[MOD] MultiROM v33 for Xperia L [Updated 02-10-2017]

[STRYDER~007]

Introduction

MultiROM is one-of-a-kind multi-boot mod. It can boot any Android ROM as well as other systems like Ubuntu Touch, once they are ported to that device. Besides booting from device's internal memory, MultiROM can boot from USB drive connected to the device via OTG cable. The main part of MultiROM is a boot manager, which appears every time your device starts and lets you choose ROM to boot. You can see how it looks on the left image below and in gallery. ROMs are installed and managed via modified TWRP recovery. You can use standard ZIP files to install secondary Android ROMs and MultiROM even has its own installer system, which can be used to ship other Linux-based systems.

Features:

* Multiboot any number of Android ROMs
* Restore nandroid backup as secondary ROM
* Boot from USB drive attached via OTG cable

You can also watch a video which shows it in action.
​

Warning!

It _is_ dangerous. This whole thing is basically one giant hack - none of these systems are made with multibooting in mind. It is no longer messing with data partition or boot sector, but it is possible that something goes wrong and you will have to flash factory images again. Make backups. Always.​

Installation

Manual installation
Firstly, there are videos on youtube. If you want, just search for "MultiROM installation" on youtube and watch those, big thanks to all who made them. There is also an awesome article on Linux Journal.

MultiROM has 2 parts you need to install + one optional (deprecated) :

• MultiROM (multirom-YYYYMMDD-v33x-taoshan.zip) - download the ZIP file from second post and flash it in recovery.
• Modified Recovery (multirom-YYYYMMDD-recovery-taoshan.zip) - download the ZIP file from second post and use a recovery to flash it into the FOTA partition (see TWRP 3 thread for more informations).
• DEPRECATED: Patched kernel - You can use those kernels on most Marshmallow and Lollipop based primary ROMs to add kexec boot support.
  Be aware that those patchers will be updated when possible after kernel sources updates
  Kexec support no longer required thanks to the no-kexec workaround by nkk71.
  For convenience reasons, I enabled the workaround by default if kexec is not found.

You current rom will not be erased by the installation.
Download links are in the second post.
​

Adding ROMs

1. Android
Go to recovery, select Advanced -> MultiROM -> Add ROM. Select the ROM's zip file and confirm.

Recommended values are :

• Cache : Keep default value
• Data : Minimum 4000
• System : 1000 is enough for most installs

​

Updating/changing ROMs

1. Primary ROM (Internal)

• Flash ROM's ZIP file as usual, do factory reset if needed (it won't erase secondary ROMs)
• Go to Advanced -> MultiROM in recovery and do Inject curr. boot sector.
• OPTIONAL: Reflash the kernel patcher to add kexec support

2. Secondary Android ROMs
If you want to change the ROM, delete it and add new one. To update ROM, follow these steps:

• Go to Advanced -> MultiROM -> List ROMs and select the ROM you want to update.
• Select "Flash ZIP" and flash ROM's ZIP file.

​

Explanation of recovery menus

Main menu
- Add ROM - add ROM to boot
- List ROMs - list installed ROMs and manage them
- Inject boot.img file - When you download for example kernel, which is distrubuted as whole boot.img (eg. franco kernel), you have to use this option on it, otherwise you would lose MultiROM.
- Inject curr. boot sector - Use this option if MultiROM does not show up on boot, for example after kernel installation.
- Settings - well, settings.

Manage ROM
- Rename, delete - I believe these are obvious
- Flash ZIP (only Android ROMs) - flash ZIP to the ROM, for example gapps
- Add/replace boot.img - replaces boot.img used by this ROM, this is more like developer option.
- Re-patch init - this is available only for ubuntu. Use it when ubuntu cannot find root partition, ie. after apt-get upgrade which changed the init script.
​

Source code

MultiROM - https://github.com/STRYDER-007/multirom_xperia (branch multirom-7.1)
Modified TWRP - https://github.com/nkk71/android_bootable_recovery/ (branch android-7.1-mrom)
Device Tree - https://github.com/STRYDER-007/multirom_device_sony_taoshan (branch master)
Kernel w/ kexec-hardboot patch - https://github.com/STRYDER-007/android_kernel_sony_msm8930 (branch multirom)
​

MultiROM available for Taoshan also thanks to :

- Tasssadar
- The XperiaMultiROM team
- The MultiROM HTC team
- @Olivier and @Adrian DC for lot of precious help and guidance in fixing many things
- @nkk71 for no-kexec workaround
- @Agent_fabulous for testing
- My Xperia L for surviving this!
​

XDA:DevDB Information
MultiROM for Xperia L, Tool/Utility for the Sony Xperia L

Contributors
STRYDER~007

Source Code: http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/orig-development/mod-multirom-v24-t2571011

Version Information
Status: Stable

Created 2016-06-13
Last Updated 2016-09-24

 

[STRYDER~007]

Downloads

1. Main downloads

MultiROM: multirom-2017MMDD-v33x-taoshan.zip

Modified recovery (based on TWRP 3): multirom-2017MMDD-recovery-fota-taoshan.zip

OPTIONAL: Kernel w/ kexec-hardboot patch (msm8930 Marshmallow based):

multirom_kernel-2016MMDD-taoshan.zip
If used, kernel with kexec-hardboot patched needs to be only in your primary ROM!

* No longer required thanks to the no-kexec workaround.

2. Third-party kernels with kexec-hardboot patch

* None, No longer needed due to no-kexec implementation.

3. MultiROM Uninstaller

MultiROM uninstaller: multirom_uninstaller.zip

* Flash uninstaller zip from recovery to remove MultiROM completely. This will also remove all your secondary ROMs.
​

How to install for the first time

• Flash the 2 MultiROM zips as explained
• Reboot to the FOTA Recovery (Volume +)
• In MultiROM TWRP, Add a ROM, set everything properly
• Wait for the ROM to be installed (can take a while)
• In MultiROM screen, choose the ROM location
• For the concerned ROM, "Flash zip" for wished zips (GApps, SuperSU, Addons...)
• OPTIONAL: Read about the no-kexec workaround by nkk71
• Reboot the phone and Enjoy MultiROM!

Changelogs

=========================================
MultiROM v33x - TWRP 3.1.1 - 02/10/2017
=========================================

* Fixed incorrect mounting of partitions in TWRP
* Removed unused and deprecated flags in TWRP
* Fixed MultiROM TWRP versioning

=========================================
MultiROM v33x - TWRP 3.1.1 - 24/09/2017
=========================================

* [B]Fixed touchscreen issue in MultiROM UI[/B]
* cyttsp3: Update multi-touch protocol for display driver
* defconfig: Compress kernel with XZ (Smaller TWRP Size)
* MultiROM UI dimensions completely fixed
* Access to MultiROM color themes and Shutdown
* Include all recent improvements from TWRP 3.1.1
* Updated to no-kexec workaround v4.1 by nkk71
* Autoboot accessible for external / MicroSD
* Improved versioning with header showing build date
* Built in a clean new tree of Android 7.1.2 (replaces 6.0)
* Multiple fixes to support 7.1 changes
* Fix the 7.1 busybox cpio corruption, needed for MultiROM

=========================================
MultiROM v33x - TWRP 3.1.0 - 15/06/2016
=========================================

* Fixed MultiROM logo in UI
* Some Minor changes in the UI

=========================================
MultiROM v33x - TWRP 3.0.2 - 13/06/2016
=========================================

* Initial public release

 

[STRYDER~007]

FAQ and other notes

FAQ and other notes

About security
In order to make multi-booting possible, MultiROM has to sacrifice some security measures. Firstly, on secondary Android ROMs, /system is not mounted read-only. While there are other things preventing malicious software from messing with /system, this might potentialy make it easier for such software to attack that system.
Next, MultiROM doesn't work with /data encryption. Not many people who use custom ROMs also use encryption anyway, so that isn't much of a concern.

What do the ROMs share?
All ROMs are separate, except /sdcard, which is shared between all Android ROMs.

Why is my USB connection to computer not detected ?
Uncheck the "Enable ADB" option in MultiROM Settings.

How many ROMs can I have?/Where are the ROMs stored?
You can have as many ROMs as you can fit in your /sdcard. All the ROMs are stored in /sdcard/multirom/roms or on an USB drive./external SD card. This folder is unaccessible in Android, to prevent mediascanner from scanning it. You can either in recovery, or obtain root and go to /data/media/0/multirom/roms.

Can I have different versions of Android working alongside?
Yes.

The menu with all the ROMs won't show up during boot, how to fix it?
Either re-flash the MultiROM zip or go to recovery, Advanced -> MultiROM -> Inject curr. boot sector.

The reason for this is that something rewrote your boot.img, which happens for example when you flash a kernel. MultiROM's boot menu is part of the boot image, so it has to be added into it again.

The installation fails with "trampoline not found -1"
Often the issue appears because the ROM zip has a nested zip for rooting methods. Best solution is to remove the root zip from the ROM and flash it separately later.

Something wrong happened, I lost something or it's really laggy
You have been warned about making backups & the fact this is more experimental than stable.
You alone will be responsible for loosing data or having an usable ROM when you really needed it.

Everyone in this thread will try to help you, but we can't do backups of your data ourselves.
Thanks for your understanding, remember to read the previous comments and please try to help each other.
​

Current local manifest of the MultiROM build

<!-- https://github.com/STRYDER-007/multirom_device_sony_taoshan -->

 

[Amirxon]

Awesome work bro,thanks!!!

 

[Mouaz Kaadan]

You are the best
Honestly, I never imagined that I'll be able to see multiRom on Xperia L
Thanks Dev. :laugh:

 

[mxperial]

Awesome dev!
Will test it as soon as possible!
Thanks!

 

[Lorenz15]

Awesome! Will test it for sure

 

[n78 shadow]

WTF (What The Fantastic)
You're the best I'll try it ASAP

 

[Mouaz Kaadan]

Just wanna make things clear
1. Can I install it without reflashing the current ROM?
2. Installing Rom to external SD Card Won't format and delete all the data?

 

[n78 shadow]

So it doesn't mess with memory partition??
That means there's no hardbrick just (maybe) softbrick.
Again thank you very much. For your hard work

 

[STRYDER~007]

Just wanna make things clear
1. Can I install it without reflashing the current ROM?
2. Installing Rom to external SD Card Won't format and delete all the data?

1. Yes
2. Yes. You can keep your data along with ROM installation on ext sd.

So it doesn't mess with memory partition??
That means there's no hardbrick just (maybe) softbrick.
Again thank you very much. For your hard work

No chances of bricking at all if you follow instruction and flash it correctly.

 

[Aenadon]

Wow. Extremely awesome, thanks for making this for Xperia L!
Just two questions: Does this work by "unpacking" the rom on external memory and booting as if it was internal? Also, how do we get Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro) to run on our device? (are there flashable zips for that?)

Sent from my taoshan using XDA Labs

 

[STRYDER~007]

Wow. Extremely awesome, thanks for making this for Xperia L!
Just two questions: Does this work by "unpacking" the rom on external memory and booting as if it was internal? Also, how do we get Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro) to run on our device? (are there flashable zips for that?)

Sent from my taoshan using XDA Labs

1. Yep.
2. There is no Ubuntu OS ported for Xperia L.

 

[kumardeepu]

Thanks for this awesome Multirom. I have question. Can i install both stock rom and custom rom as a dual boot.?

 

[STRYDER~007]

Thanks for this awesome Multirom. I have question. Can i install both stock rom and custom rom as a dual boot.?

Please go through entire thread. Everything is written there.

How many ROMs can I have?/Where are the ROMs stored?
You can have as many ROMs as you can fit in your /sdcard. All the ROMs are stored in /sdcard/multirom/roms or on an USB drive./external SD card. This folder is unaccessible in Android, to prevent mediascanner from scanning it. You can either in recovery, or obtain root and go to /data/media/0/multirom/roms.

Can I have different versions of Android working alongside?
Yes.

 

[kumardeepu]

Please go through entire thread. Everything is written there.

First Stockrom through flashtool>then multirom zip>modified recovery> custom rom am i right?

 

[STRYDER~007]

First Stockrom through flashtool>then multirom zip>modified recovery> custom rom am i right?

Yes.
Well actually in detail, First stock rom via flashtool->Root->Install SuperSU->Install Recovery via Recovery Installer app->Flash MultiROM Recovery zip->Reboot to MultiROM recovery->Flash MultiROM zip->Add Custom ROM!

 

[STRYDER~007]

MultiROM Updated

MultiROM updated with minor UI changes. Check OP.

Changelogs-

** 15-06-2016

- Fixed MultiROM logo in UI
- Some Minor changes in the UI

 

[ShadowA9]

It fails when i try to flash the multirom zip
Why??
Sorry for my bad English

 

[STRYDER~007]

It fails when i try to flash the multirom zip
Why??
Sorry for my bad English

Flash MultiROM recovery zip first then boot into new recovery and flash multirom zip.