Database Develop

Magisk cannot actually patch a boot image? [Galaxy S8/SM-G955F, Android 7.0]

Hello all,
Hope this isn't a needless duplicate, but I've done a fair amount of searching and I can't find that this question has been answered anywhere.
If I understand correctly, it should be possible to use a 100% stock phone to produce a patched boot.img which can then be flashed to that same phone? From the instructions in topjohnwu's main thread about Magisk, I'm lead to believe Magisk can "bootstrap" itself in this way:
1) Install Magisk Manager and copy a stock boot.img extracted from the OTA
2) Use the "Install" menu item to produce a patched_boot.img, which can then be lifted off the phone and used (with ODIN) to flash the phone.
I never get to item 2.
My MagiskManager says "Magisk is not installed" which is obviously true, however, the instructions seem to say one can proceed from there, and yet I can't see how. I've created an /sdcard/magisk folder and an /sdcard/MagiskManager folder and stuck a(n unpatched) boot.img file in either of them; as well, I've just stuck one in /sdcard/ for good measure (the "root" of user-accessible storage) And yet no go.
Am I misunderstanding something? Is the patching of the boot image supposed to be happening somewhere else than on the (stock) phone? Poking around, I see that topjohnwu's "Magisk" git tree includes something called "magiskboot", but that doesn't seem to be part of the Magisk Manager package.
TL;DR: From what topjohnwu writes, it's supposed to be possible to install Magisk WITHOUT having a custom recovery installed, but I cannot find a way to actually do it with the provided tools and instructions.

You need internet access to download the Magisk zip to patch the image. No internet - no install button...

Ouch. Thanks for the help, Didgeridoohan, that's the answer right there. I like to get my phones set up "just right", which includes getting root and then backup up and freezing various things (for example using Titanium Backup), before ever allowing the phone to go online for the first time and triggering connections and synchronisations and registrations of the tonnes and tonnes of shovelware crap that seems to come in with the tide on any modern smartphone these days.
Thanks for the explanation. I guess I can get it taken care of with SuperSU, freeze the things I don't like and then get my download happening in Magisk Manager. Then when I'm ready with my patched boot.img, I can re-flash the stock ROM.
Wouldn't be a terrible feature to be able to just set up the files MagiskManager expects to find so that this all could work in an offline configuration, though!

Tangib1e said:
Ouch. Thanks for the help, Didgeridoohan, that's the answer right there. I like to get my phones set up "just right", which includes getting root and then backup up and freezing various things (for example using Titanium Backup), before ever allowing the phone to go online for the first time and triggering connections and synchronisations and registrations of the tonnes and tonnes of shovelware crap that seems to come in with the tide on any modern smartphone these days.
Thanks for the explanation. I guess I can get it taken care of with SuperSU, freeze the things I don't like and then get my download happening in Magisk Manager. Then when I'm ready with my patched boot.img, I can re-flash the stock ROM.
Wouldn't be a terrible feature to be able to just set up the files MagiskManager expects to find so that this all could work in an offline configuration, though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have another device, you can use that one to patch the boot.img. just put magisk manager and the stock boot.img on that one and patch it. Then move it to your PC for flashing in Odin. Make sure that, in the patched boot format settings in magisk manager, you select .tar for the format of the patched image.

Didgeridoohan said:
You need internet access to download the Magisk zip to patch the image. No internet - no install button...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app should really display a message if the phone is offline

[Root][SM-T590] Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5 (2018) root tutorial

Disclaimer: Your warranty will be void, use at your own risk. YOU are choosing to make these modifications and I am not responsible for any damages these changes might do to your device or sanity.
Hi.
Based on the feedback from this thread, the following steps can be used to aquire root on the SM-T590. The process is quite similar to rooting other devices by using Magisk. It might also work on other versions of the SM-T59x family, which can be OEM unlocked (sorry Verizon users).
Obtain the boot image
Get the firmware that matches the version installed on your device. This is important, otherwise you can easily end up in a bootloop.
Extract the AP tar.md5 file, e.g. "AP_T590XXU2ARJ1_CL14463952_QB20043720_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta.tar.md5".
Upon the extracted files, there is a file called boot.img.lz4. Extract it. Important: Most standard compression tools, e.g. 7-zip, are unable to extract lz4 compression ccorrectly. Use the offical lz4 binary from your Linux distribution or get the Windows version here. Once extracted, you should have a file called boot.img.
Patch the boot image
Copy the boot.img file to your device.
Download and install the Magisk Manager apk from the offical Magisk Thread.
In Magisk Manager settings, set the image format to "img.tar".
Enable the "Keep AVB2.0/dm-verity" in the Magisk main screen.
Hit "Install" and select "Patch boot image".
Select the boot image copied previously to your device.
Once finished, the patched image will be located in the Download directory on the internal storage.
Copy the patched image back to your PC.
Unlock and flash
Go into settings and enable developer settings.
In the developer settings, select OEM unlock, read the help text and enable the unlock, if you consent.
Once the device is factory reset and rebooted, turn the device off.
Boot the tablet into download mode.
Flash the patched boot image with Odin in the AP-slot
Reboot, Install Magisk Manager apk again and check if root is available.
Have fun.
Thanks to @gscollier, @airmaxx23 and @EinsamerSpieler for testing.

Rooting works but having the same problem as the others. Modifying system files leads to reboot.... damn

J.Edwards(not the killer) said:
Rooting works but having the same problem as the others. Modifying system files leads to reboot.... damn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is such problem.
I have Root Explorer app installed
When I try to move some app from "/data/app" to "/system/priv-app" (using Root Explorer) the device reboots and nothing is being saved at "/system/priv-app"
I want to make my app a system one
This method works ok on many other devices
Any ideas how to solve this problem?
I think system apps Device Security and Device Maintenance prevents me to do it.
I tried to delete them using Titanium Backup but phone reboots and they are installed again
Also there is Samsung Knox security technology

J.Edwards(not the killer) said:
Rooting works but having the same problem as the others. Modifying system files leads to reboot.... damn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you find a solution?

stupid question
I know this is a dumb question but where do you get the firmware....
Also was wondering if that reboot thing is still an issue.
I'll still root, I would like to try the LineageOS, eventually... how well does this work with Android apps/F-droid?
Update: still looking for confirmation on which boot image to use... guess you can't do a backup before flashing like you used to be able to do.
I installed heimdall and adb both seem to work
heimdall instructions

User848 said:
Yes, there is such problem.
I have Root Explorer app installed
When I try to move some app from "/data/app" to "/system/priv-app" (using Root Explorer) the device reboots and nothing is being saved at "/system/priv-app"
I want to make my app a system one
This method works ok on many other devices
Any ideas how to solve this problem?
I think system apps Device Security and Device Maintenance prevents me to do it.
I tried to delete them using Titanium Backup but phone reboots and they are installed again
Also there is Samsung Knox security technology
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the same happens to me.
I also tried removing some microsoft apps with Titanium, but after removing the excel, it goes to a kernel panic...
And then there's the "Security notice" from "SecurityLogAgent" notifications (unauthorised actions have been detected, unauthorised access to a secured area)

any solutions, followed steps but no root

I have the same problem Root is present but once i try to rename a file in /system/app, the device reboots.
Using SM-T590 with canadian image:T590XXU2ASC1
Using Magisk version V7.1.2(208) - V19.1 (19100)

I Found this procedure inside git magisk code:
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/blob/master/docs/samsung.md
Follow the Instructions part and it should work.

Quick help please, I have the patched boot image on my pc but when I click the AP slot on odin it doesnt detect it only finds tar, md5 files etc. in the settings i cant change the format to .tar there is no option.

IET_DEMO said:
I Found this procedure inside git magisk code:
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/blob/master/docs/samsung.md
Follow the Instructions part and it should work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be advised it's for Android 9 (Pie)
You can try to patch entire AP file, but I was told 19.1 may have problem. Try 18.0 first and see.
Unfortunately, there's no TWRP at this time

mingkee said:
Be advised it's for Android 9 (Pie)
You can try to patch entire AP file, but I was told 19.1 may have problem. Try 18.0 first and see.
Unfortunately, there's no TWRP at this time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did it on android 8.1.0, seems like it work on Oreo too

IET_DEMO said:
Well I did it on android 8.1.0, seems like it work on Oreo too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about Titanium Backup?
It works on rooted T510

mingkee said:
How about Titanium Backup?
It works on rooted T510
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have or use Titanium Backup, I usually clone my devices with twrp backup

There needs to be a better option that works without the current issues when rooting. You either end up with reboots or can not log in to Samsung account at all

For anyone who needs it, here's the latest tar for both stock boot and the magisk patched boot. works in Pie.

kidkrooks said:
For anyone who needs it, here's the latest tar for both stock boot and the magisk patched boot. works in Pie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would it work on 595? Bootloaders should be the same without boot loop?

vq8acsxht said:
Would it work on 595? Bootloaders should be the same without boot loop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly don't know as I don't have a 595. I took a chance on mine and it worked

kidkrooks said:
I honestly don't know as I don't have a 595. I took a chance on mine and it worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is on it's way. I will try it when I get it. I think bootloaders should be same in in both 590/595.

kidkrooks said:
For anyone who needs it, here's the latest tar for both stock boot and the magisk patched boot. works in Pie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this still have "Modifying system files leads to reboot" issue or it's solved ?

Magisk 19.3 and Samsung GT-I9001 (LineageOS 14.1, TWRP 2.8.1.0) does not work

Hi,
my Samsung GT-I9001 runs with LineageOS 14.1 (Nougat 7.1.2):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...opment/i9001-lineageos-galaxy-s-plus-t3793783
As recovery TWRP 2.8.1.0 (F2FS-support) is installed.
Wenn trying to install Magisk 19.3 using magisk-v19.3.zip via TWRP it does not work: Error message ""Error execute updater binary in zip" and no flash is done.
Any idea what is the reason? The TWRP 2.8.1.0 is the latest version I found for the I9001.
The I tried patching the stock-bootloader via the Magisk-Manager. The bootloader-file is a .tar-file, e.g. in
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24831012&postcount=1330.
Magisk works with .tar, too, but seems to exspect an .img-file inside. But inside the I9001-"Boot_loader.tar" is no .img-file but 3 .mbn-files and 1 .bin-file.
So I am asking for help. Is there no way using Magisk with the I9001 (and LineageOS 14.1/TWRP)?

You're not supposed to use the bootloader, but the boot image. Two very different parts of the system setup...
And since you have such an old TWRP you're going to have to use the patching method, but it is very far from certain that your device is compatible. Only way to know is to try though.

Oops. Sorry, my mistake. I am a newbie with this and until I was not aware of boot.img ... I supposed it as the "real" filename of the bootloader. And again learning something new. Thank a lot for teaching.
Fortunately I have made a backup of the stock-ROM with TWRP before flashing the ROM. In the backup I find the file boot.emmc.win. This seems to be the stock-boot.img. Is it corrcect that I only have to rename the file to boot.img?
If the I9001 is not compatible with Magisk, means patching of the boot.img would result in a not working code/boot.img (the patching-procedure itself worked w/o errors, but does thos mean, that the result is o.k.?) - is the real risk bricking the device?

That should be the boot image and it should work fine by just renaming it. But, if it's the boot image from the stock Samsung system it won't work with LineageOS. You'll find the boot image for the ROM inside the ROM zip.
If the boot image is incompatible the Manager will let you know by an error message. Save the installation log if that happens and it could possibly tell you in more detail what went wrong.
If everything goes smoothly and the Manager manages to patch the file without issue and you still end up not being able to boot your device after flashing it you can simply restore the unpatched boot image and everything will be back to normal again.

Thanks for the further explanations. But I am not sure understanding correct.
In my understanding of the Magisk-installation manual I have to use the original boot.img always, in every case.
Do I understand correct that this understanding is wrong and that I have to use for patching with the Magisk-Manager the specific boot.img of the actual running OS? So I have to extract the boot.img of the lineageos-14.1-.tar-file (or rename the boot.emmc.win from one of my later backups of the lineagos-14.1-system)?
I have tested patching meanwhile with the "original" boot.img from the old ("original") backup and also with a boot.img extracted from a complete stock-ROM I have found in the web. Magisk Manager patched both fles w/o problems.
btw: Need the patched file the name "boot.img" or doesn´t matter the ame of the patched file (when flashing with fastboot or Odin)?
Unfortunately - or fortunately - I was not able to flash the patched boot.img to the i9001:
adb can communicate with the i9001 when it is running normal (USB debug enabled) and attached via USB. But although Odin is realizing the i9001 attached in download-mode (what means that the USB-cable is working and the driver are installed) fastboot does not realize the i9001 attached in download-mode. I have tested a lot of cables, ports and USB-drivers - no success.
So I tried to flash the boot.img with Odin. For this the boot.img must be converted to a .tar- (or .tar.md5-)file. When searching for converting-tools I found the explanation how to change the output-format of the patched boot.img in Magisk-Manager to .tar. Unfortunately I do not find this option in the current/latest version of Magisk-Manager. What is wrong - is there a secret, a hidden way to activate this option or is this option available in older versions of Magisk Manager only - and if so can I use an older version only for patching and getting a .tar-boot-image-file?

What the documentation is talking about is indeed the untouched boot image of your currently running OS. Don't mix and match.
When flashing with Odin the image indeed need to be in tar-format. With the current Manager there is no option to change the output format because the Manager will take care of that itself. Feed it a tar file and it'll output a tar file. Unfortunately you'll likely get plain image files from the TWRP backups, so those files will be no good unless you convert them before patching.
But, you might not have to use Odin since you have TWRP. It can flash the patched boot image for you. No computer required...

Again thanks a lot for this teaching. I am a newbie in modifying, tuning, flashing smartphones, and although I have learned a lot in the last weeks there are yet a lot of thing I do not know.
I know that I can flash new OS as .zip-file with TWRP (and other files if the manual says that I have/can do it with TWRP ) but I did not know that I can flash with TWRP a boot.img-file. So I would like to ask for a brief guide how to do this. Or is this the same procedure as flashing any .zip-file?
Addition 1: TWRP 2.8.1.0 does not see/list the .img-Files ....
O.k., found in the web: Directly flashing .img: Version 2.8.4.0 and above ....
So I am back again where I started ... fastboot does not see the i9001 and Odin needs a .tar ...
Addition 2: In reg. of the boot.img of the actual used OS:
I have looked into the "original" flashed lineage-14.1-20180523-UNOFFICIAL-ariesve.zip and found the boot.img. But this boot.img is smaller (4.670 byte) than the boot.emmc.win of it´s backup (5.120 byte). In fact every boot.emmc.win of every TWRP-backup (doesn´t matter what OS I have tested) ist 5.120 bytes and larger than the boot.img of the .tar/.zip-file for flashing (different sizes). So if the files are not identical - how can just simply renaming the boot.emmc.win in boot.img result in a valid boot.img?

It's practically the same thing. You just have to switch to "Image" after choosing the install option and then pick what partition to flash to after selecting the file.

Didgeridoohan said:
It's practically the same thing. You just have to switch to "Image" after choosing the install option and then pick what partition to flash to after selecting the file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But not in version 2.8.1.0 - and there is no newer TWRP for the i9001.

MarkFalk said:
But not in version 2.8.1.0 - and there is no newer TWRP for the i9001.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I'm going to forcefully introduce my palm to my face for a moment... Forgot about that tiny but crucial detail.
Just use the boot image file from the LineageOS zip. Patch it and flash the patched image to your device. If you can't get that working I'm going to have to hand this over to someone else, because I have practically zero knowledge on working with Samsung devices and their shenanigans.

Thanks. The small detail of "flashing" into the i9001 is the remaining problem.
As said fastboot does not see the i9001 in it´s download-mode although Odin sees the device and can flash e.g. the bootloader. Odin on the other hand needs a .tar-file and I do not find a way how to converting the (patched) boot.img into a .tar-file that Odin would accept as valid file.

In these cases I usually ask someone like @jenslody or @ianmacd. They usually have a lot more knowledge about Samsung stuff...

I have found a workaround:
1. Make a pure boot-backup with TWRP
2. Copy the backup-folder into/with a new name
3. Copy boot.emmc.win and boot.emmc.win.md5 from the backup to pc or root
4. Rename boot.emmc.win to boot.img
5. Patch boot.img with Magisk-Manager
6. Rename the result to boot.emmc.win
7. Copy boot.emmc.win to the new backup-folder
8. Make a RD5-hash of boot.emmc.win
9. Replace the hash in boot.emmc.win.rd5 with the new hash
10. Copy boot.emmc.win.rd5 to the new backup-folder
11. Boot into TWRP and restore boot from the new folder
It works with the i9001 and lineageOS14.1 and TWRP 2.8.1.0 and the newest Magisk, but it should work with all devices.

[OOS][ALL][Stock boot][Stock recovery] OxygenOS 11.0.0

Here are all the boot.img and recovery.img of OxygenOS 11.0.0. Since TWRP isn't ready yet, I guess a lot of people need it if they didn't keep their root permissions.
As I only have a EU device I can only provide a patched boot.img for that device. But with the original .img files it should be easy to patch and flash it yourself. To make it clear: boot.img and recovery.img are stock unless said otherwise. They've just been extracted from the payload.bin inside the respective OOS update zip file.
OOS 11.0.0 EU:
boot.img
boot.img (Magisk v22 patched)
recovery.img
OOS 11.0.0 GLOBAL:
boot.img
recovery.img
OOS 11.0.0 INDIA:
boot.img
recovery.img
Please note: I'm not responsible for anything you do to your device. You use these files at your own risk. I will not provide any further .img files nor ask me for patched files. Any contribution with patched boot.img files is welcome of course. Also note although I'm a moderator, this thread is neither official nor in any way more or less trustworthy than any other contribution by other awesome members!

Would I be able to keep my phone rooted with this after updating?

This is very useful
thanks

jman12311 said:
Would I be able to keep my phone rooted with this after updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, unless you use the Magisk patched EU version. Otherwise always install the update, then use the Magisk Manager to patch the inactive slot and then (only then!) reboot. Then you'll keep root.
Otherwise use the stock boot.img and patch with Magisk Manager. Then flash the patched image via fastboot. There are plenty of tutorials on XDA

Hi i installed the update already but didn't reboot what is the solution to keep root ?

Janusk22 said:
Hi i installed the update already but didn't reboot what is the solution to keep root ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Install Magisk manager app
2. Open the app and choose "Install to inactive slot (After OTA)"
3. Reboot!

already now i have a magisk module who is making bootloop i already have access to adb via recovery how to remove it

Janusk22 said:
already now i have a magisk module who is making bootloop i already have access to adb via recovery how to remove it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use USB debugging and a PC with the code:
Code:
adb wait-for-device shell magisk --remove-modules
If USB debugging isn't enabled, flash the stock boot.img (without root), boot it, enable ADB debugging and allow the connection to the PC. Then flash the patched boot.img and execute the command above
That is assuming you have a OnePlus 7T Pro which doesn't have a decryptable recovery. Otherwise you can simply flash the Magisk uninstaller

But i have a error I think that i cannot write in system
I have always : cannot be accessible

Thanks i just had to run the command when i rebooted

Is just me or GPS takes more time to "fix" satellites?

FSadino said:
Is just me or GPS takes more time to "fix" satellites?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not longer than usual. But I often had GPS fix issues with my 7T Pro where it takes 5-10 minutes despite using A-GPS.

Macusercom said:
Not longer than usual. But I often had GPS fix issues with my 7T Pro where it takes 5-10 minutes despite using A-GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I calibrated the A-Gps again, let's see if that was it. Thank you

Hi I was wondering if you could possibly share the android 11 update file I have a Oneplus 7T Pro HD1910 currently on OOS 10.1.14 It would be awesome if you can PM me. I've tried downloading from Oygen Updater it fails at 98% also on XDA forum the download fails. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

Macusercom said:
As I only have a EU device I can only provide a patched boot.img for that device. But with the original .img files it should be easy to patch and flash it yourself. To make it clear: boot.img and recovery.img are stock unless said otherwise. They've just been extracted from the payload.bin inside the respective OOS update zip file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, could you please share the payload.bin extract procedure?

Ia possible to use this files to back to stock rom from lineageos 18.1? If yes, can someone help me and give me the procedure how to do this?

For all the "EU" and "global" files, I get "fastboot: error: boot partition is smaller than boot image". The Magisk version can be installed, but then I get a Qualcomm crash screen when I try to actually start it.

Question Twrp on samsung a33

Ive been searching for ages and still havent found how to install twrp on my a33, is it even possible? Im trying to root my a33 with magisk but i need twrp. Im stuck and i dont know what to do

I've rooted through Odin by following this post https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/are-these-rooting-guides-for-the-samsung-a33-5g-good.4475163/ but I'm waiting for TWRP to install custom rom too...

ive rooted my phone with magisk by using odin and a patched ap file by magisk, i installed my official software back because magisk kind of slowed down my devices, but now im waiting for twrp so i can install lineage os

Is TWRP the onl way to install lineage OS?

yes i guess

Dryfty said:
ive rooted my phone with magisk by using odin and a patched ap file by magisk, i installed my official software back because magisk kind of slowed down my devices, but now im waiting for twrp so i can install lineage os
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do you want to install Lineage OS? There is still not version of Lineage for A33

you can only get lineage on a33 if you have twrp but a33 doesnt "support" twrp

Dryfty said:
you can only get lineage on a33 if you have twrp but a33 doesnt "support" twrp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is an experimental version of TWRP working, I am using it

Arcangel3 said:
there is an experimental version of TWRP working, I am using it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on the a33? can you explain how to install it

Dryfty said:
on the a33? can you explain how to install it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
attached to you here. Bear in mind it is experimental, but it might work
EDIT: deleting it because it is unstable version, a stable version will be released soon by @Zillion (no pressure )

Arcangel3 said:
attached to you here. Bear in mind it is experimental, but it might work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for sharing! Could you say what's the best custom ROM for this device for the moment? Or where is the list of ROMs? thanks!

vovaxxxx said:
Hey, thanks for sharing! Could you say what's the best custom ROM for this device for the moment? Or where is the list of ROMs? thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is none yet.
But some poeple said that stock ROM for A33 is good enough to not need a custom ROM.

Arcangel3 said:
attached to you here. Bear in mind it is experimental, but it might work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give credits to the guy that made it

Zillion said:
Give credits to the guy that made it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure who made it, was it you? hehe

Dryfty said:
Ive been searching for ages and still havent found how to install twrp on my a33, is it even possible? Im trying to root my a33 with magisk but i need twrp. Im stuck and i dont know what to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bro try this way to root
I want to root my A12 but it not work for my phone.please send me a latest version for A127FXXU7BVI1 isBaseband version
I want to root my A12 but it not work for my phone.please send me a latest version for A127FXXU7BVI1 isBaseband version
forum.xda-developers.com

Arcangel3 said:
I am not sure who made it, was it you? hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, it got its reasons to not be released.

Zillion said:
Yup, it got its reasons to not be released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
should I delete it?
Do we have any better version now?

@Zillion any progress with a relesable version???

Arcangel3 said:
@Zillion any progress with a relesable version???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't own A33 and I don't know how to make any progress on this :c

I managed to get the Lineage OS "Light" GSI version by AndyYan https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gsi-13-lineageos-20-light.4509315/ and it works well, but the process to install it is pretty involved and if you do anything wrong, you can easily soft-brick your phone. This process should also work for other gsi roms
First Download the Latest Version of Lineage OS "Light", of which the download link can be found in the thread above or here https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-20-light/ (There are three versions, vS "Vanilla with Superuser installed" vN "Non-SU Vanilla" and gN "Non-SU with GApps") If you want root, I suggest choosing one of the Non-SU versions and patching the stock AP tar with Magisk before starting this process as the Superuser version provides you a generic superuser app and installing magisk with it greets you with a abnormal state message every time you launch the Magisk Manager.
Second: Unpack the downloaded tar file using 7zip if on windows or with the tar command on linux, and then rename the unpacked .img file to system.img
Third: Get the stock firmware for your device using samloader or some other Samsung firmware downloader and unpack the archive file you get to a directory
Fourth: Unpack the AP tar file, you should get a bunch of files in .img.lz4 format.
Fifth: Find the super.img.lz4 file and decompress it using https://github.com/lz4/lz4/releases and this command
Code:
lz4.exe -d super.img.lz4 super.img
From this point onwards you are better off on linux (I've only tested this on Ubuntu WSL so far), if you're on windows 10+, I suggest enabling Windows Subsystem for Linux and downloading and running the Ubuntu distro from the Microsoft store, you can google how to do that.
Sixth: Within Linux (Ubuntu in my case), install the "android-platform-system-core" package using your preferred package manager (I know that package is available on Ubuntu, but I haven't researched whether any other linux distro has that package available). The main thing we want from that package is the shell script "simg2img" as the super.img is currently sparsed (compressed using the Android Sparse image format).
Seventh: If you already did the steps so far in Linux, just go to whatever directory you have the super.img stored, otherwise if you did everything in windows and have a Ubuntu WSL distro ready, you can copy the super.img directly into the ubuntu distro by going into file explorer and scrolling all the way to the bottom of the navigation pane till you see Linux, of which you can expand to find a Ubuntu network share folder, expand that and drag and drop the super.img into your root folder, as well as the system.img file (renamed gsi rom file).
Eighth: Unsparse the super.img using the command:
Code:
simg2img super.img *whatever*.img
This will give you a raw disk image of super.img that's about 9-10 gb. You can name the output file to whatever you want as long as you can discern which img is which, in fact after running the command you can delete the original as you no longer need it.
From here is where the process gets a bit tricky and I fully recommend reading through this guide: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...are-binary-3-may.4053065/page-4#post-82241115
Ignore the fact that the thread is for the Galaxy a51 as the steps work for the a33 as well. When you get to the point where you've unpacked the Super.img, copy the GSI system.img over the stock one.
Now the part that can easily cause you to mess up is that when repacking super.img, you have to get the size of each file, including the unsparsed super.img and input the size in bytes of each file in place of what is given in the long command used to repack the image. The numbers you have to change are as follows:
--device super:4294967296 (Change to the file size of super.img)
--group main:4293513600 (Calculate the sum of the size of each of the .img files that were contained in the super.img, minus product.img as that's not needed)
--partition vendor:readonly:342155264:main (Change to the byte size of your vendor.img, same goes for system, odm and vendor_dlkm. Not sure if vendor_dlkm is required as it's not shown in the guide, but just to be safe, I'd recommend adding that in the same format as shown above for vendor just change vendor to vendor_dlkm)
File sizes can be acquired using the command:
Code:
ls -l
Another thing to note is that all of the file sizes must be divisible by 512 as that's the block size the img uses, if they all are, then you're good to go, if one or more aren't you're probably dealing with a corrupt file or that one of the img files is sparsed or compressed in some way. Once you've confirmed the file sizes are good, run the command. You can ignore the "Invalid sparse file format at header magic" message as it doesn't seem to mean anything bad for the process. You don't have to worry if the sparsed image file size is divisible by 512 as it more than like won't be evenly divisible as the file is compressed now.
Once that's done you can take the new modified super.img (make sure it's named that) out of the linux distro and back to windows.
Recompress the super.img back into super.img.lz4 using the command:
Code:
lz4.exe -B6 --content-size super.img super.img.lz4
Now package the super.img.lz4 file with all of the other files from the AP back into a tar file, I suggest using the tar-md5-script-tool.zip from this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...sing-odin-without-twrp-phh-lineageos.4114435/
At this point, you can skip to step 24 on that guide and continue from there to install the custom rom, just remember to use super.img.lz4 instead of system.img.ext4.lz4, also ignore the .ext4 part, I think that's a device specific thing and the a33 from what I know doesn't have that.
Once you're done and you've booted up after flashing with ODIN, you should be greeted with the lovely Lineage OS Boot Screen
Bare in mind this is a barebones rom and many features may not work as intended since it's an unofficial build of Lineage OS and is intended to work with many devices without too many issues.