I have tried for multiple hours to get fastboot and ADB to work with my S6 Edge but it is not working. I suspect I might need to try older Samsung drivers (I only tried the latest ones as far as I remember). I wanted these tools in order to check if my bootloader was unlocked so that I wouldn't brick my device if I tried to install a custom ROM and TWRP. Anyway I followed a video and installed TWRP on my phone and installed Lineage OS Android 10 without checking the bootloader since the guy in the video did not mention doing so and still installed the custom ROM and TWRP. It is working fine. I know it is most likely that since this was possible, the bootloader should probably be unlocked but I just wanted to confirm with more experienced smartphone modders if this is indeed the case. Is it then safe to root my phone without checking bootloader?
Sub-question: If a person were to theoretically attmept to install custom ROM or TWRP or root the phone while the bootloader is locked, would that result in the root failing but the device still being usable or would the attempt result in the device being bricked? IE if the bootloader is locked is it dangerous to attempt to flash software to the phone or will it result in a harmless "failed" message, etc.?
Thank you.
Related
Hello everyone. I am new to the world of android, but I'm a quick enough learner. Here is my specific problem:
I have an AT&T Atrix 4g. It is currently superuser rooted. It is currently running Android ROM 2.3.4.
Shortly after rooting the device, I downloaded ROM Manager and successfully installed through the application Clockwork Recovery. I tried to select the option to back up the current ROM (the stock android) on my SD card.. however, during the load screen, I got an error message stating
"Failed to boot 2
Starting RSD protocol support"
So doing some research, I came upon the conclusion that the reason I can't backup or really do anything with ROMs is that I needed an unlocked bootloader.
I went to Atrix4ghacks and followed the instructions on how to unlock bootloader and install permanent recovery.
This is the critical part: When I entered into the command prompt "fastboot oem unlock", instead of proceeding normally I got the return message:
"OEM unlock is not implemented"
Again, did a google search and read that Android 2.3.4 on Atrix 4g does NOT allow unlocked bootloaders.
So, the questions that I have that result from this are:
1.) Can someone here confirm that, in fact, I am unable to unlock the bootloader on my phone?
2.) If so, is there a viable workaround that is both reasonably safe and not overly complicated? Please note that I have no backup in case something goes wrong, leading me to
3.) Is there a way to backup my stock 2.3.4 ROM without an unlocked bootloader?
4.) Can I revert safely to an older android version that supports unlocked bootloaders?
5.) Can you actually install new ROMs without an unlocked bootloader?
6.) Am I totally screwed?
HUGE THANKS to anyone who actually bothered reading this, and even more thanks to anyone who can answer/point me in the right direction. Much appreciated!!!
thats becouse u havent flashed yet the bootloader ill give a post related to this and esay way to do it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1182871
and you CANT go back to 2.2 or 2.3 u can hard brick your phone
tufo430 said:
thats becouse u havent flashed yet the bootloader ill give a post related to this and esay way to do it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1182871
and you CANT go back to 2.2 or 2.3 u can hard brick your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a ton for that link. I'm sorry to ask once again, but I'm very wary of possibly bricking my phone... so I must ask: Is your solution possible with 2.3.4? Or will the phone softbrick?
If you did the Over The Air (OTA) update to 2.3.4 then yes your phone will softbrick after flashing the bootloader. Re-enter fastboot and issue the unlock commands and everything will be fine when you reboot.
Hi,
I'm wondering how I could make my phone as safe as possible without losing the benefits of a rooted custom ROM. In particular, I have a few questions about locked bootloaders, recoverys and flashing.
Right now, my phone has a unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery and a rooted custom ROM. I was thinking about flashing the stock recovery and locking the bootloader. From what I gather, I could still temp-flash non-signed recoveries (like TWRP; to flash updates for my ROM) as long as I have root access to the phone (http://android.stackexchange.com/qu...implication-of-having-an-unlocked-boot-loader)
Is that still right on Android 4.2.2?
This would make it a bit harder for someone who finds my phone to get all the data - to get access to the phone, he would have to guess my PIN or unlock the bootloader, which wipes the phone.
Hey Everyone! So i will be receiving my M8 i got used in the mail on monday and i'm doing some research because it is softbricked due to no OS being installed. It is (presumably) S-Off with Bootoader locked and "possibly" no custom recovery. What i'm planning to do is once the battery is charged completely.
-Connect it to my PC (windows)
-Power into fastboot
-Run the stock AT&T RUU and get everything running and up to date.
From there i will be unlocking the bootloader, custom recovery, root, and all the good stuff.
I'm just wanting to know from the way more knowledgeable folks then i when it comes to this stuff, is if this is the proper procedure. Is there anything else i should do first or after? Any help will be great! I'll know more tomorrow night on if recovery is installed or not, but i'm going with the opinion that there is no custom recovery, as i feel this would be harder.
any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
I agree with the above described approach. Especially since its not clear what the previous owner did (appears previously bootloader unlocked, s-off, then possibly a botched return to stock attempt?) its good to run the AT&T RUU to return to a full stock "baseline" image to all partitions.
Since you are going to run RUU, it doesn't matter whether custom recovery is currently installed or not. The RUU will install the stock recovery image.
After RUU, unlock the bootloader via HTCDev.com. Then install current version TWRP and flash SuperSU 2.46 to obtain root (older versions SuperSU won't work on Lollipop - common mistake).
redpoint73 said:
I agree with the above described approach. Especially since its not clear what the previous owner did (appears previously bootloader unlocked, s-off, then possibly a botched return to stock attempt?) its good to run the AT&T RUU to return to a full stock "baseline" image to all partitions.
Since you are going to run RUU, it doesn't matter whether custom recovery is currently installed or not. The RUU will install the stock recovery image.
After RUU, unlock the bootloader via HTCDev.com. Then install current version TWRP and flash SuperSU 2.46 to obtain root (older versions SuperSU won't work on Lollipop - common mistake).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much Redpoint! I only have a small amount of knowledge with this area. I've sideloaded an OS over ADB due to a mistake i made with no OS on an old tablet, but never had to deal with possibly stock recovery with a locked bootloader, so knowing my approach will presumably work is a real relief.
Thank you again!!!:good::fingers-crossed:
hey everyone. trying to OEM unlock the TWRP bootloader. When I type "fastboot OEM unlock" it will reboot into TWRP bootloader, and nothing unlocks. I know this because when I type "fastboot oem device-info" it says "unlocked FALSE".
I have OEM unlock and USB debugging enabled.
This is a phone with previously successfully installed CM13, and now I'm trying to revert to stock/unrooted. I can't seem to flash the recovery at all here because I can't get the damn thing to unlock.
Any ideas?
Did you lock the bootloader ? If your flashing Roms and custom recoverys imagine its already unlocked. Bootloader won't lock itself. If you want full stock just flash any OS2 firmware with twrp. You can worry about stock recovery after. I would just leave the bootloader unlocked won't hurt anything.
I had the same issue not long ago. Finally, i used the mega unbrick guide, but warning, all the data is lost
Ps: Sorry for bad english
hey, thanks for the response. I have been following the following tutorial (and others similar for installing CM13):
(great, website won't let me post it here... it's the unlockr oneplus x guide)
so yes, I originally flashed the stock recovery and replaced it with the one from the tutorial. There were a few hiccups during setup, which may have affected why I can't easily update nightly now, so now I'm trying to revert to the unrooted stock state so I can try from scratch, hopefully fixing the issues I'm seeing now. The problem is that I can't flash the recovery using the stock recovery... I can't even update the damn recovery because it's locked. Is this what is meant by a 'soft brick' ?
I purchased a Poco F1 a while ago which had twrp installed, lineageOS, bootloader unlocked. I had an issue which required me to return the device back to stock MIUI, I had the previous owner remove the phone from any associated xiaomi/miui accounts and registered the phone to me. I would like to install pixel experience but have a question regarding the bootloader, when I boot the phone I can see an unlocked padlock which I assume means the bootloader is unlocked but as the bootloader wasn’t unlocked with my account would I still be safe to install twrp? Usually this wouldn’t be an issue but I’ve read some bad experiences so just wanted to check before I go ahead.
thanks
If your bootloader is really unlocked then all you need do is install a recovery and flash the ROM of your dreams.
'fastboot oem device-info' from a pc might show you the state of your bootloader. I haven't tried it out so I could be wrong.
Thanks, flashed Pixel Experience with no issues.