Hi,
I have used this phone rooted for the last 8 months+ and after a full restore to stock and re-root, some changes seem to stick even after a complete un-root.
Long story short, been using LBE Security as a firewall and permission manager and i noticed it stopped blocking internet access for certain apps even when it showed it does but it did not. Decided to restore to stock T989UVLI4 and re-rooted and LBE is still miss behaving... tried a full factory reset, fix permissions via CWM and LBE is still refusing to work.
I am not sure what root apps could have messed up any of of the system files that could survive a full un-root, but this seems to be the case.
I s there a way to see if any system directories changed when they should have not and such directory would not fully recover on a complete un-root factory reset?
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
744
Related
Hey guys, I have done a few things to the phone and now am interested in doing a hard reset.
I have rooted the phone with superoneclick, (Will I lose root doing a hard reset-- my guess is no)
I have disabled some bloatware and uninstalled a few ATT apps. I will be sure to enable all of the apps that i disabled, BUT I am wondering if I will have any issues because I uninstalled those ATT apps? Do you see that as being a problem.
Last, I modified the lockscreen file so that it removed the emergency call button, do you see that causing any issues doing a hard reset?
Thanks
No, you will not loose root.
Can't say for sure about att apps, if you removed them with app manager or market, then they will be restored with hard reset, if you removed them with something like titanium backup, then they might gone forever.
I guess you could just flash system.img from the unbrick post before you do hard reset, at least that will for sure restore any bloatware you removed.
Also, not sure you are going to wipe data using cwm, if yes, then be careful since CWM currently has problem when wipe data, use following step instead:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22533342&postcount=235
Folks, I've looked around for a couple of days to find a way to OTA update without loosing my data, settings, customizations ...etc, but all guides shows a complete restore to revert to a blank vanilla start, so please guys just check my status below and tell me what is the best solution for this
my GNEX is 90% stock (stock rom, stock kernel, but only CMW and rooted) is it possible to restore the stock recovery, and unroot without factory reset? to be 100% stock for the OTA update.
if yes then please just hint me the way and i'll be good to go.
If you haven't modified any system files...yes.
AKA
You haven't used an adblocker.
You haven't removed any system apps.
You haven't used your root access...at all, really.
Why not use titanium to backup user apps...
Make a nandroid...
And transfer those files to your PC.
Factory reset.
Transfer Titanium back over...
And restore apps.
You'll only have system settings to change at that point.
Post 2 of the guide linked in my sig will help with this process.
As well as posts 1/3 on setting up and using ADB to pull the files off of your phone (MTP is slow and unreliable...but if you want to use it - go for it).
I cannot get my N7 to accept the 15R update. I have tried OTA, have also tried flashing the zip and sideloading the zip through ADB..always get an error that looks to be a mismatch of the hash. So ultimately I will end up wiping and re-installing...but my question is more than just that. My N7 is rooted with NRT but with no other modifications. The only reason I rooted was so that I could use Titanium backup. I hear people constantly concerned that they will lose root after an OTA update. I don't understand this because re-rooting is so easy and takes only a couple of minutes. I am much more concerned with not being able to update and having to wipe the device. This requires lots more time and effort...even getting my wireless password into the device (63 digits) takes longer than re-rooting. I have to temporarily change the password on my router to something that I can type in, then change it back after cutting and pasting in my real password, which is too long and complicated to type.
What am I missing and also, is there anything else I can do to get 15R into the device? (I have SuperSU 1.65 already.)
Thanks for helping a newbie.
Something changed after you rooted. It may not have been explicitly something you changed. It could have been one of the root apps you started using. For example stickmount will often result in the hash for debuggerd to fail.
If you post the exact error someone can probably guess what you installed that caused the hash failure. I assure you it only happens if a file was modified or deleted (unless you are one of the unfortunate with suspect eMMC memory that is corrupting on its own)
The quickest way to get JSS15R is to just use this post in JSS15R discussion thread. Use the nowipe factory option and it will preserve your data.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45671279#post45671279
sfhub said:
Something changed after you rooted. It may not have been explicitly something you changed. It could have been one of the root apps you started using. For example stickmount will often result in the hash for debuggerd to fail.
If you post the exact error someone can probably guess what you installed that caused the hash failure. I assure you it only happens if a file was modified or deleted (unless you are one of the unfortunate with suspect eMMC memory that is corrupting on its own)
The quickest way to get JSS15R is to just use this post in JSS15R discussion thread. Use the nowipe factory option and it will preserve your data.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45671279#post45671279
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response...I will get into that thread suggested. For the future, if an app screws things up, will uninstalling it fix things or not? You mentioned Stickmount, which I have installed. I went ahead and uninstalled it, but results are the same.
When trying to flash the 15R zip, I get:
skipping MD5 check
no MD5 file found
assert failed-apply patch check [zip name]
error executing updater binary
error installing zip
this is all while booted temporarily into TWRP....I have stock recovery on the unit.
Could freezing useless apps (some system like Google Books and useless keyboards) with Titanium Backup cause the update to fail? I tried unfreezing everything that I had done...still no luck. I'm just trying to get a feel for what to do and not do in the future...
Thanks much!!
OK...followed your thread ...read everything and since I saw an error about debuggered somewhere on my N7, I used your debuggered update, flashed it with TWRP and then was successful in flashing the 15R update.zip. So it must have been as you said...Stickmount was the problem and it messed up the debuggered file. I'm still wondering if freezing apps with Titanium backup will mess up an update or if I did not need to defrost everything before trying to flash the zip???
Thanks so much for the help...another success story and noob learning more and more about what the heck is going on in Android.
CCT1 said:
I'm still wondering if freezing apps with Titanium backup will mess up an update or if I did not need to defrost everything before trying to flash the zip???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has nothing to do with freezing apps. Freezing apps won't have any negative effects on your ability to use an OTA successfully.
Stickmount backs up debuggerd, makes some changes to it, then restores the backup, but sometimes it gets out of sync. When it gets out of sync, your original debuggerd is lost even though there is a backup file because the backup is of the wrong file.
Uninstalling stickmount wouldn't have fixed this issue because it already made the modification to debuggerd.
Keep in mind, normally it isn't root that causes the OTA to fail. It is the use of those capabilities root gave you, to modify or remove files, either directly or indirectly through a 3rd-party app that causes the OTA to fail.
Gotcha...thanks for the help...your debuggerd script fixed everything...I've put it away for possible future use. Titanium Backup and Stickmount are the only apps I have that require root...I will keep this in mind. To a lesser but similar extent than in Windows, I like to keep a system lean and mean....I think Android can benefit from this also.
I successfully installed the official 5.11 ROM for my SM-T900 (wifi model) via Kies 3 and rooted it and also was able to get TWRP installed. I've seen several threads on removing KNOX but the option to uninstall does not exist for the KNOX app in the 5.11 ROM. I tried removing using Titanium Backup, but on the next boot, the Touchwiz interface would consistently crash forcing a TWRP restore. Unfortunately the TWRP restore also seemed to be imperfect as Touchwiz would also crash after the restore. I had to reinstall the v5.11 ROM via Kies and re-root and restore apps from Titanium Backup. Right now, it seems stable but from what I have read, KNOX can cause all kinds of issues so if there is a foolproof way to remove it, I'd love to hear it.
Thoughts?
hello
some root programs remove knox
regards
Rooting, might have possibly been one thing. You could have rooted your device with something like Towelroot, and still have, had access to Knox, again. (Once you were in rooted that is.).
But, the moment you flashed TWRP, (Or, indeed any other Recovery), to your Device.... Then it's automatically gone FOREVER!
As you would have tried the so called Knox Flag. So as it is you'll never be able to use Knox again. If you wish to be stuck on an older Stock ROM, then... Just use something like ES File Explorer, and locate the *.apk (Inside either ~/data/apps - ~/system/apps), and just delete it there, like you would any other piece of Bloatware.
My fiancé's Xperia Z1 compact suddenly did a surprising factory reset by itself couple days ago. To my surprise SD card has been deleted in the process as well. The phone that in the trouser's pocket. The reason remains mystery...
I recovered most data from the SD card (pictures and music mainly). However, I made attempts to recover the data from the phone as well and among certain options I tried EaseUS MobiSaver. In the process it asked to root the phone using Kingo ROOT... and to be honest if I know what problems it's going to cause, I wouldn't dare to do it. Kingo ROOT rooted the phone, EaseUS performed the scan, by memory seem to be totally wiped, so nothing from pre-reset incarnation has been found. I entered the Kingo Superuser app and ask for unroot... and that's where my problems started. The root exists and all banking apps refuse to log in (obvious reason why I don't want root anymore).
I tried to figure out what my options are, and tried to use Kingo ROOT PC app to unroot, but that fails after couple minutes without giving the reason. I tried to install SuperSU to use it's mechanism to remove root traces, but it fails to update binaries and attempt to unroot only removes SuperSU... Root checkers still shows phone is rooted. Any clues how to let SuperSU do it's job in such case?
Now, question is if anybody knows a method to wipe out damage done by Kingo ROOT using adb to restore the phone into state without root? I personally didn't touch bootloader, however I don't know what method Kingo applies to perform rooting (any clues?).
Next question to more experienced users is if I reflash the phone using Flash tool (I identified stock firmware already) am I going to face any bad side effects? Any advice, hints, clues here? What to avoid? How to do it right? Are data already collected back on the phone would remain intact? Can I eventually backup all of them (networks setting, sync setting, contacts, etc.) and restore easily?
I've seen some posts mentioning using repair option in PC companion to destructively reflash the phone to get rid of the root. Can anyone share experience?
Manneveru said:
My fiancé's Xperia Z1 compact suddenly did a surprising factory reset by itself couple days ago. To my surprise SD card has been deleted in the process as well. The phone that in the trouser's pocket. The reason remains mystery...
I recovered most data from the SD card (pictures and music mainly). However, I made attempts to recover the data from the phone as well and among certain options I tried EaseUS MobiSaver. In the process it asked to root the phone using Kingo ROOT... and to be honest if I know what problems it's going to cause, I wouldn't dare to do it. Kingo ROOT rooted the phone, EaseUS performed the scan, by memory seem to be totally wiped, so nothing from pre-reset incarnation has been found. I entered the Kingo Superuser app and ask for unroot... and that's where my problems started. The root exists and all banking apps refuse to log in (obvious reason why I don't want root anymore).
I tried to figure out what my options are, and tried to use Kingo ROOT PC app to unroot, but that fails after couple minutes without giving the reason. I tried to install SuperSU to use it's mechanism to remove root traces, but it fails to update binaries and attempt to unroot only removes SuperSU... Root checkers still shows phone is rooted. Any clues how to let SuperSU do it's job in such case?
Now, question is if anybody knows a method to wipe out damage done by Kingo ROOT using adb to restore the phone into state without root? I personally didn't touch bootloader, however I don't know what method Kingo applies to perform rooting (any clues?).
Next question to more experienced users is if I reflash the phone using Flash tool (I identified stock firmware already) am I going to face any bad side effects? Any advice, hints, clues here? What to avoid? How to do it right? Are data already collected back on the phone would remain intact? Can I eventually backup all of them (networks setting, sync setting, contacts, etc.) and restore easily?
I've seen some posts mentioning using repair option in PC companion to destructively reflash the phone to get rid of the root. Can anyone share experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know exactly what you want to preserve, (if it's in the realm of photos / music or more in the realm of app data, etc), but I think if I were you, and I wanted to use the phone for daily, secure personal use, I would use official Sony and/or Google backup functions, (built into the phone), and then flash using Emma, (official Sony flash tool - https://developer.sonymobile.com/open-devices/flash-tool/how-to-download-and-install-the-flash-tool/), or use Androxyde Flashtool if you want. Then go back to the same Sony / Google app you backed up with, and restore. Anything that's restored from Kingo will be easy to delete, since it will only be /data and not /system.
I used Link2SD to uninstall Kingo ROOT