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Hi All -
New to this phone obviously (RAZR MAXX). Trying to get a grasp on it, as it's way more complicated than HTC and Samsung phones. I've rooted and installed 100s of custom ROMs with those brands before. This is my 1st Motorola since the Motorola V120c if anyone is old enough to remember that dinosaur. On nTelos' network nonetheless.
I have some questions that I would like answered and I hope someone will do me the honor as the content is really sporadic.
What is Fastboot for this device, what does it do?
Safestrap & Bootstrap? What's the difference? Which is better?
Can I flash ROMS through CWM like I have in the past?
What purpose does RSD Lite serve other than to flash Fasboot files?
Why would I want to flash fastboot? (Redundant question I think)
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to help me out.
I rooted and flash the crap out of my last phone which was Samsung. This phone seems really complex. I'm really on my toes, don't want to brick my phone. But I do want to root to get rid of the bloatware and test out some roms. The stock OS is laggy at times.
Honestly I really like the Stock OS as is. It does seem laggy at times, but nothing worse than I've run into on HTC or Samsung phones.
HTC Sense UI was/is terrible since it's so bloated and Samsung couldn't make a GPS radio capable of locating a mall let alone provide directions to anywhere. Terrible phones.
So far this phone is awesome, really bought it for the battery life honestly.
I too would like to DELETE the garbage that Verizon has installed on this thing. In terms of bloat, Verizon takes it to a whole new level. Just wow.
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
midas69 said:
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted mine 5 mins after activating it haha. As far a bloat, just use titanium pro and freeze it. Very simple. I froze around 35 apps and haven't had any issues associated w it. Should an ota come I should be prompted still. Just unfreeze all apps. Accept ota, reroot. If it breaks root completly then eventually it will get root again. I actually Ind, e system to run very well but honestly have no idea how just stock runs as I froze these apps instantly. I did not safe strap or bootstrap but I had previous knowledge of things I should be able to freeze and not and I figured it out myself
I find this phone so easy. There YouTube videos on everything.
To Get bootstrap, all you need to do is press one button, this phone has to be the easiest I've been on. The only people that struggle are the desperate ones that cba to search the forums And YouTube
Ask us any Android Related Question @FeraLabsDevs on Twitter
IdowhatIwant said:
Hi All -
What is Fastboot for this device, what does it do?
Safestrap & Bootstrap? What's the difference? Which is better?
Can I flash ROMS through CWM like I have in the past?
What purpose does RSD Lite serve other than to flash Fasboot files?
Why would I want to flash fastboot? (Redundant question I think)
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to help me out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Fastboot: its just the stock bootloader, can flash moto updates/factory reset/wipe cache. it also lets you into AP fastboot, which is where u recover stock with rsd.
- Safestrap/bootstrap: bootstrap is currently our only way of CWM on the gsm phones, i understand safestrap is pretty much like dualbooting except its not(only its not completely compatible with gsm)
- can you flash with cwm: YES!
- another purpose for rsd: i have only used it for recovering after ics, so idk.
- why flash a fastboot image?: if you mess up badly or get a bootloop you can recover back to stock
midas69 said:
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
removing bloatware will cause you to be unable to get ota's (freezing and then unfreezing with TiB before ota update works fine, as long as you don't uninstall).
but i think its enough to just flash a fastboot with rsd (fully return to stock), then you can get the ota
Look here:
aashrey99razr.wordpress.com
Helped me out a lot!
Gesendet von meinem XT910 mit Tapatalk
Addictd said:
removing bloatware will cause you to be unable to get ota's (freezing and then unfreezing with TiB before ota update works fine, as long as you don't uninstall).
but i think its enough to just flash a fastboot with rsd (fully return to stock), then you can get the ota
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I deleted one app before I was aware of this. TiB shows that I made a backup of it, but doesn't give me the option to restore it. Guess I'm screwed.
hehe, probably not
did you make a cwm backup prior to uninstalling the app(s)?
then you could just restore that
if not the titanium backup file should be on your internal sdcard in /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup as a gzipped .apk with a kinda cryptic filename
you could try ungzipping it and installing with a file explorer.
or you could just backup with cwm and flash the correct fastbootimage for your phone from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362956
usind rsd lite
and that should do it
but why not just flash a fastboot and isntall arctic 3.0.5?
Addictd said:
hehe, probably not
did you make a cwm backup prior to uninstalling the app(s)?
then you could just restore that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course not, that would be too easy
if not the titanium backup file should be on your internal sdcard in /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup as a gzipped .apk with a kinda cryptic filename
you could try ungzipping it and installing with a file explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a file there, but it doesn't have an .apk. There's a gzip file, inside that is a tar file. In there are imbedded data directories, but no actual files.
or you could just backup with cwm and flash the correct fastbootimage for your phone from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362956
usind rsd lite
and that should do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might take that route when the next update is ready.
But why not just flash a fastboot and isntall arctic 3.0.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as I said, I only got the phone Saturday, and I work weekends.
But I've got an issue hooking up to my work email account. I was unable to get it working on my Touchpad using CM7 or CM9. I originally bought a Galaxy Nexus and had no luck with that either, thus I bought the Razr. I still can't get the native apps to work, but at least Touchdown semi-works (no Activesync). So I'm actually a little gun shy about trying new things.
Addictd said:
- Safestrap/bootstrap: bootstrap is currently our only way of CWM on the gsm phones, i understand safestrap is pretty much like dualbooting except its not(only its not completely compatible with gsm)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that mean that we can't use ROM Manager or do we just need to use Bootstrap to install CWM and than use ROM Manager like we otherwise would? I got used to that app on my old phone.
I got a GSM RAZR and I have just rooted, the root script pushed in my phone some app called Bionic Bootstrapper, which gives me options Bootstrap Recovery and Reboot Recovery, what does each of them do? I don't plan on changing ROMs for now, but I definitely need to be able to recover the system.
It appears there isn't any real root on this device since the bootloader is locked. Samsung and HTC devices have their BLs unlocked so it's easier to make a permanent Recovery that will persist on reboot. I'm speculating of course, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Reboot recovery should reboot the phone to a ClockworkMod style "DOS" menu that allows you to preform functions like Back up, install zip files or even a new ROM.
When I did it, it rebooted a triangle and exclamation point, with an android guy on it. I was worried at that point. I hit the power button and the Recovery loaded instantly. Not sure if that's normal, but it's quite shakey compared to other devices out there.
I love this phone, so don't me wrong. It's just going to take some getting used to.
i dont think all of rom managers functions will work :/
bootstrap recovery: installs recovery (you only have to do this once)
reboot recovery: reboots your phone into cwm
the thing is the bootloader is locked, so we cant put cwm into the stock fastboot.
there is however a little workaround made by J.Y.Daddy that starts cwm everytime you boot, but this is installed in your rom, not in the stock fastboot, so you have to reinstall it when you flash a new rom :/
onboot cwm link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385283
Addictd said:
i dont think all of rom managers functions will work :/
bootstrap recovery: installs recovery (you only have to do this once)
reboot recovery: reboots your phone into cwm
the thing is the bootloader is locked, so we cant put cwm into the stock fastboot.
there is however a little workaround made by J.Y.Daddy that starts cwm everytime you boot, but this is installed in your rom, not in the stock fastboot, so you have to reinstall it when you flash a new rom :/
onboot cwm link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385283
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there some way to otherwise boot into CWM enviroment, some combination of keys or something like on other phones? Not much use for CWM if you brick your phone and can't boot into it. Also, is installed CWM not going to cause a problem for regular OTA updates and do we need to reinstall it afterwards?
From what I understood, Motorola has put some sort of recovery environment on this phone already, but I don't know what it can be used for.
And I have GSM version, bootloader is not locked, so I don't have to worry about that.
laserburn said:
Is there some way to otherwise boot into CWM enviroment, some combination of keys or something like on other phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's a workaround by J.Y.Darry that makes it boot into cwm on every boot.
there is no keycombo for cwm booting. but you can boot into fastboot with both volumekeys + power
where you can go into stock "recovery" and AP fastboot
you will use AP fastboot in combination with RSD lite to flash back to stock if u mess up, there are also more options in fastboot, but i have never used them.
laserburn said:
Not much use for CWM if you brick your phone and can't boot into it. Also, is installed CWM not going to cause a problem for regular OTA updates and do we need to reinstall it afterwards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will use cwm to flash custom roms and make backups
then if you mess up and want to recover a backup you have to
- set phone in ap fastboot mode
- connect razr to computer
- use rsd lite(or an alternative flashtool) to flash the fastbootfile for your phone
- root and install bootstrapper
- reboot into cwm and restore backup
i dont think cwm in itself will cause any problems for OTA's. but if you install a custom rom its a different story
as long as you have the bootstrapper app installed on your phone, you should be able to bootstrap recovery and boot into cwm
laserburn said:
From what I understood, Motorola has put some sort of recovery environment on this phone already, but I don't know what it can be used for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes they have put a rudimentary recovery in it. but you can only use it to apply updates from sdcard (to manually download ota and install), wipe and factory reset. (someone correct me if i'm wrong here)
laserburn said:
And I have GSM version, bootloader is not locked, so I don't have to worry about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to be the bringer of bad news. but i have gsm too. mine is locked, so i'm pretty solid your bl is too
troollolotorola -.-
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
laserburn said:
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I agree with you. Rooting, flashing, CWM all 100 times easier on HTC and Samsung phones.
Don't get wrong though, I Love my RAZR Maxx, and the default OS is actually OK. Which is good because it seems that there is little to zero developement for the CDMA version of the droid RAZR/MAXX at the moment, if at all.
they're all over on the HTC/Sammy forums =D
laserburn said:
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if/when we get the BL unlocked this phone will be a dream
there is this utility made by mattlgrof u can use to check bl lock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1486718
IdowhatIwant said:
Yeah I agree with you. Rooting, flashing, CWM all 100 times easier on HTC and Samsung phones.
Don't get wrong though, I Love my RAZR Maxx, and the default OS is actually OK. Which is good because it seems that there is little to zero developement for the CDMA version of the droid RAZR/MAXX at the moment, if at all.
they're all over on the HTC/Sammy forums =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ain't no agruing with that, but they don't make as sweet looking and solid phones i hope motorola pull their head out of their ass soon...
Development for the cdma version is found mostly on droidrzr.com (plenty of beta/alpha ICS and some GB roms) but they are missing some parts, so we have to wait till motorola release ics be4 they will be complete.
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/index
for all you non-cdma users out there, u should check out the cdma to gsm patch
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/1233-cdma-port-cm9aokp-givesomelovetogsm/
I got this device around christmas time. barely used it. had root and safestrap installed. I cant even remember if I had the bootloader unlocked. Just got home from school and was getting playstore crashes every few seconds so I decided to update.
I downloaded cm nightly and twrp and went to install both. did a wipe then went to install twrp but it wasnt on the device. I thought it was odd but maybe the download failed at the last second. so i thought I'll see if CM installs with safestrap. it tells me update failed and i say oh well i'll redownload twrp. well then I get a boot loop. it will eventually give me the option to do a factory reset. I try it and it doesnt help anything. I plugged it into my computer when it boots up and see an mtp device for about 10-15 seconds and adb does not appear to be on.
How boned am I?
The variation of twrp in safestrap is not the same as 'native' twrp. You likely lost that along with safestrap when you wiped the system. And no versions of CM are compatible with safestrap. If you still had safestrap installed it is unlikely the bootloader was unlocked. What OS were you running prior to the wipe?
You are in bad way without a proper recovery, adb disabled, locked bootloader and a non-functioning system partition. If the device is still under warranty reach out to Amazon about obtaining a replacement. Say it died during an update.
Davey126 said:
The variation of twrp in safestrap is not the same as 'native' twrp. You likely lost that along with safestrap when you wiped the system. And no versions of CM are compatible with safestrap. If you still had safestrap installed it is unlikely the bootloader was unlocked. What OS were you running prior to the wipe?
You are in bad way without a proper recovery, adb disabled, locked bootloader and a non-functioning system partition. If the device is still under warranty reach out to Amazon about obtaining a replacement. Say it died during an update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it was based on stock i'm not sure what version. I also have tons of EE tools so if there is a jtag available I'm sure i have a compatible board to interface with it around somewhere.
sirus20x8 said:
it was based on stock i'm not sure what version. I also have tons of EE tools so if there is a jtag available I'm sure i have a compatible board to interface with it around somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what type of interfaces are available. If you have the skills/tools your level of expertise probably goes beyond what most can offer in this forum. I do wonder if Amazon has gone their own way as there is not much buzz on moding such a capable device.
Hey guys! Unfortunately I bricked my new HTC Desire 626s while fiddling around with xposed for lollipop after successfully rooting the phone and installing cyanogen recovery. I think if I flash the stock rom on the phone through either adb or cyanogen recovery I can unbrick it, but I have been unsuccessful in finding this file on the internet. Would anyone care to give me a link or upload the stock firmware/rom of this phone? It would really help me out, thank you!
You have to make sure the firmware is the same version or newer than the one currently on the phone as well as which carrier or region the phone is from. Without that, can't provide the correct file to download.
es0tericcha0s said:
You have to make sure the firmware is the same version or newer than the one currently on the phone as well as which carrier or region the phone is from. Without that, can't provide the correct file to download.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm.. Okay so I guess I'll give you my phone's info? WAIT DOES THIS MEAN YOU CAN PROVIDE A DOWNLOAD!? IM SO EXCITED, UH OK HERE
- HTC Desire 626s
- Metro PCS USA
- Current firmware version : 1.06.1550.7
ANYTHING ELSE?? IF YOU CAN GIVE ME THAT DOWNLOAD LINK, MY MOM WONT KILL ME:crying::crying::crying: (she's really pissed :laugh Thank you btw!
Was just thinking about this...if you soft bricked after attempting to install Xposed, and nothing else, you should be able to get out of it by flashing the xposed uninstaller zip. If that does not work, stay tuned to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/desire-626/help/htc-desire-626s-root-recovery-t3169169 as there are some others at the end of the thread in a similar predicament. It does not appear that there is an official RUU yet for the Metro version, only the T-Mobile version, and they are not compatible. Just try the uninstaller zip first because that would be the easiest thing to try and should only take a couple of minutes.
es0tericcha0s said:
Was just thinking about this...if you soft bricked after attempting to install Xposed, and nothing else, you should be able to get out of it by flashing the xposed uninstaller zip. If that does not work, stay tuned to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/desire-626/help/htc-desire-626s-root-recovery-t3169169 as there are some others at the end of the thread in a similar predicament. It does not appear that there is an official RUU yet for the Metro version, only the T-Mobile version, and they are not compatible. Just try the uninstaller zip first because that would be the easiest thing to try and should only take a couple of minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this before my phone got ****ed and it worked:good:! If you can help me dude that'd be great. After uninstalling or changing some stuff in priv-app on my HTC Desire 626s, when I rebooted, it would just stay in a boot loop with the optimizing app message. Any ideas?
What did you uninstall? I would ask for those apps in that thread and use a flashable zip and install via TWRP. You might also try clearing caches and/or resetting the phone again. It DOES take a long time to optimize the apps after wiping stuff as well, so sometimes it is a matter of being patient.
This is why I ALWAYS recommend to freeze apps vs uninstalling. Uninstalling them does not get you any usable space back, so there is no benefit, but it can cause issues if you do need the apps, as you can see...
es0tericcha0s said:
What did you uninstall? I would ask for those apps in that thread and use a flashable zip and install via TWRP. You might also try clearing caches and/or resetting the phone again. It DOES take a long time to optimize the apps after wiping stuff as well, so sometimes it is a matter of being patient.
This is why I ALWAYS recommend to freeze apps vs uninstalling. Uninstalling them does not get you any usable space back, so there is no benefit, but it can cause issues if you do need the apps, as you can see...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe I uninstalled the dialer and its service in an attempt to replace them with the stock lollipop ones. How do you install TWRP on this phone? My mom has the same phone and its also rooted but hers actually works so I was thinking since TWRP has a nandroid backup setting, I could simply do a nandroid backup on hers and flash it on to mine to see if it will boot up. What do you think? And for the optimizing apps thing, it would finish optimizing, say starting apps, reboot and then optimize again and repeat. Thanks for the help btw, I really hope we can fix this.
You have to unlock the bootloader @ htcdev.com and use fastboot to install TWRP. And yes, that would work, as long as they are on the same software update. Know that when you unlock the bootloader, it will automatically wipe the phone, so make sure she has everything backed up to Google, the PC, etc.
es0tericcha0s said:
You have to unlock the bootloader @ htcdev.com and use fastboot to install TWRP. And yes, that would work, as long as they are on the same software update. Know that when you unlock the bootloader, it will automatically wipe the phone, so make sure she has everything backed up to Google, the PC, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the TWRP recovery file for me to download?
I'm afraid I'm a bit confused... How did you install Xposed and the Uninstaller without a custom recovery? Upon further searching, there doesn't appear to be a version of TWRP for your phone that I could find. Just figured you already had one. You must be on Kit Kat and not Lollipop?
es0tericcha0s said:
I'm afraid I'm a bit confused... How did you install Xposed and the Uninstaller without a custom recovery? Upon further searching, there doesn't appear to be a version of TWRP for your phone that I could find. Just figured you already had one. You must be on Kit Kat and not Lollipop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Cyanogen recovery before flashing Xposed and the uninstaller. I thought you had the TWRP recovery img for my phone which is why I asked. I believe some developers are working on a Clockworkmod recovery for this phone which is basically the same thing as TWRP recovery, right? Anyways I guess I just have to wait until that comes out, but I was wondering if anyone who somehow got a hold of the stock rom could upload it for us to use. It would be really helpful
ClockWorkMod is the recovery that Cyanogen uses. That is able to perform nandroid backups as well.
You have to unlock the bootloader, then if you messed up your stock rom and you've updated it to something newer than what Samsung gives for a stock recoverable rom, you must first use the tmobile vers, let it fail, and then use metropcs vers.
If you messed up recovery or anything it will all go back to stock after flash.
Next just copy superuser zip file to phone, go to download mode and adb flash cyanogen recovery img. Then reboot to recovery, choose to flash update, and find the superuser. zip and flash it, voila.
https://www.mediafire.com/?8o6qtn7hlsec0zj,yqbbzb7divlcvvc
Kitkat, anyone?
Does anybody have a stock KitKat ROM for this device? I'd like to try to bypass the FRP, but am stuck on what must be either a marshmallow or lollipop ROM.
What carrier do you have?
I can send you a backup of the FRP.img for Marshmallow or for lollipop.
You can dd if= flash it to your device and you should be all good.
I am looking for any older roms for these devices too.
Seems like not too many people save the RUU and then HTC only releases the newest.
I got lollipop and marshmallow that's it.
But like i said we can fix the frp partition.
Issue is fixed
BigCountry907 said:
What carrier do you have?
I can send you a backup of the FRP.img for Marshmallow or for lollipop.
You can dd if= flash it to your device and you should be all good.
I am looking for any older roms for these devices too.
Seems like not too many people save the RUU and then HTC only releases the newest.
I got lollipop and marshmallow that's it.
But like i said we can fix the frp partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up fixing it using some ADB commands as noted in the "Well, I may have found..." thread. It'll be nice to have this phone out of my life. The day I had to spend with it was two days too many.
Since there seems to be no way of installing current (and future) patches from stock recovery when the device is rooted, it'd be good to know if someone has information about whether it's possible or not to develop a custom recovery. The old method using 5.02 droidboot won't work because the updates mess up the whole system if you use them. So since we have unlockable bootloaders in 5.1, could there be the possibility of compiling a permanent CWM?
since there seems no one to be working on it at the moment, i'll start a few tries myself and document the progress in this thread. Feel free to help or comment.
For now, i', stuck at unlocking the bootloader and still don't know why. "OEM unlock" was set in the developer options, rebooted to fastboot and tried "fastboot oem unlock". Results as attached. :\
I'll google a bit around and see if i can get it working....
What's the question - how to load the tethered CWM when you're running Lollipop 5.1? Because I can do that and provide insructions.
He's asking about a recovery that can be installed to the recovery partition, not just tethered.
It's possible, but we'd need somebody to build one. I tried one a while back from the Zenfone 2, but it didn't want to boot.
jumpup said:
What's the question - how to load the tethered CWM when you're running Lollipop 5.1? Because I can do that and provide insructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, it's not about the tethered one. The method booting tethered CWM won't work anymore once you installed the stagefright update. We'd need a 5.1 post-stagefright boot.img and system.img for that. And as the bootloader can be unlocked now, i think it might be the better solution to build a untethered CWM for the future.
@xBIGREDDx: do you have any good step by step instructions for setting up a build environment for that? The most things i found we not that complete. E.g. where to find the "vendor-specific files" and what they even are.
toxic_garden said:
no, it's not about the tethered one. The method booting tethered CWM won't work anymore once you installed the stagefright update. We'd need a 5.1 post-stagefright boot.img and system.img for that. And as the bootloader can be unlocked now, i think it might be the better solution to build a untethered CWM for the future.
@xBIGREDDx: do you have any good step by step instructions for setting up a build environment for that? The most things i found we not that complete. E.g. where to find the "vendor-specific files" and what they even are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a means of booting to tethered CWM after the Stagefright update. You must first flash the old 5.02 droidboot firmware via Intel Flash Utility (while in bootloader mode). Afterward, you can run the tethered CWM.
@xBIGREDDx made some instructions on this. Let me find it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64391058&postcount=16
This is not straightforward, but you *can* get to tethered CWM and root your 5.1 system. I did exactly this.
jumpup said:
There is a means of booting to tethered CWM after the Stagefright update. You must first flash the old 5.02 droidboot firmware via Intel Flash Utility (while in bootloader mode). Afterward, you can run the tethered CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that'S exactly the problem: if you flash the 5.02 droidboot over a system that applied the stagefright fix, you'll completely mess up the system. The fix contains a new boot.img and patches to the system.img, so even rolling back after super su to the stock 5.1 boot and system.img will get your tablet in a messed up state. If there'd be a way to dump the actual system and boot img without root, we could still use this method, but i don't know of one.
toxic_garden said:
that'S exactly the problem: if you flash the 5.02 droidboot over a system that applied the stagefright fix, you'll completely mess up the system. The fix contains a new boot.img and patches to the system.img, so even rolling back after super su to the stock 5.1 boot and system.img will get your tablet in a messed up state. If there'd be a way to dump the actual system and boot img without root, we could still use this method, but i don't know of one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*OH*! Now I understand. Could you post a screenshot of the build version with the Stagefright patch applied? I want to compare to mine. See attached.
Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk
jumpup said:
*OH*! Now I understand. Could you post a screenshot of the build version with the Stagefright patch applied? I want to compare to mine. See attached.
Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's mine. Software version doesn't seem to be changed, but the kernel is different...
With my current Android installation, CWM does not seem to be able to back up the data partition which is unfortunate.
However, I have always used a multi-tiered backup system:
* Titanium Backup (FULL on Sunday, INCREMENTAL every other day)
* Online NAndroid Backup (One per week using CWM format)
Each app's backup data syncs to the home NAS and Dropbox once a week.
I thought I had the Stagefright fix already in place. That's why I wanted to compare build/version details with a device that has the fix installed.
jumpup said:
With my current Android installation, CWM does not seem to be able to back up the data partition which is unfortunate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, /data is encrypted, so CWM can't access it for backup.
And since the stagefright fix won't install when it recognizes the /system partition as "tempered" (which means e.g. having the superSU binaries installed), it's pretty hard to keep root. That's the trap we're in.
back to topic: i'm gonna boot my linux netbook today and see if i can get the "oem unlock" option working...
toxic_garden said:
Yeah, /data is encrypted, so CWM can't access it for backup.
And since the stagefright fix won't install when it recognizes the /system partition as "tempered" (which means e.g. having the superSU binaries installed), it's pretty hard to keep root. That's the trap we're in.
back to topic: i'm gonna boot my linux netbook today and see if i can get the "oem unlock" option working...
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Click to collapse
D'oh. I should have remembered about the data encryption. Need more caffeine
If you need anything tested or confirmed in the field, I'd be glad to help.
Sent from my Venue 8 7840 using Tapatalk
toxic_garden said:
Here's mine. Software version doesn't seem to be changed, but the kernel is different...
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Click to collapse
The build number of a 5.1 install prior to Stagefright is different as well. Ends in 171200DEL instead of 173600DEL post-Stagefright patch.
jumpup said:
The build number of a 5.1 install prior to Stagefright is different as well. Ends in 171200DEL instead of 173600DEL post-Stagefright patch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oops you're right. Didn't even notice.
First steps forward: it seems like it's not possible to unlock the bootloader with installed sf-patch. No matter which version of fastboot i tried, i always got "FAILED: (some text i can't remember)". After downgrading to 5.1 stock firmware, unlock was possible. So as i now at least have the possibility to boot another recovery, i'll try setting up the build env. The Recovery Builder from CWM seems to be out of order at the moment.
toxic_garden said:
Here's mine. Software version doesn't seem to be changed, but the kernel is different...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I now have the Stagefright patch installed. Used the 5.02 droidboot temporarily to engage tethered CWM and install SuperSU. Reflashed 5.10 droidboot and firmware before proceeding. All is well. As you mentioned, it makes for a mixed 5.1 boot system, but I simply cannot live without root.
Here are the new build/version details:
After taking your advice and flashing the sg droidboot, my IWFI version is in line. I'll see if any system issues occur.
Is anyone still working on the 7840? Would be nice to have TWRP or CWM
I've been poking around on my 7840 on and off for a few weeks now. I seem to have verified that, after unlocking the bootloader, you can modify the boot and recovery partitions to your heart's content. However, any time I rebuild the kernel myself, I end up back at the "Dell" screen, frozen. Any other files are free game.
Assuming that the kernel needs to be signed using some tool I haven't figured out yet, I'm going to see if I can get a version of CWM working w/ the stock kernel. I tried dumping the version from the tethered recovery onto the recovery.img, but running it results in a black screen. I'll keep poking around though.
So, I cobbled together a (custom-recovery) flashable NC4 stock ROM.
I'm interested to find out whether it is possible to boot it successfully from later bootloader firmware - e.g. NK1, OB6, or OF1
(I'm still on NC4 bl and not planning on upgrading near term. It boots on NC4 bl but that's pretty obvious lol)
[size=+2]Q: Why would this be useful?
A: to provide a means for upgrading bootloader firmware without starting from scratch.[/size]
For instance, there are folks on OB6 firmware that would like to use a custom ROM that will only work on OF1 firmware. They can certainly start from scratch (backup and unload the entire device); an alternative would be to:
- Make a backup of an existing rooted ROM (that more than likely has a custom or modified boot image so is not bootable when the bootloader gets re-locked) using the currently-installed custom recovery (which will also be non-bootable under re-lock).
- Restore a (debloated) pure stock ROM w/ Samsung kernel. Root it with Towelroot (does not touch boot image)
- Flash replacement bootloader only in Odin. Locked bootloader = no custom recovery... but with a rooted stock ROM already in place with an unmodified stock kernel it can be immediately unlocked.
NC4 is easily rooted with Towelroot-v3 "on device". No need for PC drivers, online rooting tools with a separate PC, etc (e.g. as with Yemen rooting methods on OB6, OF1)
This approach in principle saves the need to backup everything up in the /sdcard - but you have to know in advance that the NC4 stock kernel and ROM can successfully be booted with later bootloaders.
So anyway, that's what I'm asking for help testing with - folks that are: (a) unlocked and (b) on NK1, OB6 or OF1 bootloader willing to try flashing a debloated NC4 Stock ROM using their existing custom recovery, and see if it boots, roots, and if root survives a single boot cycle.
Contact me via this thread or PM; I'll provide the flashable NC4 and the Towelroot .apk
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my n900v came with 5.0 Of1 but i rooted, unlocked BL. installed twrp and flashfired NC4 tar minus recovery
runs smooth.I hate lollipop.lol
only bug is wifi password resets everytime i reboot
im curious as to why i have trouble running certain nc2/nc4 roms..some want to bootloop/freeze
baja,biggins,and objective rom
kernel issue maybe? or BL version
btw. i am rooted via towelroot v3
hotrod85z said:
my n900v came with 5.0 Of1 but i rooted, unlocked BL. installed twrp and flashfired NC4 tar minus recovery
runs smooth.I hate lollipop.lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for posting that, very useful/helpful information to know.
Does Flashfire understand the Samsung "sparse" image format of the system.img.ext4 file inside the Stock (Odin) .md5 tarfile blob? Or maybe somebody else packaged up a "flashable .zip" of NC4?
hotrod85z said:
only bug is wifi password resets everytime i reboot
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Click to collapse
in /system/build.prop, set ro.securestorage.support=false and reboot. You might also want to set ro.config.tima=0 as well.
I suspect that mixing and matching Samsung kernels with bootloader versions breaks something in the TrustZone, and so secure containers and other sort-of-obscure security functions no longer work as the TZ smells something fishy. I am using a rooted PL1 rom on NC4 bl and it would spontaneously reboot (infrequently) until I made the above changes - it's been rock stable for about 4 days now. Why this works I can't really say - it's a "generation skipping" bootloader and stock rom combination - N* bootloader and P* ROM *
hotrod85z said:
im curious as to why i have trouble running certain nc2/nc4 roms..some want to bootloop/freeze
baja,biggins,and objective rom
kernel issue maybe? or BL version
btw. i am rooted via towelroot v3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all of the above or none of the above LOL
There are definitely some mysteries here, and I don't claim to fully understand the interdependence of the TZ (== bootloader firmware), the TIMA and RTKP stuff in the kernel, and the cross-communication between kernel and TZ via the qseecom service daemon (which is in the ROM in /system/bin) much less how the APIs of all these interfaces might have changed between major releases.
You could check those two build.prop settings in those ROMs for starters though. I suspect that if the TZ smells something fishy (e.g. a kernel TIMA to TZ info mismatch), a variety of secure credential services in the TZ stop working. It is possible that "ro.securestorage.support" is a toggle that attempts to use TZ services when it is set to "true", and so anything in the ROM which builds on it breaks because the TZ is refusing to play on an otherwise "stock" ROM variant.
FWIW I got the AryaMod (S7Edge MM port) + phantom kernel running on NC4 bl + OF1 modem for a full 24 hours after I disabled the qseecom service daemon. It ran long enough that I had customized the whole thing as a daily driver with all my apps, verified that all sensors & radios worked, made test calls, etc. Rebooted it and the kernel started getting reset by a "Modem Reset". Even weirder was that despite the use of the OF1 "modem" firmware, the kernel was reporting a bunch of RIL "unknown ioctl's". Strikes me as odd that the whole thing could run that long with so many different things happening, and then the "modem" is unhappy - even though other folks are using the ROM with OF1 bl + OF1 radio/modem firmware. (As if the "modem" isn't really the source of the problem, even though that's what initiates the device reset).
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i initially tried flashing NC4 full tar via ODIN. but even bl unlocked. i got FAIL. flashfire worked!
very curious as to whether a custom n900v kernel would boot my 4.4.2 custom roms..its either that or the BL isnt compatible with non-touchwiz roms....
most of the kernel/modem/firmware links on here are 404 error dead links.. would be nice to see an up to date sticky. ill flash anything as long as i dont end up in JTAG mode with a brick.lol
ive played with verizon s5 atnt s2,galaxy capitivate,atrix 4g and many other phones
the s2 is still by far the fastest Smoothest phone on cm7..the newer the phones..the newer the OS..the bigger the resourse hogs"ram" im a minimalist...
even after flashing NC4 official full tar..im still showing OF1 baseband under settings
@hotrod85z
FWIW I posted a bunch of recovery-flashable stock ROMs here.
There is also a link in that thread to a complete set of (Odin flashable) modems for NC4, NJ6, NK1, OB6, OF1, and PL1 if that is of interest to you.
Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but I could swear that on at least one occasion or two when I performed an Odin modem flash, it didn't "stick", despite no complaints on the handset screen or in Odin - the next boot showed the (prior) baseband version, not what I flashed. Its a bit of a mystery to me; but for now I've resolved to make sure that after the Odin session is complete, I wait 30 seconds or so, then remove the USB cable, and then pull the battery rather than try to restart the device by holding buttons down. It is possible that those events occurred when I soft-restarted the phone, but I'm not sure. For now I'm just trying to always flash and restart with exactly the same method to avoid different behaviors from creeping in.
PS I have no idea if those ROM flashables are compatible with Flashfire. They might be, but I've never tested it, and as they are not pre-rooted I'm not going to suggest it for fear that somebody with a rooted but locked (bootloader) phone will try using flashfire and then end up with a phone that needs a full Odin re-install. Appearances are that each version of the bootloader restricts the Samsung signing verification to only the matching kernel version - you can't even boot a Signed samsung kernel on a locked phone if it is a different version than the bootloader's version.
Hello all I have a emmc exploit note 3 I'm using here and I wanted to flash different radios for the us carrier note 3's and I first tried to use flash fire to try to update the modem, but even that didn't stick, cause I don't readily have a pc available, I wasn't ballsy enough to flash a different carrier modem, since I checked the odin screen and saw that instead of a bootloader unlock, its in developer mode and I didn't want a brick, so overall my question is, do I need a unlocked bootloader to flash different modems and do I need odin tovdo it or will some sort of mobile odin or something do it? Thanks mates and happy flashing.
Dlind said:
Hello all I have a emmc exploit note 3 I'm using here and I wanted to flash different radios for the us carrier note 3's and I first tried to use flash fire to try to update the modem, but even that didn't stick, cause I don't readily have a pc available, I wasn't ballsy enough to flash a different carrier modem, since I checked the odin screen and saw that instead of a bootloader unlock, its in developer mode and I didn't want a brick, so overall my question is, do I need a unlocked bootloader to flash different modems and do I need odin tovdo it or will some sort of mobile odin or something do it? Thanks mates and happy flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, your question is way off topic for this thread.
But since nobody is in here anyways, I guess I'll answer the parts that I am able to.
The modems that I posted over in that other thread were meant to be flashed in Odin using a PC. You can use either the AP slot or CP slot. Note that the very first post says - in big bold blue letters "Odin-flashable Modems".
Not flashfire. It never said anything about flashfire.
Is there such a thing as MobileOdin? If there is, I know nothing about it and certainly have never tested anything with it. So I don't know and am not going to speculate.
You said something confusing here:
Dlind said:
I checked the odin screen and saw that instead of a bootloader unlock, its in developer mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it says "MODE: Developer" you have an unlocked bootloader. Which is exactly the same thing as a Developer Edition phone.
If you were to use a PC with Odin and you flashed a FULL Stock firmware flash, yes it would overwrite the unlocked bootloader and indeed re-lock the phone. If you were able to re-root that (stock) ROM, you could perform the unlocking procedure again to unlock it.
On the other hand, those Odin-flashable modem packages do not contain the bootloader firmware, so if you were to use Odin on a PC to flash just those modem images, your bootloader would not get re-locked - the unlocked bootloader is still there, untouched.
When the carriers issue an OTA update, many times (perhaps most of the time) they contain a modem update (NON-HLOS.bin and modem.bin). So it is obvious that they are able to be flashed **somehow** right on the phone, without using Odin from the PC or an "Odin app" at all.
BUT that happens using a combination of the STOCK recovery and the bootloader itself during the reboot following the actions taken by the STOCK recovery. (My guess is that the recovery simply "stages" it into place, and sets some flags so that the bootloader knows that it is supposed to evaluate the crypto signatures of the file blobs that the recovery put into place and it is actually the bootloader that does the flashing. That's really not a whole lot different than what happens when you transfer files from Odin to the phone - the "Odin/Download" mode is just one of the personalities of the bootloader. (Odin is actually a rather dumb program - it's the bootloader on the phone that gets to decide whether a flash happens. It does that by carefully examining the file blob that gets transferred, e.g. crypto signature checks)
My guess is that you would be able to flash STOCK modem packages from Odin (using a PC) independent of whether the bootloader is locked or unlocked. But as I said: "guess".
I don't have a second phone to test with, so I would have to flash completely back to stock and lock my bootloader to be able to test that hypothesis. That's a big jobs because of all the crap I have to backup and restore to my phone.
Frankly, if you don't have access to a PC, and you really need your device to keep working, I would advise you to stop screwing around with it, simply because you don't have good tools available to fix it if a disaster occurs.
PS. I've never once noticed anything different between various radio firmwares on ANY device I've ever owned.
bftb0 said:
Well, your question is way off topic for this thread.
But since nobody is in here anyways, I guess I'll answer the parts that I am able to.
The modems that I posted over in that other thread were meant to be flashed in Odin using a PC. You can use either the AP slot or CP slot. Note that the very first post says - in big bold blue letters "Odin-flashable Modems".
Not flashfire. It never said anything about flashfire.
Is there such a thing as MobileOdin? If there is, I know nothing about it and certainly have never tested anything with it. So I don't know and am not going to speculate.
You said something confusing here:
If it says "MODE: Developer" you have an unlocked bootloader. Which is exactly the same thing as a Developer Edition phone.
If you were to use a PC with Odin and you flashed a FULL Stock firmware flash, yes it would overwrite the unlocked bootloader and indeed re-lock the phone. If you were able to re-root that (stock) ROM, you could perform the unlocking procedure again to unlock it.
On the other hand, those Odin-flashable modem packages do not contain the bootloader firmware, so if you were to use Odin on a PC to flash just those modem images, your bootloader would not get re-locked - the unlocked bootloader is still there, untouched.
When the carriers issue an OTA update, many times (perhaps most of the time) they contain a modem update (NON-HLOS.bin and modem.bin). So it is obvious that they are able to be flashed **somehow** right on the phone, without using Odin from the PC or an "Odin app" at all.
BUT that happens using a combination of the STOCK recovery and the bootloader itself during the reboot following the actions taken by the STOCK recovery. (My guess is that the recovery simply "stages" it into place, and sets some flags so that the bootloader knows that it is supposed to evaluate the crypto signatures of the file blobs that the recovery put into place and it is actually the bootloader that does the flashing. That's really not a whole lot different than what happens when you transfer files from Odin to the phone - the "Odin/Download" mode is just one of the personalities of the bootloader. (Odin is actually a rather dumb program - it's the bootloader on the phone that gets to decide whether a flash happens. It does that by carefully examining the file blob that gets transferred, e.g. crypto signature checks)
My guess is that you would be able to flash STOCK modem packages from Odin (using a PC) independent of whether the bootloader is locked or unlocked. But as I said: "guess".
I don't have a second phone to test with, so I would have to flash completely back to stock and lock my bootloader to be able to test that hypothesis. That's a big jobs because of all the crap I have to backup and restore to my phone.
Frankly, if you don't have access to a PC, and you really need your device to keep working, I would advise you to stop screwing around with it, simply because you don't have good tools available to fix it if a disaster occurs.
PS. I've never once noticed anything different between various radio firmwares on ANY device I've ever owned.
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Click to collapse
Thanks SOOOOOO MUCH for your input I kinda had a feeling that the idea was risky at first and I don't know a whole lot about odin and I wish Samsung could have created something much easier to use, but thanks for answering the wayyyyy off topic question, I'm gonna smash that thanks button, I'm also going to take the advise on not cross flashing different modems, its just to risky. You answered all my questions so thanks, Also I want to say thank you for your continued work on this phone is by normal terms "old" now but in reality its still an amazing phone with the right custom software, and happy flashing!