Since no root, is it possible to modify stock and flash it? - Samsung Galaxy S9 Questions & Answers

I have an Sm-g960u US Snapdragon variant. Since it doesn't look like we are going to get root anytime soon, is it possible to decompile the stock firmware and change minor things and maybe add some improvements to like the camera, etc? As long as we don't mess with the bootloader it shoukd work right? There is already a modified version of Odin that can be used to flash modified images. I'm happy with the stock firmware and debloating using adb shell commands but there are a few things I'd like to tweak. Like some of the colors here and there that none of the themes seem to touch. I'd like to change some fonts without having to pay for them. And maybe add some of the camera tweaks that I can't use because I can't get root. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

jflow36 said:
I have an Sm-g960u US Snapdragon variant. Since it doesn't look like we are going to get root anytime soon, is it possible to decompile the stock firmware and change minor things and maybe add some improvements to like the camera, etc? As long as we don't mess with the bootloader it shoukd work right? There is already a modified version of Odin that can be used to flash modified images. I'm happy with the stock firmware and debloating using adb shell commands but there are a few things I'd like to tweak. Like some of the colors here and there that none of the themes seem to touch. I'd like to change some fonts without having to pay for them. And maybe add some of the camera tweaks that I can't use because I can't get root. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
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No because then it becomes a custom ROM which requires an unlocked bootloader

Related

No solution for perma-root, is custom rom still possible?

This may come off as a silly question but, I"m aware that AT&T and Verizon versions of the Note 4 there is no way to root it permanently but, even if you can temporary root it, is it still possible to install a custom rom? I'm in the process of downgrading from lollipop right now (I hate the new notifications) but just figure I'd ask.
Locked boot loader, no custom ROMs
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
Thanks! guess that means i'll stick with kit kat and nova launcher for now.
MO3iusONE said:
This may come off as a silly question but, I"m aware that AT&T and Verizon versions of the Note 4 there is no way to root it permanently but, even if you can temporary root it, is it still possible to install a custom rom? I'm in the process of downgrading from lollipop right now (I hate the new notifications) but just figure I'd ask.
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Click to collapse
without permanent root, no there is no way to flash a custom rom, if we get permanent then we can use flashfire or multisystem to flash custom roms (touchwiz only no CM or AOSP variants)
Eliminating ATT bloatware & S-bloatware
cstayton said:
without permanent root, no there is no way to flash a custom rom, if we get permanent then we can use flashfire or multisystem to flash custom roms (touchwiz only no CM or AOSP variants)
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Click to collapse
I have been wondering if it may be possible to eliminate all the bloatware from ATT and all bloatware from Samsung, by way of using the Kingroot process > then install Ti-Backup > then DELETE not freeze those applications.
Will such a thing work ? even if one may loose root after rebooting?
I there a possibility that that attempting something like that may cause a major crash on my phone?
In other words, I would like to be able to rid myself from all that bloatware that came with my out of the box N910-A i know about the disable feature on the apps manager, but i want those apps OUT.
Thanks in advance for any help that you can offer.
And I am STILL hoping for PERMA-root sometime in the near future
IC-USER1 said:
I have been wondering if it may be possible to eliminate all the bloatware from ATT and all bloatware from Samsung, by way of using the Kingroot process > then install Ti-Backup > then DELETE not freeze those applications.
Will such a thing work ? even if one may loose root after rebooting?
I there a possibility that that attempting something like that may cause a major crash on my phone?
In other words, I would like to be able to rid myself from all that bloatware that came with my out of the box N910-A i know about the disable feature on the apps manager, but i want those apps OUT.
Thanks in advance for any help that you can offer.
And I am STILL hoping for PERMA-root sometime in the near future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately no that wont work, if you delete or modify the system partition IN ANY WAY it will cause the DM_VERITY to kick in. until we get past the OS Verification and write protection we cant delete or modify anything.
collinstheclown said:
Locked boot loader, no custom ROMs
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A
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Click to collapse
many devices with locked bootloaders have custom roms, The S5 for instance. it's not the locked bootloader that is preventing custom roms it is the need for permanent root, once we have that we can use flashfire or multirom to flash custom touchwiz roms. what the locked bootloader prevents is the ability to flash custom kernels thus preventing roms based off of CM or AOSP/AOKP
Thank you for your Very fast and friendly reply. Have yourself a good day.

Difference between rooting and CyanogenMod?

Hello guys I'm a total n00b when it comes to rooting and such and I have a question, that most of you guys will probably find dumb but I'm seriously confused.
I ordered the Zenfone 2 with 4gb ram & 64 gigs of storage and I plan on rooting it once it arrives.
What is the difference between rooting your phone and installing a custom rom such as cyanogenMod?
What are the benefits to both and the main difference?
Is one easier to do and is less risky or what?
Please explain in a way I can understand, thank you!!
Rooting the phone means you can modify the system files. It's useful because you can add or remove features of the stock rom on your phone (theme manager, ad blocker, and almost anything you may need)
Cyanogenmod is a rom based on AOSP (Android Open Source Project, by Google), it's rooted, and comes with a lot of features that are not in AOSP.
For the moment, there is no Cyanogenmod rom for our beloved Zenfone 2, and maybe it will never happen. But only time can say.
Baylee Ray said:
Hello guys I'm a total n00b when it comes to rooting and such and I have a question, that most of you guys will probably find dumb but I'm seriously confused.
I ordered the Zenfone 2 with 4gb ram & 64 gigs of storage and I plan on rooting it once it arrives.
What is the difference between rooting your phone and installing a custom rom such as cyanogenMod?
What are the benefits to both and the main difference?
Is one easier to do and is less risky or what?
Please explain in a way I can understand, thank you!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well.
Rooting mean to gain Super User (SU) to your phone, it mean that you are the master of the device and you can overwrite anything because you are the hierarchy top. ( this is also why device tend to be bricked by noobs because rights(permission) given to change anything.
Top mod of android currently are cyan and MIUI
Cyanogen is a custom rom which build on top of the default Android. it come with root and you can basically manage any part of the phone, it remove many bloatware and just clean and open android OS that look like a default Android.
MIUI is another custom rom, similar as cyanogen but it's appearance look like Iphone and behave similar as Iphone. ( they are the Iphone wannabes) its also clean.
well, don't root because you just want to, root because you need function that require you to. mostly without root, you can do many stuff such as installing unsigned apk. unlike iphone, which must root to install unsigned apps.
sooty84 said:
well.
Rooting mean to gain Super User (SU) to your phone, it mean that you are the master of the device and you can overwrite anything because you are the hierarchy top. ( this is also why device tend to be bricked by noobs because rights(permission) given to change anything.
Top mod of android currently are cyan and MIUI
Cyanogen is a custom rom which build on top of the default Android. it come with root and you can basically manage any part of the phone, it remove many bloatware and just clean and open android OS that look like a default Android.
MIUI is another custom rom, similar as cyanogen but it's appearance look like Iphone and behave similar as Iphone. ( they are the Iphone wannabes) its also clean.
well, don't root because you just want to, root because you need function that require you to. mostly without root, you can do many stuff such as installing unsigned apk. unlike iphone, which must root to install unsigned apps.
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Click to collapse
So if I download a custom rom such as Cyanogenmod is it easier to update software? Or do I still have to unroot to update OTA and then reroot?
Baylee Ray said:
So if I download a custom rom such as Cyanogenmod is it easier to update software? Or do I still have to unroot to update OTA and then reroot?
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Click to collapse
A custom ROM such as cyanogenmod would replace the Stock firmware, so you would not apply ota updates. Instead, the updates would come from the ROM maker.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
cmendonc2 said:
A custom ROM such as cyanogenmod would replace the Stock firmware, so you would not apply ota updates. Instead, the updates would come from the ROM maker.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
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Thank you so much! Makes complete sense!
Simply put
rooting allows you to change system files. CyanogenMod is a bunch of files that need root so they can be applied..
But since CyanogenMod is not out for Zenfone 2. I would not root it yet. Rooting can cause ASUS updates to fail.
Baylee Ray said:
So if I download a custom rom such as Cyanogenmod is it easier to update software? Or do I still have to unroot to update OTA and then reroot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you apply custom rom to your phone ( be it Cyan or MIUI), they become your "phone manufacturer"
why i say that is because they will release the software update to your device instead of Asus for instance if you gotten zenfone 2.
with that said, most of the time, custom rom is better then official rom however, if the custom rom group stopped patching and your phone might still have some bugs.... you are on neck held by these groups. while it is the same for Asus but they are a company which they are being held legal for updating any flaws to your phone till end of life of the product.
there are good and bad, if you want to come into the scene, then make sure you are always up to date with what is and what not.
this make you strong in modding your phone and knowing what is going on too. and also... if you aspire to be a system engineer, this is 1 first step too. handphone is a miniature eco-system of how network works, while you start modding and deal with unix command, that is what system engineer does.
mogrith said:
Simply put
rooting allows you to change system files. CyanogenMod is a bunch of files that need root so they can be applied..
But since CyanogenMod is not out for Zenfone 2. I would not root it yet. Rooting can cause ASUS updates to fail.
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Click to collapse
I guess it's not for the faint of heart. But as long as you restore the /system back to stock by flashing pre-root, unrooting, and uninstalling xposed, then you won't go wrong.
mogrith said:
Simply put
rooting allows you to change system files. CyanogenMod is a bunch of files that need root so they can be applied..
But since CyanogenMod is not out for Zenfone 2. I would not root it yet. Rooting can cause ASUS updates to fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installation of CyanogenMod don't need root, they need unlocked bootloader and recovery that's all.. Root is needed only for editing system files

Can you root the latest update and use xposed? Pros and Cons?

Cant make much sense of all these threads. Always used a highly customized and unlocked international Nexus. But this US Verizon phone seems to be difficult to customize.
usern ameisval idandnot said:
Cant make much sense of all these threads. Always used a highly customized and unlocked international Nexus. But this US Verizon phone seems to be difficult to customize.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You definitely can root this phone and install exposed. The biggest issue is that the bootloader is locked and doesn't look like it's going to be unlocked anytime soon. So for the most part, no custom roms. Another downside if that of something goes wrong on root, your options to get your phone back up and running are limited to using a KDZ file if one is available for the specific version your trying to root, or push a stock system image if you made a back up. Sf today the latest 13b software has a KDZ thanks to autoprime. I haven't done much customization, so I can't shall to that.
Where can find a step by step guide how to flash a rooted image? What precautions are necessary to get back to stock in case something goes wrong? I need to costumize my phone.
usern ameisval idandnot said:
Where can find a step by step guide how to flash a rooted image? What precautions are necessary to get back to stock in case something goes wrong? I need to costumize my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/g4/general/lg-g4-100-root-success-directives-root-t3180586
Following this guide will allow you to make a backup of your stock system image and root your own image. It's easy and straightforward.
Google lg g4 root xda
From there, you'll see a link to a low effort root, that teaches you how to flash system image.
I tried KDZ method but the KDZ image I loaded wasn't rooted...
It is super easy to do. I will say the low effort root page should be updated with a * or something to say hey, the latest version for the verizon lg g4 is 13b. Also the flashfire method to install xposed takes 15 minutes. I also like using g4 tweaksbox.
This is my first few days with the g4. I have had the g3 since release. Much faster. Familiar. Liking it so far. Battery life seems great. But I am delaying greenify, amplify, etc, to see if I even need it.
Kinda shocked there isnt more activity around here tho!
I have successfully rooted my G4 and Xposed is up and running. I do have a kinda dumb question. Can i move my rooted.img & system.img to my external SDcard to save some space? Just want to make sure. Thank you in advance.
NVM found my answer.

Xposed for V500?

I'm trying to get Xposed on my shiny new(ish) V500.
I've tried installing Xposed on both CM12.1 as well as the pure build of AOSP Android 6.0, and keep getting a message that "xposed is not compatible with android SDK version 23 on your processor architecture..." (see screenshot for exact error).
Is Xposed not compatible with the device?
Am I missing something?
edit: terribly sorry, I was trying to install using an old apk file. Nevermind...
I'm far from an expert in Xposed as I've never felt the need to use it, however I did read about it when people were raving about it to see what it was all about.
As I understand it it is good for modifying stock firmware to tweak things to your liking, stock being what your device comes from the manufacturer with. We all know stock firmware doesn't have enough options so if you can't stand it you end up here on XDA.
Once here you have options, too many some might say.
Option 1
Go for a completely custom firmware. This will leave you with zero bloatware and a pretty clean state to start with, most of the custom firmwares - other than straight AOSP - come with more options to adjust them than most people know are there*.
This way isn't without it's drawbacks though, there may be bugs and some extra stuff from the stock firmware might not work. Infra-red and FM radios being the two which spring to mind, but even then sometimes they work too.
Option 2
Just get root access and modify the stock firmware with bonus tools made available as you've gained root access. This is things like custom recoveries letting you do full backups, the ability to backup app data through TB or something similar.
Then there is the thing you mentioned, Xposed.
This will let you do a lot of the stuff which a custom firmware would allow you to do all while keeping the stock firmware and the fancy additions your devices manufacturer might have added.
Option 3
Is a combination of the above.
The trouble with this option is that you're trying to do the same thing two different ways at the same time. You may have noticed that in many of the custom firmware threads the guys compiling them say not to report bugs if you're using Xposed, or straight up tell you not to use it.
This is because it will cause problems, not always and generally not with the well made modules, but problems arise and the people spending their free time to make custom firmware available don't want to waste their time trouble shooting a bug which was user created.
So you've chosen option 3 @dude101.
To make it do what you want you'll need to do lots of research, find the version which will work with what you want to use and then trouble shoot any problems you have.
Earlier you might have noticed the * in there. I did that as there are normally options to do what people want to do with Xposed but they haven't looked far/hard enough. If there isn't an option asking in the custom firmware thread about "how to achieve this effect" might lead to a solution. Be it someone pointing you at the option you've missed, or the person compiling the firmware to include it in the next build.
That version of xposed is for Kitkat.

New Exploit on Verizon Galaxy S9 G960U???

Hi everyone,
So it has been a year since I have my S9 and still there is no exploit released to the public yet, and I understand that Samsung really locked down the security on their US variants.
On the Samsung S6, what I used to have, had an exploit where you can only have shell root access in terminal by modifying the boot.img and flashing it via odin, and thats using Android Nougat for root.
Could this perform a similar function to the S9? Like at least have an exploit where you can have shell root via ADB?
If not, is there any status on the G960U in terms of rooting?
AndroidFan16 said:
Hi everyone,
So it has been a year since I have my S9 and still there is no exploit released to the public yet, and I understand that Samsung really locked down the security on their US variants.
On the Samsung S6, what I used to have, had an exploit where you can only have shell root access in terminal by modifying the boot.img and flashing it via odin, and thats using Android Nougat for root.
Could this perform a similar function to the S9? Like at least have an exploit where you can have shell root via ADB?
If not, is there any status on the G960U in terms of rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
modifying the boot.img will cause the signature from sammy to fail as would anything else that isnt stock and properly signed.
No dice man. Still nada on the U devices. You do know that root is becoming less and less necessary, right? What are you looking to get done with root?
youdoofus said:
modifying the boot.img will cause the signature from sammy to fail as would anything else that isnt stock and properly signed.
No dice man. Still nada on the U devices. You do know that root is becoming less and less necessary, right? What are you looking to get done with root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh... Well that's kind of a dud.
I always want root mainly for more control with my device, for example, uninstalling bloatware (this way if I dare to factory reset my device, I dont need to disable the apps I dont want after performing a factory reset, unless if I have to reflash the rom).
Another thing is controlling the CPU's frequency speed (or governor) for either saving battery or pump out more performance, which is technically the #1 thing I want as root.
I also want to disable OEM updates from forcing me to update my phone after 10 defers (I found a bug to bypass this and it's by using the notification draw and click on the setting button).
I also want to configure access of changing the 4G LTE bands (which changing the config file in the /efs partition, which I assume, is locked without su access).
Like I have mentioned, the shell root is basically minimum for me, and I wouldn't mind on that. HOWEVER, if all that I have mentioned can be performed without root and have a similar function of doing these, please let me know.
AndroidFan16 said:
Ohh... Well that's kind of a dud.
I always want root mainly for more control with my device, for example, uninstalling bloatware (this way if I dare to factory reset my device, I dont need to disable the apps I dont want after performing a factory reset, unless if I have to reflash the rom).
Another thing is controlling the CPU's frequency speed (or governor) for either saving battery or pump out more performance, which is technically the #1 thing I want as root.
I also want to disable OEM updates from forcing me to update my phone after 10 defers (I found a bug to bypass this and it's by using the notification draw and click on the setting button).
I also want to configure access of changing the 4G LTE bands (which changing the config file in the /efs partition, which I assume, is locked without su access).
Like I have mentioned, the shell root is basically minimum for me, and I wouldn't mind on that. HOWEVER, if all that I have mentioned can be performed without root and have a similar function of doing these, please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre not gonna get true debloating with this, but if you flash the U1 firmware with an unknown CSC, it wont install any carrier bloat and is very much akin to a GSI. Nice and stripped down. Over/unclocking, yup, you need root. I never see people talking about clockin the processor anymore tho as the new kernels are so adaptive and are written quite well. Ive also never not wanted to install an OEM update, so im not sure how to stave those off, or if ite even possible. To change the bands your phone is utilizing, you just need access to the special menu from the dialer.
Do you know what's the dialer code to access the service menu on the S9 on Verizon?
I'm pretty sure its locked but it's worth a try.

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