ZenPad S Root achieved

all credit to social-media-concepts and vampirefo who developed the root:

this has only been tested on the Z580C model and ONLY FOR LOLLIPOP.

finally got root on my zenpad s 8. i can't say how this'll affect updates in the future, but this is done after taking the first update out of the box as of 7-19-15.

pretty much all you do is follow the info here: http://xdaforums.com/android/development/intel-android-devices-root-temp-cwm-t2975096

grab the file here: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=60770086&postcount=352

download intel usb drivers here: https://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/intel-usb-driver-for-android-devices

download the latest chainfire su: https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip and copy to your device or sd card

make sure your android sdk is up-to-date.

if you happened to already install the device and the usb adb device has the yellow warning on it, just updated the device driver after installing the intel drivers. select brows my computer... let me pick... scroll down to intel and select adb device.

next verify that adb recognizes your device -> adb devices

unzip IntelAndroid-FBRL-05-16-2015-PTR and run launcher.bat
if your device is detected select T2 and press enter.

wait a good while as it reboots into recovery. you'll see an error on the launcher bat about failing b/c of too many links or something, just ignore. you device will restart and have a buncha lines of text. after about 3-5min it'll boot into CWM. install su zip and reboot (didn't need to fix su at the propt).

you may want to do a nandroid before flashing SU. i skipped it so i can't say whether it'll be successful or not, but it's better to be i case something goes wrong. i'm still w/in my return period
there you go. enjoy an adfree device or what ever you want to do with your rooted tablet!

stock image available here: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePAD/Zenpad/Z580C/UL-P01M-WW-3.3.8.0-user.zip

CM 12.1 Experimental Build Ongoing

I'm working on an experimental build for the Z580CA sporting 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB EMMC storage and Intel Atom Z3580 CPU. At the moment I'm examining boot.img and Zenfone 2 repositories because both devices are similar.
The available kernel source provided by Asus Global are broken, unexpected EOF in archive. I've contacted technical support asking for a working kernel source. Until then I think I can build CM 12.1 with pre-built stock kernel and some information taken from Zenfone 2.

ZenPad S8.0 signed flash checks

I've found more precisely where signing or some form of unlock is required.

First of all, a useful tool will be 'abootimg' (https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=abootimg):
# apt-get install abootimg

With that, the original firmaware that gets started via 'adb reboot bootloader' can be opened as:
$ abootimg -i droidboot.img

$ abootimg -x droidboot.img
$ mkdir new_initrd
$ cd new_initrd/
$ zcat ../initrd.img | cpio -i

As a test, I try inserting into the 1st stage ramdisk 'initrd.img' a new, empty file:
$ touch mynewfile

... and then repack the image with:
$ find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > ../newramdisk.cpio.gz
$ cd ..

Then the abootimg -generated 'bootimg.cfg' file must be updated. In particular, the total size of the image (on the first line, in hexadecimal base: check that the default value, 0xbeead8, converts into the exact size in bytes for the original droidboot.img: compare the two via

$ echo "ibase=16; BEEAD8"| bc

and:

$ ls -l droidboot.img

A new empty file takes 12 bytes more, and without such step abootimg would complain:
$ abootimg --create new_droidboot.img -k zImage -f bootimg.cfg -r newramdisk.cpio.gz -s stage2.img
new_droidboot.img: updated is too big for the Boot Image (12521472 vs 12511960 bytes)

The new size of 12521472 bytes can be converted into HEX as:
$ echo "obase=16; 12521472"| bc
BF1000

... thus copying bootimg.cfg into new_bootimg.cfg, its first line should contain such new value (the rest remains unchanged):
bootsize = 0xbf1000
[...]

Then repacking the image works:
$ abootimg --create new_droidboot.img -k zImage -f new_bootimg.cfg -r newramdisk.cpio.gz -s stage2.img

... and we can try flashing it. First, one can test what happens with the original, unmodified 'droidboot.img' file:
$ adb reboot-bootloader
$ fastboot flash fastboot droidboot.img
sending 'fastboot' (12218 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.256s]
writing 'fastboot'...
OKAY [ 1.144s]
finished. total time: 2.400s

$ fastboot reboot-bootloader
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [ 0.892s]
finished. total time: 0.892s

No real changes, everything should work exactly as shipped. But the flashing process is then clear, and can be tried for the new, modified fastboot image:
$ fastboot flash fastboot new_droidboot.img
sending 'fastboot' (12230 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.223s]
writing 'fastboot'...
FAILED (remote: check_sign_key fail: no allow update droidboot)

Clearly here a security restriction is enforced. We must still find out where the message comes from.

The original source code of droidboot.c, which gets run in reboot-bootloader mode, appears to be avalilable here:
https://github.com/quanganh2627/android_hardware_intel/blob/master/libintelprov/droidboot.c

I would like to know what is in particular inside the 'droidboot.img' payload: 'stage2.img', as extracted by adroidboot -x, and for now just repacked in unmodified form. Perhaps it is the signature/security token that we need?

I would like to compare things more closely in particular with a ZenFone 2 of similar hardware specs, and already unlockable; such as the ZE550ML for instance.

Thanks in advance,
--
a.

Hey Guys,

I managed to disable forced encryption finally this also removes the ugly TWRP messages, the boot images are ready to be uploaded.:good:

I also Debloated the device while surviving factory resets in order to do so I removed most asus crap, and switched to pico Gapps:laugh:
and I got the verified fingerprint added to MagiskHide Props Config, so you just need to install the module and install it from the online repo.


https://preview.ibb.co/dPs05J/Screenshot_20180619_143756_1.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]https://preview.ibb.co/fxNuzd/Screenshot_20180619_123237.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]https://preview.ibb.co/kxW9Xy/Screenshot_20180619_123242.jpg



I'm uploading this system soon :fingers-crossed:

System apps kept:


priv-app


Update 21-6:

Images are ready to be downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19Y0Uv4O_t1gO30oUeA-tA6GxMq5pQLDs?usp=sharing

If you have any questions let me know

Xposed, Fresh Install, Consolidated Tips

So I got xposed-v78-sdk21-x86 running very smoothly. Everyone just be sure to wipe cache and dalvik cache in the temp CWM recovery at the time you install Xposed.
The modules I'm running:
-Amplify
-AppOppsXposed
-Greenify
-Power Nap
-MinMinGuard
-NotifyClean
-Xinstaller
-Fix Lollipop Memory Leak
-Gravity Box [LP]
-Activity Force New Task


Some tips for a fresh clean install to a new rom update then Xposed (in this case it was 4.5 for the Z580C):

1. Backup all user apps and data with Titanium Backup(TiBu) (and some VERY select system apps; try to never back up apps that constantly sync accounts)
2. Boot into CWM and full wipe (Factory Reset, wipe Cache (takes unreasonably long, just be patient), wipe Dalvik Cache (under advanced), format System(under mount))
3. Flash the update from your internal SD (in this case 4.5WW), then flash latest SuperSu (I flashed BETA-SuperSU-v2.52.zip, be careful with the Systemless ones as I just tried to flash Beta 2.67 and root prompts were either delayed or never showed. I had to uninstall it then flash 2.52)
4. Boot up and restore basic settings with google account restore (but no apps except TiBu)
5. Setup system settings (like change lockscreen quick launch apps before you remove Browser and Email, otherwise that menu FC's. etc)
   -----In Splendid: "adjust the color temperature slider to be 3 positions from the right" (http://www.anandtech.com/show/9555/the-asus-zenpad-s-z580ca-review/6)
   -----In Power saver, switch from "optimized" to "custom" and change the screen brightness to allow up to 100% and toggle power saving mode at a certain percent if you would like (can also toggle with more control in Power Nap xposed module later)
   -----Turn animations down to 0.5X or 0x and turn on force GPU rendering in Developer Options. This does a lot to add a sense of visual speediness.
6. Use TiBu to freeze/uninstall bloat (if you mark all of the bloatware with filters/lists, this becomes a one step process. As per this guide: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ve...ng-rom-s-hack-s/192528-how-tibu-easy-way.html). I strongly suggest you backup all bloat that you uninstall/freeze, it most likely will save you from reflashing the rom if a problem comes up.
   -----Here is a general list for bloat (http://xdaforums.com/zenfone2/help/bloatware-to-removed-root-t3123108), also just search/filter "asus" and remove most of those.
7. Reboot (to settle system apps that were removed)
8. Restore user apps with TiBu, maybe reboot, then setup App Drawer and Launcher to your liking
9. At this point make sure you've gone into the Play Store and updated all of your apps
10. Backup all your user apps, some system apps (e.g. google app, boot manager, power saver, splendid), and settings with TiBu
11. Boot into CWM and wipe Cache and Dalvik
12. Flash the most recent Xposed sdk21-x86 zip; I used xposed-v78-sdk21-x86.zip found here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3034811
    -----It will take 5mins or so to boot and recreate the cache
13. Install the Xposed installer v3.0 alpha4 and make sure the framework has been installed properly (I like to use this material installer: http://xdaforums.com/xposed/material-design-xposed-installer-t3137758, it has all the same functions as the regular one and looks much better than that or the materialized xposed installer module)
14. Install your modules (from backup, repository, play store, etc), enable them in the xposed installer, then reboot
    -----I try to heavily limit the modules I run, so as to minimize the lag that can accompany Xposed
    -----I recently ran across this Extreme Battery Life thread and have been so infatuated with it, they use Amplify, Greenify, and Power Nap to extend battery life. It doesn't limit my functionality and basically all runs in the background; check it out (http://xdaforums.com/android/general/guide-extreme-battery-life-t3095884)
15. That's it!! You should have a buttery smooth ZenPad that is debloated, has Root access, and Xposed!

Let me know if this helps anyone, or if there is anything from my experience that I should clarify.

I'm curious to hear also, what other xposed modules are people running?! And do you have any tips for speed/performance/battery life that I missed?