Noob has some questions about Flashing Custom Rom on S9 - Samsung Galaxy S9 Questions & Answers

Hi,
i own a Samsung Galaxy S9 Duos with Exynos CPU and i need some advice from Experts.
In the past I have flashed serveral Phones with Cyanogenmod, Resurrection Remix and i think some things has changed since i has flashed my lastest phone (Galaxy S4 Mini, Sony Z5).
So I have some questions and I hope i will receive help from this superior Community Members here:
1. Is it possible to go back to Stock Firmware after flashing to Lineage OS?
In the Past i was flashing TWRP to my older Sony Phones and I could make a Backup. After doing that I was able to revert to Stock Rom when the Flashing Procedure made Problems.
Is this still possible to do this with S9 Phones?
What is the best Method to make Backups off my Phone before installing Custom Rom's?
2. Do I have to register my Phone on Google to install Google Apps on my S9 after flashing Lineage OS?
https://www.xda-developers.com/google-blocks-gapps-uncertified-devices-custom-rom-whitelist/
3. Will my Galaxy Wearable App working with Custom Rom's when I do not root my Phone?
Thank you!

Can I add one more question? It is my first Samsung device.. do we loose something like Sony's DRM when we unlock the bootloader in samsung?

1. yes, backup with twrp is fine
2. ?? just flash Gapps like normal
3. depends on your roms. stock base roms will obviously work unless debloated
not sure about carrier phones, but rooting, unlock bl will only lose samsung knox, secure folder, pay, ect.

Thank you very much.
lionelbac asked a good question.
With Sony Phones you had to save the Fota Partition to restore DRM Keys for Camera and other stuff..
I think that this can be ignored with Samsung Phones, but I am not sure.
Thank you once again.

Related

Unlocked/rooted my phone but new to custom ROMs, have some questions

Hey guys, I recently bought an HTC One V to replace my old Android phone. Last weekend I unlocked the bootloader and rooted it so I could enable wifi tethering, now I’m thinking about trying on some new ROMs but since I never flashed to one before on any phone I had some general questions about what I can/can’t do and what to expect along the way.
1. It’s important for me to make sure I have a backup of the stock ROM I’m currently on in case none of the custom ones suit me or don’t work as well. Last weekend when I flashed TWRP to recovery and believe I made a backup of stock before rooting, I know I was following a tutorial and they said it was optional but I should do it just in case for the same reasons I listed above. Is this considered doing a “Nandroid backup”, and with these backups is the ROM and all installed apps backed up as well, so when flashing back to it it restores the ROM and whatever was installed at the time so apps don’t need to be re-downloaded?
2. When on a custom ROM and wanting to revert back to stock is the procedure the same as going to a custom? I thought I saw something about having to relock the bootloader if wanting to go back to stock.
3. When looking around for custom ROMS to try out do I need to make sure that it’s compatible specifically with my phone model or generally speaking do all custom Android-based ROMs work on any Android OS phone or tablet?
4. Are there some ROMS built around doing a specific task? Like for me I want to concentrate on making sure my phone’s mobile hotspot runs as smoothly as possible for tethering and having a functional bluetooth profile is important as well. Without asking “What ROM is best” can someone recommend a ROM that best fits my criteria that I should try out?
5. Will I need to re-root my phone whenever I flash to a new ROM? And when doing a Nandroid backup while rooted is the root access backed up as well?
6. Is there an app available that keeps track of the ROMs I download and allows for flashing to them easily?
7. Does GApps need to be flashed to the phone after going to a new custom ROM everytime, or do some ROMs include the GApps in them already?
Any other tips, tricks, or explanation on something you don’t think I’m “getting” would be great. Thanks a bunch for any help.
brokenvisage said:
Hey guys, I recently bought an HTC One V to replace my old Android phone. Last weekend I unlocked the bootloader and rooted it so I could enable wifi tethering, now I’m thinking about trying on some new ROMs but since I never flashed to one before on any phone I had some general questions about what I can/can’t do and what to expect along the way.
1. It’s important for me to make sure I have a backup of the stock ROM I’m currently on in case none of the custom ones suit me or don’t work as well. Last weekend when I flashed TWRP to recovery and believe I made a backup of stock before rooting, I know I was following a tutorial and they said it was optional but I should do it just in case for the same reasons I listed above. Is this considered doing a “Nandroid backup”, and with these backups is the ROM and all installed apps backed up as well, so when flashing back to it it restores the ROM and whatever was installed at the time so apps don’t need to be re-downloaded?
2. When on a custom ROM and wanting to revert back to stock is the procedure the same as going to a custom? I thought I saw something about having to relock the bootloader if wanting to go back to stock.
3. When looking around for custom ROMS to try out do I need to make sure that it’s compatible specifically with my phone model or generally speaking do all custom Android-based ROMs work on any Android OS phone or tablet?
4. Are there some ROMS built around doing a specific task? Like for me I want to concentrate on making sure my phone’s mobile hotspot runs as smoothly as possible for tethering and having a functional bluetooth profile is important as well. Without asking “What ROM is best” can someone recommend a ROM that best fits my criteria that I should try out?
5. Will I need to re-root my phone whenever I flash to a new ROM? And when doing a Nandroid backup while rooted is the root access backed up as well?
6. Is there an app available that keeps track of the ROMs I download and allows for flashing to them easily?
7. Does GApps need to be flashed to the phone after going to a new custom ROM everytime, or do some ROMs include the GApps in them already?
Any other tips, tricks, or explanation on something you don’t think I’m “getting” would be great. Thanks a bunch for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have only had motorola with android, but maybe i can help you with some of your questions
3) No, each custom rom is made for a specific model, so you have to search the roms that are made for your phone/tablet, flashing a wrong rom may be an easy way for killing your device
5) Most roms are pre-rooted, at least all of the roms i used on my motorolas were pre-rooted, i guess that with htc things must be simillar.
6) It depends, some roms (like cyanogenmod) does not include GApps, so you have to flash them after you install the rom, others have GApps included, so you must see if the rom you're installing has GApps included.
Well, hope this may help
:good:
Great questions...still a noob but learning fast. These are some of the questions I was wondering about myself. (If I ever find a way to root my phone) Good luck and I will bm this page for future use.
Thanks guys, bump to try and get the other ones answered.
1) Use Titanium Backup for the apps' backup .
2) You should flash the stock rom of that phone and then relock the bootloader.
6) I don't know any app to do this, but it can exist, idk.

[Q] What will I lose if I go with Lollipop?

Hello Note 4 Friends
So I recently rooted my Mom's Galaxy S4 for fun, and installed a Lollipop ROM. It's Cool AF and I want stock Lollipop on my Note 4!
Before I go on with rooting my device and installing the custom rom, I have questions!
1. What will I lose if I go on with rooting then installing a stock Lollipop ROM? Will my S Pen literally not do a thing? Will the IR Blaster on the top of the device not work even with apps from the play store that control the IR blaster? Basically, what will I lose and not be able to replace or find very similar alternatives to? (IE: I can easily replace S Health)
2. How safe is it to root and install roms on the Note 4? I've rooted several devices in the past and installed custom ROMS, but it was well after their original release date. With the Note 4 being somewhat, recent, how safe is it, and are the ROMs *perfect* (Nothing Broken)?
3. Can I essentially "Save" my device completely before I install a custom ROM? If I really dislike the rom for some reason, is there someway I can have an exact save of my device with Stock Samsung Touchwiz, etc etc? All my apps and everything saved?
4. Are you rooted? Using a custom ROM? Lollipop? I'm curious as to how your phone is set up, and let me know why!
5. Do you recommend a certain thread on here/way for me to root my device, and also do you recommend a current Lollipop ROM that is very stable and very.. "stock Lollipop?"
Thanks everyone, XDA is always awesome d:
Have a great day and smile if you're reading this because it would make me happy ^_^
Rooting is very safe. As for saving your stock rom, instal TWRP. Make a backup. You can always restore backup and be back to normal. As for spen, not sure. Never flashed lollipop rom.
Phones nowdays are near impossible to totally brick. Soft brick yes. But you can flash stock firmware and recover quickly.
llawen said:
Rooting is very safe. As for saving your stock rom, instal TWRP. Make a backup. You can always restore backup and be back to normal. As for spen, not sure. Never flashed lollipop rom.
Phones nowdays are near impossible to totally brick. Soft brick yes. But you can flash stock firmware and recover quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a certain reason you've never flashed a Lollipop ROM?
LaxHoss said:
Is there a certain reason you've never flashed a Lollipop ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its not officially lollipop is likely the culprit there, I flashed a CM12 (lollipop) rom for about 2 hours. Lost tw spen functionalities and couldn't use it as a DD because of that. Others have different reasons.

few questions about flashing new rom

Hi there!
just wanted to ask, becouse didn't find proper answer:
is there any way atm to flash rom without voiding warranty? I want some stock based rom - Genisys for ex. Bu i'm not sure, if there will be some problems with my phone I can return it to service, backing up everything to stock.
And next question - which rom is best? I mean, I really like stock features like smartshare beam, stock mail app, and calendar, and ir tv remote. B?ut Ive had couple of CM's and really like them too when I was on my Nexus 5.
is there any way atm to flash rom without voiding warranty? I want some stock based rom - Genisys for ex. Bu i'm not sure, if there will be some problems with my phone I can return it to service, backing up everything to stock..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you want to flash a custom rom you need to unlock your bootloader. If you unlock your bootloader your warranty gets void (in most countries)
So the answer is no you can't .
And next question - which rom is best? I mean, I really like stock features like smartshare beam, stock mail app, and calendar, and ir tv remote. B?ut Ive had couple of CM's and really like them too when I was on my Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question cannot be answered by anyone else then yourself. If you like stock choose a stock based custom rom and if you want to have a more advanced feeling use a CM based one. Best practise is to backup with titanium plus within twrp before testing any other rom . Twrp / nandroid because if the new rom feels bad you can easily switch back and titanium for migrating apps between roms.
Choosing the right rom is mostly a individual personal decision because of what you need and what not. Besides that i can recommend only to choose a rom where you can see continuesly development . Well this is no guarantee for anything but may have better chances that things get fixed and most important that android security fixes gets included. This one is the most important point for me that's why I decided to move away from stock rom...
Happy flashing (if you are brave enough )
.
You can't flash a ROM without unlocking the bootloader which voids your warranty. Unlocking the bootloader is currently only supported on the H815 International model.
As for ROMs - CM may be the cleanest/smoothest, AICP and Genisys are my top favorites for the G4. I'd also recommend flashing a custom kernel like Imperium or LuPuS
you can only root if on LP. and install xposed.. with locked bootloader. seach on google.
im rooted with custom recovery (unlocked bootloader) but not bothered with any roms, happy with g4 tweaksbox and viper4a
So I can't install anything when I'm on stock MM? I wanted Genyisys rom.
Is LG backup working good when changing from stock to Genyisys?
You can but you need to unlock the bootloader . I had stock MM and moved to Ressurection Remix after unlocking. I wouldn't trust anything else the titanium backup but that's my own opinion. Unlocking is possible for the European edition only.
What about root? And LG backup?
when unlocked you can root without problem. I do no trust LG backup but maybe others can tell you.
I'm asking because unlock means reset phone to defaults... Yes? Or can unlock without erasing data?
Yes unlock will erase your data !
I would recommend to use 2 backup tools.
Try LG backup but also another tool like "helium" (needs a pc) or "my backup pro" .

Rooting Samsung J7 Sky Pro [SM-S727VL]

Hello everyone,
As the title says, I am wanting to root the J7 Sky Pro.
I have never rooted anything in my life. I am also having trouble installing any custom recovery onto the phone.
I have tried so many tutorials and "one-click" rooting programs, but none of them have worked.
If anyone can help me, that would be nice.
It runs on 6.0.1 Marshmallow.
Tracfone locks down Bootloader so flashing is not possible unless a exploit is found. Also the recovery delivered by TWRP builder is outdated so Odin refuses to flash it. The OEM unlock does not function as intended and CROM utility lies about the device being unlocked. Some information found is Nougat is flashable for this device. Your best bet is getting newer device with development support

Imaging and rooting

Hi XDA
I have a son with Asperger syndrome and that give parents sometimes unusual task to solve.
He got a Sony xz2 compact, but he refuses to use a phone until the camera and google services are disabled, do to security lags. He wants to remove the system camera software to make sure no one can exploit the camera.
In other words, he wants to be so anonymous and hacker free as possible - and the camera is a big issue for him.
And yes, I know is possible to disable the camera in Sony configuration (and it's done) but that is not enough.
I hope getting some help to find a solution this two tasks:
1) How to get or make an image of the phone to store/save in my pc so it can be restored if needed.
2) How to root the xz2 compact and uninstall the camera
I will really appreciate some help in this issue.
(sorry my English)
Regards.
1. There is not much you can do, backup related on a Sony phone with locked bootloader. You can use google backup, if you want, but even Sony's solution won't work on a phone with Android Pie, after bootloader is unlocked (it would, if you are on Oreo and you would apply drm-fix after unlocking). Almost all other solutions need root, which you don't have on a locked phone.
2. In this thread you will find a step-by-step guide to install twrp recovery and root (by flashing Magisk) and the download for twrp recovery, made by @MartinX3
I won't link the recovery file itself, because it depends on the way you want to proceed. You can use Sonys stock rom or you can install aosp/omnirom.
In your case i would use aosp or omnirom, because it comes without google crap and it is pure Android. You only need to delete/rename the camera with a root explorer and you are good to go.
But i'm sure, @MartinX3 can tell you more about aosp or omnirom and how to flash it, because i have not used it yet. Anyway, camera is not finished on aosp/omni, so you won't loose very much.
old.splatterhand said:
1. There is not much you can do, backup related on a Sony phone with locked bootloader. You can use google backup, if you want, but even Sony's solution won't work on a phone with Android Pie, after bootloader is unlocked (it would, if you are on Oreo and you would apply drm-fix after unlocking). Almost all other solutions need root, which you don't have on a locked phone.
2. In this thread you will find a step-by-step guide to install twrp recovery and root (by flashing Magisk) and the download for twrp recovery, made by @MartinX3
I won't link the recovery file itself, because it depends on the way you want to proceed. You can use Sonys stock rom or you can install aosp/omnirom.
In your case i would use aosp or omnirom, because it comes without google crap and it is pure Android. You only need to delete/rename the camera with a root explorer and you are good to go.
But i'm sure, @MartinX3 can tell you more about aosp or omnirom and how to flash it, because i have not used it yet. Anyway, camera is not finished on aosp/omni, so you won't loose very much.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the useful information. I'm not very firm at the Android version (oreo or pie) - but the phone is a Sony Experia xz2 model H8324 and Android ver. 8.0.0 (patch level april 1, 2018). Hope this make sense
This is my first sony, so i'm not the "most helpful hand", i think.
Backup related, if you use sony backup before unlock on oreo, you can flash drmfix after unlock and then you should be able to use sony backup to restore your data.
If this is successful, you are rooted and you should be able to use Titanium Backup.
But as sony newbie i don't know how far sonys backup solution goes.
Anyway, i'll recommend in your case a rom like aosp or omni, because there are no Google things in it.
Why not cover the cameras with stickers if that's the biggest issue? You'll have to root the phone to completely disable all the G Apps, some of the firmware versions allow you to completely disable the G services - if you trust it.
You can use pm uninstall command thru adb shell. This way the app gets removed for the user, and thus seems totally removed. The apk itself do still remain in the system folder, and can be reinstalled if wanted, but can't be launched. This method do not need rooting either.
You can't make and image of the phone, at least not without rooting it first. But that will break some stuff, like camera, and that can NOT be restored in ANY way (drm keys are lost forever). For most (all?) Xperia devices there are images available for flashing with FlashTool/Xperifirm, but note that this will not recover the lost drm keys if you unlocked the bootloader in the first place.

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