Ive done some research and looking at tutorials, it looks like i need to install some software onto my PC in order to unlock the boot loader, and it appears that once my bootloader is unlocked i can then root the phone which in turn will let me flash a new rom.
my questions though are what precautions should I take so I do not brick my device?
also, I have never done anything like this before and I do not want to be waiting months for gingerbread so how quickly do developers usually update thier custom roms to use the latest software version of android?
is there a way to go "back to stock" so i can run stock android software even while being rooted?
I'm sure more questions will come up, but these are my main ones that I can think of now
you need to read the sticky up top first...^^^^
well i want to screw around with my bionic and remove my bloatware and i know i can kill it with out a flash but i just want to be lazy. i did a nandroid back up of my phone and i wanted to know if that back up save my flash to cricket or if i use any custom roms will i lose my flash or if i do a recovery will i have to re flash my phone.
Sorry I can't answer your question but I thought the dual boot layout was the best way so you could go crazy with a custom ROM and know that you could always go back and boot to the "un-safe" side. The instruction for the dual boot method is well done too.
I think I remember a quote from most of these folks saying you (or anyone) are 99.9% likely to crash and burn at some point.
sgschwend said:
Sorry I can't answer your question but I thought the dual boot layout was the best way so you could go crazy with a custom ROM and know that you could always go back and boot to the "un-safe" side. The instruction for the dual boot method is well done too.
I think I remember a quote from most of these folks saying you (or anyone) are 99.9% likely to crash and burn at some point.
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i am not asking about a dual boot i just need to know if i have a nandroid back up will my cricket flash be safe if i do a update or use a custom rom will i keep my flash
Ok guys, i figured i've refrained from customizing my phone long enough.
I'm well aware of how to flash things onto the phone. I am currently running 4.2.2 on my C6606.
I have dualboot recovery flashed onto it, phone is rooted, and the only mod i have is pure audio.
I know i have to unlock my bootloader to be able to flash roms that require a custom kernel.
My question is, is there anything i should lookout for before flashing onto my phone?
I just want to know if these roms will also work on the t-mobile network. Haven't seen too much activity from C6606 users on here, so i'm a bit curious on that.
I don't believe you can unlock the bootloader on a C6606. If you could, you would need to back up your AT? partition; the one that has all your DRM keys and stuff. But you can still flash custom roms that are made for locked bootloaders, with stock kernels... I have flashed the stock roms from other regions and never had a problem with my C6606 working on the T-Mobile network.
Good luck!
i flashed NUT's 4.3 rom from 4.2 and running that, we have a locked bootloader which means we cant use a custom kernel. sony's ramdisk layout is bit different then im used to, im used to standard boot.img format on many devices. anyways the dual recovery script allows for booting custom ramdisks, if i can get a cm one setup and going then we could have cm booting on locked bootloaders. this is no easy task and something i have never done before, not to mention there may be issues that isnt there with a custom kernel.
shabbypenguin said:
i flashed NUT's 4.3 rom from 4.2 and running that, we have a locked bootloader which means we cant use a custom kernel. sony's ramdisk layout is bit different then im used to, im used to standard boot.img format on many devices. anyways the dual recovery script allows for booting custom ramdisks, if i can get a cm one setup and going then we could have cm booting on locked bootloaders. this is no easy task and something i have never done before, not to mention there may be issues that isnt there with a custom kernel.
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Being able to get CM on the Z without unlocking the bootloader would be awesome.
iDroid8 said:
Being able to get CM on the Z without unlocking the bootloader would be awesome.
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well i dont want peopel to get their hopes up about myself, its no easy feat and i applied for motorola financing last week, as i might end up going with a moto x. the bill with tmobile is a bit more than expected and going with a moto x would mean unlocked bootloader as well as lower monthly payments. you guys have some very talent people working on this device, it may end up happening on the z1 first and then get backported.
shabbypenguin said:
well i dont want peopel to get their hopes up about myself, its no easy feat and i applied for motorola financing last week, as i might end up going with a moto x. the bill with tmobile is a bit more than expected and going with a moto x would mean unlocked bootloader as well as lower monthly payments. you guys have some very talent people working on this device, it may end up happening on the z1 first and then get backported.
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I'm just finding the process quite confusing. I haven't found any good videos detailing the entire process for a retard (myself).
iDroid8 said:
I'm just finding the process quite confusing. I haven't found any good videos detailing the entire process for a retard (myself).
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videos on what?
shabbypenguin said:
videos on what?
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Of flashing CM11. Most people aren't helpful and say if I can't unlock a bootloader then I shouldn't flash ROM's.
iDroid8 said:
Of flashing CM11.
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its not possible with a locked bootloader at this time.
sbackus said:
I don't believe you can unlock the bootloader on a C6606. If you could, you would need to back up your AT? partition; the one that has all your DRM keys and stuff. But you can still flash custom roms that are made for locked bootloaders, with stock kernels... I have flashed the stock roms from other regions and never had a problem with my C6606 working on the T-Mobile network.
Good luck!
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Click to collapse
shabbypenguin said:
i flashed NUT's 4.3 rom from 4.2 and running that, we have a locked bootloader which means we cant use a custom kernel. sony's ramdisk layout is bit different then im used to, im used to standard boot.img format on many devices. anyways the dual recovery script allows for booting custom ramdisks, if i can get a cm one setup and going then we could have cm booting on locked bootloaders. this is no easy task and something i have never done before, not to mention there may be issues that isnt there with a custom kernel.
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So say i tried to flash XperiaBlueLights, its a 4.2.2 rom, and it says its for a locked bootloader, it should work fine right?
Or the CriskeloRom, its 4.3 but it says it works on both locked and unlocked bootloaders. There shouldn't be an issue installing this on a C6606 should there?
Don't mean to ask so many questions, im usually the type to go and find out myself, but so far customizing my first sony phone isn't as fun, or easy as my past phones.
xDC23 said:
So say i tried to flash XperiaBlueLights, its a 4.2.2 rom, and it says its for a locked bootloader, it should work fine right?
Or the CriskeloRom, its 4.3 but it says it works on both locked and unlocked bootloaders. There shouldn't be an issue installing this on a C6606 should there?
Don't mean to ask so many questions, im usually the type to go and find out myself, but so far customizing my first sony phone isn't as fun, or easy as my past phones.
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I think you would need to flash the C6606 kernel to be able to boot. I have written a C6606 tutorial for MIUI if you are interested in the Chinese version of Android. It is in the first post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=46120012
C6606 user here. Currently running @niaboc79 4.3 Black Edition, and couldn't be happier.
I got my Z shortly after it became available, and have had a custom stock based ROM on it since day 1. I will admit there was a slight learning curve, but I knew I was switching to T-mobile and started reading up on the whole rooting/flashtool before I purchased and have stayed out of trouble (for the most part). Once you flash a ROM or two you will get the gist of it and it will become less confusing. The beauty of it is that we don't have to wait for T-Mobile to push out new Android versions. Once the Z gets it, so can we and no T-Mobile bloat. You will not have wifi calling if you haven't figured that out already.
Look for the "LB" (lockedbootloader) tag in the ROM title, and they should be good to go for us C6606 users.
Just follow the OP's instructions for installing and you will be fine. I haven't touched anything directly related to the C6606, other than APN's. I haven't had any luck doing the "download settings for internet and MMS" under wireless & networks settings.
I use these APN's every time I do a clean install and all network modes (3G, 4G, LTE) work just fine - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2236735
xDC23 said:
Ok guys, i figured i've refrained from customizing my phone long enough.
I'm well aware of how to flash things onto the phone. I am currently running 4.2.2 on my C6606.
I have dualboot recovery flashed onto it, phone is rooted, and the only mod i have is pure audio.
I know i have to unlock my bootloader to be able to flash roms that require a custom kernel.
My question is, is there anything i should lookout for before flashing onto my phone?
I just want to know if these roms will also work on the t-mobile network. Haven't seen too much activity from C6606 users on here, so i'm a bit curious on that.
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Click to collapse
yeah made sure you back your entire phone completely up! that way if something happens you can always go bck to the orginal state!
Oh boy I really hope I am just too tired to look and info I've got so far is incorrect. My i337 Got stolen today and I managed to get Galaxy S 4 Active from ATT i537. I looked up only 1 thing before I did because only system I can use is CM11, I mean stock Samsung makes me uneasy if I am on it for more then 15 seconds. Sounds, UI, just feel and look, totally garbage. So now I see that bootloader is locked AND there is no solution to unlock it. Only then we can install some kind of Dual boot thing ? I really hope this is not true. Can I just get rid of everything Samsung and stock and get CM11 ? I don't want to waste space with stock as "not used" system.
Please let me know because like I said I had really bad day with two thugs stealing my phone, spend money on new one and now this. I just rooted it and was thinking like always I get Rom Manager and from there I install recovery ..... but phone is not listed .... I am freaking out a bit right about now. Please let me know if possible on where to start getting custom recovery cause ODIN + tar recovery files gave me magic error or something like that just now.
Thank you guys !
UPDATE: Couldn't sleep.
So I have my new phone rooted with "towel", I install Safestrap and backed up my current ROM (I am on NE3) I see now reason why this dual system needed and stuff. I mean too bad Samsung locking bootloaders and oh well. I have only 2 questions. 1 can I just install latest build from https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=jactivelte in to rom SLOT-1 and use it or no. And how much space I can allow for my current ROM and CM I mean I am not planning to have anything on stock so I don't need space at same time I cant make it that when I do want to go on stock I'd have a problem with running it because of not enough space.
Thank you guys once again. I mean If you know few lines ..that's all I am asking. Cause I do see some pros and cons but .. I need straight up answer. Thanks !
Your frustration is understand. Swearing or bad language is not excused in this forum for any reason. Moderate at least title or be prepared to get warning and/or thread locked down.
russiandivxclub said:
Oh boy I really hope I am just too tired to look and info I've got so far is incorrect. My i337 Got stolen today and I managed to get Galaxy S 4 Active from ATT i537. I looked up only 1 thing before I did because only system I can use is CM11, I mean stock Samsung makes me uneasy if I am on it for more then 15 seconds. Sounds, UI, just feel and look, totally garbage. So now I see that bootloader is locked AND there is no solution to unlock it. Only then we can install some kind of Dual boot thing ? I really hope this is not true. Can I just get rid of everything Samsung and stock and get CM11 ? I don't want to waste space with stock as "not used" system.
Please let me know because like I said I had really bad day with two thugs stealing my phone, spend money on new one and now this. I just rooted it and was thinking like always I get Rom Manager and from there I install recovery ..... but phone is not listed .... I am freaking out a bit right about now. Please let me know if possible on where to start getting custom recovery cause ODIN + tar recovery files gave me magic error or something like that just now.
Thank you guys !
UPDATE: Couldn't sleep.
So I have my new phone rooted with "towel", I install Safestrap and backed up my current ROM (I am on NE3) I see now reason why this dual system needed and stuff. I mean too bad Samsung locking bootloaders and oh well. I have only 2 questions. 1 can I just install latest build from https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=jactivelte in to rom SLOT-1 and use it or no. And how much space I can allow for my current ROM and CM I mean I am not planning to have anything on stock so I don't need space at same time I cant make it that when I do want to go on stock I'd have a problem with running it because of not enough space.
Thank you guys once again. I mean If you know few lines ..that's all I am asking. Cause I do see some pros and cons but .. I need straight up answer. Thanks !
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You cannot install CM. Since you have a locked bootloader, it is not possible to install any custom kernels, so ROMs that require a custom kernel (CM, AOSP, or any ROM based off those) will not work. Using SafeStrap you can flash TouchWiz-based ROMs since they can use you stock kernel.
Look in the AT&T S4 forums for ROMs that say they are compatible with SafeStrap, you should be able to use most of those. Since they are meant fir a different phone you'll have to flash the MasterPatch afterwards. A lot of people seen to like the Hyperdrive ROM.
O-T said:
Your frustration is understand. Swearing or bad language is not excused in this forum for any reason. Moderate at least title or be prepared to get warning and/or thread locked down.
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My bad you're 100% correct I see how to edit op but not tutle.
Devo7v said:
You cannot install CM. Since you have a locked bootloader, it is not possible to install any custom kernels, so ROMs that require a custom kernel (CM, AOSP, or any ROM based off those) will not work. Using SafeStrap you can flash TouchWiz-based ROMs since they can use you stock kernel.
Look in the AT&T S4 forums for ROMs that say they are compatible with SafeStrap, you should be able to use most of those. Since they are meant fir a different phone you'll have to flash the MasterPatch afterwards. A lot of people seen to like the Hyperdrive ROM.
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Click to collapse
Got it. Thanks. I remember back in a day I've been using "theme" that allowed me to have Google stock feel u guess I need to look in this but for now I guess I'll just remove what I can and will suffer until Nexus 6 is in stock and I can afford it. Love that phone. Also I see 5.0 will be out for active next year so it's not that bad. Meanwhile should I do Ota update to latest stock firmware ?
russiandivxclub said:
Got it. Thanks. I remember back in a day I've been using "theme" that allowed me to have Google stock feel u guess I need to look in this but for now I guess I'll just remove what I can and will suffer until Nexus 6 is in stock and I can afford it. Love that phone. Also I see 5.0 will be out for active next year so it's not that bad. Meanwhile should I do Ota update to latest stock firmware ?
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If you want, you can still root the latest firmware so you have nothing to lose.
Guys,last week i installed a custom rom on my moto x 2014,with twrp recovery and root exc.....i would like to come back all stock,rom,root and recovery and bootloader......can you tell me witch is the right way?Tnx a lot!!!!!P.s:do you think that i m doing something stupid,about the fact that i want to come back stock?Tnx
What's wrong with your device the way it is? Why would you want to lose the warranty (assuming your's is a non dev device) and then go back to stock? I'd suggest stay rooted, pick a ROM like cm12 and give it a try. It's pretty stable to be a daily driver and with official builds you'll never go back to stock android for moto display or voice. I used to be of the opinion that moto display was necessary, but ambient display works just as bad as moto display. So it has me covered on CM12...
Flash stock images to clear the custom ROM, sounds like your bootloader is already unlocked so re-rooting should be no problem. Easiest way is a Toolkit. But don't use them if you don't understand the flashing process.