Develop Bugs

Root without unlocking bootloader someday?

I know it can't be done right now but all I want is the stock rom with superuser installed. When the one-click comes out do you guys think it will have the option?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Why not just unlock? You can always lock it again if you want to return to factory.

^^ This, plus if you don't want to replace the recovery you can always use ADB to boot do a different recovery like TWRP to flash the SuperSU :good:

Will an unlocked bootloader still be able to accept OTA updates?
If not, will it accept OTA updates after relocking the bootloader?
Thanks.

Godswrath said:
Will an unlocked bootloader still be able to accept OTA updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Unlocking your tablet doesn't really make changes to your system. It sets a flag that allows you to modify partitions which were previous read-only and also allows you to boot unsigned kernels/recoveries.
Whether you can accept OTAs or not depends on whether you have modified or removed any OS files. Adding files (like you would to add root) will not affect your ability to get OTAs. However with root capabilities, you will sometimes be tempted to modify or remove OS files. That could prevent you from a successful OTA update.

sfhub said:
Whether you can accept OTAs or not depends on whether you have modified or removed any OS files. Adding files (like you would to add root) will not affect your ability to get OTAs. However with root capabilities, you will sometimes be tempted to modify or remove OS files. That could prevent you from a successful OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I mentioned above that root wouldn't affect your ability to get OTAs.
I actually went through the process of flashing JWR66N, rooting, then applying the JSS15J OTA.
What I found is that SuperSU actually does cause the OTA to fail somewhere near the end when it is setting permissions. All the files are patched successfully but there is a failure when the OTA tries to unpack the new recovery. This is due to SuperSU install marking a file immutable to support its "survive" OTA feature. If you undo this attribute change on the one file, the OTA works fine.
If you do not undo the change, effectively you'll have all the files for the JSS15J ROM, except your build fingerprint will still say JWR66N.

sfhub said:
So I mentioned above that root wouldn't affect your ability to get OTAs.
I actually went through the process of flashing JWR66N, rooting, then applying the JSS15J OTA.
What I found is that SuperSU actually does cause the OTA to fail somewhere near the end when it is setting permissions. All the files are patched successfully but there is a failure when the OTA tries to unpack the new recovery. This is due to SuperSU install marking a file immutable to support its "survive" OTA feature. If you undo this attribute change on the one file, the OTA works fine.
If you do not undo the change, effectively you'll have all the files for the JSS15J ROM, except your build fingerprint will still say JWR66N.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thank you so much for the info sfhub! May I ask how you undo the attribute change on the file? I'll really want root, but for the moment I don't want to stick with OTAs, I spend enough time messing around with ROMs on my phone, (EG4T).

Why not just learn android some more? It's a nexus device. It's meant to be easily unlocked / rooted / returned to stock / relocked. If anything, there are tons of resources in this forum to help you return your device to stock if you mess things up so you can return the tablet or get warranty done.

Godswrath said:
Great, thank you so much for the info sfhub! May I ask how you undo the attribute change on the file? I'll really want root, but for the moment I don't want to stick with OTAs, I spend enough time messing around with ROMs on my phone, (EG4T).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you just do
chattr -i /system/etc/install-recovery.sh
I attached an UPDATE-SuperSU-ota.zip install file you can run from TWRP to do it for you. You just run it after UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.51.zip and it will set you up to receive OTAs successfully (you'll need to re-install the two files after the OTA to put root back on)
So basically you do this
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot boot twrp.img
within TWRP
install UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.51.zip
install UPDATE-SuperSU-ota.zip
You can even "chain" install them, just select UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.51.zip first.

Aria807 said:
Why not just learn android some more? It's a nexus device. It's meant to be easily unlocked / rooted / returned to stock / relocked. If anything, there are tons of resources in this forum to help you return your device to stock if you mess things up so you can return the tablet or get warranty done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO you can actually learn a lot trying to understand out why things fail

[Q] OTA update help?

Hello, The screen on my Nexus 7 FHD was broken for several months (before L was released) and I finally got around to ordering a new screen and installing it (surprisingly easy, took about 45 minutes). I rooted my Nexus 7 with Towel root (I wanted to root it fast, and had no need to change the stock rom) When I tried to update to L, I received an error message, so I knew I had to un-root it, which I did. It still didn't work, so I backed up my data(to my computer, not through google play services), and factory reset it. The font I had set as the system font while rooted is still there, and I still can't update. I assume that means there's something in the build file that isn't stock, and that I have to install a system image on it. I looked up guides, but all of them are requiring a bootloader unlock, which, if I can, I'd prefer to avoid doing so. Any suggestions?
Thanks

Just flash the Lollipop factory image and call it a day. You do need to unlock the bootloader (which you have to do regardless of how you want to update in your case) but you can always re-lock it again when you're done. This way you will have a nice, clean install.

Why are you opposed to unlocking the bootloader?

M8s on Marshmallow - systemless root - how?

Hi,
I recently had to return my phone back to stock because of a warranty issue. (battery dying between 25% and 40%)
So chances are high that I will get the phone back with Marshmallow instead of Lollipop.
is there a guide or can anyone give some pointers how to root this device? After a bit of reading I still have a few specific questions, so maybe someone here can help.
A) What TWRP version will I need for the M8s on Marsmallow?
B) Will Magisk systemless root work on this device?
C) If the rooting has succeeded and I remove some bloatware apps from /system/vendor and /privapp and such. Will this trip the Google safety net? Or is safety net not yet applied to our M8s devices?
Thanks!

I don't personally have the M8s version specifically. But as the device forum sections for all the M8 versions in general are becoming pretty quiet; I'll try to help you to the best of my knowledge.
A) The TWRP recovery posted in this (M8s) forum section should work fine on Marshmallow. Looks like it's only updated to 2.8.6
B) Should work, yes. I would suggest the current stable Magisk version, which is 14.0
Backup your stock (unrooted) ROM before trying to root (as you always should - this is best practice and just good common sense). Then if anything goes wrong, you can easily restore to stock.
C) Not sure. But I can tell you on my current device (OnePlus 3T) that removing system (bloat) apps does not trip safety net.

Hi @redpoint73,
Thanks. That takes away some worries and gives me some confidence for giving it a third shot . Nandroid's don't work on the M8s unfortunately, I've tried this once since I botched something up during my first root attempt, put back the Nandroid and my Bluetooth was dead. (and probably more, but I didn't investigate it further back then.)
As in regards of removing bloat, since HTC has the S-on I was only able to remove the pre-installed apps from within TWRP (or else the apps were back after a reboot), so I guess this process remains the same?
Thanks so far and I'll report back my results in this topic. Now I first have to wait to see if they give me my warranty, since the bootloader said relocked and the firm I had to send it to is notorious for blaming factory faults on rooting of the phone. Fingers crossed!

Thijs_Rallye said:
As in regards of removing bloat, since HTC has the S-on I was only able to remove the pre-installed apps from within TWRP (or else the apps were back after a reboot), so I guess this process remains the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be the same, yes.
The reason for this, is that the system is write-protected, even with root. On the M8, there is a kernel mod which disables the write protection (allows you to modify system while booted to OS), but I don't know if there is such a mod for the M8s. But if you were able to do it in TWRP, the same should apply on Marshmallow.

So I finally got my phone back, or well, to be accurate, I got another phone (albeit another M8s) back under warranty. I guess they f'd it up during repairs or something. And as expected my phone was upgraded to Marshmallow.
Anyhow, the more I read about Magisk and systemless rooting the more lost I seem to get lost. Is there somewhere a step by step guide for obtaining root on this phone?
Let me recap from what I've understood so far (SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2 and SOURCE 3)
1) Backup my boot partition, I am still searching how to accomplish this without rooting the phone first. Booting to TWRP without installing resulted in mangling some data in the boot partition, so unfortunately that is not an option. (blanks the OS version)
2) Boot to TWRP and flash the Magisk zip file. There should be an option somewhere in TWRP to enable systemless rooting.
3) ?
So if anyone knows if I am on the right (or wrong) track please let me know .
Thijs
Edit: I can't seem to get the phone boot TWRP for some reason (from my harddrive htc_fastboot boot twrp.img). This used to be possible on my old M8s which I had send in for repairs. Do I really have to flash it because I have no way of backing up the old original recovery .

Okay, since it is kinda dead in here let me bump this for anyone in the same situation. I've managed to install Magisk successfully. The steps involved
1) unlock bootloader
2) flash twrp (htc_fastboot flash recovery twrp.img) I've used the latest version from Captain Throwback which I've found in the OP of the Void_Zero Lineage OS thread.
3) boot the phone and copy magisk systemless root zip and the apk file to your internal storage Grab the uninstaller as well in the topic.
4) reboot to recovery (adb reboot bootloader)
5) flash the zip from within recovery
6) reboot the phone and install the Magisk app.
7) done
Use this guide on your own risk. It worked flawlessly for me but no guarantees .

How to revert back to OEM sprint image to get OTA?

I flashed TWRP and rooted my Z2 Force (Sprint) using SuperSU on stock 7.1.1 Sprint rom and now don't pass SafetyNet now and OTAs won't install.
Reading various threads online, they say I can uninstall SuperSU/root and clear data for Google Play to restore certified status of phone, but that doesn't work (I followed the proper uninstall steps and verified loss of root after a reboot). Still show not-certified, so I can't download Netflix, Moviepass, use Google Pay, etc.
At this point, I'm willing to remove root and revert to stock bootloader if needed to get functionality of apps back. Is there a working stock image that I can flash with TWRP that will restore SafetyNet (I will uninstall SuperSU)? I've seen a couple threads, but they say the factory image zip can't be installed with TWRP, only stock bootloader.
Basically, I just want to restore to stock phone again and am willing to give up TWRP/root.
Can anyone point me in the right direction as I have been reading Z2 Force rom threads for hours and am not finding what I'm needing.
Thanks

Here is what I've tried thus far:
Uninstall SuperSU, cleared Google Play data, tested SafetyNet... marked uncertified
Installed Magisk, cleared google play data, tested SafetyNet... marked uncertified
Performed factory reset (dalvik, data, internal storage) from TWRP... setup phone again, marked uncertified
Is there anything I need to do to clean up old remnants of SuperSU after uninstall that Google Play is detecting? From what I've found, SafetyNet detects SuperSU and uncertifies a device... but nothing much else (ie: unlocked boot loader, etc) is there something else that I need to check to get certified again?
EDIT: The only other thing I've done to this phone is to flash a black Motorola image to replace the "Unlocked boot loader" boot image... is that causing an issue? Is that in the system partition that SafetNet detects changes?

So upon using the Magisk uninstaller to get back to as stock as possible, I was put into a recovery (TWRP) bootloop... which was fixed by flashing the Sprint Oreo image posted in the ROM forum. Still back to the same old... "Not certified" in Google Play store for SafetyNet. I have no root installed of any sort now.

read this thread
[HOW TO] Return to stock
to return to stock and then you can take the OTA update
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-force/how-to/how-to-return-to-stock-sprint-t3694783

TwoBuells said:
read this thread
[HOW TO] Return to stock
to return to stock and then you can take the OTA update
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-force/how-to/how-to-return-to-stock-sprint-t3694783
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I've been reading threads all morning and didn't find this one! I'll give it a try....

jugernot said:
Thank you! I've been reading threads all morning and didn't find this one! I'll give it a try....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I locked the bootloader using the following and I am now able to use Google Pay and other Safetynet restricted apps.
fastboot oem lock
fastboot flashing lock
fastboot oem relock

jugernot said:
I locked the bootloader using the following and I am now able to use Google Pay and other Safetynet restricted apps.
fastboot oem lock
fastboot flashing lock
fastboot oem relock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to take OTA update now?

Safe to Re-Lock Bootloader?

I was given a Pixel 2 XL by a friend, and it had an unlocked bootloader, but I couldn't tell whether or not he tried to root it. And I couldn't use some GPay features, which I'd like to. So to be safe, I went through the process of flashing a stock image using Google's instructions: boot bootloader via ADB, didn't have to unlock my bootloader as it was already unlocked, and then used flash-all with the stock Android 11 image I had downloaded from Google. Didn't re-lock because I still wasn't sure that it was because of the unlocked bootloader that I couldn't use those features, but upon trying to use them I found it that it is. So now I'd like to lock the bootloader, which Google also has instructions for, but I'm concerned because everything I read makes re-locking sound like a toss-up that might end in a bricked phone.
Do I have need to be worried? Some things I read say to do a factory reset before flashing, some say to flash it more than once, before re-locking the bootloader; is that necessary? Should I factory reset before using ADB/Fastboot to re-lock it? Should I re-flash the stock image, just to be paranoid about it? Or was it sufficient the first time, with no need to reset beforehand because locking the bootloader will erase all my user data anyway?
I just really don't want to brick my phone trying to get it back to a normal, stock state.

Download the latest update and install that. Doing that will wipe the phone and remove root. It'll be like taking it off of the box brand new.
BEFORE you relock it, reboot it and make sure it works. Once you're satisfied that it works, then relock it.

Larzzzz82 said:
Download the latest update and install that. Doing that will wipe the phone and remove root. It'll be like taking it off of the box brand new.
BEFORE you relock it, reboot it and make sure it works. Once you're satisfied that it works, then relock it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thank you, that worked well for me.

Did you re-lock the bootloader yet? The old problem of no USB ADB/file access is showing up again for me on build RP1A.201005.004, Oct 2020 with Oct 5th security update.
There's a new factory image, RP1A.201005.004.A1, Dec 2020 that I hope is the fix, but I can't install it because my bootloader isn't unlocked and I can't get ADB to connect other than through wireless.
Double check your USB ADB/file transfer before you re-lock and turn off automatic updates.