[Q] Ability to replace TWRP with CWM - Omni Q&A

My two devices are a Sony Xperia T and a Google Nexus 10. For the last 24 hours, my Xperia T has tilal's OmniROM build and I'm waiting for some official nightly to install to my N10.
I've seen from Xperia T that OmniROM's recovery of choice is TWRP. Personally speaking, I'm a fan of the simplicity of CWM.
Now my question is, are we able to replace the TWRP recovery with CWM? Or it will break certain things and the phone/tablet will become unusable?
I've found that Nexus 10 has a thread where the newest CWM recovery image file is posted, so changing that will be easy. But for Xperia T (and for Sony devices in general), the Clockworkmod site (http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager) doesn't offer any recoveries. For Xperia T, the last CWM recovery image was posted by tilal more than a year ago, and I believe a lot of things have changed since then.
So, my second question is, in case we are able to replace the default recovery, would it be safe to use one built by the official CWM recovery builder? (http://builder.clockworkmod.com/)
Thanks in advance for any answer!

_Raziel666 said:
My two devices are a Sony Xperia T and a Google Nexus 10. For the last 24 hours, my Xperia T has tilal's OmniROM build and I'm waiting for some official nightly to install to my N10.
I've seen from Xperia T that OmniROM's recovery of choice is TWRP. Personally speaking, I'm a fan of the simplicity of CWM.
Now my question is, are we able to replace the TWRP recovery with CWM? Or it will break certain things and the phone/tablet will become unusable?
I've found that Nexus 10 has a thread where the newest CWM recovery image file is posted, so changing that will be easy. But for Xperia T (and for Sony devices in general), the Clockworkmod site (http://www.clockworkmod.com/rommanager) doesn't offer any recoveries. For Xperia T, the last CWM recovery image was posted by tilal more than a year ago, and I believe a lot of things have changed since then.
So, my second question is, in case we are able to replace the default recovery, would it be safe to use one built by the official CWM recovery builder? (http://builder.clockworkmod.com/)
Thanks in advance for any answer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recovery builder will most likely fail with devices that use a unified kernel (recovery and normal operation in one image). I think Dees_Troy's FOTAKernel trick is implemented on the blue family in addition to the fusion3 family, but I'm not sure.
Building CWM in an omni tree is not possible - CWM has too many tentacles throughout the entire Android source tree to allow it to build, TWRP is much more self-contained.

Entropy512 said:
Recovery builder will most likely fail with devices that use a unified kernel (recovery and normal operation in one image). I think Dees_Troy's FOTAKernel trick is implemented on the blue family in addition to the fusion3 family, but I'm not sure.
Building CWM in an omni tree is not possible - CWM has too many tentacles throughout the entire Android source tree to allow it to build, TWRP is much more self-contained.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer, Entropy512! So, basically, from what I understand there's no way using CWM recovery with any OmniROM build.
I guess we'll have to get used to TWRP, the only problem to that being the fact that I (and many others from what I see in the Xperia T forum) have problem accessing their internal storage using TWRP. Strange thing is that this wasn't the case in CWM.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

_Raziel666 said:
Thank you for your answer, Entropy512! So, basically, from what I understand there's no way using CWM recovery with any OmniROM build.
I guess we'll have to get used to TWRP, the only problem to that being the fact that I (and many others from what I see in the Xperia T forum) have problem accessing their internal storage using TWRP. Strange thing is that this wasn't the case in CWM.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then there's probably a TWRP configuration issue that needs to be resolved in Omni - And it may be a result of temporary KitKat fallout. The recipe for getting storage working on the blue family in kitkat is... convoluted... This is resulting from the fact that the blue family have non-unified storage that is formatted as ext4 AND uses nonstandard UID/GID - no other device has this configuration. It's either FAT on /sdcard or unified storage (/sdcard is emulated on /data/media).
If you find a recent CWM FOTAKernel installation that should work - but almost all FOTAKernel approaches were used to replace CWM with TWRP, not the other way around.

Related

Kernel/bootloader/recovery

Hi guys,
1. What is the advantage/disadvantage of flashing a custom kernel?
2. I recently flashed Cyanogenmod. It automatically installs a custom kernel right?
3. Using the Nexus 7 toolkit I reverted my N7 to stock recovery (from CWM) How should I make sure that it's been reverted to the latest stock version?
4. What does N7's stock factory image contain? (Stock ROM + Stock recovery + Stock kernel?) (found here: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images)
5. Is this correct? You can install a custom ROM without changing the kernel but in order to have more customization you have to flash a different kernel than the stock one.
6. Is this the correct order? Unlocking bootloader>rooting>Flashing custom recovery>Flashing custom kernel>Flashing custom ROM>...?
7. Difference between unlocking bootloader and rooting.
8. How to find out N7's latest stock kernel version.
Many thanx
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
valapsp said:
1. What is the advantage/disadvantage of flashing a custom kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same as those for a stock kernel. That is to say, every kernel has advantages and disadvantages. Some trade performance for battery life, others do the reverse. Some are more feature-heavy and potentially more unstable, others are feature-light but designed to be rock solid. With custom kernels on a Nexus device, you avoid one of the biggest dangers of custom kernels (instability due to lack of kernel source for developers to base their work on), but you still need to be careful. You don't necessarily know how proficient the author of a given kernel is, and the wrong one can make your device unusable/kill it.
valapsp said:
2. I recently flashed Cyanogenmod. It automatically installs a custom kernel right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it does. I don't remember which one though, since I don't use CM.
valapsp said:
3. Using the Nexus 7 toolkit I reverted my N7 to stock recovery (from CWM) How should I make sure that it's been reverted to the latest stock version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to be more specific-- the latest stock ROM, or the latest stock recovery? If you're wondering about the ROM, you can check in Settings > About tablet > Status. When it comes to determining recovery version, I'm not so sure.
valapsp said:
4. What does N7's stock factory image contain? (Stock ROM + Stock recovery + Stock kernel?) (found here: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it contains stock ROM and kernel.
valapsp said:
5. Is this correct? You can install a custom ROM without changing the kernel but in order to have more customization you have to flash a different kernel than the stock one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally correct. There's a subset of features that are kernel-dependent, not ROM dependent, so you should think of it as ROM customizations vs. kernel customizations. Some examples of the former include PIE menus and Paranoid Android's Halo feature. Examples of the latter might include tap2wake (double tap on a powered-off screen to turn it on), NTFS drive support for OTG, and so on.
valapsp said:
6. Is this the correct order? Unlocking bootloader>rooting>Flashing custom recovery>Flashing custom kernel>Flashing custom ROM>...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and no? It's one way of going about it, save for the last two things, which should be reversed. Since some ROMs include custom kernels, flashing a kernel and then a ROM runs the risk of having your kernel choice overwritten.
If all you need to do is flash a different ROM, you can go straight form unlocking the bootloader to flashing a recovery. You can also flash ROMs and kernels independently, so long as whatever kernel/ROM you're running initially doesn't have known incompatibilities with your new ROM/kernel.
valapsp said:
7. Difference between unlocking bootloader and rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocking your bootloader is like getting the key to a house. Rooting is getting permission from the landlord to do whatever the heck you want to the house. A locked bootloader means that the device is checking to ensure no unauthorized code is running at boot time, which prevents custom recoveries from being installed. Rooting only really matters when the device is booted up.
valapsp said:
8. How to find out N7's latest stock kernel version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google. Sorry, can't help you with this one.
That was a great answer @Rirere
Rirere said:
Same as those for a stock kernel. That is to say, every kernel has advantages and disadvantages. Some trade performance for battery life, others do the reverse. Some are more feature-heavy and potentially more unstable, others are feature-light but designed to be rock solid. With custom kernels on a Nexus device, you avoid one of the biggest dangers of custom kernels (instability due to lack of kernel source for developers to base their work on), but you still need to be careful. You don't necessarily know how proficient the author of a given kernel is, and the wrong one can make your device unusable/kill it.
I believe it does. I don't remember which one though, since I don't use CM.
You need to be more specific-- the latest stock ROM, or the latest stock recovery? If you're wondering about the ROM, you can check in Settings > About tablet > Status. When it comes to determining recovery version, I'm not so sure.
I believe it contains stock ROM and kernel.
Generally correct. There's a subset of features that are kernel-dependent, not ROM dependent, so you should think of it as ROM customizations vs. kernel customizations. Some examples of the former include PIE menus and Paranoid Android's Halo feature. Examples of the latter might include tap2wake (double tap on a powered-off screen to turn it on), NTFS drive support for OTG, and so on.
Yes and no? It's one way of going about it, save for the last two things, which should be reversed. Since some ROMs include custom kernels, flashing a kernel and then a ROM runs the risk of having your kernel choice overwritten.
If all you need to do is flash a different ROM, you can go straight form unlocking the bootloader to flashing a recovery. You can also flash ROMs and kernels independently, so long as whatever kernel/ROM you're running initially doesn't have known incompatibilities with your new ROM/kernel.
Unlocking your bootloader is like getting the key to a house. Rooting is getting permission from the landlord to do whatever the heck you want to the house. A locked bootloader means that the device is checking to ensure no unauthorized code is running at boot time, which prevents custom recoveries from being installed. Rooting only really matters when the device is booted up.
Google. Sorry, can't help you with this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all many many thanx to you because of your help. Yes I meant stock RECOVERY in question 3 also the way you explained question #7 is awesome.
Now I'm running stock ROM on CWM recovery and Franco kernel. My question is that will I be able to upgrade to Android 4.3 with this recovery and kernel? Or I have to flash the stock kernel or stock recovery or both?
Also how can I extract the stock kernel from the factory stock image file?
Thanx again.
valapsp said:
First of all many many thanx to you because of your help. Yes I meant stock RECOVERY in question 3 also the way you explained question #7 is awesome.
Now I'm running stock ROM on CWM recovery and Franco kernel. My question is that will I be able to upgrade to Android 4.3 with this recovery and kernel? Or I have to flash the stock kernel or stock recovery or both?
Also how can I extract the stock kernel from the factory stock image file?
Thanx again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OTA updates are normally only applied to the rom/system, so in theory you should be able to just run the OTA update with the stock rom, the worst that would mainly happen is losing rooting because the system partition gets replaced with a fresh install of the newest operating system (but your /data retains your settings and user data).
I use TWRP recovery instead of CWM, and TWRP when you're bout to exit it will detect if your system has Supersu or not and will offer to install it for you (from there once you boot into the system you can use it to install the su binary for you thus re-rooting).
In the end it's a personal choice. With custom roms like I'm using, there's no real "OTA" update (just a notice that the rom creators use to notify you of new versions which are downloaded to the device, and you just reboot into recovery to flash them). Custom roms typically get updated a few days to a few weeks after google updates if they're AOSP based.
The stock kernel would normally be the boot image, I don't know how you would do it with clockwork mod, but in TWRP you can simply make a backup of the boot partition to retain the original stock kernel. (It will of course only work on AOSP-based roms if you choose to just flash the stock kernel, but the ones that are made for the rom, or custom kernels tend to offer optimizations over the original stock one).
Thanks, I meant extracting the stock kernel from factory image file found here:
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
By the way I don't have the stock kernel anymore to back it up.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
valapsp said:
Thanks, I meant extracting the stock kernel from factory image file found here:
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
By the way I don't have the stock kernel anymore to back it up.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh I see, well if your's is the Wifi-only version then would be something like this https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#nakasijdq39
The firmwares are basically gzipped tarballs (in a linux system tar zxvf would normally unpack em, otherwise 7zip for windows does a good job of unpacking it into a folder).
Alternatively you can just download the kernel itself (Post #3) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2151154
Edit: Yes if you un-gzip/untar the original firmware, then unpack image-nakasi-jdq39.zip inside of that, there will be a boot.img that's where the kernel lives. The boot.img can be flashed via fastboot to the boot partition (I'd advise reading up on this first before actually doing it). Though like linked above, there are some recovery-flashible versions of the stock kernel you can use instead.
kbeezie said:
Ahh I see, well if your's is the Wifi-only version then would be something like this https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#nakasijdq39
The firmwares are basically gzipped tarballs (in a linux system tar zxvf would normally unpack em, otherwise 7zip for windows does a good job of unpacking it into a folder).
Alternatively you can just download the kernel itself (Post #3) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2151154
Edit: Yes if you un-gzip/untar the original firmware, then unpack image-nakasi-jdq39.zip inside of that, there will be a boot.img that's where the kernel lives. The boot.img can be flashed via fastboot to the boot partition (I'd advise reading up on this first before actually doing it). Though like linked above, there are some recovery-flashible versions of the stock kernel you can use instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, I actually did unzip the stock firmware seconds ago and was posting the results then I saw your edit.
Just there are some confusions here: what is that userdata.img? also what is bootloader-grouper-4.18.img
valapsp said:
thanks, I actually did unzip the stock firmware seconds ago and was posting the results then I saw your edit.
Just there are some confusions here: what is that userdata.img? also what is bootloader-grouper-4.18.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bootloader img would be the original stock bootloader for the Nexus 7, chances are you never replaced it, you only unlocked it. There's usually no reason to replace the bootloader with a custom one since all you need to do is unlock it.
userdata.img would be the /data partition. The firmware download basically has a image for all of the partition in the original out-of-the-box stock state. Technically you don't even to flash it, as long as you wiped /data before rebooting (since that would be the same as a clean install if you instead flashed the system and boot partition).
Edit: If I were messing with it to get back stock rom (but not messing with recovery, cuz custom recovery is still handy to have), I would only flash the boot.img and system.img , then log into Recovery and wipe data (ie: factory reset which wipes cache and /data but doesn't touch /data/media), Then I would be able to reboot into a clean stock install of the rom.
(from there I could just make a backup from recovery so I wouldn't have to do a fastboot flash again).
kbeezie said:
The OTA updates are normally only applied to the rom/system, so in theory you should be able to just run the OTA update with the stock rom, the worst that would mainly happen is losing rooting because the system partition gets replaced with a fresh install of the newest operating system (but your /data retains your settings and user data).
I use TWRP recovery instead of CWM, and TWRP when you're bout to exit it will detect if your system has Supersu or not and will offer to install it for you (from there once you boot into the system you can use it to install the su binary for you thus re-rooting).
In the end it's a personal choice. With custom roms like I'm using, there's no real "OTA" update (just a notice that the rom creators use to notify you of new versions which are downloaded to the device, and you just reboot into recovery to flash them). Custom roms typically get updated a few days to a few weeks after google updates if they're AOSP based.
The stock kernel would normally be the boot image, I don't know how you would do it with clockwork mod, but in TWRP you can simply make a backup of the boot partition to retain the original stock kernel. (It will of course only work on AOSP-based roms if you choose to just flash the stock kernel, but the ones that are made for the rom, or custom kernels tend to offer optimizations over the original stock one).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, how many times does should matter? Theoretically, you should be able to do OTAs while rooted by downloading the ZIP and flashing in recovery, but if you've made changes to /system (uninstalling a system app, or adding a helper), you might get the stupid script_assert error. Of course, you could just push the whole /system back to your device...although that can be just as annoying.
I wish there were away to turn off the script_asserts safely, but they do exist for a reason.
@valapsp
Small but important clarification.
valapsp said:
5. Is this correct? You can install a custom ROM without changing the kernel but in order to have more customization you have to flash a different kernel than the stock one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Essentially 100% of custom ROMs install a kernel. (Actually, a kernel plus a ramdisk packaged together as a single ("bootable image") file, typically named "boot.img".) So your preexisting boot image containing the kernel is always overwritten during a ROM installation. See next answer.
valapsp said:
6. Is this the correct order? Unlocking bootloader>rooting>Flashing custom recovery>Flashing custom kernel>Flashing custom ROM>...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost, but not quite. If you want to use a different kernel than what ships with a given ROM, you flash it after you have installed the ROM, not beforehand. See prior answer.
One more thing. Since you are new to this stuff, I'll make a suggestion:
Learn how to create and restore full Nandroid backups (using the custom recovery) immediately. And get in the habit of copying them off your tablet to your PC. You will thank me later for this advice.
have fun
Rirere said:
Unfortunately, how many times does should matter? Theoretically, you should be able to do OTAs while rooted by downloading the ZIP and flashing in recovery, but if you've made changes to /system (uninstalling a system app, or adding a helper), you might get the stupid script_assert error. Of course, you could just push the whole /system back to your device...although that can be just as annoying.
I wish there were away to turn off the script_asserts safely, but they do exist for a reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Rirere...
This is my understanding as well... (sort of! - I've always been a bit hazy on this topic).
My take on it is this...
The OTA would only fail, if it found files in /system that SHOULD BE THERE, but have been removed, modified, or replaced by the user (or via some app run by the user).
Logically (one would think), the OTA can't check for files THAT SHOULDN'T BE THERE (How would it know what to look for?) but have been ADDED by the user... like the su binary that confers root.
So, an OTA on pure ROOTED (but in all other regards, unadulterated) stock you would expect to succeed... you'd just lose root (and from what I've read elsewhere, your Custom Recovery). Both of which are trivial to recover.
Is my understanding correct... or have I missed something?
Rgrds,
Ged.
GedBlake said:
Hi, Rirere...
This is my understanding as well... (sort of! - I've always been a bit hazy on this topic).
My take on it is this...
The OTA would only fail, if it found files in /system that SHOULD BE THERE, but have been removed, modified, or replaced by the user (or via some app run by the user).
Logically (one would think), the OTA can't check for files THAT SHOULDN'T BE THERE (How would it know what to look for?) but have been ADDED by the user... like the su binary that confers root.
So, an OTA on pure ROOTED (but in all other regards, unadulterated) stock you would expect to succeed... you'd just lose root (and from what I've read elsewhere, your Custom Recovery). Both of which are trivial to recover.
Is my understanding correct... or have I missed something?
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you are correct! Theoretically, the script could rather easily check for added files by checksumming the entire /system partition before running the update (using a fast hash algorithm-- you're only looking for the presence of any changes, afterall). And I did have one OTA that went fine, other than losing root back on my Galaxy Nexus.
Again though, it's a classic case of should versus real life. Some root methods might alter things in /system without your knowing, or root actions might alter permissions. Either way, it's a tricky, nasty little game.
So far as recoveries go: yeah, OTAs have a nasty habit of trying to do that. Some of the more advanced recoveries can resist being overwritten though/slipstream a root ZIP into the update process.
GedBlake said:
The OTA would only fail, if it found files in /system that SHOULD BE THERE, but have been removed, modified, or replaced by the user (or via some app run by the user).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typically the OTAs also update the boot image, so the boot partition (LNX) is also checked. The stock recoveries almost always use the same kernel (with a different ramdisk) as the boot image, so they are usually rewritten too.
Owners of tilapia N7 devices have reported successful flashing of everything but radio firmware images when they used a custom recovery to process the OTA bundle. Not a disaster, as their devices will still function with old radio firmware, but it puts them in an unusual position of being unable to use the OTA to subsequently update the radio, even if they restore the stock recovery (the system files and boot images will have been changed, so almost all of the checksums will fail). At that point, using fastboot is an alternate option, but then the newbs will need to read about OTA images, unpack them, yadda yadda yadda.
IMO it is just a dumb idea applying OTAs to anything but a pure stock device. And when I say pure stock, I mean including the stock recovery. The boot loader can be left unlocked, but that's about it.
There are a lot of ways to skin the cat, but IMO the best way to proceed is to operate with two parallel but independent tracks of Nandroid backups/restores: one track is a sequence of pure stock, and the other your customized ROM du jour.
Let's presume you have a Nandroid backup of the pure stock ROM. Make a backup of your current (customized) ROM & get it copied off the tablet (in the event of a disaster), restore the pure stock ROM nandroid backup, flash the stock recovery back to the tab, and then take the OTA.
At this point:
[ unlocked bootloader ] soft-boot (no flashing) a custom recovery using fastboot, and then make yet another Nandroid backup of the newly updated stock ROM including the recovery image. (This becomes the new baseline for future OTAs)
[ locked bootloader ] re-root with motochopper, capture the (new) stock recovery partition using 'dd', flash a custom recovery ('dd' or other method), make a Nandroid of this. (These two backups become the new baseline for future OTAs)
Then, repeat any rooting customizations (if you are a "lightly customized rooted stock" kinda person), and restore apps (Market apps only!) with TiBu.
This may seem like a great deal of work, but it is the only way to insure that you can revert to a prior starting position. Look: after going down a road like this you can even restore the old customized ROM backup to make TiBu app backups after the fact, simply because you can return to any point in time if you have made a backup (and kept a copy of it off the tablet).
Everybody makes mistakes - even the experts. But the lazier folks are (read: toolkit user) the more likely is a disaster. Everybody needs to make backups.
What will happen if I change some values in build.prop editor? I won't be able to install stock ROMs anymore? Or what?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
valapsp said:
What will happen if I change some values in build.prop editor? I won't be able to install stock ROMs anymore? Or what?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on how you mean "install", you can always install via .img or recovery flashing method, but course that will overwrite your build.prop with the provided version and you would just have to re-edit the values again.
Did you mean OTA wise? If the update doesn't check for the hash of the build.prop, it will likely just replace it with a newer version if anything has changed from the last version to the new version.
As others have said, worse case scenario, the OTA fails to proceed due to errors and you would just have to manually update it yourself, as you could just flash a new boot.img and system.img from google's site (just have to remember anything you added on top of system or custom kernels will of course be reverted, so they will need to be reapplied).
Settings and user apps and such all live in /data , so it should just simply boot up as an upgraded system but with everything else intact (course I always make a backup via my custom recovery just in case).
kbeezie said:
Depends on how you mean "install", you can always install via .img or recovery flashing method, but course that will overwrite your build.prop with the provided version and you would just have to re-edit the values again.
Did you mean OTA wise? If the update doesn't check for the hash of the build.prop, it will likely just replace it with a newer version if anything has changed from the last version to the new version.
As others have said, worse case scenario, the OTA fails to proceed due to errors and you would just have to manually update it yourself, as you could just flash a new boot.img and system.img from google's site (just have to remember anything you added on top of system or custom kernels will of course be reverted, so they will need to be reapplied).
Settings and user apps and such all live in /data , so it should just simply boot up as an upgraded system but with everything else intact (course I always make a backup via my custom recovery just in case).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, and does backing up thru cwm also back up the build.prop?
valapsp said:
Thanks, and does backing up thru cwm also back up the build.prop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but not in the way you're thinking. If you back up the whole system, CWM will package each partition up (/system /data , etc), so when you flash a new rom or system on, you can't just selectively restore build.prop since restoring in CWM Would also restore the entire system partition.
You can while in recovery, mount /system and do something like
adb pull /system/build.prop , and save a copy of it on your computer, so you can go back in and change the affected values back if for some reason you needed to.
If you're familiar with ghosting, nandroid backups (what CWM and most others do, minus some variations), are basically exact clones of all the files on each partition. Older recoveries actually took an image snapshot, newer ones basically pack all the files in a compressed archive (With some kind of note of what partition type it was, ext4, etc). The latter can easily be unpacked with tar, or 7zip, etc, but disk images are a different matter.
I can't remember which one CWM does exactly since on my DZ I use 4EXT, and on my Nexus devices I use TWRP.
kbeezie said:
Yes, but not in the way you're thinking. If you back up the whole system, CWM will package each partition up (/system /data , etc), so when you flash a new rom or system on, you can't just selectively restore build.prop since restoring in CWM Would also restore the entire system partition.
You can while in recovery, mount /system and do something like
adb pull /system/build.prop , and save a copy of it on your computer, so you can go back in and change the affected values back if for some reason you needed to.
If you're familiar with ghosting, nandroid backups (what CWM and most others do, minus some variations), are basically exact clones of all the files on each partition. Older recoveries actually took an image snapshot, newer ones basically pack all the files in a compressed archive (With some kind of note of what partition type it was, ext4, etc). The latter can easily be unpacked with tar, or 7zip, etc, but disk images are a different matter.
I can't remember which one CWM does exactly since on my DZ I use 4EXT, and on my Nexus devices I use TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, an easier way is to copy the build.prop thru a file manager.
But since I'm on my geek mood today I wanna know if it's possible to extract the backed up (Nandroid) file and find the build.prop somewhere there.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
valapsp said:
Thanks, an easier way is to copy the build.prop thru a file manager.
But since I'm on my geek mood today I wanna know if it's possible to extract the backed up (Nandroid) file and find the build.prop somewhere there.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a backup done with 4EXT or TWRP most certainly since it's just a tarball package (or tar+gzipped if you enabled compression) and can be easily unpacked by tar, or any popular archive utility like 7Zip for windows. (restoration generally just looks at the file info to see what partition type it's supposed to be, formats the partition as such, and then just un-tars the content, with the permissions and such retained).
If it's older where it's an actual jaffs (may have spelled that wrong) disk image, I'm not sure off the top of my head how you would mount it as a disk , and then mount the ext4 or ext3 partition in order to get to it. I would assume ClockworkMod would have upgraded their backup method to the same as TWRP or 4EXT, but it's possible that they didn't for compatibility reasons.

Download KitKat CM11 4.4.2 for Nook HD+ Here

Time to get the Nook HD+ rolling on Kitkat! XDA forum member succulent (aka Iamafanof) has given me permission to post a link to his blog with all the necessary info that you need, plus the all important links to download his CM11 4.4.2 roms.
I had previously been running his CM 10.2 builds with sgt7 and they were great. Now, been running his CM11 builds since 12/16 and they are very functional and run extremely well.
It is highly recommended that you read over his blog to get the info you need to properly flash it. It's likely that your current recovery, be it CWM or TWRP will be unable to flash 4.4. You can try and if it fails, download the zip recoveries for either CWM 6.0.4.5.x or TWRP 2.6.3.0 on succulent's website listed below. Succulent recommends CWM but I've had great success with both of them. If you have a problem flashing the recovery zip, extract the image file from the zip and flash either through ADB or the PS app flashify from within your OS. EDIT: You do need to update your recovery to one of the above-mentioned recoveries.
Note: succulent's 4.4 builds are scripted to automatically install CWM 6.0.4.5b when installing the rom. But, the catch-22 is that you need to already have CWM 6.0.4.5.x or TWRP 2.6.3.0 to install 4.4 roms. EDIT 01/14/14: Currently, succulent's builds are now scripted to automatically install TWRP 2.6.3.0 instead of CWM 6.0.4.5b.
New TWRP 2.6.3.0 and CWM 6.0.4.5.x recoveries: http://goo.im/devs/succulent/ovation/recovery If you choose CWM, 6.0.4.5b is preferred as it supports both internal and ext sdcard.
Needless to say, make a nandoid backup before proceeding and if you're not comfortable doing this...DON'T!
Link to succulent's blogsite with download links: http://iamafanof.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/cm11-0-kitkat-android-4-4-2-for-nook-hd-xx-20dec2013/
Note: There are two different builds, one for internal (eMMc) and one for sdcard, be sure to download and install the correct one. I am using the eMMc build,so I don't have any knowledge of how the sdcard build is working.
Additional link to succulent's rom builds on Goo: http://goo.im/devs/succulent/ovation/cyanogenmod/internal
On the Goo site, he also has his CM 10.2 builds that might be of interest to some of you. Note: His CM10.2 rom builds automatically install TWRP 2.6.3.0.
You must use KitKat 4.4 gapps. A gapps link is provided on succulent's blog site. Either use those gapps or the PA zero day gapps linked below. If you are going to use ART, it's recommended that you do use the PA zero day gapps for best compatibility. If you don't know what ART runtime is, google it!
All credit for the rom builds, as well as the new recovery images goes to succulent (aka Iamafanof). I am just spreading the news so we can all finally have KitKat on our devices.
EDIT: Just a reminder regarding the newer recoveries, CWM 6.0.4.5.x and TWRP 2.6.3.0, they are in flashable zip form on succulent's blogsite linked above. If you run into a problem flashing the zip, one of the simplest ways to get the job done is with Flashify. Just unzip the recovery zip to get the image file. Put the image file on your device and flash it with Flashify. Play Store link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cgollner.flashify
Regarding ART runtime: Since it's still "experimental", YMMV with the results you get. Google may decide ART isn't feasible and dump it going forward.
Note: Not all gapps packages are ART compatible, at this time it is probably best to use the Paranoid Android zero day gapps. Link for PA gapps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2397942 Be sure to choose the current 4.4 gapps.
With ART runtime, it is generally better to initiate it on a fresh rom install and before you install all of your user apps. Btw, it's normal for it to take a long time to initialize on the first reboot. , I found that it generally takes a while to "settle in" and should become more fluid/speedier over time.
Always be sure to have a nandroid backup so you can easily go back to dalvik if ART isn't your thing.
One last thing about ART, Xposed Framework does not yet support it. It will appear to work but it does not. Matter of fact, with Xposed installed on your device, it will revert ART runtime back to Dalvik. Since I love using Xposed, this has kept me from using ART except to test it.
EDIT: Hey guys, just posting as new stuff comes up. Here's another possible alternative for those that may have a problem with either of the internal recoveries. XDA member sandsofmyst has put together a bootable TWRP 2.6.3.0 sdcard installer. If you use it, please post your results here and don't forget to give sandsofmyst a thanks click.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48549135#post48549135
Enjoy!
Mike T
I'm in my kitkat glory right now. happy, happy, joy, joy.
Makes sure to update CWM BEFORE flashing CM11. Trust me, I lost 30 minutes trying to ungoober my Nook HD+.
supergroverthm said:
I'm in my kitkat glory right now. happy, happy, joy, joy.
Makes sure to update CWM BEFORE flashing CM11. Trust me, I lost 30 minutes trying to ungoober my Nook HD+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good tip and we always learn by trying. :laugh: I already had TWRP 2.6.3.0 from a previous rom, so my install of 4.4 was quick and painless. LOL
If you haven't already, hook this baby up with Xposed module by rovo89. Some really cool extra features without bogging things down with stuff you don't want or need.
Mike T
Oohh, I'm very very interested in this. Kept saying about memory optimizations for lower end device, have you noticed much performance differences? Pretty stable? Bluetooth, hdmi and everything work?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Wow. Just wow
So now that you built it, can we expect it to become an official release soonish?
Thanks a lot for your work!
Hi, I just bought two nook hd+ one for me and one for my parents as a christmas present.
Beautiful devices, the only problem is that it does not provide italian as interface language,also all the appdownloaded from the play store are in english and I can't find a way to change that. My parents reallyneed the italian language sadly they don'tspeak a word of english....
So now I'm here wondering if this cyanogenmods have the italian language.
Saluti
Luca
superanima said:
Hi, I just bought two nook hd+ one for me and one for my parents as a christmas present.
Beautiful devices, the only problem is that it does not provide italian as interface language,also all the appdownloaded from the play store are in english and I can't find a way to change that. My parents reallyneed the italian language sadly they don'tspeak a word of english....
So now I'm here wondering if this cyanogenmods have the italian language.
Saluti
Luca
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I looked in the Language+input section under settings and Italiano (Italia) and Italiano (Svizzera) are in there. I was able to switch to them and then...not be able to read anything so I'm assuming it's right. haha. Going into the Play Store all of the app names are still english but their descriptions changed so, it seems like it mostly works. I believe language support is an app-to-app basis though, so if the app developer didn't include Italian tranlations then it's going to be in English or whatever native language the App is in. I'm not totally sure how the language support works. Maybe someone else with more info can fill in my blanks.
On to this ROM as a whole, I've been playing with it, coming from CarbonRom 10.2 and haven't noticed much difference but I dig it none-the-less. I've tested Bluetooth headphones and my HDMI adapter and both work just fine. If anyone is wanting me to test anything let me know.
Have you enabled ART?
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
aedgington said:
Have you enabled ART?
Sent from my GT-N7105 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Going into Settings>Dev Options and changing the runtime to ART and then rebooting...it doesn't get stuck in a bootloop, but going back into the Dev options shows that the Runtime option is still Dalvik and not ART so... I don't think that is there yet.
Wow, I have 342mb RAM Aavailable with GAPPS installed according to cool tool!
I've enabled ART and its showing on dev options. What's the deal with this new method? Is it better, faster, etc?
felacio said:
Going into Settings>Dev Options and changing the runtime to ART and then rebooting...it doesn't get stuck in a bootloop, but going back into the Dev options shows that the Runtime option is still Dalvik and not ART so... I don't think that is there yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks for checking. I think that may be where we'll see some performance increase, but if it's not implemented yet, there's no rush for me to install
aedgington said:
Awesome, thanks for checking. I think that may be where we'll see some performance increase, but if it's not implemented yet, there's no rush for me to install
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is showing ART in dev option after reboot...
supergroverthm said:
Mine is showing ART in dev option after reboot...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you noticed any difference between ART and Dalvik?
aedgington;4872557[LEFT said:
[/LEFT]0]Have you noticed any difference between ART and Dalvik?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only that more RAM is available. Now showing 390mb RAM available.
Flashing CWM
Sorry for the bit of a newb question, but how are you getting the CWM update in there? My prior ROM flashing, I had just used the bootable SD card image that verygreen had setup. I don't know how to update the version of CWM on that image currently.
When I put CWM on my phone, I had used fastboot to install it, but I can't get fastboot to recognize my nook for some reason (adb works fine). Did you use this method (from cwm site)?:
EDIT: This doesn't work... flash_image seems to be scanning for some partition that's not available:
"error scanning partitions: No such file or directory"
Code:
adb push c:\flash_image /sdcard/
adb push c:\recovery.img /sdcard/
adb shell
su
mount -o remount, rw /system
cp /sdcard/flash_image /system/bin
cd /system/bin
chmod 777 flash_image
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img
Nook HD Kitkat
chili81 said:
Sorry for the bit of a newb question, but how are you getting the CWM update in there? My prior ROM flashing, I had just used the bootable SD card image that verygreen had setup. I don't know how to update the version of CWM on that image currently.
When I put CWM on my phone, I had used fastboot to install it, but I can't get fastboot to recognize my nook for some reason (adb works fine). Did you use this method (from cwm site)?:
Code:
adb push c:\flash_image /sdcard/
adb push c:\recovery.img /sdcard/
adb shell
su
mount -o remount, rw /system
cp /sdcard/flash_image /system/bin
cd /system/bin
chmod 777 flash_image
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I placed the files on my internal SDCard/Download and TWRP could see them and I installed.
Went here to get the zip file http://www.mediafire.com/download/c32pw4qf1l9a0mu/flash_recovery_TWRP_2.6.3.0_internal.zip
After installing the new TWRP and reboot I reset the old ROM then installed the new ROM and GAPPS.
norm883
That did the trick, thanks... I was thinking the older CWM would have same problem updating to newer CWM as it would KitKat.
Flashed TWRP 2.6.3, rebooted then tried to install 4.4 and got a mount/data1 error.
I'll guess I'll try with the new CWM.
Does anyone know if the new CWM can read and restore TWRP back-ups?
EDIT: rebooted then booted back into TWRP 2.6.3.
So far so good, flashing GAPPS now.
All good.
Decided to put some extra notes here for those that only read the last page. Also put this in the OP.
Just a reminder regarding the newer recoveries, CWM 6.0.4.5 and TWRP 2.6.3.0, they are in flashable zip form on succulent's blogsite linked above. You should be reading his blog info anyway, so just scroll untill you see the links for those recoveries. If you run into a problem flashing the zip, one of the simplest ways to get the job done is with Flashify. Just unzip the recovery zip to get the image file. Put the image file on your device and flash it with Flashify right from within you current OS, ie; CM10.2 etc.
Regarding ART runtime: Since it's still "experimental", YMMV with the results you get. Also, Google may decide ART isn't feasible and dump it going forward.
A couple of things to note, not all gapps packages are ART compatible, the gapps I linked from 1209 do work, I'm not sure about the ones linked on succulent's blogsite from 1208. I believe the PA zero day gapps are also ART compatible.
With ART runtime, it is generally better to initiate it on a fresh rom install and before you install all of your user apps. Btw, it's normal for it to take a long time to initialize on the first reboot. I found that it generally takes a while to "settle in" and should become more fluid/speedier overtime.
Always be sure to have a nandroid backup so you can easily go back to dalvik if ART isn't your thing.
One last thing about ART, Xposed Framework does not yet support it. It will appear to work but it does not. Matter of fact, with Xposed installed on your device, it will revert ART runtime back to Dalvik. Since I love using Xposed, this has kept me from using ART except to test it.
Mike T
FirePsych said:
Flashed TWRP 2.6.3, rebooted then tried to install 4.4 and got a mount/data1 error.
I'll guess I'll try with the new CWM.
Does anyone know if the new CWM can read and restore TWRP back-ups?
EDIT: rebooted then booted back into TWRP 2.6.3.
So far so good, flashing GAPPS now.
All good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM and TWRP backups are not compatible, probably never will be unless some third party dev figures something out.
Mike T

[Q&A] [MOD][SEP 14] MultiROM v28 (Redesigned GUI!)

Q&A for [MOD][SEP 14] MultiROM v28 (Redesigned GUI!)
Some developers prefer that questions remain separate from their main development thread to help keep things organized. Placing your question within this thread will increase its chances of being answered by a member of the community or by the developer. Thanks for understanding and for helping to keep XDA neat and tidy! :smile:
I'm trying to get ubuntu touch RTM running with MultiRom on my Nexus 4, and it's erroring out on boot. When I try to view the log it seems like it gets overwritten by the log for the successful android boot every time I try and get the phone to a place where I can actually access it.
I couldn't find a way to view it through recovery, and copying it to the sd card doesn't give an option to re-name, so it gets overwritten. How can I actually view the log?
rooting secondary rom
Tassadar, i have your lollipop factory image installed as secondary rom. I have a question about rooting it. I have read in other threads one cannot just flash supersu zip for root to work, that people are using CF Autoroot instead. Would this method overwrite multirom recovery ? Could you say best method for rooting. Thanks
does this contain the new radio, bootloader etc?
Solved by flashing permissive boot image zip from skypompos thread and super su 2.19 zip.
Grabbed lrx21t_mako.zip from OP's basketbuild site, fresh installed as secondary ROM, stuck at boot animation forever.
Primary ROM is stock 4.4.4, with latest 4.4.4 kernel+1105recovery+v29 all installed by multirom.
5.0.1
Hey man,
I know its just out,
but a 5.0.1 LRX22C_mako.zip would be awesome!
Thanks
question
Hi, can i use multirom on my nexus 4 with lollipop? And can i use as secondary rom a rom based on kitkat?
Does MultiRom work on lg optimus g (e975) mako unlocked and by modifying build prop to nexus 4?
[Q]
Hey , i just downloaded 5.0.1 and flashed my nexus 4 with stock 5.0.1 , rooted and flashed custom recovery too, used your kernel for 5.0.1,and flashed your custom TWRP
installed multirom and now, TWRP->Advance..->Multirom->Add new rom -> android-> zip-> and here, renamed my " occam-jdq39-factory-345dc199.tgz (4.2.2)" to " occam-jdq39-factory-345dc199.ZIP" to be able to flash ZIP
when i select " occam-jdq39-factory-345dc199.zip " to flash as secondry ROM ,after 1sec TWRP restart, i mean it close itself and reopen at TWRP main page, and then i can see "occam-jdq39-factory-345dc199" in rom list
but cant boot it and getting error
(log file attached)
whats wrong?
How do I restore a backup of any secondary ROM?
Hey, I have just made a back up of the data partition of my secondary ROM but, when I tried to restore it I realised that it's only possible to restore a back up for the primary ROM. There's any way to do that? Thanks.
[A]
Eraicos said:
Hey, I have just made a back up of the data partition of my secondary ROM but, when I tried to restore it I realised that it's only possible to restore a back up for the primary ROM. There's any way to do that? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
You can Swap your roms, swap primary with secondary, restore your data partition backup, then swap back,
Stuck at google logo.
Hi everyone, first post here, two days after buying this phone and I'm already in trouble.
I followed the instructions to use MultiROM to add Ubuntu Touch; and everything was fine, until I decided I wanted RW access. Then, I had the idea to sudo apt-get upgrade within Ubuntu... it failed to complete the installation of the packages (though it had space... I think), then I tried to reboot the phone.
Now it gets stuck at the google logo; and if you press the power button to shut it down, it starts again after a second or two.
I can access recovery mode pressing the three buttons, and within, I get to MultiROM TWRP by choosing "Recovery Mode"; but there's a lot of options here and I could not find anything that allows me to boot on either Android ("Internal" seems to be gone) or Ubuntu.
I'm an experienced linux user but -as can be seen- this is my first foray with Android, smartphones, and the like.
Let me know what other information should I provide; and thanks in advance for your help.
Gorsh said:
Hi everyone, first post here, two days after buying this phone and I'm already in trouble.
I followed the instructions to use MultiROM to add Ubuntu Touch; and everything was fine, until I decided I wanted RW access. Then, I had the idea to sudo apt-get upgrade within Ubuntu... it failed to complete the installation of the packages (though it had space... I think), then I tried to reboot the phone.
Now it gets stuck at the google logo; and if you press the power button to shut it down, it starts again after a second or two.
I can access recovery mode pressing the three buttons, and within, I get to MultiROM TWRP by choosing "Recovery Mode"; but there's a lot of options here and I could not find anything that allows me to boot on either Android ("Internal" seems to be gone) or Ubuntu.
I'm an experienced linux user but -as can be seen- this is my first foray with Android, smartphones, and the like.
Let me know what other information should I provide; and thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nevermind. I flashed everything from scratch and now the phone is back on its feet.
I am not sure what is the problem, but adding specific radio images for secondary ROMs is not working. I tried with Sailfish OS and MIUI to include older radio images for them to work, but nothing changed.
Update primary rom
Hello.
I want to do a clean install of euphoria as the main rom. If I do I might lose the second rom?
Thank you for your attention.
Noelito3 said:
Hello.
I want to do a clean install of euphoria as the main rom. If I do I might lose the second rom?
Thank you for your attention.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to the main thread in the section update /modify not
---------- Post added at 04:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 PM ----------
silly question maybe but if I want to make my secondary rom the interal one and wipe the current internal, a copy secondary to internal would just do that right?
I wanted to do a swap first to be on the safe side, but I don't have enough free space for that
other remark : the app doesn't see that Ubuntu touch us already installed?
Multirom Ubuntu touch start error
İ have an issue about Ubuntu touch. İ installed multirom and installed what it recomemmends. İ installed Ubuntu stable with multirom. İt installed and opened first time. i choose my lang. etc . İt says phone is ready but there is an ubuntu icon rolling. Nothing else... İ cannot skip this icon. i Waited 1 hour or more 3 times. i have a nexus 4 with stock 5.1
I have some wondering what bothers me:
1. Internal rom is mounted read-only ?
2. Matter where I install the rom that I use more often,daily use ?
3. In system I do not realize if it moves slower but in recovery does(and load slower at startup),it can influence the performances and battery life in system?

[RECOVERY] Simple CM Touch Recovery for (almost) all 2012, 2013, 2014 Xperias.

Hi folks,
Publishing recoveries has become a habit now
Bringing you simpleCM recovery images for all 2012+ Xperias
Download recoveries from here
http://files.championswimmer.in/?developer=championswimmer&folder=./recovery/cm
NOTE: Using 3rd party recoveries via FOTAKernel is only supported by AOKP/CM/PA/Omni based kernels. If you kernel has a /sbin/extract_elf_ramdisk file then only it can support this method.
For Xperia Z Ultra / Z1 or newer device you can do
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
for older devices you'll have to do
Code:
adb push recovery.img /sdcard
adb shell dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/FOTAKernel
My Xperia Recovery Manager app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.championswimmer.twrpxperia also has support for downloading and flashing these.
======================================================
Simple CM recovery is a recovery project under CyanogenMod by AOKP veteran developer and Cyanogen employee Tom Marshall ( tdm ).
The sources are compiled from here https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_bootable_recovery-cm
The kernels in the images are the same as the ones bundled with AOKP Oct 18 nightlies.
Thanks.
@Bin4ry @Androxyde
feel free to add these to FlashTool recoveries if you want
championswimmer said:
Hi folks,
Publishing recoveries has become a habit now
Bringing you simpleCM recovery images for all 2012+ Xperias
Download recoveries from here
http://files.championswimmer.in/?developer=championswimmer&folder=./recovery/cm
For Xperia Z Ultra / Z1 or newer device you can do
Code:
fastboot flash reocvery recovery.img
for older devices you'll have to do
Code:
adb push recovery.img /sdcard
adb shell dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/FOTAKernel
My Xperia Recovery Manager app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.championswimmer.twrpxperia also has support for downloading and flashing these.
======================================================
Simple CM recovery is a recovery project under CyanogenMod by AOKP veteran developer and Cyanogen employee Tom Marshall ( tdm ).
The sources are compiled from here https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_bootable_recovery-cm
The kernels in the images are the same as the ones bundled with AOKP Oct 18 nightlies.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have SONY XPERIA Z with Stock 4.4.4 ROM (10.5.1.A.0.283)
can i use this recovery on it ?
if yes, then which methode i have to use ?
Thanx in advance
there is no recovery for xperia TX (hayabusa). please support it
specter16 said:
I have SONY XPERIA Z with Stock 4.4.4 ROM (10.5.1.A.0.283)
can i use this recovery on it ?
if yes, then which methode i have to use ?
Thanx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It's for AOKP.
championswimmer said:
Code:
fastboot flash reocvery recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a very bad typo in this command.
Is that recovery seperated from system and kernel partiton on Xperia Z1?
And how do I boot into the recovery after I flashed it?
thanks in advance
mischa_martin
devilmaycry2020 said:
there is no recovery for xperia TX (hayabusa). please support it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your sig > Click the "Thanks" button if I've helped you
What about you do that your self too start with...? Doh
@championswimmer
If it's for ALL 2012 Xperias, where is Xperia U, P, SOLA, GO??
spoonymoon said:
In your sig > Click the "Thanks" button if I've helped you
What about you do that your self too start with...? Doh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey, what's wrong with me? why do i have to say thanks for nothing ?
Could you create recoveries for legacy 2012 devices, like Xperia E, Xperia J, Xperia Miro & Xperia Tipo?
No Tipo/Tipo Dual ????
Xperia Tipo not included? :crying:
btw, Good Work!
@championswimmer,thx for z1c support, one problem appeared, you can't reach recovery with volume+ or with any other hardware button, tested all recoveries beside cwm, this with your recovery app
I installed the recovery on my Xperia V, all went well, got into recovery, and decided I didn't like it. Tried to flash a zip containing a new recovery, and it said that the install failed, footer invalid. Now, I flash a boot image that should have a recovery in it via fastboot, but I cannot seem to change the recovery. What should I do?
Edit: I can't seem to flash any zip via the recovery :/
Edit2: Okay I figured out that what makes this different to one of the normal recovery installs is that it uses the FOTA. Before now I had never heard of it, and am still not entirely sure of its usefulness. One thing I do know however is that I really need it to stop being used, as I can't flash anything, nor change recoveries
Edit3: I figured it out, just used this and it worked
adb shell dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p11
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, but it was hard to find that command...
Swidilator said:
I installed the recovery on my Xperia V, all went well, got into recovery, and decided I didn't like it. Tried to flash a zip containing a new recovery, and it said that the install failed, footer invalid. Now, I flash a boot image that should have a recovery in it via fastboot, but I cannot seem to change the recovery. What should I do?
Edit: I can't seem to flash any zip via the recovery :/
Edit2: Okay I figured out that what makes this different to one of the normal recovery installs is that it uses the FOTA. Before now I had never heard of it, and am still not entirely sure of its usefulness. One thing I do know however is that I really need it to stop being used, as I can't flash anything, nor change recoveries
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use flashtool, check only fota, uncheck all other boxes,flash, than kernels own recovery should work
Hello
Thanks for such a wonderful project and presenting it to us here.
Thank you also for the wonderful contribution to this project! I think the Sony Xperia P rather not be here considered as "dead"
I keep my fingers crossed for your support for this device :highfive:
Swidilator said:
I installed the recovery on my Xperia V, all went well, got into recovery, and decided I didn't like it. Tried to flash a zip containing a new recovery, and it said that the install failed, footer invalid. Now, I flash a boot image that should have a recovery in it via fastboot, but I cannot seem to change the recovery. What should I do?
Edit: I can't seem to flash any zip via the recovery :/
Edit2: Okay I figured out that what makes this different to one of the normal recovery installs is that it uses the FOTA. Before now I had never heard of it, and am still not entirely sure of its usefulness. One thing I do know however is that I really need it to stop being used, as I can't flash anything, nor change recoveries
Edit3: I figured it out, just used this and it worked
Damn, but it was hard to find that command...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the whole point of using FOTA is the make the recovery separate from kernel (like HTC, Samsung etc have )
So you can change kernels and recoveries according to your own free will.
I have an app on the market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.championswimmer.twrpxperia
It can download and install TWRP/CM/CWM/Philz recoveries.
It can also format FOTA (the dd if=zero of=mmcblk thing you did)
The app is paid, but it is also open source. If you buy it consider you bought me coffee,
If you want it for free, you can download and compile the source https://github.com/championswimmer/Xperia_FOTAKernel_Manager_Android_App
Thanks
championswimmer said:
Hi folks,
Publishing recoveries has become a habit now
Bringing you simpleCM recovery images for all 2012+ Xperias
[...]
NOTE: Using 3rd party recoveries via FOTAKernel is only supported by AOKP/CM/PA/Omni based kernels. If you kernel has a /sbin/extract_elf_ramdisk file then only it can support this method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to get this working on Xperia Acro S? Xperia S?
Awesome... Congrats!!!!!
And you have made the news!
championswimmer said:
Well the whole point of using FOTA is the make the recovery separate from kernel (like HTC, Samsung etc have )
So you can change kernels and recoveries according to your own free will.
I have an app on the market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.championswimmer.twrpxperia
It can download and install TWRP/CM/CWM/Philz recoveries.
It can also format FOTA (the dd if=zero of=mmcblk thing you did)
The app is paid, but it is also open source. If you buy it consider you bought me coffee,
If you want it for free, you can download and compile the source https://github.com/championswimmer/Xperia_FOTAKernel_Manager_Android_App
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What puzzles me the most is that I wasn't able to flash anything from the cm recovery on FOTA. It just refused.
The idea of having recovery separate is an attractive idea, however its one I don't really need currently as TWRP is included in Neo Kernel, and pretty much any ROM I ever install will run that kernel
I appreciate all the work you put into this, and heck, I learned something new about my device, and I'm glad about that
championswimmer said:
Well the whole point of using FOTA is the make the recovery separate from kernel (like HTC, Samsung etc have )
So you can change kernels and recoveries according to your own free will.
I have an app on the market https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.championswimmer.twrpxperia
It can download and install TWRP/CM/CWM/Philz recoveries.
It can also format FOTA (the dd if=zero of=mmcblk thing you did)
The app is paid, but it is also open source. If you buy it consider you bought me coffee,
If you want it for free, you can download and compile the source https://github.com/championswimmer/Xperia_FOTAKernel_Manager_Android_App
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On xperia z1 works command :
Code:
fastboot erase recovery

[REQ] ZIP to install TWRP to ramdisk

Hello y'all,
I've noticed that on the Pixel 2 and on many other A/B devices, there is a twrp zip available that can be flashed after flashing the twrp image to boot and booting into recovery and flashing the stock boot image (like we do on the Essential) which patches the ramdisk in the stock boot.img to add twrp to it so that twrp can be permanently installed on the device.
If I could make something like this myself, I would have a long time ago, but unfortunately, it's over my head. Just curious why something like this has never been made for the Essential. Also, but much less important, TWRP 3.2.3-0 is about to be released (code is on GitHub), yet the latest available to us is version 3.2.1-1.
I know one of you smart devs could make the zip to install twrp to the ramdisk (and possibly build the latest version of twrp also) probably in almost no time at all. I love my Essential, but having to connect it to a PC just to get into TWRP is very irritating.
When one of you guys have the time, could you give it a try? I'd be happy to test whatever you come up with.
Much thanks!
starcms said:
Hello y'all,
I've noticed that on the Pixel 2 and on many other A/B devices, there is a twrp zip available that can be flashed after flashing the twrp image to boot and booting into recovery and flashing the stock boot image (like we do on the Essential) which patches the ramdisk in the stock boot.img to add twrp to it so that twrp can be permanently installed on the device.
If I could make something like this myself, I would have a long time ago, but unfortunately, it's over my head. Just curious why something like this has never been made for the Essential. Also, but much less important, TWRP 3.2.3-0 is about to be released (code is on GitHub), yet the latest available to us is version 3.2.1-1.
I know one of you smart devs could make the zip to install twrp to the ramdisk (and possibly build the latest version of twrp also) probably in almost no time at all. I love my Essential, but having to connect it to a PC just to get into TWRP is very irritating.
When one of you guys have the time, could you give it a try? I'd be happy to test whatever you come up with.
Much thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's definitely possible but I don't know how many Devs would want to take this up. I'm all for the idea, I really miss having TWRP permanently, but you kinda get used to the whole PC flashing thang.
I don't know how different the Pixel 2 is in comparison to the Essential phone, but they both share A/B partitions, so it wouldn't be too outlandish if someone were able to port something like this over to our Mata's down the road.
?
starcms said:
Hello y'all,
I've noticed that on the Pixel 2 and on many other A/B devices, there is a twrp zip available that can be flashed after flashing the twrp image to boot and booting into recovery and flashing the stock boot image (like we do on the Essential) which patches the ramdisk in the stock boot.img to add twrp to it so that twrp can be permanently installed on the device.
If I could make something like this myself, I would have a long time ago, but unfortunately, it's over my head. Just curious why something like this has never been made for the Essential. Also, but much less important, TWRP 3.2.3-0 is about to be released (code is on GitHub), yet the latest available to us is version 3.2.1-1.
I know one of you smart devs could make the zip to install twrp to the ramdisk (and possibly build the latest version of twrp also) probably in almost no time at all. I love my Essential, but having to connect it to a PC just to get into TWRP is very irritating.
When one of you guys have the time, could you give it a try? I'd be happy to test whatever you come up with.
Much thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MoistPicklez said:
It's definitely possible but I don't know how many Devs would want to take this up. I'm all for the idea, I really miss having TWRP permanently, but you kinda get used to the whole PC flashing thang.
I don't know how different the Pixel 2 is in comparison to the Essential phone, but they both share A/B partitions, so it wouldn't be too outlandish if someone were able to port something like this over to our Mata's down the road.
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem lies in the way our touch driver is implemented. For lack of a better explanation, what good would it do to need to carry a type c mouse around to use twrp if touch doesn't work. Many many people have tried and failed getting touch to work on Oreo source, let alone P. That is why twrp resides on a nougat kernel meant for LOS. Someone I know even rewrote the driver in c, no go. It's gonna be tough sledding.
Does it have to be touch though? Could it be more old school clockworkmod recovery where you use the buttons or really like default recovery. I don't know enough about it but just a thought. You definitely get use to just downloading and flashing in twrp and it would be cool to find that with the PH-1.
Atleaset there is a way to use TWRP on the fly.
1) Root the phone the first time using the PC.
2) Copy the TWRP and boot.img(rooted) files to the Phone.
3) While booted and rooted, use apps like Rashr - Flash Tool or Flashify available on the playstore to flash TWRP and boot to it.
4) Once you are done using TWRP, flash the boot.img and boot to the phone.
Gundabolu SC said:
Atleaset there is a way to use TWRP on the fly.
1) Root the phone the first time using the PC.
2) Copy the TWRP and boot.img(rooted) files to the Phone.
3) While booted and rooted, use apps like Rashr - Flash Tool or Flashify available on the playstore to flash TWRP and boot to it.
4) Once you are done using TWRP, flash the boot.img and boot to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been waiting for someone to share this for 6 months.. thanks lol
aer0zer0 said:
The problem lies in the way our touch driver is implemented. For lack of a better explanation, what good would it do to need to carry a type c mouse around to use twrp if touch doesn't work. Many many people have tried and failed getting touch to work on Oreo source, let alone P. That is why twrp resides on a nougat kernel meant for LOS. Someone I know even rewrote the driver in c, no go. It's gonna be tough sledding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the explanation. Now I understand why it hasn't been done before.
But why the issue with touch in TWRP with an Oreo kernel in the first place? What's so special/different/difficult about the touch driver that the Essential uses? And why does it work fine with TWRP with a Nougat kernel? No other devices (to my knowledge) have this issue.
Edit: I wonder if since TWRP worked with the touch driver from the Nougat kernel, if it could work with the P kernel? Maybe whatever was changed in Oreo that prevented it from working has been fixed?
starcms said:
Thanks for the explanation. Now I understand why it hasn't been done before.
But why the issue with touch in TWRP with an Oreo kernel in the first place? What's so special/different/difficult about the touch driver that the Essential uses? And why does it work fine with TWRP with a Nougat kernel? No other devices (to my knowledge) have this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hbtp_daemon (touchscreen) doesn't work in twrp on 8.x and newer sources.
Hbtp_daemon runs in userspace iirc, which is the problem. So an entire driver needs to be hogged together in order to get twrp to work. same process that worked on N doesn't work now.
aer0zer0 said:
Hbtp_daemon (touchscreen) doesn't work in twrp on 8.x and newer sources.
Hbtp_daemon runs in userspace iirc, which is the problem. So an entire driver needs to be hogged together in order to get twrp to work. same process that worked on N doesn't work now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not possible to use the driver in userspace after TWRP decrypts the device (userspace) using the default password (after any patterns or pins are removed from the lockscreen)?
Edit: And what the heck is the driver doing in userspace anyway? Shouldn't it be in /vendor? If the driver is in userspace, then how can the touchscreen work after a factory reset?
The new Lineage Recovery is not bad but I see no way to apply other zips like Magisk. Maybe it can be worked on and adapted. No touch , just button control.
galakanokis said:
The new Lineage Recovery is not bad but I see no way to apply other zips like Magisk. Maybe it can be worked on and adapted. No touch , just button control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't after you lets say flash magisk and gapps they create a script in /system/addon....and when updatting lineage it runs the scripts in the addon folder which is how gapps and magisk get installed to the new updated system and boot.....first magisk and gapps have to be flashed in twrp....after that u shudnt need it on dirty flashes
galakanokis said:
The new Lineage Recovery is not bad but I see no way to apply other zips like Magisk. Maybe it can be worked on and adapted. No touch , just button control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@aer0zer0
This seems like the easiest solution to getting TWRP working on the Oreo and P boot images and being able to keep it permanently installed in ramdisk. Make TWRP use the volume up/down keys for scrolling and the power key to select. If the touchscreen is soooo difficult to get working, forget it. If someone really wants to use the touchscreen, they can use the existing TWRP version built on the Nougat boot image.
galakanokis said:
The new Lineage Recovery is not bad but I see no way to apply other zips like Magisk. Maybe it can be worked on and adapted. No touch , just button control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What can you do in Lineage recovery if you can't flash zips? Can you make backups? What else can you do? If you have it installed, could you attach a pic (assuming you have another phone/camera)?
Has anyone looked in the stock P kernel? I was poking around and noticed some twrp residual files. This was straight from the images zip from essential. I didn't touch it.Wth are they in there for? Could they have a better twrp on the back burner for kernel development purposes for Essential? It was in the ramdisk, ill look again tomorrow when I unpack the boot.img. it would make sense to have it in ramdisk, pixel 2 has it like that. Ill post screenshots after work. But, the conversation looks good folks, you are on to something. We could always bust out some phillz recovery, or clockwork mod.
starcms said:
What can you do in Lineage recovery if you can't flash zips? Can you make backups? What else can you do? If you have it installed, could you attach a pic (assuming you have another phone/camera)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say it is more stock-ish as far as recoverys go. It's a stock LOS recovery. You can factory reset, flash or sideload update.zips or signed zips no regular custom ROM zips or magisk. It is meant to run on LOS, it only runs on LOS actually and not made for the flashaholics out there. It's a good start though.
Sorry, out right now and no other phone/camera handy.
Gundabolu SC said:
Atleaset there is a way to use TWRP on the fly.
1) Root the phone the first time using the PC.
2) Copy the TWRP and boot.img(rooted) files to the Phone.
3) While booted and rooted, use apps like Rashr - Flash Tool or Flashify available on the playstore to flash TWRP and boot to it.
4) Once you are done using TWRP, flash the boot.img and boot to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to mention this works perfectly, tried it last night was able to get into TWRP and then back into my P Beta 3 with root, no issues. Thanks for this!
One could also theoretically copy a copy of the twrp boot. Img to the ex kernel manager backup file, and while booted into the system, hit restore kernel and since its in the boot partition it will flash it then reboot into recovery. Then from there flash your normal kernel and boot back to system/android.. i backup all my kernels after rooting them so after flashing otas, i can just flash my prerooted kernel and reboot without having to flash magisk
Edit. This works, i just did it, but u must make it reboot to bootloader to then tell it to reboot recovery. I dont know if flashify is the same
MoistPicklez said:
Just wanted to mention this works perfectly, tried it last night was able to get into TWRP and then back into my P Beta 3 with root, no issues. Thanks for this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm just curious, before I try it, anyway when using flashify and selecting flash zip - does a recovery other than stock need to be present?
dirtyreturn said:
Hey, I'm just curious, before I try it, anyway when using flashify and selecting flash zip - does a recovery other than stock need to be present?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you mean by that but to be honest all I did was take the TWRP11.img, and flashed it to boot (kernel) using Rashr, Flashify didn't load up oddly, then reboot to bootloader, select Recovery and bam, there was TWRP. Then to get back I just flashed my boot.img, and Magisk and all my modules and everything were all good to go. No issues at all. ?
Edit: as long as you have TWRP.img, your boot.img, and Magisk, you can easily get to TWRP and back, just make sure you have the img's you need and boom we all got TWRP on the fly.
Wish I had tried this sooner.
MoistPicklez said:
Not sure what you mean by that but to be honest all I did was take the TWRP11.img, and flashed it to boot (kernel) using Rashr, Flashify didn't load up oddly, then reboot to bootloader, select Recovery and bam, there was TWRP. Then to get back I just flashed my boot.img, and Magisk and all my modules and everything were all good to go. No issues at all. ?
Edit: as long as you have TWRP.img, your boot.img, and Magisk, you can easily get to TWRP and back, just make sure you have the img's you need and boom we all got TWRP on the fly.
Wish I had tried this sooner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, Rashr doesn't support this device(phone). I get a reboot to recovery option and if I tap cancel the app just closes. Did the app identify what it needed to?
In Flashify there are 3 options ,Flash - kernel,boot, and zip. What I'm curious about is , when choosing just the zip option - would twrp first need to be flashed to the boot partition?

Categories

Resources