Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Rooting your device just gives you privileged access that permits you to modify the operating system.
A custom ROM is an entire Android operating system that has been customized or otherwise modified. Depending on the ROM, it could be stripped down or have all sorts of additional system apps and features. Custom ROMs generally include root access, though not always.
If you're going to start somewhere, you should probably just root your existing stock ROM. Though unless you have a specific need (e.g. per-app firewall, ad blocking, backup/restore) or just like to tinker with ****, I wouldn't bother.
DRM Keys are important.
srcm.ch said:
Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before rooting or start tinkering your stock rom, make sure to backup your DRM Keys. They are very important for Xperia devices and are essential for proper functionality of Camera and Music applications (Stock ones).
srcm.ch said:
Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend before rooting your phone you determine for yourself the purpose for which you are rooting, some people do for customisation via xposed and gravitybox, some do it for control e.g. removing stock apps, whatever the purpose, because rooting can cause your phone to stop working, it's a venture that's best taken with a purpose, my personal preference is to root a stock android environment rather than running ROMs
question
So im trying to make a "custom" rom but i want it to have root by default lke Cyaogen. Do i change something in build.prop or something else?
Related
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
Hi guys (and girls?)
Just picked up my Z3C yesterday. I am coming from a LG G2 and I had that thing rooted and running Slimkat within a few hours just because of the LG UI and stock kernel, not in such a rush with this phone as I quite like the UI and stock performance.
I've spent the day so far reading and reading and reading, I'm a bit rusty on my Sony rooting and flashing procedures (last Sony phone was the Xperia Arc)
For now all I am after is root access ( without unlocking the bootloader yet) so I can do a little debloating, install xposed etc while still enjoying the DRM related features (until I can assess if any of them matter to me enough to bother keeping )
Am I better off just rooting, backing up my DRM key (TA partition right?) and flashing a modified stock firmware from the start or can I achieve my goal just by rooting my current stock firmware?
I am currently reading through all the related threads and will probably work it out eventually but it would be pretty cool if someone could help me skip to the good stuff.
Anyway, enough story time, if you know of any good guides, tutorials etc that will help me achieve what I'm after just paste a link or whatever
And don't worry, I know how to use the thanks button
I am new user of Z3C as well, not expert by any means, to add my perspective to the same question asked by OP:
I just want to root Phone to add custom fonts and bold fonts, basically want to make it closer to iPhone 5s, which has bolder fonts. For me these fonts are too thin, if i make them large too large, thats the only thing i dont like about it.
So i want to root phone, just to change fonts and then unroot again, stock is sufficient for me and i feel i can have better battery with stock and stuff.
So can somone kindly guide me how to safely root, change fonts, unroot. I have no need of xpose and stuff at all.
Thanks in advance.
Hey get your own question thread lol nah I'm kidding, more the merrier!
I'm still reading everything and have found a few good tutorials. I'll post here anything I find that answers any of mine or your questions. But would still like to invite the users who really know this phone to share Thier opinions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3013343
This is what you need.
Probably you can't "root directly" because your phone is updated with the last firmware version.
So, you need to downgrade to a version which has the exploit, root, backup DRM keys (for safety only) and update again with a pre-rooted rom.
fmlogin said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3013343
This is what you need.
Probably you can't "root directly" because your phone is updated with the last firmware version.
So, you need to downgrade to a version which has the exploit, root, backup DRM keys (for safety only) and update again with a pre-rooted rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually working my through that as we speak! (but totally appreciate you taking to time to point me there )
Just finished backing up my DRM keys (uploaded to mega and google drive, cus im careful like that haha)
just about to go through the PRFC part now.
Beginning to realise how spoilt I was with the LG G2 and being about to use towelroot.apk haha
usmanxhmed said:
I am new user of Z3C as well, not expert by any means, to add my perspective to the same question asked by OP:
I just want to root Phone to add custom fonts and bold fonts, basically want to make it closer to iPhone 5s, which has bolder fonts. For me these fonts are too thin, if i make them large too large, thats the only thing i dont like about it.
So i want to root phone, just to change fonts and then unroot again, stock is sufficient for me and i feel i can have better battery with stock and stuff.
So can somone kindly guide me how to safely root, change fonts, unroot. I have no need of xpose and stuff at all.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, hopefully you have been doing your own research on the topic, but here is what I have learnt.
there is no simple root/unroot that doesn't require flashing firmwares etc.
but, if you do follow the instructions in the thread our helpful friend linked to you can create your own .ftf file with root included. The instructions also include a recovery in the ftf file but you opt to leave it out. (I actually made two custom ftf files, both with root but one without custom recovery).
I flashed the one without the custom recovery because for the time being I'm happy to keep the phone as stock as possible and simply don't need a custom recovery (I've got 2 phones and 2 tablets for tinkering with so I'm trying to avoid it with this phone which I use for work)
anyway, I have kind of answered my own question ultimately and will mark the thread as such.
but feel free to PM me if you need a hand with anything
I was just given an old i537 5.0.1, to replace a broken S3. I can't stand Samsung's android, so can someone tell me if I can do anything?
I have looked around, and see that the i537's bootloader is locked. Does that mean I can't do any recovery/roms? Am I able to root and purge some of the crap? I have seen something about a program called safestrap, but the main thread of info I can find is "depreciated". Almost everything in this forum is either the I9295 or no exact info.
theredbaron1834 said:
I was just given an old i537 5.0.1, to replace a broken S3. I can't stand Samsung's android, so can someone tell me if I can do anything?
I have looked around, and see that the i537's bootloader is locked. Does that mean I can't do any recovery/roms? Am I able to root and purge some of the crap? I have seen something about a program called safestrap, but the main thread of info I can find is "depreciated". Almost everything in this forum is either the I9295 or no exact info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate Samsung's version of android (it's called touchwiz) also so it pains me to give you the answer I'm about to give. The locked bootloader means there is no way this phone can have a custom kernel or a custom recovery. Roms like cyanogenmod require a custom kernel to run, there's no way around that. Safestrap was our alternative for a custom recovery to flash stuff, but it only worked on KitKat. Now we have flashfire to flash things, but the fact remains that the only custom ROMs this phone can run are ROMs based off touchwiz, which you and I (and so many others) despise. It is still possible to root this phone and remove the bloatware, see my post here on how to root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63639949&postcount=2
Once you're rooted you can use titanium backup to uninstall any system app you want
So, I would use Odin to go to down to 4.4 and root. Then upgrade to 5.0.1 again, and install flashfire.
So that is the best we can hope for on the i537? Damn it man, that sucks quite a lot. Stuipd arse Touchwiz. I am so use to Cyanogenmod, and having to use Touchwiz is really killing me. Ugh.
I know that we have root through the Sprint released ROM and we can achieve root as long as we are on the N920TUVU3DPG1, which I am and have done so using Jovy's ROM. However, my question is regarding the possibility to achieve root for stock odexed firmware. My problem is that I do not like all/some of the modifications that are done on the available ROMS. I prefer the stock look/functions for my phone. I mostly use root for recovery purposes (ie. Titanium, etc). Is there a possible way to achieve Stock Root under our current bootloader limitations without heavily modifying the ROM? I want to use Knox dependent apps (like S-Health) without having to worry about updates etc... If so, can someone here point me to the way to do it? From what I remember reading, leaving the phone on the initial Sprint ROM broke a lot of the functions like bluetooth, LTE and wifi and required a lot of behind the scene changes to make it work. I think that my limited knowledge would not allow me to do these twicks effectively. Thanks for any help.
Recently, Tab A6 T280 successfully rooted and the bootloader still tight locked. However, somebody did a reverse engineering on both kernel and recovery to extract out SHA keys and add it into TWRP and bypass bootloader. This is a major milestone that ALL Samsung phones and tablets can be rooted this way.
Nevertheless, a custom kernel with SELinux policy needs to be installed to achieve root.
mingkee said:
Recently, Tab A6 T280 successfully rooted and the bootloader still tight locked. However, somebody did a reverse engineering on both kernel and recovery to extract out SHA keys and add it into TWRP and bypass bootloader. This is a major milestone that ALL Samsung phones and tablets can be rooted this way.
Nevertheless, a custom kernel with SELinux policy needs to be installed to achieve root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't read about that and this is an awesome news. Thanks for sharing. I am hopeful that it will come to our great phone since we have the most amazing developers here.
Hey there guys,
I just received my s21 ultra (G998B) and planning to root it. I had a few questions since I’m new to this and wanted some clarifications:
1) If I root the phone can I update it OTA through the settings or do I have to update it by another method? Will I lose root/data/apps if I do that?
2) If I lose root when updating it, can I just root again and be all set? Or do I have to follow another procedure for that?
3) I am planning to debloat a few apps and services that I won’t be using, if I update the system/software will the stuff that I debloated come back and will I have to do the debloat again?
Thank you for all the help.
paul_cherma said:
Hey there guys,
I just received my s21 ultra (G998B) and planning to root it. I had a few questions since I’m new to this and wanted some clarifications:
1) If I root the phone can I update it OTA through the settings or do I have to update it by another method? Will I lose root/data/apps if I do that?
2) If I lose root when updating it, can I just root again and be all set? Or do I have to follow another procedure for that?
3) I am planning to debloat a few apps and services that I won’t be using, if I update the system/software will the stuff that I debloated come back and will I have to do the debloat again?
Thank you for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- Probably not usually the root or recovery will block OTA updates from installing, even if they download.
2- If you lose root, you can USUALLY re-root assuming the same root method wasnt patched. If it was patched, a new root method (though probably still through magisk) will be needed. If this is the case, its up to the dev to find that method, you might be without root for a while.
3-if you debloat, and receive an OTA, your will probably need to de-bloat again, thought I havent personally had experience with this.
Why are you rooting? Just to de-bloat? If so, root isn't really necessary...
As someone who's been in the rooting stage for many years, i can answer your questions.
1. You can not update your phone through OTA updates after rooting the device, as the device was modified in an unauthorized way. And since you own a galaxy phone, the e-fuse within the motherboard will blow and knox will be permanently blown. You can no longer use samsung pay, google pay, and any other app that uses the safetynet api, even after you unroot the device.
2. You will lose root every time you update. You will need ODIN on your PC in order to properly update your firmware and to re-root your device by following the procedure again that you used to root your device, unless samsung patched the method you used to root your device. You can always check what bootloader version you're on within the firmware. For example, on the galaxy S8, the firmware version is N950U1UES5CRG9. The 5th to last number of the firmware will tell you. In this case, N950U1UES5CRG9 is the 5th bootloader version. Keep this in mind once samsung starts to update your phone often.
3. You will have to debloat again from scratch. In order to fully update your device through ODIN, you need to download the full firmware file containing an AP (Firmware), BL (Bootloader) , CP (Modem), and CSC (Carrier File) and manually flash them.
Do keep in mind, it is possible to soft brick or even hard brick your device, so back up your data frequently if you decide to tinker with your device.
Thank you for the detailed answer. I just updated my software to the latest official one by Samsung (April 1st security patch) but I am not rooted yet. I guess I could live with the fact that I can root the phone now and stay on this software version/security patch until I upgrade, since I would have to go through a lot of hassle to set-up the phone the way I wanted. But the main reason why I want to get the official updates is because of the camera improvements that Samsung does, since the main reason of me getting this phone is the camera. And there are some root-required tweaks that I absolutely need such as Viper, and some xposed tweaks also. I like the Stock ROM of Samsung, it really has come a long way at least imo throughout the years, as I have been a Samsung user since day 1 but:
Would it be a good idea to install a custom ROM then? I am reading the description of a few custom ROMs and it seems like I can “retain everything” by simply dirty flashing the ROM and following the dev’s instructions on how to retain root whenever the developer updates it. Is that a better route to take you think? I can keep my device rooted, and still get the updates through a custom ROM.
paul_cherma said:
Thank you for the detailed answer. I just updated my software to the latest official one by Samsung (April 1st security patch) but I am not rooted yet. I guess I could live with the fact that I can root the phone now and stay on this software version/security patch until I upgrade, since I would have to go through a lot of hassle to set-up the phone the way I wanted. But the main reason why I want to get the official updates is because of the camera improvements that Samsung does, since the main reason of me getting this phone is the camera. And there are some root-required tweaks that I absolutely need such as Viper, and some xposed tweaks also. I like the Stock ROM of Samsung, it really has come a long way at least imo throughout the years, as I have been a Samsung user since day 1 but:
Would it be a good idea to install a custom ROM then? I am reading the description of a few custom ROMs and it seems like I can “retain everything” by simply dirty flashing the ROM and following the dev’s instructions on how to retain root whenever the developer updates it. Is that a better route to take you think? I can keep my device rooted, and still get the updates through a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That really varies depending on the custom rom you go for. Usually when you dirty flash a rom, you would need to re root your device, but some (not all) roms are persistent with root after system updates. Do keep in mind if you switch to a custom rom, your system might be more buggy and crash more often. One thing i will say though is that xposed is outdated. The last android version xposed officially supported was either 8 or 9. When it has to come down to certain mods you'd wish to have with root, take that into consideration too, as it might make your device really unstable if it's too outdated or if there's a buggy port available. I've dealt with that issue too many times on my phones.
HighOnLinux said:
That really varies depending on the custom rom you go for. Usually when you dirty flash a rom, you would need to re root your device, but some (not all) roms are persistent with root after system updates. Do keep in mind if you switch to a custom rom, your system might be more buggy and crash more often. One thing i will say though is that xposed is outdated. The last android version xposed officially supported was either 8 or 9. When it has to come down to certain mods you'd wish to have with root, take that into consideration too, as it might make your device really unstable if it's too outdated or if there's a buggy port available. I've dealt with that issue too many times on my phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if xposed is outdated, what is the new thing the comunity is migrating to? All the privacy, security, and customizability tools available through xposed must go somewhere, right?
Twodordan said:
if xposed is outdated, what is the new thing the comunity is migrating to? All the privacy, security, and customizability tools available through xposed must go somewhere, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's buggy ports thats flashable on magisk. While you still can get xposed, it'll be an unofficial version, and more likely to run into issues within your rom and daily use into your device.
HighOnLinux said:
There's buggy ports thats flashable on magisk. While you still can get xposed, it'll be an unofficial version, and more likely to run into issues within your rom and daily use into your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean xprivacy on xposed was the must have killer feature for any android device to turn your device into anything other than a privacy nightmare. If we can't do that any more we are f'd.
[EDIT] Looks like the new version of xprivacy, xprivacyLua is still supported for android 11, with magisk and EdXposed or LSPosed:
[CLOSED][APP][XPOSED][6.0+] XPrivacyLua - Android privacy manager [UNSUPPORTED]
XPrivacyLua Really simple to use privacy manager for Android 6.0 Marshmallow and later (successor of XPrivacy). Revoking Android permissions from apps often let apps crash or malfunction. XPrivacyLua solves this by feeding apps fake data...
forum.xda-developers.com
XPrivacyLua/README.md at master · M66B/XPrivacyLua
Really simple to use privacy manager for Android 6.0 Marshmallow and later - XPrivacyLua/README.md at master · M66B/XPrivacyLua
github.com