Was Razer Phone bootloader unlockable from day 1? Any word on Razer 2 bootloader? - Razer Phone 2 Questions & Answers

I got a Note 9 and I love it, except for the forced Samsung features.
I love having devices I can do anything I want with. The Note 9 was not that phone. I'm looking at returning it to Best Buy this week for either a Pixel 3 or a Razer Phone 2.
What was the history behind the Razer Phone bootloader unlock?
Has there been any word about the Razer Phone 2's bootloader?
I appreciate you taking the time to read and/or answer this.

https://developer.razer.com/razer-phone-dev-tools/

Well I read the razer phone dev tools post. Looks like we can unlock the bootloader. Lets hope we can get some dev invalid in this love to see this get rooted and some good roms

It's so simple. After allowing unlock via settings, I reboot into fastboot. There's an option on screen to unlock the bootloader. Did that and done. Only one adb command needed. Now just need the factory image so I can magisk.

If the original Razer phone is anything to go by, then the Razer 2 will receive little to no development from our community.
The only consolation is that both 1 & 2 run supremely on the stock 99% Google unadulterated ROM.
Enjoy

dillalade said:
If the original Razer phone is anything to go by, then the Razer 2 will receive little to no development from our community.
The only consolation is that both 1 & 2 run supremely on the stock 99% Google unadulterated ROM.
Enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the GSIs? Or an actual ROM? A link would be appreciated. I just received my Razer Phone 2 and am still digging around XDA learning what I can.

Notasaurus said:
Are you talking about the GSIs? Or an actual ROM? A link would be appreciated. I just received my Razer Phone 2 and am still digging around XDA learning what I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Razer 1 was pretty much unlockable from day 1
GSIs are available, not heard any promising daily driver experience's since having owned the Razer 1 since day 1.
Roms, pretty much ghost.
Forward development, pretty much dead.
Future prospects - apparently Pie will enable for easier development for our community. But don't hold me to it.

dillalade said:
Yes Razer 1 was pretty much unlockable from day 1
GSIs are available, not heard any promising daily driver experience's since having owned the Razer 1 since day 1.
Roms, pretty much ghost.
Forward development, pretty much dead.
Future prospects - apparently Pie will enable for easier development for our community. But don't hold me to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fortunately it appears you can get to stock pretty easily. I was able to go into the apps list and disable everything Razer related and everything that wasn't on my pixel. It's a pretty bare bones install. Makes me wonder then why it wasn't simply launched with Android Pie. I can't find any real customization outside of Razers 3 or 4 apps. (Cortex, game booster, chroma, and theme store)

Notasaurus said:
Fortunately it appears you can get to stock pretty easily. I was able to go into the apps list and disable everything Razer related and everything that wasn't on my pixel. It's a pretty bare bones install. Makes me wonder then why it wasn't simply launched with Android Pie. I can't find any real customization outside of Razers 3 or 4 apps. (Cortex, game booster, chroma, and theme store)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty much unadulterated stock out of the box, there is no full on bloatware here. no BS

I've already unlocked my bootloader on the Razer 2. It's the same as the 1. Go into dev mode go to dev settings, click over oem, start in fast boot (turn off and then hold volume down and power until you get the screen) then select unlock bootloader.

Does anyone know how long it usually takes for the factory images to be released usually? If they are released, root should be easy with a Magisked Kernel.

Just thinking out loud as I don't own a Razer 2, but would it be possible to pull the boot.img from fastboot then use magisk to patch and reflash through fastboot to achieve root?
Many other devices have achieved root this way before TWRP was available.

giant22000 said:
Just thinking out loud as I don't own a Razer 2, but would it be possible to pull the boot.img from fastboot then use magisk to patch and reflash through fastboot to achieve root?
Many other devices have achieved root this way before TWRP was available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Potentially. I tried a couple different ways but the system is set up pretty well, a lot of things end in "Permission denied". I'll hand it to them, the ROM itself is top notch, stable and secure. I haven't done this in a while though so I'm probably missing something.

So why can't we use these images
https://developer.razer.com/razer-phone-dev-tools/factory-images/

ctakah27 said:
So why can't we use these images
https://developer.razer.com/razer-phone-dev-tools/factory-images/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are for the original Razer Phone aren't they?
To clarify, the original Razer's firmware is very likely to not run due to the chipset upgrade.
Razer took around a month from shipping to release source the first time. It's approaching that time for the RP2, though maybe a bit later until some software bugs like the speaker popping are sorted. We may be able to capture that OTA as soon as it comes though which will accelerate the process.

Razer does not release the source code yet

Related

Well...

Appears this is where we come to an end with development and rooting. All other g4s have been Rooted on Android m. We just don't have any love for this device. Appears we all messed up when we chose sprint as our carrier. Argh!
Wat, who are you? What makes you think you can make that call? There are people that spent countless hours making ROMs and Developing for the Sprint LG G4 and you think you have the final say?
Quoting what you said just in case you edit you post: "Appears this is where we come to an end with development and rooting. All other g4s have been Rooted on Android m. We just don't have any love for this device. Appears we all messed up when we chose sprint as our carrier. Argh!" with screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/DxsEmvG.png
Not the right way to think, just wait. Have you contributed in anyway to the Sprint LG G4 here on XDA? I sure have with my free hotspot bug (patched on Android M).
I highly doubt Verizon G4 is rooted on m.
In fact I don't think they even have Marshmallow update yet.
what is so appealing in Marshmallow to make one want to upgrade urgently? If you have stable L with root and xposed, why not staying with it. I do not think there is Xposed for M anyways yet, which is the main reason to root this phone.
I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel
centran said:
I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disabled and uninstalled everything I could with sprint software. Haven't had any of their pop ups in months. It seems you bought a phone in one of the bad batches with your lagging screen.
I hate their UI though...
One of the best phones I've had in terms of specs etc. Would be something if I could run CM13 on this one day..
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
I don't have Android M on my phone yet....
...so maybe I can keep my hopes up. Sprint didn't give me Marshmallow on my phone. I'm not begging for it either. From what I'm gathering here, you're all good if you're on Lollipop (5.1) Right?
EmSeeMAC said:
I disabled and uninstalled everything I could with sprint software. Haven't had any of their pop ups in months. It seems you bought a phone in one of the bad batches with your lagging screen.
I hate their UI though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I had a bad batch phone and it was before Sprint admitted the problem so I sent it to LG. LG fixed my phone but did not replace it. That is probably the big problem. Now I have a phone that is only having lagging problems and since that is subjective and random so not easily repeatable I am screwed.
SeeLaH said:
...so maybe I can keep my hopes up. Sprint didn't give me Marshmallow on my phone. I'm not begging for it either. From what I'm gathering here, you're all good if you're on Lollipop (5.1) Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We do have Marshmallow, but the OTA is taking reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long.
I just got the notification a few minutes ago for the update. I'm from Michigan and figured I was one of the last places to get it but I guess not. Newho, I've read that there's gonna be more dev work on our g4 but they were waiting for Android m to come out before they focused their energy to cracking the bootloader. Stay patient as the carriers are getting wise to what our devs have been doing and they try to seal up the phone to keep us out. But when there's a will there's a way and it will happen eventually.
Well I'm hoping for ultrapop marshmallow, lol. The phone stock was fine and ultrapop was perfect for me. Would be nice to have cm in this phone but ultrapop was all I really need.
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
esloudan said:
Well I'm hoping for ultrapop marshmallow, lol. The phone stock was fine and ultrapop was perfect for me. Would be nice to have cm in this phone but ultrapop was all I really need.
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think that's gonna happen, as MM security is the reason we don't even have systemless root yet. UltraPop relies on changing the system partition, which the Lollipop boot sequence isn't as strong. in MM as soon as the system partition is changed, it causes hashes and whatnot to change, the boot sequence detects the changes and doesn't allow the phone to boot. I think we'll need an unlocked bootloader for UP-type "pseudo-roms"
natator99 said:
Don't think that's gonna happen, as MM security is the reason we don't even have systemless root yet. UltraPop relies on changing the system partition, which the Lollipop boot sequence isn't as strong. in MM as soon as the system partition is changed, it causes hashes and whatnot to change, the boot sequence detects the changes and doesn't allow the phone to boot. I think we'll need an unlocked bootloader for UP-type "pseudo-roms"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. I was able to work-around the system partition in ZV6 because LG security only checked for certain files were present. In ZV8, there is LG security checksum for the whole system partition. Since we have a locked bootloader, we can't modify Kernel without tripping the boot security. I am still going to try to get a modified stock ROM working, or maybe mix of ZV6/ZV8, but have not had much time lately.
Roms for our phone? please tell me where roms are at for our phone. i only see 1. that is still stock. ultrapop
Go to the Sprint Fun and Games app and hit the menu button, then settings, then deselect the box Atuomatically install Zone / Fun & Game updates and the notifications boxes. Super disappointed in Sprint for having this.
centran said:
I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone has plenty of "dev love". Some of the best developers are trying their hand at it. There's a huge bounty for unlocking the bootloader, and plenty of people trying to earn it.
The problem is, until one of them (or the part timers like me) stumble across something that works, we're in a holding pattern. We have something stable that works in Android L with root and xposed framework, and until the bootloader issue is solved, that will have to do.
Be patient, OR hit the general Android development section and LEARN. Do it yourself. Grab the bounty. There's plenty of us doing what we can, even as far as hard bricking our devices and getting them replaced by trying methods that work for other devices. I myself am on my second LS991 from trying a method that worked on the kindle fire where you get into fastboot by nuking laf and still haven't had any luck getting a patched bootloader to stick.
So cool off and have some patience. Some people haven't even had the official OTA roll out to their area yet and you're crying that you don't have rooted M? Grow up.
+1
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------
agentfusion said:
This phone has plenty of "dev love". Some of the best developers are trying their hand at it. There's a huge bounty for unlocking the bootloader, and plenty of people trying to earn it.
The problem is, until one of them (or the part timers like me) stumble across something that works, we're in a holding pattern. We have something stable that works in Android L with root and xposed framework, and until the bootloader issue is solved, that will have to do.
Be patient, OR hit the general Android development section and LEARN. Do it yourself. Grab the bounty. There's plenty of us doing what we can, even as far as hard bricking our devices and getting them replaced by trying methods that work for other devices. I myself am on my second LS991 from trying a method that worked on the kindle fire where you get into fastboot by nuking laf and still haven't had any luck getting a patched bootloader to stick.
So cool off and have some patience. Some people haven't even had the official OTA roll out to their area yet and you're crying that you don't have rooted M? Grow up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
LG will not be unlocking any other G4's except the Euro H815.
Hello,
Thank you for your interest in LG mobile devices.
Currently, you can only unlock bootloader for LG G4 for the European market with model number H815.
And we have no plan to support bootloader unlocking for H815T.
If there are any changes to the supported devices, we will let you know via our website.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DaemeonZane said:
LG will not be unlocking any other G4's except the Euro H815.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And? That doesn't mean they can't be unlocked by other means. It just means LG will not be providing the binary file for oem-unlock via fastboot. Some of us have already gotten limited fastboot access by willingly destroying the laf partition and using a serial USB connection. Right now I'm working on trying to figure out how to get access to other fastboot commands not available in this limited mode, then it's just a matter of creating a reliable semi-automated process so it's accessible to less technical users, and if no one beats me to it; collecting the bounty on a reliable bootloader unlock and ability to flash recovery and make it stick. (Which, to be absolutely honest ... Though I'm not working with anyone else, I would not have gotten *anywhere* without ideas others have bounced around on these forums that helped me make progress when stuck, so I will contact each of them privately to divide half of the bounty between them if I am first to be able to collect it)

[N960U/U1/W][DISCUSSION][Close to rooting]

Hello Fellow XDA Users!
Some of you might remember me from over the years or maybe just from SamPWND root on the S8/S8+. I have had a number of devices since SamPWND with a few being Sammy's. I have been real busy with life and work but of course every spare time I get has been breaking Samsung devices!
I've found some exploits I never released publicly due to the devices being "unpopular" but figured since I am close now as well as what I have found so far most likely works on most Samsung devices (I've only tested on Tab S4 and N9 from Big Red) that I wouldn't keep this one away from everyone.
With that being said, I do not have FULL root yet but am very close. I wanted to create this thread as I don't have let's of free time these days to hopefully bounce ideas around to achieve our end goal a lot faster.
I am going to spare all the specific details to the masses but will let you know what I got so far. I prefer to collaborate over other applications that are more "real time" if there are any developers that read this then PM me and we can share contact info. If you just want to toss ideas in here then that is ok. I just don't want to have someone potentially take my hard work and claim it as their own before I can achieve root. I have been almost non stop since the N9 was released so you can understand hopefully why I want to be the one to bring root to you all!
With that being said, I will begin telling my story and what I have so far.
Some time last year I was working on another Sammy device after SamPWND as I wanted root of course. I spent weeks and weeks trying to find exploits until I finally did! For this time I wanted to see what Sammy would offer for it as it was a tablet, the XDA forum was deserted etc. They did pay out a 2500$ reward so it was ok.
The reason I bring this up is because the exploit plays a factor here as well. The exploit was a mix of SamPWND and SamFAIL as I used the same rooting script as SamPWND but with a custom partition that wasn't checked for integrity when flashing in ODIN.
On this partition there were some init rc scripts. I noticed these scripts could be executed on combo firmware as root user. This means I could mount the partition in Linux, modify the scripts to my liking, sparse it back up and flash in ODIN. Then I could execute them. Believe it or not, they were executed by entering a simple setprop command in ADB. So from start to finish I simply extracted this partition, modified the scripts to install root as well as packaged the root package in with the image, flash it and then execute an adb command and viola! I felt like a loser it took me so long to find yet was so simple to exploit.
This ties in to where I am at now. I spent months looking through various attack vectors with no luck due to enhanced security not just with Sammy but Android also. So one day last week I decided to take a look at combo firmware again. In no time I found something interesting and then I slapped myself for spending months again when I should have looked at init scripts first.
I found it on my Tab s4 initially but wanted to see if the same file was on my N9 on combo and it was!
The first script runs as system user. For some reason the entire folder it is in is world readable/writable which means there is a script I can modify. This one is not an init script but is a script none the less that runs as system user that I can modify and execute with a simple adb command. Of course we want root, not system so I keep looking.
So I started writing all sorts of scripts/commands and executing it as system user since it's better than running as shell user right? One day I decide I am going to try and change permissions on the entire device. To my surprise it actually changed permissions to ALOT of partitions/files including EFS. I start messing with efs but don't want to break my phone so I settled with backing it up, enabling hidden menu, changing my sales code, enabling factory test mode etc. Etc.
One day I decided to see if I could access the same scripts I used previously. The partition was not readable (perms denied) so initially I thought it was a dead end. Then for some reason I tried to go into the sub-directory where I knew the scripts were and guess what!? The parent directory perms were not changed but its sub directories were! Now I am somewhere I have been before and now I have some scripts that I know are executed by init and as root and how to trigger them.
I spent over a week and all my spare time trying to gain full root but progress is slow moving due to new security. I can make a script that backs up every partition on the device, mounts "most" partitions as rw, dd magisk boot images (of course secure check fail due to locked bl but I had to try lol), create folders and push files to roots etc. Etc. Its basically like having full root but you have to run it in a script for everything you do.
Since we have locked bootloaders, we cannot boot modified boot.img. There's also more security causing me to have issues with system root. One of those issues is the fact that system, vendor and odm partitions cause the kernel to panic instantly as soon as they are mounted.
I managed to force some stuff quickly before the crash but they also have something called "secure write protect" which basically backs out anything you might have written before it reboots. I have tried installing chains systemless root and even tried to install magisk without modifying the boot but I am just getting frustrated and tired.
One thing I am currently trying is a safestrap recovery. The end goal is to try and get a GSI on that is pre rooted. Yes, I also tried to dd a gsi and tried with a file manager... it appears to write but it doesn't. I think there is some security going on as it along with odm and vendor are "protected" partitions.
I can modify rootfs and just about every other partition on the device with ease but haven't successfully gained root via su or magisk etc. Some stuff will cause device to boot with good old custom unlock splash screen and even say custom and custom binary in ODIN. That plus it being project treble certified indicates we shouldn't have any issues using GSI's and more soon as we can get ot nailed down!
So in a nutshell, I now have the ability to do almost anything as root user using init scripts on our locked bootloader devices but we only have a little bit left to go in figuring out how to get su binaries onto the device thanks to sammy and googs enhanced security updates.
Hopefully this gets the convo going and I wanted everyone to know that it's not "impossible" and now seems like a guarantee! Let's get some ideas going in here on this last hurdle! If you are a developer please also PM me as I tend to forget to check xda sometimes plus I like a more real time conversation when it comes to this stuff.
We are almost there!
Donation Link: https://forum.xda-developers.com/donatetome.php?u=3812611
Forgot as a reminder that I can confirm the scripts there on tab s4 and n9 combos.. it's very likely they are present on S9/S9+ also and potentially other devices but they will need to be confirmed once we get to that point.
Was just barely reading up on Samsung defex security.. hope that's not the problem since only fix I can find requires hex patching the boot.img
so i noticed you gave quite a lot of info without going too much into details. i understand that you don't want anyone to steal your ideas and take credit.
would be a shame to get root.
and not get the credit where it is due..
now, that being said, isn't making these statements public open up the door for samsung to notice these possible exploits and patch them up for good? thus rendering all your efforts in vain? As even if the details were kept at a minimum from kangers to use them, the samsung devs can probably read through the lines quite easily.
anyways, hope your effort will bare fruit for as long as it is possible.( samfail lasted what 3 or 4 months? before patches made it too difficult to keep up)
Regards
bober10113 said:
so i noticed you gave quite a lot of info without going too much into details. i understand that you don't want anyone to steal your ideas and take credit.
would be a shame to get root.
and not get the credit where it is due..
now, that being said, isn't making these statements public open up the door for samsung to notice these possible exploits and patch them up for good? thus rendering all your efforts in vain? As even if the details were kept at a minimum from kangers to use them, the samsung devs can probably read through the lines quite easily.
anyways, hope your effort will bare fruit for as long as it is possible.( samfail lasted what 3 or 4 months? before patches made it too difficult to keep up)
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can see where youre coming from but I dont think they can glean exactly what I have as theres are probably hundreds of scripts throughout the system.
Also, this approach is far from new. People have been using init scripts for rooting purposes for many years.
I also tried it with newer firmware and it actually didnt work. So it already requires an older frmware and I expect Sammy will increment bootloaders soon making it unavailable to those who have updated at that poimt in time. I figured best to put out the word on progress now and those can choose to wait or not.
Exploits never last very long. The only way to ensure longevity is to remain on old firmware. There was SamPWND before there was SamFAIL. This could be the perfect time. Unless I am the only one working on this device there will be other exploits to be found.
With that being said, only you have posted all day and no devs have reached out to join in the fun so at this rate by the time full root is achieved it most likely will already be patched.
Thats just my thoughts though.
elliwigy said:
I can see where youre coming from but I dont think they can glean exactly what I have as theres are probably hundreds of scripts throughout the system.
Also, this approach is far from new. People have been using init scripts for rooting purposes for many years.
I also tried it with newer firmware and it actually didnt work. So it already requires an older frmware and I expect Sammy will increment bootloaders soon making it unavailable to those who have updated at that poimt in time. I figured best to put out the word on progress now and those can choose to wait or not.
Exploits never last very long. The only way to ensure longevity is to remain on old firmware. There was SamPWND before there was SamFAIL. This could be the perfect time. Unless I am the only one working on this device there will be other exploits to be found.
With that being said, only you have posted all day and no devs have reached out to join in the fun so at this rate by the time full root is achieved it most likely will already be patched.
Thats just my thoughts though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the note 9 kinda missed the party bus.
ive had almost all Sammy's devices and i have to unfortuanly say this is by far the most bleek state of development ive ever experienced.
but back in the day, there was far less android competition.
edit:
and i think that if not the competition, the fact that alot of people feel content with what stock samsung is offering. when the device came out, the forums were littered with Shakespearean: 'to root or not to' type of threads.
This is great news. Hopefully some devs contact you. Loved your work with the S8.
Yeeeeeeeesssssss!
Very exciting! If we're updated to Pie, are we out of luck then though, regarding the firmware?
I remember you doing some great stuff but I don't recall the phone... Galaxy S3? Note5? Note7? Note8? HTC M8? EVO 4G LTE? OG EVO? Anyway, I am excited to see you here. ?
Wow, this is very interesting, and I loved reading your detailed post. I am super exited, and can't thank you enough for all your work elliwigy! :good:
Full on beast!
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
PsiPhiDan said:
Yeeeeeeeesssssss!
Very exciting! If we're updated to Pie, are we out of luck then though, regarding the firmware?
I remember you doing some great stuff but I don't recall the phone... Galaxy S3? Note5? Note7? Note8? HTC M8? EVO 4G LTE? OG EVO? Anyway, I am excited to see you here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanna say s8/+ and the note 8.. both of which root solutions I used.
Word brotha ?? thank you for your diligence. I love that your hobby can help out so many who don't have the time, will, or discipline to learn it.
PsiPhiDan said:
Yeeeeeeeesssssss!
Very exciting! If we're updated to Pie, are we out of luck then though, regarding the firmware?
I remember you doing some great stuff but I don't recall the phone... Galaxy S3? Note5? Note7? Note8? HTC M8? EVO 4G LTE? OG EVO? Anyway, I am excited to see you here. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should be fine as long as you remain on rev1 firmware..
PsiPhiDan said:
Yeeeeeeeesssssss!
Very exciting! If we're updated to Pie, are we out of luck then though, regarding the firmware?
I remember you doing some great stuff but I don't recall the phone... Galaxy S3? Note5? Note7? Note8? HTC M8? EVO 4G LTE? OG EVO? Anyway, I am excited to see you here. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol ive had a lot of devices thats for sure but most my work is on samsung
teknowiz23 said:
I wanna say s8/+ and the note 8.. both of which root solutions I used.
Word brotha ?? thank you for your diligence. I love that your hobby can help out so many who don't have the time, will, or discipline to learn it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeeeeeeeesssssss!
You are always the loveliest "Rev1 firmware baby"
elliwigy said:
you should be fine as long as you remain on rev1 firmware..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So.. I had to get a replacement via Asurion, and before setting it up I installed the earliest unlocked firmware. Sm-n960u on Verizon plan. I understand that this should work as long as I don't update, correct?
teknowiz23 said:
So.. I had to get a replacement via Asurion, and before setting it up I installed the earliest unlocked firmware. Sm-n960u on Verizon plan. I understand that this should work as long as I don't update, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, just make sure you stay away from anything that says N960UxxU2 or S2
Jammol said:
Yes, just make sure you stay away from anything that says N960UxxU2 or S2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine says Rev 1.1. Does that mean game over for me?
PsiPhiDan said:
Mine says Rev 1.1. Does that mean game over for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that's for hardware revision. Is normally for when a device has had a hardware fix that changed something from the original design. So if they realized the fingerprint readers on rev1 were crappy and changed it out for future ones, they would show rev1.1 or whatever numbers they want to classify it as.
I'm not sure what they may have changed on the Note 9 though. Could have been camera or even something internal such as memory or radio chip.
What you want to stay away from is any changes to the attached image. Don't update to anything that says U2 or S2 at that section of the firmware.
Thank you for your hard work on this .

Root? Why?

I've been a rootoholic since the first HTC Desire (2010) and I've been lovin to improve every smartphone throughout those years. I believe that the reason for root have literally died. Since 2010, the interest in rooting and developing roms for phones that really needed it, vanished more and more for every year. The latest 4 - 5 years, developers have mostly only been interested in rooting flagships? People root for different reasons, privacy, debloating, theming, speed or all. In my opinion, the whole developing community have forgotten the real mission!
"Develope, root and improve phones that really needs it!" (mid range and low budget phones)
And look now!? To unlock a bootloader (on a phone that's perfect without it) we're suppose to pay for it? Not even an option to donate, like back in the days? No offense to you, the devs, this is probably just part of Xda evolution, and I need to catch up with reality. Just wondering what this community will look like in 2 - 5 years?
This phone (in my opinion) is perfect without unlocked bootloader or root!
V40 has it all!
And with the option to "uninstall" bloatware via adb, what's the point?
Well, some user's love to flash custom kernel while using the stock rom. Just like me
cheeze.keyk said:
Well, some user's love to flash custom kernel while using the stock rom. Just like me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did too But to improve!?
Not much to improve anymore...
I understand what you mean. But with a custom kernel everything that's good about this phone would only get better. Also, having stock Android on this hardware would be awesome.
nyttliv7 said:
I did too But to improve!?
Not much to improve anymore...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me yes, specially when it comes to speed and you can tweak also the display settings to get rid of the screen burn.
V4A and kernel tweeks
Wondering
how much better can a phone like this get?
I mean, cpu speed is already fantastic, and sound is extremely high quality (Neutron)!
Is there anywhere I can read about this? Progress and experience so far. How big was the difference? And so on...
I could imagine to underclock and disable some features I never use, to save battery...
nyttliv7 said:
how much better can a phone like this get?
I mean, cpu speed is already fantastic, and sound is extremely high quality (Neutron)!
Is there anywhere I can read about this? Progress and experience so far. How big was the difference? And so on...
I could imagine to underclock and disable some features I never use, to save battery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We disabled a few of the throttling stuff that LG put in the software and it's way faster now and along with FDE.AI Magisk Module the battery is also lasting a bit longer.
Nice!
I'm on Sprint!
Will they detect my root?
Fully functional modem/signal?
Will I miss out on any functions after debloating all sprint stuff?
Can I reverse, go back to the original rom?
nyttliv7 said:
I'm on Sprint!
Will they detect my root?
Fully functional modem/signal?
Will I miss out on any functions after debloating all sprint stuff?
Can I reverse, go back to the original rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your original rom would be on Slot B....but you would still have the original rom on Slot A unless you update to US unlocked Pie....
Tempted!
Root
Being an old rootoholic, I've kind of convinced myself it's not really necessary anymore, especially on a phone like this. But after digging into the threads about it, I've reconsidered...
So, after some resistance, I'm tempted to unlock bootloader and root
Just a few questions:
Slot A and B? Is it possible/complicated to activate "the other" slot (dual boot), or is it just there for backup and update?
Is com.lge.rctprovider and other spy and spam apps still there?
How exactly is the remote screen thing done? Do I need to install something, and how do you pay the fee?
Will it be possible to remap the assistant button?
If I'm not wrong, Qualcomm just block specific bands on carrier's requests, meaning that all bands exist in the chip. So I wonder, can this be unlocked?
How is the signal/reception on Sprint? Will all necessary bands still be there and fully functional?
Thanks!
nyttliv7 said:
I've been a rootoholic since the first HTC Desire (2010) and I've been lovin to improve every smartphone throughout those years. I believe that the reason for root have literally died. Since 2010, the interest in rooting and developing roms for phones that really needed it, vanished more and more for every year. The latest 4 - 5 years, developers have mostly only been interested in rooting flagships? People root for different reasons, privacy, debloating, theming, speed or all. In my opinion, the whole developing community have forgotten the real mission!
"Develope, root and improve phones that really needs it!" (mid range and low budget phones)
And look now!? To unlock a bootloader (on a phone that's perfect without it) we're suppose to pay for it? Not even an option to donate, like back in the days? No offense to you, the devs, this is probably just part of Xda evolution, and I need to catch up with reality. Just wondering what this community will look like in 2 - 5 years?
This phone (in my opinion) is perfect without unlocked bootloader or root!
V40 has it all!
And with the option to "uninstall" bloatware via adb, what's the point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After so many years with these phones, I've learnt that we would rather buy an old flagship but not a new mid-low range
Even u arent rooting it, flagship is usually much better as that's what your manufacture could do best at that time. Mid-low range was intended to be half-assed
Root is useful to install AdAway and Titanium Backup, even if staying with stock ROM.
Blockada without root sounds like it is not as effective as AdAway.
Ti Backup enables reverting to prior saved version of app when a newer version is faulty or inferior (happens a lot). Also debloating by freezing or uninstalling, not sure an ADB method offers all the options of Ti to debloat.
If V40 still has no way to unlock bootloader and root, without the Octoplus thing, I guess I'm stuck with V30+, which apparently means the dwindling stock of aging V30+ from dicey sellers on eBay etc., including lots of 1+ year old LS998 crossflashed to US998 and sold as "new". Li-Ion phone batteries have only a 2-3 year life....
...
There's currently no way to bootloader unlock the V40 (I have the US non carrier "unlocked" version). Guy on Telegram is ignoring my message. Therefore, root does not appear to be an option.
midwhiteflava said:
There's currently no way to bootloader unlock the V40 (I have the US non carrier "unlocked" version). Guy on Telegram is ignoring my message. Therefore, root does not appear to be an option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Vlad is in the Ukraine so you have to deal with their schedule....
Ainz_Ooal_Gown said:
Well Vlad is in the Ukraine so you have to deal with their schedule....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be him and I'm awaiting his reply on Telegram from last week.
midwhiteflava said:
That would be him and I'm awaiting his reply on Telegram from last week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guy has done two for me less than half a day after paying ten dollars.
@octoplus
Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/development/unlock-lg-v40-via-9008-root-t-mobile-t4042207
Well people root so they can remove throttle from manufacturer nd to tweak the phone so it can be at its best for the current cpu/gpu along with custom roms. Root is not needed nowadays except for those because better processors that you wont really need root for normal to performance usage. Well thts my oppinion for the op
The question should be why not to root. The answers to that are far less. Than why to root. Because of the endless possibilities

LineageOS?

I haven't seen much work done on ASUS phones for LineageOS ROM releases. I particularly couldn't find a ROM for the first ROG Phone. Now, after much waiting, the ROG Phone II is available. What needs to be done in order to be able to flash the ASUS ROG Phone II with a custom ROM?
I would like to upgrade my phone, but doing it without an alternative to the default OS is a no-go, for me.
Zakku said:
I haven't seen much work done on ASUS phones for LineageOS ROM releases. I particularly couldn't find a ROM for the first ROG Phone. Now, after much waiting, the ROG Phone II is available. What needs to be done in order to be able to flash the ASUS ROG Phone II with a custom ROM?
I would like to upgrade my phone, but doing it without an alternative to the default OS is a no-go, for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We need a real dev, which i wouldnt expect.
So are basically none of the custom ROM groups doing work on ASUS phones, these days?
Zakku said:
So are basically none of the custom ROM groups doing work on ASUS phones, these days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Asus doesn't send out units to devs, like other companies do. If they did, we probably would have many roms.
Zakku said:
So are basically none of the custom ROM groups doing work on ASUS phones, these days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do have a person who could 100% get lineage on it, but we would need to him a device.
TBH, I'm a custom rom flasher too! BUT, there's so many options to customize ROG II that I don't feel the need to flash other roms - for now at least...
Also note, we have air triggers which make the rom even harder to code...
suzook said:
Nope. Asus doesn't send out units to devs, like other companies do. If they did, we probably would have many roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
100% false. They sampled out a bunch of Zenfone 6, including to arnovag82, the entire reason the gcam port works on rog phone ii to begin with.
resident0915 said:
100% false. They sampled out a bunch of Zenfone 6, including to arnovag82, the entire reason the gcam port works on rog phone ii to begin with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wooptie Doo....gcam ports. Roms is what we need
Google should have made this phone
suzook said:
Wooptie Doo....gcam ports. Roms is what we need
Google should have made this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your statement is still laughably false and completely misinformed. Try doing a simple search before making up claims: https://www.xda-developers.com/asus-zenfone-6-custom-rom-twrp-lineageos/
resident0915 said:
Your statement is still laughably false and completely misinformed. Try doing a simple search before making up claims: https://www.xda-developers.com/asus-zenfone-6-custom-rom-twrp-lineageos/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My point, is Google should make a phone like this. New pixel 4 6gb ram...2.0ufs, and 64gb storage. What a joke
So, I don't really care about the accessories. If I could just get an /e/ or LineageOS port, I'm satisfied with just having the powerful hardware. I've thought long and hard about it, but there's just absolutely no way I'd run a phone with its default OS.
If I could afford it, I'd certainly try to see what I could do about getting another one, but I'd feel awkward about not having any guarantees.
Is there no way I could get a walkthrough for how I can accomplish this custom ROM on my own?
Right now, there's no ROM development going for this device. Still you (developers) can build ROMs because this device has stock vendor source which can be used with any customized System OS.
There's also unofficial TWRP for which you can use it to modify the stock ROG 2 system as your liking. Like disabling & removing system bloat apps, flashing Magisk root, using Edxposed framework & GravityBox, etc.
ROM development has halted because devs dont want to waste their time working on Android 9 when ASUS has been beta testing Android 10 when developers received their phones. They are waiting for Android 10 kernel source code.
You can see this by checking their GitHubs, LineageOS was in development 3 weeks ago, its up to ASUS to finish their update first.
suzook said:
Wooptie Doo....gcam ports. Roms is what we need
Google should have made this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sell up and by a Pixel then, problem solved.
rasmali said:
Sell up and by a Pixel then, problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMFAO, 3 mos later.
That is the general idea.
So your are not prepared to put your money where your month was ( Google should have made this phone) then just chill and enjoy until. I mean whats the point of moaning about something someone hasn't not done, when you can not do it yourself.
From my opinion the system comes with the phone is good enough because it provides the stock android option. Especially the android q updated recently.

Pixel 5 >/= Pixel 5a?

I'm new to the world of root and I want to try different ROMS, custom kernels, debloat, etc. I'm fully aware of the risks that come with rooting my phone, and I'm ready to go. I have a Pixel 5a. When I check out the 5a forums, there's not much there. The P5 has all the action! I want to know if I substitute the Barbet images for the Redfin images, can I use the Pixel 5 methods on my 5a?
keylimepienapples3000 said:
I'm new to the world of root and I want to try different ROMS, custom kernels, debloat, etc. I'm fully aware of the risks that come with rooting my phone, and I'm ready to go. I have a Pixel 5a. When I check out the 5a forums, there's not much there. The P5 has all the action! I want to know if I substitute the Barbet images for the Redfin images, can I use the Pixel 5 methods on my 5a?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the same methods to root, but you can't use the custom firmware built for the 5
xunholyx said:
You can use the same methods to root, but you can't use the custom firmware built for the 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right on. Thanks for the reply.. Why does the 5 seem so much more popular?
Because the 5 was the "flagship" device that year
The Pixel 5 and 5a share the same SoC, so the firmware is effectively the same between them. Still, for the sake of being safe, I wouldn't mix and match.
The only difference between the two is the 5 has 8GB RAM, while the 5a has a bigger screen and a bigger battery. Other than that, they're identical.
Thanks for the info.. How risky is it-- If the biggest difference is in the RAM? About 10 or 12 years ago I read an article about Android and it's capabilities through open source code, so I've wanted to root and mess around with ROMS and different firmware for a long time. Unfortunately, at that time I was in prison so naturally I didn't have access to a phone. I got home in 2020 looking to change my life so I've tried to at least make this a hobby. So far I'm somehow not very lucky in getting the right phones. I thought I finally did last year when I bought a Moto Stylus 5g from cricket. I paid the phone off, cricket unlocked it, but Motorola won't give up the unlock code. Then I got a Pixel 3 but it turned out to be from Verizon and they're haters off the jump, so that was a huge disappointment too. Finally, I have this Pixel 5a. Factory unlocked, incredibly easy as far as unlocking the bootloader and rooting go and I can't seem to find a custom ROM for it. I was able to flash to graphene OS, but there were some issues with my esim so I went back to stock. A couple nights ago I tried Bliss ROMs but I don't know what I'm doing wrong there but I can't get it to work. I got kind of excited about the pixel experience plus, but that guy doesn't seem to be messing around with it anymore, he says there doesn't seem to be enough interest in it. When I look at the Pixel 5 forum, they have all the bells and whistles! I don't have an education nor do I have the money to buy phone after phone. Especially some of the more popular brands. Unless I'm looking at a ROM that requires more of it, how does 2gb if RAM make such a difference? Also you replied to another question I posted. About locking the bootloader.. what happens if I lock it without having the stock and bone firmware?
keylimepienapples3000 said:
Thanks for the info.. How risky is it-- If the biggest difference is in the RAM? About 10 or 12 years ago I read an article about Android and it's capabilities through open source code, so I've wanted to root and mess around with ROMS and different firmware for a long time. Unfortunately, at that time I was in prison so naturally I didn't have access to a phone. I got home in 2020 looking to change my life so I've tried to at least make this a hobby. So far I'm somehow not very lucky in getting the right phones. I thought I finally did last year when I bought a Moto Stylus 5g from cricket. I paid the phone off, cricket unlocked it, but Motorola won't give up the unlock code. Then I got a Pixel 3 but it turned out to be from Verizon and they're haters off the jump, so that was a huge disappointment too. Finally, I have this Pixel 5a. Factory unlocked, incredibly easy as far as unlocking the bootloader and rooting go and I can't seem to find a custom ROM for it. I was able to flash to graphene OS, but there were some issues with my esim so I went back to stock. A couple nights ago I tried Bliss ROMs but I don't know what I'm doing wrong there but I can't get it to work. I got kind of excited about the pixel experience plus, but that guy doesn't seem to be messing around with it anymore, he says there doesn't seem to be enough interest in it. When I look at the Pixel 5 forum, they have all the bells and whistles! I don't have an education nor do I have the money to buy phone after phone. Especially some of the more popular brands. Unless I'm looking at a ROM that requires more of it, how does 2gb if RAM make such a difference? Also you replied to another question I posted. About locking the bootloader.. what happens if I lock it without having the stock and bone firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stay on stock ROM. Root, and use this Magisk/Xposed MOD..
[MOD][Xposed+Magisk][13 Compatible] AOSP Mods - System modifications for AOSP-based Android 12+
This is a mixed Xposed+Magisk module, which is made to allow customizations that are not originally designed in AOSP (Android Open Source Project). Features: Currently, AOSP Mods offers customizations on different aspects of system framework and...
forum.xda-developers.com
As for RAM, see if this helps, it "Expands RAM memory by converting a part (Internal) storage to swap RAM."
Thank you. I'm going to check it out now.
Ok. My phone didn't like swapper very much. After rebooting, my screen was flickering out of control and I couldn't do anything but power down. After a couple of reboots it started up normally but now I can't use mobile data and I'm not able to access any Magisk Modules. The button is greyed out. Any idea how to reverse this?
keylimepienapples3000 said:
Ok. My phone didn't like swapper very much. After rebooting, my screen was flickering out of control and I couldn't do anything but power down. After a couple of reboots it started up normally but now I can't use mobile data and I'm not able to access any Magisk Modules. The button is greyed out. Any idea how to reverse this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh wow that's very odd how many GB did you do? I suggest 2 but if it's doing that then yea lets rid it.
when it's grey it mean it'sdisabled. you can click the remove button and reboot and it will be gone.

Categories

Resources