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Hello there, I was hoping somebody could help me with this.
So i've been trying to get my Evo Design 4g rooted but I always seem to get in some sort of a problem in the last steps. I first tried Frigid's SuperUserV3(in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1343114), but did not get the phone rooted, I even got the colored flashing screen that says "Rooted" but superuser(Downloaded from Google Play) does not find a thing, the root checker says my phone is not rooted, and Titanium Backup says it cannot get access and that I need to root my phone.
Therefore I tried a different approach to the problem, and after some hours of research I found this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1470038
Which says that after all of that I will be able to "root" my Evo design, it pretty much tells you to use the same steps as this other post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1239821
(by the way I do not really know what HBoot 1.5 means or what is it's purpose)
So after following the instructions on both of the posts I've done the first steps without problem, my Design already has been unlocked and I have already pushed the Recovery.img and the su.zip into the SD, I also went into fastboot and had the recovery option in there, I selected it and the phone started to restart as in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlTGu_CBLI&feature=player_embedded
I however did not get anything after the HTC screen with the white background, it just stays there, I've waited for like aprox. 10 mins and it doesn't move or change so I'm guessing something must be wrong.
Now I don't know if all of this is not working because of my phone's version.
It is relatively new I got it a week ago as a replacement for an older one that had some problems with the charge port. Anyways, as soon as the phone was given to me I updated and everything(I did not Think/Know a lot about rooting at this point so I let it all install and it left me with this software version:
Android Version: 2.3.4
HTC Sense Version: 3.0 (I don't know if it has anything to do with rooting or this)
Software Number: 2.12.651.8 710RD
All of this as of may 31 2012
I also found this other post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1399351
It does has some stuff on it for after the rooting and 2 links to do so but, they seem to be outdated/dead as the link that takes you to supertool still reads v2, and he has already released v3. The second one seems to take you to a page that doesn't exist anymore so the post just doesn't seem to be able to help me.
I also tried some of the other posts that this page recommended when posting this but none of them seem to have a real answer and take me in some kind of a loophole of the early mentioned options or have no answers about the rooting.
As an ultimate resource I've been pondering about using rEVOked with the settings of the Evo 4g since it seems to be very similar to my phone, or at least something similar to those words. Also tried UnlockRoot at some point in between but didn't work at all either. Don't think it is relevant though since there is not a lot I can do or work with when it comes to a one-click program.
Any Help would be greatly appreciated and I will try my best to continue researching and maybe post any changes or an official way to root this device since it seems as there is none around at least not to this point.
I am new to here and the whole rooting topic but i will try my best to be useful to the community and keep posting useful stuff around here.
Thanks!. Btw your noob video is hilarious.
I'm going to suggest you check out the design 4g / hero s section in the forums of sdx-developers.com & 2fastroms.com (2fast's site is down atm, but most files you need are in his download section for the hero s). There isn't an official sub section for the phone here at xda & its hard to find support. 2fast has a cwm recovery, custom kernels, & roms that works great with the design 4g (I'll pm links as soon as the site is back up). Sdx-developers gears towards more roms & mods. You will find a section for rooting your design at sdx here http://forum.sdx-developers.com/index.php?topic=19080.0 Sorry for not answering your question & just refering you to other sites, but I think you will find you solution & more support from the sites I posted than here at xda.
Thanks, it seems as that actually was the page that the other post was redirecting me to, so I guess I'll have to wait for that; I actually found that the problem might be that the Recovery.img that I'm using does not work on Evo Design/ Hero S phones. I found a different image on a post in here that got extracted from a Foreign forum, I'll try that after class and then see how everything goes. I would still love to get a link to a forum that has an "official" root for it though.
Thanks a lot
This is the correct recovery (clockworkmod) for the design 4g. Just rename it to Ph44IMG & place it on your sd card. Boot to hboot & let the phone find it & select to install. Remove or rename file from you sd card before you try to boot into your os. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24065431/Design_PH44IMG.zip
Is that one for Sprint?
I'm in Indonesia and had tried recovery for Boost one and had GSM problem, no signal at all.
Hello XDA!
I opened a new thread hopefully to open a discussion about improvements I think are beneficial, my experience over the last 24 hours that a couple sticky edits would have saved me (and others) time.
My Story:
Yesterday (5/3) I saw I had around a 250 mb OTA. Excited (hoping for 4.2, assuming was the 4.1.2 that VZW released recently) I kick on WiFi, download and watch as it reboots and appears to install successfully. Time for work to end, grabbed phone off charger as it appeared to be rebooting after successful install, and ran out to catch train home.
Downstairs, at train stop, take a look at phone and heart sinks as it is in a fast splash screen loop, blinking the VZW Galaxy Note 2 screen for about 1 second in endless loop. As I had never seen before was thinking firmware update bricked it and I was looking at least until Tuesday before I'd have a working phone. Luckily, I was able to quickly see that I could still get into download mode, so knew I was (likely) going to be ok.
Get home and a Quick Robin, to the Internetz! later I'm browsing XDA and following the t=t=2024207 walkthu to restore stock. FYI, my device prior to the failed OTA was unrooted stock. At this point I'm not sure if it's going to restore, so I'm trying to do the true stock, no unlocked bootloader in case it has to be RMA'd. I've downloaded all my files, waited patiently for the slow hosting service for the FXZ(?) to download and am grinding through it and of course it fails at the system.img. Luckily, blessedly the awesome community here had released the image that included the unlocked bootloader which I was (after waiting to download, etc etc again) able to successfully get installed via Odin, booted up and working successfully.
So, while the first post section regarding restore to stock does indicate users with latest firmware "L4 OTA Only" shouldn't be attempting to use the Official VRAL I didn't think it applied to me. I would say that a fair amount of individuals looking to take the drastic step of a full restore to stock might be in a scenario like mine, where something significant has happened and likely confirming what OS/firmware/etc you are on might not be feasible. In my case, I assumed never rooted/unlocked vanilla device should be about as receptacle to an "official" restore as any. In this scenario, where a 100% for all devices stock recovery ("alternative") works, 'I feel that it should have been pushed harder than the official or at least blurbed with if you don't know what you are on, use this' While I understand that it is the "official" image, it has requirements for it to work. A co-worker had an ASUS TF300T that tried pushing a recovery image for ICS after he had upgraded to JB and it hard bricked his tablet, with ASUS wanting to charge him about 60% cost of the tablet to replace motherboard. That's heartbreaking, and I am sure since a hard brick wasn't a likely scenario here, why it wasn't mentioned.
Also: The download link for the Alternate Restore lists the file as: I605_VRALJB_Restore.tar.md5.xz which requires that it be unpacked using 7zip AND also that once extracted, it needs to be renamed to kick of the extra extension md5 in order for ODIN to see it properly as a PDA image file. (I605_VRALJB_Restore.tar.md5 ) Neither step is mentioned in the original post, and I had to read through to I believe the 11th page or so before realizing that was the problem. I'm sure with most of the people that are daily users of this forum knew automatically that these steps were required, but I would counter that a thread explaining how to restore Stock is one of the few threads that is likely to reach a larger, inexperienced demographic who would need to know such details.
Lastly, since (I thought) I had an unlocked bootloader, but otherwsie working phone again (Thank you, thank you thank you!) might as well get it rooted, and grab a ODEX'd stripped ROM with the OS release because getting the Software Update nag and not being able to complete or even brick my phone makes my OCD gland flex mightily. Was delighted to see an on-device APK root option which threw me back to the ease of z4root a few years ago with my Droid X. APK installs, and it roots so easily, like it had the functionality out of the box. I grab goo.im manager and install TWRP. Go to boot into custom recovery so I can install my sexy updated OS ROM and enjoy my fun device without all the yucky bloatware I've just ignored/dealt with for the last 2 months and I get the dreaded and in my opinion illegal "VZW unauthorized software" software brick.
Back to the forums, see I need another stock 'alternative' restore to fix AND a little confused, but believe I need to run a "jailbreak" bootloader unlock (CASUAL ?t=2118348) Which I haven't done yet. I have all files downloaded, just paused to post my experiences here.
So, this was main reason for my post, as I can understand some of why walkthru is laid out the way it is above, but why not have this included as part of the stickied root walkthru? It's mentioned thusly:
section 1a is a old method and no longer needs to be used unless the end user wants root only. proceed to Adam Outler's "JAILBREAK" thread linked at the bottom of this section for rooting and unlocking bootloader so custom roms can be flashed!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't find the link it refers to at bottom of section? I ended up googling to find guide. ((t=202420)
if this is still a requirement for root, custom ROM/Recovery, I would have made this steps 1-x of the root guide. is it because another person authored it? It would be nice to be able to credit and quote, I know alot of what drives contributors is the 'Thanks" and Donations, be great if XDA admins could round table and find a solution that allows for a consolidated guide for each device and still give each contributor a way to get their +1's and plug donation/web/twitter handle url's
So, is my understanding incorrect of what is needed or do folks agree with me that current setup is not the most efficient way XDA community could be offering instructive guides on Root/Mods? It would be wonderful if XDA Mods upon announcement of devices, when creating the forum threads for device (Development, OG Development, General, etc etc) created a blank thread for the how to root et.al and then allowed it to be edited by the community as a Wiki. Or even if an individual created, allow that person to allow x amount of other community members to edit, add and adjust.
I see droidstyle created a thread about questions for softbrick, and I might have to look at the original sticky thread about how to stock restore, but it seems he/she might have better saturation if this info was included in the original post. The stickied How To recover stock is direct accessible from a google search. I doubt his Q&A thread is or definitely not going to be one of the highest page-ranked sites.
So, please let me know if I'm just out of my mind, off the mark. I will give myself a small escape clause based on the fact that I probably scored about 2 hours of sleep last night messing around trying to get the note running again. I am actually concerned that the instructions for Return to Stock/Root/Etc for the VZW i605 doesn't have the link to unlock bootloader via casual and am hoping that following that process before rooting/customrecovery/ROM is correct, and not going to be another BrickGate for me. I know as OS versions are updated and/or Big Red and Big Blue constantly push patches trying to lock people out of their phones that instructions change and methods break. As new directions are implemented it's easy to lose steps as edits occur on the fly.
Most importanly! I hope this thread comes across as constructive criticism/suggestions, I have nothing but the highest respect for this community and it's contributors. Even skewed, outdated and conflicting information is better than no information and I SUPER appreciate the hard work required to get it out to us. I am most definitely not expressing displeasure with my experience or the content, only using the threads I mentioned as examples of what I personally see as opportunity for improvements XDA could implement that would allow for easier dissemination of the information the community is sharing so unselfishly. I only open it for discussion, so that others like me can access the information quicker with less confusion. I read comments of disgust and exasperation as people are directed to search, rather than post, and they are right, the information is invariably there, and most often or not within the first 5 posts of a thread. But sometimes when a developer talks to another developer, the tiny and considered minor details are not mentioned because it's considered common knowledge, and thats where the noobs, soccer moms and Grandmas can get left scratching their heads trying to puzzle how you got from point a to b. (Stereotypes used for comedic effect, please take no offense) I believe it would save alot of people having to answer the same questions over and over again time and frustration and freeing them to focus their talents on making us the next epic ROM/Kernel/App
thanks for reading! Also, I'm not just drive-by b*tching, if anyone is interested, I would love to show a mock-up of the i605 guide these great contributors have created as I would compile it. I'm passionate about mobile technology and customization, sadly my talents don't lie in the creation of such, only the enjoyment of it. But I'm a hell of a document admin. I create wiki's and KB's/sharepoint admin for a living, and would love to contribute what I know in that way
Is there any lolipop custom rom available on here for mediapad youth 2 s7-721w
Ive tried the links online , but I cant get past the ads even with inputting valid info
Please help me. Im looking everywhere with no luck, and my current system is wrecked
thanks
dermot31 said:
Is there any lolipop custom rom available on here for mediapad youth 2 s7-721w
Ive tried the links online , but I cant get past the ads even with inputting valid info
Please help me. Im looking everywhere with no luck, and my current system is wrecked
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen several links that "claim" to be custom Lollipop roms for the mediapad. However, as you had already noticed its all garbage ad links.
The good news is there are guides on youTube to get past all that junk (I tried it myself and it worked). I forgot which provider I used to give you exact instructions, but try a search on YouTube
The bad news is any lollipop rom for mediapad is "at best", some custom one with questionable legitimacy. I'd say avoid it for now. Adding insult to injury the general public worldwide isn't lining up outside stores for Medipad devices, much less Huawei in general, so Huawei has very little motivation to push out lollipop on Mediapads.
Also on a final note, a lot of these links for custom roms may come preloaded with malware that will not ask you for permission but take over your machine.
I strongly urge you to stay as is. Any benefits provided by lollipop over Kitkat are not worth the risk involved.
The Mediapad x2 was recently announced, so you may want to hold off and see what Huawei does
Sorry i couldn't be of more help.
shassouneh said:
I have seen several links that "claim" to be custom Lollipop roms for the mediapad. However, as you had already noticed its all garbage ad links.
The good news is there are guides on youTube to get past all that junk (I tried it myself and it worked). I forgot which provider I used to give you exact instructions, but try a search on YouTube
The bad news is any lollipop rom for mediapad is "at best", some custom one with questionable legitimacy. I'd say avoid it for now. Adding insult to injury the general public worldwide isn't lining up outside stores for Medipad devices, much less Huawei in general, so Huawei has very little motivation to push out lollipop on Mediapads.
Also on a final note, a lot of these links for custom roms may come preloaded with malware that will not ask you for permission but take over your machine.
I strongly urge you to stay as is. Any benefits provided by lollipop over Kitkat are not worth the risk involved.
The Mediapad x2 was recently announced, so you may want to hold off and see what Huawei does
Sorry i couldn't be of more help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, I think you've confirmed what I already thought. I think Ill steer clear. I was only considering them as an option because Im not sure what else I can do with the tablet. I have bought it a couple of weeks ago for college. to test some apps Im working on.. The jelly ban 4.3 OS on it isnt too bad. I was quite happy with it up until lately. I think Ive messed up the gps on it somehow as one of my apps uses it and which I need in order for the app to work. Ive tried resetting the device, but this doesnt help.
Perhaps you could advise me further. I downloaded an official update file from huawei in the form of update.APP. I believe if I could start fresh with this,(completely refresh my system), the problem might go away. The problem is that none of the android recovery apps recognize this format( .APP). Ive tried changing the extension to .zip, but no joy.
Maybe there are some other alternatives, you mentioned kitkat,, and whats next with Mediapad x2.
Is it possible for me to take an update meant for another huawei device. Wouldn't this screw up my tablet.?
Thanks for your help. I just need something to completely refresh my system. I think if i could refresh it using the update.APP file id be sorted, but anything will do at this stage
General Tips
dermot31 said:
Thanks for the reply, I think you've confirmed what I already thought. I think Ill steer clear. I was only considering them as an option because Im not sure what else I can do with the tablet. I have bought it a couple of weeks ago for college. to test some apps Im working on.. The jelly ban 4.3 OS on it isnt too bad. I was quite happy with it up until lately. I think Ive messed up the gps on it somehow as one of my apps uses it and which I need in order for the app to work. Ive tried resetting the device, but this doesnt help.
Perhaps you could advise me further. I downloaded an official update file from huawei in the form of update.APP. I believe if I could start fresh with this,(completely refresh my system), the problem might go away. The problem is that none of the android recovery apps recognize this format( .APP). Ive tried changing the extension to .zip, but no joy.
Maybe there are some other alternatives, you mentioned kitkat,, and whats next with Mediapad x2.
Is it possible for me to take an update meant for another huawei device. Wouldn't this screw up my tablet.?
Thanks for your help. I just need something to completely refresh my system. I think if i could refresh it using the update.APP file id be sorted, but anything will do at this stage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any idea what an APP file is, so I cannot attest to how (if at all) it would work. Also, the device I have is the Mediapad (honor) X1, which is technically a different device than yours, but there was an OTA update to KitKat (4.4.2) which i installed.
Also, NEVER EVER EVER (DID I ALREADY SAY EVER) TAKE AN UPDATE MEANT FOR A DIFFERENT DEVICE. To give you an idea how serious I am I wouldn't even take an update designed for the 3G-only version of my mediapad (even though it would be very close, if not identical, software). This is an almost guaranteed way to (at best) render your device useless until you flash back to a working rom, or (at worst) permanently brick your device. Follow the golden rule of thumb: If in doubt, steer clear - better safe than sorry
Try the following, in order:
The steps below are very generic, and you probably already know most, if not all, of them, but it never hurts to post them here just in case some other person reads this thread and benefits from it.
1.) Backup any data you care about (this goes without saying, but just in case). Don't forget contacts, bookmarks, photos, music, etc
2.) Check for an OTA update (Settings --> About Phone or Settings --> Updater (depending on your device and OS). If there's anything, install it, reboot, etc. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times to get fully updated.
3.) Now you're ready to roll back. (Settings --> Backup & reset --> Factory data reset)
4.) The very first thing you should do at this point is to check to see if everything is working right. Don't bother setting up your phone/tablet just yet! Check to see if the GPS issue is fixed. If all is well, you can proceed to step 5
5.) Assuming you're good to go after step 4, you may want to familiarize yourself with loading up google services on your phone/tablet by glancing at
a.) This post
b.) my other thread
Don't forget that my device is different than yours, so be very cautious before you do anything!
6.) Set up your phone/tablet the way you like
7.) Optional but highly recommended: Perform a full phone/tablet backup. I have never done this myself, so I cannot walk you through this. But search here on XDA and on google for "NAND phone backup" and do some reading This will help you get back into a working state if you dink around with your phone/tablet and screw things up again.
8.) Optional but highly recommended: Search here on XDA for a "stock" ROM specific to your device. This would come in handy if all else fails and you want to force your phone/tablet back to the way it was as shipped off the factory line. Its probably a good idea to hang on to that file anyways. You never know when you want to restore everything to factory settings if you want to return the device for warranty, or if you want to gift it or sell it
Best of luck
In short, the best advice Captain Obvious can give you is READ, Re-ead, Re-re-read, and google like crazy before you do anything
Thanks for the reply, but I think I can manage a basic reset of my device
Hello!
Recent proud owner of new Z5 Compact, U.S. edition (E5803, CDA 1298-3109). Excited to start tweaking it, but I want to have a copy of the shipping stock firmware before I begin messing with anything. I've already successfully created a TA backup, so we're good there. But I am BEYOND frustrated at the fact that it is seemingly impossible to obtain a copy of an FTF for the exact firmware version that my phone was preloaded with from the factory.
My phone was apparently manufactured in spring 2016 and came stock with 32.2.A.0.224, "Customized US". Does anybody have an FTF for this for my exact CDA? I haven't managed to find a copy anywhere, and of course XperiFirm doesn't show it as available for download from Sony's servers. (I'm having a little trouble believing that it is unavailable from Sony direct, given that OTA updates for older versions are still distributed...my phone is prompting me to accept an OTA for 32.2.A.0.253, which can't be obtained via XperiFirm, either.) I know I can flash FTFs for other CDAs on my phone (even for E5823s) but my goal at this point is simply to get one that matches what I already have exactly. It boggles the mind that nobody bothered to make a backup of this when Sony was still distributing it and that it isn't available for download anywhere (at least that I can find).
Barring that, though, I had another thought: pull a bit-for-bit image of the boot and system partitions. I'm concerned that a standard TWRP backup would not suffice given the existence of dm-verity, but I'm wondering if this would work:
1. Unlock bootloader
2. Boot TWRP with fastboot
3. Access an ADB shell, and then use dd to clone the necessary partitions to an SD card or attached USB drive
Then if I ever wanted to go back to the original factory firmware, I boot TWRP, use dd to write the clones back to the partitions, restore the TA to re-lock, and Bob's your uncle. Anybody see a problem with this plan?
Thanks much!
-- Nathan
P.S. -- Is there some super secret stash of FTFs for the Z5 Compact somewhere that I just haven't stumbled upon yet? In addition to hunting down this particular firmware build, I would also be interested in obtaining copies of other Sony stock firmwares (other than the most recent) for this particular CDA. Again, frustratingly hard to come by...
Darn it, I meant to post this to the Q&A forum. I swear that was the one I was browsing...grr. Anyway, mods, feel free to move, and my apologies.
-- Nathan
So, I guess I'll just keep talking to myself here...
I can confirm (in case anyone who stumbles across this thread in the future cares) that a bit-for-bit backup of all partitions using 'dd' works just fine, and that restoring that backup in reverse also works fine and does not risk a brick. I was 99% sure this was probably the case but wanted to make sure. I made a backup of every partition except userdata and cache, and then downgraded to Lollipop, and restored back to the shipping firmware by booting off of TWRP, clearing userdata and cache, and restoring each partition I had previously backed up (including my TA backup w/ bootloader lock & DRM keys). Phone booted up and went through OBE setup, and all DRM keys were present and accounted for.
I can't, however, get the FOTA update from .224 to .253 to take. Phone downloads it, reboots, goes through some kind of firmware verification process, reboots, and .224 boots up again and the Sony Updater says there was some kind of failure and to try again. If you try again, it re-downloads the whole update again and does the same thing. Not a huge deal, but I thought it would prove interesting if it were still possible to get all the way to 7.1.1 from the shipping firmware incrementally, especially since Sony seems to have pulled the full versions of those updates from their servers.
I'm still on the hunt for archives of firmware releases; I've found a few here and there, but it would be nice to find some Customized US releases. I'm particularly interested in 32.0.A.6.209, which I believe was the one and only Lollipop release that ever shipped on the U.S. models (since they were so late to market here).
-- Nathan
Can you post the img files?
Hey, as you can imagine I ****ed up. If you could do me a favor and post those images that you got from your phone somewhere that would be incredibly useful for me. Thanks.
nlra said:
I'm still on the hunt for archives of firmware releases; I've found a few here and there, but it would be nice to find some Customized US releases. I'm particularly interested in 32.0.A.6.209, which I believe was the one and only Lollipop release that ever shipped on the U.S. models (since they were so late to market here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably won't find much US firmware floating around because of the disabled fingerprint reader, and I daresay the relatively tiny US market share Sony enjoys.
On top of that, I don't think anyone has compiled a database of Z5C FTFs unfortunately, so it's difficult to locate a particular version, and extra hard to find a specific version + region combo.
Honestly, I don't think there's any advantage to using a US-based firmware other than potential warranty validity reasons (if they even check it).
By hanging on to US firmware, you're missing out on a really useful feature that your phone hardware supports but can't let you use because business.
Since it sounds like you're comfortable with flashing ROMs, and have an understanding of making proper backups, I suggest you flash another region's firmware to enjoy the full potential of your phone.
Hey, thanks for the response.
mhaha said:
[...]I don't think anyone has compiled a database of Z5C FTFs unfortunately, so it's difficult to locate a particular version, and extra hard to find a specific version + region combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do find this especially sad and frustrating, especially given that we know that Sony is apparently willing to delete older firmwares from their server. (Bad on Sony, BTW!)
mhaha said:
Honestly, I don't think there's any advantage to using a US-based firmware other than potential warranty validity reasons (if they even check it).
By hanging on to US firmware, you're missing out on a really useful feature that your phone hardware supports but can't let you use because business.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had the chance to run tests yet myself to confirm or deny this, but if you read some of the "enabling fingerprint scanner on U.S. models" threads for both the Z5 and the X/XZ, there is some unfortunate evidence that points to there being some kind of difference when it comes to LTE reception in U.S. firmware vs. other regions...some people claim that non-U.S. firmwares simply show "less bars" in the status area but that the phone's radio is still seeing the same RX levels (making it just a cosmetic thing), while others say that for them, it is not simply cosmetic and it quantifiably impacts their phone's radio's performance. I'm not sure why there would be any difference at all, but it is something to keep in mind, and is a potential "cost" one should take into account when using international firmware on a U.S. model.
Also, there are as-yet-unknown and undocumented differences between functionality in the various firmwares from different regions, making it extremely difficult to determine which is the "best" one to use. Arguably the only thing that the U.S. firmware lacks is the fingerprint scanner and is otherwise fully functional. I happen to know from reading other threads that all German firmwares, including the generic carrier-unbranded one, for some reason have SIP/VoIP calling ripped out of the system phone app, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Who knows what other features are missing or crippled in that region or in others.
At least with the U.S. firmware, it appears to be possible to restore the files that are missing from it in order to resurrect the fingerprint scanner (after rooting, of course). Given the minefield presented by the uncertainties when it comes to firmwares for other regions, this might arguably be the best way to go if you are in the U.S. and want a working fingerprint scanner.
-- Nathan
DRHARNESS said:
Hey, as you can imagine I ****ed up. If you could do me a favor and post those images that you got from your phone somewhere that would be incredibly useful for me. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, somehow I missed seeing this reply! You want the images for 32.2.A.0.224 that I pulled? Just to clarify, these were pulled as bit-for-bit rips from the phone's partitions (so they're big; even leaving out cache and userdata we're talking about 6GB here), and are not in FTF format nor flashable with Flashtool or Emma. To flash, you'd have to have your bootloader unlocked, put the image files on an SD card, put the SD card in the phone, boot TWRP over USB with fastboot, and then use dd to flash each partition from the command line.
If you're still interested, send me a PM and we'll work out a way to get these to you.
-- Nathan
New here. Didn't see a forum for the Moto G Pure XT2163. Mods - I am sorry. Please move wherever's best.
Discovered that the version Verizon is selling (notably the slickdeals thread on the one from Visible) is different. It's -2 vs. -4.
Looks like VZW disabled most of the bands that T-Mobile/Sprint use - 25, 41, 71, for example.
Looking to see if it's possible to enable those bands. One report on SD thread says they bricked their device trying RETUS version but IDK if the bootloader needs to be unlocked first, or if it would even help. Probably more work to unlock these bands if it's even possible.
Downloads look available here https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/moto/ellis/official/
Haven't messed with flashing a phone in years. May be able to try later but hoping anyone else here can look into this.
I'm going to guess as is the case with most other Android devices branded by Verizon that the bootloader will be restricted from being unlocked. There is really no way around this as it's an OEM based policy. If you want to play with custom ROMs or root based modding, I would highly recommend ditching the Verizon or any other carrier branded variant with the exception of T-Mobile/Metro and Google Fi (there are others) that actually allow OEM unlock. Not only that, but if you're looking for certain connectivity bands, you don't want to settle for a carrier device variant designed to use a particular set of bands which don't include the ones you need. No sense getting a Verizon variant to run on T-Mobile/Sprint bands when you can, you know, get the T-Mobile variant in the first place. Get the global unlocked variant model if you can and start from there. Far easier than the headaches you'll get trying to transform VZW to TMUS.
Cross-flashing is not going to unlock bands, you need to change modem configuration. Throw your SoC(Mediatek) followed by "unlock bands" into Google and see if you have any luck.
I also didn't see a forum for the Moto G Pure and was wondering if anyone knows of a custom bootloader like TWRP or CWM for it? I think I have enough understanding of how to sideload the app, I just need something to send the phone. I tried using a random TWRP mod on it but it fails, invalid signature. I haven't tried doing the phone rooting thing in years now, but I have this Moto G Pure phone without any service on it that I'm willing to experiment on. It can be used as a test bed or data extraction device to put code from it on the internet if someone needs it to help custom rom makers for example by testing stuff on it. Perhaps that's why no one has a custom recovery for it yet.
I don't know exactly how to extract the phones current ROM data so all I've done so far is unlock the bootloader. The phone's carrier based on the unactivated sim card shows it's a T-Mobile branded device, but the T-Mobile and other carrier software is inactive other than the few Moto apps. An article on XDA say's the phone's suck, but that's just not true at least not to me. It's a fine phone like it is, but if I can format it's SSD and only install what I want it to have on it that would be great. It's just a spare sim locked phone that I can't use my active sim card in. So with that it's now a project phone. I would like to mainly just unbloat it and free up all that used space occupied by the recovery partition. I don't necessarily need a whole new ROM, just want to root it. That's the only way to erase those factory files that I know of.
For me unlocking the bootloader wasn't to hard to do. You have to make sure the drivers from Motorola are installed and have a current version of ADB available on a computer. I still had a version of ADB tools that was almost a decade old now so I had to update that for the fastboot oem_unlock_unlockcode (automated code from Motorola support) command to work. To find out if it can be unlocked or not go here:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone%2Fbootloader%2Funlock-your-device-b
At the Moto site they will guide you on how to generate the code they want you to send them. You have to sign in to their site to use that function though. After I finally figured out what to type in the CMD window it generated that code and I edited it down to one long line of numbers and give it to the page. In seconds I had an email with the unlock code inside.
Unlocking it seems to help with uninstalling some of the built in stuff, before I could only disable most of the apps that come with it. The apps are still probably on there I just have to factory reset it and they'll come back. Now however the removed apps don't show as using any internal storage, all the apps info numbers go to 0 bytes, but still even doing that it's still over 10GB of unmovable data. When it should really be more like 2-3 GB for the entire system. I hate how Google just inserts itself in your life even when you don't want it at all.
I anyone passing by reading this post needs more details please let me know and I'll try to get the information or even data files from the phone. Would a copy of it's stock firmware be of any help? If so let me know how I would go about saving a copy of it. I'll keep looking for answers but it seems this phone is not high on the priority list or is new or something. So there is only scam guides trying to tell you "How to unlock your phone" or "Install TWRP on Motorola devices" and other clearly click bait sites. I can't even find the stock rom for it on Motorola's site, just outdated versions from 2016, with different build numbers, that can't be right.
All I know is unlocking the bootloader was the first step on all the guides and I've done that. Got a warranty voided notice and everything. There currently isn't a custom recovery mod for this model as far I can tell. If I can ever find that then I can try Linage or just debloat Android 11 which is probably the safer and easier option provided I can find that Custom Covery'.
When it boots up now, it has to tell me it's unlocked and all the dangers it poses. Dangerous if you cared about what was on it I suppose. There is nothing on it I can't just copy back over to it, other than the stock operating system.
Oh yeah, it's model number and other side of the box information is:
Model Name: Moto G PURE
SKU: MO-XT21634-AJB (MOXT21634AJB)
Software Version RRH31.Q3-46-20
Production date was 12/15/2021
I'm not sure what other information to include.
BrittonCBurton said:
I also didn't see a forum for the Moto G Pure and was wondering if anyone knows of a custom bootloader like TWRP or CWM for it? I think I have enough understanding of how to sideload the app, I just need something to send the phone. I tried using a random TWRP mod on it but it fails, invalid signature. I haven't tried doing the phone rooting thing in years now, but I have this Moto G Pure phone without any service on it that I'm willing to experiment on. It can be used as a test bed or data extraction device to put code from it on the internet if someone needs it to help custom rom makers for example by testing stuff on it. Perhaps that's why no one has a custom recovery for it yet.
I don't know exactly how to extract the phones current ROM data so all I've done so far is unlock the bootloader. The phone's carrier based on the unactivated sim card shows it's a T-Mobile branded device, but the T-Mobile and other carrier software is inactive other than the few Moto apps. An article on XDA say's the phone's suck, but that's just not true at least not to me. It's a fine phone like it is, but if I can format it's SSD and only install what I want it to have on it that would be great. It's just a spare sim locked phone that I can't use my active sim card in. So with that it's now a project phone. I would like to mainly just unbloat it and free up all that used space occupied by the recovery partition. I don't necessarily need a whole new ROM, just want to root it. That's the only way to erase those factory files that I know of.
For me unlocking the bootloader wasn't to hard to do. You have to make sure the drivers from Motorola are installed and have a current version of ADB available on a computer. I still had a version of ADB tools that was almost a decade old now so I had to update that for the fastboot oem_unlock_unlockcode (automated code from Motorola support) command to work. To find out if it can be unlocked or not go here:
https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/standalone%2Fbootloader%2Funlock-your-device-b
At the Moto site they will guide you on how to generate the code they want you to send them. You have to sign in to their site to use that function though. After I finally figured out what to type in the CMD window it generated that code and I edited it down to one long line of numbers and give it to the page. In seconds I had an email with the unlock code inside.
Unlocking it seems to help with uninstalling some of the built in stuff, before I could only disable most of the apps that come with it. The apps are still probably on there I just have to factory reset it and they'll come back. Now however the removed apps don't show as using any internal storage, all the apps info numbers go to 0 bytes, but still even doing that it's still over 10GB of unmovable data. When it should really be more like 2-3 GB for the entire system. I hate how Google just inserts itself in your life even when you don't want it at all.
I anyone passing by reading this post needs more details please let me know and I'll try to get the information or even data files from the phone. Would a copy of it's stock firmware be of any help? If so let me know how I would go about saving a copy of it. I'll keep looking for answers but it seems this phone is not high on the priority list or is new or something. So there is only scam guides trying to tell you "How to unlock your phone" or "Install TWRP on Motorola devices" and other clearly click bait sites. I can't even find the stock rom for it on Motorola's site, just outdated versions from 2016, with different build numbers, that can't be right.
All I know is unlocking the bootloader was the first step on all the guides and I've done that. Got a warranty voided notice and everything. There currently isn't a custom recovery mod for this model as far I can tell. If I can ever find that then I can try Linage or just debloat Android 11 which is probably the safer and easier option provided I can find that Custom Covery'.
When it boots up now, it has to tell me it's unlocked and all the dangers it poses. Dangerous if you cared about what was on it I suppose. There is nothing on it I can't just copy back over to it, other than the stock operating system.
Oh yeah, it's model number and other side of the box information is:
Model Name: Moto G PURE
SKU: MO-XT21634-AJB (MOXT21634AJB)
Software Version RRH31.Q3-46-20
Production date was 12/15/2021
I'm not sure what other information to include.
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Click to collapse
hey i just came up on one of these today, nice phone considering... Any luck with trying to find a custom recovery? I have been looking as well but development seems pretty sparse right now. I am in the same boat as you, unlocked bootloader, locked everything else lol. I cant even find a way to root it without TWRP! I am curious if one of the other moto G series phones would have the same TWRP? Also check this out. It sounds legit but IDK...https://www.getdroidtips.com/root-motorola-g-pure-xt2163/
Agent_Orange1488 said:
hey i just came up on one of these today, nice phone considering... Any luck with trying to find a custom recovery? I have been looking as well but development seems pretty sparse right now. I am in the same boat as you, unlocked bootloader, locked everything else lol. I cant even find a way to root it without TWRP! I am curious if one of the other moto G series phones would have the same TWRP? Also check this out. It sounds legit but IDK...https://www.getdroidtips.com/root-motorola-g-pure-xt2163/
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Click to collapse
Well I was able to use Magisk to "root" it with the patched boot file trick, but still that's not the same thing as I did before with a Samsung phone and the CWM recovery deal. That gave the user all the control they wanted. Even though the phone claims I have root access, I'm not sure what to do with Magisk's root trick. I still don't see a way to backup or install a different operating system or just a blank Android 11 OS. My knowledge there is limited and there isn't a custom recovery for this model as far as I can tell.
So I still can't wipe the drive or remove the OEM partition that contains the installers for the bundled stuff. I'd still need some form of interface that has more features than the stock Fastboot and Bootloader modes offer I guess, or I just don't know how to use the software tools correctly. It's still locked even with root as far as I can tell but if there is something more I'm missing or an additional app to install for example, like SU. Is that still a thing? If I'm on the right track let me know.
BrittonCBurton said:
Well I was able to use Magisk to "root" it with the patched boot file trick, but still that's not the same thing as I did before with a Samsung phone and the CWM recovery deal. That gave the user all the control they wanted. Even though the phone claims I have root access, I'm not sure what to do with Magisk's root trick. I still don't see a way to backup or install a different operating system or just a blank Android 11 OS. My knowledge there is limited and there isn't a custom recovery for this model as far as I can tell.
So I still can't wipe the drive or remove the OEM partition that contains the installers for the bundled stuff. I'd still need some form of interface that has more features than the stock Fastboot and Bootloader modes offer I guess, or I just don't know how to use the software tools correctly. It's still locked even with root as far as I can tell but if there is something more I'm missing or an additional app to install for example, like SU. Is that still a thing? If I'm on the right track let me know.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!!! I am speaking from a place of semi-ignorance here but I would thing that you could install SuperSU from inside the system, right? As long as the root binary is there...idk though and from what I hear, chainfire is not responsible for SuperSU anymore so it has become somewhat sketchy. I saw a post (about this phone, I think) that mentioned having to install terminal emulator and running root command from there to achieve legit root after flashing the patched boot.img. I will see if I can find the post again and update you. Is there anyway you could post the boot.img? Or give me a link for it?
Agent_Orange1488 said:
Thanks for the reply!!! I am speaking from a place of semi-ignorance here but I would thing that you could install SuperSU from inside the system, right? As long as the root binary is there...idk though and from what I hear, chainfire is not responsible for SuperSU anymore so it has become somewhat sketchy. I saw a post (about this phone, I think) that mentioned having to install terminal emulator and running root command from there to achieve legit root after flashing the patched boot.img. I will see if I can find the post again and update you. Is there anyway you could post the boot.img? Or give me a link for it?
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Click to collapse
Well I can try and learn how to extract the phones information to my computer. I don't know how to do that exactly. The way I was able to get a hold of the phones stock firmware data was by using Lenovo's Smart Rescue and Recovery software.
You have to enable usb debugging mode, attach the phone to the computer with the software running and make sure that you didn't disable/delete Device Help. That app is what makes the Lenovo software work, otherwise the Recovery software fails to see the phone. If it sees the phone correctly then you can see the preselected target firmware it wants you to download under the Rescue tab along the top.
So I did that and grabbed the files it created without actually applying them to the device. The whole thing is a little over 2GB and difficult to host but I put the stock boot.img file here for anyone who needs it. If anyone wants all the files I can try to upload the whole thing one file at at time. That's the way it was sent to me, an uncompressed folder. If I zip it all up and try to upload it most sites will say file size exceeded. Anyway here's the link...
boot
MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.
www.mediafire.com
Thanks I was able to patch it with Magisk and achieve root. It looks like Magisk is an SU manager anyway. I have never used it before so this is a first for me. The root and bootloader unlock seem a little pointless without any recovery or ROM though....I guess it's time to learn how to compile one lol
I just picked up the Moto G Pure (XT2163-4) Android 11 aka Red Velvet Cake *sounds yummy lol*....I've been searching around and not seen any info about any rooting method for this device....besides the "Root All Motorola Phones" crap...and I don't feel like risking making a paper weight with it. Even on here it doesn't show up in the...add device list....was going to add to my profile...but can't.
Agent_Orange1488 said:
Thanks I was able to patch it with Magisk and achieve root. It looks like Magisk is an SU manager anyway. I have never used it before so this is a first for me. The root and bootloader unlock seem a little pointless without any recovery or ROM though....I guess it's time to learn how to compile one lol
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Click to collapse
Yeah now we're on the same page then. I thought the same thing, not much use to have an unlocked boot loader and root access without software to make use of it. I gave the phone to my nieces to play with for now, but it's with in arms reach if I need it for instructions yet to be defined. I should receive updates to this post if anyone else responds.
Gamekeeper408 said:
I just picked up the Moto G Pure (XT2163-4) Android 11 aka Red Velvet Cake *sounds yummy lol*....I've been searching around and not seen any info about any rooting method for this device....besides the "Root All Motorola Phones" crap...and I don't feel like risking making a paper weight with it. Even on here it doesn't show up in the...add device list....was going to add to my profile...but can't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah appears it was produced in late 2021 or sold at that time so it's new and no one has made any custom firmware's or recoveries for it as far as I know. I don't know how to do that, requires computer programming skills. I don't have any of those.
Gamekeeper408 said:
I just picked up the Moto G Pure (XT2163-4) Android 11 aka Red Velvet Cake *sounds yummy lol*....I've been searching around and not seen any info about any rooting method for this device....besides the "Root All Motorola Phones" crap...and I don't feel like risking making a paper weight with it. Even on here it doesn't show up in the...add device list....was going to add to my profile...but can't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain! Had mine a few days and of course came to XDA immediately to find the DL on this joint but no luck... Ya I definitely don't recommend one click root method for this. If you want, I can post/link the patched boot.img i made with magisk. Mine boots with it and have confirmed root.
BrittonCBurton said:
Yeah now we're on the same page then. I thought the same thing, not much use to have an unlocked boot loader and root access without software to make use of it. I gave the phone to my nieces to play with for now, but it's with in arms reach if I need it for instructions yet to be defined. I should receive updates to this post if anyone else responds.
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Click to collapse
Excellent, it's nice to be caught up with everyone else haha!! I am going to do some digging and posting and whatnot to try to find some info on porting a recovery for this model. I feel like it can't be too different from at least one or two of the other G series phones. I will see updates as well so please post if you come up with anything!!
BTW does anyone know the process of creating a device page for this joint?! I think this phone is definitely worth some development...
Agent_Orange1488 said:
Excellent, it's nice to be caught up with everyone else haha!! I am going to do some digging and posting and whatnot to try to find some info on porting a recovery for this model. I feel like it can't be too different from at least one or two of the other G series phones. I will see updates as well so please post if you come up with anything!!
BTW does anyone know the process of creating a device page for this joint?! I think this phone is definitely worth some development...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck finding anything that will load onto the phone. Seems like it would be possible to install LineageOS on it if nothing else. You'd think by now installing a phone's operating system would be similar to how operating systems are installed on other computers. All I get is invalid signature, way to much security (for them) on phone OS'es. With phones and PDA's apparently you can't just find the OS you want to use and install it. Where's the generic and bloat free Andriod 11 stock OS/firmware at? No such thing? It's either "Gaggles" way or nothing apparently. (It's ok if you don't know either, maybe someone else has more information about that.)
BrittonCBurton said:
Good luck finding anything that will load onto the phone. Seems like it would be possible to install LineageOS on it if nothing else. You'd think by now installing a phone's operating system would be similar to how operating systems are installed on other computers. All I get is invalid signature, way to much security (for them) on phone OS'es. With phones and PDA's apparently you can't just find the OS you want to use and install it. Where's the generic and bloat free Andriod 11 stock OS/firmware at? No such thing? It's either "Gaggles" way or nothing apparently. (It's ok if you don't know either, maybe someone else has more information about that.)
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Click to collapse
Ya I'm definitely not going to try anything on the actual device, (ESPECIALLY if I am trying to put it together myself) but I am pretty sure you can test that stuff on a virtual system. Some kind of android emulator or whatever. As for a stock/debloated/de-odexed ROM, I haven't seen one but that couldn't be all that difficult to put together, right? I mean as long as the patched boot.img is included anyway. I feel like a recovery would be a higher priority though...? BTW, I have never used Lineage before, how is it?
Agent_Orange1488 said:
I feel your pain! Had mine a few days and of course came to XDA immediately to find the DL on this joint but no luck... Ya I definitely don't recommend one click root method for this. If you want, I can post/link the patched boot.img i made with magisk. Mine boots with it and have confirmed root.
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That would be great if you could share that patched boot.img......it is for the XT2163-4 MOTO G PURE correct?
Gamekeeper408 said:
That would be great if you could share that patched boot.img......it is for the XT2163-4 MOTO G PURE correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agent_Orange1488 said:
I feel your pain! Had mine a few days and of course came to XDA immediately to find the DL on this joint but no luck... Ya I definitely don't recommend one click root method for this. If you want, I can post/link the patched boot.img i made with magisk. Mine boots with it and have confirmed root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also like the patched boot.img if it is for the XT2163-4. Thanks
Hey boys I actually got rid of the moto g pure...for now at least lol! GREAT phone and I would be willing to get it back once there is some dev work done on it...will definitely be watching the threads on it. Good luck boys!!!
Hi
I read the above posts, and it seems like even if I am able to root it using Magisk, I won't be able to flash it with custom rom?
Thank you Agent_Orange1488 for the posts.