Necessary backups before flashing

[olokos]

Hey,

I might get s8+ really soon and coming from Sony, I've been wondering, is there anything worth backing up before I flash it or right after I flash it?

In Sony devices there's TA partition containing bootloader, IMEI etc which is worth backing up as you can restore TA backup and make your phone look as if it was never flashed. It's there something similar in S8? Or should I just flash it and don't worry about anything?

Thanks for answers.

 

[kxdaorbit]

Welcome to the 'Samsungverse'

Hey,

I might get s8+ really soon and coming from Sony, I've been wondering, is there anything worth backing up before I flash it or right after I flash it?

In Sony devices there's TA partition containing bootloader, IMEI etc which is worth backing up as you can restore TA backup and make your phone look as if it was never flashed. It's there something similar in S8? Or should I just flash it and don't worry about anything?

Thanks for answers.

As a former Sony fanboy, first of all, welcome.

I know that I made the right choice ditching my Z5, though to be honest, it was a bit overdue. My previous disdain of Samsung devices was due first of all to the design and secondly, the bloatware of Touchwiz, but with the S8+ I was stunned into submission.

My question to you, is why do you think you need to flash, before even getting the device, and then what were you thinking of flashing. My experience so far is that there really is no need to Root this phone, there are so many features baked in that are not present on other Android devices. It really is an amazing phone.

I haven't really looked in detail at the threads dealing with flashing, but there are a number that can be found if you do an XDA search. The process of flashing seems rather more complicated than on Sony devices, and depending on what you flash, will trigger Knox, which is a security protocol that a number of secure apps need to run, such as 'Samsung Pay' and 'secure folder'. Tripping Knox also voids your warranty and is a consequence of 'Rooting' and is IRREVERSIBLE.

IMHO, the few custom ROM's that are available don't seem to substantially add value to the overall user experience, but I'm sure there are voices here that will disagree. For instance, there are native baked in features on the device that to all intents and purposes make 'Root' dependent apps such as 'Greenify' and 'Titanium Backup' redundant., and if you want to debloat there are 'non root' apps such as 'Package disabler' and 'Adhell' which is also a good ad blocker.

If you still feel the need to flash there are plenty of guides here on XDA, but good practise, is always to make a full backup.

 

[samteeee]

Hey,

I might get s8+ really soon and coming from Sony, I've been wondering, is there anything worth backing up before I flash it or right after I flash it?

In Sony devices there's TA partition containing bootloader, IMEI etc which is worth backing up as you can restore TA backup and make your phone look as if it was never flashed. It's there something similar in S8? Or should I just flash it and don't worry about anything?

Thanks for answers.

You should do a "nandroid/TWRP" backup as soon as you install TWRP the first time you load it before you make any "System Modification".
Do a total back up plus an EFS only back up in TWRP. Then reboot Recovery and this time you can modify your system and disable encryption.
This way you have a total stock back up if later on something goes wrong you have a way out!
But please search XDA forum for more details.
Good luck.

 

[olokos]

As a former Sony fanboy, first of all, welcome.

I know that I made the right choice ditching my Z5, though to be honest, it was a bit overdue. My previous disdain of Samsung devices was due first of all to the design and secondly, the bloatware of Touchwiz, but with the S8+ I was stunned into submission.

My question to you, is why do you think you need to flash, before even getting the device, and then what were you thinking of flashing. My experience so far is that there really is no need to Root this phone, there are so many features baked in that are not present on other Android devices. It really is an amazing phone.

I haven't really looked in detail at the threads dealing with flashing, but there are a number that can be found if you do an XDA search. The process of flashing seems rather more complicated than on Sony devices, and depending on what you flash, will trigger Knox, which is a security protocol that a number of secure apps need to run, such as 'Samsung Pay' and 'secure folder'. Tripping Knox also voids your warranty and is a consequence of 'Rooting' and is IRREVERSIBLE.

IMHO, the few custom ROM's that are available don't seem to substantially add value to the overall user experience, but I'm sure there are voices here that will disagree. For instance, there are native baked in features on the device that to all intents and purposes make 'Root' dependent apps such as 'Greenify' and 'Titanium Backup' redundant., and if you want to debloat there are 'non root' apps such as 'Package disabler' and 'Adhell' which is also a good ad blocker.

If you still feel the need to flash there are plenty of guides here on XDA, but good practise, is always to make a full backup.

First of all, I enjoy modifying phone to my needs, this is how it all started for me. Most importantly I want to develop a kernel for S8+. It made world of a difference on my Z1 and I want to continue my work on S8+, from scratch, but still. I'm currently having a discussion with Samsung support whether they respect EU laws regarding Knox and warranty. As you can see, I've done tons of work so far and I want to continue doing so.

Secure folder doesnt really matter for me, Samsung Pay is soooo limited in Poland, or for that matter, any other sort of payment with NFC/phone, I haven't seen a single shop that was screaming that they support that in Warsaw, but I wasn't necessairly looking around for that, as apart from shop having to have that, bank has to have that and phone aswell, so too much hassle for little gain.

As for other options of blocking ads, they all run actively, not passively, so they put more strain on CPU, package disabler most likely does the same thing as just disabling an app manually in settings -> applications. It doesn't free up any memory in fact.

Not to mention other cool mods that can be done on this device.

You should do a "nandroid/TWRP" backup as soon as you install TWRP the first time you load it before you make any "System Modification".
Do a total back up plus an EFS only back up in TWRP. Then reboot Recovery and this time you can modify your system and disable encryption.
This way you have a total stock back up if later on something goes wrong you have a way out!
But please search XDA forum for more details.
Good luck.

Thanks, this is exactly what I needed to know. I'll see what samsung support says about whether they respect EU warranty laws or not and if they do then I'll trip knox instantaneously.

 

[olokos]

@kxdaorbit I didn't know that samsung implemented a firewall inside of their devices, that's pretty awesome! Adhell might actually do wonders, thanks for info man!