[Q] Best Method to Factory Restore With Rooted & Custom ROM - AT&T HTC One (M7)

Hey Guys -
After being an iPhone / Jailbreaking fanboy for a few years, I got frustrated with Apple locking things down so decided to go the Android route and chose the HTC One. After purchase, I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the device. Over the past 2 months, I've also tried / used a total of 3 different Custom ROMS to see what I liked and to play. Most recently, I ran RumRunner to obtain S-OFF. AT&T is my carrier and obviously located in US.
Currently, I'm on ViperOne and about to flash Android Revolution 40.3. I'd really like to do some kind of factory reset if possible to remove all junk I don't need anymore. I read that HTC One has a factory Restore option here, but didn't want to try (or even know if it would work) with Custom ROM.
With that being the case, what's the best option to perform a factory restore of sorts for my phone?
Thanks!

bzowk said:
Hey Guys -
After being an iPhone / Jailbreaking fanboy for a few years, I got frustrated with Apple locking things down so decided to go the Android route and chose the HTC One. After purchase, I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the device. Over the past 2 months, I've also tried / used a total of 3 different Custom ROMS to see what I liked and to play. Most recently, I ran RumRunner to obtain S-OFF. AT&T is my carrier and obviously located in US.
Currently, I'm on ViperOne and about to flash Android Revolution 40.3. I'd really like to do some kind of factory reset if possible to remove all junk I don't need anymore. I read that HTC One has a factory Restore option here, but didn't want to try (or even know if it would work) with Custom ROM.
With that being the case, what's the best option to perform a factory restore of sorts for my phone?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both TWRP and CWM Recovery's have factory reset in the options before flashing a new rom. If your wanting to delete everything including the sdcard you have to go into advanced options and wipe the sdcard. Keep in mind you would do this step after flashing the new rom to your phone or else the rom will be gone as well and you'll be forced to adb / push or sideload a rom back to your phone to flash.
so in the correct order
download rom / copy to sdcard
reboot to recovery
choose factory reset ( this deletes /data and /system )
choose install / find the arhd.rom you downloaded
during it's install choose full wipe
when it complete don't reboot
go to advanced and wipe the sdcard.
you should boot to a brand new phone with ARHD installed
Edit: Make sure you on the most current recovery TWRP 2.6.3.3 or CWM 6.0.4.5 it's required for KitKat Roms

Related

[Q] Rooted Transform Ultra problem

I have a Samsung Transform Ultra (rooted), I am using the stock ROM that came with the phone, recently I have corrupted something and need to attempt a factory reset, however some people have said that doing a factory reset on a rooted phone could brick it, so this brings a couple of questions:
1.- How would I un-root my phone, or, if un-rooting is not necessary, what steps should I take to factory reset it safely? My data is safely backed up already.
2.- Has anyone done a factory reset on a rooted Transform Ultra?
Any help would be most appreciated.
The4thDoctor said:
I have a Samsung Transform Ultra (rooted), I am using the stock ROM that came with the phone, recently I have corrupted something and need to attempt a factory reset, however some people have said that doing a factory reset on a rooted phone could brick it, so this brings a couple of questions:
1.- How would I un-root my phone, or, if un-rooting is not necessary, what steps should I take to factory reset it safely? My data is safely backed up already.
2.- Has anyone done a factory reset on a rooted Transform Ultra?
Any help would be most appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you have a custom Recovery installed? I don't know about this device specifically, but there should be a factory reset option you can utilize within your Recovery image. You'll need a ROM to flash afterwards also, otherwise you'll have no OS on your device. Or simply flash a NANDroid backup.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Since my (rooted) phone has the stock factory ROM only, and I never changed it, do I still need a ROM? My original ROM was never removed or changed.
The4thDoctor said:
Since my (rooted) phone has the stock factory ROM only, and I never changed it, do I still need a ROM? My original ROM was never removed or changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's the thing, when you factory reset a rooted phone it wipes everything, including the OS. So after a factory reset there will be no ROM to boot into. Even though you've never changed it and you're running stock, you'd still need a copy of that stock ROM (if you wanted to continue running stock). But if you've made a nandroid backup (complete snapshot of your entire system) at some point before you noticed the current problem you're having, it might be easier to simply restore that particular backup via Recovery.
I never flashed any roms or recovery, just rooted.
Unfortunately, I never made a nandroid backup before I had this problem, however, my daughter has an identical phone, could I make such a backup from hers, and use it on my phone, then just delete her settings etc?
I had no idea that just rooting would kill the stock ROM image, making the phone un-recoverable, I thought that rooting only gave me superuser permissions.
The4thDoctor said:
I never flashed any roms or recovery, just rooted.
Unfortunately, I never made a nandroid backup before I had this problem, however, my daughter has an identical phone, could I make such a backup from hers, and use it on my phone, then just delete her settings etc?
I had no idea that just rooting would kill the stock ROM image, making the phone un-recoverable, I thought that rooting only gave me superuser permissions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like Clockworkmod doesn't support your device.... not sure what custom Recoveries are available for your phone... but rooting doesn't mess up the stock ROM, we (the users) mess up our ROMs. You're right when you said that rooting gives you superuser privileges, and with those privileges come the unfortunate ability to screws stuff up. In my case I have tons of backups and a custom Recovery whereby I can wipe the phone and restore if need be. I also have ADB installed and can use Fastboot commands if things go sideways. Basically if you're gonna root have a backup plan.
Can you perhaps follow an unrooting method? Then you could safely factory reset without losing the OS... you know...the more I think about this, the more I wonder if you could just use the factory reset option from within the phone's settings... on a custom ROM you'd never do it, but in your situation (no custom recovery or ROM) who knows, maybe it would work with a problem.... I'll ask a friend of mine and post back.
Edit: Never heard back, but in your case on the stock ROM without a custom Recovery you *should* be able to factory reset through the Privacy setting section of your settings. If you do lose root, simply re root and you're good to go.
Thanks, Well I am going to give it a try and see what happens, worst case, I will have to buy another phone.
EDIT: I had no problems with factory reset, thank you!

[Q] Starting All Over...

Good Morning Guys -
About 6 months ago, I switched from having an iPhone (Jailbroken, of course) for years to an Android phone. Being a geek, I wanted a new challenge and wanted to play around with the platform. I purchased an HTC One which at the time I thought was the best and proceeded to root and test all kinds of new (to me) ROMs, apps, Tasker (love it) and other stuff.
What I'm wanting to do now is basically 100% factory reset the phone - including it's storage. I want it so that when I first boot the phone, no folders exist except for ones needed upon first boot so that I may correctly set it up the way I want from scratch. I've found tools which claim to do this, but before using wanted to first post to make sure of the correct way to do it (or a better tool) so that I don't corrupt anything.
I'm not selling the phone - just starting over. Therefore, don't care if after cleaning will still be rooted or not / have a stock ROM or not as I'll reconfigure once clean.
The ROM I plan to use post-cleaning is ViperOne 4.3.0 as it's the one I enjoy the most. If I cannot install it and clean at the same time, no biggie - I'd rather do it correctly than the fastest way. Below are my phone's current specs. If I need to post any more info, please let me know.
Phone Specs
- HTC One (AT&T)
- Rooted
- S-OFF
- ViperOne 4.3.0 / Android 4.4 / HTC Sense 5.5 / HTC Sense SDK 5.65
- Build Number 4.06.1540.3
- TWRP
- Kernel 3.4.10
Thanks for your help!
Edited Question:
Just had a thought. Would simply booting into TWRP and wiping specific items work? If so, I assume I'd have to install a ROM again after wiping, but before rebooting. Yes or is there a better way?
bzowk said:
Good Morning Guys -
About 6 months ago, I switched from having an iPhone (Jailbroken, of course) for years to an Android phone. Being a geek, I wanted a new challenge and wanted to play around with the platform. I purchased an HTC One which at the time I thought was the best and proceeded to root and test all kinds of new (to me) ROMs, apps, Tasker (love it) and other stuff.
What I'm wanting to do now is basically 100% factory reset the phone - including it's storage. I want it so that when I first boot the phone, no folders exist except for ones needed upon first boot so that I may correctly set it up the way I want from scratch. I've found tools which claim to do this, but before using wanted to first post to make sure of the correct way to do it (or a better tool) so that I don't corrupt anything.
I'm not selling the phone - just starting over. Therefore, don't care if after cleaning will still be rooted or not / have a stock ROM or not as I'll reconfigure once clean.
The ROM I plan to use post-cleaning is ViperOne 4.3.0 as it's the one I enjoy the most. If I cannot install it and clean at the same time, no biggie - I'd rather do it correctly than the fastest way. Below are my phone's current specs. If I need to post any more info, please let me know.
Phone Specs
- HTC One (AT&T)
- Rooted
- S-OFF
- ViperOne 4.3.0 / Android 4.4 / HTC Sense 5.5 / HTC Sense SDK 5.65
- Build Number 4.06.1540.3
- TWRP
- Kernel 3.4.10
Thanks for your help!
Edited Question:
Just had a thought. Would simply booting into TWRP and wiping specific items work? If so, I assume I'd have to install a ROM again after wiping, but before rebooting. Yes or is there a better way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just download the official ATT RUU from the HTC Website and flash that. This will bring your phone back to factory state just like you got it from day one.
xeni said:
Just download the official ATT RUU from the HTC Website and flash that. This will bring your phone back to factory state just like you got it from day one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks -
Are you talking about this ROM? Basically, I Googled "HTC One ATT RUU" and this was the result.
If so, I have a couple of questions, please:
1. When installing new ROMs in the past, it's never wiped any of my date in other folders on my phone. All apps are gone until re-installed, but browsing the root reveals many non-OEM folders. What makes this ROM different to where it will do this?
2. After installing it, what will the state of the following things be?
- Rooted?
- S-OFF?
- Recovery Manager Installed?
Thanks!
bzowk said:
Thanks -
Are you talking about this ROM? Basically, I Googled "HTC One ATT RUU" and this was the result.
If so, I have a couple of questions, please:
1. When installing new ROMs in the past, it's never wiped any of my date in other folders on my phone. All apps are gone until re-installed, but browsing the root reveals many non-OEM folders. What makes this ROM different to where it will do this?
2. After installing it, what will the state of the following things be?
- Rooted?
- S-OFF?
- Recovery Manager Installed?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes that is the ROM and everything will be gone, what the RUU does is format the internal storage and then install everything new.
2. Root will be gone and so will recovery manager. However S-OFF will remain intact since that is outside the operating system layer.
xeni said:
1. Yes that is the ROM and everything will be gone, what the RUU does is format the internal storage and then install everything new.
2. Root will be gone and so will recovery manager. However S-OFF will remain intact since that is outside the operating system layer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your answer. When I initially modded things, I used a few different sources. To re-root and mod everything again, should I use a tool like HTC One AIO Tool, is there a guide which will have the best method for doing all of that stuff, or anything else you suggest? Going to start on it here in a bit...
Thanks!
Unsure since I can't root mine due to work.... Did you get a chance to revert everything?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

need help with flashing roms to my phone

Hello Everyone,
Ok so not sure where to start, umm yesterday i decided to root my phone i have the HTC Desire C from Cricket wireless. I was successful at unlocking my bootloader and rooting the device. Now for some reason im unable to flash a custom rom or whatever to my device, not sure if im doing something wrong, but i must have screwed something up because i cant even perform a factory reset or a hard reset to the device at all, and the google play store no longer works and the sync icon never goes away. Now when i attempt to flash the custom rom the clockwork recovery tool wont allow me to do a full wipe which i believe must be completed before you can even install the roms.
any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You.
Just unlocking and rooting the device should not affect how the Play Store works at all. That seems odd. What's the error? By the Clockwork recovery tool, are you referring to the Rom Manager or the actual ClockWorkMod recovery?
es0tericcha0s said:
Just unlocking and rooting the device should not affect how the Play Store works at all. That seems odd. What's the error? By the Clockwork recovery tool, are you referring to the Rom Manager or the actual ClockWorkMod recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you know what, I think i know what happened. when i was trying to flash the rom i also flashed the gapps for jelly bean into my phone which is running ice cream sandwich currently because the rom flashing failed. So basically i think the gapps apps are conflicting with the stock apps on the phone ? It seems like all the google apps are the only ones messing up and the google account sync is messing up also the google playstore and google plus crashes a lot so its only the google apps. so what do you think and how do i restore the phone ? I didnt make a back up recovery either. If someone could also just walk me through how to flash a custom rom like CyanogenMod i believe everything will probably fix its self (hopefully). oh and as for the Clockworkmod i think its the actual clockworkmod recovery the one with a black hat, i accessed it through bootloader recovery options, anyway it doesnt allow me to flash any custom roms ive tried like 3 so far and everytime it ask me for some update file or something about a update not sure.
Yep, the other Google apps is what did it. You don't need to flash Gapps on a stock rom, only for ones like CM that don't come pre-installed. Well, first off, it's good to take note of what system version and baseband version you have, in case you need to find the files for later to reflash. As far as CM, well, you might want to check on how stable a version is for your phone. Often times less popular HTC CDMA phones don't have as good of support from CM. If you just find another stock rom and install it through CWM, you'll probably be fine. Just make sure to wipe everything suggested in the install guide for the rom you pick. Some devs and roms require a full wipe including /system and some do not. ProTip : Do a backup in CWM before ever wiping /system, even your system now which doesn't work right, because if you wipe the system and the rom you downloaded doesn't work, then you will be stuck with nothing to do and at that point would need to find the RUU from HTC to restore the phone back to stock.
FYI: If you unlocked via htcdev.com, this is not a full unlock and whenever you install a custom rom that has a different kernel than what is already on the phone, then you need to extract the boot.img from the rom.zip and install it via fastboot. You should get familiar with fastboot as it is very handy for reviving the phone in a worst case scenario.
es0tericcha0s said:
Yep, the other Google apps is what did it. You don't need to flash Gapps on a stock rom, only for ones like CM that don't come pre-installed. Well, first off, it's good to take note of what system version and baseband version you have, in case you need to find the files for later to reflash. As far as CM, well, you might want to check on how stable a version is for your phone. Often times less popular HTC CDMA phones don't have as good of support from CM. If you just find another stock rom and install it through CWM, you'll probably be fine. Just make sure to wipe everything suggested in the install guide for the rom you pick. Some devs and roms require a full wipe including /system and some do not. ProTip : Do a backup in CWM before ever wiping /system, even your system now which doesn't work right, because if you wipe the system and the rom you downloaded doesn't work, then you will be stuck with nothing to do and at that point would need to find the RUU from HTC to restore the phone back to stock.
FYI: If you unlocked via htcdev.com, this is not a full unlock and whenever you install a custom rom that has a different kernel than what is already on the phone, then you need to extract the boot.img from the rom.zip and install it via fastboot. You should get familiar with fastboot as it is very handy for reviving the phone in a worst case scenario.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok Thanks for the reply, now as for the full wipe my CWM wont allow me to do this im only allowed to do a cache wipe and I believe this is why im unable to get a Rom working on my phone and this is getting very frustrating, the CWM is the latest version and TWRT wont even flash to my phone so that one doesnt work at all if you know of any others please let me know. Yesterday morning i soft bricked my phone and none of the roms are working because i believe i must perform a full wipe which i am unable to do at this time. oh and about unlocking my bootloader via htcdev.com and it not being a full unlock, do you suggest that may have something to do with the fact roms wont work on my phone and how do you do a full unlock ? oh and i tried to restore back to stock also thats not working either, I get a status 7 error when installing the roms and sometimes a status 6.
Silver5150 said:
Ok Thanks for the reply, now as for the full wipe my CWM wont allow me to do this im only allowed to do a cache wipe and I believe this is why im unable to get a Rom working on my phone and this is getting very frustrating, the CWM is the latest version and TWRT wont even flash to my phone so that one doesnt work at all if you know of any others please let me know. Yesterday morning i soft bricked my phone and none of the roms are working because i believe i must perform a full wipe which i am unable to do at this time. oh and about unlocking my bootloader via htcdev.com and it not being a full unlock, do you suggest that may have something to do with the fact roms wont work on my phone and how do you do a full unlock ? oh and i tried to restore back to stock also thats not working either, I get a status 7 error when installing the roms and sometimes a status 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you don't have the recovery from another version of the Desire C - GSM maybe? I still don't understand what you mean when you say you can factory reset. Why not? What is the error? And sounds like at this point you should just use the RUU to return to full stock and start over.
es0tericcha0s said:
Are you sure you don't have the recovery from another version of the Desire C - GSM maybe? I still don't understand what you mean when you say you can factory reset. Why not? What is the error? And sounds like at this point you should just use the RUU to return to full stock and start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok not sure what the RUU is and how im suppose to use it to return to full stock, and correct i cant perform a factory reset in bootloader period, when i select factory reset it does nothing but reboot and say HTC "this build is for development purposes only do not distribute outside of htc without written permission. Failure to comply may lead to legal action." then it stays like that and nothing else happens period, not sure what im doing wrong but no worries im going to buy a new phone tomorrow and never use custom roms again, if i want a upgrade ill just go out and buy a new phone which i should have done in the first place, only thing ill be doing is rooting my devices for now on and nothing more thank you for your help.
Well, once you have a custom recovery, you don't factory reset from the bootloader screen, but via the recovery itself. That's one of the main reasons for the recovery - better options to wipe the phone as well as backing up, restoring, and flashing the custom stuff. Not saying you shouldn't buy another phone, but no reason to give up on this one. I just think it would require a bit more reading since you don't see very familiar with what to do with CWM after you installed it. Have you even booted INTO CWM?

Bootloader

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S LTE (SM-T805). When I do "adb recovery" or when I do "power+vol up" it boots into a "revovery" which says
Android system recovery <3e>
LRX22G.T805XXU1B0D1
etc
I would like to know,
1) is this part of the original/stock Samsung firmware/software, or is it something that was downloaded on the tablet by the previous owner? (I bought the tablet second hand)
2) do I need to install another bootloader if I wanted to install another ROM or is this good enough?
3) could someone please tell me how to install another bootloader?
Many thanks
1) 3e is the stock recovery.
2) You should not need a new bootloader if you are using roms based on the same firmware - LRX22G or similar
a) If you need a new bootloader, it will be mentioned by the developer of the rom you are using.
3) I believe what you are actually looking for is a custom recovery - this is needed to install roms that are not signed directly by Samsung.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/development/root-cf-autoroot-twrp-t800-t3079488
thanks. Another couple of qiestions please:
1) I have installed TWRP and it works really nicely. Is there a way to go back to the "official" stock recovery? Where would I get it from?
2) I have also installed and tried different ROMs, like liquid-something, ice-something, ironman-somethhing. Does this mean that my tablet now "remembers" that it has been hacked somehow?
3) I forgot to backup the stock ROM, before I installed other custom ones. Where could I get the stock ROM from? I have looked for it but I cannot really get my hands on it.
Many thanks
Zilliman said:
thanks. Another couple of qiestions please:
1) I have installed TWRP and it works really nicely. Is there a way to go back to the "official" stock recovery? Where would I get it from?
2) I have also installed and tried different ROMs, like liquid-something, ice-something, ironman-somethhing. Does this mean that my tablet now "remembers" that it has been hacked somehow?
3) I forgot to backup the stock ROM, before I installed other custom ones. Where could I get the stock ROM from? I have looked for it but I cannot really get my hands on it.
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Sometimes developers will provide a link to the stock recovery, but I did not see one when glancing around the forums. If you use the method mentioned in step 3, then you will be back on the stock recovery.
2) No. As long as you wipe /system, /data, /cache, and /dalvik cache then nothing important will be left from any previous rom flash. (Some roms will leave folders on your internal SD card that you can delete manually).
3) You'll find the stock rom here. This would need to be done in Download Mode with Odin. This will overwrite everything on the tablet and be like it was brand new. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/samsung-lollipop-range-tab-s-t3021612
es0tericcha0s said:
1) Sometimes developers will provide a link to the stock recovery, but I did not see one when glancing around the forums. If you use the method mentioned in step 3, then you will be back on the stock recovery.
2) No. As long as you wipe /system, /data, /cache, and /dalvik cache then nothing important will be left from any previous rom flash. (Some roms will leave folders on your internal SD card that you can delete manually).
3) You'll find the stock rom here. This would need to be done in Download Mode with Odin. This will overwrite everything on the tablet and be like it was brand new. http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/samsung-lollipop-range-tab-s-t3021612
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, many thanks.
The link you provided further directs you to some weird paid-for download sites, could not get anywhere with them. I would not mind paying say 10p for a one-off file download, but they want you to pay monthly etc, seriously...
However, for UK generic ROM, I got this file "SEE-T805XXU1BOD1-20150511102748.zip" which I got off some Russian or something web site, it was uploaded to Google Drive, so it was easy to download.
A serious issue I have discovered, and am not sure what the right steps are, is when installing TWRP, the installation seems not to "catch", so after the upload you still have the old bootloader. The way I got that to work was to uncheck the "reboot" flag in Odin, waited until the download was complete, and then after a while manually switched the phone off (I think it is menu+vol down+power) and then switched on again using menu+vol up+power and that got me into TWRP at last.
Anyway now it seems I am back to the stock ROM, and stock bootloader, and as you said, if I ever returned the tablet for a service they would not be able to tell that I had flashed other ROMs?

Will I lose root?

Forgive my novice status with both my first Android phone and this site. Galaxy S6 which I rooted using Odin and I believe a kernel it was, from here.
If I run the os upgrade from Smartswitch, what effect will that have one the phone as far as being rooted and all the stuff I've done since being rooted. Thank you very much.
If you update, you will lose root. I would not update via Smart Switch, being that you are rooted with a custom kernel. Your best bet would be to update via Odin. Check the subforum here @ xda for your variant of the S6 for further info. You should find what you need in the General forum of that subforum.
es0tericcha0s said:
If you update, you will lose root. I would not update via Smart Switch, being that you are rooted with a custom kernel. Your best bet would be to update via Odin. Check the subforum here @ xda for your variant of the S6 for further info. You should find what you need in the General forum of that subforum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir. Is it simply a matter rerooting the device? Or will every other change I made from root be gone too?
It will wipe your phone, so you will have to redo any mods or settings.
es0tericcha0s said:
It will wipe your phone, so you will have to redo any mods or settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wipes the phone every time you do an operating system update? Why would anybody ever do it unless something wasn't working? Unless it's only when rooted? I have good pc skills and some understanding of Linux even, but man I have a lot to learn about these phones.. What about Smart Switch backups? It wipes the phone, how close to before the update will that get somebody? I don't have time to research all this. I may just leave it. This update I'm talking about is a gigabyte btw. That seems pretty huge for a phone.
It wipes the phone when you update via Odin (unless modded by a dev to not wipe for some versions). The reason that this needs to be done is that when you are rooted and have changed system files, OTA updates usually cause issues like bootloops / soft brick. Typically when you have a Samsung with a modded kernel and system, the regular Samsung tools like Kies and Smart Switch fail. Your results may vary, but I would have the firmware downloaded to reload via Odin in case that does not work. I am not familar with Smart Switch as it just came out for the S6 and newer stuff and I have never had use for Samsung's tools like that because I prefer to use Google and Titanium Backup to backup and restore my apps, contacts, texts, call logs, etc. As far as the updates go, 1 GB is actually kind of small for newer versions. It's probably bigger once unzipped. Some newer phones have systems that are well over 2 GBs. Most people here usually update via custom rom as it's easy to do on the phone once you have a working custom recovery and doing a factory reset there will not wipe the internal storage @ /data/media. If you prefer to be stock rooted, there most likely is a version already posted in the subforum for your phone. If you are updating whole Android versions and not minor updates, it might be required to install additional firmware files with Odin or Chainfire's Flashfire tool. If so, the developer will mention that in the OP of the thread.
es0tericcha0s said:
It wipes the phone when you update via Odin (unless modded by a dev to not wipe for some versions). The reason that this needs to be done is that when you are rooted and have changed system files, OTA updates usually cause issues like bootloops / soft brick. Typically when you have a Samsung with a modded kernel and system, the regular Samsung tools like Kies and Smart Switch fail. Your results may vary, but I would have the firmware downloaded to reload via Odin in case that does not work. I am not familar with Smart Switch as it just came out for the S6 and newer stuff and I have never had use for Samsung's tools like that because I prefer to use Google and Titanium Backup to backup and restore my apps, contacts, texts, call logs, etc. As far as the updates go, 1 GB is actually kind of small for newer versions. It's probably bigger once unzipped. Some newer phones have systems that are well over 2 GBs. Most people here usually update via custom rom as it's easy to do on the phone once you have a working custom recovery and doing a factory reset there will not wipe the internal storage @ /data/media. If you prefer to be stock rooted, there most likely is a version already posted in the subforum for your phone. If you are updating whole Android versions and not minor updates, it might be required to install additional firmware files with Odin or Chainfire's Flashfire tool. If so, the developer will mention that in the OP of the thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just occurred to me. Firmware IS the Android OS on these phones. That's not the same as a kernel though? With the regular Linux os it isn't. Forgive my ignorance. Like I say this is my first one.
Unfortunalely, firmware is one of those terms that can mean a few different things depending on the situation (like flashing). Firmware in this instance refers to the bootloader and modem files as well for Samsungs. If you don't have the bootloader and modem files (which roms do not install) correctly matched to the OS then you might have issues like not being able to boot or cell service issues.
es0tericcha0s said:
It wipes the phone when you update via Odin (unless modded by a dev to not wipe for some versions). The reason that this needs to be done is that when you are rooted and have changed system files, OTA updates usually cause issues like bootloops / soft brick. Typically when you have a Samsung with a modded kernel and system, the regular Samsung tools like Kies and Smart Switch fail. Your results may vary, but I would have the firmware downloaded to reload via Odin in case that does not work. I am not familar with Smart Switch as it just came out for the S6 and newer stuff and I have never had use for Samsung's tools like that because I prefer to use Google and Titanium Backup to backup and restore my apps, contacts, texts, call logs, etc. As far as the updates go, 1 GB is actually kind of small for newer versions. It's probably bigger once unzipped. Some newer phones have systems that are well over 2 GBs. Most people here usually update via custom rom as it's easy to do on the phone once you have a working custom recovery and doing a factory reset there will not wipe the internal storage @ /data/media. If you prefer to be stock rooted, there most likely is a version already posted in the subforum for your phone. If you are updating whole Android versions and not minor updates, it might be required to install additional firmware files with Odin or Chainfire's Flashfire tool. If so, the developer will mention that in the OP of the thread.
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What I'm wondering is if there's any to have this galaxy s6 just like it is now after many hours of tweaking after one of these updates. I couldn't make heads or tails out of Titanium update.
You are being very helpful sir. Thank you.
Depends on what tweaks you've done and which update that it is. If it is a minor security update, then usually someone will post a flashable via custom recovery version and often you can get away with installing that over your current system while just wiping cache and dalvik cache. If it is a major update, like when Marshmallow comes out, it would benefit you to do a factory reset before updating. Yea, it sucks having to set up your phone again, though with all the tools available, it's really not that bad, but better to start fresh instead of wondering if the phone is slow or buggy because you didn't.
es0tericcha0s said:
Depends on what tweaks you've done and which update that it is. If it is a minor security update, then usually someone will post a flashable via custom recovery version and often you can get away with installing that over your current system while just wiping cache and dalvik cache. If it is a major update, like when Marshmallow comes out, it would benefit you to do a factory reset before updating. Yea, it sucks having to set up your phone again, though with all the tools available, it's really not that bad, but better to start fresh instead of wondering if the phone is slow or buggy because you didn't.
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You're making sense. I totally get it. (about starting from scratch) Can I then re-root it with the same UniKernel-v5-920P-072715.tar as before or will I need a new one of those too.? Thanks again.
This is the update SmartSwitch is telling me is available. I don't even know which of this stuff we've been discussing this is. Firmware, ROM or OS update.
Current version: PDA:0H1 / CSC:0H1/ PHONE:0H1 (SPR)
Latest version: PDA:011 / CSC:011 / PHONE:011 (SPR)
Size: 1612 MB
That's just a minor security update. I would not use that kernel to reroot. I believe the only option available for the update you are on and the update that is available is via TWRP + SuperSU zip.
es0tericcha0s said:
That's just a minor security update. I would not use that kernel to reroot. I believe the only option available for the update you are on and the update that is available is via TWRP + SuperSU zip.
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Whatsa TWRP + SuperSU zip Is that a tool and file for getting this update?
Sorry man. I've had this phone for less than 2 months and it's my very first one.
I do appreciate your patience. I've been a PC support guy for 16 years. I know what it's like.
TWRP = Team Win Recovery Project. It replaces the stock recovery that the phone uses to perform factory resets and updates signed by Samsung. This allows you multiple benefits such as complete system/data/kernel backups, being able to wipe any combo of system/data/caches/internal storage, factory data reset without wiping internal storage, terminal commands, and installing custom files, roms, mods, etc not signed by Samsung to name a few. SuperSU is the popular root binary and root permissions app made by the developer Chainfire. If you needs links, I can provide, but assuming you're familiar with Googling things being a support guy. ☺
es0tericcha0s said:
TWRP = Team Win Recovery Project. It replaces the stock recovery that the phone uses to perform factory resets and updates signed by Samsung. This allows you multiple benefits such as complete system/data/kernel backups, being able to wipe any combo of system/data/caches/internal storage, factory data reset without wiping internal storage, terminal commands, and installing custom files, roms, mods, etc not signed by Samsung to name a few. SuperSU is the popular root binary and root permissions app made by the developer Chainfire. If you needs links, I can provide, but assuming you're familiar with Googling things being a support guy.
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I have SuperSU already.
These are some truly terrible directions unless you already know enough to not need them.
https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxys6sprint.html
Will installing TWRP effect the root method I've already used?
Will installing recovery effect any of the multitude of configurations I've already done?
Does this then allow manual installs of OTA updates without losing root or any of your configuration customizations?
Is it JUST the recovery partition were dealing which stands alone from the os?
Does Nandroid backup then encompass the recovery and os and rom etc? Meaning are they all backed up and custom recovery via TWRP was what made that possible? Or do you have to make your current config the recovery itself in order to do a ghost style backup and restore if you jack yourself up later? OR is not even this a ghost style restore?
Maybe it's just me, but the terminology is very confusing and I can't make heads or tails of what I'm even talking about with all this.
Tried to make backup with TWRP...
I guess whatever I flashed it with last time won't let it boot into recovery or the bootloader or whatever it's called. If I tell TWRP manager to reboot and do backup it just goes to the menu for rebooting and wiping cache etc. If I specifically go to "reboot to bootloader" it just reboots into android. I went to install a custom recovery and it said that if the location for the recovery is wrong it could brick the phone. I have no idea if it's right or wrong or if the root method I've already used is effecting this or not.
Installing a custom recovery will not affect your OS or any settings (as long as the recovery version is compatible with your phone and update). It is installed in a different partition than where the OS resides. It will not let you install official OTA zips. It is only for installing files not directly signed with Samsung's special key. When you do a nandroid backup, it will give you options on which parts of the phone you would like to backup. The important ones are boot, system, data, and EFS (though this is not typically needed when you restore, just as a precaution because it holds important data and settings of your IMEI and such - only restore if needed). Boot is the kernel, which controls many drivers for stuff like wifi, BT, CPU and GPU processes as well as others. System contains preloaded software, as in if you just restored boot and system, it would be like you factory reset the device and would need to setup your accounts and settings. Data is the apps, data, settings you have changed or added. A factory reset in the stock recovery would also wipe your /data/media storage which your phone sees as your internal storage. TWRP allows a factory reset that skips this so you will not lose the stuff you have accumulated on the phone such as pictures, music, downloads, etc.
The reason that when you are using TWRP Manager to install the recovery and reboot to it and it is still stock is probably due to the system has a script built in that notices if you change the recovery and will rewrite the stock recovery back to it upon rebooting. You can avoid this by renaming the script with a root enabled file browser. You will find this script in /system/etc/install-recovery.sh (or something similar). Just rename it to something like install-recovery.sh.bak.
es0tericcha0s said:
Installing a custom recovery will not affect your OS or any settings (as long as the recovery version is compatible with your phone and update). It is installed in a different partition than where the OS resides. It will not let you install official OTA zips. It is only for installing files not directly signed with Samsung's special key. When you do a nandroid backup, it will give you options on which parts of the phone you would like to backup. The important ones are boot, system, data, and EFS (though this is not typically needed when you restore, just as a precaution because it holds important data and settings of your IMEI and such - only restore if needed). Boot is the kernel, which controls many drivers for stuff like wifi, BT, CPU and GPU processes as well as others. System contains preloaded software, as in if you just restored boot and system, it would be like you factory reset the device and would need to setup your accounts and settings. Data is the apps, data, settings you have changed or added. A factory reset in the stock recovery would also wipe your /data/media storage which your phone sees as your internal storage. TWRP allows a factory reset that skips this so you will not lose the stuff you have accumulated on the phone such as pictures, music, downloads, etc.
The reason that when you are using TWRP Manager to install the recovery and reboot to it and it is still stock is probably due to the system has a script built in that notices if you change the recovery and will rewrite the stock recovery back to it upon rebooting. You can avoid this by renaming the script with a root enabled file browser. You will find this script in /system/etc/install-recovery.sh (or something similar). Just rename it to something like install-recovery.sh.bak.
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You sir, are one patient and helpful man I very much appreciate your suffering through my whining. Interestingly, the boot loop just stopped in it's own and now I have the TWRP interface in place of the stock menu where the option was to wipe the cache partition.
Does this THIS mean I have a custom recovery now? Meaning, a different restore image than the one that came with the phone? Or does this now let me install that?
About this....
You were saying up HERE that if I run this update with smart switch I would lose root, but if I use TWRP to do it, I won't? Is that right? Thanks again.
Tiribulus said:
You sir, are one patient and helpful man I very much appreciate your suffering through my whining. Interestingly, the boot loop just stopped in it's own and now I have the TWRP interface in place of the stock menu where the option was to wipe the cache partition.
Does this THIS mean I have a custom recovery now? Meaning, a different restore image than the one that came with the phone? Or does this now let me install that?
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This should mean that the recovery is installed. You can verify by using the app to boot to recovery or via powering the phone on by holding the Power, Volume Up, and Home buttons together as you restart. You should notice a recovery booting message in the top left and then you can let go of the buttons. Once there, you should perform a backup of the boot, system, and data partitions. If you have an EFS option, I would back that up too for safe keeping. It's rare that it would get corrupted, but best to have a backup just in cause.
If you update via Smart Switch, you will definitely lose root, as well as TWRP. Most likely, a developer has posted a rooted version of the update that you can use TWRP to install.
So I was looking into this a little closer for you and realized that the preferred method of updating and rooting the update you are trying to get involves using Odin to install the full update package, then reflashing TWRP, and using a newer version of the kernel to root. However, from some of the user comments about it, it seems like it might be better to wait till Samsung has released the source code of the kernel for the OI1 update. The kernels based on the slightly older 5.1.1 builds will work, but some people were experiencing random issues such as reboots or other oddities. I don't think OI1 has anything in it that would be worth losing root over or possibly having things run oddly. The alternative would be to update via a rom like this http://forum.xda-developers.com/spr...ment/ram9200-ofe-rom-thread-v3-5-1-1-t3173417

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