Database Develop

How do you flash a recovery image to gain root if root is a requirement!

Been all over the forums and in order to flash Amans recovery, Modaco requires a rooted device and superboot. Well, we know superboot isn't available for FRF91 yet and to flash requires root.
How the heck does anybody flash a recovery image without root?
The goal here is to get root and and this point don't really care if the bootloader is locked or unlocked. Just need root access to run certain apps.
Was planning to boot into recovery, then run the passion update for root access, but this is a catch 22.

If you do a search... yadda yadda....
You must downgrade to frf83/5? i forget the exact number. There's at least 3 different posts on general...
fark it, start here, and then SEARCH.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=717870

I was in the same boat as you. I flashed the RA Recovery and although it said it was flashed successfully, when I booted into recovery, i saw the stock recovery. Was on FRF91. So took a gamble and flashed the latest superboot from modoco. Cant remember if it was FRF83 or FRF85B and then reflashed RA recovery. It worked
Once in RA recovery I wiped and flashed a cooked ROM.

Already tried EPE76 and was screwed lol. Ran the universal update back to FRF91. Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade again unless there's another solution. Would like to know how to flash a recovery rom without root.

Big_O said:
Already tried EPE76 and was screwed lol. Ran the universal update back to FRF91. Looks like I'm going to have to downgrade again unless there's another solution. Would like to know how to flash a recovery rom without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I was on FRF83 then recieved the FRF91 OTA from Google.
As there was no FRF91 superboot on Modaco i flashed the FRF83 version.
I also kept the universal update in my SD card just in case but it went smooth for me.

This bites. There's no clear cut guide how to root. Just bits and pieces of information and a complex labyrinth of instructions. Most of the info is outdated and requires a downgrade, then upgrade, then recovery. The recovery requires root and the whole goal is root lmao. It's no wonder there are almost daily posts of guys trying to root and/or unlock bootloaders but nobody knows how to explain the procedure. The stickies have dead links, and everyone says "hit the search button" and not one person has created a sticky for rooting instructions on the FRF91. I actually downgraded to EPE76 and got stuck due to the inability to upgrade to anything except back to FRF91 AT&T stock.
It would be nice is someone actually took a few minutes to explain a working procedure how to downgrade, upgrade, and use recovery to gain root. Really don't care about the bootloader. Somebody will get rich with paypal donations and I'll be the first to donate.

Big_O said:
This bites. There's no clear cut guide how to root. Just bits and pieces of information and a complex labyrinth of instructions. Most of the info is outdated and requires a downgrade, then upgrade, then recovery. The recovery requires root and the whole goal is root lmao. It's no wonder there are almost daily posts of guys trying to root and/or unlock bootloaders but nobody knows how to explain the procedure. The stickies have dead links, and everyone says "hit the search button" and not one person has created a sticky for rooting instructions on the FRF91. I actually downgraded to EPE76 and got stuck due to the inability to upgrade to anything except back to FRF91 AT&T stock.
It would be nice is someone actually took a few minutes to explain a working procedure how to downgrade, upgrade, and use recovery to gain root. Really don't care about the bootloader. Somebody will get rich with paypal donations and I'll be the first to donate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just read the sticky for rooting without unlocking bootloader in the android dev section
its up to date. if you unlocked your bootloader, the outdated root guides are fine to use even now. you need to ensure you flash a custom rom so the recovery isnt replaced on reboot

Stuck on FRF91 (VF upgrade from EPF30)

Hey there,
i was just wondering if there is a way to "downgrade my N1 in order to root" like it is told in the tut "root w/o unlocking"
I've already tried the "Stuck on FRF91?" tut but unfortunately N1 told me "Main version too old"...
Any solution on this?
Thanks a lot!
EDIT:
Hi again,
i was trying just another passimg.zip and with this, there is no "sorry, but main version too old" message - hboot just loads the image, checks and then goes back to "hboot main menu" w/o doing anything... any ideas? used this: 22607-ERD79-update-nexusone-stock-signed.zip
EDIT2:
EDIT :
tried to flash the FRF91 universal update...it says:"signature verification failed" or something like that...
EDIT: same happens, when i try to "update" the VF FRF91 again - is there any way to "reflash" such as a recovery/BACKUP? thanks!

has nobody any idea?

Did you just try the rest of the guide without downgrading?

not yet - from which point should i start with?
"loop" - command doesn't work for me... (cmd window in sdk/tools )

I was having issues with the EPF30 VF firmware as well, eventually I had to unlock the boot loader then downgrade it to ERD79 once I did that I got the option for upgrading it OTA to FRF91 as I didn't want to root it. Looks like you may have to unlock it to get back down to ERD79 then root.

well, that is exactly the problem I got I don't want to unlock the BL until it is confirmed that there is no way to switch from VF FRF91 to US FRF91 (shouldn't it be nearly the same thing?)

I downgraded my N1 following that tut, but i used the EPF30 ROM instead.
Here is the link to the EPF30 ROM:
mediafire(dot)com/?q4jrntqdywu

hmmm im wdonering the solution to this too

Stoney92 said:
I downgraded my N1 following that tut, but i used the EPF30 ROM instead.
Here is the link to the EPF30 ROM:
mediafire(dot)com/?q4jrntqdywu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you get root with this?

I think so, i didn't try it but i guess you can root with 2.1 (EFP30 VF)?
Can anyone confirm this?
You can give it a try.

w/o unlocking BL it's not possible! (vf 2.1)
if there won't be any solution (root w/o unlocking) i'm going to unlock BL this WE

[Q] how to return to stock recovery with locked bootloader?

im gona send my phone in as a replacement, but i want to make sure everything looks stock before it send it in, i found a couple of ways to return to stock but i keep getting signiture verified failed, and i assume its because i have an unlocked bootloader, can any 1 help?

You should be able to find the stock rom for unlocked users in the development section. Just flash that and you will be back on stock.
But you can't re-lock the bootloader. When you unlocked it you voided the warranty, and it stays that way.
If it is a physical hardware problem, you should be able to still get warranty though.

Sorry, I meant to say my bootloader is locked, I don't have a problem with the rom, but the recovery. I am on ra recovery atm and I want to go back to google's stock. Is there anyway to do that?

Im pretty sure this works for all phones but if you flash Official OTA it will put everything back to stock(except bootloader if it has been unlocked) but doing this you will also loose root as well
i would wait for some one to tell you another way to get back to stock recovery, im sure there is a way to do it in adb or something.. Flashing the official OTA should be like a last thing wanting to do

Look for the stock recovery Tom for your phone then just flash with fastboot. That's the easiest way that I. Did it.
sent from outter space

codearray said:
Look for the stock recovery Tom for your phone then just flash with fastboot. That's the easiest way that I. Did it.
sent from outter space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He cant do fastboot, he has locked Bootloader.

yeah, it saids verification failed and wouldnt let me flash anything onto it

oops my bad. I had an unlocked bootloader. My other phone is locked.
sent from outter space

vvaffles said:
yeah, it saids verification failed and wouldnt let me flash anything onto it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i had the same problem when i tried to revert mine to stock. My bootloader was lock and wouldnt let me reflash the stock rom with verification failed.
NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE CORRECT WAY, DO AT YOUR OWN RISK :
I renamed the image to PASSIMG.zip and booted into bootloader. The bootloader automatically searches for PASSIMG and when it found it went through an update/installing process which took about 5minutes. When it booted phone was unrooted again, and had the stock recovery.
Once that was done, i installed the FRF85 (i think) update.zip from bootloader recovery, then did the same with update.zip for FRF91.
Again not sure if this was the correct way as i have never seen posts directing to do it this way - have posted questions about it in the past week or two, but never got any responses...

I'm gonna bump this thread up again. I tried downloading the original PASSIMG file for the stock and when I try and flash it by putting it on the SD card I get that the main file is older and the install is aborted. I can't fastboot the files because my bootloader is not unlocked. I'm currently running a FRG83 based ROM, does this matter? I'd like to return my phone to stock recovery and stock ROM, but so far every attempt has been met in failure... I guess it's an irony of rooting a phone without unlocking a bootloader. If you have to send it in for repairs you have to unlock the bootloader to return to stock, or you can't return to stock and you're left with custom recovery and root... either way HTC knows you're rooted. I know my issue is a hardware issue, but it would be my luck they decide to void my whole warranty.

You can't just PASSIMG your way back from FRG83, if you have it - since there's no PASSIMG for FRG83 yet (at least I'm not aware of one, and looks like Google isn't either), and the system is designed not to flash older builds. Trying to use PASSIMG to return to older builds requires some heavy preparations (has to be rooted, then downgrading HBOOT and probably flashing initial system.img from an older build through adb in recovery, using flash_image). It's possible and not very hard to do, but most probably beyond "1-click-root"ers' skills. All the relevant info is in the Wiki, so if you want to attempt it - you can try.
Unrooting FRG83 (reflashing stock recovery from FRF91, removing su and Superuser.apk from root shell) might be easier.
Also, put attention that if the phone has SLCD screen - the official stock FRF91 won't work on it.

I actually was able to PASSIMG to FRG33 then OTA back to FRG83. which I thought was odd due to the fact that I was on a FRG83 based rom. Oh well, it's 100% back to stock now. So even though people say that a rooted/unlocked phone only voids your software warranty I don't have to worry about it. Yay for keeping a locked bootloader.

How to downgrade back to 1.00 radio and .77 HBOOT for the OTA (S-OFF ONLY!!!)

Note: You *MUST* be s-OFF for this to work properly. If you're not, it won't work.
1. Download this zip file: http://www.mediafire.com/?mi4utrhbacdbbxt mirror: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LSR7QG9W
2. Rename it to PB31IMG.zip (uppercase name and lowercase extension matters, make sure it's not .zip.zip also) and push it to the root of your sdcard, so it's /sdcard/PB31IMG.zip
2 1/2. MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP (in case you ever want to go back)
3. Reboot into HBOOT by holding vol down while booting up, or by typing "adb reboot oem-42"
4. Hit vol-up when it asks if you want to apply the zip.
5. Wait for it to finish, then reboot when it asks you to.
Congrats, now you're back to stock 2.1-update1 with the original 1.00 radio.
thanks to aiccucs for his work in compiling the stock zip!

Cheers, mate.

just curious but don't you also need to put back the stock recovery back on? and that zip is stock without root, right?

the337 said:
just curious but don't you also need to put back the stock recovery back on? and that zip is stock without root, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely stock without root. Includes stock system, kernel, recovery, radio, and HBOOT as well as a data wipe. The only thing not stock is the fact you're still going to be S-OFF, but that's nothing really to worry about. VZW techs don't really know how to check that .

Doing this will 100% allow you to receive the OTA when Verizon finally releases it right?

ZFriedenreich said:
Doing this will 100% allow you to receive the OTA when Verizon finally releases it right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
/10char

good work A++++

I had originally pulled the stock Rom image from the RUU (ran the RUU and snagged the image from the temp folder). I was able to flash back to that but had to do some trickery first pushing some files over to the phone in and then running some commands in ADB. Is this just that same image extracted directly from the stock RUU? Or has this been modified in some way?
I'm assuming it's either been modified to allow flashing without pushing those other two files first, or s-off disables the check that would normally throw a "image you are attempting to flash is older" error.

I thought we could just flash stock recovery and apply the OTA... This route, we lose all our settings and apps, correct?
Sent from my Incredible via TapaTalk...

Awesome post! Thanks man
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

And having S-Off, if VZW tries to remove our root ability, all we would have to do is install SU back on correct?

Can't you just apply the ruu's with the new clockworkmod?
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

I got the following quote from http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/forever
"How can I use S-OFF to recover from an unrooted update?
S-OFF gives your device permanent NAND unlock in the booted system, and also disables HBOOT's signature checking on firmware zip files. So, even if you take a OTA that has not been rooted, you can simply flash a new recovery that allows you to install su, and use that to restore yourself to a fully rooted system. We have provided ClockworkMod and Amon-Ra recovery images for you to use for this purpose. "

Hatman41 said:
I got the following quote from http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/forever
"How can I use S-OFF to recover from an unrooted update?
S-OFF gives your device permanent NAND unlock in the booted system, and also disables HBOOT's signature checking on firmware zip files. So, even if you take a OTA that has not been rooted, you can simply flash a new recovery that allows you to install su, and use that to restore yourself to a fully rooted system. We have provided ClockworkMod and Amon-Ra recovery images for you to use for this purpose. "
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I don't think we need to revert to original hboot/radio/etc... I think we just need stock recovery and a stock rom to get the OTA

anyone besides the OP tried this yet?

kentoe said:
Yeah, I don't think we need to revert to original hboot/radio/etc... I think we just need stock recovery and a stock rom to get the OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would hope this option is the case because I never updated my radio (still on 1.xx), so if I used the method in this thread wouldn't I risk bricking because I'd be flashing the radio on top of itself?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

What about reverting everything back if we have S-ON? Sorry if this is a n00b question.

Ruggerxpunk said:
I would hope this option is the case because I never updated my radio (still on 1.xx), so if I used the method in this thread wouldn't I risk bricking because I'd be flashing the radio on top of itself?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, so therefore you wouldn't have to do anything besides going back to a stock rom.

Xxq TZ pxX said:
What about reverting everything back if we have S-ON? Sorry if this is a n00b question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=727263

Ruggerxpunk said:
I would hope this option is the case because I never updated my radio (still on 1.xx), so if I used the method in this thread wouldn't I risk bricking because I'd be flashing the radio on top of itself?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also know if your rooted with s-on you cannot flash proper otas because the signature check is there and it want allow you to flash a legit signed ota with clockwork. Also know if you accept the ota you will loose root. And won't be able to gain it back without s-off. I really don't understand why people are so apprehensive. Live a little man. It's just a phone. Not a ferrari. Even though it runs like one.

[Q] PASSIMG.zip downgrading by changing version-bootloader?

So, I've been trying to figure this out and before I go too far with this I'd like to ask you people if you have tried to change the information in "android-info.txt" within a "signed-passion-img-XXXXXX" file.
What I'm looking at is trying to downgrade a software-rooted, locked bootloader, FRG83D to any lower version and I just noticed this row in "android-info.txt";
Code:
version-bootloader=0.33.2012
Right now, my bootloader-version is 0.35.0017 (upgraded from FRG83X as I understand it).
So I was thinking "hmmmm, how about changing that version number to the one I got and try that out?" but went for the better safe than sorry routine before doing anything stupid.
Will this help? Will I be able to flash this PASSIMG.zip by changing the version-bootloader value or is this a dead end?
Why am I doing this? Well, I want to find out an as fast as possible way to restore an N1 to factory/stock state, with a locked bootloader.
I appreciate any information on this; both the version-bootloader question and any insight on any fast way of restoring the phone to stock without unlocking the bootloader.

There's already a guide to downgrading HBOOT. Do not use it if you have an SLCD Nexus One, AMOLED only.
If you're just trying to get to stock unrooted for warranty or resale reasons, no need to downgrade. You could apply the FRG33 PASSIMG, then take the OTA upgrade.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

the downgrading of bootloader is mainly to flash older cyanogenmod roms but the latest 6.1.1 supprts the new bootloder and if u hav a SLCD nexus one ur fone will get bricked (it happend to me!) so please dont flash the PASSIMG unless u chek wad display u hav!

Once you make changes to PASSIMG.ZIP, it loses its signature - and you can't sign it, since you don't have Google keys. So changing it won't allow you to flash it, because it'll fail verification.

And this is why the downgrade instructions involve flashing first a modified MISC partition - so that it fools the PASSIMG version check into letting you downgrade.

cmstlist said:
There's already a guide to downgrading HBOOT. Do not use it if you have an SLCD Nexus One, AMOLED only.
If you're just trying to get to stock unrooted for warranty or resale reasons, no need to downgrade. You could apply the FRG33 PASSIMG, then take the OTA upgrade.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definitely check this one out. I tried going for the unmodified FRG91 and older ones but they didn't flash at all. I'll fiddle a bit with the FRG33 instead.

Jack_R1 said:
Once you make changes to PASSIMG.ZIP, it loses its signature - and you can't sign it, since you don't have Google keys. So changing it won't allow you to flash it, because it'll fail verification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that explains a thing or two. Guess this has to do with the signatures and packages being checksum checked against a hash or some other method.

cmstlist said:
There's already a guide to downgrading HBOOT. Do not use it if you have an SLCD Nexus One, AMOLED only.
If you're just trying to get to stock unrooted for warranty or resale reasons, no need to downgrade. You could apply the FRG33 PASSIMG, then take the OTA upgrade.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That worked like it was never intended to do anything else than restore the phone to a stock/factory state.
Awesome! Thanks!