Database Develop

Getting my rooting concepts straight

I just traded up from an iPhone 3G to a Europe model Nexus One and am considering rooting for unrestricted access to the App Market (I am using in China), but I wanted to make sure that I've got all my facts straight about the rooting process. My bootloader is unlocked and I have flashed upgrade packages manually before, but everything else appears to be stock.
So first, root access actually only involves installing the Superboot update over the stock ROM, if there is a superboot for that ROM version, right?
This then lets you install apps that require root access (such as Market Enabler or MarketAccess), so if I just wanted unrestricted market access, then this is all that I would have to do, right?
However, getting root also lets me install a custom recovery, which gives me some nifty functions from the recovery boot, such as backing up my phone (does it do anything else? Why does Amon_RA's recovery have Busybox if it already comes with superboot?). It also allows me to install a custom ROM.
So far so good? Am I missing anything?
Are there any other methods to root? I have heard that you can install the SDK and go through ADB to manually do root, but I have not found any detailed information about this method. I have FRF91 OTA, and since there is no superboot for that yet, could I potentially got the ADB route?

Didn't miss anything.
You can go several ways: since your bootloader is unlocked, to save yourself the pain with ADB loop method, which is completely unneeded, you can just use the regular method, skipping the "unlock bootloader" part, which leaves you with "flash custom recovery" part (totally independent) and then just flash whatever ROM you like, pre-rooted. You don't need to flash a rooting file over your ROM, you just can change your ROM to pre-rooted one.

So you are saying that I can flash a custom recovery, then load a custom rom that is pre-rooted?
How do I flash a custom recovery if I am not rooted? I thought that in order to get the recovery you needed to root via superboot?
And I must have a custom recovery in order to have a pre-rooted rom, otherwise the phone will reject the package, right?
So the only thing that prevents root on the Android is the rom and recovery partition's own integrity check for whatever you are flashing? In other words, people can lose root by flashing a stock rom, and you can get root by flashing a pre-rooted rom. I seem to remember seeing some pre-rooted packages saying that you must have previously had root in order for it to work. Is that not correct, then?
Thanks.

hgcrpd said:
I just traded up from an iPhone 3G to a Europe model Nexus One and am considering rooting for unrestricted access to the App Market (I am using in China), but I wanted to make sure that I've got all my facts straight about the rooting process. My bootloader is unlocked and I have flashed upgrade packages manually before, but everything else appears to be stock.
So first, root access actually only involves installing the Superboot update over the stock ROM, if there is a superboot for that ROM version, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly - root access simply indicates having the su and superuser.apk binaries installed, and the suid bit set on su. But you are close enough. If you are running FroYo, Cyanogen and Lox have published flashable rooters.
You will already need a custom recovery to flash either of these - but since your bootloader is unlocked, a custom recovery does not pose any problem - see below...
hgcrpd said:
This then lets you install apps that require root access (such as Market Enabler or MarketAccess), so if I just wanted unrestricted market access, then this is all that I would have to do, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
hgcrpd said:
However, getting root also lets me install a custom recovery, which gives me some nifty functions from the recovery boot, such as backing up my phone (does it do anything else? Why does Amon_RA's recovery have Busybox if it already comes with superboot?). It also allows me to install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couple of points here:
1. No, you don't need root to install a custom recovery - you need an unlocked bootloader. In fact, you have reversed them - you usually need a custom recovery to get root! Since you have that bootloader already unlocked, you can go ahead and install Amon's recovery (or another one) and get what you need to get.
2. Recovery does not use the same shell and variables as /system. Busybox is usually installed in recovery to allow you to run things via ADB or scripts when in recovery mode without manually calling them off of system (something that would be a problem if you were formatting and rewriting system, for example).
hgcrpd said:
Are there any other methods to root? I have heard that you can install the SDK and go through ADB to manually do root, but I have not found any detailed information about this method. I have FRF91 OTA, and since there is no superboot for that yet, could I potentially got the ADB route?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to have the SDK installed (which includes adb) to unlock the bootloader in any case, right? Or did someone unlock the bootloader for you? In any case, I would just install the SDK - it's free, fast and gives you access to fastboot and adb. You need fastboot to install a custom recovery, and adb is useful for lots of things.
And there are plenty flashable root zips for FRF91. You need to first install a custom recovery!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=715799
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=686627
So, if I were you:
1. Install the Android SDK on your computer to get ADB, fastboot and the necessary drivers.
2. Download and flash a custom recovery using fastboot.
3. Reboot into recovery.
4. Copy Lox or Cyan's rooter to your SD card using adb push.
5. On the phone, in recovery, do a nandroid backup!
6. Flash the zip from step 4.
7. Reboot your phone and confirm that you have root - the easiest way is to start up a terminal session and type "su". The Superuser authorization program should pop up and ask you to approve the application's request for root access. Grant it. If the prompt turns from "$" to "#", you have root.

1. No, you don't need root to install a custom recovery - you need an unlocked bootloader. In fact, you have reversed them - you usually need a custom recovery to get root! Since you have that bootloader already unlocked, you can go ahead and install Amon's recovery (or another one) and get what you need to get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. So the post on modaco is not quite correct when it says that root is a pre-req for Amon_RA's recovery. I'm guessing that's only a pre-req if you flash via a terminal session on the phone? (By the way, is there an official terminal app? The only one I could find was Terminal Emulator.)
You need to have the SDK installed (which includes adb) to unlock the bootloader in any case, right? Or did someone unlock the bootloader for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloader was unlocked when I bought it. The phone is a grey-market item that I purchased here in China, and every grey-market phone that comes in gets modified by the importers in order to add Chinese language support and such. I think that's all they did, since I've been able to do updates and get OTA without a problem.
Thanks! I will give the SDK route a try, if I get time before the superboot for FRF91 comes out.

updating to lolipop with custom recovery

I am aware that I can't get the ota with a custom recovery. when lollipop gets released, how to I update my phone? I want to use stock so that I have active notifications and voice control.

You need to reflash the stock firmware.

Flash the entire stock rom? Or just recovery?

Recovery, revert any framework mods, reinstall any uninstalled system apps, and unfreeze any system apps.

1) Stock recovery. No it will no flash with twrp or cwm
2) All root removed completely from your system
3) Xposed framework completely removed from your system, uninstalling will not work,you need to flash the xposed Disabler zip
4) Any mods to any system file must be reverted to stock
5) Running the stock odex ROM
6) Any system apps frozen must be unfrozen
Now, i have a Noob Question, but I always had Samsung devices, they have no bootloader like the moto or htc.
I unlocked the bootloader, is it safe to update via OTA ?
thx

TLH11 said:
1) Stock recovery. No it will no flash with twrp or cwm
2) All root removed completely from your system
3) Xposed framework completely removed from your system, uninstalling will not work,you need to flash the xposed Disabler zip
4) Any mods to any system file must be reverted to stock
5) Running the stock odex ROM
6) Any system apps frozen must be unfrozen
Now, i have a Noob Question, but I always had Samsung devices, they have no bootloader like the moto or htc.
I unlocked the bootloader, is it safe to update via OTA ?
thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure all android devices have some sort of bootloader.
Anyway, since your bootloader is unlocked, you shouldn't have a problem rooting.

JJHunterx said:
Pretty sure all android devices have some sort of bootloader.
Anyway, since your bootloader is unlocked, you shouldn't have a problem rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the OTA for future lollipop?

TLH11 said:
What about the OTA for future lollipop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a custom recovery you wont be able to OTA. That simple.

...or just wait for someone to cook up a custom Lolipop or stock rooted ROM flashable via custom recovery.

JJHunterx said:
If you have a custom recovery you wont be able to OTA. That simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will certainly flash via custom recovery. You just can't do an automatic update with custom recovery, where the system reboots itself and tries to update. If you manually download an OTA zip and flash it manually in recovery, it will work as long as all the file checks pass as I've done this several times on different devices.
Sent from my Moto X

TLH11 said:
1) Stock recovery. No it will no flash with twrp or cwm
2) All root removed completely from your system
3) Xposed framework completely removed from your system, uninstalling will not work,you need to flash the xposed Disabler zip
4) Any mods to any system file must be reverted to stock
5) Running the stock odex ROM
6) Any system apps frozen must be unfrozen
Now, i have a Noob Question, but I always had Samsung devices, they have no bootloader like the moto or htc.
I unlocked the bootloader, is it safe to update via OTA ?
thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For #2 you do not need to UNROOT in most cases. Using the older methods for locked bootloaders like SlapMyMoto/RockMyMoto and the like it was suggested to flash back to stock because of potential changes those processes make that could cause the OTA update's pre-flash validation checks fail.
For #6 it depends on how they are "Frozen." Apps "frozen" or disabled the same way that going Settings -> Apps -> {select the app} -> tap DISABLE button (or uninstall updates, then disable) will be fine and will not impact the OTA.
In the past freezing apps via Titanium Backup did cause problems, so it was suggested to unfreeze. However, more recent updates (like 4.4.2 to 4.4.4) did not encounter that problems, and those who froze apps with Titanium Backup didn't need to unfreeze.
If you have an 3rd party recovery on the device, when it goes to reboot and install the update, it will fail, and get the phone stuck in a boot loop.
When I've tried manually installing an OTA.ZIP in TWRP, it has errored. The only way for me to install was via stock recovery. That being said, I didn't try CWM or Philz.
As for Lollipop, you will be able to install and then flash custom recovery. As for rooting, there are changes in Lollipop, and it wont be confirmed until Lollipop hits a 2013 X, but in theory, due to the latest updates from Chainfire to SuperSU, we may be able to just flash TWRP, and install SuperSU like we did with KitKat.

How to Handle OTA Update on Rooted Phone

I have a 1095 Moto X 2014, rooted, running stock OS (22.21.11.victara_tmo.tmo.en.US). For the past several weeks, my phone has been asking me to take an OTA upgrade (5.0 -> 5.1, I believe), which I've been avoiding because I'm concerned it will either fail due to root, or cause me to lose my root privileges, forcing me to wipe my phone to regain root. Does anyone have any advice for the best way to handle this? I'm okay with wiping my phone if there's some clear path to restoring my data and settings using Titanium Backup, Nova backup/restore, etc. I know this is sort of a general question, but I'm just looking for a clear workflow for backing my phone up, taking the OTA upgrade and then restoring everything while maintaining root. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

There is no way to retain root for the upgrade. My suggestion would be to download the full 5.0 firmware, the flash just the system image and recovery image. This will remove root and everything should be back to stock. Then you can take the OTA to 5.1. After that just reroot the phone. No formatting or factory resets are necessary. However I do still recommend doing titanium backup before this just in case.
Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

So, more or less do:
1. backup
2. fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system system.img
3. reboot, take OTA update
4. re-root with CF-Auto-Root
Does that sound right?

Yes, assuming CF-Auto-Root will work with the latest firmware. I actually never tried it. Normally I flash back TWRP and flash the SuperSu.zip.

This worked perfectly! The only little hiccup was that adb had problems sideloading the SuperSu zip, but TWRP ended up taking care of root for me...it was totally seamless, actually. I am now 5.1 + root and retained all my settings, etc...thanks!

best way to update rooted N6 ?

My N6 is rooted, SuperSU and TWRP. On build LYZ28J and want to update to LYZ28K.
It seems I have 3 ways to do this:
1. Use settings in SuperSU to fully unroot, AND flash the LYZ28J recovery.img to replace TWRP. Then I can take the OTA. After that I can rerun the Chainfire Autoroot script and flash TWRP. So i'm updated with no data loss.
2. Flash the factory image. No need to unroot or remove TWRP, but all data is lost. And I still need to reroot and reflash TWRP. Correct ?
3. sideload the ota zip. Just run adb sideload <ota.zip> . No need to unroot . My problem here is that the only place I found with the ota zip is on Droid Life, not a google url. I like Droid Life, read it all the time, but still... Does anyone have a google url link to the OTA ?
Is there another method?
How are others upgrading? Is #3 as easy as I described ?
sean

1. no. to fully unroot, you need to flash a factory image. if you just remove root, itll still think tour rooted because system files have changed. so, wont work.
2. you can, but why? you gave extra time that you want to burn?
3. nope, cant flash an ots while rooted ir havd chsnged system files.
4. just flash the system.img of a factory image ehen it vomes out, and you will not lose data, but will upgrade.

I've used this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/using-image-to-update-nexus-6-data-loss-t3053158) to update within Lollipop through several versions. It is always best to wipe data when going from one version to the next (Lollipop to Marshmallow) but as long as you are staying within Lollipop this should work fine.

Check this out, http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/development/fxz-nexus-6-recovery-flashable-fastboot-t3066052
IMO, easiest way. DL zips to internal storage, wipe, and flash. READ the "Read Me" in the first post. When you update it will get rid of SU. Once you boot with update the first time, you can go back and root with TWRP.

Chose to use this. Did not flash the new recovery image. Updated fine, BUT locked and no root, no TWRP. I'll need to run oem unlock again, wiping all the data.
Sigh.

Wrote too soon. SuperSU and TWRP were gone (even though I did not flash recovery.img). Developer Options was gone. So I needed run CF-Autoroot and still need to flash TWRP. But all apps and data remained.
This is great news, especially if we're going to get monthly updates.

No boot after flashing supersu. Attempting stock rooted.

So I followed a guide off of YouTube on how to root this phone. The steps were simply put use fastboot to enable oem unlocking. Use adb to push twrp. Use twrp to flash supersu walla you have rooted stock rom. I attempted this and got stuck after flashing supersu. The rom would not boot. I let it sit for 15 mins. Held the power button let it try again. Again it didn't boot. So I fiddled with it trying to figure out how to get stock rooted and wasnt able to. I could flash a stock image in twrp and it would boot. But as soon as I flashed supersu it would no longer boot. I read somewhere I needed a different supersu so I tried that one. Just asking simply how can I achieve stocked rooted. I also don't understand the encryption thing this phone has. Apparently you have to delete a partition to get rid of it but at boot it will just encrypt again. Any information on that would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Writing this out over my lunch break.

jakeneal22 said:
So I followed a guide off of YouTube on how to root this phone. The steps were simply put use fastboot to enable oem unlocking. Use adb to push twrp. Use twrp to flash supersu walla you have rooted stock rom. I attempted this and got stuck after flashing supersu. The rom would not boot. I let it sit for 15 mins. Held the power button let it try again. Again it didn't boot. So I fiddled with it trying to figure out how to get stock rooted and wasnt able to. I could flash a stock image in twrp and it would boot. But as soon as I flashed supersu it would no longer boot. I read somewhere I needed a different supersu so I tried that one. Just asking simply how can I achieve stocked rooted. I also don't understand the encryption thing this phone has. Apparently you have to delete a partition to get rid of it but at boot it will just encrypt again. Any information on that would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Writing this out over my lunch break.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always use this toolkit: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/development/toolkit-oneplus-3t-toolkit-unlock-t3507729
So far it worked flawlesly and saved me trouble.

jakeneal22 said:
So I followed a guide off of YouTube on how to root this phone. The steps were simply put use fastboot to enable oem unlocking. Use adb to push twrp. Use twrp to flash supersu walla you have rooted stock rom. I attempted this and got stuck after flashing supersu. The rom would not boot. I let it sit for 15 mins. Held the power button let it try again. Again it didn't boot. So I fiddled with it trying to figure out how to get stock rooted and wasnt able to. I could flash a stock image in twrp and it would boot. But as soon as I flashed supersu it would no longer boot. I read somewhere I needed a different supersu so I tried that one. Just asking simply how can I achieve stocked rooted. I also don't understand the encryption thing this phone has. Apparently you have to delete a partition to get rid of it but at boot it will just encrypt again. Any information on that would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Writing this out over my lunch break.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of supersu you installed, and on what version of system you were ?

I was on the latest official version of both as of yesterday. I will try the toolkit when I get home. With this toolkit are you able to root the new 7.1? I tried that out and liked it when attempting to get back to stock. Ultimately the goal is the newest software one plus has to offer with root, snapchat working, and a custom kernel set for better battery life.

You probably flashed an older version of SuperSU, which will cause endless boot animation. The SuperSU included in the toolkit should be the latest stable version. Alternatively, you could root with Magisk, which I have personally found to be easier to install (not as many branched versions) and use. Magisk is not the same as SuperSU, but they both result in the same outcome - systemless root. It's also easier to hide root from other apps (such as Snapchat) using Magisk through the Magisk Manager app. You can find out more about it here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445

Toolkit worked perfectly for me. I flashed the latest beta directly from one plus and installed snapchat and logged in. Used the toolkit to root and install franco kernel. Moderator please close this thread.

Are there any issues using adb backup to babkup all apps and restore after unlocking the bootloader? Or is there any better way to backup apps?