[GUIDE] Root, Bootloader Unlocks, and More!

[Legitsu]

The problem is most people coming here know there phones are emmc 11 they have tried and failed over in the bootloader unlocking thread and they are just hoping for a miracle in that their bootloaders just magically unlock by doing this process

no the problem is they are idiots
I vote no supporting CID11's at all
problem solved

 

[jrkruse]

Oh also does anyone know why, if I put the Nexus ported SystemUI in the ROM zip and then flash, it goes into an FC loop? I've been trying all day to figure this one out... If I replace it over the stock SystemUI AFTER installing the ROM it works fine..

You need to disable signature verification in service jar

 

[AptLogic]

You need to disable signature verification in service jar

Thanks, a patch has been slapped on and bug has been fixed.

Sent from my Amazon KFGIWI using XDA Labs

 

[rooters5]

bricked

I made it to step 13. I wiped data, system, cache, and dalvik/art cache and then ran into a problem. The phone is stuck on the Samsung Galaxy s5 load page. Can I simply restart the process from the beginning or are other actions needed?

 

[itisdieter]

First and foremost, thanks for this great work @AptLogic and @jrkruse I appreciate it.

I just got today a refirb S5 that has the 15 Samsung eMMC. This is my first Samsung device, I come from a rooted and unlocked Moto G.

I searched this thread and found no mention of that silly Knox thing or the SE for Android status.

Sorry for my ignorance, but will this root method trip up and Samsung security features and will Knox allow the rooted phone to function as expected?

Thanks for your help gang, I'm trying to learn a new device, Once rooted I'll be off researching custom ROMs and slapping Xposed and XPrivacy on this thing.

 

[Legitsu]

it will throw a kernel recovery/warranty bit
but if you aren't flashing a tw rom I doubt you will care
ASOP based roms really wake this old pig up well worth it

 

[jrkruse]

I made it to step 13. I wiped data, system, cache, and dalvik/art cache and then ran into a problem. The phone is stuck on the Samsung Galaxy s5 load page. Can I simply restart the process from the beginning or are other actions needed?

Did you flash a rom?

 

[rooters5]

Did you flash a rom?

No I wasn't able to get the rom flashed

 

[jrkruse]

No I wasn't able to get the rom flashed

What happened did you click the reboot button after you wiped?

 

[rooters5]

What happened did you click the reboot button after you wiped?

I highlighted the fields for data, system, cache, dlvik/art cache and when I tried to wipe it my phone froze up. I tried restarting thinking that I would be able to restart at this step.

 

[AptLogic]

I highlighted the fields for data, system, cache, dlvik/art cache and when I tried to wipe it my phone froze up. I tried restarting thinking that I would be able to restart at this step.

That's probably because the phone didn't actually freeze up. Chances are it was just waiting for the internal storage to catch up with it before it could do the wipe. Just go back in download mode and start over.

 

[AptLogic]

no the problem is they are idiots
I vote no supporting CID11's at all
problem solved

Yeah that would be problem solved except I have a CID11 device lol

You need to disable signature verification in service jar

Okay now I've got the SystemUI force closing every time I hit the recents key.. Logcat:

FATAL EXCEPTION: main
Process: com.android.systemui, PID: 15920
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.android.systemui/com.android.systemui.recents.recents.activity}: java.io.IOException: open failed: EACCESS (Permission Denied)

and then a whole bunch more things failing as a result.
Its clearly a permission error, but I don't know what caused it because everything was fine until I applied the patch.

 

[jrkruse]

Yeah that would be problem solved except I have a CID11 device lol

Okay now I've got the SystemUI force closing every time I hit the recents key.. Logcat:

FATAL EXCEPTION: main
Process: com.android.systemui, PID: 15920
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.android.systemui/com.android.systemui.recents.recents.activity}: java.io.IOException: open failed: EACCESS (Permission Denied)

and then a whole bunch more things failing as a result.
Its clearly a permission error, but I don't know what caused it because everything was fine until I applied the patch.

See why I gave up. It would work pretty well installed over the original systemUI but flashing fresh would give these problems. Look at the permissions in the original AndroidManifest.xml and compare to your AndroidManifest.xml

---------- Post added at 11:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:30 AM ----------

Here is an updated Safestrap to install for those running rooted lollipop rom. After you install a rooted lollipop rom with safestrap its always a good Idea to reinstall the safestrap.apk just to make sure safestrap is still installed. Some roms like my stock PB1 rom install system images and not files and this will remove safestrap from system. This is also an updated safestrap.apk that will allow you to reboot to safestrap recovery from the app without flashing the kitkat kernel with odin this only works on rooted lollipop roms. Marshmallow you will always have to enter safestrap by flashing kitkat kernel with odin. Remeber to flash lollipop or marshmallow kernel when leaving safestrap. This safestrap apk requires busybox be installed it is included in the zip just install them the same way as you did when you rooted. Also if you prefer flashfire its always a good idea to install safestrap as a backup if flashfire fails



LL_MM_SafeStrap.zip

---------- Post added at 05:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 PM ----------

I highlighted the fields for data, system, cache, dlvik/art cache and when I tried to wipe it my phone froze up. I tried restarting thinking that I would be able to restart at this step.

So you mush have wiped something or when you rebooted the phone would have given the option to enter safestrap. You didnt touch any of the boot options in safestrap did you. You neber mess with those it always stays on system slot. Rom slots dont work. You just trying to wiped and didnt click format or click repair when in the wipe section?. Start the process over this time when you get to safestrap. Flash the firmware zip first make sure it flashes ok the wipe and flash rom

 

[Legitsu]

Yeah that would be problem solved except I have a CID11 device lol

Okay now I've got the SystemUI force closing every time I hit the recents key.. Logcat:

FATAL EXCEPTION: main
Process: com.android.systemui, PID: 15920
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.android.systemui/com.android.systemui.recents.recents.activity}: java.io.IOException: open failed: EACCESS (Permission Denied)

and then a whole bunch more things failing as a result.
Its clearly a permission error, but I don't know what caused it because everything was fine until I applied the patch.

it may not be strictly a permission problem it may be that something isn't getting mounted quickly enough it will throw that error if it can't write to where it needs to

also double check your service declarations your manifest systemui needs android:isolatedProcess=true

 

[synbios16]

Can somebody help me with this? I'm an absolute noob with this and I'm incredibly lost in the instructions (I don't think they're very clear)
For example, on step 1, it just says download the file supplied. Do I download that on my phone or my PC? Step 2 says Unzip, but doesn't tell me where. Step 3 says use Odin 3.12 but I didn't know what that is or where to find it.

I'm trying to muscle my way through this... just guessing, I placed the file on my PC and extracted the files from the zip and put them on my desktop. After about 10 minutes of frustrated looking around, I discovered Odin is a PC program. I found version 3.12 and downloaded it.

I managed to get my phone into download mode, pressed the up volume button to confirm and it took me to a screen that says "Downloading... Do not turn off the target!!".
I have no idea what this means, and it appears to not be doing anything.

I loaded the md5 file into the AP slot and hit the start button in Odin, but it doesn't look like anything is happening there, either. Log:
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)

What is CS? How do I "leave" it?

Step five reads: "Flash let phone reboot". What does this mean? It doesn't even read like English.

As you can tell, I need a ton of help here.

---------- Post added at 07:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:50 PM ----------

Well it looks really bad now. I have no idea what's going on but it looks like somehow my phone has been completely wiped. All my files are gone, I think. I can't tell for sure because it doesn't even look like my phone any more.

I just get this strange home screen with little android icons everywhere. SEMI, Waterproof, MIC2 Echo, CpuStress, RX_AGC_LE..., Factory IME, and BCDS Finge...
There's a text box that's floating on the screen with lots of yellow text in it, too much to type.

CAN I GET ANY HELP

 

[AptLogic]

Well it looks really bad now. I have no idea what's going on but it looks like somehow my phone has been completely wiped. All my files are gone, I think. I can't tell for sure because it doesn't even look like my phone any more.

I just get this strange home screen with little android icons everywhere. SEMI, Waterproof, MIC2 Echo, CpuStress, RX_AGC_LE..., Factory IME, and BCDS Finge...
There's a text box that's floating on the screen with lots of yellow text in it, too much to type.

CAN I GET ANY HELP

That strange home screen is normal, don't worry you did everything right. The reason all of those things are there is that this was originally an internal build for diagnostic use by Samsung engineers, you don't need to worry about those apps, just install the APKs in the OP and follow the instructions, you'll be fine.
Any other questions feel free to ask.

 

[synbios16]

This is CORRECT?! Jesus this is complicated.

I think I've gotten through steps 1-12 here (on the 15' "sasmung" I assume that's a typo)

But now I can't seem to get out of this Team Win Recovery thing? I hit install, I choose the QA1_Bootloader zip and it takes me back here. How do I get back to the phone that I know and love?

 

[AptLogic]

This is CORRECT?! Jesus this is complicated.

I think I've gotten through steps 1-12 here (on the 15' "sasmung" I assume that's a typo)

But now I can't seem to get out of this Team Win Recovery thing? I hit install, I choose the QA1_Bootloader zip and it takes me back here. How do I get back to the phone that I know and love?

If it takes you back to the main recovery screen you should just be able to hit "reboot" and "power off" and then just boot the phone like normal.

 

[synbios16]

It just keeps taking me back to this Team Win Recovery thing. I may have skipped a step maybe? On step 15 after it says you will have unlocked bootloader (Don't know what that is) and TWRP recovery (That either) installed, "Now install your ROM that matches the firmware you chose".

I need a ROM I guess? I want one that's as close to stock as possible, if not stock. How / where do I find this?

Ultimately, I just wanted to root to install an app a certain way, then I want to remove root.

 

[AptLogic]

It just keeps taking me back to this Team Win Recovery thing. I may have skipped a step maybe? On step 15 after it says you will have unlocked bootloader (Don't know what that is) and TWRP recovery (That either) installed, "Now install your ROM that matches the firmware you chose".

I need a ROM I guess? I want one that's as close to stock as possible, if not stock. How / where do I find this?

You can find a ROM in the Android Development or Unified Android Development sections of this forum. I would personally recommend LineageOS but it's ultimately up to you.