Related
New member here. Bear with me, please, for possible n00b questions.
I'm not new to rooting & ROM'ing. I've been rooting and ROM'ing for years, but I haven't done much in a while due to excessive work schedule and family obligations. But I'm looking to get back into it.
I've had my VZW S4 for about 9 months. I'm rooted, but running stock ROM.
Phone: i545
Android: 4.2.2
Baseband: I545VRUAME7
Kernal: 3.4.0-690088
Build Number: ...ME7
As I said, I've got lots of experience with rooting and ROMs. I flashed my prior phone easily over 100x experimenting with different ROMs. But since I'm going from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2, I think I better ask regarding my strategy to be sure I don't end up with a brick.
My general plan is to: update my phone to 4.4.2 via OTA update, root, flash recovery, then experiment with various ROMs. Specifically, these are the steps I'm setup to follow:
Back up everything (App's, contacts, bookmarks, SMS, etc.) via Titanium -- actually, I've already done this
Perform factory reset in its current state (4.2.2)
Accept OTA 4.4.2 upgrade from VZW ==> I assume this will revert phone back to UNroot status??
Re-root via Towelroot
Download SuperSU
(Remove KNOX??)
Install recovery
Install ROM
Questions:
I've read about Samsung KNOX. If KNOX is "triggered", Samsung won't honor the warranty. But I don't care about the warranty at this point, so is the whole KNOX thing a moot point for me?
Anything else I should be aware of? Any experienced users of S4 that see an obvious gap in the above plan, I would be much appreciated in hearing your advice.
For what it's worth, I've been studying the following YouTube video for what lies ahead.
"CyanogenMod 11 (CM11) on the Samsung Galaxy S4! (Install, Setup, First Look, and etc)"
uniroot said:
New member here. Bear with me, please, for possible n00b questions.
I'm not new to rooting & ROM'ing. I've been rooting and ROM'ing for years, but I haven't done much in a while due to excessive work schedule and family obligations. But I'm looking to get back into it.
I've had my VZW S4 for about 9 months. I'm rooted, but running stock ROM.
Phone: i545
Android: 4.2.2
Baseband: I545VRUAME7
Kernal: 3.4.0-690088
Build Number: ...ME7
As I said, I've got lots of experience with rooting and ROMs. I flashed my prior phone easily over 100x experimenting with different ROMs. But since I'm going from 4.2.2 to 4.4.2, I think I better ask regarding my strategy to be sure I don't end up with a brick.
My general plan is to: update my phone to 4.4.2 via OTA update, root, flash recovery, then experiment with various ROMs. Specifically, these are the steps I'm setup to follow:
Back up everything (App's, contacts, bookmarks, SMS, etc.) via Titanium -- actually, I've already done this
Perform factory reset in its current state (4.2.2)
Accept OTA 4.4.2 upgrade from VZW ==> I assume this will revert phone back to UNroot status??
Re-root via Towelroot
Download SuperSU
(Remove KNOX??)
Install recovery
Install ROM
Questions:
I've read about Samsung KNOX. If KNOX is "triggered", Samsung won't honor the warranty. But I don't care about the warranty at this point, so is the whole KNOX thing a moot point for me?
Anything else I should be aware of? Any experienced users of S4 that see an obvious gap in the above plan, I would be much appreciated in hearing your advice.
For what it's worth, I've been studying the following YouTube video for what lies ahead.
"CyanogenMod 11 (CM11) on the Samsung Galaxy S4! (Install, Setup, First Look, and etc)"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. DO NOT TAKE THE OTA
2. read the forums regarding what your options for recovery. Don't try to flash cyanogenmod or you'll end up with a brick.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app
I've been researching this for a couple of days, and obviously I'm missing some details.
Why not take the OTA for 4.4.x? What am I missing? What's the issue?
Doing some more research this morning...
When you say: "read the forums regarding what your options for recovery. Don't try to flash cyanogenmod or you'll end up with a brick."
I read from another post: loki allows you to install whatever you want, not just Touchwiz-based ROMs. If you want to install CM, you've got to use Loki.
So I need to perform the loki hack first, right? If I install CM without the loki hack, I will brick my phone?
uniroot said:
Doing some more research this morning...
When you say: "read the forums regarding what your options for recovery. Don't try to flash cyanogenmod or you'll end up with a brick."
I read from another post: loki allows you to install whatever you want, not just Touchwiz-based ROMs. If you want to install CM, you've got to use Loki.
So I need to perform the loki hack first, right? If I install CM without the loki hack, I will brick my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Loki only works on MDK, the firmware version before me7. everything after MDK can only run safestrap. Can't downgrade.
You can use the OTA but it will fail if your system is modified at all. If you know all modifications you've done and can remove them, go ahead. If not, use the NC5 tar file in Odin to upgrade.
joshm.1219 said:
Loki only works on MDK, the firmware version before me7. everything after MDK can only run safestrap. Can't downgrade.
You can use the OTA but it will fail if your system is modified at all. If you know all modifications you've done and can remove them, go ahead. If not, use the NC5 tar file in Odin to upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent, thank you for providing this info! I'll look into Odin.
For clarification...I have performed certain "modifications" since I've owned the phone. If I perform a factory reset on it in its current state, does that not remove/reset all of the mods I've done??
uniroot said:
Excellent, thank you for providing this info! I'll look into Odin.
For clarification...I have performed certain "modifications" since I've owned the phone. If I perform a factory reset on it in its current state, does that not remove/reset all of the mods I've done??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should, but not always. Also you have to use the unroot from the supersu app.
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:27 PM ----------
Oh and the tar files are here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2735172
I recommend using Odin 3.09
You're saying I will need to un-root prior to performing the NC5 Odin?
Do I need to worry about changing/updating my old ME7 build before the NC5 Odin?
uniroot said:
You're saying I will need to un-root prior to performing the NC5 Odin?
Do I need to worry about changing/updating my old ME7 build before the NC5 Odin?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you only need the unroot if you try the OTA. Nothing else needs to be done to use the tar file with Odin, but I would recommend backing up important data to an external SD and flashing the full wipe file to ensure you have a clean system.
Latest OTA "patches" TowelRoot
I've read recently I've read that the OTA will fix the vulnerability that TowelRoot exploits to gain root. But most if not all of the articles were specific to the S5. It is possible that taking the OTA will patch the same vulnerability and remove root again. It's been a long time since I've had to work this hard to root/ROM anything...so I'm not sure if I'm correct or not, but it's something to consider before taking the OTA...if you haven't already.
~JohnnyB~ said:
I've read recently I've read that the OTA will fix the vulnerability that TowelRoot exploits to gain root. But most if not all of the articles were specific to the S5. It is possible that taking the OTA will patch the same vulnerability and remove root again. It's been a long time since I've had to work this hard to root/ROM anything...so I'm not sure if I'm correct or not, but it's something to consider before taking the OTA...if you haven't already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towelroot works on NC5, the latest OTA for this device. Towelroot came well after the OTA. If we get another firmware update, I'm sure it will patch towelroot.
UPDATE: MY PROBLEM WAS SOLVED AND THE ROM WAS FLASHED SUCCESSFULLY. Full details in a follow-up comment further down.
I want to update my rooted AT&T HTC One (M8) running Android 4.4.4 and the Google Play Edition ROM + TWRP Recovery to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop. How would I do this without losing root from the OTA update and with TWRP Recovery?
I would just wait until a flashable ROM is posted, similar to what you have now (but older GPE version).
The OTA just started rolling out like yesterday, didn't it?
Or you can flash the "leaked" early Lollipop build, which is already posted as a flashable ROM.
You cannot flash an ota with twrp installed,and in order to accept an ota you need to be completely [email protected],may be able to save root.
I had the same exact setup as you and manually updated mine yesterday (after replacing cwm recovery with stock). Unfortunately I lost root. Currently looking for a way to get it back and still receive future ota updates.
Are you guys S-On or S-Off ?
I'm running SkyDragon GPE 4.4.4, but I cannot S-off ... Sunshine says I need to revert to stock in order to get S-0ff, and everything I've read says I need S-off to get back to stock.
Post Update
UPDATE: I've pushed an Android 5.0.1 GPE ROM to my phone using this ROM. It was posted by the same person who created the original Android 4.4.4 GPE ROM XDA Developers post, so I trust them. It's currently working like a dream.
I used ADB to flash this ROM to my phone. Be aware that, if flashed, this ROM WILL DELETE EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE INCLUDING YOUR MICRO SD CARD AND YOUR CUSTOM RECOVERY, so make a backup on a micro SD card using TWRP, CWM, Philz Touch Recovery, or whichever recovery you'd like and eject your micro SD card before flashing the ROM. You can simply reinstall the recovery if the ROM fails for some reason, reinsert the micro SD card, and restore to your previous ROM. The 5.0.1 ROM's forum post should provide more than enough information for the installation process, but if you don't have enough knowledge to do that on your own yet (or you don't currently have root access, S-Off, etc.), you can follow this tutorial almost exactly, simply replacing the files he says to download and flash to your phone with the ones from the forum post linked earlier.
Hope this helps someone!
Well, that wasn't what you originally asked for (how to update by OTA without losing root), but ok.
Also, the thread you linked states the RUU deletes the internal ("virtual") SD, not the removable ("external") one. But its not a bad idea to save backup info in the way you suggest (or copy to computer) "just in case".
Hello all, just wondering if there is a root yet for zv6. Im still on a rooted zv6 and dont want to upgrade for loss of root.
cpusmc said:
Hello all, just wondering if there is a root yet for zv6. Im still on a rooted zv6 and dont want to upgrade for loss of root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you meant you're on a rooted ZV4?
There is no root for ZV6, but there are pre-rooted ZV6 ROMs available.
Stock ZV6: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/development/rom-stock-zv6-base-odex-deodex-t2949087
Debloated, tweaked and improved AV6: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/development/rom-barrin-odexed-deodexed-t2950747
So pre rooted zv6 is the same? Hiw do i go about installing
cpusmc said:
So pre rooted zv6 is the same? Hiw do i go about installing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instructions are in the OP of the thread I linked to.
meyerweb said:
Do you meant you're on a rooted ZV4?
There is no root for ZV6, but there are pre-rooted ZV6 ROMs available.
Stock ZV6: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/development/rom-stock-zv6-base-odex-deodex-t2949087
Debloated, tweaked and improved AV6: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/development/rom-barrin-odexed-deodexed-t2950747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
again, i stress for clarity on these sites discussing ROM's, root etc.... please know what you are talking about when you post here. having a rooted zv6 and wondering if there is a root for zv6 is just nonsense. its the same thing. the only way to get root if you have the update (zv6) is to roll back to zv4, root, add custom recovery, then flash zv6 rooted rom to it. not just that easy, but fairly easy on most other devices. here, for the stock zv6 to zv4, i can not find any clear answer on the commands and DOES IT WORK. no one has posted with any success in attempting it. i find it hard to believe i can flash, wihtout recovery, to a rooted zv4 from the stock bootloader. do you know if this is possible meyerweb?
thanks
sgtduckyboy said:
again, i stress for clarity on these sites discussing ROM's, root etc.... please know what you are talking about when you post here. having a rooted zv6 and wondering if there is a root for zv6 is just nonsense. its the same thing. the only way to get root if you have the update (zv6) is to roll back to zv4, root, add custom recovery, then flash zv6 rooted rom to it. not just that easy, but fairly easy on most other devices. here, for the stock zv6 to zv4, i can not find any clear answer on the commands and DOES IT WORK. no one has posted with any success in attempting it. i find it hard to believe i can flash, wihtout recovery, to a rooted zv4 from the stock bootloader. do you know if this is possible meyerweb?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really sure what you're asking. Are you currently on ZV4 or ZV6? Are you rooted or not?
(1) If you're on ZV4, you can root with Stump, then flash the bumped TWRP which unlocks the bootloader. (There's a thread on how to do this Search for "Bump" and make sure you use the Sprint version.) Then you can flash a pre-rooted ZV6 ROM.
(2) If you're on the factory, non-rooted ZV6 ROM, there's no way to root it. You'll have to use LG's flashtool to revert to the stock ZV4, then follow the steps above.
(3) If you're on a rooted ZV6, then you must have done the steps in (1), above already.
If you're asking if reverting to ZV4, then doing (1) above works, then yes. People have done it successfully. But using flashtool will wipe your phone and all data on internal storage.
meyerweb said:
I'm not really sure what you're asking. Are you currently on ZV4 or ZV6? Are you rooted or not?
(1) If you're on ZV4, you can root with Stump, then flash the bumped TWRP which unlocks the bootloader. (There's a thread on how to do this Search for "Bump" and make sure you use the Sprint version.) Then you can flash a pre-rooted ZV6 ROM.
(2) If you're on the factory, non-rooted ZV6 ROM, there's no way to root it. You'll have to use LG's flashtool to revert to the stock ZV4, then follow the steps above.
(3) If you're on a rooted ZV6, then you must have done the steps in (1), above already.
If you're asking if reverting to ZV4, then doing (1) above works, then yes. People have done it successfully. But using flashtool will wipe your phone and all data on internal storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me specifically, i'm asking about 2. i am on zv6, the way i got the phone unfortunately. but noone is saying if they have had success flashtooling back to zv4. i'm an htc and galaxy experienced phone user. have done those roots, recoveries, etc... but they even say, rolling back from a stock rom, non-rooted, is usually impossible, without first acquring root in current stock rom. i know they are publishing 'how-to's' on how to roll back to zv4 stock from zv6 stock, but there hasnt been any confirmation yet on the thread that i could tell. i even posted, asking if anyone has had success, but i do not see it yet. so i'm asking you, do you know if anyone has succeeded at flashtool to zv4 from zv6? i'm taking it, when you roll back to zv4, its stock, un-rooted, correct? i downloaded all the tools, tot's and dll but over two sets of instructions on what dll to use and when. so i'm not risking bricking this because once again, the guru's do not clarify to us 'underlings' the exact process. I had the same experience with the htc and galaxy phones. its like they are talking to each other only and the process is implied because of the experience. well after hundreds of resets , rom switches, etc with my galaxy, i think i get what they mean in that system of phones. but this LG is totally new and uses different terms, tools and processes. if they worked in IT they'd know what technical writing is, so i'm assuming they might be non-it people and thus the confusion on how to explain , in simple concise steps, so that others may join in. If they did that, more would join in and enable the community to grow exponentially. i've heard many IT freinds say they wont try it because they were confused, or it didnt make sense, or they heard the horror stories. I have lived the horror stories, but there is usually a way out of the boot loop or bricked device situation. problem is, with so little about the LG out there, i dont want to be waiting for weeks/months to get it back to work.
thanks for your help.
LG has not implemented an anti-rollback feature in ZV6 (like Samsung did on their more recent ROMs). And using Flashtool completely replaces all the existing partitions on your phone, so it doesn't care what was there before (rooted, not-rooted, ZV4 or 6, or anything else).
I don't see anyone confirming they did it, but it's been suggested many times, and I haven't seen anyone say it didn't work, either.
Edit: Here's a post from someone who did this successfully. Post # 186: http://forum.xda-developers.com/spr...g-g3-ls990-t2852042/post57504184#post57504184
sgtduckyboy said:
for me specifically, i'm asking about 2. i am on zv6, the way i got the phone unfortunately. but noone is saying if they have had success flashtooling back to zv4. i'm an htc and galaxy experienced phone user. have done those roots, recoveries, etc... but they even say, rolling back from a stock rom, non-rooted, is usually impossible, without first acquring root in current stock rom. i know they are publishing 'how-to's' on how to roll back to zv4 stock from zv6 stock, but there hasnt been any confirmation yet on the thread that i could tell. i even posted, asking if anyone has had success, but i do not see it yet. so i'm asking you, do you know if anyone has succeeded at flashtool to zv4 from zv6? i'm taking it, when you roll back to zv4, its stock, un-rooted, correct? i downloaded all the tools, tot's and dll but over two sets of instructions on what dll to use and when. so i'm not risking bricking this because once again, the guru's do not clarify to us 'underlings' the exact process. I had the same experience with the htc and galaxy phones. its like they are talking to each other only and the process is implied because of the experience. well after hundreds of resets , rom switches, etc with my galaxy, i think i get what they mean in that system of phones. but this LG is totally new and uses different terms, tools and processes. if they worked in IT they'd know what technical writing is, so i'm assuming they might be non-it people and thus the confusion on how to explain , in simple concise steps, so that others may join in. If they did that, more would join in and enable the community to grow exponentially. i've heard many IT freinds say they wont try it because they were confused, or it didnt make sense, or they heard the horror stories. I have lived the horror stories, but there is usually a way out of the boot loop or bricked device situation. problem is, with so little about the LG out there, i dont want to be waiting for weeks/months to get it back to work.
thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you need to do is read. It's all right in this forum.
Read:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=57185864
And
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=55225699
I've just read them again and they answer every question you wanted to know.
And yes, you can roll back to zv4. It's in one or both of those threads I linked above.
I might end up switching over to here from the Galaxy S3 within the next few months and I'm concerned on the bootloader/root status. As of the latest OTA that's been pushed, would this still work to flash custom ROMs and if it does, do I literally just have to follow the thread and I'm running(for example) the latest CM12 nightly? Thanks!
DubleJayJ said:
I might end up switching over to here from the Galaxy S3 within the next few months and I'm concerned on the bootloader/root status. As of the latest OTA that's been pushed, would this still work to flash custom ROMs and if it does, do I literally just have to follow the thread and I'm running(for example) the latest CM12 nightly? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but I believe you'd first need to downgrade to 10b and then root in order for this to work.
What he said. And we don't have root for Lollipop on our phone yet, but some developers here are working on it. You have to downgrade to 10B and root using Stump, then you can re-upgrade to 12B, which is the latest official stock LG version of Android on our phones. Lollipop is expected to officially drop on our phone anytime from a minute from now until the end of 2015. :\
We have a leak of the 23A build of Lollipop for our phone. I like it despite not being able to keep root when upgrading, for now. 23B, according to the open source code released by LG, will be the actual official Lollipop for us.
I came from the S3, too. I loved the phone, but got bored. I haven't regretted it, I love the G3 even better. The camera is awesome, I love how it feels. The first Android phone that I haven't wanted a case for.
roirraW "edor" ehT said:
What he said. And we don't have root for Lollipop on our phone yet, but some developers here are working on it. You have to downgrade to 10B and root using Stump, then you can re-upgrade to 12B, which is the latest official stock LG version of Android on our phones. Lollipop is expected to officially drop on our phone anytime from a minute from now until the end of 2015. :\
We have a leak of the 23A build of Lollipop for our phone. I like it despite not being able to keep root when upgrading, for now. 23B, according to the open source code released by LG, will be the actual official Lollipop for us.
I came from the S3, too. I loved the phone, but got bored. I haven't regretted it, I love the G3 even better. The camera is awesome, I love how it feels. The first Android phone that I haven't wanted a case for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's not locked down in any sort of way(minus root)? I don't wanna get a phone not be able to mess around with it
DubleJayJ said:
So it's not locked down in any sort of way(minus root)? I don't wanna get a phone not be able to mess around with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer depends on what you're looking for. If you want to have a phone with a custom recovery on it, with or without root, then yes we have that and can flash ROMs like crazy under KitKat 4.4.2, make nandroids, flash kernels and even an older modem if you like, etc. Under Lollipop, there's no way to do anything at all until we get a hold of the full ROM KDZ file that they can extract and modify to make flashable, rooted Lollipop ROMs.
I'm liking how smooth stock LG Lollipop is, though, and LG's built-in backup option under 4.4.2 and 5.0.1 make having a clean flash of 4.4.2 and manual upgrade to 5.0.1 even less painful than restoring with Titanium Backup because LG's backup is extremely fast, includes data and also includes the system data although I have yet to see (shortly) just how much system data is restored from an older ROM to a newer one, since it warns that not all system data might be restored when having backed up under an older ROM.
FYI, technically, I think the bootloader is still locked, however they have this thing called bump which evidently tricks the phone into still accepting flashes of non-official ROMs, by way of having a "bumped" version of TWRP installed, which can be done straight from Flashify in the Play Store as soon as you root using Stump brute force under 10B (an older LG stock ROM), reboot, install SuperSU, have it install/update the binary and reboot once more.
Then you can use @autoprime's Flash2 zip files in TWRP to flash the boot.img, modem.img and system.img of stock 12B if that's what you want, and then flash the latest SuperSU.zip, or whatever ROM you want. Sorry if I'm repeating some of what I had already said before.
Good luck, whatever way you decide.
I did the stump root when I got the phone and haven't done anything since (on ZV4 android 4.4.2). I only root for the hotspot feature. I've seen posts about available Roms but nothing about keeping stock. Could anyone be kind enough to update me on what I need to do to update to the current version and then root again (or point me to the correct links). Tired of seeing the update icon on my phone and would like the current android version. Sorry if this post is unecessary, didn't see a sticky that had the info I needed.
You can do a few things.
1) Factory reset. Take OTAs to current version (ZV8A 5.0.1), re-root. Make sure you make a backup of your /data with titanium backup or something. Also your internal storage will be wiped.
2) Flash VZ4 with LG Flash Tool. Take all OTAs. Again, will lose all data. You can also just straight up flash the ZV8 .tot and not bother with OTAs. Then Re-Root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/spr...de-how-to-restore-sprint-lg-g3-ls990-t2852042
3) Install TWRP, flash VZ8 (lollipop) rom and let your system do the update like normal.
Installing TWRP is easy on 4.4.2. Should be able to use flashify and download the bumped version of TWRP and flash it with flashify.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-...mp-unlock-lg-g3-twrp-d852-d852g-f400-t2900614
Thanks for the info porksandwich9113! I'm going to give #2 a try with the ZV8 or ZVA .tot
Figured I would update this for anyone else that may read it and benefit.
I saved any data I couldn't lose to my computer. Then I followed the awesome guide fergie716 provided here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/spr...de-how-to-restore-sprint-lg-g3-ls990-t2852042
But I used the current ZVA tot provided by 1619415 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61512227&postcount=3 instead of the old ZV4 tot in the guide.
Everything worked beautifully but you have to get that MSL code and reset the phone or you won't have the Sprint splash screen, some sprint only apps, LG will show under "network" instead of Sprint, and worst of all, your tethering options won't show up under settings at all!!! There is a method to get the 6 digit MSL code provided in the guide but I did this late at night so I just called Sprint (no wait!) and they provide it hassle free. Did the ##RTN# reset and the phone was up to date and fully stock.
Used this one click root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g3/general/one-click-root-zva-t3141390
And I'm back in rooted bliss.