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I have been less than pleased with my verizon Titan ever since I have had it. It runs very slow. At least twice a week, I have to remove the battery to unfreeze. The other day, I was in a patients room and noticed that her husband had a phone just like mine. I asked him if he liked it and he said that he loved it. I expressed some of my frustrations and he directed me to this website, telling me that he had installed a new radio and kitchen etc and that it now worked great. Looking at some of the websites, I have only become confused and a bit scared to try and tweak my phone. I do not know where to start.
Will somebody give me or direct me to simple idiot proof instructions on how to unlock/unleash the powers of this phone? I need instructions written for someone who knows nothing about altering smartphones.
Thanks in Advance
Not to be rude, but did you even read the stickies on the forum? Plz read the wiki's gather as much knowledge as you can about the subject and then take the plunge. You will find that the wiki's are most helpful. I would update to DCD's latest ROM and get the latest radio.
You will also find out that alot of basic apps don't come with his ROMs. Make sure you get a list of what you need on your phone before you take the plunge. Get a backup program like PIM backup.
Do searches. Research on your own. nobody here is going to do that for you. People created these wiki's for a reason. USE THEM.
In all truthfulness you should not hack your phone unless you know what you are doing. The wikis and threads are very daunting even to those who have some knowledge of what is going on.
Not trying to be rude, but maybe you need a different phone. One that works the way you want it to work right out of the box.
Best case scenario, even if you manage to fumble your way thru the wikis and then later flash your rom, are you going to be able to recover if you get stuck in the bootloader?
The wikis have the info that you need. But like learning medicine you have to apply yourself.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=392133
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Titan
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=dcdtitanroms
http://ppckitchen.org
You may want to try this one first, to see what all this cooking stuff is all about
gc14 said:
Yes, this is the official sprint 6.1 update with 3.42.02 radio. Non sprint customers can use it to flash the radio only (if you can't via sd card), but again CAN'T let customizations run. Non sprint customers will have to wait until the custom rom is released.
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=402887
There are different methods to flash your rom, and different choices for rom updates. Read up on all of them. Trust me, you will need the info sooner or later.
Like it says in the DCD thread you need to unlock your phone, you need a rom, radio, and a carrier. I just flashed my sprint titan for the first time and just about cried when it got stuck in the bootloader.
oh looky what I just accidentally found in the forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=403866
Boomstick said:
oh looky what I just accidentally found in the forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=403866
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What an amazing concept, you read the forum.
Unfortunately that many guides offer what I feel to be short-cuts. It may be fine if everything goes perfectly, but the problem with such simplifications is that new people can find themselves stuck in unfamiliar territory.
People should be take the time to be aware of background to what they are doing to their phones. Personally, I'd rather recommend taking care to understand the Wiki as myself and others have made the effort to cover many possibilities and recovers when flashing.
Hysterical that the poster identifies himself as a trauma surgeon. Lets hope that if any of us is ever unlucky enough to find ourselves on the other end of the scalpel from this joker, that he isn't standing at the table saying "how do you do this?", and might have taken the time to read up first.
There is no correlation between Surgeon and Computer literacy. My wife's cousin in finishing up Med school and is as bright as they come yet not computer savy beyond common tasks.
As for the actual question he needs not to worry. Using the link with Step by Step to the Verizon upgrade will go easy for you. I only suggest doing the radio via SD card and Rom via USB.
Big Dawg 23 said:
There is no correlation between Surgeon and Computer literacy. My wife's cousin in finishing up Med school and is as bright as they come yet not computer savy beyond common tasks.
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Its not the correlation, its the attitude.
Interesting attitudes here
I will start of first saying thank you to those of you who actually are trying to help. For the rest of you, yes I did search the forum and yes I did read the Wiki. I still did not feel like I understood things well enough to run the risk of "bricking" my phone. (That is new lingo for those of us who don't spend all of our time on computers) Of course I could spend 10 or 20 hours or more, learning more about the phone, which would mean that some time in October I might have it figured out. My job simply does not give me the time to spend hours and hours trying to tweak my phone. I am in the hospital 110 to 120 hours a week (not a month). I feel lucky when I get a few minutes with my wife and kids. But rest assured, when you crash you car and you are bleeding to death, I am there for you just as I am for everyone else. So for the rest of you who are too cocky and to much of a smartass to help someone else out, I ask what in the world are you doing in this forum anyway. I would predict that you are only in here to take what others are here to give OR just here to try and belittle or make others feel stupid.
traumasurg, well aren't you special?
(That is new lingo for those of us who don't spend all of our time on computers)
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Get off your high horse, exceptional ego, relax, and take the time to respectfully learn. Only a single comment here may have generalised and only slightly went over-board, but none were as bad as your absolute swipe against this community -- your second post to XDA.... ebb pegged it, as you do have a horrible attitude. You may have made a far better first impression by not posting your introduction to the forum as a request for a short-cut to flashing your phone without also stating that you had paid notice to the Wiki and current threads concerning flashing guides.... If you had trouble understanding, then why did you fail to state exactly where you went out-of-depth? If terminology is "new lingo" to you then did you at least cover the basics of basic in our Wiki's Titan for Beginners?
You come in here looking for help yet some of us were quite polite, accurate and specific in warning that you should not rush forward with short-cuts before being aware of what you are doing and how to recovery. Links to help were provided to you before in between your two posts. Your phone is possibly your critical property so you should avoid messing with it if unsure upon ensuring that you can maintain its function.
Warning for you in the future -- don't join a tech forum insult all as shut-in computer geeks who owe our life to you. This is an anonymous forum, and therefore all are potentially equal here. What distinguishes members is their decorum of respect and a display of an effort to learn.
Keystone said:
Warning for you in the future -- don't join a tech forum insult all as shut-in computer geeks who owe our life to you. This is an anonymous forum, and therefore all are potentially equal here. What distinguishes members is their decorum of respect and a display of an effort to learn.
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Look, I in no way implied that everyone in here is a shut-in computer geek, although I have no doubt that some are. If you look back over the replies to my original post, there were a couple of members who showed anything but respect. In fact, two of them even posted twice to my original question without any useful information and replied only to in effect say "look how stupid this guy is." If you were on the other end of that reply, what would you think of those here in this forum? There were however several other responses, yours included, that were helpful. Yes I did read through the Wiki and I also had previously looked at two other websites given me by my patient's husband. It was mostly greek to me. That is why I posted.
I must say, I have been in several different forums, dirtbiking, cycling, climbing, trauma, as well as other computer forums and I have never met such attitudes that I met in here this week.
I'll probably just get an iphone next week.
traumasurg said:
I am in the hospital 110 to 120 hours a week (not a month)
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sucks to be you...
and since there is only 168 hours in a week and you say 120 of it is for work... that leaves you with 48 hours of sleeping time... which would be a little less than 7 hours of sleep a day... how do you eat? how do you shower? how do you get laid? no wonder the attitude... if no one else understands... I do
It is tough for some to answer the same questions that are (I promise) explained in the wiki. The hope is that most people would understand and be able to follow through with the instructions, but this is not for anyone, similar to HAM radio and FTA satellite.
I encourage you to go for the iphone, it seems more your speed.
Alright traumasurg, I can understand being a noob sucks. So here is a breakdown of what you should do if you want to get your phone with a new rom and gps radio.
That stock rom wont work with GPS radio. You need a non-stock rom for it to work.
Get this rom: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=402920
Get this radio: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=403280
use this as a guide: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=TitanRecentHome
Once the rom is installed assuming you have verizon, run the carrier cab.
Get carrier cab here: http://www.lifesnotsogood.com/dcd1182/carriers/dcd Verizon Carrier 20080706.cab
Remember you will need to install the new boot loader first. Then do the rest according to instructions there.
Also, make sure you have another phone handy or a land-line handy for when u call verizon. To get it re-authenticated. You will need to do this whenever u go from a non-gps radio to a gps one. (I reccomend doing this during business hours so u dont freak and wont be able to contact them until they open in the morning)
Oh yeah make sure you backup your contacts to outlook(activesync) or use Pimbackup or your gonna be pissed off.
I would appreciate some guidance with my question. I have a G-TAB that is running the Android 2.2 OS. I am aware that there are better OS systems available for the G-TAB with more capabilities, but I have heard that some of them disable FLASH and the CAMERA capabilities? I was wondering if there was a better OS upgrade out there in the development world that would not disable some of the origianl G-TAB features? Also, since I am a novice in this area, is there a service available that will perform this OS upgrade for me for a price? Please advise as I would like to move forward with the suggested upgrade. Many thanks!
There are some good froyo roms such as brilliant corners, mountain laurel, And a couple more that don't lose any functionality. There are plenty of guides to follow to change roms. Just read them carefully and follow the instructions. Don't pay someone to do it.
I'm more than happy to do it but I'm expensive. Considering that it costs 200+ more to buy a unit with Linux on it, I would charge the same for any possible version of Android. The majority of the price is the liability and time. I can fix anything, that's not the problem. The real problem lies in how we're forced to upgrade devices. It's a pretty straight forward process but if anything goes wrong it could take hours of research to figure it out.
If you're willing to pay $200 and ship it to me with a return label, I'm more than happy to help you out. Honestly you could do the same things I'm going to do if you put a little time into the research here on XDA and the other forums out there. If you're too busy or not technically inclined I can understand that. Daddy needs a new pair of shoes as they say...
PM me if you still need someone to help.
I'm not aware of any real service for flashing tablets. But we aware that if you pay someone to flash a new ROM you'll have no knowledge of how to fix it when things go wrong. And things will eventually go wrong. If you want to run anything other than stock, it's absolutely necessary to understand at least the basics of modding android devices. Check out http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummies.webs.com/ to get started. Good luck.
seiously, these topics are getting OLD quickly...
READ
READ
READ
READ
READ
READ
READ
Patience yoda we have a young padawan among us
kieso said:
Patience yoda we have a young padawan among us
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Obviously not an illiterate one, though.
Does anyone ever read first, then ask questions anymore?
I know that it can get confusing, but really. Before I got my Gtablet back in April, I read just abotu every thread on here, and watched just abotu every youtube video available.
Was I fearful when I flashed my first rom? Absolutely. Did it work flawlessly? Absolutely. Did I read, re-read, watch videos, re-read, read step by step as I was doing it, then read again when I was done to make sure I didn't skip a step...YOU BET YOUR BIPPY I DID.
The reason that I get blunt when I see these questions is because this tablet has been available for almost a year. There is more information available for this device on several forums that there should be no reason to ask questions that have been answered at least 50 times.
If you seriously need a "service" to flash a rom for you, then you REALLY should have bought an iPad, and have been stuck with whatever Apple provides.
FORUM RULES:
1. Search before posting.
Use one of our search functions before posting, whether you have a question or something new to share, it's very likely someone already asked that question or shared that news.
I am a new Xperia Ultra owner and whilst not planning to do any flashing just yet I thought tonight I'd take a quick look at threads discussing steps that would be involved in doing this.
Let me qualify what I'm about to say by stating that I appreciate people on this site who develop tools which allow us to hack our devices so we can make better use of our phones. They are incredibly skilled, gifted and generous with their time. I would love to be able to spend the time learning how to do this but I simply don't have the time. So please don't take what I am about to say as a criticism but more as an observation, considering the effort contributors put into this it would indeed be incredibly foolish of me to criticise anyone here.
I can probably safely say that none of the contributors are also trained technical writers and a fair number do not have English as their first language. Its my first and only language and I often have difficulty getting the meaning across succinctly not to mind getting the spelling right . And I know even for large software houses support documentation is not a priority.
I want to approach hacking my phone with confidence this time round. In the past I've reflashed several phones for myself and friends and simply followed steps and not really understanding completely what the hell I was doing. Lordmanhattan I know I sent you an email regarding a contradiction on your thread. And you very kindly got back to me very quickly.....amazing, thank you. And then there is the "TA partition", WTH is that? I did very briefly google this to find a quick answer but no joy....grrrr (also looked in the XDA Wiki acronyms) I'm sure if I looked hard enough I'd find it. It's mentioned everywhere but nobody seems to be offering an explanation what it is or what it does or why it's important or what it stands for !!!!
Very often I find threads on here describing how to do something hard to follow and this is often for the following reasons:
It could be that there is more than one way to achieve something so its a case of different people offering varied procedures, this can be confusing
A process may be described but then to the newbie the author seems to miss out on a step that to the experienced is obvious
The level of English used leads the reader to scratching their head wondering ...did he/she mean this or that
Threads not being updated or corrected even after feedback
Okay I won't go on.
So I have decided my time might be well spent doing some background research before delving into messing about with my Xperia Z Ultra and saving you guys from having to deal with daft questions from me.
Now does this mean I have to spend time reading through threads and trying to piece it all together to find the best way through and possibly getting the wrong end of the stick or reading superseded posts?
OR
Are there a couple of sites that will get me up to speed understanding the terminology, hardware, memory management, etc for my phone?
I have a feeling it's going to be a bit of both......your suggestions please
Oh, I stumbled across XDA University but got the impression it wasn't being maintained???
Some of the pages I visited....
A New User’s Guide to Android.......unfortunately none of the images for this page loaded
Video guides .................................had flash presentations which didn't load
Ferg8080 said:
I am a new Xperia Ultra owner...
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A good and detailed post, and it's not just the dev's and support that could take note. Some of the people that ask questions really need to read your post and think about what they are trying to say, get help with -- we aren't mind readers either.
I always try and help anew user by using as few TLA as possible in a reply to them. I also try to do the steps as #'d lists with as many steps as possible.
I do think LordManhattan's guide needs a little love as a few things are a little out of date - but it is as comprehensive guide as you could get, and most vagaries are covered in the thread.
TA = trim area, where your unique DRM keys are stored, and god only knows what else.
Thanks for your well written post! First I want to say - like Blueether just did, that we are not mind readers, so we can't possible know people's skill level or what they want to do. That's why I've started to ask them straight up what they want to do and where in the process they are. That way it'll be easier for me to help the other person, and hopefully write a short but complete step by step guide. It won't happen that often, but if I got some time to spare, why not.
My guide is a little out of date now, and I have planned to update it for quite some time, but things are moving so god damn quick around here that even I will get outdated if I take a short break. I recently sent my Ultra in for repairs, and 12 days later when I got it back and ready to get back in the game, a new firmware had been released with a new rooting method. I knew everything one day, and nothing on the other. It's really hard to balance real life and being kept updated at all times. Don't forget that you must be sure about what you know and write when you make a guide, because you don't want to brick people's devices. One slipup and the consequences might be ugly.
There are (of course) one or four ways of doing things around here, and you'll probably get different ways of doing things if you ask me or blueether about rooting or flashing custom ROMs. I guess it's just the way it is. New methods also pop up once in awhile, so some people will adopt these new methods while some other people will stick with the old school method, thus making things a little more complicated for new people who are looking for reliable information.
The TA partition is, like blueether already said, your device's unique DRM keys which makes X-Reality (and other minor things, I guess) work. It's important to make a backup of this partition since you'll lose it when you unlock the bootloader. Why would you unlock the bootloader? You have to unlock it if you want to flash custom ROMs, or if you want to make rooting easier. The problem is that you need to be rooted to back it up, so you'll have to spend some time reading and researching before you start.
Just keep your Ultra stock for now, and just casually read and soak up stuff from different threads around here. Walk around like you do in a new city and check out the locals and see what they do and say. You'll pick up a few things here and there and things will start rolling from there.
Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk
blueether said:
A good and detailed post, and it's not just the dev's and support that could take note. Some of the people that ask questions really need to read your post and think about what they are trying to say, get help with -- we aren't mind readers either.
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LordManhattan said:
a new firmware had been released with a new rooting method. I knew everything one day, and nothing on the other. It's really hard to balance real life and being kept updated at all times. Don't forget that you must be sure about what you know and write when you make a guide, because you don't want to brick people's devices. One slipup and the consequences might be ugly.
some other people will stick with the old school method, thus making things a little more complicated for new people who are looking for reliable information.
Just keep your Ultra stock for now, and just casually read and soak up stuff from different threads around here.
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Yes you can see some people just rush in with questions without giving serious thought to what they want to achieve. I think its people who don't often understand the process properly, haven't thought it through and are following what seems like a straightforward step by step process. Understanding what you are doing requires patience and TIME.
XDA I think is an unrivalled repository of amazing contributions from amazing people on a technology that is constantly evolving. Its also a jungle. One doesn't go into the jungle unprepared
Thanks for the fantastic advice guys and I will heed but I can't promise I might come out with some corkers
One last thing, how on earth do you find the time to lead a normal life? You obviously love what you are doing. It might be easy to assume everyone who contributes here is in IT. I imagine there are plumbers, electricians, mechanics, office workers, retired folk.....
Before anyone flames me for creating this thread and then closing it, I just want to let staff know that I did indeed read the sticky threads.
All the instructions for how to root a C6806 on this site seem a bit complex with many steps and quite risky if you are not a Linux and Android phone geek who knows exactly what they are doing. It seems way too easy to make a mistake and permanently brick a phone or lose Dram keys or simply not be able to completely unroot for warranty's sake.
I used to work in the IT field over a decade ago with some training in Network Technology before I got married and I find these instructions too risky for an expensive phone that is too vital for personal and business needs to take a moderate to strong risk of damaging the phone beyond warranty. I can only imagine how someone with little to no Linux or Android experience would fare trying to follow all these steps.
I was hoping that someone could develop a program or app that could do this a lot easier. Not necessarily one click root easy as ideal as that might be but at least simplifying enough so the less than geekworthy can root this phone. Not making rooting feasible for the general public does only encourages future phone makers to keep phones locked and unrooted.
I would really like to use the 64GB SD Card for apps and I would like to use Avast Security for rooted users but there is no way I can trust myself through all the steps of flash software download, system backup, boot unlock, system version rollback, pre-flash procedures, flash, post-flash inspection and probably a few other things I missed.
Unfortunately it's a bit more complex than that.. Unless you unlock your bootloader or have root you won't be able to run the app that you want to unlock the bootloader and/or root with.
Good news is you are wrong re "easy to hardbrick" - flashing stock firmware always an option to recover the device.
At the end of the day to get the benefits of what you call "risky" you will have to take a few "risks"
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
As buzzy said, there really is no risk in hard bricking the zu unless you really are inept. The steps are easy once you understand them:
1. Downgrade to 532 ftf (read my sticky)
2. Root with Bin4ry's or [NUT]'s tool (see my or lordmanhattan's threads)
3. Back up TA (see lord's thread)
4. Flash latest FTF
5. Unlock BL and flash a rootable kernel
The problem with a 'tool' is you never know what they have donr or not and how to recover.
Sent from CarbonROM on my Z-Ultra
It's already very easy to root the Ultra if you're either on .681 or .757 (latest firmware). All you have to do is to flash a kernel and then SuperSU. 2 minutes.
The real issue is what we have to do BEFORE rooting. The TA backup is a pain in the ass, and if Sony would've dropped the whole DRM thing, all we'd have to do would be to unlock the bootloader and flash a kernel.
It's not possible to make a "one click" solution that includes TA backup, so there really isn't any better way of doing it today. It's very easy once you've backed up the TA partition, and you'll only ever do it once per device.
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
blueether said:
As buzzy said, there really is no risk in hard bricking the zu unless you really are inept. The steps are easy once you understand them:
1. Downgrade to 532 ftf (read my sticky)
2. Root with Bin4ry's or [NUT]'s tool (see my or lordmanhattan's threads)
3. Back up TA (see lord's thread)
4. Flash latest FTF
5. Unlock BL and flash a rootable kernel
The problem with a 'tool' is you never know what they have donr or not and how to recover.
Sent from CarbonROM on my Z-Ultra
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Is that the order to do them in? Each step seems to be its own sticky thread.
LordManhattan said:
It's already very easy to root the Ultra if you're either on .681 or .757 (latest firmware). All you have to do is to flash a kernel and then SuperSU. 2 minutes.
The real issue is what we have to do BEFORE rooting. The TA backup is a pain in the ass, and if Sony would've dropped the whole DRM thing, all we'd have to do would be to unlock the bootloader and flash a kernel.
It's not possible to make a "one click" solution that includes TA backup, so there really isn't any better way of doing it today. It's very easy once you've backed up the TA partition, and you'll only ever do it once per device.
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
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Impossible? Why? Unless I read the thread wrong awhile back, it appears that the TA backup thread had a link to a program just for TA backup. It just didn't have everything else that is relatively easy. Why can't a one click root program be built as an extension of that program?
Are the DRM keys the same or unique for every device of a specific model? My husband and I each bought a C6806 directly from Sony's Play Store the very first day they went on sale.
Do I need to flash a kernel or even unlock the bootloader if I'd like to keep the stock OS?
polargirl said:
Is that the order to do them in? Each step seems to be its own sticky thread.
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Why would I post them out of order?
There is really only one sticky thread that is needed, Lordmanhattan's one. The one I wrote (for the first step) is also covered in LordManhattan's guide, just that if you read my thread you wont temporarily lose your imei no.
polargirl said:
Impossible? Why? Unless I read the thread wrong awhile back, it appears that the TA backup thread had a link to a program just for TA backup. It just didn't have everything else that is relatively easy. Why can't a one click root program be built as an extension of that program?
Are the DRM keys the same or unique for every device of a specific model? My husband and I each bought a C6806 directly from Sony's Play Store the very first day they went on sale.
Do I need to flash a kernel or even unlock the bootloader if I'd like to keep the stock OS?
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No it's not impossible, but remember that all the dev work is done for free, in our spare time, and more often than not to itch a scratch the "we" have.
Yes the DRM keys are unique to each device
No you dont need to unlock the bootloader if you only want root, but it will make life alot easier in the longrun as you will then be able to flash a kernel that has recovery and is simple to install root on. As our phones get more secure you will have to run a custom kernel and recovery to have root
blueether said:
Why would I post them out of order?
There is really only one sticky thread that is needed, Lordmanhattan's one. The one I wrote (for the first step) is also covered in LordManhattan's guide, just that if you read my thread you wont temporarily lose your imei no.
No it's not impossible, but remember that all the dev work is done for free, in our spare time, and more often than not to itch a scratch the "we" have.
Yes the DRM keys are unique to each device
No you dont need to unlock the bootloader if you only want root, but it will make life alot easier in the longrun as you will then be able to flash a kernel that has recovery and is simple to install root on. As our phones get more secure you will have to run a custom kernel and recovery to have root
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Please link me to that Lordmaahattan thread as he probably has quite a few.
I am quite happy and grateful that there are people like you guys who do this stuff even if it is just to "scratch the itch" and say "we have". I just wish some people would take the battle against the smartphone tyrants to a higher level as all. I have no right asking you guys to take it to a higher level but who else is more able and willing to do it? The need to render locking smartphones futile is a just and noble war.
Is there an Android equivalent to ghosting in Windows that copies everything on the phones' memory right down to the DRM keys or an other mirroring method? I'd feel a lot more comfortable making a clone image than just partial backups.
How can I tell if a TA backup is completely successful before I flash? I guess the Lordmanhattan thread should have info on how to relock and unroot?
polargirl said:
Please link me to that Lordmaahattan thread as he probably has quite a few.
I am quite happy and grateful that there are people like you guys who do this stuff even if it is just to "scratch the itch" and say "we have". I just wish some people would take the battle against the smartphone tyrants to a higher level as all. I have no right asking you guys to take it to a higher level but who else is more able and willing to do it? The need to render locking smartphones futile is a just and noble war.
Is there an Android equivalent to ghosting in Windows that copies everything on the phones' memory right down to the DRM keys or an other mirroring method? I'd feel a lot more comfortable making a clone image than just partial backups.
How can I tell if a TA backup is completely successful before I flash? I guess the Lordmanhattan thread should have info on how to relock and unroot?
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The definitive thread is this one http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2569904, quite complex to read, but simple when you understand it. The problem is that it caters for all, ie locked and unlocked, 4.2 to 4.4 etc
This thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2593918 is how to first downgrade and keep the imei number, not strictly needed but might stop you from panicking when it vanishes.
I quite like the way sony do it, allowing you to unlock the bootloader from their dev site, although it does mean the loss of DRM keys.
You can back up the whole phone with dd (often called disk destroyer for how dangerous it can be), but you may need root first - never done it and I would not recommend doing it.
The TA partition is the only one that is really important to back up, and going back to 'factory' is as easy as using the same app to write the backup back then flashing a FTF
blueether said:
I quite like the way sony do it, allowing you to unlock the bootloader from their dev site, although it does mean the loss of DRM keys.
You can back up the whole phone with dd (often called disk destroyer for how dangerous it can be), but you may need root first - never done it and I would not recommend doing it.
The TA partition is the only one that is really important to back up, and going back to 'factory' is as easy as using the same app to write the backup back then flashing a FTF
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I can't say I agree. Although Sony has been generous with the unlocking process, I find myself wondering why it was necessary to lock it in the first place. Polargirl isn't off mark, I spent half a day in frustration (and losing my DRM keys) before I managed to unlock and root. Once I did of course it was sweet, but the path there was a bit perplexing (a myriad of threads here) and quite scary (what if I brick it because I misread one of the 9 different threads?).
That being said, I came from Note II which was a cakewalk - I might be a bit spoiled :cyclops:
Edit: Not to mention, my very first post here was because a rooting thread was obsolete so I, on LordManhattan's advice got in touch with the mods to have said thread un-stickied. This forum is in fact a bit of a mess.
polargirl said:
Is that the order to do them in? Each step seems to be its own sticky thread.
Impossible? Why? Unless I read the thread wrong awhile back, it appears that the TA backup thread had a link to a program just for TA backup. It just didn't have everything else that is relatively easy. Why can't a one click root program be built as an extension of that program?
Are the DRM keys the same or unique for every device of a specific model? My husband and I each bought a C6806 directly from Sony's Play Store the very first day they went on sale.
Do I need to flash a kernel or even unlock the bootloader if I'd like to keep the stock OS?
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Well okay then. Make a one-click solution that downgrades your device to a firmware that has the exploit that Bin4ry's root tool can root, then get a tool to backup the TA partition, while automatically granting it root access, and then unlock the bootloader without you having to enter your IMEI and unlock key, oh... and then update to the latest firmware and also automatically flash Jackie's kernel, boot into recovery, automatically flash SuperSU and reboot.
Not only would it potentially take several hours for the tool to finish, but it will never ever happen. Ever.
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Chima2 said:
I can't say I agree. Although Sony has been generous with the unlocking process, I find myself wondering why it was necessary to lock it in the first place. Polargirl isn't off mark, I spent half a day in frustration (and losing my DRM keys) before I managed to unlock and root. Once I did of course it was sweet, but the path there was a bit perplexing (a myriad of threads here) and quite scary (what if I brick it because I misread one of the 9 different threads?).
That being said, I came from Note II which was a cakewalk - I might be a bit spoiled :cyclops:
Edit: Not to mention, my very first post here was because a rooting thread was obsolete so I, on LordManhattan's advice got in touch with the mods to have said thread un-stickied. This forum is in fact a bit of a mess.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for posting that you agree with me and for also seeing the problem: The instructions are indeed complex and chaotically spread out over nine different threads making it easy to miss a step.
LordManhattan said:
Well okay then. Make a one-click solution that downgrades your device to a firmware that has the exploit that Bin4ry's root tool can root, then get a tool to backup the TA partition, while automatically granting it root access, and then unlock the bootloader without you having to enter your IMEI and unlock key, oh... and then update to the latest firmware and also automatically flash Jackie's kernel, boot into recovery, automatically flash SuperSU and reboot.
Not only would it potentially take several hours for the tool to finish, but it will never ever happen. Ever.
Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
It doesn't have to be all (one click root) or nothing. Even partial simplification would help. Anything better than the several different steps over nine different threads that Chima2 was referring to would help. 3 or even 4 steps in one thread is better than the "solution" currently available.
polargirl said:
Thank you for posting that you agree with me and for also seeing the problem: The instructions are indeed complex and chaotically spread out over nine different threads making it easy to miss a step.
It doesn't have to be all (one click root) or nothing. Even partial simplification would help. Anything better than the several different steps over nine different threads that Chima2 was referring to would help. 3 or even 4 steps in one thread is better than the "solution" currently available.
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Buy a ZTE if you want hard
Why should I or Lordmanhattan (or anyone) rewrite what has already been written. I, at least, have written the steps out more times than I care to remember. The process is not that hard, and the steps are well documented in well written english
blueether said:
Buy a ZTE if you want hard
Why should I or Lordmanhattan (or anyone) rewrite what has already been written. I, at least, have written the steps out more times than I care to remember. The process is not that hard, and the steps are well documented in well written english
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Why? Because they aren't well written. They appear scattered and chaotic to everyone who isn't familiar with this site. Chima2 and I were just trying to give feedback is all. If more people just browsing for rooting solutions were to signup and post, they would probably agree as well. They just aren't here to give you even more feedback.
polargirl said:
Why? Because they aren't well written. They appear scattered and chaotic to everyone who isn't familiar with this site. Chima2 and I were just trying to give feedback is all. If more people just browsing for rooting solutions were to signup and post, they would probably agree as well. They just aren't here to give you even more feedback.
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It took me about a week of reading in my spare time to get my bearings and feel confident that I could start to modify my phone. That is a small amount of effort to put forth for a device that I plan to have for at least the next year. Yes it was a little confusing but I managed and am certainly not gifted when it comes to intelligence. I feel that any average person that sets their mind to it can succeed, and any specific questions will generally be answered if possible.
adfurgerson said:
It took me about a week of reading in my spare time to get my bearings and feel confident that I could start to modify my phone. That is a small amount of effort to put forth for a device that I plan to have for at least the next year. Yes it was a little confusing but I managed and am certainly not gifted when it comes to intelligence. I feel that any average person that sets their mind to it can succeed, and any specific questions will generally be answered if possible.
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Enough said! It might be worth it to you but probably not to most people.
polargirl said:
Enough said! It might be worth it to you but probably not to most people.
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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=2031989&postcount=45
polargirl said:
Enough said! It might be worth it to you but probably not to most people.
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If a week of reading is to much for some then that is good, they shouldn't root their phones.
When people have really 'simple' ways of doing things they tend to skip steps and blame people for it. When something seems hard and daunting they read carefully and completely before starting, then read step by step as they go.
Could the 9 stickies be updated to 1 thread with all information? Why yes they could, and if it is important to you that it be done the best solution would be to write the new thread yourself. It would be a great way to give back to the community. If you notice something you find wrong, and its in your power to fix it, then do so.
Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk
_Dennis_ said:
If a week of reading is to much for some then that is good, they shouldn't root their phones.
When people have really 'simple' ways of doing things they tend to skip steps and blame people for it. When something seems hard and daunting they read carefully and completely before starting, then read step by step as they go.
Could the 9 stickies be updated to 1 thread with all information? Why yes they could, and if it is important to you that it be done the best solution would be to write the new thread yourself. It would be a great way to give back to the community. If you notice something you find wrong, and its in your power to fix it, then do so.
Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk
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That is quite the cynical statement you posted and apparently contrary to even the spirit of this site let alone development and hacking in general. A better good for society is rending the need to root futile should be the goal and easily within reach of this site's members.
Another newbie, zxc1251, has indeed did just that and I have been helping that member with instruction simplification.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2769782
The only problem with that is newbies tend to be quite limited in their tech knowledge thus limited in their usefulness when it comes to simplifying instructions for the tech ignorant and semi-ignorant public but I guess some relatively tech ignorant people need to start this if a revolution against unrooted, jailed or otherwise restricted access phones is to happen.
I am trying my best with the knowledge and tools that I have to get this going.
polargirl said:
That is quite the cynical statement you posted and apparently contrary to even the spirit of this site let alone development and hacking in general. A better good for society is rending the need to root futile should be the goal and easily within reach of this site's members.
Another newbie, zxc1251, has indeed did just that and I have been helping that member with instruction simplification.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2769782
The only problem with that is newbies tend to be quite limited in their tech knowledge thus limited in their usefulness when it comes to simplifying instructions for the tech ignorant and semi-ignorant public but I guess some relatively tech ignorant people need to start this if a revolution against unrooted, jailed or otherwise restricted access phones is to happen.
I am trying my best with the knowledge and tools that I have to get this going.
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Click to collapse
The reason I had the 'do it yourself' attitude is all the information to make a new thread is there, just needed presentation, something tech geeks aren't well known for.
There should always be a need to root. Average use case for a phone, having security is important since you store a lot of sensitive information. If phones came rooted or came so rooting was extremely easy imagine how many people would loose their bank account info or their contact info to the not so nice side of the Internet.
Edit:
Let me use this analogy. If you wanted to change the transmission in you car would you
A) search the internet for 15 minutes and the open your hood and start disconnecting things or
B) Spend at least a few hours looking at the specifics for your car (if you've change a few transmissions before) or as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable you won't destroy your car?
If you wanted Linux on your laptop would to research the drivers, installation procedures, and distros first or just download the first one and hope you know how to install it?
All I'm saying in researching is not a bad thing, if more people did it, less would brick their phones.
Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk
_Dennis_ said:
The reason I had the 'do it yourself' attitude is all the information to make a new thread is there, just needed presentation, something tech geeks aren't well known for.
There should always be a need to root. Average use case for a phone, having security is important since you store a lot of sensitive information. If phones came rooted or came so rooting was extremely easy imagine how many people would loose their bank account info or their contact info to the not so nice side of the Internet.
Edit:
Let me use this analogy. If you wanted to change the transmission in you car would you
A) search the internet for 15 minutes and the open your hood and start disconnecting things or
B) Spend at least a few hours looking at the specifics for your car (if you've change a few transmissions before) or as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable you won't destroy your car?
If you wanted Linux on your laptop would to research the drivers, installation procedures, and distros first or just download the first one and hope you know how to install it?
All I'm saying in researching is not a bad thing, if more people did it, less would brick their phones.
Sent from my C6806_GPe using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PCs that ship with Windows serve the tech ignorant public just fine without restricting access for a common user. Developers is a whole different story when it comes to Windows but that is going off-topic.
I realize most geeks aren't comfortable with marketing and presentation issues with people like Erica Griffen (aka: Angel of Tech) being a huge exception. I don't have anywhere near her level of tech knowledge or even most members on this site but I am willing to help or even take over if needed. I just can't be of much help shortening process or making it more comfortable for the public but at least I haven't been totally useless.
Any help in shortening process or partially automating things wherever and whenever geeks can feel comfortable enough is not only appreciated by me but will be by the public as well.
Sooo, Ill start off by saying that I've unlocked, hacked, rooted, jailbroke pretty much every phone since it became available over the years. Im a careless tinkerer and have always stumbled across well written how to's to do everything I've need in forums like this and have great luck.
Well awhile ago, shortly after I got my AT&T M8, I decided to try and turn it into Google Play Edition. Somewhere along the way while in the process of doing S-OFF, something went wrong. I kept getting errors and couldn't get anything to flash. So I gave up and got the LG G3 and put the M8 aside for a bit. Well now I want to use it again, and along the way of "tinkering", I've managed to wipe TWRP, relocked the bootloader, have no OS and still S-OFF. I can boot into recovery or boot to the HTC screen so its not completely gone yet from what Ive researched.
Would anyone be willing to help me out in getting this thing back to stock Sense or point me in the right direction? I want it completely stock, without root or custom recovery. I'd rather a good step by step, if someone would be willing. I can't seem to piece together all of the information i need to do this myself. Thanks!
Have you tried this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=55094112
StupidN00b said:
Im a careless tinkerer and have always stumbled across well written how to's to do everything I've need in forums like this and have great luck.
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Click to collapse
Just RUU as suggested in the previous response.
I suggest leaving your phones stock, unless you are willing to put in the time to read, research, and obtain some real knowledge.
Step-by-step guides and toolkits are dangerous things. As you see, they just get you into trouble without giving you the knowledge or tools to get out of that jam.
I'm surprised you've modded as many phones as you say, and haven't gotten any real knowledge to this point. Either you are very humble; or your story is a testament to the fact that such step-by-step guides shouldn't be posted in the first place.
redpoint73 said:
Just RUU as suggested in the previous response.
I suggest leaving your phones stock, unless you are willing to put in the time to read, research, and obtain some real knowledge.
Step-by-step guides and toolkits are dangerous things. As you see, they just get you into trouble without giving you the knowledge or tools to get out of that jam.
I'm surprised you've modded as many phones as you say, and haven't gotten any real knowledge to this point. Either you are very humble; or your story is a testament to the fact that such step-by-step guides shouldn't be posted in the first place.
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Thank you for your response but unfortunately I find it extremely arrogant and asinine. The fact is that I have put in a lot of time and knowledge to understand what I am doing. I may not have a conventional degree in coding as you might but I am able to successfully mod my phones by browsing forums like this where you can find an abundance of knowledge, especially step-by-step guides, as you are so against. If you are so against step by step guides then maybe you can be the voice about banning them from this forum. Do you see how I am a new member? I am one of the few that actually search the forums instead of posting another thread asking the same questions. Ive used tools and information from this site for a very long time without having to post one single thing until a few days ago. And this is the response I get? I was even humble enough in my screen name to call myself stupid because, with this specific issue, I knew it had to be something stupid that i was missing. You shouldn't tell people that step by step guides are dangerous things. All it takes is some balls and some command lines and you can accomplish many things. Have I messed up my phones and others before? Yes, but i had never run into a situation I haven't been able to get myself out of. To me, tinkering around, as a hobby, is fun. Like now, as I watch Sunday NFL Countdown, I am about to dust off my Nexus 5 and flash Lollipop on it. Guess what I am going to use? A STEP BY STEP GUIDE!!!! If I mess it up, then Im sure I wouldn't be the first to do so and Im sure Ill find a solution on great forums like this. Besides, my rooted/unlocked OnePlus One is my main phone. I wanted to play around with the M8 again to see if I would miss the smaller screen but I don't. So, thank you for just repeating the first response then proceeding to insult me because you think i don't have the skills needed to mod my devices. I will continue to do so however I please, just as many others will. Either contribute to threads or ignore them. No need for the insults. You've also insulted many other members who have posted tools and step by step guides on this specific site.
nuwayman said:
Have you tried this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=55094112
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I actually did RUU but it ended up that I had a corrupt RUU file. I redownloaded it and put it on the MicroSD card and it worked like a charm. Thank you for your quick response.
StupidN00b said:
Thank you for your response but unfortunately I find it extremely arrogant and asinine.
So, thank you for just repeating the first response then proceeding to insult me
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Quite frankly, incorrect on both points. You don't understand what an insult is, and there is nothing insulting in my post. If you read my post carefully, you will see there is no actual personal attack or insults.
redpoint73 said:
Just RUU as suggested in the previous response.
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Contrary to what you suggest, backing up the previous suggestion is added value; as it adds credibility and consensus to the previous solution.
redpoint73 said:
I suggest leaving your phones stock, unless you are willing to put in the time to read, research, and obtain some real knowledge.
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Click to collapse
Its just a suggestion, and note that its conditional. Therefore, if you meet the latter part of the statement, the first part doesn't apply to you.
redpoint73 said:
Step-by-step guides and toolkits are dangerous things. As you see, they just get you into trouble without giving you the knowledge or tools to get out of that jam.
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Click to collapse
I stand by this statement. I've seen dozens dozens of instances where such tools just arm people with enough "knowledge" to get them into trouble, and don't equip them with any tools to get them out. Its then left to folks like me to even start to get these folks on the right track.
I'll step back a bit from my statement that these tools "shouldn't be posted in the first place". I'll agree that step-by-step guides and toolkits might be useful if combined with the proper research, learning and understanding. But in and of themselves, they can easily lead newcomers astray.
redpoint73 said:
I'm surprised you've modded as many phones as you say, and haven't gotten any real knowledge to this point. Either you are very humble; or your story is a testament to the fact that such step-by-step guides shouldn't be posted in the first place.
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Click to collapse
I already gave you the benefit of the doubt here, but you chose to react defensively and in my opinion, unreasonably.
In any case, as far as your knowledge and background, we can only go by what you've stated; and you clearly stated yourself as a "careless tinkerer" and "stumbled" upon solutions. Now in your later post you say "I have put in a lot of time and knowledge to understand what I am doing". So if you provide conflicting information as to your background, nobody can be blamed for making an incorrect assumption regarding your knowledge.