No TWRP for the Pixel 4 because of Android 10? - Google Pixel 4 XL Questions & Answers

So it seems TWRP might be an issue getting it on our Pixel 4's.
According to @Dees_Troy, its a problem. Seems they don't even have one for the Pixel 3 on Android 10.
@Dees_Troy
"Pixel 4 is in real danger of not getting TWRP for a while after it's released due to all of the changes made in how recovery works in Android 10."
https://mobile.twitter.com/Dees_Troy/status/1171151359564890113

We'll see, fortunately we know we have a working magisk and that actually takes care of everything I do although I miss the convenience of TWRP, no question. The guy seems to work miracles so I wouldn't be surprised to see him figure it out. If not, I suppose I can only be thankful for everything he's done for us already and wish him luck in his next endeavor. I gotta be honest here, way back on windows phone I was surprised the door wasn't being closed on all this stuff. When Android came along it was like the wild west and I thought there was no way it could go on. Now we're here and iin many respects still having our way with our phone. It's been a pretty good ride.

krabman said:
We'll see, fortunately we know we have a working magisk and that actually takes care of everything I do although I miss the convenience of TWRP, no question. The guy seems to work miracles so I wouldn't be surprised to see him figure it out. If not, I suppose I can only be thankful for everything he's done for us already and wish him luck in his next endeavor. I gotta be honest here, way back on windows phone I was surprised the door wasn't being closed on all this stuff. When Android came along it was like the wild west and I thought there was no way it could go on. Now we're here and iin many respects still having our way with our phone. It's been a pretty good ride.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, hopefully I pray he'll figure it out for sure.
Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

MicroMod777 said:
So it seems TWRP might be an issue getting it on our Pixel 4's.
According to @Dees_Troy, its a problem. Seems they don't even have one for the Pixel 3 on Android 10.
@Dees_Troy
"Pixel 4 is in real danger of not getting TWRP for a while after it's released due to all of the changes made in how recovery works in Android 10."
https://mobile.twitter.com/Dees_Troy/status/1171151359564890113
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He will get it there is always a way

Damm that's not good.

Personally, I don't need recovery. My first pixel device and the last thing I want to do is flash some half baked custom ROM for it. Everything I need can be flashed through magisk or EXKM. As long as I can root, I'm good

I'll leave @Dees_Troy's full statement - dated 23rd October 2019 - given on the official TWRP website here as well:
Please note that this post is primary related to TWRP and the Pixel 3 and 4 and devices that may ship in the future that ship with Android 10 as their original version of Android. Older non-Pixel devices that shipped with older versions of Android and receive upgrades to Android 10 are not affected.
Long story short, TWRP support for Android 10 is going to take a while.
Android 10 brings about the largest changes to the way AOSP implements recovery since Google shifted recovery from C to C++ when they moved from Android 4.0 to 4.1 more than 7 years ago. A lot of components in AOSP recovery were moved into subfolders, which makes merging the latest changes into TWRP more time consuming. At least on the Pixel 3, the ramdisk that we use for recovery is now handling part of normal boot in addition to recovery, so we're not sure what the best way will be to go about replacing recovery without affecting the ability to boot up normally. In addition, the way Google is building the ramdisk on the Pixel 3 is a lot different than the past. In the past, the executable binaries in the ramdisk were built as static binaries with no linked libraries. TWRP has almost always been built with separate linked libraries. The new dynamically linked stock ramdisk will make it harder for us to slip TWRP into the ramdisk.
Once we get TWRP compiling with the new changes from 10, we have some additional items that need consideration. As mentioned above, the stock ramdisk is using dynamic linking. Unlike TWRP, the stock ramdisk places the executables and libraries in the usual locations inside a /system folder. Normally TWRP leaves /system alone so that we can mount the system partition to its usual location of /system. If we leave things the way they are on the Pixel 3, mounting the system partition gets tricky. A lot of custom zips depend on mounting the system partition to /system.
Android 10 also introduces a new dynamic partitioning system. Instead of having a dedicated system partition and a dedicated vendor partition, etc. Android 10 uses a super partition. I like to think of the super partition as a partition that contains a bunch of smaller partitions. One of the side effects of this dynamic partition system is that Google has chosen to use a form of the ext4 file system that is for all intents and purposes, read-only. This choice means that even if you wanted to, you can't easily mount and modify the system partition. We haven't really discussed this with other developers yet, but it may impact your ability to do things like install Gapps. In addition, the dynamic partition model means that eventually, we should probably provide you, the user, some GUI driven tools in TWRP to allow you to manage the dynamic partitions that are on the super partition.
On top of all of the above, I, Dees_Troy, am the one who usually handles merges of new versions of Android. My wife is currently pregnant with our fourth child. I am quite busy with my growing family and the need to find a bigger house, so my time for working on TWRP right now is somewhat limited. So, I guess please be patient, or feel free to download the TWRP source code and make the needed changes yourself.
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Click to collapse
Source: twrp.me
My guess is: we got to get familiar with manually patching boot images regarding Magisk, and maybe with flashin ROMs shipping as a GSI (Generic System Image). First time I made such an assumption was, when the first GSIs startet popping up in the respective section here on XDA, and I still guess that this is the way to go for future modding.

5m4r7ph0n36uru said:
I'll leave @Dees_Troy's full statement - dated 23rd October 2019 - given on the official TWRP website here as well:
Source: twrp.me
My guess is: we got to get familiar with manually patching boot images regarding Magisk, and maybe with flashin ROMs shipping as a GSI (Generic System Image). First time I made such an assumption was, when the first GSIs startet popping up in the respective section here on XDA, and I still guess that this is the way to go for future modding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been known since before we even got our devices in hand, statement has been shared long ago... When it was new.

wrongway213 said:
This has been known since before we even got our devices in hand, statement has been shared long ago... When it was new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know. But I saw yet another thread about TWRP for Pixel on Android 10 popping up, which implies that this thread, as well as this information still isn't widely spread/known as of yet. Just wanted to prevent further TWRP threads popping up on Pixel 4 forums.
Sent from my Google Pixel 4 XL using XDA Labs

5m4r7ph0n36uru said:
Yes, I know. But I saw yet another thread about TWRP for Pixel on Android 10 popping up, which implies that this thread, as well as this information still isn't widely spread/known as of yet. Just wanted to prevent further TWRP threads popping up on Pixel 4 forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't prevent the inevitable. There's always going to some users who don't understand how to use Google or XDA search

GOOGLE Pixel 4XL (coral) - QQ1B.200105.004 - Android 10 . My same rig.
Any updates on TWRP?

kb5rir said:
GOOGLE Pixel 4XL (coral) - QQ1B.200105.004 - Android 10 . My same rig.
Any updates on TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No

Can you boot (not flash) to TWRP on the Pixel 4 XL? The only convenience I'll miss compared to my Pixel 2XL is being able to boot to TWRP and flash Magisk if so...

WorldOfJohnboy said:
Can you boot (not flash) to TWRP on the Pixel 4 XL? The only convenience I'll miss compared to my Pixel 2XL is being able to boot to TWRP and flash Magisk if so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's got to do with the dynamic partitions and mounting /system. From what I've read, even if you booted twrp it would no be functional.

I can only imagine the effects of this dynamic partition on other useful projects like microG...we have our work cut out for us here. I smell innovation!

Related

Dual boot - K20 Pro

Is this possible, Dual booting stock + custom rom?
bump
chandu4money said:
bump
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Click to collapse
Possibly. Android 10 gives dual booting functionality natively, as a way to give developers an easy way to test things on their phones within a clean sandboxed environment. So this could become an easy possibility. I suppose it depends how Android 10 ROMs are delivered to existing phones.
It could be how treble was introduced. New phones that came with 8 as new had to follow treble file system partitioning schemes, but older phones that upgraded to 8 didn't have to be treble compliant.
Android 10 sets out another new partitioning and file system scheme to enable the dual booting functionality.
I haven't looked into this so don't know the answer, but maybe it will be new phones that launch with 10 that can do this and old phones will be up to the manufacturer to decide if they adopt the new file system scheme when upgrading to 10.
Robbo.5000 said:
Possibly. Android 10 gives dual booting functionality natively, as a way to give developers an easy way to test things on their phones within a clean sandboxed environment. So this could become an easy possibility. I suppose it depends how Android 10 ROMs are delivered to existing phones.
It could be how treble was introduced. New phones that came with 8 as new had to follow treble file system partitioning schemes, but older phones that upgraded to 8 didn't have to be treble compliant.
Android 10 sets out another new partitioning and file system scheme to enable the dual booting functionality.
I haven't looked into this so don't know the answer, but maybe it will be new phones that launch with 10 that can do this and old phones will be up to the manufacturer to decide if they adopt the new file system scheme when upgrading to 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So anything yet?
How can I make dual boot?
I initially heard about the possibility here.
https://www.xda-developers.com/android-q-dynamic-android-aosp-gsi/
I remember, not long after, seeing discussions that this could be a potential way to allow dual booting for all. However this seems to have disappeared without a trace as I can't find anything relating to this in any later Android Q/10 announcements.
Even OnePlus 7 & 7 Pro got official recovery for dual booting...
Any progress on this? Couldn't find anything on Multirom either
karanpats said:
Any progress on this? Couldn't find anything on Multirom either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, not yet...
Isn't an a/b system required for dual booting? For example I remember it being possible on pixels because they have 2 partitions
IoIam said:
Isn't an a/b system required for dual booting? For example I remember it being possible on pixels because they have 2 partitions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope...
I remember it worked on my redmi note 4, which it has not an A/B based system...
I hope its coming soon
It was working perfectly in my old phone (poco f1)
It's nice to have stock and custom

[GUIDE] Install GSI on U.S. Snapdragon S9/S9+ [U/U1 Variants]

So...
The U.S. variants finally have root, this is a very exciting moment for S9/N9/S9+/N9+ users that always wanted to do more with your device. I wanted to create this thread separate from the root thread as I think GSIs are a whole different thing. It's actually pretty simple once you've read, understood and even tried the root method running Oreo Samsung Experience. The steps are very similar but you just swap out the system image.
So please, take the time to read the thread for the Extreme Syndicate root method here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...pment/root-t4041815/post81608559#post81608559
I am going to quote some of the stuff in that thread directly as all of it still applies here.
Please take your time and make sure you follow the instructions carefully.
This method is brought to you entirely by @elliwigy He is the reason for this exploit and method.
With that being said, Extreme Syndicate Root is now available!
​
Disclaimer:
The Extreme Syndicate team and it's affiliates are not responsible for your actions or your device if any issues are to arise. You flash this and utilize these files at your own risk. You have been warned!
The Adventure!:
I will not get into any technical details here. Just know that this method has taken me ~1 year from start to finish. I also went through a number of devices during this time (at least 7 devices), even sold my original N9 then somehow ended up with another one before this root method was found. Some of us devs might be a bit burnt out so don't get upset if we are not in here all day every day answering everyones questions. We hope users will help eachother, that is what XDA is all about! Also, if you want more real time conversation/support then please join our Telegram group (link posted below) as this is easier for us to moderate and allows discussion to be had in real time. I don't always check XDA messages or PM's as it can be a lot and very tiresome so your best bet is Telegram!
Also, donations/money is not expected or required but if you feel obliged to share what you can then that would be greatly appreciated! Donations keep me on the grind and sometimes can even help me in acquiring other devices to work on. I had issues with Paypal a while back (SamPWND days) and do not have a Paypal account. I do however have a Venmo and Transferwise accounts that work in most situations.
Venmo - http://www.venmo.com/Thomas-Huntington-10
Transferwise - PM @elliwigy for info to donate using Transferwise.
Now Let's get into the files/method!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Download the following:
- Root files from Extreme Syndicate that belong to your device
- The GSI you want to download (for these devices you need arm64 a-only. With gapps included should be your priority)
- Sh remover zip uploaded here.
- Alternative: ODM nosu zip
2. In odin folder flash the combo firmware
3. Once combo is booted up run the root bat. When done phone will reboot to download.
4. In odin flash the bootswap.tar.md5 file. What this does is swaps the boot and recovery images which allows system to be mounted rw.
5. Now when done flashing you need to hold the buttons to boot to recovery but since we swapped boot and recovery images it will boot system.
6. Now put your phone in airplane mode. This must be done whenever using Flashfire. Copy the system.img (your GSI img) , vendor.img, Sh remover.zip and ODM zip files to your phone.
- NOTE: Flashfire doesn't let you chose the partition on where it's going to flash any image. It decides on where to flash based on the name of the image. So if your gsi is named GSIName-arm64-a-nosu.img then flashfire will have no idea where to flash it. I would rename the img to something like system-GSIName-arm64-a-nosu.img.... or just system.img lol
- NOTE 2: I uploaded a ODM NOROOT.zip. Reason being that some gsi come preloaded with supersu. In theory, using the regular ODM_ROOT.zip from the Extreme Syndicate method should work fine even if the GSI comes prerooted, I just didn't test it with that lol. You should definitely use the root variant if the GSI doesn't say it comes rooted.
7. In Flashfire, choose zip and select the odm zip (root or unrooted, your choice. Read note above). Make sure you select "Mount /system read/write" when the Options pop up. This is necessary or else it will not boot, always chose this on everything. Then choose firmware and choose the system.img and the vendor.img. Then choose data wipe and wipe user and system data (the default choices). Make sure inject super su is NOT enabled. Disable it. Do not let flashfire inject root!!. Then choose zip again and select the Sh remover.zip (select to mount system read/write)
- NOTE: I added the Sh remover zip because some GSI (particularly Android 9 GSI) have a track record of having some problems booting up in Samsung devices. This zip should remove the system/bin/rw_system.sh file. There's no bad side of not having this file on GSI's that don't share this problem, so I'm making it a mandatory step to avoid as much problems as possible
8.. Now click flash. When finished you will have to hold buttons to reboot to recovery until you see boot animation. You must do this on every reboot. If you do not it will reboot to stock recovery. If it reboots to stock recovery just reboot system and hold buttons to reboot to recovery again.
9. When rom is booted up your computer will not recognize the phone for mtp file transfer. Adb does still work so you can transfer stuff that way (you need to switch to ptp transfer method in the dropdown) or use USB adapter and use a thumb drive.
10. Biometrics do not work so don’t try to setup fingerprint or face recognition.
And that's it, you should have your GSI up and running.
Let's keep all the GSI talk on this thread please. I will do my best to keep this thread updated with fixes, compatibility and news. For now, take a look at the confirmed working GSI:
Confirmed working:
- PHH Android 9 GSI
- HavocOS 2.9
- PHH Android 10 GSI (Added bug: WiFi is broken, working on a fix)
Confirmed not working:
- Pixel Experience Android 9
- OxygenOS (Erfan's GSI) (I wouldn't recommend GSI from other OEMs anyway)
ShoutOuts:
@elliwigy For the method and help and everything else
@klabit87 - Ditto
@me2151 - Ditto
@gsm-CHEN - Ditto
@jrkruse - For all the help and support for S9 variants
@everyone else I am forgetting!
ENJOY!
Join is in Telegram where we can discuss GSI and help with problems more quickly
Link: https://t.me/joinchat/HYvgAlUgyqKq9__Y5yg1uA
Reserved 2
Nice guide! I'm sure you'll have plenty of input from others that have tested various gsi.
klabit87 said:
Nice guide! I'm sure you'll have plenty of input from others that have tested various gsi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the plan. To hopefully fill this thread with GSIs that work, the ones that don't and any additional fixes to get some to boot.
Great news. Seems HavocOS 2.9 (Android 9) boots pretty well. This is great! Udating post to add link.
EDIT: Also added PHH Android 10. It boots!
just so everyone knows, so far the bugs with the PHH 9 GSI is that no mobile data,messaging and calling will work.
Root on "U" variants! Wahooooo!! Ooo! Ooo!
Anyway, I've been doing this since the galaxy s3 and jailbreaking iPhone since the 3gs... but it's not a every day thing for me and I would assume the same for many others. I do it full tilt "all of my personal time" for a few months get stuff working, backup and then go about my business. I have been forced to switch from my beloved note 4 to this corporate controlled piece or Samsung stuff for $1K and finally someone hacked it! Well done and thank you soooooo very much!!
Anyway, this GSI thing is entirely new to me. I dont know what it is, how it works, what is means etc... it seems to be a relatively new thing. Maybe within the past year or so?
So what I would recomend and ask for is a brief history and explanation of what it is and what is does, where it came from etc... does it make my touchwiz phone like stock android? What aspect of the rom does it replace? System.img I assume but why is it needed? What is the reason it's not needed for Android 8 but is needed for 9 and up?
Of course all of us can google it and and wade through all the documentation on it which I will do and eventually figure it out but I noticed on telegram there are a ton of questions about it since, well, almost everyone has Android 9 on their devices. So it might help in reducing the repetitive questions if there was a quick but detailed write up on GSI from some of you ultra smart type peeps that know about it. My guess is most people won't spend the necessary time required to research GSI which can take days, weeks, months... some of us have kids and demanding jobs and have to cook, clean, repair, work, doctors, school, etc etc.. while others such as myself have opted to go the route of a professional career with no kids and can spend the time researching... Just a suggestion...
Again thank you to all the super smart type fellas and ladies aka DEVs that continue to fight the good fight and make this entire thing possible for the rest of us that are less capable in this area of expertise . You guys rock! Like kick serious @$$ kinda rock!
Zaileion said:
Root on "U" variants! Wahooooo!! Ooo! Ooo!
Anyway, I've been doing this since the galaxy s3 and jailbreaking iPhone since the 3gs... but it's not a every day thing for me and I would assume the same for many others. I do it full tilt "all of my personal time" for a few months get stuff working, backup and then go about my business. I have been forced to switch from my beloved note 4 to this corporate controlled piece or Samsung stuff for $1K and finally someone hacked it! Well done and thank you soooooo very much!!
Anyway, this GSI thing is entirely new to me. I dont know what it is, how it works, what is means etc... it seems to be a relatively new thing. Maybe within the past year or so?
So what I would recomend and ask for is a brief history and explanation of what it is and what is does, where it came from etc... does it make my touchwiz phone like stock android? What aspect of the rom does it replace? System.img I assume but why is it needed? What is the reason it's not needed for Android 8 but is needed for 9 and up?
Of course all of us can google it and and wade through all the documentation on it which I will do and eventually figure it out but I noticed on telegram there are a ton of questions about it since, well, almost everyone has Android 9 on their devices. So it might help in reducing the repetitive questions if there was a quick but detailed write up on GSI from some of you ultra smart type peeps that know about it. My guess is most people won't spend the necessary time required to research GSI which can take days, weeks, months... some of us have kids and demanding jobs and have to cook, clean, repair, work, doctors, school, etc etc.. while others such as myself have opted to go the route of a professional career with no kids and can spend the time researching... Just a suggestion...
Again thank you to all the super smart type fellas and ladies aka DEVs that continue to fight the good fight and make this entire thing possible for the rest of us that are less capable in this area of expertise . You guys rock! Like kick serious @$$ kinda rock!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can sort of give a very brief explanation of sort of how I see it.
And I say sort of because I really don't consider myself an expert, just read a few things here and there
I'm going to go over what "Project Treble" really is, I don't know if you've heard this term thrown around when talking about GSI.
Google made "Project Treble" much more simple with the intention that OEMs would hurry up and release updates faster lol
What happens now is that there is a new partition of where the Android OS takes its resources, and that's the "/vendor" partition. Everything from the drivers to the bluetooth, wifi, sensors, camera, etc.... is found here
Every device that are "Treble" enabled means that they have this "/vendor" partition
So why the S9? Why not the S8, S7, etc...?
Google made it mandatory for all the devices that released with Android Oreo to be "Treble Enabled" out of the box and made it up to the manufacturer to make old devices Treble compatible
But let's not kid ourselves, we all knew that Samsung wouldn't go back on the S8, S7, Note 8, etc... and treblelize them, that's not their style. Though most OEM's didn't do that anyway, there are a very few that actually did.
From the S9 and onwards, all these devices have Project Treble.
So, now we get to what the GSI actually are.
Think of it as ROMs, pretty straight forward.
Now the AndroidOS takes all its hardware resources from "/vendor", these GSI can work on almost all devices out there. Sure there may still exists some compatibility issues here and there but it's much easier to fix them.
So in theory, even if Samsung stops development on the S9 with Android 11, which of course we're all expecting, we can still flash Android 11 GSI when they start coming out because the S9 is Treble enabled
I hope this sort of gave you an idea of what the whole GSI and Project Treble situation is.
PHH Android 9 GSI - Calls no Volume Fix
Just to add onto that, I would like to say that If you are to flash PHH Android 9 GSI and HavocOS 2.9. It doesn't have the calling feature working from the get go. You would be able to make a call to a person, but you won't be able to hear them or they won't be able to hear you. This is an ongoing problem with that GSI. A possible work around for that would be found on
https://forum.xda-developers.com/as...-to/guide-call-fix-patch-gsi-testing-t3791660
Although, I haven't tried it. I am in the process to try and fix this. Will update once done. I cannot thank enough the author and everyone else involved in getting this root to work and along with that being able to flash custom Roms. This is amazing.
What about AOSP 9.0 and 10.0? Do those work?
Mogster2K said:
What about AOSP 9.0 and 10.0? Do those work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally haven't tested any more, been busy. You are free to test them yourself and post links to which work. The one consistent bug we did find on Android 10 GSI is broken WiFi.
This works on the 965U, the locked ATT version? This does work on the 965U, I answered my own question.
EDIT: this does not trip knox, sorry for the question. I am RTFM now
Which vendor.img should we use if flashing PHH's GSI 9 or 10?
Mogster2K said:
Which vendor.img should we use if flashing PHH's GSI 9 or 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The latest Oreo one included in the Syndicate root method
I've run into a problem. I thought PHH's GSI did not have root installed but apparently it does. Unfortunately I flashed ODM_ROOT.zip instead of ODM+NOROOT.zip, and it seems to have broken FlashFire. It's stuck on "Acquiring root access" even tho it already has root. Is there a way to fix this without losing root, or is there another app I can use besides FlashFire? Thanks
Mogster2K said:
I've run into a problem. I thought PHH's GSI did not have root installed but apparently it does. Unfortunately I flashed ODM_ROOT.zip instead of ODM+NOROOT.zip, and it seems to have broken FlashFire. It's stuck on "Acquiring root access" even tho it already has root. Is there a way to fix this without losing root, or is there another app I can use besides FlashFire? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh... so now we know that a rooted GSI + the ODM_ROOT zip DOES cause a problem.
Yeah it sucks that on some GSI, the devs don't disclose it's got SU binaries already
What I would do is to look inside one (or both) of your SU apps and see if Flashfire has requested for SU access and it's got it negated for some reason.
If not, then I would just start over with the whole rooting process
Mogster2K said:
I've run into a problem. I thought PHH's GSI did not have root installed but apparently it does. Unfortunately I flashed ODM_ROOT.zip instead of ODM+NOROOT.zip, and it seems to have broken FlashFire. It's stuck on "Acquiring root access" even tho it already has root. Is there a way to fix this without losing root, or is there another app I can use besides FlashFire? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also clear the data for flashfire and force close it. I. The past we had to just grant all su permissions to get it to work flashfire has been real buggy on s8 and up sometimes
Safe strap possibly.
ShaDisNX255 said:
Huh... so now we know that a rooted GSI + the ODM_ROOT zip DOES cause a problem.
Yeah it sucks that on some GSI, the devs don't disclose it's got SU binaries already
What I would do is to look inside one (or both) of your SU apps and see if Flashfire has requested for SU access and it's got it negated for some reason.
If not, then I would just start over with the whole rooting process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I ended up doing. I managed to get the rooted Oreo image installed. Another note: PHH 10 v213 does not work with Spectrum Wireless (code CHA). I had no wifi and no mobile data and was stuck on the Google setup for a long time. Anyone here have Spectrum working on a GSI?
Just confirmed that Spectrum Wireless data doesn't work on PHH 9.0 v123 either.

[Sofia(p)(r)][Recovery][WIP] TWRP 3.4.0.0

vache said:
Here you go : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x4t6ca8TLf1bNHrQa-jjCN_AhdV2W78u/view?usp=drivesdk
Boots on sofia (g power), sofiar (g8 power), sofiap (g stylus), sofiap_ao (g pro)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I started the thread, but did not make this build. Everything should work. Thank @vache.
Quick update I did get TWRP to build successfully. Unfortunately it just sits on the boot logo but doesn't go back to fastboot, but that was just a quick see what happens build. I haven't added everything I need to yet. Will work on it more tonight, but progress is good so far.
@CodyF86 thanks for taking the lead on porting TWRP to the G Power. The G Power appears to be the best "bang for the buck" phone on the market currently, and has been widely covered by the media so far. I expect that the Moto G Power sub will grow steadily in the upcoming months, leading to custom rom development for the G Power. Having TWRP ported would be a start to paving way for custom rom development.
So another quick little update. I have the device repo basically where it should be...give or take heh. It's changed a bit from what is on my github, but it's pretty close. The only issue i'm having is that compiling it with the minimal manifest isn't going to work. It doesn't compile right. It compiles, but it doesn't copy things over correctly and/or at all depending on what it is.
My repo is pretty close to what the moto one power and the g8 power have, at least for their android 9 device tree, and I can get TWRP to boot, if I use the moto one power image and just dump the moto g power kernel into it.
So short version is i'm downloading the full manifest, basically all of Omni, which should hopefully sort it out. It's downloading right now.
EDIT:
Actually it helps to read the documentation I guess lol.
https://source.android.com/devices/bootloader/system-as-root#using-vendor-overlay
Will keep playing with it.
This is exciting! Thanks for your hard work.
CodyF86 said:
Will keep playing with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for taking this on! Having TWRP recovery for "sofia" will really make this phone great!
GoodOlDan said:
Thank you for taking this on! Having TWRP recovery for "sofia" will really make this phone great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I "should" have it working in a day or two...(or even tonight...) The Code Aurora repos have been helping greatly.
https://source.codeaurora.org/quic/la/platform/vendor/qcom/trinket/tree/BoardConfig.mk?h=LA.UM.8.11.r1-03800-NICOBAR.0
Quick question, is the Moto g power the same as Moto g8 power? If they get custom Rom they'll unified? From what I know, the g power is the us variant release of the g8 power, right?. Thx in advance
Been making changes and even trying to repack some files from our devices into chef from when I got chef to boot with a repacked kernel but the touch screen wouldnt work and it couldnt see any partitions really.
Part of the problem seems to be the build system. It's not populating the output image fully. It's not even putting the TWRP directory in there lol.....
Going to keep trying. Going to try to find a native android 10 device that has twrp working unless there isnt one yet. Also our device is a little different it actually puts certain things in /system where in android 9 they went into /vendor. Spent about 3-4 hours on it today, but not going to give up.
I think there is an issue with the OMNI build system though also.
CodyF86 said:
Been making changes and even trying to repack some files from our devices into chef from when I got chef to boot with a repacked kernel but the touch screen wouldnt work and it couldnt see any partitions really.
Part of the problem seems to be the build system. It's not populating the output image fully. It's not even putting the TWRP directory in there lol.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI, I'd be willing to help with this, I'm a developer, I worked with @tecknight on TWRP for a phone called the Wiko Ride. We never quite got a working TWRP but learned quite a bit about AVB and such. I've already got my Sofia (US unlocked retail, running on Boost Mobile) rooted and could use a new challenge.
I too have been quite baffled by the Android build process at times - the docs that exist seem to assume a LOT of prior knowledge - the barrier to entry seems higher than ordinary Linux kernel hacking by quite a bit.
rlrevell said:
HI, I'd be willing to help with this, I'm a developer, I worked with @tecknight on TWRP for a phone called the Wiko Ride. We never quite got a working TWRP but learned quite a bit about AVB and such. I've already got my Sofia (US unlocked retail, running on Boost Mobile) rooted and could use a new challenge.
I too have been quite baffled by the Android build process at times - the docs that exist seem to assume a LOT of prior knowledge - the barrier to entry seems higher than ordinary Linux kernel hacking by quite a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at my github you can see the cluster ef of changes I made to at least get to a console. Ironically if you repack the kernel into the chef version of TWRP it boots to the GUI but the touch screen doesnt work.. Our device is weird although it is android 10 native but it has a /system folder. Also on android 10 you can just add things to the vendor partition without using the product partition as an overlay.
Unpack the stock recovery. I went back to the basics and am basically going to mirror the stock recovery then inject the twrp binary, but its weird, the omni build system isnt doing some things correctly it seems also.
This will be your greatest resource. Code Aurora has the answers.
https://source.codeaurora.org/quic/la
https://source.codeaurora.org/quic/la/platform/vendor/qcom/trinket/tree/?h=LA.UM.8.11.r1-03800-NICOBAR.0
https://github.com/codyf86/device_motorola_sofia
LA.UM.8.11.r1-03800-NICOBAR.0 is our current CAF version tree.
Actually I just started the repo over the commits were nasty. Everything important and pertinent is in the initial commit now.
Ive been compiling and hacking kernels for 10 years, building Android for probably the same and this switch to the new partition layout + TWRP has so far been the... I don't want to say hardest but longest thing i've tried to do without any forward movement.
Like I said I got farther just by repacking the our kernel into the moto chef kernel, but they have a system_root directory and we dont. We just have system.
Theyre lib64 goes in /vendor ours goes in /system.
unpack the stock recovery image to start also TWRP uses init.qcom.recovery.rc to do things on the init and init.rc hand off where as stock recovery version of that file is different.
Actually I know partially why it wont boot. I have the paths in the init.recvoery.qcom.rc messed up, but also [email protected] doesn't exist in our lib64/hw directories, but there is a [email protected] file in the stock recovery so going to try that, plus were building bootctrl.trinket.
Nm i found the -service binaries for the boot gatekeeper keymaster libraries etc. think I made some progress but I have to build it and make sure everything gets in the right spot. will keep on keeping on.
The current code I have on my github will boot the stock recovery lol (the build system is being weird)....the build system isn't putting things in the right spot still. I was able to get TWRP to boot by rearranging some things manually, but it isn't pretty. So there is some progress, but the build system is part of the problem at this point at least for android 10. I'm still working on it.
CodyF86 said:
The current code I have on my github will boot the stock recovery lol (the build system is being weird)....the build system isn't putting things in the right spot still. I was able to get TWRP to boot by rearranging some things manually, but it isn't pretty. So there is some progress, but the build system is part of the problem at this point at least for android 10. I'm still working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, do you have a telegram account for easier conversing? I feel we might be able to help each other here?(I'm working on sofiar)
Dark98 said:
Hey, do you have a telegram account for easier conversing? I feel we might be able to help each other here(I'm working on sofiar)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can make one and ill dm you.
Here are my questions so far / some observations.
The init.rc that the twrp build system puts in the build is incorrect. It needs to be manually added...I think there is a flag for that actually, but I had to change it once it was built. (I was able to make it boot to the first screen by dropping in things in /sbin from https://github.com/TeamWin/android_device_motorola_chef)
The build system doesn't add the twrpres folder to the built image lol; or the twrp binaries to /sbin.
I literally had to copy them over from chef.
Also for example servicemanager and hardwaremanager aren't in the chef repo but they are in /sbin when you unpack the recovery image (chef), is the build system building them or putting them in from somewhere or are the repos not actually the final product and they had to hack the image a bit too.
I had ours added in then took it out when I couldnt find them in anyones device tree but they are there when you unpack all of the recovery images lol.
edit: It's actually putting most of the stuff (adbd) and symlinks in /system/bin including the recovery bin which is twrp, so let me readjust the init scripts.
our device is different it still has /system and not system_root.
another edit: Looking at android_bootable_recovery/crypto/ex4crypt I think im missing some libraries still.
Okay, if/when you do message me on there please, I hardly check XDA other than when I'm updating a Rom I maintain? @Dark998 is my username
@CodyF86
Interested and surprised to see that twrp for native android 10 is in the works.
After reading Dees Troy's article in late 2019 regarding twrp on android 10, I had resigned myself to the notion that twrp is more or less dead for android 10+...
https://twrp.me/site/update/2019/10/23/twrp-and-android-10.html
Hope you're able to get it working!
Q9Nap said:
@CodyF86
Interested and surprised to see that twrp for native android 10 is in the works.
After reading Dees Troy's article in late 2019 regarding twrp on android 10, I had resigned myself to the notion that twrp is more or less dead for android 10+...
https://twrp.me/site/update/2019/10/23/twrp-and-android-10.html
Hope you're able to get it working!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was absolutely able to get it to boot with adb up but with no touch screen and it couldn't see any paritions, but ive adjusted the fstab file.
Also slightly embarassed to say I repo synced and forgot to drop twrp 10 back in, but i need a libinit with twrp 10 and it actually gave me a couple solutions to that accidentally doing that, accidentally building aosp recovery once time lol xD
CodyF86 said:
I was absolutely able to get it to boot with adb up but with no touch screen and it couldn't see any paritions, but ive adjusted the fstab file.
Also slightly embarassed to say I repo synced and forgot to drop twrp 10 back in, but i need a libinit with twrp 10 and it actually gave me a couple solutions to that accidentally doing that, accidentally building aosp recovery once time lol xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking that if twrp isn't possible, how difficult would it be to modify stock recovery to remove signature verification?
With stock recovery signature verification disabled, at least side loading would be possible. Thoughts?
Also, I'm willing to help test if needed

Twrp & Mods

Hi ! I have juste my pixel 4a 5g two days new in teampixel now.
I come from oneplus & xiaomi to pixel.
I love it but they hadn't many features on settings ex: status bar remove some icons and center clock.
I have a question do you know when they had a Twrp for it ? And if I root it (Always root my devices for mods) no do format data ? And use remove force encryption ? Only unlock BL and flash boot.img ?
I hope there will be devs who will create mods eg: face id & kernel & custom rom.
Have a good day..
TWRP is going to be awhile due to issues with Pixel devices and the A/B boot system among other things. Patience here is going to be required especially for a newer Pixel device like the 4a 5G.
You can unlock the bootloader the same as you would any Pixel device. That means reboot into the bootloader, type "fastboot flashing unlock" and follow the steps to confirm the unlock. Keep in mind this wipes your device as a factory reset would.
As far as rooting the device, use the canary builds of Magisk to achieve this. Again, the rooting steps are the same as previous pixel devices requiring you to patch the boot.img from the factory image and then flash it via fastboot.
rspkt said:
TWRP is going to be awhile due to issues with Pixel devices and the A/B boot system among other things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A/B has been pretty standard for like 5 years now. I had a nexus 6p, pixel xl, pixel 2xl - all A/B all have TWRP. Even the Pixel 4 is *officially* supported by TWRP now. https://twrp.me/google/googlepixel4xl.html
I've never had to wait this long to get an *UNofficial* working version.
mistermojorizin said:
Even the Pixel 4 is *officially* supported by TWRP now. https://twrp.me/google/googlepixel4xl.html
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Click to collapse
Considering the P4 (a phone released in September 2019) JUST got official support I guess it doesn't seem like that quick of a process to me?
OptoChip said:
Considering the P4 (a phone released in September 2019) JUST got official support I guess it doesn't seem like that quick of a process to me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the p4 got officially supported. usually there's unofficial support pretty quickly.
the other thing i was just pointing out it's not the a/b system like the previous poster said.
Yes but they had many phone with A/B on Android 11 comes recently had Twrp "Oneplus" & "Xiaomi" yes is unofficial but works.
I tthink it's because they had more community.

Unofficial Unofficial TWRP and Gsi Android 11 or 12(kinda)

Hi guys. First post here and I'm not around my files so it will be a straight forward guide with no downloads right now, you're smart, you know where to source them...
Ok first and foremost, Unlock your bootloader, Motorola makes it easy and there are good guides on this site to do that.
Once your bootloader is unlocked your going to look for an Unofficial TWRP package for the Lenovo K12 Pro... "What?", You say... Yep K12 Pro. Download it and jump over to your boot loader and flash it or just boot to it through fastboot and now you have a way to install root permanently, or not if you would rather not, but you have that option now.
Next find the lastest Magisk apk and get that joker installed using TWRP. Now reboot into system and everything should load up as normal BUT now you have root with TWRP recovery. I have did this at least 100 times since figuring it out and sometimes I do this with a fresh factory flash and sometimes I do this as is without even wiping user data before or after. I'm no expert and I don't care to lose my files so on the rare occasion that I do have a boot loop or soft brick, I get myself into recovery and flash ANY of the cebu firmwares and do it all over again...
Ok, so now we know how to get root and custom recovery... Next find an AB version of Gsi 11 or "borrow" the latest system.img from an Android 12 update or firmware image and open up fastboot again and flash only the system.image to the system partition. Wipe or don't wipe, up to how lucky you're feeling, and then reboot to system... 11 will take 2-3 minutes to boot the first time and I had nearly all functionality when it did. 12, well, that's a little different, it took 3-4 minutes to boot to the setup screen and then lagged like crazy BUT it eventually started downloading a few files it was missing and got better. I couldn't get my calls or messaging to work right but I could hear my phone ring but it never called the phone app to open and let me answer... Weird stuff BUT FYI 12 is a pretty nice to look at OS and maybe one of you guys can take this to the next level and get some true usefulness out of it. I know it's not very technical but when one of you true geniuses try it and get it worked out please feel free to post a true guide with proper instruction and proper terms.
That's all I got guys. Thanks for reading this and ALSO if anybody has a complete list of fastboot and adb commands for the g9 Power or the K12 Pro please share them with me. I've gotten better at getting around but I'm not near as good as if like to be.
Obligatory safety PSA:
The Lenovo K12 Pro is just the Moto G9 Power sold under a different name, however, there could be minor differences that could cause problems.
Also, while searching for this unofficial TWRP build, I only found it on websites like unofficialtwrp.com, and the like. I couldn't find one on XDA. I was unable to find the device tree, or the kernel sources used by this website anywhere on the internet, and as such, the TWRP images provided on such websites are literal blackboxes.
TWRP images created and shared on XDA can be trusted, the source code used to create the image is displayed on the posts of the images, and XDA itself is a trusted site.
Here is what the official TWRP team have to say on the matter:
Unofficial TWRP Downloads
Like the TWRP team say, it is up to you to flash these images or not, but be careful.
mistersmee said:
Obligatory safety PSA:
The Lenovo K12 Pro is just the Moto G9 Power sold under a different name, however, there could be minor differences that could cause problems.
Also, while searching for this unofficial TWRP build, I only found it on websites like unofficialtwrp.com, and the like. I couldn't find one on XDA. I was unable to find the device tree, or the kernel sources used by this website anywhere on the internet, and as such, the TWRP images provided on such websites are literal blackboxes.
TWRP images created and shared on XDA can be trusted, the source code used to create the image is displayed on the posts of the images, and XDA itself is a trusted site.
Here is what the official TWRP team have to say on the matter:
Unofficial TWRP Downloads
Like the TWRP team say, it is up to you to flash these images or not, but be careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I posted as a proof of concept so people with more know how could improve upon. Use this at your own discretion and have fun in doing so.
Is there a way you could post a detailed, step by step instructions of this, please?
I've found the unofficial twrp, but haven't rooted a phone in over 2 years, so I'm a bit rusty, plus things have changed a lot these last couple years.
I'd really appreciate if you could take your time for that.
Thanks in advance.
I don't mind helping you out but I can't post publicly because the rules of the forum and the fact that it's unofficial. I'll get a guide wrote up and PM you. I've had no issues with my device at all but remember it is use at your own discretion.
Dauksza72 said:
I don't mind helping you out but I can't post publicly because the rules of the forum and the fact that it's unofficial. I'll get a guide wrote up and PM you. I've had no issues with my device at all but remember it is use at your own discretion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be awesome mate!
I really appreciate that!
Thanks in advance.
Dauksza72 said:
I don't mind helping you out but I can't post publicly because the rules of the forum and the fact that it's unofficial. I'll get a guide wrote up and PM you. I've had no issues with my device at all but remember it is use at your own discretion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to boot into TWRP but when I flash Twrp.img to recovery it won't stick, I always had to do fastboot into recovery if I try to boot into recovery it just reboots back into system, also can't remove any junkware from system, it always gives me error when I tried to remove it using root browser, im still on stock
zfk110 said:
I was able to boot into TWRP but when I flash Twrp.img to recovery it won't stick, I always had to do fastboot into recovery if I try to boot into recovery it just reboots back into system, also can't remove any junkware from system, it always gives me error when I tried to remove it using root browser, im still on stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-unofficial-twrp-3-5-2-cebu.4279917/
for TWRP.
As for removing junkware, as you may or may not know, dynamic partitions is a thing since Android 10. In it, the /system, /product and /vendor partitions have been subsumed under a /super partition. And Google has conveniently used a type of ext4 filesystem for that /super partition, that is read-only.
TL;DR: You cannot modify Android using any sort of "root browser" or inside TWRP, for that matter, anymore.
Off the top of my head, the only way you can remove "junkware" is through some Magisk modules, and even they might not even work.
There are three ways to debloat AFAIK:
Magisk - this is my preferred method. You either replace apks you want removed or empty the /product/etc/nondisable folder so they can be disabled. Takes minimal effort to figure out how to make modules and no scripting knowledge required.
Cross-flashing - you can flash retail software, often including modem firmware, to most Moto phones. The result is a clean system with no carrier junkware.
System R/W Scripts - this is the most nonsensical of the options(IMO), but this option exists if you look around and want to experiment. The big drawback here is that you have to redo everything after every update.
Dauksza72 said:
I don't mind helping you out but I can't post publicly because the rules of the forum and the fact that it's unofficial. I'll get a guide wrote up and PM you. I've had no issues with my device at all but remember it is use at your own discretion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. I know you're new and welcome. I just want you to know, being an unofficial twrp isn't necessarily bad by itself. It's that the sources can't be verified. Lots of devces don't have official TWRPs, yet still have a rockin development section with TWRP instructions, as long as it's shared on a trusted site (I only trust 1 other) and lists it's sources and, even then, it should have the warning. Lots of scam sites target root noobs, as you've probably noticed. I don't think sharing instructions would have been against the rules, but should include a warning to let people know it's a questionable twrp build and it poses a risk, but all of our phones are at risk anyway. We don't have to worry about it anymore though since we have an official and still we are at risk, just far less risk. It comes with the territory. On the other hand, I've been I've been doing this for a very long time with countless phones and I've never noticed any malicious activity on any on any of them.

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