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Root [How to] DOWNGRADE & ROOT

smith058

Android Expert
Jun 11, 2011
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SoCal
This is not my work... just bringing it to AF from XDA :D

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For users who mistakenly upgraded to .26 or received .26 from the beginning.
This method - guide works:
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a) downgrad from .26 firmware to .17 by doing the following:
ONE CLICK Downgrade, using Wolf's method and root tool (thanks to viperboy)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...4&postcount=52
Just put the BLOB file of FW (aprox 750mb+ file with no extension, extract it from the zip)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/53726414/US_...teLauncher.zip
(Asus pulled the files off the web site so I got the BLOB file from http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1642614)
Then put the BLOB file on the root of your tf300 internal memory (I also placed it a copy of it in the root root of SD card - just in case), then make sure that usb debugging is enabled, also make sure you have the asus drivers installed in your windows machine: I got the drivers by installing:
ASUS Pad PC Suite (PC version V1.0.41)
from http://support.asus.com/Download.asp...300T&p=20&s=16

Then you can run option 1 on the modded vipermods tool (via windows machine) : viperMOD Primer Tool v4.5 - Modded by bpear_v3.exe
exe from :
Download:
https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B8gHy...xport=download

viperMOD Primer Tool v4.5 - Modded by bpear_v3.zip

Dev-Host - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service

b) Then apply ROOT to .17 FW with SparkyRoot
It is a one click root app:
SparkyRoot.apk - (1.09 MB, 9403 views)
from
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1526487

c) Once root is done, get Voodoo root keeper app from android/play market and save full root.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=ota+rootkeeper

d) Update the firmware to .26 via OTA/wifi works perfectly. Then restore root with Voodoo root keeper app, and install your apps: Droidwall, Titanium Backup, Rom Manager etc.. Thanks for all the help from other devs and tips from users
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Originally Posted By anduzer
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VERY IMPORTANT, ACTUALLY MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO:

As soon as you're rooted, get Voodoo OTA rootkeeper. its free from the marketplace. then open that app up and Save and backup your root. REPEAT, SAVE & BACKUP YOUR ROOT. you will kick yourself in da a$$ if you don't..lol. then now you can update to the latest firmware for 300, which is .26 or whatever. Once you update, you will initially lose root. but no worries. you just open up the voodoo app and restore your root. Now you are rooted again on latest firmware. you will use this method from now one to restore root after a firmware update. there has already been confirmation of a 300 owner rooting on.17, then using voodoo to save/backup his root, then update to .26. then using voodoo to restore root. now he is rooted on latest .26 firmware for 300.
Originally Posted By demandarin

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Thanks for the post! I'm having problems with adb not detecting the transformer pad though. Every time I boot up adb and do adb devices the line where it says the device is blank.

I've tried the drivers from Asus Sync and the drivers from Android SDK, making it is the Composite ADB as the tutorials say and no dice. Even used my laptop thinking it was my desktop being racist or something. Bugging the heck out of me. If anyone has any insight that would be most appreciated!
Edit; and I do have debugging enabled,
 
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Lets narrow down the problem... Asus drivers or adb... drivers: plug usb into pad and computer, does your computer recognize your pad? Can you transfer files? If not redownload and install asus drivers... if drivers work then its adb. Try testing on another device and/or redownload and install and/or check computer permissions.
 
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Lets narrow down the problem... Asus drivers or adb... drivers: plug usb into pad and computer, does your computer recognize your pad? Can you transfer files? If not redownload and install asus drivers... if drivers work then its adb. Try testing on another device and/or redownload and install and/or check computer permissions.

Well I tried a few different set of drivers, first was the the ones that come with Asus sync. Then the ones from the sdk from Google. Retried both a few times. I even tried using the pc program Droid explorer to see if the sdk was corrupted.

I can see, it in explorer and can put files on it and everything. My next step is to see if my computer recognizes my Droid Inc. I connected it to the same computer yesterday and Droid explorer auto recognized and booted up but hasn't done that for my pad yet.
 
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UPDATE: A friend of mine, who just got a TF300, let me know that it's now possible to obtain root without downgrading:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1704209

(Original post)
Thanks to the original poster for the guide. I have modified his original info a bit and am posting the instructions I followed to root the TF-300 using Windows 7, and firmware build .29 on the 300. I take no responsibility if anything bad happens as a result of you following these instructions :) Apologies if there are any errors in this post. Mods, feel free to edit as needed.

1. On your TF-300, go to Settings -> About Tablet and check the build number of your ROM. If the build number ends with .17, you can skip to step 9. If it ends with .26 or .29, you'll have to downgrade to .17 in order to root, using steps 2-8 below.

2. Download the .17 firmware and unzip the file named 'blob' into the root folder of your tablet's internal storage:

[GUIDE] TF300 Blob Files, US/WW/TW Updated 5-25-2012 - xda-developers

3. Download and extract this downgrade tool from ViperMOD to a folder on your Windows PC. This tool was made for the Prime, but will work with the TF-300:

https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B8gHy...xport=download
- or -
viperMOD Primer Tool v4.5 - Modded by bpear_v3.zip
- or -
Dev-Host - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service

Install the ASUS Pad PC Suite USB drivers (PC version V1.0.41) on your PC. (On the download page, select 'Android' as the OS, and then look under 'Utilities'):
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T

After the installation is done, reboot your PC.

4. Go to Settings -> Developer options on your tablet and turn on USB Debugging. Ignore the warnings that come up.

5. Plug your tablet into your PC using the USB charge/sync cable that came with the tablet. The PC should properly recognize the tablet.

6. ** IMPORTANT ** Be sure to kill the Asus 'Splashtop' software on your PC. I was not able to complete this process until I did this.

7. On your PC, run the downgrade tool: viperMOD Primer Tool v4.5 - Modded by bpear_v3.exe and choose Option 1. It will run through the process by itself, which should take at LEAST 3 minutes. If it finishes in a few seconds, it probably didn't work, so make sure the Splashtop software (see above step) is not running.

8. After the process finishes and your tablet reboots, check your build number (see Step 1) and make sure you're on .17.

9. Download this root tool from SparkyRoot and copy it to your tablet's internal storage:
[TOOL][APK ROOT]SparkyRoot Apk root method - xda-developers

10. On your tablet, go to Settings -> Security and check 'Unknown sources', then go into the file manager and run the APK, following the instructions in the above link.

11. After you have root and superuser is installed, download OTA Rootkeeper (free) from the market and run it. In my case, when I first ran it, it took a couple of minutes to come up, only 3 out of the 5 options were checked, and nothing happened when I hit the 'Protect root' button. Then I went to the menu and hit refresh, which triggered the superuser access request. That lit up a 4th option, which then allowed the 'Protect root' button to do what it is supposed to. After you are through with this process, all 5 options should be checked.

12. Install the latest Asus firmware (.29 as of this writing), which should be waiting for you in your notification tray. After you have installed .29, run Rootkeeper again to restore root.

13. ENJOY! :)
 
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Wat do?

I'm really new to this tablet, I've had it for 3 days at most, so I'm not familiar with everything on it... However I've worked with rooting my phone before, for quite a while, so I do (at the very least) have minimal knowledge of what to do. Anyway...

Does my device need to be unlocked for this? I don't know whether or not if it is unlocked or locked. Can somebody tell me how I can tell this? And assuming it needs to be one or the other. How do I lock/unlock the tablet?

Everything went smoothly up until using ViperMOD. Nothing bad happened afterwards, but my device stayed on .29 FW. Splashtop was killed, the US .17 blob file was (and is) in the root of the internal storage. USB Debugging was on. However, it only took a few seconds to reboot and when it was finished it was on .29...

I'm not quite sure why it didn't work, but that's why I'm wondering about whether or not it needs to be locked, ideas anybody?
 
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I'm not sure yet. I saw someone say unlocking the bootloader will prevent any future otas, which I'm not sure I want to do... The bootloader app looks like the easiest way to root without having to downgrade. There's a ton of roms for this thing so I'd be remiss if I didn't flash one ;)

Do you have cwm flashed? I saw something about not using rm to reboot into recovery (unless I read wrong)... That seems a bit of a pain.
 
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the tool is baed off the Prime, thats what im reading. I think you may have used to the wrong blob. you may try this one https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1ReSMcHudEDODl3SlZaVldoVms/edit?pli=1 ... on post 7 in this thread there are a couple more links. I have also read that the blob may require extracting a couple times. .. myabe check out post #7 is you havent. Hope somthing here helps, like i said i was able to root right out of the box while it was still on .17. I can tell you for a fact everything after the downgrade works flawlessly.
 
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