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Unofficial Kitkat 4.4.4 update for the Moto G
by GPz1100
Purpose: To explore the recently released 4.4.4 update and retain the ability to revert back to Boost firmware. The full firmware update package changes other areas on the device that prevents downgrading. If/when Verizon implements the foreign ESN ban it will no longer be possible to switch the device between PagePlus accounts. At present there is no Android 4.4.4 update specifically for Boost. Flashing 4.4.2 software on device with the 4.4.4 update results in an unstable, nonworking phone. It also remains to be seen if this flash will even be possible after the Boost 4.4.4 update is released.
This archive contains just the system and kernel portions of the firmware. Based on the official 4.4.4 update from Motorola. By only altering these partitions, full downgrade options remain. In testing, all functions of the phone appear to work normally. Flash is retained, full network connectivity remains (including 3g data), camera works, wifi, etc.
Why: Forward thinking. Retaining options. Samsung devices come to mind. After the first OTA on devices such as the VZW S4 (S3 suffered the same fate after later updates) boot loader was entirely locked. No non-stock roms or even stock roms using non-stock kernels.
Precautions: Generate a backup image of your current system before proceeding. Results have been successful dirty flashing (no factory reset). Highly unlikely to brick your phone, but as with all disclaimers, proceed at your own risk.
Requirements: Moto G w/ Permanent flash, TWRP recovery
Installation:
1) Download and extract the entire contents of the archive into the following location on the internal storage
Computer\XT1028\Internal storage\TWRP\BACKUPS\{SERIAL}
The value for {SERIAL} can be obtained from settings|about|status|serial Number. Case does matter for everything. If the folder structure is not maintained, the package will not be visible in step #4.
2) Reboot into recovery
3) Tap on WIPE, ADVANCED WIPE, put a check mark next to Dalvik cache, and cache (1st and 4th entries). Swipe to begin
WARNING, do not check anything else or you will factory reset or possibly erase the internal storage.
4) Tap Home, then Restore, Select KitKat_4.4.4 as the restore package from the list, Swipe to begin
5) Once done, tap Reboot System. First boot will take a few minutes longer.
Enjoy!
Link
{reserved}
Nice work. I'm not sure if I'm ready to try it but sometimes I get bored and will try just about anything.
Which TWRP version was used for your testing? I'm currently using PHILZ (with backup issues) and will need to switch.
Thanks for your hard work.
Rampart, this was generated using twrp 2.6.3.3. I've never used philz's recovery; not sure if it'll read/write twrp images properly.
I've had this running on my test phone for a few days now. Can't say I've seen any issues or other oddities. I'm still not ready to commit to the full blown ota, so this is the next best thing.
Thanks.
IF I do it, I'll switch to TWRP.
I'm waiting on the 4.4.4 because there seems to be some issues. I learned a long time ago (when I worked for IBM), never be 1st on the block to try new software. 4.4.2 works just fine for what I need it for. Great cheap phone and on PagePlus I save a ton of money.
So I wanted to create a thread dedicated to performing this function. I know as someone who does this quite often, I like to have all my ducks in a row to ensure everything works perfectly. I'm not big on fragging my phone and then frantically trying to find a way to undo all the chaos. I do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions before doing anything.
On that note I would like to first thank all the amazing people on here, whether they be developers or just experienced Tech Guru's, everyone is always a big help. I take absolutely no credit for any of the awesomeness that can be found on XDA, I'm just creating a thread that I hope will help folks find everything in one place for this function. So here we go, I'm going to explain the way I did it, which is the way I have been doing stuff like this for years. I have a preferred method as it has always resulted in perfect flashes and no bricks, not even soft bricks. So I feel it works pretty well.
Just so it is understood, this is for the Moto X Pure, which has been bootloader unlocked and has TWRP and root installed. Also it should be noted that you need to have Developer Options enabled and USB Debugging enabled. You should also be familiar with the ADB process, to some extent, maybe you have at least heard of it.
Steps to follow:
1. Use Titanium Backup and backup all your User Apps, NOT SYSTEM APP's, system apps will not restore across updates and will most often corrupt your new install.
2. Make a Nandroid backup using TWRP, I backed up system, boot, data, and EFS, but I don't think EFS is necessary.
3. Make sure you have the Motorola Drivers installed, get them from here http://www.motorola.com/getmdmwin
4. Get Shawn5162's Restore to Stock Tool, I know others have said it's not necessary to perform a complete restore, but this is part of my process that I have always done, and it's always worked. Get it here by using one of the mirror's created by patt2k in post 6, and don't forget to thank him for the mirrors http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x-style/development/windows-tool-moto-x-style-pure-edition-t3199905
5. Unzip Shawn5162's zip to a folder on your desktop, and before you move onto the next step, make sure you have backed up everything valuable on your phone, such as pictures, messages, etc..., because everything is going to be erased in the next step, except for the stuff on your MicroSD. I'm so anal, I even remove the MicroSD before flashing. Connect your phone to your computer using a USB and make sure you have USB debugging enabled under Developer Options.
6. Inside the folder you created run the FLASH-ALL.bat, which will reboot your device to the bootloader and begin the restore to stock flash. This will remove root and TWRP, but will not remove the fact you have an unlocked bootloader. Your phone will reboot when complete and should boot back into your system within a short period of time.
7. Once you are rebooted, you may need to do a little setup before you get the message that a System Update is available. DO NOT waste your time installing any apps, wait until you have full root on MM before doing any of that. Once the Update message appears, accept it and download the MM update file, then install it once it is finished downloading and asks if you want to install.
8. The update takes about 20 - 25 minutes so be patient. Once complete your phone will once again boot back to system, now you have MM in it's complete unrooted greatness.
9. Now go into settings, about phone, and tap on build number a bunch of times to enable Developer Options. Then go into developer options and enable USB Debugging.
10. Next download a bunch of stuff from the following links, if you desire to install TWRP and regain root.
TWRP 2.8.7.1 here https://dl.twrp.me/clark/twrp-2.8.7.1-clark.img
Modified Boot Image from here, required to perform systemless root , not sure about the Cowboy hat dude, but click on him, it will download the file.
SuperSU 2.52 from here https://download.chainfire.eu/743/SuperSU/BETA-SuperSU-v2.52.zip?retrieve_file=1
11. Next copy the modified boot file and SuperSU file directly to your internal or external SD on your phone, either works fine, although I prefer my External SD.
12. Next copy the TWRP file you downloaded into the same folder you made for Shawn5162's files. This folder has all the adb and fastboot files you need to perform the TWRP flash. Now hold shift and right click and choose open a command window here. Then ensure your device is detected by running the command adb devices, it should show your phones S/N and the word device. If it doesn't, you may need to look at your phone and respond to the prompt about allowing your computer to have access to adb. Try the command again after that. Then run the command adb reboot bootloader, which should reboot your phone to bootloader fastboot mode.
13. Once it fastboot mode run fastboot devices just to make sure your device is still detected, then run the command fastboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.1-clark.img. That will flash TWRP to your recovery partition. Then type the command fastboot reboot twrp-2.8.7.1-clark.img or use the volume rocker to toggle to recovery then select the power key to boot to it. Make sure you choose the slider at the bottom to allow modification. Once on the main screen you can choose reboot and then select recovery. This makes sure that you have booted to TWRP at least once, and ensures by rebooting to it, you can get back to it.
14. Now perform a Nandroid Backup, using the TWRP Backup option, of your completely stock MM system, data, boot, and EFS partitions. Enable compression if you like and store it to your External SD if you have one. This allows you to have an unrooted backup on your SD, which is good for future updates. After the Nandroid is complete now flash the modified boot image zip using the TWRP Install feature, and when it's complete, then flash the SuperSU zip file. After I always perform the option to erase Dalvik and Cache, I just think it is a good thing to do, it's probably placebo, but I do it anyhow.
15. Go back to TWRP Home and choose reboot and select system. Your device will reboot and you now have a fully updated and rooted Moto X Pure on MM.
Thanks go out to all the folks who have contributed to the many threads that contain this information. Special thanks to Shawn5162, DaMadOne, Chainfire, and Hashbang173 for their awesomeness. Hope this helps folks that are concerned about performing these procedures. I can say that it worked perfectly for me with no issues at all, but of course I take no responsibility if it doesn't work for you and causes your device to fail. Again these are similar steps I have taken in the past with other devices and I have never had a single brick, so hopefully it works for others as well.
Enjoy!!
I have a Moto X Pure as described with the bootloader unlocked and rooted. The popup message to upgrade to MM comes up constantly now - what happens if you just let it try to update?
I think I am in way over my head. I am receiving my phone Friday and was looking to unlock to root but from the looks of it, I will not be able to do that.
I've never unlocked & rooted a phone before. So all that looks like the bible to an uneducated man "me".
superkev72 said:
I have a Moto X Pure as described with the bootloader unlocked and rooted. The popup message to upgrade to MM comes up constantly now - what happens if you just let it try to update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm not mistaken it will download to your phone but not be able to be installed because of an error
Is there no way to upgrade from LP to MM without a wipe?
superkev72 said:
Is there no way to upgrade from LP to MM without a wipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, if you rooted already, you must reflash the original boot.img. Then update, and then restore your root. Read here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mot...t-moto-x-style-xt1572-br-marshmallow-t3259380
At the bottom of the post, you get the original file you need and it is mentioned here:
And enjoy!
Now you have a rooted MotoX Style Marshmallow. To apply any OTAs, you only need reflash stock boot.
K?
Why would you want to update without a wipe? You must like sluggish performance
i have no wifi after this
No WIFI either
I ended up with no WIFI after following these steps also.
is it true, we cannot downgrade from 601 to 6.0 or 5.1.1?
skimaniaz said:
I ended up with no WIFI after following these steps also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Anybody got a fix?
So the last three posts complain of no wifi yet people keep using this method?
The modified boot zip breaks the wifi. You can root by flashing superSU 2.62, I think, or any SuperSU zip that is specifically systemless.
ilovemeow said:
is it true, we cannot downgrade from 601 to 6.0 or 5.1.1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true.
lafester said:
Not true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
coz i tried before, it fail in first 2 flash steps
Are you unlocked?
ilovemeow said:
coz i tried before, it fail in first 2 flash steps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The partition always fails. Just ignore it. You should be able to downgrade the bootloader. I have been able to so I don't know why you would be having issues with that unless your bootloader is locked/re-locked.
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Labs
So is this safe or not?
lafester said:
Are you unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, it's unlocked, but currently fine for using android M at this moment
Hi,
I received my dual-sim Huawei Mate 9 Europe version a few weeks back. I selected this as the natural choice after running Samsung Note 3 for several years. There was no other phone that quite fit the bill as this one -
Big screen
Excellent battery
Excellent performance
I am a reasonably advanced user of my android phones - keeping them rooted, unlocked, flashing different roms are just by my alley
However after tinkering around with this new baby, I realized that this is quite different than what I was used to with Note 3.
Never before had I to read so many different forum threads to gain a full understanding of how to do things that I could do very easily with my Note 3 earlier without the need to have an indepth knowledge - just copy the steps and execute was good enough to get what I wanted. i.e.
The bureacratic boot loader unlocking process (never had to deal with this before from Samsung)
Rooting
Flashing custom recovery
Flashing custom rom
Backing up and restoring the different partitions through custom recovery
Flashing stock rom in case things don't work out as expected with the new rom
etc. etc.
I have spent several days reading practically all the forum threads on Mate 9, in order to get a good overview of how to manage this awesome device.
I am usually prone to forgetting things. So I knew after a few weeks, there will be something else that will catch my fancy and whatever I have learnt about Huawei Mate 9 after investing so many days will have gone to waste and I would have to scour the threads again if I need to do something with my Mate 9.
So I started to write down a basic guide in a text file to act as a refresher capsule whenever I decide to open the hood again after a few months
I also wanted to share my summarized learning capsule back to the community, since I have learnt so many from the various threads and the experiences from so many people.
This prompted me to actually create an XDA account (even though I have been a voracious consumer of XDA for several years, but never created an account).
Just one last tip - if you are a new user of Mate 9 trying to understand all the concepts from scratch, then try to read this guide in its entirety. Some concepts are introduced in the beginning, which might be confusing at the start, but you will understand it well after it is covered again towards the later part of the guide. Once you have a good hang of the different concepts involved, then you can jump directly to the specific section for reference.
So enough background to this thread and now out with the content.
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Phone Information
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The Model number of my phone is MHA-L29. It is a dual sim phone hence L29 at the end.
Single sim version has model number MHA-L09 i.e. L09 at the end.
The firmware version that I am running is : MHA-L29C432B156
Here is the breakup of how to read this number or the naming convention
Naming convention
L29 = Dual sim
C432 = Europe region (there are other regions as well e.g. C636 for Asian and so on)
B156 = version (this is the actual version number of the firmware)
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How to best use the phone
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For best results in order to get the full power from the hood, you will use the phone with
bootloader is unlocked
phone is rooted
either Custom recovery of TWRP or Stock recovery will be on the phone depending on the situation.
For daily usage, keep stock recovery on your phone since in case of tough situations requiring unbricking etc. stock recovery is the best to have around.
You will also remove the crapware/bloatware. It is difficult to list all the bloatwares, since they differ based on the region.
Factory resets
Reset due to minor issues
In such situations, typically your data partition is messed up but other partition (system) is fine.
If you have software issues due to software which has been additionally installed or phone has become slow etc. then boot to recovery (stock recovery) and do a factory reset. If you are running custom recovery (TWRP), then first you will need to flash the stock recovery. Then do a factory reset through the stock recovery. This action will format the data partition and copy the necessary stuff from the system partition over.
Restart the system.
Reset due to major issues
In such situations, typically your data as well as system partition is messed up. This will typically happen in case you have software issues due to un-installation of core system applications (as a root user) which have resulted in them being removed from the system partition and now you cannot restore them by an ordinary factory reset (since factory reset does not modify/reset the system partition, it only resets the data partition).
This step also requires you to have initially backed-up the system partition using TWRP. If you haven't backed-up the system partition, then you can also extract the system partition by using Huawei Update Extractor tool on the stock firmware of your region and version, which will give you the image file of the system partition that can be used further below.
Steps -
If you are running stock recovery, then first you will need to flash custom recovery (TWRP).
Using TWRP wipe the system partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Format (not wipe) the data partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Wipe the dalvik cache and cache.
Now from the already backed up TWRP partition backups
(a) restore the system partition (or the system partition image file extracted using Huawei Update Extractor)
(b) restore the data partition.
Reboot to recovery.
Wipe the dalvik cache and cache.
Restart the system.
The above should be enough for full reset. An alternative to 7.(b) above is to flash the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications (you might get "error 7", but that is normal).
Upgrades
You can continue to receive over the air (full or incremental) upgrades from huawei even in a rooted and bootloader unlocked phone.
However in order to apply the received updates, you will need stock recovery, as only stock recovery has the capabilities to install the received updates. Thus before applying any update, if you are running custom recovery (TWRP), then first you will need to flash the stock recovery.
Make sure you backup all your private data and do a full installation (instead of incremental). You can select to install the full package by clicking on the 3 dots on top right corner of update screen and selecting to download the full installation package.
After this process, do a full factory reset, so your system is fully reset and updated based on the latest version.
It might happen that after the update, bootloader is locked again and you have lost your root privileges. In that case follow the steps below for unlocking the bootloader and rooting the phone again.
Also after this step, do the below.
Download the new stock firmware from hwmt.ru (as below) and the related 2 zip files zip files containing region specific and other related system applications for the new version and back them up
Make a TWRP backup of all the partitions and and back them up.
This is necessary as you might need them for other activities e.g. flashing stock recovery of the new version, doing full factory resets etc.
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General information on Rooting / Bootloader unlocking / Firmware
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The device that you get from the factory is bootloader locked with a region specific firmware.
Partitions
The phone has several different partitions (e.g. boot, data, system etc.)
The "BOOT" partition contains the boot image which boots the system and reads from other partitions
The "DATA" partition contains the user private data (e.g. contacts etc.) and is encrypted by the boot partition (Android Nougat feature). When the Android operating system starts, the boot partition decrypts the data partition and then reads it. This is the reason why other "parallel" softwares like TWRP will not be able to read from data partition, since when they read it, then it is already encrypted. Due to this TWRP will be able to backup(clone) all the other partitions except for data partition, as data partition is encrypted on the first boot of a new system. The other way to backup the data partition is to make the backup before you have booted the system (which results in encryption of the partition).
You can do this by the following steps -> "format (not wipe)" the data partition through TWRP + reboot again to TWRP + flashing the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications (you might get "error 7", but that is normal). After this immediately backup the data partition.
The "RECOVERY" partition contains the stock recovery which you can replace with custom recovery TWRP
The "RECOVERY2" partition contains the "Huawei eRecovery mode" and "Huawei updater mode"
Unlocking bootloader
You can unlock the bootloader with the help of unlocking code. You get this from Huawei. Read further below on how to go about it.
Rooting phone
In order to root the phone there are 2 ways
Old method
This requires you to patch your boot partition and replace the stock boot image (which encrypts the data partition), with a custom boot image which does not encrypt the data partition.
After this you format (not wipe) the data partition, so that it is replaced by an unencrypted data partition and then you root the system in which the root exploit is directly injected in the unencrypted data partition.
New method
This does not require you change your boot image. You basically just install the custom recovery TWRP and then root using the PHH super user zip file. Read further below on how to go about it.
Recovery
If you are rooting using the new method, then you will replace the stock recovery with TWRP.
The disadvantage of TWRP recovery is that it is only the Stock Recovery that has the capability to do a proper "Factory Reset" the phone. Basically when you do a factory reset, then you "format (not wipe)" the data partition. But Huawei firmwares, also have some region specific and other related system applications (e.g. themes, camera, system updates etc.), which are also installed on the data partition. The stock recovery recognizes this and does the factory reset carefully (either by removing everything except for necessary system applications OR by doing a complete format (not wipe) of data partition but then re-applying the necessary system applications). TWRP also can do a "factory reset", but TWRP will simply format the data partition dumbly and not take care of re-installing the necessary system applications on the data partition. If you happen to do a "factory reset" or format "data" partition through TWRP, then you will need to manually flash the zip files containing region specific and other related system applications. You can get those zip files (e.g. update_data_public.zip & update_hw_eu.zip) through the same routine for downloading stock firmware detailed below. When installing these zip files through TWRP, you might get "error 7", but that is normal and you can ignore it.
Stock recovery is also useful for managing OTA updates. Typically when you download firmware updates, then they boot to stock recovery for further processing.
Hence even if you have installed TWRP, you will need to flash stock recovery for factory resets or handling new firmware updates.
Thus as mentioned before, for regular daily usage, keep stock recovery on your phone.
In order to get the stock recovery image, you can extract the stock recovery image file by downloading the "update.zip" of the target firmware and extract the "UPDATE.APP" file and then running the "Huawei Update Extractor" tool on it. Commands to flash the obtained stock recovery image file are similar to the command to flash TWRP recovery below.
Note, when you run the "Huawei Update Extractor" on UPDATE.APP file, then you will see RECOVERY.img, as well RECOVERY2.img
RECOVERY refers to the stock recovery and RECOVERY2 refers to huawei eRecovery mode & huawei updater mode.
Stock firmware
Huawei has region based firmwares e.g. in my case, the region is europe (C432)
There are stock firmwares of each region. However except for 2 regions (C636 and AL00), all other stock firmwares cannot be directly flashed. This is by design from Huawei. Even though the stock firmwares are easily available for all regions, but it is only for these 2 regions that firmwares have the PACKAGE_TYPE token set to OFFLINE_UPDATE. The PACKAGE_TYPE tokens for other region's stock firmwares are set to ONLINE_UPDATE, which makes it not possible to flash those through Huawei Updater.
Thus if you are majorly messed up or bricked, then the only way out is to rebrand your phone to a C636 (i.e. changing the OEMINFO partition from C432 (europe) to C636) and then flash that stock firmware for C636.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656
https://funkyhuawei.club/rebranding
In order to flash the C636 stock firmware, download the "update.zip" of the target firmware and extract the "UPDATE.APP" file into the "dload" folder created at the root of an external SD card and then starting the phone in a "Huawei Updater mode".
In order to get back to your region (C432), you will then have to use tools like "Firmware Finder" (FF), which spoof Huawei servers through DNS and network and make it possible for the updater to download and flash their stock firmwares thinking it is downloading it online from the huawei servers. You might not be able to update to the latest firmware using FF (since Huawei doesn't authenticate for latest versions sometimes), but you can try to update to an older version first and once that is sorted out, then you can update directly within system update settings to move to the latest update.
As a short-cut and if situation permits, you can also use FF, to directly flash your own region's firmware, without needing to go through the C636 route first.
However if that doesn't work, then flashing the C636 as described above is the only way out.
Also the eRecovery mode or recovery through hisuite only works if you are on a C636 region firmware.
Some useful links -
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/development/oeminfo-library-t3555353
https://funkyhuawei.club/rebranding
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-rebrand-chinese-al00-mate9-to-t3554656/page5
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ma...urb175v1-0-t3575146/post71812906#post71812906
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=71804525&postcount=393
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ma...lost-ideas-t3561569/post71208272#post71208272
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-9/how-to/guide-installing-b138-using-firmware-t3557089
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FRP Lock (Factory Reset Protection)
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Sometimes during normal usage of the phone, if the phone detects some security anomaly, it would engage the FRP lock .
It has also been found that the phone enters FRP lock mode also when you do a "Reset to default" in the developer mode. So try to avoid doing that.
Basically what happens when you reset the developer mode is that the "OEM Unlock" setting goes back to disabled, and typically when OEM Unlock is disabled, then FRP lock is enabled. However if the bootloader is unlocked, then you will find that it is not possible to change the "OEM Unlock" setting in developer mode, because if bootloader is unlocked then this setting is greyed out and not possible to change.
In short ->
Bootloader is Locked -> "OEM Unlock" setting is greyed out
"OEM Unlock" is enabled -> FRP Lock is Unlocked
"OEM Unlock" is disabled -> FRP Lock is Locked
FRP lock is to prevent mis-use of the phone in case of theft. Since it requires you to enter your google sign-on information again after doing a factory reset before you can use the phone..
FRP lock disables entering any fastboot command, which is a big issue since it means you cannot do anything in bootloader mode i.e. no flashing another recovery, no lock/unlock OEM etc.
In order to check if your phone is FRP locked or not, enter the bootloader mode. Over there it will be mentioned "FRP Lock" or "FRP Unlock", the former indicating that the phone is FRP locked.
In such scenarios, the only way out of the FRP lock mode is to flash the stock firmware again (which means your phone will be restored to totally factory condition i.e. bootloader will be locked, phone will be unrooted).
At the point when the phone enters FRP Lock, if you happen to have stock recovery, then you have a better situation as compared to if you have custom recovery (TWRP).
This is because if you have stock recovery, then you can simply use FF to flash your region's stock firmware. However if you have TWRP, then you have to flash the C636 version (asian) using Huawei Updater mode and then move on to your region's stock firmware.
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Using Firmware Finder (FF)
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Firmware Finder basically spoofs the Huawei servers by using a local proxy server leading the phone to thinking that there is a firmware update available, and thus allowing you to flash the firmware you wish (with some restrictions of course).
Using Firmware Finder requires you to have stock recovery.
If you are trying to install European regional firmware from scratch, then start by installing version B138 through FF and then move to higher versions using normal system update (or if you are not getting prompted for a normal system update automatically, then of course update through FF.)
For getting the full version of B156 (2.2 GB) through FF, at the time of writing this it was not yet authenticated by Huawei, so if you try to download it you will get authentication error after the download is completed and being verified. Thus, you will instead need to download a partial update of 409 MB through FF (if you are moving from B138 to B156). If you are moving from B126 to B156 then you will need to download the partial update of 473 MB through FF. This will allow you to have B156 on your phone.
The limitation of FF is that it only allows you to install firmwares which are authenticated(approved) by Huawei. Thus in order to install the latest and greatest, you might not be able to use FF. In such cases you can use paid services such as FunkyHuawei which allows you to install even non authenticated(approved) latest and greatest Huawei firmwares.
Though personally, I feel that it is for a good reason that Huawei does not authenticate the latest and greatest since they are beta versions and it is not that big an issue to not have them on the phone.
FF has 2 APKs for the phone - one is the actual application and the second one is a proxy server. The usage is simple - you find the firmware to install using the main application and then send the selected firmware over to download through the proxy server application on the phone. You will also need to change your Wifi settings to add a local proxy server (localhost:8080) before trying to check through system update on availability of new firmware.
FF firmware download on the phone has 3 phases.
Phase 1
The first phase requires you to modify the wifi network config to have localhost and 8080 as proxy to go through the FF Proxy application, which will spoof the Huawei servers and allow the handshake to happen to download the right firmware.
Phase 2
Once the download has started, then move on to the second phase, in which you pause the download, and then once again modify the wifi network config to remove the proxy configuration and then resume the download. This will allow you to download the update at full speed without any proxy intervention
Phase 3
The third phase starts at the last phase of the download in which you pause the download at last remaining 1%. After that you turn off wifi and start mobile data and resume the download from there. This is good because after the download is complete, the firmware will be verified and a last authentication handshake will be done to huawei server, and this doesn't need to be spoofed or be through wifi. Instead it is better that it should be originating through your mobile network.
i.e. a spoofed connection is only required in the first phase of the download
After updating from FF, you will need to do a factory reset of the phone. Then proceed with normal installation, bootloader unlocking, custom recovery installation, rooting. If necessary also flash the 2 zip files containing region specific and other related system applications. After this revert back to stock recovery and do a factory reset again. After this the phone is fully clean and ready to use.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to download stock firmware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to this site (replace the MHA-L29C432 part of the string at the end with the model number of your own Mate 9 device)
http://hwmt.ru/oth/HWFF/info/view.php?find_model=MHA-L29C432
In the "Тип" column, you should only filter by FULL (no OTA, as that update is only eligible for usage by a paid service called funkyhuawei)
Check that the link in the "Список изменений" column is almost the same as "Файл обновления" column. Only difference should be the last part which should be changelog.xml in former and update.zip in the latter.
Now using the link, change the last part of the link to filelist.xml
This will give the xml path with the details of the files as part of that version.
Example
Code:
<vendorInfo logfile="changelog.xml" name="common" package="update.zip" subpath=""/>
<vendorInfo logfile="" name="public" package="update_data_public.zip" subpath="public"/>
<vendorInfo logfile="" name="hw/eu" package="update_hw_eu.zip" subpath="hw/eu"/>
Now change the url to download the above 3 zip files using the subpath i.e
Code:
$URL/update.zip
$URL/public/update_data_public.zip
$URL/hw/eu/update_hw_eu.zip
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on entering the various modes on the phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineer mode
In a powered ON phone
enter the following on the dialler
*#*#2846579#*#*
Huawei Updater mode
In a powered OFF phone
hold volume up + volume down + power for a long time (around 10 seconds)
Recovery mode
In a powered OFF phone
hold volume up + power
In a powered ON phone
enter the following through the command line on computer
adb reboot recovery
Huawei eRecovery mode
In a powered OFF phone
power on the phone through the power button
at the prompt that "Your device has been unlocked and cannot be trusted", it will tell you to press the power up button for 3 seconds to enter the eRecovery mode
Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode
In a powered OFF phone
keep the volume button pressed down
connect the USB cable to the computer and the phone
In a powered ON phone
enter the following through the command line on computer
adb reboot bootloader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on using adb or fastboot commands on your phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure that "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" program is installed on your computer
Make sure USB debugging is enabled in phone settings
Make sure all reasonable permissions have been allowed as per the developer options
Make sure that hisuite is installed (which will ensure that USB drivers are installed)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on unlocking the bootloader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steps to obtain unlock code
Entry page for unlocking bootloader is
http://emui.huawei.com/en/
Then click on Download. And then click on "Unlock bootloader"
OR
Visit this page
https://emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/detail
Enter the required details on the form
Steps to unlock the bootloader
Make sure that USB Debugging is enabled on the phone and the phone has been verified to connect to the computer and phone has permanently accepted the RSA id and connected in debug mode.
Also make sure that "Enable OEM Unlock" has been enabled in the developer options.
Put the phone in "Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode"
Enter the following commands
fastboot oem unlock $CODE
fastboot reboot
In the above command, replace $CODE with the actual code received from Huawei
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on installing custom recovery (TWRP)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copy the "twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660.img" file to the "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" directory
Put the phone in "Download mode / Fastboot mode / Bootloader mode"
Enter the following commands
fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660.img
fastboot reboot
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information on rooting the phone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make sure that the version of TWRP installed is twrp-3.0.2-2-hi3660
Copy superuser-r275.zip into an external SD card
Boot into TWRP recovery mode and install the above zip file
Restart the phone in normal mode and install the "Superuser_2.0_Beta_9.apk" application
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachments referred in the guide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4pklpmVwGHqOWs3SlpWOEdUcUk
Top work ???
Good job...:good::good::good::good::good::good::good:
Nice. Thanks.
Good summary.
Add the supersu SuperSU-v2.79-MATE9-init.d_support.zip.
This is the method to get busybox and viper4android installed, for they use fix paths of supersu.
My device: Mate 9 supersu b156 Mediapad X2 GEM 701->703 B212 KangVIP (AJ mod)
Hi saurabhg9, I just starting reading you incredible Mate 9 summary guide and had to stop only to say that I simple love the way you explain everything, so simple, so clear, so useful... Thanks a lot for you to share your refreshing capsules, they are just the medicine my Mate 9 and I needed! :good::good::good:
Going back to continue the treatment!
Edit to ask for a little help... Recently I installed the L09C432B181 using Funky services and used it rooted by THIS method and all was going fine. Then I decided to give a try to RomAur but went back to stock restoring system and data. All well apart from root, so I rerooted flashing the 3 zips again but no way to get proper root back. It works but doesn't ask permission any more, the log is empty and it ask for binaries update in each boot. My main reason for root is to control the phone with gestures but only one of the commands of GMD app works.
I tried your 2.-Reset due to major issues using the twrp backup system and data without any result. Tried also the root superuser-r275.zip from the last section with no success either.
Tried as a last option spend another Funky credit in the B182 but always get the same "getting package info failed" error, what should be happening?
Any idea? Maybe extract a clean system and flashing it by adb (edit: tried but get "target reported max download size 471859200 bytes" error)?
Thanks again!
Thanks Peppus!
Sounds like you might need a clean start for your phone and do a "full reset".
In order to do that, I suggest doing a clean stock install of C432B138 using FF and then update to B156.
After that you could unlock the bootloader and root. This will atleast give you a clean base to start with for further experimenting depending on where you would like to go from there.
Epic work, but there are too many things which are absent and can cause mess up knowledge.
No info about MHA-AL00
No info how hard to unlock bootloader on MHA-AL00
No info what is difference between simple root and root with additional functional like dm-verity...
And more, and more....
P.s. I don't want to blame, cause I know that it is too hard to gather information from thousands threads.
5[Strogino] said:
Epic work, but there are too many things which are absent and can cause mess up knowledge.
No info about MHA-AL00
No info how hard to unlock bootloader on MHA-AL00
No info what is difference between simple root and root with additional functional like dm-verity...
And more, and more....
P.s. I don't want to blame, cause I know that it is too hard to gather information from thousands threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback!
I really wish there was a "wiki" functionality at XDA, so guides such as these could be developed with the joint knowledge of its members.
Unfortunately, that is also reflecting above, where most of the content is based on my own personal experience and what I have learnt in past few days based from various threads. and what works for me.
If you could provide me the specific text to be updated above (in regards to the things that you mentioned above), I would gladly add it
I am sure lot of others, including me would benefit from such.
Cheers!
Saurabh
saurabhg9 said:
Thanks Peppus!
Sounds like you might need a clean start for your phone and do a "full reset".
In order to do that, I suggest doing a clean stock install of C432B138 using FF and then update to B156.
After that you could unlock the bootloader and root. This will atleast give you a clean base to start with for further experimenting depending on where you would like to go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, that is what Audioralf recommended me and I was trying to avoid but I think it is the only option I have now. Thanks for your interest :good:
Peppus said:
Hi, that is what Audioralf recommended me and I was trying to avoid but I think it is the only option I have now. Thanks for your interest :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes - clean scratch install is good!
I do mine at far lesser problems than yours
saurabhg9 said:
Yes - clean scratch install is good!
I do mine at far lesser problems than yours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, does anybody know which is the latest build installed in a L09C432? by Firmware Finder? Thanks!
My good guess would be for b138, since the version numbers for L29 and L09 are quite similar at least for the c432 region.
Try doing a FF install for L09C432B138. Then partial update using FF to 156, if you are not prompted by system update automatically
Hi,
Just updated the guide with some new information relating to -
* FRP Lock
* Using Firmware Finder
Also updated various miscellaneous parts of the guide with additional information and clarification.
hi
this guide is just awesome
top work
for the mate 9 beginners now all is crystal clear
thx for the guide and explenation
greetz benji
Benji1983 said:
hi
this guide is just awesome
top work
for the mate 9 beginners now all is crystal clear
thx for the guide and explenation
greetz benji
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Glad you found it useful.
Hi,
Thx for your awesome collection of how-to's and how everything works!!!!
Tried to start with all the stuff like you did, but some things were/are too strange for me, so i decided to wait until i found an "encyclopedia" like this :good:
Saved a lot of time i guess
So again thx for your great work. Appreciate that
saurabhg9 said:
...In order to get back to your region (C432), you will then have to use tools like "Firmware Finder" (FF), which spoof Huawei servers through DNS and network and make it possible for the updater to download and flash their stock firmwares thinking it is downloading it online from the huawei servers. You might not be able to update to the latest firmware using FF (since Huawei doesn't authenticate for latest versions sometimes), but you can try to update to an older version first and once that is sorted out, then you can update directly within system update settings to move to the latest update...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi saurabhg9, do you mean that you can rebrand to another region using Firmware Finder? I thought that you only can install the same region roms by it.
Thanks for the update!
Cheers!
Yes.
There are 2 steps to rebranding.
First step is to ensure that your oeminfo files match that of the targeted region. This can be easily done through twrp.
Second step is to flash that regions firmware using FF.
As mentioned in my guide, you might not be able to flash the bleeding edge versions (you need paid services i..e. funky for that). But if you keep things simple and reasonable then you can get the huawei approved ones of most of the regions (e.g. B156 through FF has been verified personally by me for Europe. I haven't tried higher versions since even this version is fairly new and good)
Also I have read that to flash C636, you do not even need to flash the oeminfo of that region (asia).
Haven't verified this personally but have read some guys do it successfully while they were trying to revive their messed up Europe (C432) phones and they had just placed the C636 UPDATE.APP in dload folder and installed it using the Huawei Updater Mode (3 button method)
I just bought the Honor 8 and immediately unlocked and rooted it via Magik. Of course not long after that, I get a notification that there is an update available. You obviously cannot update the phone by simply pressing the "update" button since we have a non-stock recovery. I did a fair amount of research to find out how I could get the update and I wanted to share what I found. All of this information is out there already, but generally speaking it is spread out in many different threads. Hopefully these directions can help someone else.....
First, the usual disclosures.....
Code:
I am not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards,
thermonuclear war, or you getting fired because the alarm app failed. Please
do some research if you have any concerns about features included in this GUIDE
before flashing it! YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if
you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you.
1) Make a NANDroid backup using TWRP: if the new update locks the phone, you will need this backup to restore data after unlocking it
2) Unroot your phone: honestly I did not do this step myself because I simply didn't think about it. The update process worked for me without unrooting but I am also using Magik which doesn't alter the system files. To ensure success I would definitely recommend you unroot. You will have to reroot the phone after the update regardless if you unrooted or not, so you aren't saving any steps by keeping root at this point. If you have used a different root method besides Magik, you must unroot prior to attempting an upgrade.
3) Obtain stock recovery.img file: the update won't work with TWRP as your recovery, so we need to flash the original Huawei recovery to replace TWRP. If you already have a copy of the stock recovery skip to step 4. If you are like me you don't have a copy of the stock recovery image on hand and we will need to extract it from the stock ROM image. Using a computer (not your phone) download the stock ROM image for your device. This website seems to have a list of recent versions and it is where I downloaded the L14 B389 version that I used.
Download the Huawei Update Extractor software and unzip the folder on the computer. Open the HuaweiUpdateExtractor app and use the software to extract the "Recovery.img" file. Here is a Youtube video showing how to do this. Please note, although the video shows several files being extracted you only need to extract the "Recovery.img" file for our use. Move the stock recovery image to your ADB folder so you can flash it in step 4.
4) Flash the stock recovery image: use the stock recovery file and flash it to recovery using the same instructions as you used to flash TWRP in the first place. If you need a refresher, look at section 2 (parts 1-5) of the first post in this thread. Just make sure you substite the name of the stock recovery image instead of the TWRP.img
5) Reboot into system
6) Install Update: go to the Settings - System Update menu on your phone. In the upper right corner, click on the three dots and it will bring up a menu where you can choose "Download latest full update". Click on this. This will start the update process by downloading the full ROM and not just the smaller update package. For me the package size was approaching 2gb, so make sure you are ready to handle that size transfer. After the download is complete, start the update process. I was nervous at first, but everything went fine. If for some reason the update fails, I would reboot and try again. I did have one failure, but I cannot explain if it was a bad download, or something I did wrong (like not unrooting the phone prior to attempting the update). It worked fine the second attempt.
7) Reboot: the phone will reboot and you should check the status to make sure you are on the latest version.
8) Flash TWRP recovery: I read where people said full updates would lock your phone and you would have to start from scratch unlocking it (and therefore wiping all data). This was not the case for me and this update using this method. I was simply able to flash TWRP again. You should be a rock star at flashing recoveries by now so get to it and flash TWRP again. If your phone is locked, then read the note at the bottom of this post.
9) Reboot into system
10) Flash Magik zip: reboot into recovery and flash Magik zip to get SuperSU.
11) Install Magik modules: reboot into system. Reinstall any Magik modules you use as they don't get carried over from the previous installation.
12) Enjoy your updated phone
If for some reason the full update did lock the phone, then you will need to unlock it again before you can flash TWRP. You have already done this before, so use whatever method was successful for you. Obviously this will fully wipe your phone. After flashing TWRP and Magik, I would make a backup of that raw "stock" image just in case this next step doesn't work. After making the backup, you can try to restore just the data partition of the NANDroid backup you made in step 1 (click restore in TWRP, select the backup made in step 1 but deselect everything except the "data" partition before starting the restore process.) I have never done this, but I have read it will recover all your data (apps, etc) without affecting the system partition and therefore it won't mess up the upgrade. I would not recommend doing this if going from Marshmallow to Nugget or Nugget to Oreo however. In those cases, it is better to simple start fresh and redownload all of your apps.
Thank you for this thread.
Hello sic,
I am having the same issue with my Huawei GR-5 2017 and like you, I have my fair share of researching for weeks now and I was really happy to stumble on this thread.
Before I start with the process, I have a few questions for you. I hope you could help me (even though this thread is half a year ago).
Can you elaborate steps 1 and 2 or could you provide me a link on how to do those?
I got xposed installed im on emui 8 i also tried flashfire but it only turns the phone off.. Ist it eneugh to uninstall xposed? And can i get the recovery img from fullota? And must i restore images in magisk? I will try it without xposed installed. And a theory: is the information abaut bootloader unlock stored in a partition like oeminfo? If it is we could restore oeminfo.
This guide will show you the prerequisites for your unlocked Fire TV device including (4K Mantis), (HD Tank), etc. It's always important to know not to backup both the vendor and vendor image in TWRP because I was affected by it on two Fire TV's that don't have factory images unlike the main android phone in which has factory images (LG, Samsung, etc.) Ok the main point here is to warn you guys to NOT backup the vendor and vendor images since they make the Fire TV device brick and unbootable regardless what prerooted rom you flash, what you wipe in recovery, factory resetting the whole device WILL NOT fix this problem. Always backup system, boot, data only and you should be fine. Although there's an issue with the restoration process as well rebooting me to TWRP after a successful backup restoration, there's a simple fix for that. Flash a prerooted rom and you're good to go! If somebody in the XDA community for Fire TV devices reach out to me on showing us how to flash the vendor.img and other important files in fastboot mode with a working iso that can support fastboot functionality for Fire TV when you get into these issues. If you do end up backing up both vendors and restoring it as a TWRP backup, it wipes system components of your device which make your device stay on the Amazon screen (HD Tank) firetv (4K Mantis). Please take note with this issue so you aren't affected by this and ask questions if needed. We also need a more stable TWRP recovery image for Fire TV Stick 4K without vendor, vendor image, system image in the backup when backing up your device and other important bugs that need fixing (APPLIES on all recent Fire TV recoveries) They're very unstable and cause a ton of problems which cannot be currently resolved in this moment in time.
Skel40 said:
This guide will show you the prerequisites for your unlocked Fire TV device including (4K Mantis), (HD Tank), etc. It's always important to know not to backup both the vendor and vendor image in TWRP because I was affected by it on two Fire TV's that don't have factory images unlike the main android phone in which has factory images (LG, Samsung, etc.) Ok the main point here is to warn you guys to NOT backup the vendor and vendor images since they make the Fire TV device brick and unbootable regardless what prerooted rom you flash, what you wipe in recovery, factory resetting the whole device WILL NOT fix this problem. Always backup system, boot, data only and you should be fine. Although there's an issue with the restoration process as well rebooting me to TWRP after a successful backup restoration, there's a simple fix for that. Flash a prerooted rom and you're good to go! If somebody in the XDA community for Fire TV devices reach out to me on showing us how to flash the vendor.img and other important files in fastboot mode with a working iso that can support fastboot functionality for Fire TV when you get into these issues. If you do end up backing up both vendors and restoring it as a TWRP backup, it wipes system components of your device which make your device stay on the Amazon screen (HD Tank) firetv (4K Mantis). Please take note with this issue so you aren't affected by this and ask questions if needed. We also need a more stable TWRP recovery image for Fire TV Stick 4K without vendor, vendor image, system image in the backup when backing up your device and other important bugs that need fixing (APPLIES on all recent Fire TV recoveries) They're very unstable and cause a ton of problems which cannot be currently resolved in this moment in time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a few thoughts...
First, the Fire Stick gen. 2 called 'tank' hasn't got a vendor partition at all.
Second, in case of a firmware down- or upgrade, the 4k stick called 'mantis' needs both, the system and the vendor partition, flashed with twrp. Both images are included in the prerooted rom and also in the stock update bin's
Messing arround with TWRP and wiping the hell out of the EMMC (without any clue) isn't recommended
But of course, for both sticks are stock firmware packages aviable! The url's were already posted in the corresponding threads.
The TWRP image is stable, same as the builds for other devices. Yeah, TWRP it isn't perfect, but to say 'it's very unstable and cause a ton of problems' is somewhat of fake news
At least, I saw no one has voted and/or replied to your thread for now... may be you could include a third row to the poll asking 'If you think this guide is utter sh*t, vote this one'
You see, I don't want to be rude, but I think with a third option in the poll you may get an idea what other users think about it... lets say as a feedback, I hope you get me right.
All in all, my opinion is your 'guide' is misleading, incorrect and full of false informations.
Sus_i said:
Just a few thoughts...
First, the Fire Stick gen. 2 called 'tank' hasn't got a vendor partition at all.
Second, in case of a firmware down- or upgrade, the 4k stick called 'mantis' needs both, the system and the vendor partition, flashed with twrp. Both images are included in the prerooted rom and also in the stock update bin's
Messing arround with TWRP and wiping the hell out of the EMMC (without any clue) isn't recommended
But of course, for both sticks are stock firmware packages aviable! The url's were already posted in the corresponding threads.
The TWRP image is stable, same as the builds for other devices. Yeah, TWRP it isn't perfect, but to say 'it's very unstable and cause a ton of problems' is somewhat of fake news
At least, I saw no one has voted and/or replied to your thread for now... may be you could include a third row to the poll asking 'If you think this guide is utter sh*t, vote this one'
You see, I don't want to be rude, but I think with a third option in the poll you may get an idea what other users think about it... lets say as a feedback, I hope you get me right.
All in all, my opinion is your 'guide' is misleading, incorrect and full of false informations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok man TWRP is really unstable. I've done tests with backups and other stuff what I'm saying is that backing up the vendors isn't recommended due to undergoing problems with bricking. TWRP automatically wipes the vendors when you restore it and makes your device unbootable. Same goes with backing up the 3 partitions as well like I said causes a bootloop back to TWRP until you flash a rom over it. Ok you're talking about the prerooted stock rom on here. Where's the original packages with a filename ending with a .bin? There's not even a flash tool available at the moment either in which is required to be booted into download mode to get the official stock rom up and running so again. I know you're trying to not be rude or anything it's a matter of test in progress. Here's the best way to put it to you. Ok so if I bricked my LG device and disabled oem which is necessary to enable when unlocking the bootloader, I obviously need a flash tool like LG Bridge that can find the official rom for my device and restore it fully back to factory defaults without the unlocked bootloader with TWRP and the need of rooting. After it's done flashing, it's fully back to normal like I first bought it so what I'm asking here is if it were possible to get a tool for Fire TV, I think it would help a lot to get out of these situations for the average Amazon user who wants to revert back to 100% stock.
Skel40 said:
Ok man TWRP is really unstable. I've done tests with backups and other stuff what I'm saying is that backing up the vendors isn't recommended due to undergoing problems with bricking. TWRP automatically wipes the vendors when you restore it and makes your device unbootable. Same goes with backing up the 3 partitions as well like I said causes a bootloop back to TWRP until you flash a rom over it. Ok you're talking about the prerooted stock rom on here. Where's the original packages with a filename ending with a .bin? There's not even a flash tool available at the moment either in which is required to be booted into download mode to get the official stock rom up and running so again. I know you're trying to not be rude or anything it's a matter of test in progress. Here's the best way to put it to you. Ok so if I bricked my LG device and disabled oem which is necessary to enable when unlocking the bootloader, I obviously need a flash tool like LG Bridge that can find the official rom for my device and restore it fully back to factory defaults without the unlocked bootloader with TWRP and the need of rooting. After it's done flashing, it's fully back to normal like I first bought it so what I'm asking here is if it were possible to get a tool for Fire TV, I think it would help a lot to get out of these situations for the average Amazon user who wants to revert back to 100% stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You never find official tools for fire devices, your best bet is TWRP. Besides that you have a full working 'hacked' fastboot too. Hacked means that fastboot is able to run any commands and flash every image to whatever partition you like.
If you look thru the 4k prerooted thread, you find an stock update bin renamed to zip, it's stored on mega... This one is the newest aviable stock rom as of today. There may be some older ones too, hosted from amz (cloudfrnt link).
In case you flash that renamed bin file, system and vendor is full stock. A TWRP factory reset or wipe data gets rid of any crap (and magisk addons).
Just to be safe, you may flash the latest kamakiri zip file behind that. It updates the TZ image as well.
If the stick doesn't work after that, something is damaged... electrostatic discharge or something like that.
Additional, if you want a complete unroot, you have to extract the boot.img, the LK + TZ + PL images from the stock.bin... and flash this images via hacked fastboot. Details were a few times mentioned in the 4k unbrick/root thread.
PS: I take only full backups with twrp, haven't got any restore failure.
The only thing that could cause failures like that, is if someone use an unpowered USB Hub together with a whatever usb-storage for the backup/restore.
Sus_i said:
You never find official tools for fire devices, your best bet is TWRP. Besides that you have a full working 'hacked' fastboot too. Hacked means that fastboot is able to run any commands and flash every image to whatever partition you like.
If you look thru the 4k prerooted thread, you find an stock update bin renamed to zip, it's stored on mega... This one is the newest aviable stock rom as of today. There may be some older ones too, hosted from amz (cloudfrnt link).
In case you flash that renamed bin file, system and vendor is full stock. A TWRP factory reset or wipe data gets rid of any crap (and magisk addons).
Just to be safe, you may flash the latest kamakiri zip file behind that. It updates the TZ image as well.
If the stick doesn't work after that, something is damaged... electrostatic discharge or something like that.
Additional, if you want a complete unroot, you have to extract the boot.img, the LK + TZ + PL images from the stock.bin... and flash this images via hacked fastboot. Details were a few times mentioned in the 4k unbrick/root thread.
PS: I take only full backups with twrp, haven't got any restore failure.
The only thing that could cause failures like that, is if someone use an unpowered USB Hub together with a whatever usb-storage for the backup/restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I get fastboot to detect properly? I've already ran the exploit on both Fire TV's with the 4K root guide, adb works but fastboot doesn't seem to work. I made sure fastboot was installed properly and it is. I may need the Fire TV Stick 4K drivers for fastboot to get this working. Any ideas?
Skel40 said:
How do I get fastboot to detect properly? I've already ran the exploit on both Fire TV's with the 4K root guide, adb works but fastboot doesn't seem to work. I made sure fastboot was installed properly and it is. I may need the Fire TV Stick 4K drivers for fastboot to get this working. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In TWRP is an option to boot into unlocked/hacked fastboot.
No, you don't need any firestick drivers, since there are none.
If your PC doesn't see your fastboot device, the fastboot version is too old (there is a bug in the older fastboot sources). Try to use at least ubuntu 18.04 and run this:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-serial adb fastboot
sudo systemctl stop ModemManager
sudo systemctl disable ModemManager
If you use the fireISO, that won't work. Instead try this:
Code:
pacman -Sy
pacman -Sy fastboot
Of course you need to set up a wifi connection infront of the update.
Sus_i said:
In TWRP is an option to boot into unlocked/hacked fastboot.
No, you don't need any firestick drivers, since there are none.
If your PC doesn't see your fastboot device, the fastboot version is too old (there is a bug in the older fastboot sources). Try to use at least ubuntu 18.04 and run this:
Code:
sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-serial adb fastboot
sudo systemctl stop ModemManager
sudo systemctl disable ModemManager
If you use the fireISO, that won't work. Instead try this:
Code:
pacman -Sy
pacman -Sy fastboot
Of course you need to set up a wifi connection infront of the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much man! I successfully got my two Fire TV's back up and running, I should've reedited this "guide" as a troubleshooting q and a post since there's like no reason to post something useless on here.
Hi,
I have a couple questions about this. Recently rooted two Fire TV Sticks 3. Thx for that!
When i did a TWRP backup with it's default settings, all is fine.
* System Image
* Vendor Image
* Data (exl storage)
* Boot
After, i selected ALL partitions ( incl System/Vendor). Doing this (tested 2 times) results in not booting properly anymore. Very slow loading...and stuck on the Firetv logo...
It tries to boot but it just just doesn't work anymore?! I tested this 2x to see if this was the cause, it must be?!
Restored an original stock ROM and all is fine again. Anyone know what the problem is? A bug or something?
Another question is about the data.
When one fully tweaked the Fire TV Stick. Does a "FULL" backup restores all installed apps also? or like "Data (exl storage) it's stock again, and stays ROOTED?
Thx anyway
edit:
There's no new update on this. It still works. What did you backup? Backing up the system, and vendor only bricks the device. Its always important to backup only the system image, vendor image, data and boot.
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Click to collapse
Seems correct.
is0xxx said:
Hi,
I have a couple questions about this. Recently rooted two Fire TV Sticks 3. Thx for that!
When i did a TWRP backup with it's default settings, all is fine.
* System Image
* Vendor Image
* Data (exl storage)
* Boot
After, i selected ALL partitions ( incl System/Vendor). Doing this (tested 2 times) results in not booting properly anymore. Very slow loading...and stuck on the Firetv logo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your full backup filled up all the free space...
is0xxx said:
Does a "FULL" backup restores all installed apps also? or like "Data (exl storage) it's stock again, and stays ROOTED?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't make much sense to backup system, vendor and boot, because the backup takes an image of the partitions... which is really big in size. If you want to restore all those partitions, you can just flash a stock rom (+ magisk) again.
If you like to backup your sticks data, apps and so on, just backup data, done.
@Sus_i
Ah, both make sense...My bad