Phone arrives saturday, just asking clarification about rooting. - Google Pixel 4 XL Questions & Answers

On my Pixel 2 and 3 and my OP7T, all of them were bricked by doing extremely basic flashing. Flash TWRP? Brick. Try to revert to stock? Brick. Install EdExposed on a perfectly functioning rooted 7T with no other mods? Brick.
My Pixel 4 XL arrives saturday, and for once I'm buying used so I can't afford to brick this. So I just have a few questions:
1. Specifically in the context of the new A/B partition setup, can I expect any complications simply flashing the magisk patched stock boot.img via bootloader without doing any other precautions?
2. How will this affect things when I want to revert to stock? What is the process for reverting to stock?
3. How will this affect things when I need to update to do a system update? What is that process?
4. Is there anything else I should know? I want to be extremely cautious this time! My main interests will be A) to get Adaway, and possibly one or two Xposed modules (e.g. gravityboxy), and B) to be able to get back to stock when I eventually sell the phone but to maintain a modded setup safely through the regular Android updates that come to Pixels from Google.
Please don't take this as me asking for you to hold my hand—although any direct guides are more than welcome and, as this is a community, other people will benefit as well. Rather, this is my first step in the process of doing my research before my phone arrives. Please give as much direct step by step instruction as you want, and/or link any other guides that address those questions. In the meantime my next step will be to try and find answers to these question in existing threads, but you guys should understand there is a lot of conflicting info out there and a lot of people are hostile to questions.
Thank you guys!

finshan said:
On my Pixel 2 and 3 and my OP7T, all of them were bricked by doing extremely basic flashing. Flash TWRP? Brick. Try to revert to stock? Brick. Install EdExposed on a perfectly functioning rooted 7T with no other mods? Brick.
My Pixel 4 XL arrives saturday, and for once I'm buying used so I can't afford to brick this. So I just have a few questions:
1. Specifically in the context of the new A/B partition setup, can I expect any complications simply flashing the magisk patched stock boot.img via bootloader without doing any other precautions?
2. How will this affect things when I want to revert to stock? What is the process for reverting to stock?
3. How will this affect things when I need to update to do a system update? What is that process?
4. Is there anything else I should know? I want to be extremely cautious this time! My main interests will be A) to get Adaway, and possibly one or two Xposed modules (e.g. gravityboxy), and B) to be able to get back to stock when I eventually sell the phone but to maintain a modded setup safely through the regular Android updates that come to Pixels from Google.
Please don't take this as me asking for you to hold my hand—although any direct guides are more than welcome and, as this is a community, other people will benefit as well. Rather, this is my first step in the process of doing my research before my phone arrives. Please give as much direct step by step instruction as you want, and/or link any other guides that address those questions. In the meantime my next step will be to try and find answers to these question in existing threads, but you guys should understand there is a lot of conflicting info out there and a lot of people are hostile to questions.
Thank you guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1/ flash the patched boot image, your good to go.
2/ download the factory image from Google website and use flash-all.bat (remove -w to avoid erasing all the data).
3/ I believe there is a method to update ota without losing root by using magisk manager.
4/ yub easy.

finshan said:
On my Pixel 2 and 3 and my OP7T, all of them were bricked by doing extremely basic flashing. Flash TWRP? Brick. Try to revert to stock? Brick. Install EdExposed on a perfectly functioning rooted 7T with no other mods? Brick.
My Pixel 4 XL arrives saturday, and for once I'm buying used so I can't afford to brick this. So I just have a few questions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To root just extract the boot.img and patch with Magisk beforehand. This is the only extra step. I pre-stage this patched img file in my ADB folder so right after flashing completes, catch the reboot and return to fastboot mode and flash the patched image. That is all there is. To revert to stock, simply flash the untouched stock boot.img. You don't need to do this each month because when you flash the full image file it overwrites the patched boot.img, so you just start again. Get rid of TWRP for now because it does not support 10.

finshan said:
On my Pixel 2 and 3 and my OP7T, all of them were bricked by doing extremely basic flashing. Flash TWRP? Brick. Try to revert to stock? Brick. Install EdExposed on a perfectly functioning rooted 7T with no other mods? Brick.
My Pixel 4 XL arrives saturday, and for once I'm buying used so I can't afford to brick this. So I just have a few questions:
1. Specifically in the context of the new A/B partition setup, can I expect any complications simply flashing the magisk patched stock boot.img via bootloader without doing any other precautions?
2. How will this affect things when I want to revert to stock? What is the process for reverting to stock?
3. How will this affect things when I need to update to do a system update? What is that process?
4. Is there anything else I should know? I want to be extremely cautious this time! My main interests will be A) to get Adaway, and possibly one or two Xposed modules (e.g. gravityboxy), and B) to be able to get back to stock when I eventually sell the phone but to maintain a modded setup safely through the regular Android updates that come to Pixels from Google.
Please don't take this as me asking for you to hold my hand—although any direct guides are more than welcome and, as this is a community, other people will benefit as well. Rather, this is my first step in the process of doing my research before my phone arrives. Please give as much direct step by step instruction as you want, and/or link any other guides that address those questions. In the meantime my next step will be to try and find answers to these question in existing threads, but you guys should understand there is a lot of conflicting info out there and a lot of people are hostile to questions.
Thank you guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This might answer some of your questions: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-4-xl/how-to/guide-pixel-4-xl-android-10-q-root-t3996969/

Related

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.

Help Rookie - Which Nexus 6 Root Method is Best?

Hello,
So I am still newer to the Android / Modding world (Had my Nexus 6 for about 3 weeks now, first Android phone). The extent of my experience is manual flashing 6.0 to my Nexus 6 and Nexus Player and flashing custom recoveries and boot images. I am a bit confused right now. I seen a post in the XDA News that you can now root 6.0 without modifying /system. I thought that was already the case when rooting the Nexus 6? All you had to do is flash TWRP, flash the modified boot image, and install SuperSU through TWRP. There appears to be two different root methods now. Could someone please clarify what the difference is and which I should go with? Here is the link to the XDA Post from Chainfire on the rooting methods.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/wip-android-6-0-marshmellow-t3219344
Thank you in advance.
1. unlock your bootloader with fastboot oem unlock
2. fastboot flash twrp recovery
3. flash any marshmallow custom kernel(if on marshmallow) and the latest supersu in your new twrp recovery
4. reboot with root
simms22 said:
1. unlock your bootloader with fastboot oem unlock
2. fastboot flash twrp recovery
3. flash any marshmallow custom kernel(if on marshmallow) and the latest supersu in your new twrp recovery
4. reboot with root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the info but I do know this. I have done this already. I am trying to understand how doing this modifies the system. How does this method differ from the newer method that has been posted? I am trying to learn all I can about Android, Root, etc. I have learned so much already in a very short time. I would like someone to explain the differences in / in the outcome of these two methods. I don't want to be a noob forever here. lol. Thank You.
Rektifying said:
Thank you for the info but I do know this. I have done this already. I am trying to understand how doing this modifies the system. How does this method differ from the newer method that has been posted? I am trying to learn all I can about Android, Root, etc. I have learned so much already in a very short time. I would like someone to explain the differences in / in the outcome of these two methods. I don't want to be a noob forever here. lol. Thank You.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no difference in the outcome. Root merely lets one modify files (root files) that you could not before. It does not put anything else on your device.
Rektifying said:
Thank you for the info but I do know this. I have done this already. I am trying to understand how doing this modifies the system. How does this method differ from the newer method that has been posted? I am trying to learn all I can about Android, Root, etc. I have learned so much already in a very short time. I would like someone to explain the differences in / in the outcome of these two methods. I don't want to be a noob forever here. lol. Thank You.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no other way to root a nexus.
whichever method you choose to root a nexus with, even a root toolkit, they all do it the exact same way.
/system is always modified by root. You need the su binary and scripts to call it in /system. You have to add these files to get root access and adding files counts as a modification. You cannot root any phone without this.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

The great adventure of rooting the XZ1C

Hello everyone,
I have to say I am completely lost regarding the whole rooting process for the XZ1C. I usually manage to get where I want just by carefully reading the forums, but with this device, I feel overwhelmed by information. And I sometimes feel like what I am reading contradicts what I though I understood from previous reads...
I will try to sum up what I know so far.
First of all, I have a just-out-of-the-box Sony model G8441 with firmware 47.1.A.12.179 / Oreo 8.0.0 (never been connected to the outside world yet), and I want to properly root the device and install TWRP with no loss of feature.
What I think I understand:
To root, I first need to unlock the bootloader, which seems to be a trivial operation. However, this will break some functionalities due to DRM keys being erased. Once it is done, there is no way, ever, to get them back. There are however ways to "trick" DRM-related functionalities into believing DRM keys are still there.
Alternatively, there seems to be a way to backup the DRM keys prior to unlocking the BL, and this backup can somehow be reused and injected back into the unlocked device. If true, then this would certainly be a preferable method than the previous one, which would then be obsolete. However, it obviously doesn't look obsolete when I read the related topics, so I must be missing something...
Another thing I noted (but do not quite understand): There are ROMs for this device that "include" a DRM fix.
Last important thing I read: there is a paid "do-it-all" tool which takes my locked device and, with one click, makes it unlocked - rooted - DRM-fixed - TWRP-enabled. Now that sounds really good! Maybe too good?
As far as i know (but I learn new stuff every day on this topic) this DRM stuff is the main difficulty here. I understand that the rest of the process (root + TWRP) will be much simpler (although I'm old-school and completly missed all this magisk trend...!)
What I don't understand:
I read that some people downgrade to Oreo to be able to root properly, and at the same time, I read that Pie removed the restrictions on unlocked bootloader. So I still have no idea if I should connect and receive Sony updates, or avoid them.
Another thing I don't get, is how many ways do we have to root this thing? In the past, I was used to see, for a specific device, always one major and widly used rooting method. Here I fail to identify it...
What I think I will do:
1. Backup TA partition with j4nn's tool. This will probably imply flashing an older firmware right? Is there any link that could help me with this flashing process? (I only know Odin - did I mention old-school?) I saw this page for generic sony Z devices, but the thread is from 2013 and now closed. Is it still up-to-date or is there a newer thread?
2. Unlock bootloader and restore TA partition.
3. Wait for Sony updates? Or should I first hide unlock status?
3bis. Alternaltively to waiting for updates, maybe I can just flash the latest build? (47.2.A.8.24 if I am not mistaken)
4. Flash modpunk's TWRP.
5. Flash janjan's Boot.img to get root functionalities?
Alternaltively to all the above (except maybe step 1 that I will probably do in any case), buy the paid all-in-one tool (Xperifix), plug, click and wait... But will I really end up the same as with the manual way?
I saw a few other methods in the forums but it seems my brain is currently refusing to bring them back...
That's all I have right now. I would really appreciate if you guys could share some insight and tell me what you think about this, whether there are missing steps, useless steps, incorrectly ordered steps, silly steps, or if I'm just completely wrong about the whole thing.
Feel free also to correct me on the assumptions I made at the beginning.
Thank you very much for reading this repulsive piece of text.
SunJu22 said:
I would really appreciate if you guys could share some insight and tell me what you think about this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the looks of it you have done a great deal of research on the project.
Yes, go down the route of backing up your TA partition first, but that is not a small step in itself, it's pretty complicated and if you get that working then the rest of the project will be a breeze.
You don't say what version of firmware you want to end up on. If you want to end up on Pie then forget the DRMfix . But if you're staying on Oreo and can't be bothered with lots of files & flashing, then this is the easy way out, I bought the paid version and can verify it works.
More recently I ended up janjan's kernel (Oreo build). Hidden root (Google Pay works), lots of performance tweaks, DRM completely working.
It's unlikely that anyone will bother making a DRM fix for Pie as the camera works and there are only a couple of other features that get disabled.
It sounds like you're not the sort of person who's only going to read the first couple of pages of a thread (or the last) flash the xxxxxx and then complain when it's broken.
The people on the forum here are very helpful and if you go into any of the threads you mentioned in your post with a question, you'll get a reply.
Good luck.
I agree, there is a lot of information out there and different methods of achieving what you want - very confusing if you have not been following the threads since the beginning.
In my opinion, the preferred method is j4nn's method outlined here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...devonly-exploits-temp-root-to-backup-t3795510
Use that post as your main guide (the final step in that guide, #13, is how you will achieve root). You will use Newflasher to flash the various firmwares along the way (this is linked from j4nn's procedure in step #2). User munted made a very detailed pdf file that fills in some of the details on j4nn's procedure - see the following post and download the pdf attached: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78255334&postcount=382
Most of the other methods out there came before j4nn's work - they didn't include DRM backup/restore.
If you follow j4nn's procedure, you won't need to use the janjan kernel as you assumed - janjan method is different and does not overlap with j4nn.
SunJu22 said:
Feel free also to correct me on the assumptions I made at the beginning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I didn't point out that I was one of the early 'jumpers' who unlocked their bootloader without any backups, so I have been forced into always using fixes and all the information I have is based on having to fix your phone for it to work, but that's all changed now. I'm so out of date :-/
 @camaro322hp is right, if you follow j4nn's method correctly you'll be rooted with no DRM loss. All of the other stuff is not required.
Thank you Digesteve and camaro322hp for your help.
From what I understand the XZ1C didn't get as much love as other devices, thus there was a long period of tinkering before a "do-it-all guide" could be considered "the" solution. That could explain all these different approaches that are proposed. Like you said camaro322hp it's rather difficult to jump on this train, and I can only guess how interesting this ride has been.
Anyway, I didn't see that the TA backup thread from j4nn also encompassed all the information I needed; I am glad to finally know that there is indeed a centralized "do-it-all guide" . To make it easier for XZ1C newcomers, I think j4nn should update his opening post to make this clearer.
Since I managed to grab the attention of 2 XZ1C power users, I would like to ask you: Did you keep stock? Did you try alternative ROMs? Do you like some of them? Do you prefer Oreo or Pie?
For information, the most up-to-date experience I have on a Android phone is my LG90 with CyanogenMod 11 (KitKat 4.4.4! Yes sir!). I heard that it's becoming less and less useful to flash a custom ROM due to major OS improvements, but I would still enjoy the simplest and lightest Android possible.
SunJu22 said:
Did you keep stock? Did you try alternative ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always been on stock, the camera is an important part of what I want from my phone and although there's lots of alternative camera apps, there's no competition to the stock camera app. Then I theme it black with swift installer and just uninstall or freeze any apps I don't want with Titanium Backup. I have stuck with Oreo, everything works perfect and I remember seeing so many people jumping to 9 then wanting to go back to 8 because they didn't like it. Something about changing the way the drop down menu works, among other things, but having never installed it, I'm not the person to comment on if it's any good or not.
I have been watching the XZ1c thread and Lineage is gaining ground, it even has a stock camera now. I would have thought something like that with miniGapps is going to be pretty lightweight and very similar to your carbon rom of before. At the moment this is based on 8, but is working well. Depends how keen you are to move to Pie.
Thank you Digesteve.
One thing I still don't understand. Part of the process is to hide unlock status. If I do this, FOTA will be applied and I will automatically end up on Pie, right? Should I skip this step if I want Oreo?
EDIT: when you say "a stock camera", you mean the Sony camera?
@SunJu22 I've stuck with the Sony ROM. A rooted stock ROM meets all my needs, so I've never felt the need to experiment with custom ROMs. There are some custom options out there that people seem fairly happy with, so if that's your thing, I'd encourage it.
Without going into too much detail, I'm still on Oreo for the moment, for a variety of reasons, but I don't know of anything that would keep me from recommending Pie.
One thing you should note is that once you unlock, there is no going back. AFAIK there is no known or working method to relock the bootloader.
SunJu22 said:
FOTA will be applied and I will automatically end up on Pie, right? Should I skip this step if I want Oreo?
EDIT: when you say "a stock camera", you mean the Sony camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm not entirely sure why having your rooted phone try and update itself is an advantage, but something I'd recomend avoiding.
Stock camera is the Sony camera, yes.
Thank you everyone, I believe I now have enough information to jump into this with confidence. The adventure begins, and will be reported in this thread for future reference, in the hope that it will help others like me!
Well, I am a bit sad... I wanted to report my "adventure" here in detail, but I'm afraid I have nothing to say.
Indeed, following the procedure from j4nn with a printed copy of munted's awesome guide, I managed to do all I wanted on the first attempt.
I don't have anything to add to this guide, everyone wanting to root their XZ1C can do it just by reading the opening post from j4nn and the mentioned guide. It takes a bit of time but nothing complicated thanks to the clear and detailed explanations.
I now have a fully functional rooted XZ1C (including camera) on Pie with Magisk root and TWRP.
Thank you all again from pointing me to the right direction.
I however have a slight disappointment. I wanted to start with Oreo and make an Nandroid backup before moving to Pie, but I didn't find Oreo builds on Xperifirm. So I jumped straight to Pie.
In case I want to test Oreo, I read that a downgrade is more complicated than an upgrade, but apart from the fact that a factory reset is needed for downgrade, I couldn't find an explanation for this. Any idea?
Last but not least: I looked for the latest Oreo build version number but couldn't find it. Do you guys know what it is and where I can download it?
I guess this will be all for this thread after this. Although it is very convenient to have my own thread to ask questions rather than finding the relevant page for each one, I don't want to annoy you too much...
EDIT: Please ignore the last question. I found out last Oreo build is 47.1.A.16.20, and I found the files via the download link in the opening post of the Lineage thread.
SunJu22 said:
In case I want to test Oreo, I read that a downgrade is more complicated than an upgrade, but apart from the fact that a factory reset is needed for downgrade, I couldn't find an explanation for this. Any idea? Lineage thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an easy solution to downgrade:
Newflasher
Hi, I've been thinking about rooting my XZ1c for a long time now. So, do I understand correctly that the ONLY disadvantage compared to non-rooted device is not possible to receive the OTA updates from Sony anymore?
mEREHAIGE said:
Hi, I've been thinking about rooting my XZ1c for a long time now. So, do I understand correctly that the ONLY disadvantage compared to non-rooted device is not possible to receive the OTA updates from Sony anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can flash a kernel to hide the bootloader unlock flag, this will mean that you will receive OTA updates, although depending on how you're rooted an update will most likely break your phone, so not that useful.
*made a thread*
Thanks--rooted withOUT adventure too
Very happily rooted now. Just wanted to say a quick thanks and add a few notes:
1. j4nn's renoroot to enable TA key backup and restore is fantastic. My advice: use and donate
2. munted's guide is excellent. clear and thorough...a rare combination.
3. do expect that renoroot may need to be restarted a couple of times. it took me 3 or 4 attempts to get temp root to pull the TA keys, although it took only 1 effort to get root back to restore.
4. topjohnwu's magisk is, of course, a key component to all this. Thx and $s there too.
I did a few things slightly differently/additionally than SunJu22.
5. I am on T-Mobile US, so I opted to create a hybrid Pie FW to get wifi calling and VoLTE. There are a number of discussions on this. I did it by combining the vendor**.sin and system**.sin files from custom-CH FW with the other files from custom-US FW. Of course (a) use IDENTICAL release numbers only, e.g. 47.A.2.10.28 w/ 47.A.2.10.28 and (b) you still need to delete .TA and persist files from the hybrid before you flash it.
Note: I don't really care about these features, but I have *heard* that T-mobile won't allow BYOD on their band-12 sites if they don't have VoLTE. Don't know if it is true (or where it is true) but figured why not?
6. I decided (for now, at least) to leave boot and recovery stock. So, I am using fastboot to run TWRP or a rooted kernel. Thanks again to j4nn for the method.
Note: I don't plan on allowing FOTA upgrades---I just like passing all the security checks and being able to *see* if updates are available.
That's all. Fine work in development and guides has made life simple and happy for me
kirkzp said:
Very happily rooted now. Just wanted to say a quick thanks and add a few notes:
1. j4nn's renoroot to enable TA key backup and restore is fantastic. My advice: use and donate
2. munted's guide is excellent. clear and thorough...a rare combination.
3. do expect that renoroot may need to be restarted a couple of times. it took me 3 or 4 attempts to get temp root to pull the TA keys, although it took only 1 effort to get root back to restore.
4. topjohnwu's magisk is, of course, a key component to all this. Thx and $s there too.
I did a few things slightly differently/additionally than SunJu22.
5. I am on T-Mobile US, so I opted to create a hybrid Pie FW to get wifi calling and VoLTE. There are a number of discussions on this. I did it by combining the vendor**.sin and system**.sin files from custom-CH FW with the other files from custom-US FW. Of course (a) use IDENTICAL release numbers only, e.g. 47.A.2.10.28 w/ 47.A.2.10.28 and (b) you still need to delete .TA and persist files from the hybrid before you flash it.
Note: I don't really care about these features, but I have *heard* that T-mobile won't allow BYOD on their band-12 sites if they don't have VoLTE. Don't know if it is true (or where it is true) but figured why not?
6. I decided (for now, at least) to leave boot and recovery stock. So, I am using fastboot to run TWRP or a rooted kernel. Thanks again to j4nn for the method.
Note: I don't plan on allowing FOTA upgrades---I just like passing all the security checks and being able to *see* if updates are available.
That's all. Fine work in development and guides has made life simple and happy for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now riddle me this cause I'm on Tmo USA as well and I did the hybrid work fine as well but heres the question, does googlepay and banking apps still work with a unlocked bootloader or did you flash a modified kernel to hide the unlocked status.
Sitting on the fence about unlocking mine so I can do a full nandroid before trying out some gsi pie roms infact this is the first phone I haven't unlocked or least put twrp on since my samsung sidekick 4g o.o
kernel with hide-unlock
T_Tank said:
Now riddle me this cause I'm on Tmo USA as well and I did the hybrid work fine as well but heres the question, does googlepay and banking apps still work with a unlocked bootloader or did you flash a modified kernel to hide the unlocked status.
Sitting on the fence about unlocking mine so I can do a full nandroid before trying out some gsi pie roms infact this is the first phone I haven't unlocked or least put twrp on since my samsung sidekick 4g o.o
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full disclosure: I don't use Google pay or too many banking apps, so YMMV. But, I am using j4nn's kernel with unlock hidden. (See link in my note 6.) You can flash this, or you can leave in your stock kernel and merely fastboot to this. From what I have seen, it hides most - if not all -- indicators that the phone is rooted and the BL in unlocked.
Does somebody has :
G8441_1310-7123_47.1.A.16.20-R7B_Customized_CE1.ftf ?
Only backup i did not make, and its gone from XperiFirm.
Still have the feeling battery life was better in Oreo, and would be nice for experimenting.
Would be nice.
Thanks in advance.

Question Recovery without losing data? On rooted Tab S8 w/bootloop from failed Magisk Update

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone here can give me advice on how (or if!) I can recover from a bootloop after a failed Magisk update attempt, without losing the data on my tablet...
My Tab S8 was boot-looping constantly after I tried a Magisk update; trying the plugged-in-volume-up+volume-down trick from this thread gives me the screen with options for Continue, Device Unlock Mode, or Cancel. Before I go any further, I really want to make sure I don't do something that will accidentally wipe all my data!
I'm a long-time Android user and generally just competent enough to follow instructions (like the incredibly helpful howto guide in this forum!) and root my various phones and tablets, but tbh I don't have a full understanding of the various modes and what does / doesn't wipe the data on the device. I have a handful of documents on it that I would really like not to lose, so I don't want to screw this up by choosing options I don't fully understand... Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
(Or if someone with actual clue is willing to jump on a web meeting and help me recover it without losing data, I'll gladly compensate you for your time...)
Thank you in advance,
Lisa
Have you tried the Root How-To's instructions to update your firmware without wiping, only using the same version of the firmware your were on already?
Apologies if you already tried that.
Good luck!
roirraW edor ehT said:
Have you tried the Root How-To's instructions to update your firmware without wiping, only using the same version of the firmware your were on already?
Apologies if you already tried that.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I looked at that, but haven't tried it yet - my concern is that I don't know why the Magisk update failed, so I don't know whether trying the Root How-To's update would run into the same problem. The bootloop is incredibly difficult to interrupt - I had to try the volume up + volume down multiple times before getting the timing right.
If that's the best way to proceed, though, I can certainly give it a shot!
lorenzin said:
Thank you! I looked at that, but haven't tried it yet - my concern is that I don't know why the Magisk update failed, so I don't know whether trying the Root How-To's update would run into the same problem. The bootloop is incredibly difficult to interrupt - I had to try the volume up + volume down multiple times before getting the timing right.
If that's the best way to proceed, though, I can certainly give it a shot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do believe it's the best option since Magisk needs to be updated in the AP file. You likely need to dirty flash to stock first, if possible (not rooted, without wiping), so that you can have a working system to use the Magisk app to manually patch the AP file, copy the AP file back to the computer as the instructions say, then flash again.
roirraW edor ehT said:
I do believe it's the best option since Magisk needs to be updated in the AP file. You likely need to dirty flash to stock first, if possible (not rooted, without wiping), so that you can have a working system to use the Magisk app to manually patch the AP file, copy the AP file back to the computer as the instructions say, then flash again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU for your advice here! I was just able to restore it to the original firmware simply by following the Root How-To's update-without-wiping instructions. Currently debating whether I really want to update it and risk further problems, or just stick with the working firmware... But either way, I was able to recover the documents I need and it's great to have the tablet working again. I really appreciate your help!
Be well,
Lisa
lorenzin said:
THANK YOU for your advice here! I was just able to restore it to the original firmware simply by following the Root How-To's update-without-wiping instructions. Currently debating whether I really want to update it and risk further problems, or just stick with the working firmware... But either way, I was able to recover the documents I need and it's great to have the tablet working again. I really appreciate your help!
Be well,
Lisa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome, glad that helped! I know I was nervous the first time I updated Magisk, but I did it at the same time I updated the firmware. That is, I would've had to update the Magisk app first, so that I could apply that updated Magisk to the new AP file.

Question US Unlocked but using T-Mobile SIM - How to Root safely, many ??s

Long story, but after travails with an Amazon-purchased Oneplus 9 Pro due to it being locked (T-Mobile!) and them refusing to unlock it....
I went to OnePlus and got myself a OnePlus 10 Pro Unlocked. Still have the T-Mobile sim, though.
My question....
I have been out of the rooted phone scene for some time. I had a Oneplus 2 rooted and a Samsung Note 4 and 5 rooted. But things are different now, I'm gathering. Plus this is a new phone and I don't want to toss away hundreds of dollars by bricking it.
I used TWRP back in the day. Flashed many a custom rom back then. But with this OnePlus, I already unlocked it which... is that the same as rooting it? And what are the benefits of rooting / flashing roms vs just going with what is currently on this US phone (Oxygen 13 but not 13.1 yet)? I kinda want to see TWRP on here, and back up my whole set up into files I can then copy to my computer(s) for safety's sake. At least I liked that feature when I had it w/ the OP 2 and others.
Trying to get back up to speed in the world of rooting as it stands now.
Thanks.
TWRP on this device is really, "make of it what you will." It doesn't fully support this phone officially, and the leaked versions don't support device decryption, so you'll be forced to not use a passcode on your phone.
You don't need TWRP anymore, you just need to be careful and know what you're doing. There's guides for every model here, although they're all basically the same. Try to avoid flashing anything from your PC to the phone, just flash inside Magisk and BOOT images.
From my knowledge the reason for this is there's hidden partitions from OPPO all over the filesystem and normal flashers don't take this into account, anyone just trying to flash a full zip has bricked.
Which leads me to, there's no full recovery for this device that's free. If you brick a file and end up boot looping both slots, you're gonna have to pay for a restore. Even with TWRP, from what I hear, full backups sometimes fail to restore properly on this device.
TL;DR Be careful, read guides, you'll be fine. Rooting (on this device, with a lack of full recovery, hence no custom ROMs or Kernels) is really just used for audio mods, photo mods like free google photos, extensive app mods, etc. If you're not actively looking into any of these, stock Android is pretty solid.
Prant said:
TWRP on this device is really, "make of it what you will." It doesn't fully support this phone officially, and the leaked versions don't support device decryption, so you'll be forced to not use a passcode on your phone.
You don't need TWRP anymore, you just need to be careful and know what you're doing. There's guides for every model here, although they're all basically the same. Try to avoid flashing anything from your PC to the phone, just flash inside Magisk and BOOT images.
From my knowledge the reason for this is there's hidden partitions from OPPO all over the filesystem and normal flashers don't take this into account, anyone just trying to flash a full zip has bricked.
Which leads me to, there's no full recovery for this device that's free. If you brick a file and end up boot looping both slots, you're gonna have to pay for a restore. Even with TWRP, from what I hear, full backups sometimes fail to restore properly on this device.
TL;DR Be careful, read guides, you'll be fine. Rooting (on this device, with a lack of full recovery, hence no custom ROMs or Kernels) is really just used for audio mods, photo mods like free google photos, extensive app mods, etc. If you're not actively looking into any of these, stock Android is pretty solid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this.
I got as far as unlocking the phone and installing Magisk. But haven't gone further until I understand what the next step is.
Can I root non-destructively? Or is the phone wiped?
If you're unlocked and have Magisk installed, rooting is as easy as booting a patched boot image, then using Magisk to install it to your boot image. You have the choice of finding a matching one in one of the guides or pulling your own from a full zip.
It must match the firmware revision, I know for a fact personally that region matters little in case of NE2215/3, as you're only doing a one time boot.
I recommend @g96818 's guide here, you can find almost every firmware's boot image posted there if you prefer patch it yourself using Magisk or just boot an already patched one.
I have a 10 Pro (NE2215) rooted as a daily driver using TMO US.
Unlocked means 2 things in the android phone scene. Either it's carrier unlocked and can take any sim from any phone company or it bootloader unlocked which is needed to root and load custom roms.
There aren't any custom roms for the 10pro because of the lack of a full recovery system. Basically the ability to force full flash a stock rom in case the custom ROM soft bricks the phone. So that leaves rooting as the reason to unlock your bootloader.
I suggest reading the guide for rooting this phone, it's relatively easy. TWRP is unnecessary as it doesn't offer much without custom ROMs. Also you should back up everything on the phone that you don't want to lose because during the rooting process a factory reset will occur (android safety feature).

Categories

Resources