Rooting stock, nandroid, unlock, restore? Will it work?

Search This thread

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
Finally I'm (again) rooted on stock, but that GPE rom becomes more and more attractive every single day...
My questions are:
I still have my TA Backup from the VRoot days (more or less day 1), is it still actual or do I have to redo a more recent backup? The TA partition changes with firmware updates?
And then, I'm unlocking, therefore deleting any user data on my internal memory, and subsequently I'm installing the GPE rom from scratch.
Let's say I'll stay like that for a week and then I'll miss the Sony rom, can I simply restore my previous (locked) nandroid backup? Would I get any troubles from that?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 

blueether

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2011
3,391
1,639
Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Finally I'm (again) rooted on stock, but that GPE rom becomes more and more attractive every single day...
My questions are:
  1. I still have my TA Backup from the VRoot days (more or less day 1), is it still actual or do I have to redo a more recent backup? The TA partition changes with firmware updates?
  2. And then, I'm unlocking, therefore deleting any user data on my internal memory, and subsequently I'm installing the GPE rom from scratch.
  3. Let's say I'll stay like that for a week and then I'll miss the Sony rom, can I simply restore my previous (locked) nandroid backup? Would I get any troubles from that?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

Numbered you Q's

1, Yes it will still be valid, even though the TA changes with each firmware update.

I take it you relocked the BL at some stage?

2, Yes re-unlocking will do a data wipe again. If you had taken a TA backup with a unlocked BL as well you could use that to unlock again without the data wipe - just make sure to make sure to name them well and dont lose the 'locked' one

3, The nandroid should work fine, but wont relock the BL (from what I understand)
 
  • Like
Reactions: fastest83

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
Numbered you Q's

1, Yes it will still be valid, even though the TA changes with each firmware update.

I take it you relocked the BL at some stage?

2, Yes re-unlocking will do a data wipe again. If you had taken a TA backup with a unlocked BL as well you could use that to unlock again without the data wipe - just make sure to make sure to name them well and dont lose the 'locked' one

3, The nandroid should work fine, but wont relock the BL (from what I understand)

I'll reply with numbers as well ;)

1)Seeing I'm rooted again, I may as well redo the TA backup and keep both, you'll never know...

2)I never unlocked the bootloader, so I don't have a TA Backup with the bootloader unlocked...

3) What I really was asking was if I could (if fed up with the GPE or another rom) restore my old (locked) nandroid even if I was unlocked. I think once unlocked I'll stay that way unless there's a problem, so relocking it's not a concern right now (and will not be anyway because if I have to send it in for warranty wiping would be the first thing to do... :D).

Basically, I want to:
- do the TA backup now while rooted and never locked,
- make a nandroid backup
- unlock
- restore my nandroid backup -----> this is what I'm interested in, because I don't want to start from scratch if I don't feel like keeping another ROM.

By the way, redoing the TA backup while unlocked would be great if it'd mean never wiping data again... But correct me if I'm wrong, once you relock (with the TA backup) you'll end up wiping everything anyway, so... :)

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 

blueether

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2011
3,391
1,639
Te Awamutu, New Zealand
I'll reply with numbers as well ;)

1)Seeing I'm rooted again, I may as well redo the TA backup and keep both, you'll never know...

2)I never unlocked the bootloader, so I don't have a TA Backup with the bootloader unlocked...

3) What I really was asking was if I could (if fed up with the GPE or another rom) restore my old (locked) nandroid even if I was unlocked. I think once unlocked I'll stay that way unless there's a problem, so relocking it's not a concern right now (and will not be anyway because if I have to send it in for warranty wiping would be the first thing to do... :D).

Basically, I want to:
- do the TA backup now while rooted and never locked,
- make a nandroid backup
- unlock
- restore my nandroid backup -----> this is what I'm interested in, because I don't want to start from scratch if I don't feel like keeping another ROM.

By the way, redoing the TA backup while unlocked would be great if it'd mean never wiping data again... But correct me if I'm wrong, once you relock (with the TA backup) you'll end up wiping everything anyway, so... :)

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Yeah those steps are about it, the nandroid should work just fine even with the new unlocked BL
I dont think that restoring the TA wipes data :confused:
 
  • Like
Reactions: fastest83

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
Yeah those steps are about it, the nandroid should work just fine even with the new unlocked BL
I dont think that restoring the TA wipes data :confused:

Thanks for the quick replies, but as this is uncharted territory for me, I would like some certainties, while all I find over the net are should and would... :(

I'm baffled over the fact that nobody ever tried (or ever reported) to do as I'm trying to do... :confused:

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 

LordManhattan

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2007
15,039
5,495
Kepler-34b
You should be fine. I've never done a NANDROID on a locked bootloader before, but I have switched between the GPe and Stock ROM like every couple of weeks for several months now, and it restores it just fine. Will a backup made while on a locked bootloader make any difference? I highly doubt that.

Either way, backup your stuff to your computer and the cloud, and expect things to go straight south. Nothing bad will happen of course, but you should always be prepared.

Let's say that you can't restore you NAND. What's the big deal? You can either flash an FTF in Flashtool, or if you want the local build, re-lock the bootloader, un-root and download it from PC Companion.

I understand that you have a lot of stuff on your phone and you want to keep it that way, and that's why you want to be sure that the NAND will work, but you shouldn't keep important things in one place, and definitely not on your phone. Again, back it up and save it on your computer/Dropbox/Drive/etc.

Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: fastest83

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
You should be fine. I've never done a NANDROID on a locked bootloader before, but I have switched between the GPe and Stock ROM like every couple of weeks for several months now, and it restores it just fine. Will a backup made while on a locked bootloader make any difference? I highly doubt that.

Either way, backup your stuff to your computer and the cloud, and expect things to go straight south. Nothing bad will happen of course, but you should always be prepared.

Let's say that you can't restore you NAND. What's the big deal? You can either flash an FTF in Flashtool, or if you want the local build, re-lock the bootloader, un-root and download it from PC Companion.

I understand that you have a lot of stuff on your phone and you want to keep it that way, and that's why you want to be sure that the NAND will work, but you shouldn't keep important things in one place, and definitely not on your phone. Again, back it up and save it on your computer/Dropbox/Drive/etc.

Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk

First of all, thanks for the reply.
Secondly, you're right, nobody should keep their stuff in one place, and that's what I do with Drive, Box and Dropbox.
There's nothing that important on my phone, and even if I can't restore the nandroid backup and I remember there's one particular I should have backupped (there's ALWAYS something you forget), if I remember correctly Titanium Backup PRO lets you browse nandroid backups for apps and files and stuff... :)

That said, how do I proceed? My steps would be:

1)unlock bootloader
2)install dual recovery
3)wipe data from recovery
4)flash GPe rom

Is that right?
Wish me luck!

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
 

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
Yup. That's pretty much it.

I have NUT's dual recovery installed, and that's what I was planning to install, but I read that's only for stock kernels...
Do I have to go with Doomlord one, once wiped after unlocking the bootloader? Or there's something better?
What I don't understand is if I have to install NUT's dual recovery (cause I'll be on stock before GPe), and then install the zip file with Scrubber's GPe rom (which from what I understand, has the dual recovery included that overwrites the stock dual one?)...
I think I'll flash through Flashtool to be sure...

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

LordManhattan

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2007
15,039
5,495
Kepler-34b
The kernel isn't that important when you're about to flash a different ROM. The ROM you'll flash will flash another recovery, so you'll only use the "first" recovery to be able to flash the ROM.

Use Flashtool or QuickIMG to flash the kernel/boot.img if you want a GUI, and do not want to use ADB.

Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: fastest83

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
The kernel isn't that important when you're about to flash a different ROM. The ROM you'll flash will flash another recovery, so you'll only use the "first" recovery to be able to flash the ROM.

Use Flashtool or QuickIMG to flash the kernel/boot.img if you want a GUI, and do not want to use ADB.

Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk

I thought that might be the case, but wanted to be sure anyway.
Ok, I have my unlock code now, let's try and not f*ck this up then... :D
Thanks mate!

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: LordManhattan

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
How did it go? Are you weeping in a corner now, or what? Haha

Ahahahah I didn't do it yet, I made all the backups and everything but I didn't have the time to go through with the steps.
That's partly because family takes all of my time now (we're preparing for a vacation next week), but I confess, part of me doesn't like changes at all...
Yeah, I'm a lazy mot*erfu**er... :D

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 

LordManhattan

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2007
15,039
5,495
Kepler-34b
Ahahahah I didn't do it yet, I made all the backups and everything but I didn't have the time to go through with the steps.
That's partly because family takes all of my time now (we're preparing for a vacation next week), but I confess, part of me doesn't like changes at all...
Yeah, I'm a lazy mot*erfu**er... :D

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
Hmm, alright so you should probably wait until you're back from vacation before messing with it. I don't wanna get yelled at when you're having car issues and can't make a call or something unexpected, OR you feel adventurous and want to mess with it BECAUSE you have a lot of free time on your hands?
 

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88

Are you crazy? Do you have the slightest idea of what is like to have 2 kids and a wife screaming at you for this or that and you're freaking out because ADB is not working at the moment, or the single file you planned to flash was corrupted so you end up wiping everything for nothing? Well, I do. :D
And no, it's not pretty. XD
Anyway, now 4.4.4 is in sight, so I'm even more confused...
After all, I use mini apps a lot, device is super responsive, now I can use gestures and xposed, viper for the sound, I don't really know how much could this be improved with vanilla android...
(Yeah, monkey on my shoulder, I see your point, but eat your banana and shut the fu*k up for now... :D)

P. S. Just for a laugh, my friend's S4 literally EXPLODED last night, battery fused with back cover and cell destroyed... I told him to get a Sony...
(they gave him an S5 in exchange, and that seems a bit admitting they know it's something that can actually happen...)

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
 

LordManhattan

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2007
15,039
5,495
Kepler-34b
Dude, is your friend a Reddit user? And did he post about his S4? Because some guy posted about a burning S4 yesterday or something, LOL.

Aaaaand no. I don't have the slightest idea, and thank God for that, hahah :p So... You're not sure if you're going to stick with the new 4.4.4 stock ROM or the ridiculously smooth GPe ROM? If you're really happy with your current setup then just keep it. Don't mess up "perfection". If you're bored on the other hand, then flash GPe.

Or you know.. I can do it for you if you pay for my flight down. I'm only a couple of hours away, LOL!
 

fastest83

Senior Member
Jul 13, 2012
570
88
Dude, is your friend a Reddit user? And did he post about his S4? Because some guy posted about a burning S4 yesterday or something, LOL.

Aaaaand no. I don't have the slightest idea, and thank God for that, hahah :p So... You're not sure if you're going to stick with the new 4.4.4 stock ROM or the ridiculously smooth GPe ROM? If you're really happy with your current setup then just keep it. Don't mess up "perfection". If you're bored on the other hand, then flash GPe.

Or you know.. I can do it for you if you pay for my flight down. I'm only a couple of hours away, LOL!

No actually he's not, but I did find the user you pointed out, and that is NOTHING compared to what happened to his S4...
I mean...
14518260881_98580460bd.jpg
14498544226_7b8ec4db54.jpg


Anyway, the smoothness really attracts me, but I really never encountered nothing but, in this particular phone.
With Sammy I was forced to flash something else (CM) because the system was laggy to say the least, but with this?
I guess I'll really flash when updates are far far away... :D

P.s. I'll pay the flight next time, I swear! Ehm...
 
Last edited:

LordManhattan

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2007
15,039
5,495
Kepler-34b
No actually he's not, but I did find the user you pointed out, and that is NOTHING compared to what happened to his S4...
I mean...
14518260881_98580460bd.jpg
14498544226_7b8ec4db54.jpg


Anyway, the smoothness really attracts me, but I really never encountered nothing but, in this particular phone.
With Sammy I was forced to flash something else (CM) because the system was laggy to say the least, but with this?
I guess I'll really flash when updates are far far away... :D

P.s. I'll pay the flight next time, I swear! Ehm...
Woow.. WTF man! He should contact Samsung ASAP, and he'll probably get a new phone of his choice so he doesn't sue them. This is normal. If not, make him publish it so Samsung gets a bad rep. I'm completely serious, but I'm guessing that Samsung doesn't want bad PR, so they'll give him a new device ASAP as long as he signs some papers.
 

adfurgerson

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
2,179
763
Woow.. WTF man! He should contact Samsung ASAP, and he'll probably get a new phone of his choice so he doesn't sue them. This is normal. If not, make him publish it so Samsung gets a bad rep. I'm completely serious, but I'm guessing that Samsung doesn't want bad PR, so they'll give him a new device ASAP as long as he signs some papers.

I think I would require years of therapy to get over that traumatic experience.
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 1
    Finally I'm (again) rooted on stock, but that GPE rom becomes more and more attractive every single day...
    My questions are:
    1. I still have my TA Backup from the VRoot days (more or less day 1), is it still actual or do I have to redo a more recent backup? The TA partition changes with firmware updates?
    2. And then, I'm unlocking, therefore deleting any user data on my internal memory, and subsequently I'm installing the GPE rom from scratch.
    3. Let's say I'll stay like that for a week and then I'll miss the Sony rom, can I simply restore my previous (locked) nandroid backup? Would I get any troubles from that?

    Thanks for the help in advance!

    Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

    Numbered you Q's

    1, Yes it will still be valid, even though the TA changes with each firmware update.

    I take it you relocked the BL at some stage?

    2, Yes re-unlocking will do a data wipe again. If you had taken a TA backup with a unlocked BL as well you could use that to unlock again without the data wipe - just make sure to make sure to name them well and dont lose the 'locked' one

    3, The nandroid should work fine, but wont relock the BL (from what I understand)
    1
    I'll reply with numbers as well ;)

    1)Seeing I'm rooted again, I may as well redo the TA backup and keep both, you'll never know...

    2)I never unlocked the bootloader, so I don't have a TA Backup with the bootloader unlocked...

    3) What I really was asking was if I could (if fed up with the GPE or another rom) restore my old (locked) nandroid even if I was unlocked. I think once unlocked I'll stay that way unless there's a problem, so relocking it's not a concern right now (and will not be anyway because if I have to send it in for warranty wiping would be the first thing to do... :D).

    Basically, I want to:
    - do the TA backup now while rooted and never locked,
    - make a nandroid backup
    - unlock
    - restore my nandroid backup -----> this is what I'm interested in, because I don't want to start from scratch if I don't feel like keeping another ROM.

    By the way, redoing the TA backup while unlocked would be great if it'd mean never wiping data again... But correct me if I'm wrong, once you relock (with the TA backup) you'll end up wiping everything anyway, so... :)

    Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk
    Yeah those steps are about it, the nandroid should work just fine even with the new unlocked BL
    I dont think that restoring the TA wipes data :confused:
    1
    You should be fine. I've never done a NANDROID on a locked bootloader before, but I have switched between the GPe and Stock ROM like every couple of weeks for several months now, and it restores it just fine. Will a backup made while on a locked bootloader make any difference? I highly doubt that.

    Either way, backup your stuff to your computer and the cloud, and expect things to go straight south. Nothing bad will happen of course, but you should always be prepared.

    Let's say that you can't restore you NAND. What's the big deal? You can either flash an FTF in Flashtool, or if you want the local build, re-lock the bootloader, un-root and download it from PC Companion.

    I understand that you have a lot of stuff on your phone and you want to keep it that way, and that's why you want to be sure that the NAND will work, but you shouldn't keep important things in one place, and definitely not on your phone. Again, back it up and save it on your computer/Dropbox/Drive/etc.

    Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk
    1
    The kernel isn't that important when you're about to flash a different ROM. The ROM you'll flash will flash another recovery, so you'll only use the "first" recovery to be able to flash the ROM.

    Use Flashtool or QuickIMG to flash the kernel/boot.img if you want a GUI, and do not want to use ADB.

    Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk
    1
    The kernel isn't that important when you're about to flash a different ROM. The ROM you'll flash will flash another recovery, so you'll only use the "first" recovery to be able to flash the ROM.

    Use Flashtool or QuickIMG to flash the kernel/boot.img if you want a GUI, and do not want to use ADB.

    Sent from my C6833_GPe using Tapatalk

    I thought that might be the case, but wanted to be sure anyway.
    Ok, I have my unlock code now, let's try and not f*ck this up then... :D
    Thanks mate!

    Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk