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As an Android user, and all the world on apk's made for android, i'm just curious on a point.
Why is there too many applications that need a rooted android phone out there, considering that all firmware after 2.3.2 is non rootable with an apk like gingerbreak?. I know that gingerbrak just breaked an exploit in android to do that, but at thas time, it seems that they patched very well that exploit, so, gingerbreak doesn't work anymore.
Assuming that for the masses is not possible to root phones "on the fly", why are all those companies making a lot of applications just for rooted phones?.
On the other hand, all people knows that an integrated Service pack in a windows installation DVD is more powerful (clean), that one upgraded to SP(x). What about Android OS?. Does a latest IMG firmware pre rooted is more "clean" than a updated (OTA) firmware?...
Just my thinking....
caqo71 said:
Why is there too many applications that need a rooted android phone out there, considering that all firmware after 2.3.2 is non rootable with an apk like gingerbreak?. I know that gingerbrak just breaked an exploit in android to do that, but at thas time, it seems that they patched very well that exploit, so, gingerbreak doesn't work anymore.
Assuming that for the masses is not possible to root phones "on the fly", why are all those companies making a lot of applications just for rooted phones?.
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You have to keep into account that :
1/ It's a question of choice. As long as you can get root access on a phone, it's only logical to have apps that benefit that, seeing as they give you control over the phone you wouldn't normally have...
Besides, apps that require root access are not developed for a specific phone, i.e. Arc. It's not the developer's problem if a phone can be easily rooted or not, they just want to give you apps that take advantage of this change.
2/ Obtaining root access on the Arc is not impossible by any means. You can unlock your bootloader and easily root it no matter which 2.3.x you are using. Again, it's a question of choice.
On the other hand, all people knows that an integrated Service pack in a windows installation DVD is more powerful (clean), that one upgraded to SP(x). What about Android OS?. Does a latest IMG firmware pre rooted is more "clean" than a updated (OTA) firmware?...
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FOTAs are more or less branded by your carrier with loads of bloatware, so yes, a generic global ftf or img is cleaner than those.
The cleanest though is CM7, as it's based on vanilla Android.
Hope this makes it clearer.
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to ask a quick question regarding the firmware
I got my UK unlocked S5 last week and as soon as I set it up, an update came through, which is 100mb, the note regarding say "Improved performance", the update download, but I haven't installed it yet. Mainly because of a bad experience I had after updating my S3. I haven't come across any bugs since I've been using it, and I'm concerned that if I update, the battery will drain quicker, or perhaps cause an error in the recovery mode(these things happened to my S3 after updating to 4.3). So 2 main questions.
1. Has anyone here downloaded this 100mb software update their S5? If so, what differences did you notice?
2. Suppose I updated and wasn't happy with the new changes? Would it be possible to go back to the original firmware version that my phone came with when I took it out of the box, *without rooting my S5?
Hope some people on here can shed some light on these questions.
Thank you in advance*
1. It's just a system update. The phone is new there are bound to be updates as issues are ironed out
2. You can odin any firmware whenever you want
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
MasterfulNinja said:
Has anyone here downloaded this 100mb software update their S5? If so, what differences did you notice?
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Your instincts are dead on. Updates may fix bugs or add a desireable feature. But just as often they introduce new bugs, break root or disable root exploits, break a few apps and add noxious DRM frameworks like the Knox qfuse warranty bit. They can seriously mess up a custom ROM and may depreciate features like MSC or car dock that may be important to you personally.
Updates cannot always be reverted. Try downgrading your Kitkat baseband to Jellybean and see what happens. Or try removing the Knox security bit after you take the update that introduced it. I disable automatic updates and wait to hear what early adopters find before upgrading.
Unfortunately you didn't tell us the all important version of your update. Or even tell us what your current firmware version and carrier are. Your update might be similar to the recent ATT /Verizon OTA adding the mixed blessing of reactivation lock. That is causing bootloops for some people with custom kermels. 4.4.3 is mostly bug fixes, with a few UI tweaks. And I believe 4.4.4 took aim at closing yet another open-SSL exploit and reverting some of the new 4.4.3 bugs.
No matter what an update intends to do, a few new bugs and unexpected conflicts usually turn up. A quick Google finds reports like this:
International Business Times said:
Issues Spotted for the Android 4.4.3 Kitkat
The Android 4.4.3 Kitkat system update is pretty much all about improving performances, strengthening stability and fixing a couple of bugs. However, it reels in a couple of issues experienced by users of Nexus devices that have already been upgraded to the latest update.
According to IT Pro, some of these issues include wi-fi problems, crashes and reboots and bugs found in apps. Google has not yet given any statement about how to deal with these issues nor has there been any word if these issues are only experienced by a handful.
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fffft said:
Your instincts are dead on. Updates may fix bugs or add a desireable feature. But just as often they introduce new bugs, break root or disable root exploits, break a few apps and add noxious DRM frameworks like the Knox qfuse warranty bit. They can seriously mess up a custom ROM and may depreciate features like MSC or car dock that may be important to you personally.
Updates cannot always be reverted. Try downgrading your Kitkat baseband to Jellybean and see what happens. Or try removing the Knox security bit after you take the update that introduced it. I disable automatic updates and wait to hear what early adopters find before upgrading.
Unfortunately you didn't tell us the all important version of your update. Or even tell us what your current firmware version and carrier are. Your update might be similar to the recent ATT /Verizon OTA adding the mixed blessing of reactivation lock. That is causing bootloops for some people with custom kermels. 4.4.3 is mostly bug fixes, with a few UI tweaks. And I believe 4.4.4 took aim at closing yet another open-SSL exploit and reverting some of the new 4.4.3 bugs.
No matter what an update intends to do, a few new bugs and unexpected conflicts usually turn up. A quick Google finds reports like this:
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Thank you very much for your detailed answers! That's exactly it! And I know from experience that updating firmware can cause a negative affect to the phone's performance. My iPhone 4S is still on iOS 5.1 but runs perfectly, while friends who updated their 4S to 7.1 experience freezes and heavy lag. Maybe companies do this deliberately, so people get frustrated and end up having to get the latest, more powerful model so the OS to run smoothly?
I do exactly the same, I always wait to see what people about an update before updating. The only difficulty with Android updates is that there seem to be so many different versions of updates. For example, when I researched the 100mb one for the S5,* various sites mentioned it, but others say the size of the update was 30mb, which were called "improved performance" I also heard about updates not always being able to be reverted to the previous version,* and also about Knox. So, you can see why I'm hesitant to update.
I know quite a bit about using Android, but have very limited knowledge regarding rooting and custom roms and so on. Also, after reading that rooting a phone incorrectly can turn it into a brick, I'm happy to just leave it as it is. I've attached a photo which shows my current firmware version, as well as other information. Also, as my S5 is unlocked, the only updates I'll receive will be from Samsung. I asked my carrier (T-Mobile UK) and that's what they told me. Only phones from bought from them include added apps that they put on, and I think they may also be able to tweak the updates received, by adding their own features.
Some more questions for you;
1. Do you recommend a factory reset after each software update?(I had to factory reset my S3 to stop the battery draining issue that 4.3 caused. But was wondering if it's best to factory reset after each and every update on Android devices)
2. I know you said that sometimes reverting back to a previous firmware isn't always possible, but can't using Odin with the correct firmware version work? Like Goldie mentioned in the above reply. And does changing the firmware via Odin require rooting the phone?
MasterfulNinja said:
Thank you very much for your detailed answers! That's exactly it! And I know from experience that updating firmware can cause a negative affect to the phone's performance. My iPhone 4S is still on iOS 5.1 but runs perfectly, while friends who updated their 4S to 7.1 experience freezes and heavy lag. Maybe companies do this deliberately, so people get frustrated and end up having to get the latest, more powerful model so the OS to run smoothly?
I do exactly the same, I always wait to see what people about an update before updating. The only difficulty with Android updates is that there seem to be so many different versions of updates. For example, when I researched the 100mb one for the S5,* various sites mentioned it, but others say the size of the update was 30mb, which were called "improved performance" I also heard about updates not always being able to be reverted to the previous version,* and also about Knox. So, you can see why I'm hesitant to update.
I know quite a bit about using Android, but have very limited knowledge regarding rooting and custom roms and so on. Also, after reading that rooting a phone incorrectly can turn it into a brick, I'm happy to just leave it as it is. I've attached a photo which shows my current firmware version, as well as other information. Also, as my S5 is unlocked, the only updates I'll receive will be from Samsung. I asked my carrier (T-Mobile UK) and that's what they told me. Only phones from bought from them include added apps that they put on, and I think they may also be able to tweak the updates received, by adding their own features.
Some more questions for you;
1. Do you recommend a factory reset after each software update?(I had to factory reset my S3 to stop the battery draining issue that 4.3 caused. But was wondering if it's best to factory reset after each and every update on Android devices)
2. I know you said that sometimes reverting back to a previous firmware isn't always possible, but can't using Odin with the correct firmware version work? Like Goldie mentioned in the above reply. And does changing the firmware via Odin require rooting the phone?
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1. Yes, a data factory reset after a update/flash a rom is remmended and gives best performance and stability;
2. I haven`t tried flashing a older rom itself but it should be possible i guess as this is not dowgrading like from 4.4.2 to 4.3. You could try it and if it fails there`s no harm done as you can flash your current rom back.
3. Installing a update or flash a rom usualy will kill root, though superSU Pro offers a survival mode to keep root after a update. You can also flash a rom with Mobile Odin Pro and enable everroot and the 2 other options so you will not loose root.
@MasterfulNinja
I don't automatically accept updates. Someone more impulsive, or indifferent can be the guinea pig. That approach is effective in avoiding some unpleasant firmware surprises. Often an older firmware version runs smoother and is more stable as in your IOS 5 vs 7 example. Running an older firmware means that you may have unpatched security vulnerabilities but in practice this usually isn't a great or unmanageable problem. It is a point to keep in mind though.
Rooting isn't nearly as dangerous as many people think it is. Someone who can follow directions and avoid flashing firmware from a completely different device will rarely brick a phone. And even if you did, you can usually recover from the mishap. I mention this because one of the best ways to maintain a stable phone OS is to install a decent custom ROM (which typically requires root). And then most of the heavy lifting is done by the developer who has already removed bloat, restrictions and other objectionable pieces. And monitors and releases tailored and usually stable updates for those using his ROM.
Android updates vary in size because they are screened by carriers, each deciding what update components and /or custom bits goes into their version of the update. More restrictive Apple manages all IOS updates centrally from their California servers i.e. they don't relinquish direct control to carriers. Still it isn't hard to find articles giving a good summary of what issues android firmware updates are addressing.
Some people believe that you should accept every update and as soon as it becomes available. I don't see a compelling need to update unless you are trying to resolve a current bug or are enticed by a specific new feature. I don't recommend a factory reset after each update. I do recommend that you clear the system cache from recovery mode though. A factory reset usually won't benefit you but it is time consuming to reinstall and reconfigure your phone.
Having said that, if you have a specific issue, such as the 4.3 battery drain then you have a rationale for doing so. But I have to say that I experienced the same S3 issue and clearing the cache was sufficient to stabilize the phone for me. Some phones will develop corruption or configuration conflicts over time, especially if you install a lot of apps. Or if you have a specific app that makes a mess of your file system. With that in mind, I do do a factory reset about once a year to clean up the phone, the same as I would do for a laptop OS. But I don't see a reason to do it after every update.
Odin is a Samsung product, complete with DRM. So no, you cannot flash anything with Odin. You can flash most stock firmware and in particular Odin will look for OEM signatures if you try to change the bootloader or modem. In the case of downgrading, it is the Knox qfuse on your phone that will cause the Odin flash to fail. If you try to downgrade you end up with a partial flash which can soft brick your phone and trip the Knox flag.
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1. Is it advised to gain root NOW prior to the forthcoming Sony Lollipop OTA?
Point being if I don't root and I update to the latest forthcoming lollipop ROM from Sony then will it become a difficulty to gain root via the current downgrade method of rooting.. Or will downgrading from Sony's lollipop ROM be easily achieved via flashing .93 from flastool for instance.
My idea being can I remain unrooted and update via forthcoming ota from Sony and still achieve root via the current root methods of downgrading.
2. If I gain root now though, and lose ota facility because of root then will i be able to flash the latest official Sony lollipop ROM via flashtool manually and still retain root?
Sorry for any repetition above it's crazy late here. I've been itching to root but have been holding off in anticipation of an imminent Sony lollipop release... After some thought on the questions I post above I'm trying to determine if it's best to root now to prevent a potentially unrootable Sony lollipop rom?
Thanks in advance
1. Will downgrade from lollipop be possible? I have seen both happing with other devices so could go either way. No guarantees because we just don't know yet.
2. There is no downside to rooting now. Once you're rooted you don't want to install any official OTA anyway. You could lose root or even damage the device (we don't know yet). What you want to do is flash Pre - rooted firmware which you can download in the forums here (usually you get updates sooner than through OTA this way)
It's like a whole new world once you familiarised yourself with the possibilities.
Root is recommended you don't have any downside. If you want the ota update so bad you can still decide to flash your current software again. Though this I would not recommend since there is a possibility that you will be stuck in lollipop like clouds5 said (if no downgrade possible) .I don't think this will be happening since Sony until now is not really restricting users to flash official firmware. Hell they even encourage bootloader unlock officially. That said, just root and the enjoy the countless advantages.
As another alternative, and only because it hasn't been pointed out, you could also try to simply remain confused. The challenge in this is in hopefully coming to a point of peace with your circumstance by no longer worrying about it. I've been awake for far too long and have been sleep deprived over the past days, thus having no business making posts like this and accepting ir as innapropriate, but the general philosophy expressed remains solid ?
Since i don't have it in my signature, don't forget to hit "Thanks" ?
[email protected]
I will proceed to root now to prevent an unrootable Sony lollipop OTA ROM - which is incredibly likely given chanfires views on the difficulties of rooting lollipop "specifically devices with locked bootlaoders."
Given we would all like to retain our DRM keys for when reverting to stock based ROMs I think I've come to my conclusion.
Thanks for your thoughts, it has certainly helped to proceed with rooting now (with I've been itching to do) rather than wait patiently for Sony's lollipop OTA (which could become a hindrance, now that I've fully understood the 'potential' for an unrootable lollipop ROM.)
I like your signature ;o)
dillalade said:
[email protected]
I will proceed to root now to prevent an unrootable Sony lollipop OTA ROM - which is incredibly likely given chanfires views on the difficulties of rooting lollipop "specifically devices with locked bootlaoders."
Given we would all like to retain our DRM keys for when reverting to stock based ROMs I think I've come to my conclusion.
Thanks for your thoughts, it has certainly helped to proceed with rooting now (with I've been itching to do) rather than wait patiently for Sony's lollipop OTA (which could become a hindrance, now that I've fully understood the 'potential' for an unrootable lollipop ROM.)
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Jeah it is very unlikely that L will get root since it has already been obtained and the bounty is fulfilled. So there is no real motivation to keep working on it for this device. And also like Clouds5 said you will probably get your hands on rooted stock lollipop sooner here than through the official OTA update. Or 1-2 days later. Enjoy it .
Root now or regret it later.
I'd recommend you root now. The ability to get OTA updates is not a big deal at all. If you root, you can still install stock roms which would be just like the OTA roms. Sometimes the unofficial stock roms come out sooner than the OTAs, if not, then very shortly after. I actually like SONY's stock rom. I'm rooted, and I plan to just use the stock rom with some root enabled modifications.
I'd say that most custom roms are just as good or better than official stock roms from OTA.
With my last phone, I regretted not rooting when I had the chance. Sure, I was okay with it overall, but I wished I had root so I could have my phone exactly the way I wanted. There were some really useful functions that I missed from having a rooted phone, like screen-off music player controls. I missed being able to tether without the carrier knowing.
Some companies are making it harder and harder to root, so I say root now while you can.
If you root now, you're in control. If you wait for OTA, who knows.
Hello XDA community,
This is my first post on here and I hope I'm not doing something wrong in terms of protocol, but I have a rough idea on finding a root for this phone that needs support and refining from you guys, the XDA community.
My idea is this: If we can find a way to downgrade the phone software back to before the December 2016 security patch, we can run a Dirty Cow root exploit (, which is ready to go on GitHub, ) to temp root this device (or any device, in theory). Once we have temp root, we could run a program like SunShine or whatever else to turn that temp root to perm root. (SunShine currently says that, to full root this device, it needs some kind of temp root.)
Now going back to the first part about downgrading the software to before the December 2016 security update, I initially thought we could achieve this through mfastboot or RSD Lite, since they allow flashing of officially signed Motorola firmwares. However, I read that when upgrading the Moto Z, and presumably all other variants, from Android MM to Android N, the (locked) bootloader is updated, too, and will not allow downgrading, resulting in a prevalidaton error. This is where I need your help.
The question is: How can we downgrade the firmware back to MM, or some other before-December firmware, to use Dirty Cow for root. Please leave ANY suggestions in the comments.
Thank you for your time and help. I have faith that we will be able to solve this together.
I don't think you can downgrade. But i've been running this for the past 9 or so months to prevent the forced updates: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/themes/app-moto-z-play-apps-stop-ota-motocare-t3538812
(no idea if that would work on the z force)
Well I know there are many videos on YouTube claiming to downgrade certain Moto devices through RSD Lite or mfastboot for different budget Moto devices, but I suspect they are all fake. Nonetheless, I hope there is a legitimate way to downgrade.
I forgot to mention that if you can get a replacement Moto Z Force from Verizon, which is very easy to do in my area, they ship you a refurbished replacement, which runs marshmallow and has no updates installed, but I don't have the opportunity to get another replacement, so for anyone else, that's one way you could "downgrade" and try Dirty Cow to root the device.
I'm just going by this topic https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z/how-to/dont-upgrade-to-nougat-ota-t3524456
but i don't really know for sure
Wow. Now I wish I'd known about this MUCH sooner. Its too late for me. Well, in that case, try to see if you can revert back to marshmallow if you unofficially upgraded to nougat and check what month of security patches you are on. If it's before the December 2016 security patch, then you can run Dirty Cow and get temporary root. With temp root you can most likely find a way to make it permanent root.
This is a Bug bounty thread to get root on ZTE Blade A5 2019.
Thanks to ZTE this model doesn't have bootloader unlockable, so root should be made through an exploit. I'm sick of their excuses, i personally believe they were instructed by the governement to do things this way and use eula and "security" as excuse, same happened to axon 7, they said, it's because of security, and i think this is a lie (and i would say i'm not the only). Is unacceptable that experienced people that want to mod their devices can't because to unlock the bootloader you need a signed image, is unacceptable, unlocking bootloader is to flash unsigned images and you tell me that to unlock it i need a signed image from zte or the signature itself? Well i call this "lock users out of their own devices".
But returning on the root topic: I would suggest or CVE-2020-0041:https://github.com/bluefrostsecurity/CVE-2020-0041 that allowed some xperia to get root or CVE-2019-2215:https://github.com/grant-h/qu1ckr00t that has a 32bit version available here:https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/root-with-cve-2019-2215.3979341/post-80748711 another thing that could be tried is this:https://research.nccgroup.com/2022/09/02/theres-another-hole-in-your-soc-unisoc-rom-vulnerabilities/ (note that if we use this maybe would be possible to make an universal root method for unisoc getting bootrom context, but i'm not sure about that.
I also extracted kallsyms so the dev doesn't have to:https://www.mediafire.com/folder/uvde49kcna40o/ZTE_A5_2019_Stuff
Kernel Sources included since zte mirror is really slow.
N.B. Is suggested to flash an old firmware, for example Claro one has 5 January 2019 patch and because of this is vulnerable to qu1ckr00t, also it has fastboot and no updates at all.
if some dev is interested please contact (i'm not a dev so i would need one), also if people want this root to go ahead donate (I will also obliviously), you can tell how much you want to donate and after you can donate to the developer directly (these rules can be changed if the dev is trusted i guess), nb i'm not responsible for any issues, i hope won't succeed nothing badly.
I say this because i also had bad experiences.
About donations i would suggest to do those after the root process is verified to work.
I would stay fine with only a temp root
Hello, I noticed your thread while I was using my fresh script to warp pages fast. I was a person who was involved into exploiting several devices, and You can get yourself a root on this device if I put in enough time into this, Please, provide contacts so I could get in touch with you. We will discuss prices and other stuff somewhere else privately.