After nearly three years with my trusty Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, I feel it's time to move on. Got my eyes on this phone since like forever and now that OP6 is releasing I'm hoping for some nice price drops. Anyway, I've read some threads on getting started modding the phone, but I still have a few questions.
With my phone I'm used to having one (usable) ROM, recovery and kernel combo. However, OP5t seems to have quite a few. Which ones are recommended? Do I need to patch the kernel to be able to boot with a modded system partition and to modify it while Android is running? (dm-verity and Sony RIC on my Z5C, respectively.)
Which is the go-to Windows app for flashing ROMs? (Like Flashtool for Sony?)
Do I have to back up a partition so that the camera keeps working and to still be able to play DRM-protected content after bootloader unlock? Which partition do I need to restore to completely lock the bootloader in case I change my mind (and need warranty again)? (So it shows "locked" instead of "relocked".) (On Sony I had to do these with the TA partition.)
Thanks a lot for reading through, I know I wrote a rather huge wall of text.
QWERTYsystems said:
After nearly three years with my trusty Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, I feel it's time to move on. Got my eyes on this phone since like forever and now that OP6 is releasing I'm hoping for some nice price drops. Anyway, I've read some threads on getting started modding the phone, but I still have a few questions.
With my phone I'm used to having one (usable) ROM, recovery and kernel combo. However, OP5t seems to have quite a few. Which ones are recommended? Do I need to patch the kernel to be able to boot with a modded system partition and to modify it while Android is running? (dm-verity and Sony RIC on my Z5C, respectively.)
Which is the go-to Windows app for flashing ROMs? (Like Flashtool for Sony?)
Do I have to back up a partition so that the camera keeps working and to still be able to play DRM-protected content after bootloader unlock? Which partition do I need to restore to completely lock the bootloader in case I change my mind (and need warranty again)? (So it shows "locked" instead of "relocked".) (On Sony I had to do these with the TA partition.)
Thanks a lot for reading through, I know I wrote a rather huge wall of text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're entering into Oneplus country, options rule the roost. You are going to have to read about all the roms and kernals and make a decision on what best meets your needs.
I wouldn't start there though, OOS is pretty good in it's own right so the smart money is on taking it for a spin before you move on to the roms. Many who do will stay there and many of those who leave for the roms come back to it. It really is that solid. To that end I would start by either simply updating the phone to the latest stock and rooting/recovery or go to the open beta with rooting/recovery. The latter have been by and large very stable as a whole so you are usually safe using them in daily driver duties. In either case useful upgrades to stock android that came on the phone along with some tuning via magisk will get a lot of users where they want to go with stock reliability and functionality.
To install you're going to use fastboot so you'll need to set that up, there are several tutorials available if you're unfamiliar with it. Some people just don't want to take the time to get fastboot 101 capable, if you're of that mind you can use several tools which are available in the development section.
You didn't ask but I'm going to throw something out there for your consideration. The 6 is going to be here soon, I get the impression you hang onto your phones a long time making it perhaps a better choice. You'll wait a bit more than a month but gain a half a year in "newness" to start that long journey.
QWERTYsystems said:
After nearly three years with my trusty Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, I feel it's time to move on. Got my eyes on this phone since like forever and now that OP6 is releasing I'm hoping for some nice price drops. Anyway, I've read some threads on getting started modding the phone, but I still have a few questions.
With my phone I'm used to having one (usable) ROM, recovery and kernel combo. However, OP5t seems to have quite a few. Which ones are recommended? Do I need to patch the kernel to be able to boot with a modded system partition and to modify it while Android is running? (dm-verity and Sony RIC on my Z5C, respectively.)
Which is the go-to Windows app for flashing ROMs? (Like Flashtool for Sony?)
Do I have to back up a partition so that the camera keeps working and to still be able to play DRM-protected content after bootloader unlock? Which partition do I need to restore to completely lock the bootloader in case I change my mind (and need warranty again)? (So it shows "locked" instead of "relocked".) (On Sony I had to do these with the TA partition.)
Thanks a lot for reading through, I know I wrote a huge wall of text.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Came from the Xperia Z2 after about 4 years and just recently bought the OP5T.
AFAIK, there's no Flashtool like application for OnePlus devices so you just have to rely on TWRP and there's no such thing as that stupid TA-Partition on the OP5T (or any OnePlus device). You won't lose anything when you unlock your OnePlus device, not even your warranty.
I don't have a recommended custom kernel or rom since I'm very pleased with OxygenOS but the main reason why I'm not switching to a custom ROM is that of Portrait Mode and Face Unlock which aren't available on custom ROMs.
There is Skipsoft and another, the name escapes me but it's there in the development section. Face unlock (Google) and portrait are available depending on the rom but are problematic on most. It is a good point because the google face unlock is not as good as the OP implementation. There are also the nav gestures which most seem to like and I'm among them.
Thanks everyone! Already learned so much! (But I still have some more.) You said OOS is stable (I heard it has some RAM management issues), should I go for the open beta? Do the new features outweigh the bugs? How is Magisk and themeing on OOS (does the former have bugs/random reboots, is latter even possible (Andromeda on Oreo, maybe))? Is there a way I could preserve my data between ROMs? Are there some must have apps/mods I should totally try out? (such as stereo sound mod and Google Camera) Speaking of, is there a recommended Google Camera port for this phone? And lastly, how is the audio quality?
EDIT: Oh and can this phone be easily bricked? I remember no matter what I did with my Z5C I could always reflash it in flashmode.
OOS is stable as can be, even the beta is pretty darn stable, more so than some stable releases. Realistically if the beta isn't offering something you want there is no reason not to go with the official release. You can read about the beta and it's various changes over on that thread.
The only issue either OOS or it's beta in terms of RAM management is that it makes engineers over at Samsung envious, this wont be a problem for most of us.
I'm not a theme guy of I've nothing to offer there. Magisk has been fully functional and has worked without a hitch in my use. As with any device the more modules you load the more you increase your odds of having a conflict in much the same way as you run into with exposed. I'm using the stereo mod, modded youtube, volume steps, and Sony framework with their player. I've had Viper on and it worked without problems but I've since broke down and purchased high(ish) end headphones and don't use it now. You'll have to try your faves and see how it goes but if their mainstream and you don't go overboard with the modules I'd expect them to work.
I use a combination of Ti and nandroids and do a clean flash with every new rom, normally I'll backup and then just dirty flash when going to the next iteration of the same rom. The phone is difficult to brick as long as you follow instructions and pay attention to what your doing, That would apply to almost any modern android phone though, they aren't easy to brick and typically even when you think you've bricked it you haven't, you just don't now how to get out of it. As good fortune would have it a lot of people here have already stubbed their toe on almost any problem you can have and between them and the guru's you will seldom be left with an actual honest to God brick. Pay attention and you shouldn't have to encounter a day of "oh crap" while you wait for others to help you.
I'd rate the audio on speaker as just OK, the in-call quality up at the ear has enough volume and is clear but not special. That puts it right about the same place as I rate most flagship phones.
For now don't overthink all this stuff, the 5T is an excellent value as most will say but more it's in many respects a better day to day phone than my Note 8 was which I've since given to one of my kids. You don't have to make excuses for this phone, outside of a camera which is behind the flagship curve it's solid.
Related
Proud new owner of HOX was using GS3 before and HATED every moment of using that piece of crap! So far im in love with my HOX but since im running stock ICS i do suffer some performance issues time to time, So therefor i need your opinion should i root my one x and install custom JB rom or should i wait for the official OTA from htc, My main reason for rooting is like a said to flash JB other than that i can live without rooting my one x so should i root or wait for the OTA.
Use your phone for a while first, there have been a couple of issues that have turned up a little while into ownership so best ensure you don't have them first.
Then, once your happy you won't have issues, it's up to you whether to root or not, personally I always root for better control and backup ability.
Could you elaborate more into what kind of issues?
jb ota is right around the corner if your phone is not branded...
just wait till you get it and decide after if you still feel the need to root.
Will the gaming performance improve with jb cuz rite now when i play gta 3 it lags like crazy! i cant even imagine playing gta vice city which should be coming out in few weeks.
Astonrynlds said:
Will the gaming performance improve with jb cuz rite now when i play gta 3 it lags like crazy! i cant even imagine playing gta vice city which should be coming out in few weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it comes better optimized its smoother, but yeah rooting it will give a better performance and battery savings
Don't root your phone it will void warranty with htc ,wait at least a couple of months to see if any of the hox issues that may or may not shows up ( WiFi ,screen issues.hotness) on your phone
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Agree with #2, #4 and #7
Not just yet, wait to see if another root method comes that won't void warranty or at least until your phone settles in n you know it has no problems, mine after 2 months speaker gave up and headphone jack stopped working so had to send it off was so pleased I hadn't voided my warranty
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
If you like gaming you must root as there is a gaming boost app made by hamdir and mwilky that improve the gaming a lot and there are kernel with oc GPU that help but sadly these are just for a ICS.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
atrako1973 said:
Don't root your phone it will void warranty with htc ,wait at least a couple of months to see if any of the hox issues that may or may not shows up ( WiFi ,screen issues.hotness) on your phone
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^ Not necessarily true, a lot of the time HTC repair center's will turn a blind eye to the phone if it's rooted as a lot of users have verified now, read the threads.
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@ OP- I'd stay stock for a while mate, as said here before, OTA's are just around the corner, if, after that you still feel curious just root it and install ARHD, that way you'll still have the stock experience and it won't be too much of a culture shock for you.
AND Then if you still feel curious flash customer kernels and mods etc...
Baby steps bro...
You can use my thread (check my sig) to root the phone, then stop there once rooted and then use this JB Flasher Tool to make getting onto JB easier for you.
Thanks alot guys! Since OTA is just around the corner figure i'd wait for that. But as far as issues goes so none whatsoever infact the battery is been surprisingly been on par with s3 or iphone 4s.
Do non-sense roms have the same aggressive memory management that the stock rom has? I'm going to wait for the JB update, but if it still kills apps quickly like stock ICS does, I might go with a custom ROM.
It's REALLY annoying when I open a 3rd (gasp!) app, and when I pop back to the first, it has to completely reload. Mostly annoying when that app is a browser page.
tush said:
Do non-sense roms have the same aggressive memory management that the stock rom has? I'm going to wait for the JB update, but if it still kills apps quickly like stock ICS does, I might go with a custom ROM.
It's REALLY annoying when I open a 3rd (gasp!) app, and when I pop back to the first, it has to completely reload. Mostly annoying when that app is a browser page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That'll always happen with multitasking, HTC muffed up the multitasking so it isn't what I'd call 'true' multitasking. It'll mostly need to reload the app.
I think Hamdir wrote a good thread on how to counter that with some script changes, try asking him?
I don't think the aggressive memory management is down to HTC Sense per se I think it's an Android thing? Again that'd need verification.
Root can be handy to have. The most obvious use is backup, if you want to make sure your app data (for those apps that still insist on using phone storage for data/savegames) and settings are covered. But I've personally had a few "needs root" things pop up now.
It's worth at least unlocking the bootloader sooner rather than later in case you ever do decide you want root, because when you do the unlock it wipes your phone. Better to go through re-setting it up early rather than having to wipe it later when you have loads of stuff on it.
On the other hand it voids warranty, and they can tell even if you re-lock the device as it will permanently say "re-locked". If you have a hardware fault you can probably pull some sort of consumer protection law thing on them, but you need to be aware that they'll probably fight it tooth and nail and claim that your warranty is "Void. Period." People's experiences are well documented in the warranty thread.
My approach was to wait a month and not get too settled-in with my data/apps/etc during that month. A really high percentage of hardware faults with any device or machine show up within the first month* so after that I felt comfortable enough to take the plunge.
* (The month thing is known as the breaking-in period... I work for an electronics manufacturer and one thing they offer is doing the break-in testing in-house before even shipping to the customer. At a fairly high price of course)
Noup. If u ask about it, u shouldnt root hox.
Stay away from rooting things.
Yes bro... Why not?
SkyDragon Sense Rom V1
Well,
if you agree that you may loose warranty, let me tell you why I always root my phones..
- to delete all crappy applications (stock, soundhound, carriers app...)
- to be able to install some cleaning app which needs root (game cheats, ad cleaners ...)
- to change Roms and find the one I need (in fact I change every week )
- many, many others usefull things...
By the way, i already return old phones to sellers, they were repaired, even with unlocked bootloaders & root. Maybe I was lucky
Mihmoh said:
Well,
if you agree that you may loose warranty, let me tell you why I always root my phones..
- to delete all crappy applications (stock, soundhound, carriers app...)
- to be able to install some cleaning app which needs root (game cheats, ad cleaners ...)
- to change Roms and find the one I need (in fact I change every week )
- many, many others usefull things...
By the way, i already return old phones to sellers, they were repaired, even with unlocked bootloaders & root. Maybe I was lucky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.
To ROOT or not to ROOT, that's the question.... :laugh:
davidflam said:
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
davidflam said:
I totally agree with you. I just hate those crappy apps. It's like buying a notebook full of bloatware and not being able to remove it! I'm sure that is not cool LOL. Besides that, I think Titanium Backup Pro is a must, and it only works on rooted phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Titanium Backup is The Must.
My Favorites are, as said below, Titanium (pro) , Nova Launcher (with root), Lucky Patcher, and of course Adfree.
Usually, as soon as I get a new phone (having 3 now : DHD, Sensation, One X... Nexus 4 coming) or Tablet (Xoom wifi MZ604, Nexus 7) , I root it after having unlocked it.
I can't stand having some lags & freez screens on devices.
So should you root ?
Maybe you should see with some friends of yours or some relatives that owns some rooted HOX. Of course, before unlocking and footing your device, make sure your device is working good, have no problems.
I used to have an iPod touch before finally getting the One M8. I played around with jailbreaking the iPod and what not because I never really used the iPod. Now that I got the One (M8), I've been having a mental battle on whether I should root my phone or not. This is the only phone I have and I don't have any money to get a replacement in case something goes wrong. I have RUINED i mean RUINED devices because of something stupid I've done and I don't want that to happen to my phone. I use my phone for everything, texting, media consumption, social media, communication etc. so losing the phone isn't an option. Also how can I make a complete backup of my phone so I can restore data if I root.
QUESTION TIME: Should I root or not? What are the advantages? What are the pitfalls? I really want to root but at the same time I don't want to root because I'm afraid I'll ruin it.
PHONE: HTC One (M8) on AT&T running 5.0.1 Lollipop with the latest stagefright update.
EDIT: I also want to put Cyanogen Mod on it? How do I go about doing that?
I have rooted all my HTC phones and have never had any problems. I Unlock and Root cos i want 100% control.
I used this guide when i rooted my M8.
jkolner said:
I have rooted all my HTC phones and have never had any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here; I've modded 2 Samsung tablets, 4 HTC Android devices (3 phones, 1 tablet) , and 2 HTC (old school) Windows Phones before that. Never had a major problem (such as a brick) on any of them.
That being said, anybody willing to mod these devices should at least be aware of the risks (as you well seem to be) and willing to live with the consequences, however unlikely.
But honestly, spend the proper amount of time (a couple hours, at least) to read the guides, forum threads, and understand the processes, before you try to do anything. Do the proper research/learning and follow instructions precisely, and the risk is very low.
Also, be sure to backup your personal data as much as possible, every step along the way; to prevent the disappointment of data loss, or facilitate reverting the mods (is needed).
Don't proceed without a good understanding of what you are doing. And do not try things recklessly or "experiment" if you get stuck and panic (a common mistake). If you get stuck, look on here for the answer; or just post your issue and somebody will help.
Remember that everyone here at one time had to start from scratch, just like you. But as long as you are patient, and good at following instructions, you should be fine. Especially if the goal is to just put custom recovery on the phone, root, and flash a custom ROM; the risk of permanent damage is very low. At the worst, you may get stuck in a bootloop or otherwise not able to boot the phone due to a mistake on your part, so simply some random occurrence. But this is most often an easily recoverable condition.
Only you can know if the advantages to rooting outweigh the disadvantages. I personally wouldn't own a device that I didn't have at least root control over, but that's just me. On the other hand, I've put off installing the stagefright update because even unrooting isn't enough to make taking OTAs safe - that's a huge con.
You really have to consider that you will be the system administrator of a small computer, and a computer which the manufacturer didn't trust you to administrate. However, pretty much everything you would be doing are known, documented tasks at this point. If you are willing to put in the effort to read everything you can, and plan before you act, you can turn your device into the perfect (for you) machine. Or, you can step back from the challenge and just use it as it came. The HTC One M8 is actually a perfectly fine device right out of the gate, so there is no shame in leaving it as it is.
There are worthwhile reasons to root. I personally can't live without being able to configure the firewall (iptables), AdAway, Titanium Backup, AppOps, GSAM battery monitor, wakelock detectors, etc. However, my wife, who isn't techie at all, is happy as a clam with her 100% bone stock Samsung Galaxy Mega. She just uses the thing and doesn't worry about all of that stuff.
v1n0dhn said:
I used to have an iPod touch before finally getting the One M8. I played around with jailbreaking the iPod and what not because I never really used the iPod. Now that I got the One (M8), I've been having a mental battle on whether I should root my phone or not. This is the only phone I have and I don't have any money to get a replacement in case something goes wrong. I have RUINED i mean RUINED devices because of something stupid I've done and I don't want that to happen to my phone. I use my phone for everything, texting, media consumption, social media, communication etc. so losing the phone isn't an option.
QUESTION TIME: Should I root or not? What are the advantages? What are the pitfalls? I really want to root but at the same time I don't want to root because I'm afraid I'll ruin it.
PHONE: HTC One (M8) on AT&T running 5.0.1 Lollipop with the latest stagefright update.
EDIT: I also want to put Cyanogen Mod on it? How do I go about doing that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, v1n0dhn...
I suspect you've sort of answered your own question here...
v1n0dhn said:
...This is the only phone I have and I don't have any money to get a replacement in case something goes wrong. I have RUINED i mean RUINED devices because of something stupid I've done and I don't want that to happen to my phone. I use my phone for everything, texting, media consumption, social media, communication etc. so losing the phone isn't an option...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and I sort of wonder if you're looking for somebody to talk you out of rooting it... Hoping that somebody might say... "DON'T ROOT!!! It's not worth it... It's a bloody horrible nightmare of bricked phones and melted aluminium and blue smoke... ARGHH."
Obviously, this isn't the case... Rooting the M8 is reasonably straightforward, and my own M8 continued to perform normally and perfectly fine as it did before I rooted it.
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Of course, once rooted, you won't easily be able take OTAs to upgrade from whatever version of Android you're currently running to the next version of version of Android (and with Android 6, Marshmallow waiting in the wings sometime over the next few months, this is worth bearing in mind) and the recent OTA that addresses the Stagefright vulnerability. These Over-The-Air updates, and others in the future, will fail, and cause your M8 to become softbricked, if your M8 is rooted.
There are ways around these problems, but may require you to restore non-rooted Nandroid backups specifically for your device/carrier, and some solutions may require you to run a ROM Update Utility (RUU) in order to restore back to pure unrooted stock in order for take future OTAs.
And possibly, ultimately, you **may** need to acquire S-OFF, in order to do this. This will cost you $25 for the use of Sunshine.
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I come from a Nexus tablet background, and rooting and flashing stuff on those devices is a piece of cake. And you can ALWAYS and EASILY revert back to the original factory stock ROM. And unroot just as easily.
With the HTC One M8, things are not so straightforward.
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Here are some (slightly) rhetorical points for you to consider?
** What are the benefits of rooting? What functionality do I gain by rooting? Can these benefits be acquired by other (non-rooted) means?
** How easy (or difficult) is to revert my phone back to the state it was in when I first took it out of the box? Can I do this, once I've rooted it? And is it difficult?
** Despite what you may have read, from guys who've had years of Android experience... modding, rooting, flashing customs ROMs, kernels etc... I don't think that any of this should be considered routine and akin to just installing the latest Angry Birds . These is RISK involved... albeit low risk if you're just rooting, but risk nonetheless. You are, after all, messing with the underlying Android operating system.
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If your phone is THIS important and critical to your life...
v1n0dhn said:
...This is the only phone I have and I don't have any money to get a replacement in case something goes wrong. I have RUINED i mean RUINED devices because of something stupid I've done and I don't want that to happen to my phone. I use my phone for everything, texting, media consumption, social media, communication etc. so losing the phone isn't an option...
QUESTION TIME: Should I root or not? What are the advantages? What are the pitfalls? I really want to root but at the same time I don't want to root because I'm afraid I'll ruin it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...then my honest answer, and my sincere advice is DO NOT ROOT... (I'm not saying not ever, just not now - but perhaps maybe in the future).
You need the knowledge and confidence to know what to do when you're faced with a bootlooping device, or if TWRP won't fastboot flash... or anything else that might go wrong... And sometimes they occasionally do.
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Read everything you can about root, what it is, what benefits it confers, what are the pitfalls, and what are the risks.
Regarding the M8 specifically... read about RUUs, CIDs and MIDs, Sunshine S-ON/OFF, bootloader unlocking and sundry other topics.
Read, Read, Read, Read, Read... And more Read.
XDA is a veritable fountain of such technical knowledge. Avail yourself of it... before you even think about rooting. Acquaint yourself with the benefits and the consequences.
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There's an old carpentry aphorism...
"Measure Twice, Cut Once."
This is as true for Android as it is for putting up a fence.
Good luck in whatever you decide.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Good answer Sir. Wish most of the folks on here did this already. I remember when I first started out when the HTC Hero and Evo first came out, there was never this many people screwing up their phones like you see now.
@v1n0dhn, just read and teach yourself how to do things before jumping in with 2 feet. Then determine for yourself if this is for you.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
I've started the process.
So, I've convinced myself to root my phone. I'm right now waiting for my adb backup to finish. I read up on rooting a little more and have gained a little more confidence. I backed up my sms to gmail using an app and copied my important photos and app data to my pc. I'll make another reply when this is done and I when I unlock the bootloader.
There's pretty much all the detail you need above but I must stress the importance of backups. Back up (like you are doing) SMS, Photos, Bookmarks all that stuff, but also once rooted make a nandroid backup, and pretty much every time you do anything (install a ROM, recovery etc.), nandroid that sh**. It will save you at some point. Just read all the posts asking for help because they wiped everything while installing a ROM but didn't have a back up when it went wrong.
3484jacks said:
Back up (like you are doing) SMS, Photos, Bookmarks all that stuff, but also once rooted make a nandroid backup, and pretty much every time you do anything (install a ROM, recovery etc.), nandroid that sh**. It will save you at some point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've started the root process and i agree that backups are important. All i have to do now is flash a recovery and them cm and gapps.
So, my Google Edition Pixel XL arrives tomorrow, and I've been digging around in preparation (I've previously owned the OG Droid and Galaxy Nexus, so consider myself marginally competent as a consumer of non-OEM firmware). Anyway, I'm super intrigued by the firmware slots I've heard mentioned, but was hoping for some clarification on how they work.
-Do they run from the same Data partition, so you can run one Kernal/ROM one day, and the other on another day, back and forth, forever...
-Or are they more like a nandroid backup?
Thanks for helping me understand this new feature,
Christian
Same data.
So remember what they were built for. They were built to run the same OS and provide seamless updates. They were not built for dual boot.
You can do a little trickery. Like same Rom with one rooted and one not pretty easily. Beyond that it is very tricky, there are a couple of folks here that seem to habe a handle on it.
Hopefully they will be along shortly.
The slots on the Pixel XL seem to trip up a lot of people who try to install TWRP, a custom Rom or root the phone. The really frustrating thing is that I did my research too and came across completely contradictory information regarding how they relate to custom flashing and should be handled. Even worse, the custom flashing guide on XDA for this phone is terrible. If you read through all the pages at various points it tells you to do something different than at the beginning of the thread and it doesn't deal with the dual slots at all. Google also seems to keep breaking root on the Pixel XL where SU programmers have to come up with updates and new flashing procedures to keep root working. The Pixel XL is the only phone I have ever owned that I am afraid to flash on, but if you are braver than me then I certainly wish you luck.
I've read a lot about certain MTK phones having a number of issues running GSI Roms. In addition, I've read a decent amount about the changes in treble implementation for phones released with 9.0 as opposed to 8.0 or 8.1. I'm debating getting the Umidigi F1 and am wondering if there is any reason to be hopeful that it may be more successful running GSI roms than previous phones? I'm on T-Mobile and bands 2/4/12 are very solid in my area with band 71 still a ways out. As a result, I really like the hardware for the price point, but given reviews for their other phones as well as Umidigi's history, I don't really have much of an interest running the phone with its stock software. Assuming it's not going to have a development community, I thought I'd throw it out those far more knowledgeable on the technology and ask if I could reasonably hope for it to be fully functional on a stock GSI?
Thanks
We have the phone rooted (though only on Magisk 17.3, help @topjohnwu?). The stock software is not super but also not completely terrible. The most offensive thing about it to me is the Google bloatware, ironically. It's missing the Pie gesture navigation, but it does have a decent navbar implementation and a passable if a little outdated gesture navigation system with a few decent options, all involving a swipe up. It's not too bad, and can be extended further with some Play Store apps. I mean, it's basically the typical "pretty much AOSP, but with a couple odd MediaTek tweaks" that I've come to expect from western targeted MediaTek devices from manufacturers like BLU. The Fingerprint sensor is pretty bad. I can only hope UMIDIGI will make it better with software updates. I find it's usable after you get used to it, and it gets used to you, but still occasionally annoyingly inaccurate, and not super duper fast at that (actually passing a fingerprint test is very fast on the off chance it works the first time but unlocking takes a sec). These would basically be my major gripes with buying one at this time.
I haven't really tried getting anything with Treble running, but we do have a TWRP that supports it (though I will openly admit it's kinda shady).
Check out UMIDIGI's forums. They let people talk about rooting their phones in the device sections, and even post guides for how to do it themselves, lol.
EDIT: It's probably also worth noting that UMIDIGI will probably never attempt to lock this phone down in any way. It having shady Chinese firmware is a blessing because for the most part, no matter how hard you brick the phone, you can use MediaTek's SP Flash Tool to unbrick it, and unlike BLU, UMIDIGI probably will never take that away. To be fair, that also comes with certain security risks, because not only is the bootloader easily unlockable (in a somewhat Nexus-like fashion with fastboot), I don't think it actually verifies the boot signatures even if the bootloader is locked. Fastboot won't let you flash anything but you can use SP Flash Tools to bypass that and flash unsigned software anyway. Personally I would still unlock the bootloader anyway. Even though it extends the boot time by five seconds, it allows you to use standard Android platform tools for your usual, non debricking activities, because I don't like MediaTek's much.
Thanks for all the insight on the phone. Your observations seem to echo a lot of what I have seen written about their products in general of late. It should essentially be a stock experience, as they advertise their OS as such, but their version of "stock" seems to come with it's own set of quirks that can be frustrating. In addition, they seem to do a poor job of writing software that lives up to the hardware, as exhibited by your fingerprint experience or some of the things I've read about their camera software. All of the little minor issues are why I was hoping it could run a Pie GSI with fewer hangups on account of it being released with 9.0. Admittedly, I don't know much about the details, just read enough to be optimistic about the newer phones playing a little nicer with GSI roms.
I did notice that it had an unofficial TWRP version for the phone. I may take a shot at it and hope for a little development or successful GSI experience down the road. It is nice knowing that your stock experience isn't terrible, though. I've read some horror stories about previous Umidigi phones and hopefully that is no longer the case with their newer releases.
Thanks again for the thoughts.
ColtonDRG said:
We have the phone rooted (though only on Magisk 17.3, help @topjohnwu?). The stock software is not super but also not completely terrible. The most offensive thing about it to me is the Google bloatware, ironically. It's missing the Pie gesture navigation, but it does have a decent navbar implementation and a passable if a little outdated gesture navigation system with a few decent options, all involving a swipe up. It's not too bad, and can be extended further with some Play Store apps. I mean, it's basically the typical "pretty much AOSP, but with a couple odd MediaTek tweaks" that I've come to expect from western targeted MediaTek devices from manufacturers like BLU. The Fingerprint sensor is pretty bad. I can only hope UMIDIGI will make it better with software updates. I find it's usable after you get used to it, and it gets used to you, but still occasionally annoyingly inaccurate, and not super duper fast at that (actually passing a fingerprint test is very fast on the off chance it works the first time but unlocking takes a sec). These would basically be my major gripes with buying one at this time.
I haven't really tried getting anything with Treble running, but we do have a TWRP that supports it (though I will openly admit it's kinda shady).
Check out UMIDIGI's forums. They let people talk about rooting their phones in the device sections, and even post guides for how to do it themselves, lol.
EDIT: It's probably also worth noting that UMIDIGI will probably never attempt to lock this phone down in any way. It having shady Chinese firmware is a blessing because for the most part, no matter how hard you brick the phone, you can use MediaTek's SP Flash Tool to unbrick it, and unlike BLU, UMIDIGI probably will never take that away. To be fair, that also comes with certain security risks, because not only is the bootloader easily unlockable (in a somewhat Nexus-like fashion with fastboot), I don't think it actually verifies the boot signatures even if the bootloader is locked. Fastboot won't let you flash anything but you can use SP Flash Tools to bypass that and flash unsigned software anyway. Personally I would still unlock the bootloader anyway. Even though it extends the boot time by five seconds, it allows you to use standard Android platform tools for your usual, non debricking activities, because I don't like MediaTek's much.
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teeterteeter said:
Thanks for all the insight on the phone. Your observations seem to echo a lot of what I have seen written about their products in general of late. It should essentially be a stock experience, as they advertise their OS as such, but their version of "stock" seems to come with it's own set of quirks that can be frustrating. In addition, they seem to do a poor job of writing software that lives up to the hardware, as exhibited by your fingerprint experience or some of the things I've read about their camera software. All of the little minor issues are why I was hoping it could run a Pie GSI with fewer hangups on account of it being released with 9.0. Admittedly, I don't know much about the details, just read enough to be optimistic about the newer phones playing a little nicer with GSI roms.
I did notice that it had an unofficial TWRP version for the phone. I may take a shot at it and hope for a little development or successful GSI experience down the road. It is nice knowing that your stock experience isn't terrible, though. I've read some horror stories about previous Umidigi phones and hopefully that is no longer the case with their newer releases.
Thanks again for the thoughts.
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Click to collapse
I mostly bought the phone for the excellent North American band support, it's one of the few cheaper Chinese phones that do. I'm a fan of Xiaomi's products but band support is typically pretty limited unless you pick up the really high end ones. My biggest gripe with TWRP right now is that USB doesn't work which means you have to transfer all your zips to a microSD card since internal storage is borked thanks to forceencrypt, which we can disable now. I don't mess with the camera too much, typically, but the app itself looks pretty basic. It again reminds me of the usual stuff you would get on MTK phones, there aren't a whole lot of options but the ones that are there look OK-ish? Idk, again, I don't take many pictures. This morning I tried to flash a GSI and my phone just started bootlooping but I didn't follow the procedure at all so I probably missed a step. I will try some more in the future and let you know.
The band support was the biggest reason I was looking at the phone as well. There are certainly a ton of cool, unique new phones coming out that lack the necessary bands in the US.
Thanks again for sharing all the first-hand experience with the phone. You certainly don't need to go out of your way to flash any roms, but it would be cool to hear if you run into something that works well for you in the future.
ColtonDRG said:
I mostly bought the phone for the excellent North American band support, it's one of the few cheaper Chinese phones that do. I'm a fan of Xiaomi's products but band support is typically pretty limited unless you pick up the really high end ones. My biggest gripe with TWRP right now is that USB doesn't work which means you have to transfer all your zips to a microSD card since internal storage is borked thanks to forceencrypt, which we can disable now. I don't mess with the camera too much, typically, but the app itself looks pretty basic. It again reminds me of the usual stuff you would get on MTK phones, there aren't a whole lot of options but the ones that are there look OK-ish? Idk, again, I don't take many pictures. This morning I tried to flash a GSI and my phone just started bootlooping but I didn't follow the procedure at all so I probably missed a step. I will try some more in the future and let you know.
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Click to collapse
Mmm I think I did a bad thing with my F1. I actually tried to flash a ROM via fastboot (PowerShell) and it failed. I was able to successfully restore it, but upon doing so I now have red text in the upper right of the screen. Everything else seems to be fine, though! I even followed a tutorial to restore IMEIs 1+2 and MEID.
{
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"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
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EDIT: Actually solved now. Bencebacsi on the UMIDIGI forums posted a special version of the SN Writer tool that addresses this.
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsqLR2yZd3fMiO9GKQIRNhiplqVcNA
I not only got root, but customized it to look the way I want. I also experimented in removing Umidigi's Quickstep system app; I succeeded. Initially, it kept bringing up a prompt indicating an instability, but after a reboot it hasn't appeared again. A side effect of this is that my Recent Apps view is now stacked vertically with the pseudo 3D look like it used to be in Android; apps are dismissed by swiping to the left or right.
I'm only sad that I can't adjust the display size.
Veiran said:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsqLR2yZd3fMiO9GKQIRNhiplqVcNA
I not only got root, but customized it to look the way I want. I also experimented in removing Umidigi's Quickstep system app; I succeeded. Initially, it kept bringing up a prompt indicating an instability, but after a reboot it hasn't appeared again. A side effect of this is that my Recent Apps view is now stacked vertically with the pseudo 3D look like it used to be in Android; apps are dismissed by swiping to the left or right.
I'm only sad that I can't adjust the display size.
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Click to collapse
How did you get substratum working? Mine is broken...
mrram said:
How did you get substratum working? Mine is broken...
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Click to collapse
If you have it loaded and granted SU, it's just a matter of downloading a good theme and applying it in the correct fashion.
Starting off with Building and Updating. Select the right apps/services in the Themes tab to enable it for; some are going to be incompatible and you'll receive an error if you try to do so. Once you've got the proper ones selected, there's that button on the bottom right which opens four options. Press the Build & Update one. If everything goes well, it won't return errors.
Next, you'll restart your phone and reopen Substratum. Go to the Manager tab, select the apps/services that should show up here, then go to the bottom-right button and press Enable selected. The screen should blink as substratum enables it.
I have the umi one pro it has booted every P ,Q gsi ever made
bzo22 said:
I have the umi one pro it has booted every P ,Q gsi ever made
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Click to collapse
Any major bugs? Did NFC worked well?
I have a Umidigi one pro too and I can't root, and the notch in landscape on cutout. But the big problem is the root. All the other things go good with a minor bugs. I'm refer to pie.
SnapTheRipper said:
Any major bugs? Did NFC worked well?
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NFC doesn't work in any build I've flashed
---------- Post added at 12:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 AM ----------
Botandroid said:
I have a Umidigi one pro too and I can't root, and the notch in landscape on cutout. But the big problem is the root. All the other things go good with a minor bugs. I'm refer to pie.
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You should flashed asop v112 gsi it come with gapps and root
bzo22 said:
NFC doesn't work in any build I've flashed
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Maybe on F1 it's different? I'm using it btw, not the One Pro!
Botandroid said:
I have a Umidigi one pro too and I can't root, and the notch in landscape on cutout. But the big problem is the root. All the other things go good with a minor bugs. I'm refer to pie.
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Click to collapse
Use Magisk 17.1/17.2 it's the best for pie roms
Btw can we get miui/flymeOs/colorOs rom on our device?? I'm using Umi one pro too and I love those roms than aosp roms
Botandroid said:
I have a Umidigi one pro too and I can't root, and the notch in landscape on cutout. ...
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I flashed phhusson v204 (Android 10) on the One Pro. Is there any chance to get the wide notch considered ? Would the Android9 fix work ?
I've recently rooted my phone and now I am questioning why I did it. The first phone I rooted was my Nexus One and I've been a member of this site since the release of the Galaxy S2 so I am no novice. It used to be a necessity to root for the increased control it gave, but now all I seem to be doing is finding solutions to get back functionality that I've lost through tripping Knox. Please, can anyone give me a reason or list the advantages of rooting the current generation of phones because I'm struggling to justify keeping the bootloader unlocked and not going back to stock?
No. I wouldn't... for you though the cat's already out of the bag.
If running on Pie I definitely wouldn't update to 10 or worse 11.
mckeowngoo said:
I've recently rooted my phone and now I am questioning why I did it. The first phone I rooted was my Nexus One and I've been a member of this site since the release of the Galaxy S2 so I am no novice. It used to be a necessity to root for the increased control it gave, but now all I seem to be doing is finding solutions to get back functionality that I've lost through tripping Knox. Please, can anyone give me a reason or list the advantages of rooting the current generation of phones because I'm struggling to justify keeping the bootloader unlocked and not going back to stock?
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Like you, I've been rooting since my HTC-Hero way back in the early days of Android. It was necessary for better kernels, better battery life, better RAM and CPU management, better file systems (Early days of ARM and EXT4) and of course those cool themes and apps that only work with Root (Titanium Backup, Gosh I miss you!!). Not to mention what was my favorite, MIUI!
The last phone I rooted was the Nexus 6. It was a powerhouse! I still have it in a drawer full of old devices in my desk and miss it! Someone once told me when checking out my N6, "Your phone is like a muscle car!"
I miss rooting and I hate that carriers have locked the Bootloaders down. Android was founded on and was expanded by the Amateur Development community. Look up Cyanogen for details!.
I just bought my daughter this device outright - first, one I've ever bought that wasn't through my carrier and I'll be doing the same with the Pixel 6 for myself later this year which means I can finally go back to rooting and hopefully back to what earned me the RC title, but I also wonder, do I really NEED to root these??
My daughter isn't a power user. She's probably happy with whatever native settings and Samsung themes she can find on her own. My Pixel 4 XL has been great as is. so I applaud your question because I also wonder if rooting is still necessary or is it just a way to feel rebellious and outside the fray?
I also own a Pixel 4, bought to scratch an itch when I wanted to try out GrapheneOS.
I think I will go back to stock, which is sad as I enjoyed the process of modifying the phones software. If there was a net gain or increased functionality to keep the phone rooted, I would but unfortunately there isn't a compelling reason to keep the bootloader unlocked.
Am I wrong? Is the scene, at least for Samsung phones, dead and this forum obsolete?
Root is a must for me. Just being able to debloat. Either way I bought a unlock token
I understand the debloat of carriers useless apps, but since I found that ADB can basicly remove the programs I don't need root for that. But I still like root for change hosts files and such.