abort.
2) Having root is irrelevant. The update will remove suid access on the binary, so you will need to "re-root", but the binaries presence is irrelevant.
3) If it failed the OTA update, it won't download it again right away. Your best bet is to download the file and try to flash manually in a custom recovery (which will work as long as everything else is stock).
4) Did you say you relocked the tablet? If so, why? That was NOT required, and you just f*cked yourself, because you won't be able to flash a custom recovery back without unlocking the bootloader again, which will wipe your sdcard. There is NO reason to relock unless you are returning the device.
5) Again, this is why I hate toolkits. Learn to do things manually and you will be much better off.
At this point, assuming you relocked the bootloader, you will probably need to do a full factory reset and unlock it again. Then flash custom recovery and then flash the update. Or, since it would have been reset at that point, just download the full image from Google and flash that, then flash custom recovery.

phonic said:
1) If you are using a custom kernel and/or custom recovery and/or removed/froze required system apks and/or modified build.prop and/or have a dozen other "custom" things, then the OTA update will NOT work. Period. You need to revert ALL of that. Stock kernel, recovery, system apks, build.prop, etc. Because if any of those aren't stock, the install will abort.
2) Having root is irrelevant. The update will remove suid access on the binary, so you will need to "re-root", but the binaries presence is irrelevant.
3) If it failed the OTA update, it won't download it again right away. Your best bet is to download the file and try to flash manually in a custom recovery (which will work as long as everything else is stock).
4) Did you say you relocked the tablet? If so, why? That was NOT required, and you just f*cked yourself, because you won't be able to flash a custom recovery back without unlocking the bootloader again, which will wipe your sdcard. There is NO reason to relock unless you are returning the device.
5) Again, this is why I hate toolkits. Learn to do things manually and you will be much better off.
At this point, assuming you relocked the bootloader, you will probably need to do a full factory reset and unlock it again. Then flash custom recovery and then flash the update. Or, since it would have been reset at that point, just download the full image from Google and flash that, then flash custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, thanks for answering... the update came back by itself.
I was not aware of anything when i unlocked and rooted my nexus. please bare with me. I'm new to the android scene. but i'm very familiar with the hacking tool, i hacked and unlocked everything i own in my house, from 3 iphones, to my psp , xbox, ps3 and psp. when i first got my hand on the nexus i saw some dead black line of pixel that was appearing for half a second, after i read that a custom kernel can fix it,
I just did it fast and was not in a mood to start learning that sh*t from scratch. so now i'm on 4.2 , i know i lost everything. i will just have to unlock again and and root it....

diamondx911 said:
Haha, thanks for answering... the update came back by itself.
I was not aware of anything when i unlocked and rooted my nexus. please bare with me. I'm new to the android scene. but i'm very familiar with the hacking tool, i hacked and unlocked everything i own in my house, from 3 iphones, to my psp , xbox, ps3 and psp. when i first got my hand on the nexus i saw some dead black line of pixel that was appearing for half a second, after i read that a custom kernel can fix it,
I just did it fast and was not in a mood to start learning that sh*t from scratch. so now i'm on 4.2 , i know i lost everything. i will just have to unlock again and and root it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood, and "hacking" android, especially Google devices, is pretty easy once you know what you are doing. The reason I dislike toolkits is that it prevents people from understanding the process, which really is fairly easy to understand, and can complicate troubleshooting steps.
The bootloader can easily be unlocked and locked. It takes one command and it's done. In order to flash anything with fastboot, you need it to be unlocked. The problem is, when you do this, it factory resets the device. So if you inadvertantly relock it, your going to need to reset it to unlock it again.
Even without the toolkit, going from unopened stock Nexus7 to fully rooted, updated and custom firmware Nexus7 only takes maybe 10 minutes, and 9 minutes of that is waiting for it to finish doing the various steps (flashing, rebooting, etc.). The most time consuming part is, unless you have good backups, restoring all your apps and settings. Titanium Backup is the best tool (IMHO) for that.
But yeah, in this case, you're going to need to unlock/wipe again. However, you CAN backup your "sdcard" to your computer and push the files back to it after the wipe. That can be very time consuming depending on how much you have.

Stock recovery and upgrading Lollipop with future OTAs after rooting

Hello everyone,
I'm back to a nexus 6 after a very short stint with a 6+.
A little background for my questions: This is the very first time that I rooted a phone. I'm rooting to only install these 3 apps:
adaway
titanium backup
greenify
I do not plan on using any custom ROMs or kernels.
I see from all the guides and tutorials that people also create a custom recovery whenever they root. I haven't done that yet and wasn't sure if I had to. I would like to maintain the stock recovery that I have currently so that I can go back to stock if I unRoot. My questions are:
1. Am I wrong in thinking that I can still use the stock recovery if I unRoot?
2. When a new OTA comes out and I flash it (since I'm rooted an no longer can install them automatically), will that also upgrade my still stock recovery properly?
3. Following up on the previous question, when I upgrade manually because I'm rooted, would that be a fresh install where I have to go in and configure things the way I like them again (system settings, apps and their settings, root the phone again, etc)?
Thanks in advance!

LordGrahf said:
Hello everyone,
I'm back to a nexus 6 after a very short stint with a 6+.
A little background for my questions: This is the very first time that I rooted a phone. I'm rooting to only install these 3 apps:
adaway
titanium backup
greenify
I do not plan on using any custom ROMs or kernels.
I see from all the guides and tutorials that people also create a custom recovery whenever they root. I haven't done that yet and wasn't sure if I had to. I would like to maintain the stock recovery that I have currently so that I can go back to stock if I unRoot. My questions are:
1. Am I wrong in thinking that I can still use the stock recovery if I unRoot?
2. When a new OTA comes out and I flash it (since I'm rooted an no longer can install them automatically), will that also upgrade my still stock recovery properly?
3. Following up on the previous question, when I upgrade manually because I'm rooted, would that be a fresh install where I have to go in and configure things the way I like them again (system settings, apps and their settings, root the phone again, etc)?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No, you're not wrong. Recovery will stay stock and can be used normally
2. You can't simply flash the new OTA. This will not work manually nor automatically.
3. All you need to do is not flash the user data image and you will not loose your data, settings etc. You will loose root however. See bellow.
Google posts android stock images for each device typically before OTA hits your phone. That's what you want to grab and use for the update. Just make sure you don't run the automatic scripts that come with those images because you need to avoid flashing user data image.
OTA zip file does you no good unless you get your system back to unmodified stock.

Thank you sir!

obsanity said:
1. No, you're not wrong. Recovery will stay stock and can be used normally
2. You can't simply flash the new OTA. This will not work manually nor automatically.
3. All you need to do is not flash the user data image and you will not loose your data, settings etc. You will loose root however. See bellow.
Google posts android stock images for each device typically before OTA hits your phone. That's what you want to grab and use for the update. Just make sure you don't run the automatic scripts that come with those images because you need to avoid flashing user data image.
OTA zip file does you no good unless you get your system back to unmodified stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on the OP, it sounds like he has only rooted. Thus, the OTA will work fine. No need to flash image files.
Edit: I see that at least one other member has stated that an unroot still did not allow OTAs to function. That's a bit strange and unique. Not sure what root is modifying to prevent the OTA.

I'm kinda curious myself. I had no idea root killed OTA's. Maybe I wouldn't have done that if I knew that. I'm very new to the Nexus device. It's my 1st. I unlocked the bootloader and rooted already.
Sent from Mark's Nexus 6

crowbarman said:
Edit: I see that at least one other member has stated that an unroot still did not allow OTAs to function. That's a bit strange and unique. Not sure what root is modifying to prevent the OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty scary. So you can unroot and GI back to stock and still can't update in anyway?

I have always side-loaded OTAs, I have never flashed anything.
After installing an OTA, on the next reboot, Android takes some time to optimize all your apps. Does this also happen after flashing a new system image? Thanks!

LordGrahf said:
This is pretty scary. So you can unroot and GI back to stock and still can't update in anyway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure what you mean by GI, but according to some others, after uninstalling root via SuperSU an OTA will still not install. This should not be the case unless the boot or recovery images are modified. Easily fixed by following the procedures above to fastboot the stock images on your phone.
kjnangre said:
I have always side-loaded OTAs, I have never flashed anything.
After installing an OTA, on the next reboot, Android takes some time to optimize all your apps. Does this also happen after flashing a new system image? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it behaves exactly the same.

crowbarman said:
Based on the OP, it sounds like he has only rooted. Thus, the OTA will work fine. No need to flash image files.
Edit: I see that at least one other member has stated that an unroot still did not allow OTAs to function. That's a bit strange and unique. Not sure what root is modifying to prevent the OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root on Lollipop is not what it used to be. There are files that need to be modified in order to allow root. That's why this time OTA will fail if you are rooted.
Un-rooting however, will allow OTA as long as it is done properly and all traces are covered up and returned to stock. If it does fail after you have un-rooted, go back to the developer of that un-root method and let the know they missed something.
Here is the best way to un-root. Flash all of the old stock images besides user data image.

obsanity said:
Root on Lollipop is not what it used to be. There are files that need to be modified in order to allow root. That's why this time OTA will fail if you are rooted.
Un-rooting however, will allow OTA as long as it is done properly and all traces are covered up and returned to stock. If it does fail after you have un-rooted, go back to the developer of that un-root method and let the know they missed something.
Here is the best way to un-root. Flash all of the old stock images besides user data image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense. Is there a manual root procedure or list of required modifications for root out there? I did some precursors searches but Came up empty. Can't tell what's missing in SuperSU unroot without those details.

crowbarman said:
That makes sense. Is there a manual root procedure or list of required modifications for root out there? I did some precursors searches but Came up empty. Can't tell what's missing in SuperSU unroot without those details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explanation from Chainfire:
https://plus.google.com/113517319477420052449/posts/S5zoKTzKUW1

obsanity said:
Explanation from Chainfire:
https://plus.google.com/113517319477420052449/posts/S5zoKTzKUW1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. A good read, but I'm surprised nobody has demanded more details than 'patched the policies in SELinux'. Not that I don't trust Chain fire (I do) , but who really knows what has been done to our phones?

crowbarman said:
Thanks for this. A good read, but I'm surprised nobody has demanded more details than 'patched the policies in SELinux'. Not that I don't trust Chain fire (I do) , but who really knows what has been done to our phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the problem with Chainfire's work... he does not release source.
Again, best un-root method is to flash original images less user data.

obsanity said:
That's the problem with Chainfire's work... he does not release source.
Again, best un-root method is to flash original images less user data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing this info. Its a bit concerning tbh. Is there a cleaner way to root other than using superSU?

LordGrahf said:
Thanks for sharing this info. Its a bit concerning tbh. Is there a cleaner way to root other than using superSU?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid not but Chainfire's is probably the cleanest possible. Koush was the one with an open source solution but he hasn't updated his to 5.0 yet.

obsanity said:
I'm afraid not but Chainfire's is probably the cleanest possible. Koush was the one with an open source solution but he hasn't updated his to 5.0 yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an argument that publishing the method would allow Google to close it that much quicker, I suppose.

crowbarman said:
Thanks for this. A good read, but I'm surprised nobody has demanded more details than 'patched the policies in SELinux'. Not that I don't trust Chain fire (I do) , but who really knows what has been done to our phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The base changes and reasoning for those changes are actually documented on my website. Specific policy adjustments are present in plain text in the supolicy executable, as any hex editor will show you. Those who really wanted to know rather than whine about OSS, know.
By far most policy adjustments just drop audit log output for contexts that are already permissive, though.
All that information is still completely useless unless you understand SELinux in detail and how it's implemented on Android, though.

I assume that the encryption doesn't get in the way of being able to flash the images?
When I went from 5.0 to 5.0.1 on my old Nexus 5 all I did was flash the two new 5.0.1 images I extracted from the full factory image, then re-rooted. This is far cleaner than reverting back to the previous image then doing an OTA. I've not had to update my N6 yet so I don't know if my method will work still, but I hope it does.

Chainfire said:
The base changes and reasoning for those changes are actually documented on my website. Specific policy adjustments are present in plain text in the supolicy executable, as any hex editor will show you. Those who really wanted to know rather than whine about OSS, know.
By far most policy adjustments just drop audit log output for contexts that are already permissive, though.
All that information is still completely useless unless you understand SELinux in detail and how it's implemented on Android, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the additional information.
I did spend a fair amount of time reading your documentation but failed to utilize a hex editor. I am not 'whining' about the lack of open source, rather, simply mildly surprised, but your website aptly describes the challenges with 5.0. Many are used to various root methods being available.
Your solution is fine with me.. I love your work.
Edit: I thought I'd add that the discussion has devolved from the OP, which was whether an OTA can be applied after uninstalling root. The answer was no, due to the unknowns about what still might be modified following the uninstall via SuperSU.

Unroot/Relock/revert to stock

Hey everyone,
I'm over rooting. Had an issue today where a backup refused to restore and in trying to fix it, I've deleted my OS. Yes, I'm bad at this. No big deal, I have backups of all my photos and other important stuff.
I don't really want to do the rooting/flashing thing anymore and just want to get my phone back to normal/out of the box as possible so that it will receive regular OTA updates etc. I just want to simplify things.
TWRP is installed. Is it as simple as flashing the latest official update? Or do I need to relock the phone somehow too?
I was going to follow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-to-revert-oneplus-3t-to-stock-t3676210 but wanted to be sure that it would work even though I don't currently have an OS installed.
Thanks!

Southrncomfortjm said:
I'm over rooting. Had an issue today where a backup refused to restore and in trying to fix it, I've deleted my OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That isn't root. That is your lack of knowledge of the functions of custom recovery, and what the results will be. Better learning and knowledge, and a little more care could have easily prevented it from happening. You wiped the selections in the "Advanced" wipe section of TWRP. And the fact it's called "Advanced" should have been a good clue to not mess with it, unless you know exactly what you are doing.
It's also an easy condition to recover from.
Southrncomfortjm said:
I don't really want to do the rooting/flashing thing anymore and just want to get my phone back to normal/out of the box as possible so that it will receive regular OTA updates etc. I just want to simplify things.
TWRP is installed. Is it as simple as flashing the latest official update? Or do I need to relock the phone somehow too?
I was going to follow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-to-revert-oneplus-3t-to-stock-t3676210 but wanted to be sure that it would work even though I don't currently have an OS installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That guide is needlessly complicated. Just download the flash the "full" update zip using TWRP, from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/official-oxygenos-5-0-1-android-8-0-t3728119
Make sure you are using a version of TWRP which supports Oreo (if you were on Oreo when you wiped OS, it should be okay). And that is all there is to it. You will be fully restored to stock, and after rebooting, stock recovery will replace TWRP.
You don't need to lock the bootloader to do this, and you don't need it for future OTAs. But a locked bootloader is arguably more secure, if you really don't need custom recovery or root.
On the other hand, if you still want to give root/phone mods a shot; the way to restore, and still have root is the same (flash full update zip). But just flash Magisk or SuperSU before rebooting, and you will be rooted, and still have TWRP.