[TOOL] [MultiSystem] MultiROM and Recovery Replacement for Android

hsbadr · May 4, 2015

MultiSystem is a powerful tool for locked- and unlocked-bootloader Android devices.

★ Disclaimer:

★ Notes:

★ Features:

★ ChangeLog:

★ Instructions:

★ Downloads:

★ Credits:

I'd like to thank everyone who made a donation just to show appreciation.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (N910V), Note 3 (N900V) & LG G3 (VS985)

Hit thanks, follow thread & add 5-star rating/review... Donations are always appreciated!

XDA:DevDB Information
MultiSystem, Tool/Utility for the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Contributors
hsbadr
Source Code: https://github.com/hsbadr/MultiSystem

Version Information
Status: Testing
Current Stable Version: 1.3.1
Stable Release Date: 2015-05-09
Current Beta Version: 1.1.2
Beta Release Date: 2015-05-03

Created 2015-05-04
Last Updated 2015-05-10

hsbadr · May 6, 2015

Supported Devices

Samsung Devices

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Verizon Variant [Retail Edition]

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Verizon Variant [Developer Edition]

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - AT&T Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - T-Mobile Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - Sprint Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - International Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Verizon Variant [Retail Edition] (ROOT Required!)

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Verizon Variant [Developer Edition]

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Verizon Varian [Retail Edition] (ROOT Required!)

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - AT&T Variant (ROOT Required!)

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - T-Mobile Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Sprint Variant

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - International Variant

Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung Galaxy S4 - Verizon Variant

Samsung Galaxy S4 - AT&T Variant

Samsung Galaxy S4 - T-Mobile Variant

Samsung Galaxy S4 - Sprint Variant

Samsung Galaxy S4 - International Variant

Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung Galaxy S5 - Verizon Variant

Samsung Galaxy S5 - AT&T Variant

Samsung Galaxy S5 - T-Mobile Variant

Samsung Galaxy S5 - Sprint Variant

Samsung Galaxy S5 - International Variant

Click to expand...

LG Devices

LG G3

LG G3 VS985 - Verizon Variant (Under Testing + more features utilizing Bump!)

Click to expand...

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hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 8:18 PM

Reserved #2

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 8:18 PM

Reserved #3

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 8:18 PM

Reserved #4

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 8:19 PM

Reserved #5

K-alz · May 4, 2015

@hsbadr
If this doesn't get affected by the locked bootloader, does it mean that you can flash AOSP ROMs on our phone with it? I know kernels are different, but maybe you have something else in mind. Sounds like a pretty interesting tool. Thank you.

From my Allianced Note 3!

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 10:27 PM

K-alz said:
@hsbadr
If this doesn't get affected by the locked bootloader, does it mean that you can flash AOSP ROMs on our phone with it?

It depends on the stock kernel though. So you can't flash AOSP ROMs for now (I've something in mind but not achieved yet: simply 2nd-init hijack of the kernel ramdisk. However, there's no promise that this could be achieved anytime soon). MultiSystem will allow you to run multiple virtual systems keeping your physical system partition safe & enjoying the freedom of swapping systems on the fly (say you've 3 virtual system IMG: flash a ROM to one of them; if something went wrong, use the boot options to boot the stock system or a secondary virtual IMG). Also, system backups now can be just a copy/paste of system IMGs & if you've Linux skills, you'll be able to insert a new microSD to your Linux machine & install/copy/modify virtual system IMGs as you wish & any of them is ready to boot when you insert it into the device & activate primary & secondary ROMs. For more detail, check the features in OP & Q&A section.

K-alz · May 4, 2015 at 10:46 PM

hsbadr said:
It depends on the stock kernel though. So you can't flash AOSP ROMs for now (I've something in mind but not achieved yet: simply 2nd-init hijack of the kernel ramdisk. However, there's no promise that this could be achieved anytime soon). MultiSystem will allow you to run multiple virtual systems keeping your physical system partition safe & enjoying the freedom of swapping systems on the fly (say you've 3 virtual system IMG: flash a ROM to one of them; if something went wrong, use the boot options to boot the stock system or a secondary virtual IMG). Also, system backups now can be just a copy/paste of system IMGs & if you've Linux skills, you'll be able to insert a new microSD to your Linux machine & install/copy/modify virtual system IMGs as you wish & any of them is ready to boot when you insert it into the device & activate primary & secondary ROMs. For more detail, check the features in OP & Q&A section.

Sounds very interesting. if you ever need a tester for an AOSP project, just hit me up.

is it, in some way, close to the safestrap concept? Except this one has more options to it?

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 10:52 PM

K-alz said:
Sounds very interesting. if you ever need a tester for an AOSP project, just hit me up.

is it, in some way, close to the safestrap concept? Except this one has more options to it?

All 2nd-init recovery hijacks kernel at early boot & so, they've similar hijack methods but probably diffrent binaries or hijack scripts. There're many diffrences in the operation that you could easily notice by reading the Q&A section. MultiSystem is designed to be independet on device nor the OS version. I've tester's success on VZW S4 & ATT Note 3 for both LP & KK.

As for ramdisk hijack, this may be a long wait, since I need to deliver the main functions to almost all devices before adding time-consuming features.

K-alz · May 4, 2015 at 11:00 PM

hsbadr said:
All 2nd-init recovery hijacks kernel at early boot & so, they've similar hijack methods but probably diffrent binaries or hijack scripts. There're many diffrences in the operation that you could easily notice by reading the Q&A section. MultiSystem is designed to be independet on device nor the OS version. I've tester's success on VZW S4 & ATT Note 3 for both LP & KK.

As for ramdisk hijack, this may be a long wait, since I need to deliver the main functions to almost all devices before adding time-consuming features.

I like how you made the tool independent on the device not the OS. That opens up a whole new level of usability for so many devices. You're good to go as long as you got root.

So, if I'm on a lollipop rom (on my note 3) and wanted to switch to another rom or just have to lollipop ROMs at once, Multisystem helps me get that. Sorry for asking a lot. Just trying to understand.
BTW, I read the whole thread.

hsbadr · May 4, 2015 at 11:39 PM

K-alz said:
I like how you made the tool independent on the device not the OS. That opens up a whole new level of usability for so many devices. You're good to go as long as you got root.
So, if I'm on a lollipop rom (on my note 3) and wanted to switch to another rom or just have to lollipop ROMs at once, Multisystem helps me get that. Sorry for asking a lot. Just trying to understand.
BTW, I read the whole thread.

You always need to run a virtual ROM supported by your current firmware/kernel. Always make data backup, b/c it's shared between all ROMs for performance/battery & to avoid splitting your data/messages/contacts/etc between different ROMs. So, you'll have only one recent backup of your data, in case you run a completely diffrent ROM that doesn't like your data (hence, wipe data & restore what you want from the shared backup).

K-alz · May 4, 2015 at 11:57 PM

hsbadr said:
You always need to run a virtual ROM supported by your current firmware/kernel. Always make data backup, b/c it's shared between all ROMs for performance/battery & to avoid splitting your data/messages/contacts/etc between different ROMs. So, you'll have only one recent backup of your data, in case you run a completely diffrent ROM that doesn't like your data (hence, wipe data & restore what you want from the shared backup).

Makes sense.
I'm asking because I wanted to know if this tool could be used as a "custom recovery" while on a lollipop rom just in case I wanted to flash something. And you know that SS doesn't work with LP and we are using a workaround to get to it every time we need to get to the recovery.

hsbadr · May 5, 2015 at 12:11 AM

K-alz said:
Makes sense.
I'm asking because I wanted to know if this tool could be used as a "custom recovery" while on a lollipop rom just in case I wanted to flash something. And you know that SS doesn't work with LP and we are using a workaround to get to it every time we need to get to the recovery.

As the tite says, it's "MultiROM and Recovery Replacement". Yes, you can flah ZIP files to your stock system, current virtual system, or any of your IMGs. This can be done via MultiSystem Flash function or using FlashFire, which is 100% supprted by MultiSystem virtual ROMs. However, as stated in the Q&A OP, the updater-script shouldn't mount the physical system partition to /system when flashing to a virtual ROM (A minor edit in the updater-script is required).

K-alz · May 5, 2015 at 12:56 AM

hsbadr said:
As the tite says, it's "MultiROM and Recovery Replacement". Yes, you can flah ZIP files to your stock system, current virtual system, or any of your IMGs. This can be done via MultiSystem Flash function or using FlashFire, which is 100% supprted by MultiSystem virtual ROMs. However, as stated in the Q&A OP, the updater-script shouldn't mount the physical system partition to /system when flashing to a virtual ROM (A minor edit in the updater-script is required).

When are you planning on putting the tool out for public? I see "under testing" in OP. Is there a specific reason for waiting? Just curious. Because this would be very helpful for other devs who want to build LP ROMs since they've been waiting for some work to be done on SS to work with LP (I know we have the workaround but a proper way is always preferred).

hsbadr · May 5, 2015 at 1:08 AM

K-alz said:
When are you planning on putting the tool out for public? I see "under testing" in OP. Is there a specific reason for waiting? Just curious. Because this would be very helpful for other devs who want to build LP ROMs since they've been waiting for some work to be done on SS to work with LP (I know we have the workaround but a proper way is always preferred).

I'm working on a new version with bug fixes & S4/S5 support while @carl1961 is testing the current version. When he reports all issues on N900A & I fix them, it'll be immediately released.

K-alz · May 5, 2015 at 2:30 AM

hsbadr said:
I'm working on a new version with bug fixes & S4/S5 support while @carl1961 is testing the current version. When he reports all issues on N900A & I fix them, it'll be immediately released.

Thank you very much, sir

As I've mentioned before, if you need a tester I'm always ready to jump in. My note isn't my daily driver, so I can f^ck it up with no problem as long as it is recoverable.

hsbadr · May 5, 2015 at 2:34 AM

K-alz said:
Thank you very much, sir
As I've mentioned before, if you need a tester I'm always ready to jump in. My note isn't my daily driver, so I can f^ck it up with no problem as long as it is recoverable.

Since the current installation has some issues that makes it a bit complicated, I'd recommend for you to wait for the new version with one-step installation of all MultiSystem components in a flashable .ZIP file.

benwaffle · May 5, 2015 at 4:57 AM

What hijack do you use for SM-N900A? safestrap just replaced e2fsck
And can you please push the source to github?

hsbadr · May 5, 2015 at 10:52 AM

benwaffle said:
What hijack do you use for SM-N900A? safestrap just replaced e2fsck
And can you please push the source to github?

e2fsck is hijacked by MultiSystem as well. As for the source code, it'll most probably be open & get pushed to this GitHub repo.

[TOOL] [MultiSystem] MultiROM and Recovery Replacement for Android

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