As I got older and busier, I've lost interest in reflashing my phone a dozen of times each day but still can't live with some of the software of my new phone - Redmi Note 3 Pro Prime
Is it possible to root the phone and also keep OTA updates without unlocking the bootloader and installing a custom recovery? I've searched through a few threads but all of them required unlocking the bootloader and losing OTAs at least partially. After all, I am just a human being and I might be wrong, thus this is me asking.
I am also open to other alternatives to rooting. To be specific, the only things I want are:
1) To remove some stock apps.
2) System-wide adblock.
3) To retain system icons when not using the stock launcher.
[ZCX TWRP] Install TWRP and Flash SuperSu without breaking incremental OTA's!
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Hi!
Got a Nexus 5 and I need to root (only) in order to be able to use TitaniumBackup Pro (restore), WatchDroid (anti-theft), and Tasker. My old Android phone was already rooted when I bought it, so I am not very familiar with rooting itself yet. (hence this perfect forum username of mine
I found http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2507905 which is a very cool piece of documentation.
However: I do not want to lose OTA for now in order to get the next updates and in order not to modify my new Nexus 5 more than needed.
The instruction (URL above) tells me that a "custom recovery is necessary to do [rooting]". Another statement (later on) is "As long as you keep the stock kernel, and the stock recovery, you will be able to receive OTAs."
So is this correct that I am going to lose OTA when I root my Nexus 5 in any case?
Thanks!
I had long been using a rooted phone before I got the S5, but things seem a little different now. I held off on rooting the S5 because I wanted to be sure that I was going to keep it long term before I did. So yesterday I did some research on here and elsewhere and ended up rooting via towelroot and getting SuperSU installed without flashing. Now I just need to figure out a few things and was hoping to get some help understanding what comes next.
I've been reading about concerns over tripping "Knox" holding folks back from flashing custom recover and ROMs. I'm not a touchwiz fan but I can tolerate it. If there were no cost, I'd probably just install Xposed or something like that but is this Knox thing important? What am I giving up if I flash a custom recovery?
SuperSU "disabled" Knox when I started it. What functions of Knox are disabled? Can I flash recovery and roms without incident now that it is disabled?
Almost as soon as I got done rooting and installing SuperSU last night, I got a notification from samsung saying that "an update is required to access samsung services". Was that triggered by the rooting of the phone? Can I install that update without loosing root access?
Last question: Now that I have root, what do I need to do to keep it? Will it be rolled back by any OTA update, and if so, what must I do to prevent that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
RobsterCraw said:
SuperSU "disabled" Knox when I started it. What functions of Knox are disabled? Can I flash recovery and roms without incident now that it is disabled?
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Click to collapse
You wouldn't have had to search or read very far in the forum to find answers to all of your questions. These get asked over and over, pretty much every day.
If you are contemplating a custom recovery, then read a thread about e.g. TWRP to learn about it's advantages. As just one of many advantages, it's the only way that you can make a proper, 100% backup.
Installing a custom recovery will increment Knox because Knox has not been removed from the bootloader. However most people don't obsess about the Knox flag. The only significant downside to the flag is that it might invalidate a minority of warranty claims.
Block e.g. rename or freeze the OTA updater to avoid losing root. An update will generally break it and there is no assurance that you will always be able to reroot. SuperSU Pro has a feature that attempts to restore root after an update.
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I have two Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phones, SM-N900V. One has Android version 5.0 and I haven't been able to root that one. The other one has Android version 4.3, and I was able to root it from Windows using mobilego_setup_full818.exe.
Now that the second phone is rooted, I get daily unidentified popups, presumably from Verizon, asking me to let it update the phone. It doesn't say what it's going to update; I guess it's the Android version. My only choices are to let it happen, or postpone it; no option to refuse it permanently.
So question: If I let it update, will it undo my root? I'm worried that if it updates Android and I lose the rooting, I won't be able to root it again, like with the other phone.
On one hand I'd like to update the Android system because the current older one is preventing me from installing some apps, like Wells Fargo Banking, and Pokemon Go. On the other hand, I really want to keep the root, because I rely on it for using my phone as a wifi spot for my laptop, blocking ads, using Titanium Backup, etc.
Advice?
You can unlock the bootloader now, so updating, installing custom recoveries and root are no longer an issue:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/ver...l/official-note-3-verizon-bootloader-t3359370
Don't update over the air though. Update via Odin, then unlock bootloader, install TWRP, and flash SuperSU zip. Make sure to back everything up to a safe place.
Thanks; I'll check this stuff out.
I recently installed a custom recovery on my exynos s9+ on stock pie. I actually thought unlocking oem and installing a custom recovery + root would trip Knox and prevent me from getting any updates but it didn't. Was roaming on my phone today and somehow found myself in the phone update menu. I tapped on check for updates and low and behold I could download an update. My problem is now that I'm on a custom recovery how would any update i download even manage to install? And even if it does is there a possibility that it might cause troubles like re-enabling dm-verity lock and bricking my phone? I wanna know what might happen if I proceed to download and install that OTA update.
drickles said:
I recently installed a custom recovery on my exynos s9+ on stock pie. I actually thought unlocking oem and installing a custom recovery + root would trip Knox and prevent me from getting any updates but it didn't. Was roaming on my phone today and somehow found myself in the phone update menu. I tapped on check for updates and low and behold I could download an update. My problem is now that I'm on a custom recovery how would any update i download even manage to install? And even if it does is there a possibility that it might cause troubles like re-enabling dm-verity lock and bricking my phone? I wanna know what might happen if I proceed to download and install that OTA update.
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Personally I would not do the OTA as it may not update properly (if even at all). Every phone I have rooted before this was one of the cautions usually posted... I would double check in what ever tutorial, thread, utility faq you used to make sure.
I would suggest you wait for an update to be made that is flashable with your custom recovery. If your custom recovery has the feature (like TWRP) make a backup of what you have installed, flash the update and if things don't work you can restore your backup.
I miss having that kind of backup/restore ability via custom recovery on my phone.. sure comes in handy when things go sideways
Nothing happens. According to my experience and contents in the OTA zip, twrp will simply just spit it out. No dm-verity re-lock or bricking too.
You can always download one of the custom systems which are regularly updated.
Example would be Soldier ROM.
I recommend find your new firmware and flash it. You will lose all of your file and root-recovery you can have them all back
Hi guys, my questions would refer to root privileges with regard to OTA software update...
But firstly...
Do you think that KingoRoot apk constitutes a reliable root service? Do you think one can root his/her device just by installing the app via browser in the phone and launching the root process?
And now the initial question:
Do you think that OTA software update can remove root from the device? Or, does the fact that one can perform OTA software update indicate that there is acutally no root on the phone?
(Device: Samsung Galaxy J5 2016)
Thanks!
Yannikk said:
Hi guys, my questions would refer to root privileges with regard to OTA software update...
But firstly...
Do you think that KingoRoot apk constitutes a reliable root service? Do you think one can root his/her device just by installing the app via browser in the phone and launching the root process?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally no - Android functions such as Verified Boot and dm-verity are supposed to prevent persistent rootkits, unless the bootloader is unlocked. Yes, there are some exploits, but usually these only provide temporary root.
As a general rule I advise against using closed source software, simply because you don't know if there's anything malicious going on under the hood. A safe alternative is Magisk, although this does not utilize any exploits, so you would have to unlock your bootloader and root the "right" way.
Yannikk said:
And now the initial question:
Do you think that OTA software update can remove root from the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - in most cases, a OTA update overwrites several partitions on the device, including /boot and /system. This means that after rebooting from an OTA update, root would no longer be available. The workaround for this is the "Patch to inactive slot" function in Magisk on A/B devices - once the update is complete and the device is ready for a reboot, Magisk uses root privileges to patch the new boot image, so that root persists after reboot.
For A only devices such as Samsung, it's a bit more tricky...you'd need to flash a custom recovery after the update and flash Magisk from there.
Yannikk said:
Or, does the fact that one can perform OTA software update indicate that there is acutally no root on the phone?
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Click to collapse
Not always. In most cases, update_engine conducts various checks to determine whether critical partitons such as /system and /boot are intact and untampered; if they are, the update will fail. This is why Magisk has the "Restore images" function for systemless root - Magisk restores the unpatched boot image written to flash, so that the device may pass these checks. It doesn't always work, and on the opposite end of things, there are some devices that will happily install an OTA update even with modified binaries present on the device.
Thanks for you answer, V0latyle.
Now, I would present a broader picture of an issue that gains my attention...
It happend some time ago, on an older device (Galaxy J5 2016, as mentioned)...
I installed KingoRoot apk (directly via browser in the phone) and launched rooting process... The app signalized that the rooting process has been successful... I did not install any custom ROMs or apps... The phone functioned pretty normally then... However, after few months, out of the blue, my device started behaving strangely... Videos on YT took a great amount of time to load or they lagged after some time... Newsfeed on IG did not work, nor instastories... Browsers were also considerably slower... Approx. 2 months later, when Nougat 7.1.1 came out and after I downloaded this software update (OTA), the phone got somehow faster - YT videos loaded faster or did not lag, IG newsfeed got updated regularly, browsers were not so slow either... On the other hand, yes, some apps still behaved in an unusual way...
Do you have any idea what might have happened in this case?
Thank you very much for any suggestions!