Develop Bugs

[root] [ZS570KL] Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe fast rooting method. Despite TWRP

Not tested on nougat.
I use adb and fastboot , twrp, supersu.
Files We need:
TWRP: It's bogus, in my phone the screen flips upsidedown: Connect a mouse thru female usb or try to figure out how to tap in a rotated screen with a non rotated touch panel.
TWRP Download -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0XMYw0cbs_cdm5FZW1DQXl4MFU/view
SuperSU file - > https://download.chainfire.eu/1021/SuperSU/SR3-SuperSU-v2.79-SR3-20170114223742.zip?retrieve_file=1
For ADB access thru MAC:
1.- First of all we have to get open USB debug mode to get adb acces to the phone by going to Settings -> About -> Software Information -> Tap 7 times over Build number.
2.- After we get Developer options available we have to put the phone on usb debugging by goig to "Settings-> Developer Options" Activate USB Debugging.
3.- Install android platform-tools on your PC/Linux/MAC , in my case had work on MAC and no devices acces thru ADB on PC :silly: .
platform-tools -> http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/0...ble-without-full-sdk-android-studio-download/
Here you have the 3 options to download ADB and FASTBOOT
4.- Connect your phone to the PC (USB) and copy SuperSu to the root of your phone, a place that its easy too acces, cause TWRP, for the moment flips the screen.
5.- Copy TWRP3.0.XXX.zip to the folder where you have platform-tools installed.
6.- Reboot your phone to bootloader and in Linux could work too:
./adb reboot bootloader [./ is placed cause I don't put platform-tools on the my PATH]
After the boot, then we have to boot on TWRP
./fastboot boot twrp-3.0xxxx.zip (you don't flash anything) If you want to flash TWRP, at your awn risk, ./fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.0xxxx.zip".
Well, now you have to see TRWP on your phone screen.
My recomendation is to play a little bit with the flipped screen if you don't have a female USB to plug a mouse.
7.- Trying to make a complete backup of the phone could be a good practice to move on TWRP with the flipped screen . Tap backup option and make a Backup. Always recomended!
8.- After Backup, you can go to INSTALL SuperSU.zip file. "Install -> look for your SuperSU.zip file "
9.- Go to Playstore and install supersu app.
Now you can test your root, after reboot for example tryin to install some APP that requires root. Fast move:
./adb shell
su root
It has to appear a screen to grant root access to the phone.
10. Done!
Well I think thats my second post at all, hope can help someone to root the phone.
I placed In Questions and Answers cause XDA says want to protect us from SPAM.
Feel free to correct me anything.
Kronen_75

Your links do not work.

jnmacd said:
Your links do not work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Links are corrected. Thanks!

You can also substitute Magisk instead of Supersu if you need to use any of the pay apps or have root sensitive apps...

Without the right Twrp, many benefits to rooting are missing such as removing stock rom applications. Seems without being able to boot to a recovery, even Titanium cannot remove apps because it needs to clean the dalvic.. Can't do it without a recovery
Sent from my ASUS_Z016D using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Download the right twrp here: https://mega.nz/#F!EkFF1CJD!C8o2wXMARW3YJFOipDttbA

You should change your title !!
Tested on nougat.
The variant ZS550KL can be rooted with same method on latest firmware with nougat

Very nice guide, Thank you. Could you please provide updated links to both TWRP and SuperSU. I am currently using TWRP 3.1.1-0 and it functions properly after hanging for approximately 45 seconds on boot. This may be due to the fact my phone is encrypted. I initially rooted without installing TWRP (fastboot boot twrp.img) but have since flashed it. Both ways work well. The posted version of SuperSU did result in root but caused me to lose cell service! The phone could "see" the sim card but not use it. Updating to SuperSU 2.82 solved that issue. This was all done on my finally rooted ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (Z016D)!!!

I unfortunately figured something out the other day. Using TWRP 3.1.1-0 I am able to install zip files, complete wipes, make & restore backups. The issues only arise after you restore your nandroid image. Everything works except for two things.
1. The ability to hear audio during phone calls. The phone is actually able to place calls but you are unable to hear or record any phone audio. Oddly enough I was able to play music and use voice dictation. It was only in-call audio that seemed to be affected.
2. If you have a pin set when you create your nandroid image your pin will no longer work once restored. You will be locked out of your own phone!!
Fortunately both are fairly easily resolved and keep TWRP relatively useful, although a bit bothersome!
To resolve the pin issue it is necessary to use the TWRP file manager or ADB to delete 5 files (listed below) and regain entrance to your phone. Once deleted simply reboot the phone and reset your pin. If you remove your pin before creating a backup this issue is averted completely.
/data/system/gatekeeper.pattern.key
/data/system/gatekeeper.password.key
/data/system/locksettings.db
/data/system/locksettings.db-wal
/data/system/locksettings.db-shm
To re-enable call audio use TWRP (install zip) to reflash the same version firmware from the Asus website over your current install without wiping. This will restore any system apps you may have removed but you should still have root and can easily remove them again. There will be two errors when performing the flash, which is why I believe root is retained but the system image will be reflashed. Reboot and enjoy
I sincerely hope I have not caused anyone any issues! Or that someone else finds this information useful. I have tested everything in this post at least three times. All testing was done on the most recent Android 7 firmware on my ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (SnapDragon 821/6/256).

Sandman45654 said:
I unfortunately figured something out the other day. Using TWRP 3.1.1-0 I am able to install zip files, complete wipes, make & restore backups. The issues only arise after you restore your nandroid image. Everything works except for two things.
1. The ability to hear audio during phone calls. The phone is actually able to place calls but you are unable to hear or record any phone audio. Oddly enough I was able to play music and use voice dictation. It was only in-call audio that seemed to be affected.
2. If you have a pin set when you create your nandroid image your pin will no longer work once restored. You will be locked out of your own phone!!
Fortunately both are fairly easily resolved and keep TWRP relatively useful, although a bit bothersome!
To resolve the pin issue it is necessary to use the TWRP file manager or ADB to delete 5 files (listed below) and regain entrance to your phone. Once deleted simply reboot the phone and reset your pin. If you remove your pin before creating a backup this issue is averted completely.
/data/system/gatekeeper.pattern.key
/data/system/gatekeeper.password.key
/data/system/locksettings.db
/data/system/locksettings.db-wal
/data/system/locksettings.db-shm
To re-enable call audio use TWRP (install zip) to reflash the same version firmware from the Asus website over your current install without wiping. This will restore any system apps you may have removed but you should still have root and can easily remove them again. There will be two errors when performing the flash, which is why I believe root is retained but the system image will be reflashed. Reboot and enjoy
I sincerely hope I have not caused anyone any issues! Or that someone else finds this information useful. I have tested everything in this post at least three times. All testing was done on the most recent Android 7 firmware on my ZenFone 3 Deluxe Special Edition (SnapDragon 821/6/256).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The second issue happens in all the phones/twrp.
It's possible to install the firmware from asus website with twrp?? To update i flash the stock recovery, install the firmware, then reflash twrp and supersu. Didn't know that! It updates successfully with twrp??

Thank you Ryder for confirming my suspicion that the pin issue may have been a more common one with TWRP. This is the first phone I actually cared enough about to use a pin. I was thrown for a loop when I first booted my fresh nandroid restore and the pin I know I've been using was incorrect!
As for installing firmware, with the two errors that occurred during I don't know that you would be able to do full scale upgrade to a higher version. To reinstall the system partition however it does seem to work quite well. I tested this part four times. To do so download the correct device/version firmware to the phones storage, click install, and select that file. After it completes I like to wipe both the cache and the dalvik cache before restarting the phone. The audio issue was unfortunately easily reproduced on my phone, but thankfully equally easy to resolve. This worked for me each time without fail.

Sandman45654 said:
Thank you Ryder for confirming my suspicion that the pin issue may have been a more common one with TWRP. This is the first phone I actually cared enough about to use a pin. I was thrown for a loop when I first booted my fresh nandroid restore and the pin I know I've been using was incorrect!
As for installing firmware, with the two errors that occurred during I don't know that you would be able to do full scale upgrade to a higher version. To reinstall the system partition however it does seem to work quite well. I tested this part four times. To do so download the correct device/version firmware to the phones storage, click install, and select that file. After it completes I like to wipe both the cache and the dalvik cache before restarting the phone. The audio issue was unfortunately easily reproduced on my phone, but thankfully equally easy to resolve. This worked for me each time without fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You said that the two issues occurred when you restored the nandroid backup and to fix one of them by installing the zip firmware from asus website with twrp... I don't understand. I can install zip firmware with twrp or i have to flash the stock recovery and install with it? Errors may occur using the twrp? Sorry

Everything done in my post so far has been in TWRP. Honestly I didn't even back up the recovery image. TWRP seemed to work flawlessly so I bit bullet and flashed it.
On a sidenote I am currently testing the usability of FlahFire on this device. It appears to create a very nice fastboot installable recovery image! I have yet to restore the image however. I will post my findings here once I have thoroughly tested it.

Sandman45654 said:
Everything done in my post so far has been in TWRP. Honestly I didn't even back up the recovery image. TWRP seemed to work flawlessly so I bit bullet and flashed it.
On a sidenote I am currently testing the usability of FlahFire on this device. It appears to create a very nice fastboot installable recovery image! I have yet to restore the image however. I will post my findings here once I have thoroughly tested it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I'm interested in flashing zip firmware to update. Never tried that. I thought that firmware can be installed only with stock recovery. The stock recovery can be downloaded in an asus forum website

This is the first time I have flashed anything in almost a year. I got to thinking and this is the most success I have had was flashing a stock image with TWRP! I doubt it will perform a full flash. I believe the errors are most likely for the boot and recovery partitions. As a save my butt reflash the system partition it does work. It sounds like it's time to find some TWRP changelogs!

Sandman45654 said:
This is the first time I have flashed anything in almost a year. I got to thinking and this is the most success I have had was flashing a stock image with TWRP! I doubt it will perform a full flash. I believe the errors are most likely for the boot and recovery partitions. As a save my butt reflash the system partition it does work. It sounds like it's time to find some TWRP changelogs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't care about stock images... If i can't flash the zip with twrp to update successfully then i reflash the stock recovery and after the update root again with twrp and supersu. By the way, the zip firmare contains factory images? I thought it contains different kind of files

Ryder. said:
By the way, the zip firmare contains factory images? I thought it contains different kind of files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lack the knowledge to answer that with enough certainty to even call it an answer! This is my foray into the insides of this phone and I don't want to start posting my hunches.
What I do know is you can flash the system partition using TWRP. I have done it several times. Asus's zips run as a script based zip install. You are offered no options during install. When the script runs you will see two errors quickly scroll past.

Ryder. said:
Download the right twrp here: https://mega.nz/#F!EkFF1CJD!C8o2wXMARW3YJFOipDttbA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you creating these TWRP builds? If so thank you very much! TWRP-3.1.1-0-Z016-20170826 seems to work flawlessly! No lag on boot and no known issues after restoring a backup unlike before.
I wanted to post my finding about FlashFire by Chainfire. I have had great success with the fastboot backup! It is the only option I have tested extensively however. I have been running the same fastboot restored phone since soon after my last post on this topic with no issues discovered.

Sandman45654 said:
Are you creating these TWRP builds? If so thank you very much! TWRP-3.1.1-0-Z016-20170826 seems to work flawlessly! No lag on boot and no known issues after restoring a backup unlike before.
I wanted to post my finding about FlashFire by Chainfire. I have had great success with the fastboot backup! It is the only option I have tested extensively however. I have been running the same fastboot restored phone since soon after my last post on this topic with no issues discovered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It's not me. It's another user which i don't remember the nickname

Ryder. said:
No. It's not me. It's another user which i don't remember the nickname
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thank you. If you happen to find out/remember please let me know. I would like to give credit with my project and thank them for their hard work.

[Q] Root Issues - Are these known? Are there fixes?

I purchased my Pixel 2 XL from the Google store. I had just upgraded to the 8.1 OTA a few days before when i came across this video and used it to root my phone:
https://youtu.be/nFD9sa-WdUM
Here's the basic steps i took:
Unlock dev options and turn on OEM Unlocking
Boot to stock recovery
Go to his highonandroid site and download TWRP 3.1.1 beta2 (img and zip), an outdated fastboot.zip, magisk 14.5, and the USB drivers which i didnt download because my computer is already recognizing my device just fine.
Extract the fastboot files to a new folder and copy the twrp img file to the fastboot folder.
In CMD, unlock the bootloader with fastboot and reboot phone.
Connect phone as storage device, copy over twrp zip file and magisk 14.5 zip files to root folder on the phone, reboot into recovery
Use fastboot to boot the twrp image that we copied to fastboot folder to get into twrp
Unhook the USB cable, set TWRP to read only, install TWRP, hit home button, then install Magisk and reboot
Once booted up, get into Magisk, download proprietary software, run checks and done.
Once this was done, my fingerprint scanner and wifi no longer worked. I could turn wifi on but it would never find anything. I also received the error when rebooting the phone that says "There's an internal problem with your device. Contact your manufacturer for details." When this message is on the screen, if i dont touch the phone and the screen times out, it flickers really bad and never actually shuts off until i unlock it and hit the OK button.
So i decided to give it another go and ran into some big issues. I figured that i used 8.0 instructions on 8.1 and there was enough things different that it caused problems, so i used this link to reroot:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/how-to/guide-unlock-flash-root-pixel-2-xl-t3702418
I went through the first 10-15 pages and the last 10-15 pages and did some searches on the thread and never found any of my issues, but found that a lot of people used different sets of steps and pretty much everything was successful as long as you didnt miss anything and used the most updated stuff. So i did, i went to googles website and downloaded the newest SDK with fastboot, adb, and all that good stuff, as well as the newest 8.1 image (there was a newer version but it had a carrier label on it so i didnt get that one), and the newest magisk and twrp.
I flashed 8.1 and the phone wouldnt boot, nor would it get into TWRP anymore, so i had to use fastboot to boot the twrp image and reinstall the recovery and magisk but it still wouldnt boot. I ran through several different steps and eventually got it to boot up with recovery working. Its the newest 8.1 image, the newest magisk, and the newest twrp, and since then magisk has updated a couple times.
Now on to my issues!
I still get the "Internal problem" popup when booting
I get a lot more random reboots
Sometimes random things just wont work, like streaming plex to my tv or loading an app or something on an app and i have to reboot and it works fine
I've seen numerous times that the "Internal problem" thing is just a mismatch between the system and vendor build.prop files. I dont know what exactly is mismatching between the two but i've tried reflashing them and all sorts of things and nothing ever fixes it.
Does anyone know if there's a fix to any of these three issues, or if maybe looking at my steps i clearly did something wrong? I'm willing to do the whole thing over again if there's a good suggestion, but once i flashed the 8.1 image and went that route, i rerooted successfully 4 times total before i quit doing it again just because of that internal problem popup, i kept figuring something went wrong or i did something wrong. I had no security or anything set before rooting or flashing or anything, and each time i reflashed the operating system, but when i flashed the OS, i had to extract the system file because i would constantly get an error that it was too big and it failed to truncate it, so i've always had to manually install it by first copying it to my phone and installing it through TWRP. Its been an adventure, but these problems suck!

PMad said:
...Its been an adventure, but these problems suck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's called training. For the error, you just need to fastboot flash the stock dtbo.img. This was fixed on the 15.1 version of Magisk so you shouldn't have that problem anymore. I can tell you that rooted, kernel and a few root apps and I have never had ANY random reboots, so one of your apps is causing it or you didn't start from a completely blank slate. Run your phone in Safe Mode for a while to see if you stop the reboots 100%. If so, one of your apps is the cause. If you still get reboots in Safe Mode, you're gonna need to re-install. I suggest using the instructions on the Google web page where you got the full image. (and try to distill your posts down a little, ffs)

v12xke said:
It's called training.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every new phone is a new adventure, they are all the same but unique at the same time!
v12xke said:
For the error, you just need to fastboot flash the stock dtbo.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give this a shot! Thank you!
v12xke said:
This was fixed on the 15.1 version of Magisk so you shouldn't have that problem anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
15.1 is the version i'm on now but nothing has changed. Which issue was this supposed to fix?
v12xke said:
I can tell you that rooted, kernel and a few root apps and I have never had ANY random reboots, so one of your apps is causing it or you didn't start from a completely blank slate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My concern here is that my settings and apps are literally exactly the same as before root, except for magisk, its my only new app, which would lead me to believe that something Magisk is changing is causing the problem, or something else is happening that i'm not realizing yet.
v12xke said:
Run your phone in Safe Mode for a while to see if you stop the reboots 100%. If so, one of your apps is the cause. If you still get reboots in Safe Mode, you're gonna need to re-install. I suggest using the instructions on the Google web page where you got the full image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reboots are typically 1 reboot every 1 to 3 days, so its not a terrible issue but its happening and it shouldnt. For flashing the OS, after the first failure when trying to install it, those are the only instructions i've used, but i get that error when trying to install the OS that says something about how it failed to truncate the system.img file and so it wasnt installed, so my work around was to copy the file to the phones root folder, install the 8.1 image then immediately go and manually install the system.img file in twrp since its the only thing that fails, but i still have issues. What is this truncate issue?
v12xke said:
(and try to distill your posts down a little, ffs)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree! hahaha i just wanted to be clear and include all the details, otherwise everyone would have asked me question after question that i could have just included. It ends up being long, a lot happened!
I'll give that dtbo.img a shot and see what that clears up, then if there's issues with rebooting still i'll try safe mode for a few days and see what that does.
Thank you v12xke! (how do you pronounce that? haha)

PMad said:
...I'll give that dtbo.img a shot and see what that clears up, then if there's issues with rebooting still i'll try safe mode for a few days and see what that does.
Thank you v12xke! (how do you pronounce that? haha)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your dtbo.img got patched by Magisk somewhere along the line and that is why the OS is throwing the error. Extract that img file from the full Google image and fastboot flash it, and the error will go away. There is a long thread around HERE on random reboots you should read. The v12xke is a car (Jaguar E-Type) I once owned.

v12xke said:
Your dtbo.img got patched by Magisk somewhere along the line and that is why the OS is throwing the error. Extract that img file from the full Google image and fastboot flash it, and the error will go away. There is a long thread around HERE on random reboots you should read. The v12xke is a car (Jaguar E-Type) I once owned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i just tried to do this and ran into one of the issues i had when originally trying to root it... I get into TWRP and it will not take any button presses, like the touch screen has become a screen (minus the touch). Is there a fix for this or do i just need to install TWRP before i use it each time it does this?

PMad said:
So i just tried to do this and ran into one of the issues i had when originally trying to root it... I get into TWRP and it will not take any button presses, like the touch screen has become a screen (minus the touch). Is there a fix for this or do i just need to install TWRP before i use it each time it does this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You don't use TWRP to flash dtbo.img, you fastboot it while the phone is in bootloader mode.
2. TWRP works just fine if you install it and leave it installed. Make sure you are using 3.2.1-0 (img and zip).

v12xke said:
1. You don't use TWRP to flash dtbo.img, you fastboot it while the phone is in bootloader mode.
2. TWRP works just fine if you install it and leave it installed. Make sure you are using 3.2.1-0 (img and zip).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was getting into TWRP to create a backup of everything and it popped up asking for my password, and i remembered reading that we have to get rid of all of our security before making a backup, so i tried to hit buttons to cancel it and nothing worked, i had to hold the power button. So i eliminated all of my security and went back thinking it was a 1 time issue but it happened again, it took me straight to the main menu but nothing would work. I'm using 3.2.1-0 like you mentioned and i cant press any buttons. I'd like to back everything up before flashing this or anything else.

PMad said:
I was getting into TWRP to create a backup of everything and it popped up asking for my password, and i remembered reading that we have to get rid of all of our security before making a backup, so i tried to hit buttons to cancel it and nothing worked, i had to hold the power button. So i eliminated all of my security and went back thinking it was a 1 time issue but it happened again, it took me straight to the main menu but nothing would work. I'm using 3.2.1-0 like you mentioned and i cant press any buttons. I'd like to back everything up before flashing this or anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need a backup before re-flashing the STOCK dtbo (or boot) partitions, haha. READ UP.

XT1710-01 Root Guide?

New to the Moto Z2 play, moved to this from a Z2 force on Verizon after the shattershield started peeling. Anyway, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information here, and i'm struggling to actually nail down the process for root. My bootloader is already unlocked, however between several different versions of TWRP, Retus based phones vs Albus, ability to unroot and update if the system is modified, rooting with or without disabling encryption, countless different variants with different procedures, etc. i'm a little overwhelmed. Can anyone point me in the right direction of rooting my device (hopefully) WITHOUT losing all my data?

StATicxTW0T said:
New to the Moto Z2 play, moved to this from a Z2 force on Verizon after the shattershield started peeling. Anyway, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information here, and i'm struggling to actually nail down the process for root. My bootloader is already unlocked, however between several different versions of TWRP, Retus based phones vs Albus, ability to unroot and update if the system is modified, rooting with or without disabling encryption, countless different variants with different procedures, etc. i'm a little overwhelmed. Can anyone point me in the right direction of rooting my device (hopefully) WITHOUT losing all my data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm about to buy the unlocked Moto Z2 Play from the Moto site (64GB variant... not sure of the model number) but have you checked out these threads?...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75098899&postcount=40
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/guide-resource-help-thread-t3627615/page3

allstar21369 said:
I'm about to buy the unlocked Moto Z2 Play from the Moto site (64GB variant... not sure of the model number) but have you checked out these threads?...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75098899&postcount=40
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/guide-resource-help-thread-t3627615/page3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a rooted XT1710-01, also. If you are going to install Xposed and Gravity Box, I recommend not updating Magisk, above v14. After v15 and now v16, I have had issues with Automate It app and Tasker rules not working, until I uninstalled Xposed.
Downgrading Magisk versions requires flashing your stock ROM and basically starting over.
Motorola has not posted firmware for this model.

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So glad to see someone have it working and with a clear guide. I'm going to buy the phone this week.

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to let everyone know that the guide posted in that post worked for me perfectly. I had an XT1710-01 that I had unlocked the bootloader before but stopped there. Then I finally wanted to root it, and ran into everything the OP ran into - just so many different guides and versions of TWRP/Magisk not working with the Z2 Play, it was hard to nail down the exact versions of everything I needed and make sure I didn't flash an incompatible version or something. I found that same guide a few days ago as well but never did it until today, and can confirm it works. I already had my bootloader unlocked and just did the rooting portion and all my data was saved (but I wasn't too worried about my data honestly, it's all backed up anyway).
And a special thanks to OP for coming back and posting his solution. Nothing is more frustrating than searching for a problem online, finding a hit on your exact problem in a thread that was posted years ago, and then no solution is ever posted in that thread. So good job. :good:

Johmama said:
I just wanted to let everyone know that the guide posted in that post worked for me perfectly. I had an XT1710-01 that I had unlocked the bootloader before but stopped there. Then I finally wanted to root it, and ran into everything the OP ran into - just so many different guides and versions of TWRP/Magisk not working with the Z2 Play, it was hard to nail down the exact versions of everything I needed and make sure I didn't flash an incompatible version or something. I found that same guide a few days ago as well but never did it until today, and can confirm it works. I already had my bootloader unlocked and just did the rooting portion and all my data was saved (but I wasn't too worried about my data honestly, it's all backed up anyway).
And a special thanks to OP for coming back and posting his solution. Nothing is more frustrating than searching for a problem online, finding a hit on your exact problem in a thread that was posted years ago, and then no solution is ever posted in that thread. So good job. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just received my Z2 Play, unlocked the bootloader, and am about to flash the custom TWRP (albus_twrp.img) posted in the guide linked above... but the guide never says to "flash" TWRP, it just says to "boot" with TWRP and also "Enter your FBE password: it must work! (turn off screen and turn it back on if not responsive)"...
I'm not 100% sure what to do here. Should I boot TWRP first, do a full backup and then flash TWRP? I don't want to wipe it.
And what is this FBE (File-Based Encryption) password? I've never set one and don't want everything encrypted.

allstar21369 said:
I just received my Z2 Play, unlocked the bootloader, and am about to flash the custom TWRP (albus_twrp.img) posted in the guide linked above... but the guide never says to "flash" TWRP, it just says to "boot" with TWRP and also "Enter your FBE password: it must work! (turn off screen and turn it back on if not responsive)"...
I'm not 100% sure what to do here. Should I boot TWRP first, do a full backup and then flash TWRP? I don't want to wipe it.
And what is this FBE (File-Based Encryption) password? I've never set one and don't want everything encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't flash TWRP on my phone. I think I tried it once and it failed for some reason, so I just followed the guide of booting into TWRP, backing up my phone, and pulling the backup. Should be okay for what I need, in case of a failure I will have a backup somewhere and can recover the device. But yes, I'd at least boot into TWRP, then backup your device like in that guide so you have a backup. Flashing it is up to you, I've always flashed a custom recovery but on this phone I'm keeping the original recovery so I can get an OTA. On my Nexus devices I don't care about OTA because I just flash ROMs all the time so it's no big deal.
The FBE password as far as I can tell is the 4 or 5 digit PIN number you are asked to input upon a fresh wipe of your device to set as a password. I have my phone set up to use my fingerprint to unlock the phone, and if that fails it will ask for my PIN, which is the same as the FBE of mine. I used that same number in TWRP when it asks for a password to unencrypt the data and it worked. As far as turning off encryption, I'm not sure if there's a way to do that. There could be, but to turn it off, it wipes your data as a security measure.

Johmama said:
so I just followed the guide of booting into TWRP, backing up my phone, and pulling the backup. Should be okay for what I need, in case of a failure I will have a backup somewhere and can recover the device. But yes, I'd at least boot into TWRP, then backup your device like in that guide so you have a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I can't backup my ROM most likely because I don't have an FBE password. When I go to backup my ROM in TWRP it fails.
Johmama said:
The FBE password as far as I can tell is the 4 or 5 digit PIN number you are asked to input upon a fresh wipe of your device to set as a password. I have my phone set up to use my fingerprint to unlock the phone, and if that fails it will ask for my PIN, which is the same as the FBE of mine. I used that same number in TWRP when it asks for a password to unencrypt the data and it worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried entering my unlock code and the pin I created but neither worked for my FBE password. I don't ever remember being asked to enter a password when setting up my device. I suppose this means I'll have to wipe data and then setup an FBE password.

allstar21369 said:
I tried entering my unlock code and the pin I created but neither worked for my FBE password. I don't ever remember being asked to enter a password when setting up my device. I suppose this means I'll have to wipe data and then setup an FBE password.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it helps at all, the first time I tried it also didn't work for me and I did end up wiping my phone for other reasons before I came back and tried that guide again and it worked. I thought I set up the PIN they're talking about the first time around but I did have troubles in TWRP before the first wipe of my data. I would just boot up the phone regularly, plug it in to your computer, and try to grab any files you need and wipe it. I know that isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's all I can give I guess. Once you reset, hopefully they'll prompt you to make a PIN during the setup process and that should be the FBE password. Then follow the guide. I hope you get it man.
Oh, and to a note to you and everyone reading this, I booted to TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus and Magisk-v14.0. Dunno if it's just rumors or not but I heard the newer versions of Magisk might not work with the Z2 Play past version 14. Dunno if that's true but v14.0 worked for me.

Johmama said:
If it helps at all, the first time I tried it also didn't work for me and I did end up wiping my phone for other reasons before I came back and tried that guide again and it worked. I thought I set up the PIN they're talking about the first time around but I did have troubles in TWRP before the first wipe of my data. I would just boot up the phone regularly, plug it in to your computer, and try to grab any files you need and wipe it. I know that isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's all I can give I guess. Once you reset, hopefully they'll prompt you to make a PIN during the setup process and that should be the FBE password. Then follow the guide. I hope you get it man.
Oh, and to a note to you and everyone reading this, I booted to TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus and Magisk-v14.0. Dunno if it's just rumors or not but I heard the newer versions of Magisk might not work with the Z2 Play past version 14. Dunno if that's true but v14.0 worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. I just wiped and re-set up everything and still no FBE password was asked for OR works when I go into TWRP. I'm using TWRP 3.1.1-0... I suppose I'll try it all again using TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus after deleting data.
*Edit: I did exactly what I just said I was doing booted TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus instead of 3.1.1-0 and when I it booted up and asked me for a decryption password I entered the pin I set up previously and it has been stuck at the "Mount, Trying Decryption" screen for a long time... but it's not frozen. It says "Updating partition details... ...done
Unable to mount storage
Full SELinux support is present.
Data successfully decrypted, new block device: '/dev
/block/dm-0'
Updating partition details...
...done"
And the progress bar/thing at the bottom is still animated like it's working... no forward or back buttons or anything and turning off/on the screen hasn't done anything... not really sure what to do here... I don't want to unplug it and brick my phone or force it off...
*Edit 2:
I now have it all sorted out.
TWRP never finished trying to decrypt data so I long pressed the power button and eventually went here -> https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/development/twrp-moto-z2-play-t3729531 , downloaded "twrp_albus_3.1.2_r18_64.img" and in adb used the command:
fastboot boot twrp_albus_3.1.2_r18_64.img
This TWRP looks a bit different than all of the others but it let me boot up and use my recently created PIN code to actually decrypt my data and make a full backup. After that I just installed Magisk (the latest one, 16.4) as indicated in this guide -> https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792 and everything is fine. I never even flashed TWRP, just booted it.

Just curious what you guys have done about getting OTA updates since you've rooted and installed Magisk.
Have @allstar21369 or @pizza_pablo had the chance to figure out the update process?
I'm currently trying to navigate the Magisk uninstall --> OTA update process and could use some insight if either of you guys have any to share.

joefuf said:
Just curious what you guys have done about getting OTA updates since you've rooted and installed Magisk.
Have @allstar21369 or @pizza_pablo had the chance to figure out the update process?
I'm currently trying to navigate the Magisk uninstall --> OTA update process and could use some insight if either of you guys have any to share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't want updates, especially the oreo "upgrade".

pizza_pablo said:
I didn't want updates, especially the oreo "upgrade".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, didn't even think about just sticking on what works... Did Oreo give people some issues?
Since this was Day 1 with the new phone, I was just trying to get up to speed and probably sit on one version until I had compatibility issues with something, but everything just works.

joefuf said:
Hmm, didn't even think about just sticking on what works... Did Oreo give people some issues?
Since this was Day 1 with the new phone, I was just trying to get up to speed and probably sit on one version until I had compatibility issues with something, but everything just works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.

Double - double \_0_/

pizza_pablo said:
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel exactly the same way. No benefits for me. I don't want the bright white interface and I would never use the "Picture in Picture" (or floating video) feature (and if I did want that there are a couple apps for Nougat that do it).
But If I do decide I want it and give upgrading a shot I'll definitely post it here.

pizza_pablo said:
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, very understandable. It really is superfluous to the general experience.
allstar21369 said:
I feel exactly the same way. No benefits for me. I don't want the bright white interface and I would never use the "Picture in Picture" (or floating video) feature (and if I did want that there are a couple apps for Nougat that do it).
But If I do decide I want it and give upgrading a shot I'll definitely post it here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir! Keep me posted. I'm posting everywhere right now to learn the new methods so I know if there ever comes a time. This is my first phone since my Motorola Droid 4. Back then it was one click root, install and run Safestrap apk to get custom recovery, boot into custom recovery and flash zips to your heart's content. I'm sure this will be as "simple" once I learn, but it's pretty daunting in prospect.

Would this procedure work? (install magisk and twrp on 10.0.3.0)

First, let me say I have been using rooted phones with twrp for several years and never had the slightest problem with them, so I generally know what I am doing, but the Mi A2 Lite is just a disaster area for me, not with Magisk, that works fine, but twrp seems impossible for me to install on 10.0.3.0 without soft bricking ( I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0 and 10.0.1.0 so I am not unfamiliar with the method, but on 10.0.3.0 - no way). I have done so many factory resets now I have my own parking space at the factory! (That is humour btw).
So I wondered if a different approach to the problem might work. I am not a coder or phone guru, so what I propose might be nonsense, if it is I am sure somebody will tell me.
We are all used to the concept of the 'patched_boot.img' created by Magisk and if you don't want to produce your own version the forum usually has a link to it. Magisk though is not the problem, twrp is, so what I am proposing is that somebody provides a link to a 'double_patched_boot.img' ie a flashable boot image that contains both twrp and magisk and that can directly replace the stock boot via fastboot.
Apparently there are some folks that have managed to install both twrp and magisk on 10.0.3.0, so if one of them could extract the 'double_patched_boot.img' from their phone it might help out a lot. How do you achieve that? Well there is probably more than one way, but the way that I would choose (if I could manage to install them both in the first place) is to boot into twrp, connect to pc, take a miflash backup of the phone and then unzip it with the following command (this is a linux command I am sure someone can provide a windows equivalent):
Code:
tar -xzf ********.tgz
where ********.tgz is the name of your miflash backup.
Then extract the boot.img from the resulting folder, rename it to something like 'double_patched_boot_10.0.3.0.img' and provide a link to it on the forum. Then some brave soul could try it out (probably not me as I am sick of doing factory resets and don't have any backups because I don't have any recovery to make them from).
OTOH this might just not be practical, I don't know enough to be sure.

i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I have certainly thought of jumping ship to a custom rom, but I would like to wait a little before I do so, ideally until someone fires up a Lineage rom for the A2 Lite. But if things continue as badly as they have done so far with stock roms then I might well join you on RR.

viking777 said:
Interesting. I have certainly thought of jumping ship to a custom rom, but I would like to wait a little before I do so, ideally until someone fires up a Lineage rom for the A2 Lite. But if things continue as badly as they have done so far with stock roms then I might well join you on RR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also because of the new ARB thing, custom is much safer, i think i bricked my last device rolling back from ota 9.0 software to ota 8.1. that's a non-issue with custom. just something to be wary of. the current RR pie gsi is near flawless for he so far. hope that helps a little

12:121390 said:
also because of the new ARB thing, custom is much safer, i think i bricked my last device rolling back from ota 9.0 software to ota 8.1. that's a non-issue with custom. just something to be wary of. the current RR pie gsi is near flawless for he so far. hope that helps a little
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anti roll back is disabled and not an issue if bootloader is unlocked

Nice thread. Tried it as well but no chance 10.0.3.00 + twrp + magisk. And you are right the problem is twrp.
Sent from my Phh-Treble vanilla using Tapatalk

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does RR Pie have any issues on Mi A2 Lite? Whichever GSI I'd tried, I had lags :/

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brother i also want to install RR PIE Rom can you please give me the guide link?

hossman said:
Anti roll back is disabled and not an issue if bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct it is not. what happened was.. lol. i thought i was crafty and did some file swapping and made miflash setups that would flash so the stock files as usual , but with gsi's like RR and/or bootleggers for the system image. and it works, up until i flashed from RR to bootleggers with those setups described previously . there is where my genius was flawed. lol. lesson learned
---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------
marstonpear said:
Does RR Pie have any issues on Mi A2 Lite? Whichever GSI I'd tried, I had lags :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me, i have not come across anything caused by the GSI. any issues I've faced are purely self inflicted.

I don´t get your problems... Just boot twrp, and install it as described in original thread.
After that flash back aboot from 9.6.11.0 and the message "your system got destroyed" will disappear!

Voodoojonny said:
I don´t get your problems... Just boot twrp, and install it as described in original thread.
After that flash back aboot from 9.6.11.0 and the message "your system got destroyed" will disappear!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might not get my problem, but likewise I don't get your solution. Firstly aboot has never been touched during the attempted twrp install so why flash it at all, it has not been changed, and secondly you suggest I flash it with something that is how many versions old 4?, 5?, I'm not sure, when just about every post you ever read stresses that you should not mix old and new partitions at the same time.
I hope you forgive my scepticism, but can you actually suggest the slightest reason why this might work?
Or is it all just voodoo johnny (sorry, couldn't resist that).

viking777 said:
You might not get my problem, but likewise I don't get your solution. Firstly aboot has never been touched during the attempted twrp install so why flash it at all, it has not been changed, and secondly you suggest I flash it with something that is how many versions old 4?, 5?, I'm not sure, when just about every post you ever read stresses that you should not mix old and new partitions at the same time.
I hope you forgive my scepticism, but can you actually suggest the slightest reason why this might work?
Or is it all just voodoo johnny (sorry, couldn't resist that).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aboot is the bootloader. Since Pie the aboot was modified to check wheather there are modification on your boot.img. So everytime you modify something (like installing twrp), you get the message "your system got destroyed".
9.6.11.0 is the last version of Oreo. Here the bootloader didn´t check boot.img.
That´s why you need to flash 9.6.11.0 - maybe the older verstions will work too. Didn´t check. But I guess only 9.6.11.0 will work becouse it was the latest oreo version and it had to have a bootloader which can boot up pie (to have ota working).
Here you can find the aboot.img I use... and which works without any problem on pie - right now I´m running 10.0.3.0...
Just flash it via fastboot.

Voodoojonny said:
Aboot is the bootloader. Since Pie the aboot was modified to check wheather there are modification on your boot.img. So everytime you modify something (like installing twrp), you get the message "your system got destroyed".
9.6.11.0 is the last version of Oreo. Here the bootloader didn´t check boot.img.
That´s why you need to flash 9.6.11.0 - maybe the older verstions will work too. Didn´t check. But I guess only 9.6.11.0 will work becouse it was the latest oreo version and it had to have a bootloader which can boot up pie (to have ota working).
Here you can find the aboot.img I use... and which works without any problem on pie - right now I´m running 10.0.3.0...
Just flash it via fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK that makes sense now - thank you for the explanation. I will probably give that a try sometime, but not right now as I have a stable working phone for the first time in ages and I don't want to jeopardise that.
Just one question though. When I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0, it was fine at doing backups, but on the two occasions I tried to restore with them they failed, by which I don't mean that the restore didn't repair the phone, but that it was impossible to even carry out the restore, it started but did not complete - just ended with 'Restore Failed' message.
Have you tried any restores with twrp installed in the manner you suggest and if so did they work? No point in installing it otherwise.

viking777 said:
OK that makes sense now - thank you for the explanation. I will probably give that a try sometime, but not right now as I have a stable working phone for the first time in ages and I don't want to jeopardise that.
Just one question though. When I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0, it was fine at doing backups, but on the two occasions I tried to restore with them they failed, by which I don't mean that the restore didn't repair the phone, but that it was impossible to even carry out the restore, it started but did not complete - just ended with 'Restore Failed' message.
Have you tried any restores with twrp installed in the manner you suggest and if so did they work? No point in installing it otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There seems to be some bugs restoring system and vendor... Some users talked about... I usually only save and restore the data and boot partition and I never had any problems with that. For all other partitions you can use miflash or fastboot...

Yeah all my twrp full backups don't work after a fresh stock installment either, that's very annoying.
The twrp version for daisy is bugged. Backups are not working, the wifi with GSI Roms on pie stock is not working anymore as soon as twrp is installed as well.
Sent from my Phh-Treble vanilla using Tapatalk

Thanks for the replies above. @voodoojohnny
In my case it was the data partition that caused the restore to fail, vendor and system and boot all seemed to go through normally. @cd492
Based on what you say along with my own experiences and those of voovoojohnny, it looks like twrp is more trouble than it is worth at the moment. I think I will make do without it for now and hope for a better version in the future.

viking777 said:
First, let me say I have been using rooted phones with twrp for several years and never had the slightest problem with them, so I generally know what I am doing, but the Mi A2 Lite is just a disaster area for me, not with Magisk, that works fine, but twrp seems impossible for me to install on 10.0.3.0 without soft bricking ( I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0 and 10.0.1.0 so I am not unfamiliar with the method, but on 10.0.3.0 - no way). I have done so many factory resets now I have my own parking space at the factory! (That is humour btw).
So I wondered if a different approach to the problem might work. I am not a coder or phone guru, so what I propose might be nonsense, if it is I am sure somebody will tell me.
We are all used to the concept of the 'patched_boot.img' created by Magisk and if you don't want to produce your own version the forum usually has a link to it. Magisk though is not the problem, twrp is, so what I am proposing is that somebody provides a link to a 'double_patched_boot.img' ie a flashable boot image that contains both twrp and magisk and that can directly replace the stock boot via fastboot.
Apparently there are some folks that have managed to install both twrp and magisk on 10.0.3.0, so if one of them could extract the 'double_patched_boot.img' from their phone it might help out a lot. How do you achieve that? Well there is probably more than one way, but the way that I would choose (if I could manage to install them both in the first place) is to boot into twrp, connect to pc, take a miflash backup of the phone and then unzip it with the following command (this is a linux command I am sure someone can provide a windows equivalent):
where ********.tgz is the name of your miflash backup.
Then extract the boot.img from the resulting folder, rename it to something like 'double_patched_boot_10.0.3.0.img' and provide a link to it on the forum. Then some brave soul could try it out (probably not me as I am sick of doing factory resets and don't have any backups because I don't have any recovery to make them from).
OTOH this might just not be practical, I don't know enough to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS HAS NOT BEEN TESTED ON GSI'S YET
I'm currently in the process of RR with TWRP but having extreme Encryption errors
Grab these two files (Big Thanks to Zerovoid, Seryioo, and mac12m99)
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Image File (Put this on your SDCard and Computer)-
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi...unofficial-twrp-daisy-mount-sd-fixed-t3889390
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Installer Zip (Put this on your SDCard)-
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603893418
But I got TWRP on 10.0.3.0 with magisk, and Justic Kernel.
THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE I'M DEFINITELY NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST DATA
Start with the phone being on with USB Debugging enabled correctly
Type adb reboot bootloader
So flash the 10.0.3.0 ROM through MiFlash using the flash_all.bat, this process has to be done so backup your data before erasing.
After it is done flashing it restarts, go ahead and hold power and volume down right back to the Bootloader
Type: fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-0-daisy_zero.img
It would boot into TWRP, if you see something about decryption hit cancel this may mean you haven't followed directions so far
Tap install and find your SD Card, find the fixed-twrp-installer-daisy.zip where ever you put it on your SD Card and install it, this process takes a few minutes when finished DO NOT HIT REBOOT SYSTEM!
Hit the home button back to TWRP home screen and tap reboot >>> bootloader
Download this to your computer - https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603884024
Type: fastboot flash aboot aboot_9.6.4.img
Then type: fastboot reboot
Afterwards your phone shall boot up to Android if it does hold power and volume up and release power and keep hold volume up when the screen turns back on to go-to recovery, if TWRP boots up you have successfully completed the task.
Now flash Magisk zip (optional)
Hopefully this helped kind of my first tutorial, this was my process.

InfinityXDA said:
THIS HAS NOT BEEN TESTED ON GSI'S YET
I'm currently in the process of RR with TWRP but having extreme Encryption errors
Grab these two files (Big Thanks to Zerovoid, Seryioo, and mac12m99)
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Image File (Put this on your SDCard and Computer)-
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi...unofficial-twrp-daisy-mount-sd-fixed-t3889390
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Installer Zip (Put this on your SDCard)-
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603893418
But I got TWRP on 10.0.3.0 with magisk, and Justic Kernel.
THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE I'M DEFINITELY NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST DATA
Start with the phone being on with USB Debugging enabled correctly
Type adb reboot bootloader
So flash the 10.0.3.0 ROM through MiFlash using the flash_all.bat, this process has to be done so backup your data before erasing.
After it is done flashing it restarts, go ahead and hold power and volume down right back to the Bootloader
Type: fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-0-daisy_zero.img
It would boot into TWRP, if you see something about decryption hit cancel this may mean you haven't followed directions so far
Tap install and find your SD Card, find the fixed-twrp-installer-daisy.zip where ever you put it on your SD Card and install it, this process takes a few minutes when finished DO NOT HIT REBOOT SYSTEM!
Hit the home button back to TWRP home screen and tap reboot >>> bootloader
Download this to your computer - https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603884024
Type: fastboot flash aboot aboot_9.6.4.img
Then type: fastboot reboot
Afterwards your phone shall boot up to Android if it does hold power and volume up and release power and keep hold volume up when the screen turns back on to go-to recovery, if TWRP boots up you have successfully completed the task.
Now flash Magisk zip (optional)
Hopefully this helped kind of my first tutorial, this was my process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for posting this process in such detail, unfortunately I think you must have missed my last post where I said:
it looks like twrp is more trouble than it is worth at the moment. I think I will make do without it for now and hope for a better version in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant it, at least for now, but maybe your post will help somebody else.

viking777 said:
Thank you very much for posting this process in such detail, unfortunately I think you must have missed my last post where I said:
I meant it, at least for now, but maybe your post will help somebody else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I didn't see that post but understand I didn't give you links to the official TWRP, I gave you the unofficial fixed TWRP which actually features SD Card Support and trust me it works completely fine I haven't had a problem yet. This took me hours upon hours to figure out what I was doing wrong.
The only specific reason you are not successfully getting TWRP is because you didn't flash the aboot.img after installing the zip.
I hope this helps you in the future!

thanks InfinityXDA for the tutorial, you should create a post just for it~

Question "Couldn't install system update" for each monthly security update

Hi,
As soon as I've received my Pixel in October I unlocked its bootloader and rooted it. Ever since, each time there is a system update available, I get an error saying "Installation problem" if I try to install it manually in the settings and an notification saying "Couldn't install system update, tap for more infos" when the device try to install it over night. So every time I have to update my pixel using a computer, but it never ends well and I end up losing my data (I have backups but it's still infuriating). What is going on ? I can't find anything online to help me.
Since that time, there was also a message saying "Your device is corrupted and cannot be trusted" when I was turning my phone on (right before the Android logo), but I've managed to remove it using the "disable vbmeta verification" option during the last update. Are those linked ?
I don't know if it helps, but I've attached screenshots of my magisk modules and the error message with this post.
Thank you by advance !

That's because your boot partition has been modified and signature does not match. It therefore refuses to update in order to protect you from mismatches.
You need to perform the updates manually, which means downloading the factory image and modifying the installer script (flash-all.sh) to remove the wipe (-w parameter to 'fastboot update'). You will also extract the new boot image and reapply magisk to it if you intend to retain root privileges.

Papipoulpe said:
Hi,
As soon as I've received my Pixel in October I unlocked its bootloader and rooted it. Ever since, each time there is a system update available, I get an error saying "Installation problem" if I try to install it manually in the settings and an notification saying "Couldn't install system update, tap for more infos" when the device try to install it over night. So every time I have to update my pixel using a computer, but it never ends well and I end up losing my data (I have backups but it's still infuriating). What is going on ? I can't find anything online to help me.
Since that time, there was also a message saying "Your device is corrupted and cannot be trusted" when I was turning my phone on (right before the Android logo), but I've managed to remove it using the "disable vbmeta verification" option during the last update. Are those linked ?
I don't know if it helps, but I've attached screenshots of my magisk modules and the error message with this post.
Thank you by advance !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated earlier, since you are rooted your boot partition is modified and thus you are failing due to not passing the pre-OTA block verifications.
You can:
1. Try the "Install to Inactive Slot" method in Magisk. Note that this has been hit or miss for users.
2. Update via Pixel Flasher. You can keep root this way.
3. Flash the stock boot image to unroot, update via OTA and then re-root.
4 Update via Android Flash Tool. You will have to re-root afterwards.
5. Flash the Factory Image and then re-root. There is a way to keep root via this method by modifying your flash-all.bat file. Search the forums for the guides.
6. Sideload the OTA and then re-root.

Thanks you two for your answers. So does everyone with a rooted pixel do this every month or have I f*cked up something during previous installs that invalidates my os ?

Papipoulpe said:
Thanks you two for your answers. So does everyone with a rooted pixel do this every month or have I f*cked up something during previous installs that invalidates my os ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every month is a bit overkill, but essentially yes.

Papipoulpe said:
Thanks you two for your answers. So does everyone with a rooted pixel do this every month or have I f*cked up something during previous installs that invalidates my os ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes everyone who is rooted must manually update

I just use flashtool and never have problems
I would start fresh with flashtool. Check only* the boxes 'wipe device' and 'force flash partitions'
When you want to update, use flashtool with none of the boxes checked. Get the boot.img file from the factory image, patch it, boot it then direct install. Never fails for me.

fil3s said:
I just use flashtool and never have problems
I would start fresh with flashtool. Check only* the boxes 'wipe device' and 'force flash partitions'
When you want to update, use flashtool with none of the boxes checked. Get the boot.img file from the factory image, patch it, boot it then direct install. Never fails for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simpel as that . i do it also that way