Database Users

*[SM-910W8] Broken USB. Root via SD Card?*

Hi all,
I'm just about at my wits end here. I have a Note 4 (N910W8) with a failed USB connection and I would really like to root it. The underlying goal is to remove/disable all samsung bloatware.
WRT the USB, I have tried adjusting developer options, *#0808#, updating drivers, changing cables, changing PC's, etc. I've tried everything I could find online. Recently, I took it to a local shop and learned that the problem is not with the USB port/board, but the motherboard itself. I'm not going to pay to replace it. I have googled far and wide. As far as I can tell, this phone will never again connect to a PC via USB. So, download mode and Odin are out.
I have tried TowelRoot, KingoRoot, and other apk's, but I am on Android 6.0.1 (MMB29M/GLW-N910W8VLS1DPK1) so all of these exploits have been patched.
I am able to boot into (stock) recovery mode, so I thought I'd try recovering via SD card, however that doesn't work either. First I get a loading screen of the mascot with a spinning wireframe polygon in his belly and the message "installing system update". Then after ~15 seconds, the mascot is on his back with a red warning symbol over his belly, and the text "No Command." is displayed. I'm not sure what that's all about, because I have the latest update installed.
Any attempts to install CF-Autoroot or another recovery firmware (ie https://samsung-firmware.org/model/SM-N910W8/region/GLW/ , or https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4/snapdragon-dev/trltecan-n910w8-aoa1-stock-rooted-t3025538, etc) from SD (in recovery mode) have been met with the same error messages:
E:footer is wrong
E:signature verification failed
I'm not sure why because at least some of these recovery firmwares claim to be official builds. Granted, they are older versions (downgrades), but are signed nonetheless.
I have tried installing TWRP or CWM so I can disable signature verification, but AFAIK the device must already be rooted to install these (which seems like a bizarre catch-22, but maybe I'm confused) so that's a no-go.
It certainly feels like I have explored every possible avenue, but I have one remaining idea. Perhaps if the phone doesn't want to downgrade, I could force its hand by carefully soft-bricking the current rom in a controlled manner, then performing a recovery from SD with an official 4.4.4 KitKat build, and finally, using the towelroot/kingoroot/etc exploit to gain root access.
I mean, why else would there be a recover-from-SD option in the stock recovery menu? There must be a way to get it to accept a recovery build...
It's a last resort. But I'm willing to try it. The phone boots up, but is so bloated and laggy that it's practically unusable. Still. Am I missing anything? Surely there's some way to skip the USB / Odin method. What do you guys think? Is it time to go hulk on this thing? Is there any hope left? Curious to see how much further this rabbithole can go.
Cheers and thanks guys.

I've searched for ways to soft-brick, but have not come across anything. The bootloader appears to be locked, which is odd because I thought that only applied to Verizon variants.
I have recently downloaded an ADB/fastboot package for windows so I could attempt ADB over WiFi, however I can't establish a connection. I thought I'd do some more poking around on the phone side, so I installed some Wireless ADB apps. They all indicate a root is required, so I think that might be a dead end. I also connected to a ubuntu machine. Nothing. The phone charges, but both the PC and Ubuntu machine show zero signs of any connection at all.
There has to be some kind of SD-based solution to this. You can boot a computer from an SD card / USB stick and use that to access files (on an unencryped partition), and I'd be happy to do that here and delete those bloatware APK's directly... but I guess phones don't behave like other computers.
I've picked all the low hanging fruit. A part of me believes that there are some sneaky hacker ways to get at this without USB (ie some sort of rootkit) but that's way beyond my abilities. I'm going to take a break and attack this again once I have fresh ideas.

I'm in the same boat (busted usb port), does your phone still fast charge? Mine stopped fast charging.

I too have the same problem, except with the Note 10.1 2014. I know that is a different forum, but if you find a solution, it might be adaptable to my problem. I too have exhausted all other options as described above. Please someone, there must be a way to root via SD card instead of Odin. Help us please!

Me too. I have a Note Pro 12.1 running Lollipop. USB is busted and I've already replaced the port and ribbon, so it must be the motherboard. I mainly need it for Titanium backup, so I don't have to reinstall large games over my limited connection.

I have the same problem. Note 4 N910H. Not recognized by pc, stopped fast charging shows usb charging in battery settings. AFAIK I just re-rooted the phone before it went bust. There is no solution except changing the motherboard. Also this problem seems to be quite common.

AT&T in Australia

Hi all,
Was recently in the 'States and broke my S8 - it's now the third mobile screen I've busted since Samsung brought in curved edges, never had any issues with the S2 or S5 - who ever thought tempering glass and curving it would be a good idea??
Anyway I had the opportunity to pickup a brand new Samsung Galaxy S8 Active and did a quick bit of research. I found the most compatible version with my carriers back home in AUS was the SM-G892A from AT&T. Picked up a brand new unlocked model, stupid me didn't connect it up to AT&T while I was there. I turned it on and played around with it on Wifi for the last few days of our trip and returned home to Melbourne.
Basically I now understand AT&T are a bunch of ***** and do not allow updates to be pushed even for unlocked devices overseas. Considering a lot of the updates are for security I'm very surprised by this.
Anyway so I've notcied a few tiny bugs here and there with apps/OS and figured updating my device/OS is the way to go and might resolve the issues. I guess the easiest way to get the info I need is to put the questions I have individually, as my mind tends to jump all over the place when I'm working a problem:
1. Is there any way to get my phone updated without rooting/flashing the phone?
2. If not, what is the best option for a S8 Active? Are there any firmware versions that will enable OTA updates so I don't need to keep flashing everytime new firmware is released? I have seen some posts about T-Mobile being able to be flashed over an AT&T model or even the G892U or maybe a custom firmware that allows this?
3. Will rooting/flashing interfere with any of the carrier settings etc? Don't want to upgrade it only to find it disables an LTE band or something?
4. I am an absolute noob at flashing, have never done it but am pretty tech savvy so if there is a step-by-step procedure I wil have no dramas following it. Saying that, I would rather not make the device worse than it is so I only want to follow tried & tested procedures if that makes sense, I don't want my device to be a lab-rat.
5. If there is no way to enable OTA internationally as per Question #2 when new firmware updates become available on XDA will flashing a new update delete personalisation/settings/files etc? Or will it retain them and update like a stock model performing a firmware upgrade would? If not, that would be a pain in the ass and time consuming to have to re-apply settings and reinstall apps every time and almost makes the idea of flashing unattractive.
6. I have baseband G892AUCU1AQG4 - taking into account Question #2 what is the best way to move forward? Considering Android 8.0 is available for the S8 Active and has been available for my model from AT&T since March 1st, 2018 apparently I'm hoping there might be some way to move towards that.
Hope someone might be able to help,
Thanks in advance
UPDATE 05/05/2019
Got some answers to my original questions...
1. Rooting/Flashing are different things - rooting allows custom firmware, flashing is the procedure to install custom or OEM firmware onto the device.
2. The best option for me I think is to just update to newer AT&T firmware so I get the updates and new software features as I'm not interested in custom firmware. I still do not know if it is possible to get OTA updates for this device directly from Samsung/Google.
3. As long as you are flashing from the same model firmware as in SM-G892A to SM-G892A should be no issues, however using SM-G892U might cause issues.
4. Once I wrapped my head around how baseband versions of firmware work and what is needed to get between bootloader versions flashing from SD Card or Odin (as I suspected) was very straightforward thanks to some of the guides out there. To make this easier for anyone facing the same issue I have written how I did this below.
5. Yes, flashing for AT&T will delete everything, it's an absolute PIA and that's why I will keep searching for a way to get OTA updates enabled if at all possible. However I believe Samsung SmartSwitch is pretty good for backing up and restoring so that might be a simple way forward.
6. See my latest post, I was 12 updates behind but able to skip 7 of them using my method.

I'm considering importing an S8 Active AT&T and have the same questions. How did you go?

secateurs said:
I'm considering importing an S8 Active AT&T and have the same questions. How did you go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the slow reply I've only just had the time to dive into this. Yes I have figured it out.
There are two ways, incrementally update by applying OTA updates via the SD card. However trying to find all of these can be a pain.
The other way you may have read about is to use Samsung's own 'Odin' flashing software.
Because I had the very first baseband version G892AUCU1AQG4 I was way behind. The fifth-last digit designates the bootloader version, you cannot jump from v1 to v3 for example. So what you can do is use a few OTA updates to jump you from v1 to the first v2, you can then use Odin to jump you all the way up and use another OTA to get you to the next bootloader version. Hope that makes sense?
So I was able to use x2 OTA updates to get from 1AQG4 to 1AQJ2, then I was able to do one more OTA to get from 1AQJ2-to-2AQK3. Now if I was to continue using the OTA method with the SD card, I would need to run the process x8 times. This presents 3 issues:
1. Time consuming, trying to find all the correct OTA updates.
2. Even when you do get all the correct OTA updates you then have to copy each on to the SD card waiting for the phone to update and then repeat the process.
3. Even if you can find a link for a required OTA update a lot of the links are dead.
However using Odin and the flash files I was able to skip these and go directly from 2AQK3 to 2BRF2, use one OTA update and then I was onto Bootloader v3 (which is the latest version). Here is how I compressed 12 updates do into 5, good luck..
1. 1AQG4-to-1AQJ2 OTA (SD CARD): dropbox.com/s/ikor71zt1ec0nyn/SS-G892AUCU1AQG4-to-S1AQJ2.zip?dl=0
2. 1AQJ2-to-2AQK3 OTA (SD CARD): dropbox.com/s/ott9fs9qunkvf9x/SS-G892AUCS1AQJ2-to-U2AQK3.zip?dl=0
3. 2AQK3-to-2BRF2 Odin Flash : androidfilehost.com/?fid=1322778262904016415
4. 2BRF2-to-3BRG1 OTA (SD CARD): androidfilehost.com/?fid=1322778262904016441
5. 3BRG1-to-3BRL1 Odin Flash: mega.nz/#!7M42VCAJ!-FKnhzwTZG0He1kb9FzHHaPX4Aanlnj4fpn0M61DzR4

Have the s8 active outside of America and desperately want to update it
Hey ,
I'm sorry to bring up this old thread but I didn't really understand the method you used sorry I'm really new to this thing, I have the s8 active Sm-g892A ( the att) model it's on the baseband version G892AUCS2ARB1 . If you could help me out a bit with this I would be really grateful, having Android 7.0 really makes me concerned as I've heard the security patches also won't update.

None2939 said:
Hey ,
I'm sorry to bring up this old thread but I didn't really understand the method you used sorry I'm really new to this thing, I have the s8 active Sm-g892A ( the att) model it's on the baseband version G892AUCS2ARB1 . If you could help me out a bit with this I would be really grateful, having Android 7.0 really makes me concerned as I've heard the security patches also won't update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you are on Bootloader v2 (5th character from the right). So you can skip straight to Step 3. Be warned all instructions below will result in all data on your device being wiped!
Using Odin to upgrade as directed on Step 3 & 5 or future upgrades (there is now v4 software appearing):
You need to download Odin (you don't need a modified/Comsy version).
You need to enable Developer Options on your Galaxy.
Once you have developer options you need to enable 'USB Debugging'.
You need to shutdown your Galaxy.
Connect your USB cabble to your PC.
Boot into Download mode by using the Power+Bixby+Volume Down combo. OR if that doesn't work Use the Power+Bixby+Volume Up and use the menu to get into Download Mode.
Open Odin on your PC, it should say 'Added' if it detects your Galaxy correctly. If it doesn't you may need to install some USB drivers (you can Google how to do this).
Once it says 'Added' you can add the files from Step 3 and flash but be warned it will wipe everything on your device.
For Step 4 OTA:
Very simply download the ZIP file and place the complete ZIP file on an SD Card (it should not be extracted must be complete ZIP archive). Place the SD Card in the Galaxy, power off and boot into Recovery Mode Power+Bixby+Volume Up. Then simply use the Volume Up/Down and Power keys to navigate through, 'Apply Update from SD Card', find your SD card and the ZIP file and allow the update to run.

Noob looking for pointers to help with upgrade process

Hi. Been waiting a while to post this, and playing around based on what I see, but I the last change I made to my phone hasn't worked out too well and I don't think I have enough of a grip on the process. I am an ex-computer 3rd level tech support so I have reasonable skills around computers etc.
I bought an Axon 7 (A2017G) in Germany but it got flooded one day when it went down the toilet pan, literally. So I replaced it with a 128 Gb model from China, not really thinking about the software versions. Of course it came with A2017, and more importantly, no ability got OTA upgrades from Android 6.
So recently I've been having some battery life issues so I've changed the battery.
Following guides here, I've managed to get it onto a newer A2017 version and it has taken an OTA upgrade to Android 7. The build number is B13. The boot loader is still unlocked. But it's not very stable and Google Play service has now stopped, and I can't be doing with the unreliability. And tbh although it worked, I can't remember exactly which guide or what steps I followed to do it.
So I want to put it onto a stock G version, which I think seems to be possible, based on stuff I've read here. I don't think I need root going forwards (once this is done) and I'm looking for the simplest method. Unfortunately, due to the length of time it's been live, this forum really is information-overload and I've been reading for two days now and made loads of notes but I'm not really very clear about what I need to do.
I'm quite happy to find and read the right guides but would be really grateful if someone could take a few minutes to just tell me exactly which bits are essential to be upgraded and what steps I do need to follow. If I am confused I can come back with any queries.
I'd be happy to root the phone if it's felt that is a really useful thing but I'm not really a "power user" and I'm OK with standard.
Also I'm assuming any upgrade would receive any future Android releases OTA (if there are any for this phone), but if not that's not too vital.
Thanks in advance...
Geoff

But regarding your situation: You have an A2017 with A2017G firmware, right? Can you tell us your firmware version?
Would you be fine with Chinese firmware (MiFavor 5.2, B17) or prefer stock+ (G B01/B02, U B12)?

Thanks for the quick response, really appreciated.
The firmware is still A2017 version AFAIK, but I don't know where to check. If I go to the boot loader screen it says ZTE/P996A03_N/ailsa_ii and on the next line 7.1.1/NMF26V/20170912.013327
I'm thinking I'd do the change from A2017 to A2017G to get round the annoying junk which came with the Chinese version, and also avoid the Google Play Services problem I came across. It may not be do-able but I thought I'd read it was.
I guess in addition to telling me the steps, telling me exactly which file versions to use would help a lot. I promise to keep notes!
I don't mind which firmware, so long as it works reliably and so long as I can preferably put a G version on it.

of course it's doable, the thing is that you'll need to unlock the bootloader in order to.
If you had trouble with Play Services then it's most probably on chinese firmware, finding out would be as easy as going to Settings, then About phone

The boot loader is still unlocked from when I managed to do the previous upgrade. That took me quite some hours, and it was more by luck than judgement that I got a result. This time I want to better understand what I'm doing.
Not sure what I'm looking at for the firmware, isn't it the versions I quoted above? But the menus (mostly) are in Chinese at start up, and I had to load Google Play and Play Services from the ZTEYR store so I'm pretty sure it is on Chinese firmware.
So if it is, do I just need to upgrade the firmware then the ROM (is that the terminology?). If so which versions would I use?
Ta
Geoff
EDIT I missed the kernel version - which is 3.18.31

OK so I've spent more time reading. I'm coming to the conclusion that I don't need TWRP and I don't need to update my Chinese bootloader, does that sound about right?
Is it right that all I need to do is
- find a G firmware zip file <<< may have incorrect terminology here, would appreciate a pointer to a valid download as I have many but not sure they are the right type of file
- put it on an SD card named as update.zip
- boot into recovery mode
- choose "apply update from SD card"
And, assuming I have used a stock version, will it then update to the latest version (hopefully Oreo) once it's started?
Do I need to do any formats or wipes anywhere in the process? I already have a backup of my stuff, done with AXON7Toolkit.
And can you recommend a version of firmware to go to, or does it not really matter as it'll update itself anyway?
UPDATE: MiFavor UI is v5.0

OK, so there is no real short easy answer to this.
I've used the updates from ZTE since I've had the phone until I soft bricked it.
Zte offer updates similar to this.
Eg: B06 to B08 or B08 to B09 and B09 to B12
The update has to be done in stages.
Some updates you can copy to the internal SD card then go settings > system > update, your phone should detect the updates and tap install.
Some Zip files can be done the same way after changing the file name to update.zip or Ota.zip depending on the instructions.
Some zip files have the update within the Zip so it needs to be extracted.
Make sure you have the correct version software and correct version for your phone.
After the update is done all the data etc will be still in place unless you reset your phone.
All I can say is research, research, research.
Btw if your bootloader is unlocked some updates will fail.
I hope this helps
PS: you can use the method you described as well, just follow the instructions carefully.
In most cases there is no need to wipe or format unless you are using a custom ROM etc.

Excellent, thanks.
Going back a post or two - I re-installed Google Play services but still have problems. Before a reboot it appears in the list of apps, and Play opens, but the sidebar comes straight in and behind there is a message "Error while retrieving information from server [RH-01]" . After a reboot it is no longer in the list of Apps (even when expanded to include System apps), and Play just opens and closes real quick.
So I found a thread which led me look in Settings in Play Store at the Play Protect Certification, which says the device is not certified. So I downloaded the related app and ran it, which gave me a code which I put in web page then entered the stuff into my phone but still no joy. I suspect this is causing the Play problem and I think it'd be due to trying to use Google product on a Chinese firmware (again I'm not sure my terminology is right - I mean whatever the software is which throws up the initial boot screen).
So I think I need to get off the Chinese firmware at the same time as going to a G version, and I'm even less clear on how to replace the firmware than the rest of the process - what files and how it's done.
Going back to the more recent post (Syberclone), as I have already wiped my phone I'm not concerned about keeping data. I understand about doing this is steps - I hadn't thought of doing it that way but it seems very sensible.
I found a post by Raystef66 with loads of links to software - including A2017X_B15_Universal_Bootloader.zip. Does this replace the Chinese firmware and would it work with all zipfiles? How would I apply it? (I was using Axon7ToolKit the other day and that looks quite impressive).
I am still confused over the different types of files and the naming conventions but it's slowly making more sense. Appreciate all advice.
Thanks
Geoff

Personally I use Edl packages much easier imo.
I use Miflash or Edl tool by @djkuz
I have a bad flash help page that explains the process.
The bootstacks etc are mainly for custom ROMs, if you are just looking a factory firmware, Edl's are much easier to install without worrying about bootstacks, twrp etc.
My last Edl update was from Nougat (Chinese Rom)
To Oreo A2017G I had to factory reset after the install though.

Thatnks. Today I've done a fwe more hours reading, literally. This is taking all my time!!
Anyway I decided to follow your advice and found a full EDL of Oreo, which I applied. (ZTE_A2017V3.0.0B17) and the phone is still working, and I've not lost my apps.
However I still have the problem that Play Services won't run. I've upgraded it, followed a few troubleshooting guides, used different versions ( - should I be using the 64 bit one??) but still no joy. If I could only get that going I'd stick with the Chinese firmware. It is looking to me like it can't sync, though whether that's a cause or an outcome I'm not sure. Not unexpectedly, a number of apps will not run as a result.
I haven't done a factory reset yet, I thought I'd ask here first to see if that is likely to fix it or whether anyone has any better ideas.
Despite the time this is taking I'm enjoying learning and am grateful to you all for the responses.

The play store link "device not certified" will happen when you change a ROM from its original.
So I have an A2017G, when I run any other ROM it will show "device not certified" because the link between the phone and the software isnt in sync.
When I was running the beta Oreo from the Chinese my device always had this issue and NFC does not either usually.
There is a play store app version which will work as it should however the certified is still a problem without a work around.
When I installed the G version Oreo to my device the certification is back.
I'm miss some of the Chinese ROM animations tho.
Anyway I hope this helps

I am using an A2017 ROM on an A2017. I've not changed anything else. Maybe I need to update the boot stuff (firmware?).
What I'm seeing is that Play Services always needs to be manually enabled, and seems to drop out and require re-installation sometimes. So I have an apk on my internal memory for quick access.
I'm not sure that the "device not certified" is a cause or effect really.
So I have an apk on my internal memory for quick access. It's the latest non-beta 64bit version for Android 8 - should I try a specific one, e.g. is there likely to be a specific one which matches the ROM? (An older non 64 bit one seemed to give much the same problem)
I'd put up with the problem except I can't run some Google stuff at all (Play Store for instance), and some other stuff is compromised (e.g. I can't get into Waze on my usual ID, I'm guessing Play Services plays a part in authorizing). And I can't install some stuff I'd like.
And I'd still be interested to know which bits require upgrade to go to a G version, if it is do-able and would run trouble free.

There was a play store app that worked on most ROMs.
You are on Oreo now yes?
There was a link on one of the Android pie ROMs that I used, it worked fine.
If you are still having issues you can use an app called Yalp that works like the play store.
I've used it on custom ROMs when the play store app refuses to work.

Yes, Oreo now.
I've put YALP on and that looks pretty good. I now seem to have most things working, and those that aren't I can probably live without.
I use a network tool called FING which reports my phone details, and I think it's incorrect but it's saying in one place it's a A2017U which I don't think is right. But now I am more comfortable with EDL and stuff I'm going to continue to fix this properly but the urgency is now not there. I was thinking if I couldn't fix this I might have to buy a new phone on black Friday!! So thanks for your help.
I'm still not really quite sure why I get Chinese characters at start up and what files I need to change to out a G firmware on, if that is what is wrong, and if it's do-able. I think if I knew how to do that then I could put on a G firmware and matching ROM and I'd be in business!!
The same page offered me F-DROID which seems to offer a whole load of different free apps. Maybe they don't have ads? Anyway I'll have a look.
Anyway, again - thanks!!
Geoff

Geoff I'm glad I could help
I was running the Chinese Oreo on my phone and after selecting English in setting some parts of the ROM were still in Chinese, even some notifications.
I converted to the A2017G Oreo update when it was released.
I miss some of the features in the Chinese ROM tho.

So... without wishing to prolong this... your phone was Chinese (as mine was) and you are now running a Global version and all you upgraded was the ROM? And are you able to use the Play Store and you don't have any issues running apps I - and can you run, say, Google Maps?). Is your bootloader still unlocked and if so is the menu at boot time still in Chinese?
Or have you upgraded something other than the ROM?

I actually have an Axon 7 A2017G here in Australia.
I soft bricked it when I accidentally made a mistake flashing a ROM.
I searched for a suitable stock firmware but I could only flash the Chinese Oreo Beta. It had to be modified to run on my device until the Oreo package for my A2017G had been uploaded.
I've now running the proper software for this phone.

Thanks.
Another couple of hours and I have made a Major breakthrough! I went back over all my notes and checked what i'd done and one thing I hadn't remembered doing was setting the Pay Store to Autorun. So using the Mi-Assistant I have done this, and most of the stuff which wasn't working now is. I am still working on why OK Google won't work, but the list of things I might have to live without is now quite short!! The one major benefit is that my battery life seems to be greatly increased. Boot time is also much quicker which is a bonus but not critical.

Nice, yes battery life is improved, actually the Chinese Oreo Beta has a better battery life than my current Oreo.
I could get up to 4 days out of the Chinese ROM, my current ROM can manage just over 3 days at best.
I have battery saver mode on but not ultra battery saver.
I hope this has been a good learning experience for you?

"I hope this has been a good learning experience for you?"
For sure it has. Back in the days when I was 3rd level computer techie, the best learning came from other experts and from being thrown in the deep end, rather than what they taught you in the classroom!

XT1572 updating from nothing

Hi.
This might be a very noobish question, but these cannot be avoided from a noob who pretty much avoided smartphones until now:
Can someone explain to me how I get a never used EU clark up to date?
Apperently the former owner had it sitting in a drawer since *ever*, so it is still on Android 5.1.1 (systemversion reports 23.21.18.clarkreteu though, which sound like a resonable recent date to me). The phone claims to have the newest software installed and support was no help either, but apparently there were once OTA updates at least to 7.0 and even that is barely sufficient for many apps nowadays. (Not that I intend to use many apps, as I dislike the Google play store)
I searched several days in vain for some form of guide, but every single one i found expected at least an 6.0.x bootloader and most unofficial=new OS even start out with Nougat installed. But how can I get there? (Or, if it is resonable easy, directly to some current LineageOS or whatever you recommend.)

ruyven_macaran said:
Hi.
This might be a very noobish question, but these cannot be avoided from a noob who pretty much avoided smartphones until now:
Can someone explain to me how I get a never used EU clark up to date?
Apperently the former owner had it sitting in a drawer since *ever*, so it is still on Android 5.1.1 (systemversion reports 23.21.18.clarkreteu though, which sound like a resonable recent date to me). The phone claims to have the newest software installed and support was no help either, but apparently there were once OTA updates at least to 7.0 and even that is barely sufficient for many apps nowadays. (Not that I intend to use many apps, as I dislike the Google play store)
I searched several days in vain for some form of guide, but every single one i found expected at least an 6.0.x bootloader and most unofficial=new OS even start out with Nougat installed. But how can I get there? (Or, if it is resonable easy, directly to some current LineageOS or whatever you recommend.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easiest way to update stock is LMSA.
Rescue and Smart Assistant (LMSA)(Motorola/Lenovo Only)
Rescue and Smart Assistant LMSA: Lenovo's Motorola Smart Assistant (PC) For Lenovo and Motorola Devices Only Rescue and Smart Assistant (LMSA) is an official tool installs on PC. Can help to manage smart device (include all Lenovo android phone...
forum.xda-developers.com

Hi & both thanks for your quick reply & sorry for not coming back earlier. But LMSA proved very troublesome, promting me to delay my experiments until easter. Results after a quite some additional hours (restart, reboots, reinstalls, various methods of access, trying each and every menu on phone and in LMSA,...) however remains zero.
No matter how I do access the rescue option, after selecting my phone (auto detect only works in "my device"), come only the "wait for matching software" prompt and than, a grey, semi transparend overlay. On the first dozen or so tries I thought LMSA crashed completely (causing me to run extensive tests of my PC before retries...), because it remains visible but does not response to any clicks. Now I noticed that I can still access the window itself via task manager, only mouse clicks are captured by said overlay. I guess some rescue process is supposed to start, but it simply does not for me.
(Alternative) Suggestions?

ruyven_macaran said:
Hi & both thanks for your quick reply & sorry for not coming back earlier. But LMSA proved very troublesome, promting me to delay my experiments until easter. Results after a quite some additional hours (restart, reboots, reinstalls, various methods of access, trying each and every menu on phone and in LMSA,...) however remains zero.
No matter how I do access the rescue option, after selecting my phone (auto detect only works in "my device"), come only the "wait for matching software" prompt and than, a grey, semi transparend overlay. On the first dozen or so tries I thought LMSA crashed completely (causing me to run extensive tests of my PC before retries...), because it remains visible but does not response to any clicks. Now I noticed that I can still access the window itself via task manager, only mouse clicks are captured by said overlay. I guess some rescue process is supposed to start, but it simply does not for me.
(Alternative) Suggestions?
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With LMSA try starting the phone in bootloader ap fastboot mode, then connect to PC, then start LMSA, select rescue.
Looks like this is the last update for Clark RetEU
lolinet mirrors - firmware, software, iso etc.
lolinet mirrors - powered by h5ai
mirrors-obs-2.lolinet.com
RETEU/XT1572_CLARK_RETEU_7.0_NPHS25.200-15-8_cid7_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip
The next best option is RSD Lite, but this only works with older Window 7 or Xp PCs
If you don't have an older PC use fastboot.exe or mfastboot.exe
download the firmware from the lolinet link, unzip the file, find flashfile.xml, open with a text editor like notepad, copy text and paste at online flashfile convertor, to get flash commands.
Links in
[Guide] Using Fastboot.exe with Motorola devices
Guide: Using Fastboot.exe with Motorola Devices If your device has its own section please post in that section. You can ping me with @sd_shadow MediaTek or Qualcomm Chip? Do I have a MediaTek Device? see post #26 Info: If you have a MediaTek...
forum.xda-developers.com

Older PCs are speciality of mine.
RDS worked perfectly and I am on 7.0 now. Thanks a lot.

Custom ROM suggestions for Samsung J7 Sky Pro SM-727VL(GP)

Could someone please point me in the direction of a custom ROM that will (or even might) work on Samsung j7 sky pro SM-272VL(GP)
Before anyone suggests, I have already read all of the information out there on rooting, ODIN, TWRP, etc for this phone. It sounds like several have tried, but no one has actually been able to gain root, although there may be hope for that due to security flaw https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45379 mentioned in this post #21
SM-S727VL Analysis, Partition Table, and Factory
-- UPDATE #1 (11/05/18) added So I've got myself a Tracfone Variant of the Samsung J7, The "Galaxy J7 Sky Pro" [SM-S727VL] CDMA. As far as I can tell, this variant is sold on both the Tracfone and StraightTalk carriers, and it seems to just run...
forum.xda-developers.com
I have also read all of the only other thread out there on this device on the subject of rooting, or anything really:
SM-S727VL Root and Recovery
I cannot for the life of me get this phone rooted or a recovery installed. Odin always fails and ADB doesn't recognize the device. Does anyone have any info on rooting this device? I really just want to at least be able to update this thing to...
forum.xda-developers.com
However not much was accomplished in these peoples attempts other than a bricked phone or 2, and most of the participants seem to have moved onto other devices.
I however do not have any issue with needing to root as I own the device, and as it is I can boot into a recovery ODIN mode that says that FRP Lock is off, and the screen is showing a "download in progress" background to a console, waiting for me to send the updated firmware/custom ROM/whatever from the USB cable. See attached image.
I run Linux and have for the last 20 years have used too many Distros to count, but can work with most any, but prefer debian based although I have much respect for Gentoo, and their compile everything package management, and have spent considerable time on it as well. l have unlocked and installed custom ROM's of of many types on many phones, and am working with the combined experience of myself, and my friend who has done the same, except even more on more different devices than myself. But neither of us has worked on such an obscure model as this one with so little information posted publicly on the internet for anyone to find as this one. But if there is a way to do it, I'm sure between the two of us, we can and will make it happen.
Can anyone be of any help? I would really like to get something out of the phone for the $100 that it cost me. Things I would like to run would be Kali Nethunter, and/or Andrax or Cyanogenmod/LineageOS or really any other AOSP that is not google f***ed. Basically any custom ROM (whichever, whatever type and version has the best chance of working on this phone, since there are none posted publicly that are specifically made for this device that we can find for this obscure, excessively undocumented model of phone. Just getting TWRP will be a good start, and I'm pretty sure we can handle that. However in the mentioned posts even the the TWRP file that is made for this phone, people are having troubles installing in their experiences, and bricking their phones in the process, so I definitelly would prefer not to have a repeat of what happened there.
Thank you in advanced for any and all information, hints, tips, tricks, etc. I would like to not brick this phone as the only other person who attempted to do anything with this phone unfortunately had done.