This is a long-shot but essential if we're going to mess around with this phone with any degree of confidence or YOLO. Without this, there is no experimenting with global non-5G 7T Pro roms and partitions. The MSM for the OP7 Pro 5G for EE and Sprint never leaked, but that was a low-key phone. Let's do better with the T-Mobile McLaren.
Your mission is simple: Obtain the MSMDownloadTool and ops file (usually packaged together in a password-protected rar). You need that package and the password. These are device specific. Don't really care how the files are ultimately delivered as long as there's no encryption. Any info about the file or URL (e.g. https://s3.amazonaws.com/oneplussupport/...) is welcome.
I hate bounties or the thought of enforcing one, but expect donations if you succeed and avail yourself. Anonymity is also acceptable.
If you happen to find something we don't expect like global firmware for this phone, there's a separate bounty thread for that. I doubt it exists.
Relevant codenames and identifiers for our device:
HD1925
hotdogg
oneplus7tpronroxygen
HD61CB
I think @ddggttff3 asked them for this and they wouldn't send it to him for some reason. Maybe they misunderstood what he was asking for? A stock MSM image is just stock, so it doesn't make sense to not release it on XDA. It seems wasteful for a company to have to do extra remote recovery sessions when simply releasing a stock MSM image on XDA could save a company extra time and money.
I also asked OnePlus https://www.oneplus.com/support/contact for a MSM image for the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren, since it's critical for safe development. In my case, they did not say no, they just gave me a boilerplate response of, "About your concern we would like to inform you that we will take this as feedback and pass it along to our developer team so that this update can be rectified in the upcoming updates in the near future." They emailed me again asking for a further response and I haven't replied yet, because that second email was more obviously automated and did not have a name like the first one did. I think they could possibly let a tech post it to XDA, etc., if convinced by someone with experience like a XDA Recognized Developer.
jhofseth said:
I also asked OnePlus https://www.oneplus.com/support/contact for a MSM image for the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren, since it's critical for safe development. In my case, they did not say no, they just gave me a boilerplate response of, "About your concern we would like to inform you that we will take this as feedback and pass it along to our developer team so that this update can be rectified in the upcoming updates in the near future." They emailed me again asking for a further response and I haven't replied yet, because that second email was more obviously automated and did not have a name like the first one did. I think they could possibly let a tech post it to XDA, etc., if convinced by someone with experience like a XDA Recognized Developer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got off a chat with an agent and they tell me I'll get a remote session with their technical team in 24-48 hours I'm gonna do my best to get the image/ password for you guys
tserv95 said:
I just got off a chat with an agent and they tell me I'll get a remote session with their technical team in 24-48 hours I'm gonna do my best to get the image/ password for you guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it work out?
Still waiting from then
They never follow up. I'm still waiting a week later
LLStarks said:
They never follow up. I'm still waiting a week later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, been about four days!
Unlucky. OnePlus is being pretty crappy with their service.
https://www.oneplus.com/support/contact has 3 contact options: phone (Call us +1 (833) 777-3633 7x24 hours), live chat and email. I really think a XDA Recognized Developer might have some luck getting a MSM image for the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren. There is a legitimate safe development need for this and providing it only benefits OnePlus and T-Mobile. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Barring actually getting the MSM I may have a method of recovery using fastboot and friends. However, I need the help of
a hotdogg owner with stock firmware & unlocked bootloader. The method is non-destructive (aside from the unlocking nuking
your data); just requires you to use fastboot to boot a twrp image and use adb to pull a partition (its 15gb, so to make it faster
you may want to use a real usb-c 3.0 cable; I don't think the orange one that comes with it is) and unpack it with a tool
called 'lpunpack' (unfortunately I don't know how to build it outside of an aosp/lineageos/grapheneos tree yet).
bad news, after waiting for days for a response from Oneplus, I decided to phone them. They state that after speaking to the remote support team, they cannot even help us. As they apparently don't have the images for the T-Mobile firmware either/ firmware for the Mclaren edition. This is a big bummer as until they (if they for that matter) release the firmware on support site we have no way of really recovering a bricked device and any firmware flashing is gonna be very dangerous to attempt. So yeah.. really regretting buying a T-Mobile variant Oneplus phone atm.
tserv95 said:
bad news, after waiting for days for a response from Oneplus, I decided to phone them. They state that after speaking to the remote support team, they cannot even help us. As they apparently don't have the images for the T-Mobile firmware either/ firmware for the Mclaren edition. This is a big bummer as until they (if they for that matter) release the firmware on support site we have no way of really recovering a bricked device and any firmware flashing is gonna be very dangerous to attempt. So yeah.. really regretting buying a T-Mobile variant Oneplus phone atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, does T-Mobile flash the final firmware after OnePlus ships it to the US or something? If the firmware isn't finally flashed until it gets to the US, then that might make sense; but, if not, someone there could either be mistaken or less than truthful.
---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------
Maybe this will be a good avenue for us? https://twitter.com/tmobilehelp
tserv95 said:
bad news, after waiting for days for a response from Oneplus, I decided to phone them. They state that after speaking to the remote support team, they cannot even help us. As they apparently don't have the images for the T-Mobile firmware either/ firmware for the Mclaren edition. This is a big bummer as until they (if they for that matter) release the firmware on support site we have no way of really recovering a bricked device and any firmware flashing is gonna be very dangerous to attempt. So yeah.. really regretting buying a T-Mobile variant Oneplus phone atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you currently have one in an unflashed (to anything other than stock), unlocked state? If so I can probably guide you through how we can get a sort of
flashable stock image (flashed over fastboot). Hit me up if you are in that situation (sim unlocked, bootloader unlocked, and otherwise stock firmware).
---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------
jhofseth said:
So, does T-Mobile flash the final firmware after OnePlus ships it to the US or something? If the firmware isn't finally flashed until it gets to the US, then that might make sense; but, if not, someone there could either be mistaken or less than truthful.
---------- Post added at 11:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------
Maybe this will be a good avenue for us? https://twitter.com/tmobilehelp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite possible. I don't recall offhand but I believe mine came to me with version 10.0.14, and after 'recovering' from
flashing an experimental lineageos build on mine I ended up on version 10.0.13, which may be sort of the last common
ancestor for all the variants, and its now unable to OTA (it wants to go to 10.0.16, but as an incremental update it
can only jump versions 'in the correct order').
ntzrmtthihu777 said:
Barring actually getting the MSM I may have a method of recovery using fastboot and friends. However, I need the help of
a hotdogg owner with stock firmware & unlocked bootloader. The method is non-destructive (aside from the unlocking nuking
your data); just requires you to use fastboot to boot a twrp image and use adb to pull a partition (its 15gb, so to make it faster
you may want to use a real usb-c 3.0 cable; I don't think the orange one that comes with it is) and unpack it with a tool
called 'lpunpack' (unfortunately I don't know how to build it outside of an aosp/lineageos/grapheneos tree yet).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Getting my device tomorrow, but will obviously have to get it sim unlocked first, then wait the week for the OnePlus token to unlock the bootloader. But once I am at that point, I would happily do this if it could possibly lead to an alternate fastboot recovery method if no one is able to get the MSM tool. Obviously if anyone else can do this before I am able to, please do
ntzrmtthihu777 said:
Do you currently have one in an unflashed (to anything other than stock), unlocked state? If so I can probably guide you through how we can get a sort of
flashable stock image (flashed over fastboot). Hit me up if you are in that situation (sim unlocked, bootloader unlocked, and otherwise stock firmware).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering what particular device was mounted root, so I did: cat /proc/mounts
Apparently, / is /dev/block/dm-8
This is why TWRP is taking so long for Android 10: https://twrp.me/site/update/2019/10/23/twrp-and-android-10.html
"Android 10 also introduces a new dynamic partitioning system. Instead of having a dedicated system partition and a dedicated vendor partition, etc. Android 10 uses a super partition. I like to think of the super partition as a partition that contains a bunch of smaller partitions. One of the side effects of this dynamic partition system is that Google has chosen to use a form of the ext4 file system that is for all intents and purposes, read-only. This choice means that even if you wanted to, you can't easily mount and modify the system partition. We haven't really discussed this with other developers yet, but it may impact your ability to do things like install Gapps. In addition, the dynamic partition model means that eventually, we should probably provide you, the user, some GUI driven tools in TWRP to allow you to manage the dynamic partitions that are on the super partition." @Dees_Troy
jhofseth said:
I was wondering what particular device was mounted root, so I did: cat /proc/mounts
Apparently, / is /dev/block/dm-8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but / is not terribly important compared to /system, /vendor, and /product (it is important tho)
jhofseth said:
This is why TWRP is taking so long for Android 10: https://twrp.me/site/update/2019/10/23/twrp-and-android-10.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but twrp is not incredibly essential to the backup/restore process I've theorized about (still not sure about how it would work
in practice), just needed to get something to boot with root available without actually changing the stock firmware (by installing
magisk and such) in order to be able to pull the stock data.
---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------
jhofseth said:
"Android 10 also introduces a new dynamic partitioning system. Instead of having a dedicated system partition and a dedicated vendor partition, etc. Android 10 uses a super partition. I like to think of the super partition as a partition that contains a bunch of smaller partitions. One of the side effects of this dynamic partition system is that Google has chosen to use a form of the ext4 file system that is for all intents and purposes, read-only. This choice means that even if you wanted to, you can't easily mount and modify the system partition. We haven't really discussed this with other developers yet, but it may impact your ability to do things like install Gapps. In addition, the dynamic partition model means that eventually, we should probably provide you, the user, some GUI driven tools in TWRP to allow you to manage the dynamic partitions that are on the super partition." @Dees_Troy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. This super partition is what I'm interested in. Once you copy it from the device (using adb pull /dev/block/.../super super.img)
you can extract it into its subpartitions using lpunpack. I believe one would be able to flash its subpartitions using fastboot in order
to recover from either a bad flash or a bad restore (like I and another user have, which left us on 10.0.13).
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/super
I made an image of super and file info reads 14.0 GiB (15,032,385,536).
That super.img compresses down to about 4.6 GiB in a regular zip file.
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/dynamic_partitions/implement
jhofseth said:
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/super
I made an image of super and file info reads 14.0 GiB (15,032,385,536).
That super.img compresses down to about 4.6 GiB in a regular zip file.
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/dynamic_partitions/implement
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, nice. Yeah. that's to be expected. I think with that file I and dandroid would be able to restore our phones, assuming
that's stock firmware. Potentially others. Do you have a reliable means to share the file, if you're willing to? Per the link you
posted it contains no userdata so it should be safe to share.
Related
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
DEPRECATED
This firmware is old and deprecated.
See the below link for new firmware and a better root method.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/development/root-partcyborgrom-aqi6-deodexed-t3702988
You can just flash the BL_ tarball if you don't want to install a new system
but want the better screen and modem drivers.
PART 2: FIRMWARE RELOADED
I have done extensive research into the issues reported by those of you who are still experiencing screen issues.
I was unable to reproduce the screen issue on my then-current firmware with this update.
Not being content to leave people with buggy screens, I learned as much as I could about the s8 firmware.
This is what I did with that information.
Flashable Custom Firmware Package For ALL SM-G950U/U1 ON US CARRIERS
If you have a non-us G950U and want to install this pm me or ask in the thread and ill make one. Its very simple but I wanted to get this out to everyone else ASAP
NOTICE!
This an UPDATE (and More) to the Green/Garbled Screen Issue firmware.
There is NEW firmware to download below, and everyone who is rooted should read on, even if you installed the previous version.
Background
At the core of the issue with the garbled screen, modem panics, and sd card issues are two central themes: Bugs, and Incompatibilities. The S8 family of phones was fraught with issues early in its release, including the infamous "Red Tint', Fingerprint scanner malfunctions, mysteriously poor battery life, and surely a bunch of smaller others. Many of these bugs were caused by issues in the device's underlying firmware. Like most devices, Samsung has worked to fix these bugs and improve device performance throughout the phones lifetime for sale in public.
Root Bugs
The problem was unfortunately worse for users of one of the rooting methods for the S8. The biggest reason for this is that in order to relax security constraints enough to make rooting possible, a "non-user oriented", "factory" combination firmware was used. This firmware, being designed apparently for configuration/repair processes inside a factory, was not tuned to the normal level as the public firmware, likely did not go through the same testing, and ultimately any bugs unique to this "Combination" firmware that did not directly affect basic functionality or also stock were probably largely initially ignored.
This is where most of the issues that you all have had come from.
Finding a Solution
As I was unable to reproduce the issue on my device without resorting to the original firmware shipped out with the root method I used, I decided to think about what made my device different than the other devices reporting these issues. While sure we may have slightly varying hardware and that may contribute to these issues as well. What I am absolutely certain of is that most of us have different releases of software from each other. Not only have people essentially ad-hoc upgraded from the original firmware they rooted with until now, many have not upgraded at all or, only partially upgraded (such as with the pervious version of this).
While I could have simply packaged up my firmware/bootloader flashfire backup, I decided to take it a step further.
THE GOODS
Without further ado, I present to you:
S8Root Improved: A SM-G950U1 Custom Firmware Package for Root Users
This package contains a custom mix of the latest AQH3 STOCK (not combination) firmware used wherever possible with the Necessary boot/kernel images from the combination firmware necessary to keep root working with permissive SELinux. It contains all of the improvements from the previous version, and many more.
RESULTS
I can only speak for myself, but the results I experienced were amazing:
- Better UI Responsiveness.
Things surprise me how they move
- Sharper/brighter screen colors
I thought it couldn't get better than the last version but it has! Everything just looks crisper and are super bright without being oversaturated like with the Adaptie Mode.
- POSSIBLY Improved LTE network connectivity.
Note I said POSSIBLY. I personally regularly experienced 8-10Mb/s download bumps and 2-3Mb/s upload bumps in LTE while moving back and forth from this new firmware. I have my LTE radio locked to a specific channel (there are two i pick up at my place and one is terrible) and I carefully measured -107 to -112 dBm RSRP and -13 to -14 dB RSRQ prior to each measurement. I almost left this out but I figured it would be better to give you the information with no conclusion either way. It ABSOLUTELY could be Atmospheric changes, Traffic level changes, or any other of a million thins. YMMV
- Could POTENTIALLY still any remaining fix long-standing SDCard issues
I did not experience this, but had a few reports from users that did. The same pieces used in that version that would touch SDcard usage are used here, so that fix/improvement will carry over.
DISCLAIMER
Unfortunately proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that this package fixes the issue was impossible . I have TRIED AND TRIED AND TRIED to trigger the screen issues, including tweaking on and off every setting (auto brightness, multiple DPIs, different graphs modes, etc) I could get my hands on and it just was not happening. I used every software/systems trick I could think of to break this again, and I was completely unable to tickle the bug on this firmware, despite being able to reliably trigger it almost on command using my previous firmware.
The only thing left to do is either:
- Get the source from samsung, fix the bug myself, and get them to sign my new kernel image with their key so our locked bootloaders would allow it (HAHA I DOUBT IT)
- Acquire a large fleet of S8s (and S8+s) to run distributed integration testing (like the kind Android use at Google). Well if someone wants to buy me a few dozen s8s and s8+s (each) sure I'll take a month off work and squash this, but otherwise not gonna happen either.
If it STILL happens for you, I'm sorry.
I have done everything I can think of, and if it happens to you and you have suggestions, I'm all ears.
BUT HEY, but this is XDA right? Land of mods like Xposed which will brick one persons device and work flawlessly on the identical one next to it. And we love Xposed don't we?
Despite absolutely hilarious comments to the contrary, this package absolutely meets the (aka "BugFix") as well as just about any android update ever does, given the wide variety of environments, usecases and software configurations out there. I surely hope that this works for you.
Instructions
1) Download the package from the link above.
- Here it is Again for good measure.
2) Reboot into download mode and flash using Comsy Odin
Thats it! I packaged this in a way to make the process as smooth as possible.
There is NO reinstall, NO wipe of any kind, nor ANY further work on your part needed to install and use this.
The file size is small so the download is fast, and again, there is NO WIPE or config change needed.
if (for some inexplicable reason) you want to roll back, or go to 100% stock sans root, that process should not be made any more difficult as well.
Legacy Information
If you were here before and either looked at or downloaded the previous version, AND YOU HAVE NO QUESTIONS you can skip this part.
If you have questions, please read through to the end of the post before asking them, as I tried to answer as many as I could before hand and all of this information still applies.
WHAT IT IS NOT:
I wanted to outline a few things it is NOT about, to make a valliant effort to stem off the flow of questions before they begin (ha!):
NOT: A new Stock ROM for Your Phone
THIS IS NOT A FULL OS BUILD! DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING AND FLASH IT EXPECTING AN ENTIRELY UPGRADED OS.
There is no full stock AQI1 image I have found. Believe me I looked a bunch of places after I found it
NOT: Oreo Early Preview
Given the predictions that the next release from Samsung would likely be Oreo, there was some initial over excitement. This wound up being NOT the case and if you read at least current Samsung Oreo projections they are predicting AQB now.
NOT: A Fix for the 80% Battery Issue
I know this is completely futile to hope for but:
THIS DOES NOT FIX THE 80% BATTERY ISSUE!!!!
NO WE DO NOT HAVE A FIX FOR THAT OR ONE COMING ANY TIME SOON!
YES SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL TRYING!
PLEASE DO NOT ASK! OFF TOPIC FOR THS THREAD
NOT: Currently Tested by ANYONE but ME
Since the moment I installed this I have not had ONE SINGLE screen issue, where previously I would have them several times throughout the day (at least 3 sometimes upwards of 6). For the case of ME and MY device, I am confident in declaring that this boot ROM does not have the same kernel bug that was causing the issue on the boot.img provided as part of your traditional root method.
NOTE: This is for the s8 G950 US Snapdragon models ONLY! Do NOT Flash this on your exynos, your Chinese/HK S8, your N8, your MOTO RAZR flip phone, whatever else you have. Kernels/boot.img files are very device specific and you will surely break it if not completely brick it.
DISCLAIMER:
YOUR WARRANTY IS ALREADY VOID if you are paying attention and are doing this to fix bugs with the existing sampwnd root.
HOWEVER IT IS EVEN VOIDER NOW. FLASH THUS TO YOUR DEVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
and if you break it I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE! FLASH AT YOUR OWN RISK!
As I said I have not tested this anywhere but my phone as I dont have any other s8s nor do I have access to any locally. I hope it works for you as well as it has for me.
STEPS
Download Boot Image
Use the URL here to Download the AQI1 boot.img file: Go Download the New Hotness
Prepare Phone for Flashing in FlashFire
If you did not download it on your phone, copy it somewhere FlashFire can see it.
Flash it
Open up FlashFire
Hit the "+" button
Select the "Flash Firmware Package" option, NOT the "Flash Zip or OTA" option!
You should see a popup window thing that has a checkbox next to the word BOOT, with "boot.img, 22MiB" underneath.
Make sure the checkbox is checked.
Make sure that it says BOOT above boot.img.
I have no idea if its possible for this to get messed up, but BOOT implies flashing the BOOT partition so if it says something else you are headed towards brick town, abort immediately.
Press the Check mark at the top right corner once you have confirmed the two things above.
MAKE SURE EVER ROOT IS DISABLED!!!
Click on the "Reboot" box, and choose "Recovery". MAKE SURE PRESERVE RECOVERY IS NOT CHECKED!
Back at the main menu, click the lightening bolt next to the word FLASH. Confirm.
Wait for FlashFire to do its thing. Sometimes it takes a minute for FF to wake up and start flashing. Occasionally for me it never happens, if this happens DO NOT PANIC ITS FINE. Hold down power+volDown until you eventually wind up in upload mode, then just reboot normally and everything will come back fine.
When FlashFire finishes (it will go really fast, the image is only 22MB we arent flashing a 5GB system here), it will auto-reboot your device into the recovery men
Select Wipe Cache and Confirm
This will wipe cache which is fine and safe. Again maybe not needed, feel free to skip if you know what you are doing. If you mess up and accidentally click factory reset instead, please tell me so I can laugh at you.
Reboot into a Clear New World
Select reboot and boot the system normally. If you formatted the cache partition above, it will take a little longer to start your phone. This is just the first time per normal.
Thats it! Welcome to the world of clear screens and bright colors. It could be a total placebo effect but I actually think this kernel drives the display better sometimes.
Please let me know what you think, and if this works for you. I wi;; be here for a while to answer questions or fix anything i typoed above or whatever.
FYI: A s8+ thread is coming too, as I sprung for purchasing both downloads to be an equal opportunity XDAer (at least with US flagship Samsung devices lol) but since I have an s8 and thus had the files locally already I made this one first
@jhofseth for nerding out with me the last few nights on trying crazy **** to get a bootloader unlock which prompted me to dig at this in the first place
Most of all, all of the tons of you who have made so many aewesome mods, themes, apps, what have you that I use every day and that make me enjoy my device all the more. I could not be happier to have the opportunity to give back a little.
Here is the restof the s8 combo firm if you are interested, but don't just flash this as its not a full OS:
EDIT: DOWNLOAD THE NEW ONE ABOVE
Can I Get The Link To The S8+ Boot im willing to try it
Mark805 said:
Can I Get The Link To The S8+ Boot im willing to try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming very soon I promise! 10m max
Ok thanks
Mark805 said:
Can I Get The Link To The S8+ Boot im willing to try it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its up now! https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...sampwnd-root-green-screen-corruption-t3673815
whats the bootloader verison? it can be found by booting into download mode manually.
Cameron581 said:
whats the bootloader verison? it can be found by booting into download mode manually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This isn't a bootloader change, it's boot.img which is the kernel and root filesystem essentially
Hey, btw this does not void warranty. I understand it's a standard disclaimer but it doesn't void it. It doesn't trip knox, so warranty is still very intact.
mweinbach said:
Hey, btw this does not void warranty. I understand it's a standard disclaimer but it doesn't void it. It doesn't trip knox, so warranty is still very intact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh just because their service does not catch you does not mean that technically you are not violating your warranty contract thus making using technically illegal
That would be like saying "it's not murder if you leave no forensics!" Lol
wildermjs8 said:
Uh just because their service does not catch you does not mean that technically you are not violating your warranty contract thus making using technically illegal
That would be like saying "it's not murder if you leave no forensics!" Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i mean legally a warranty can not be void through software modifications unless it causes physical damage to the device. Since the efuse was not tripped no physical damage has been caused and no warranties have legally been void.
I had the green screen/graphics corruption after flashing this still...
goliath714 said:
I had the green screen/graphics corruption after flashing this still...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently this happens to some people. I am fairly certain it is a firmware combination issue but I haven't been able to track it down. One thing you can do to eliminate it if you have the issue still (please let me know if this does not work) is to disable auto brightness.
wildermjs8 said:
Apparently this happens to some people. I am fairly certain it is a firmware combination issue but I haven't been able to track it down. One thing you can do to eliminate it if you have the issue still (please let me know if this does not work) is to disable auto brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have auto brightness off and still get it here and there.
goliath714 said:
I had the green screen/graphics corruption after flashing this still...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please check out the OP again and download/flash the new version. Rather than just a few files, its a whole new entire bootloader/kernel package that I assembled piece by piece to have as much latest stock firmware as possible while maintaining what we need for root.
My primary suspect for why some people experience this regression is having older parts of their system. Rather than push everyone to upgrade, I made a painless upgrade process for all of their firmware instead
This includes the Radio drivers and bootloaders, kernels and flash layer libraries. Its all either latest stock or its AQI1 Combination because it was absolutely necessary.
wildermjs8 said:
Please check out the OP again and download/flash the new version. Rather than just a few files, its a whole new entire bootloader/kernel package that I assembled piece by piece to have as much latest stock firmware as possible while maintaining what we need for root.
My primary suspect for why some people experience this regression is having older parts of their system. Rather than push everyone to upgrade, I made a painless upgrade process for all of their firmware instead
This includes the Radio drivers and bootloaders, kernels and flash layer libraries. Its all either latest stock or its AQI1 Combination because it was absolutely necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We flash the tar in the AP slot correct?
CloudyxVision13 said:
We flash the tar in the AP slot correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep
---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 PM ----------
Seems to be running better to me. Thanks bro
CloudyxVision13 said:
We flash the tar in the AP slot correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It actually does not matter, as Odin will do the right thing no matter what.
Sorry I should have made that clear. I will update the op to make that clear
Just wanna make sure of something. First, I flash the first download files through modded doin, then afterwards, flash the second file in ff?
AngelIsL33T said:
Just wanna make sure of something. First, I flash the first download files through modded doin, then afterwards, flash the second file in ff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, only need the tar file bud. The old boot.img file is just basically the previous version of this.
AngelIsL33T said:
Just wanna make sure of something. First, I flash the first download files through modded doin, then afterwards, flash the second file in ff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The old image is actually part of the new tar, do you will have it anyway . I packaged it in Odin this time because there are some pieces of firmware FF either can't or warns against using it for. Plus one clean simple tar seemed easier, no?
Do you see the boot.img in the op? I thought I nixed all the instances of the link but I may have missed one.
I almost rewrote all the old text to reflect now but it felt like editing history so I tried to preserve what made the most sense still. It sounds like it's still a little confusing sobrskr another crack at it shortly.
Please let me know if you have any trouble! I'll be here to help all evening
I have an Alcatel Tetra running Android 8.1, June 2018 update, and I would like to root it. It was only released in September 2018, though, so there seems to be no common solution.
Some specs are:
480x854 resolution on 5" screen @ 70hz
1.1ghz MediaTek MT6739WM CPU
2gb ram
4G LTE GSM on AT&T
WIFI A/B/G/N 2.4ghz
Bluetooth 4.2 LE
Android 8.1, June 2018 update
16gb internal storage with support for 128gb sd card
GE8100 GPU
5MP front camera & 2MP back
USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm jack
Root
clcombs262 said:
I have an Alcatel Tetra running Android 8.1, June 2018 update, and I would like to root it. It was only released in September 2018, though, so there seems to be no common solution.
Some specs are:
480x854 resolution on 5" screen @ 70hz
1.1ghz MediaTek MT6739WM CPU
2gb ram
4G LTE GSM
WIFI A/B/G/N 2.4ghz
Android 8.1, June 2018 update
16gb internal storage with support for 128gb sd card
GE8100 GPU
5MP front camera & 2MP back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one also id like to root
I also have this phone. Almost cobbled together a twrp but just need the correct recovery-kernel & offset file to repack it. As it stands right now the twrp build will boot loop, but I know all the other pieces are solid ( correct resolution set, correct prop.default, fstab files, .rc files and so on) unfortunately so flash tools is useless until we can get a custom DA file that works with the Tetra. This whole process has been quite a pain lol but I'm close. If I can get it figured out I'll make a thread here upload all relevant files
Update: I'm currently using a few different RATs to pull any and all files possible while also trying to see what exploits (if any) I may be able to leverage with them. currently still lacking the recovery.fstab, but all other files needed for the ramdisk folder section of the recovery.img is set (put together the prop.default from scratch as I can't pull it from the phone). Still need all files outside of the ramdisk folder though (mostly just a proper recovery-kernel and offset, think I may be able to substitute the other files from a similar Alcatel MT6739 phone, the 3x/5058, which I have a stock firmware for). I also have the source code for the 4.4.95+ kernel that's on the Tetra, digging through it to see if I can use anything from it. If anyone has any thoughts about what could be done with all this stuff I have please feel free to share, as I could use some fresh eyes on this.
MICHAEL(SMHOS.ORG) said:
Just use magisk to root ,or ONE click root for PC is easy bro??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#1. There is no publicly available fw for this device as of this moment to patch with Magisk.
#2. Sp flash tool cannot currently readback or download to this phone, as the necessary DA file is unavailable. That means no way to get the boot.img or recovery.img to make magisk root/port TWRP
#3. NO ROOTING APPS WHETHER THEY BE APK OR PC BASED, WORK WHATSOEVER ON THIS PHONE, AND 80% OF THEM ARE BORDERLINE MALICIOUS (HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU KINGROOT)
#4 please kindly ****post elsewhere.
Root Alcatel Tetra
MICHAEL(SMHOS.ORG) said:
Just use magisk to root ,or ONE click root for PC is easy bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know for a fact One Click Root has no support, and Magisk is unreliable in my experience. I think I may have a way to apply a root patch, but obviously I need the patch first. I believe I can exploit the "apply update from sd card" function but haven't really tested it.
MICHAEL(SMHOS.ORG) said:
OK try it and check if any patch or so,because I use Flashing tools like Gsm alladin cracked or android adb multi tool since it support adb function for root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is currently no adb exploit to gain root that works on this device. Trust me, I've tried. There is not an easy fix for this phone. The only options I see, is for someone who has access to the most recent NCK box, or Miracle thunder MT2 ( which added support for the mt6739 chip set) to dump the firmware and share It with the public, or for the Download Assistant file for this phone to be released, at which point SP flashtools can be used to dump the firmware, at which point a custom TWRP can be ported, root can be gained, and bob's your uncle. I've spent the last month going over every possible way to crack this phone open, and aside from finding/developing an as of yet unknown exploit, the only options available require a firmware dump (which currently can only be made with the 2 aforementioned box tools). I've been using every method I can think of to get a functioning TWRP without the stock recovery, with no luck yet. Ive taken every possible amount of info and files accessable from the phone using adb shells, mtk based tools, and RATs. I've got ahold of pretty much all publicly available firmwares and TWRPs for other Mt6739 phones that are already cracked, to see if I could take the files/Info and modify them to fill in the gaps and get a functional TWRP. Hasn't worked yet and while I've narrowed the reasons why down, those reasons seem to be hard blocks that could only be overcome through root access/access to the Tetras specific firmware. Which as you see is a catch 22 where you would need root to get root. I've even tried to get ahold of an ota update directly from AT&Ts cdn to try and exploit. I have the dl address but am not sure how to use it, as trying to connect to it from phone browser or PC just returns as forbidden. I'm honestly a little burnt out with it at the moment and am gonna go mess with some other phones I have and come back to this later when/if hopefully some new resources become available.
Tlr ; the easy and common solutions aren't gonna cut it, so save your breath
cthulu_rises said:
There is currently no adb exploit to gain root that works on this device. Trust me, I've tried. There is not an easy fix for this phone. The only options I see, is for someone who has access to the most recent NCK box, or Miracle thunder MT2 ( which added support for the mt6739 chip set) to dump the firmware and share It with the public, or for the Download Assistant file for this phone to be released, at which point SP flashtools can be used to dump the firmware, at which point a custom TWRP can be ported, root can be gained, and bob's your uncle. I've spent the last month going over every possible way to crack this phone open, and aside from finding/developing an as of yet unknown exploit, the only options available require a firmware dump (which currently can only be made with the 2 aforementioned box tools). I've been using every method I can think of to get a functioning TWRP without the stock recovery, with no luck yet. Ive taken every possible amount of info and files accessable from the phone using adb shells, mtk based tools, and RATs. I've got ahold of pretty much all publicly available firmwares and TWRPs for other Mt6739 phones that are already cracked, to see if I could take the files/Info and modify them to fill in the gaps and get a functional TWRP. Hasn't worked yet and while I've narrowed the reasons why down, those reasons seem to be hard blocks that could only be overcome through root access/access to the Tetras specific firmware. Which as you see is a catch 22 where you would need root to get root. I've even tried to get ahold of an ota update directly from AT&Ts cdn to try and exploit. I have the dl address but am not sure how to use it, as trying to connect to it from phone browser or PC just returns as forbidden. I'm honestly a little burnt out with it at the moment and am gonna go mess with some other phones I have and come back to this later when/if hopefully some new resources become available.
Tlr ; the easy and common solutions aren't gonna cut it, so save your breath
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/
+1 on the no easy solutions. In theory, there is a utility built in to flash an update from an sd card from fastboot menu, or if you have an activity launcher.... exploitable, maybe?
Also, you must remember that those people are just people like you and me, with more experience. Since this phone was released September of this year, it may be awhile. So we may be on our own since the Tetra is a lower end device. I got a system dump, which I know can be used ro make firmware, but am not sure how to do so
clcombs262 said:
/
+1 on the no easy solutions. In theory, there is a utility built in to flash an update from an sd card from fastboot menu.
I got a system dump
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only way to use stock sideload would require you to sign the zip with the manufacturer private keys. I did pull some keys & certs from the phone but never got a chance to see if they were the proper ones.
And pls upload your system dump
Dont use this, see next post
Last post was the wrong file.
Here you'll find:
*DA file
*Auth file
*Preloader
*.mbn
*.sca
All specific for the 5041c, direct from Alcatel
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FS0MFuoFSRlSncuUUtsZM808fqypUmue/view?usp=drivesdk
Yo OP what's up with that system dump?
cthulu_rises said:
Yo OP what's up with that system dump?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It ll be awhile. My ssd took a dump and died last night and I don't get paid for 2 weeks, so can't afford a new one.
That zip wasn't backed up unfortunately. So right now I have no pc
clcombs262 said:
It ll be awhile. My ssd took a dump and died last night and I don't get paid for 2 weeks, so can't afford a new one.
That zip wasn't backed up unfortunately. So right now I have no pc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang sorry to hear that brotha. Do you remember what method you used to get the system dump? I can try my hand at it
cthulu_rises said:
Dang sorry to hear that brotha. Do you remember what method you used to get the system dump? I can try my hand at it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See next post
cthulu_rises said:
Dang sorry to hear that brotha. Do you remember what method you used to get the system dump? I can try my hand at it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The primary code I used was
Code:
adb pull /system
adb pull /data
I may have used other code; I don't remember. It's been awhile.
Also, so my friends will stop asking, will you post how to root/flash recovery with what you provided? It'll be easier to link to the post then explain it 500 times, since I end up their IT guy a lot. Thanks in advance
Take the Da file, auth file, and scatter file provided and load them in the latest version of SP Flash Tool, use the readback function to dump the recovery img. If memory serves me correctly, mmcblk0p18 is the location for it. (use the scatter file to locate the begining address and the length for it). Once you have the stock recovery img, manually port twrp to it using carliv image kitchen. Then fastboot to flash twrp. If you did it right then you can boot into twrp and flash supersu or magisk for root. Make sure to boot directly into recovery after flashing, because the recovery gets replaced by stock after a normal boot
---------- Post added at 09:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 PM ----------
I would have posted more already but have no access to PC for a while. I haven't even had a chance to do this for myself yet
cthulu_rises said:
Take the Da file, auth file, and scatter file provided and load them in the latest version of SP Flash Tool, use the readback function to dump the recovery img. If memory serves me correctly, mmcblk0p18 is the location for it. (use the scatter file to locate the begining address and the length for it). Once you have the stock recovery img, manually port twrp to it using carliv image kitchen. Then fastboot to flash twrp. If you did it right then you can boot into twrp and flash supersu or magisk for root. Make sure to boot directly into recovery after flashing, because the recovery gets replaced by stock after a normal boot
---------- Post added at 09:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 PM ----------
I would have posted more already but have no access to PC for a while. I haven't even had a chance to do this for myself yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have access to a library pc, but youre not allowed to install anything. No adb or sp flash tool. Though i do have a theory about using stock recovery...
Probably wont work, but hey. YOLO. Still waiting for my ssd to be in stock
Well here's the stock ROM. Cut SP flash Tool and all its hassles out and use this. Just extract the recovery.img and port twrp, or extract boot.img and patch with magisk. Am gonna do this when I get home, I have a beater laptop I can use but no internet there, so I'll post my work the next time I can come to town and get cell service.
https://mega.nz/#!dpFmBIgI!4FXN0VYjTYSyMp608BCCDOtEVABHqOwoJPBx_OkaKrE
This zip contains the magisk patched boot.img, happy rooting!
I'm on a TMobile converted to stock rom. Can someone with a factory unlocked de8117 extract their rom so we can update to the latest version
summersofar said:
I have asked for the unlocked images as well (to help contribute). I know there are a few here that have them, but they have stayed silent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps the reason they are silent is that they have not got the 11.0.3 update yet?
For the the 11.0.2 unlocked images, you can get them from Oneplus officially here - https://oxygenos.oneplus.net/OnePlusN200Oxygen_10.O.07_OTA_007_all_2107241606_52437f0423c74bef.zip
if you use android studio profiler. while your phones plugged in and hit install even if you cant do it. you are able to watch the network logs to find the url hosting a certain download.
summersofar said:
That is OTA. It is not the entire set of partitions. I have made this fact very clear in my other posts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which partitions do you need, which you believe are not in this 2.6GB ROM from Oneplus?
summersofar said:
Plenty of system partitions are not bundled, it is NOT a super. There would be no way one could restore a completely wiped phone with the OTA alone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it. Sorry if it sounded like I am questioning you - far from it. I am trying to understand how a 2.6GB ROM which you have used for converting from Tmobile version to Oneplus version, did not have all the partitions one could possibly need for factory restore. My understanding now is that the conversion process is not a complete conversion. There are some partitions which are still not available for the full conversion. I am guessing the release of the MSMDownload Tool for the Oneplus version, should hopefully address that gap?
summersofar said:
Yep, you've got it all straight now. Either a full dd from an unlocked phone or the MSM (should it ever get released) would get us there.
And hopefully 'there' means long-term functional OTA updates and SIM unlocks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the dd from an unlocked phone is such an important step to getting 'there' (in the absence of any progress on MSMDownload Tool release by OP for the unlocked version), my suggestion is that perhaps you might have better success in somebody contributing it, if you were to make a separate, standalone post on it - explicitly making it clear that the post is for folks who have the unlocked version, and then giving detailed instructions in that post on how to get a dd copy of the partitions. You might even want to consider making it a sticky, so that everybody will read it when they enter XDA for the N200.
I think folks are just not very clear (like I was until I got it clarified from you today) on the importance of getting the dd copy of the partitions from their unlocked phone, and contribute it here. My 2 cents.
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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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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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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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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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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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.
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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.
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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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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...
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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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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?
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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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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.