Root [HOW-TO] Get full root on a Mac

[EarlyMon]

And I cannot tell a lie...I "proceeded to Step 8" and saw that that is where I retrieve and paste my token so...I'll await assistance

That's step one in the diagram and my instructions -

In step 1 of the diagram above, the command is:

./fastboot-mac oem get_identifier_token

Copy/paste the italics into your Terminal window that's in sdk-tools.

The phone will feed back info into that Terminal window.

After it's does -

In step 3 of the diagram, ok to copy the token from your terminal, paste to HTCdev.

Highlight the token sent back using your mouse - and copy with command+c and paste with command+v => or you can use copy and paste from the top bar under Edit, whichever.

 

[scudder]

Ok - so here's the thing.

The HTCdev instructions are written to be generic, for people without other support and for Windows.

Less is more - that's the key to my guide. And because Android, Mac and Linux are all unix-based - a firm reality.

[removed previous post info to save space...]

Once you install our mini-sdk and unzip it as I suggest, you have 100% of all the sofware you need in a folder named sdk-tools in your Home area.

Don't worry about other installs, tools, USB drivers, Android stuffs, etc etc. You're going to talk to unix to Linux (Android) so you're all 100% set with our mini-sdk on your Mac.

A-ha!!!!! You know as I was refreshing my "subscribed threads" page waiting to see if you responded, I looked again at the "generic" instructions as you said and at the SDK-tools unzipped folder and, as you mentioned above, saw all the files needed!! I ran the command and have the token to paste.

I think I'm ok...proceeding with the token...will advise...

 

[scudder]

Hey..

So I'm DEFINITELY ***UNLOCKED***...I booted into recovery and saw it! I
then used GooManager to install the TWRP Recovery and got a message of success.

Question 1: HOW do I confirm that I have the TWRP recovery installed??

Question 2: I also juuuuuuust realized that I have NO SD CARD in the phone! Guess my wife never installed one (she didn't have the phone long). Is that BAD that I unlocked the bootloader and attempted to install the TWRP Recovery without an SD card?? The reason I ask is that I recall with my original EVO that there were various "root-specific" files and folders on the SD card. I have and intended to install an SD card...is there something I need to do/redo other than put the card in?? I have done NOTHING since unlocking the bootloader except to sign in to my Google account and install GooManager for the recovery install.

Also, while I got a Mac guy here ...

I previously had a Patriot card and recall various posts related to proper formatting of the card. Here is a link discussing FAT32 formatting and "LBA":

Patriot MicroSD Problems on Android Phones

However, I believe that was with partitioning and a2sd (Dark Tremor). Anyway, is there a best way to prep/reformat the sd card before I put it in the phone??

THANKS!!

 

[EarlyMon]

LoL - nice!

How to verify you have TWRP, from step 4 of my instructions -

Power the phone off. Then press volume_down + power to get to Fastboot. Choose Bootloader and from there, choose Recovery.

About the sd card -

On a late Friday night, don't sweat it.

The LTEvo is an extended memory phone.

Its internal storage includes a 9.93 GB area called /sdcard - and if you plug in an sd card, it will be called /sdcard2.

TWRP knows how to install from either one.

Use your phone browser to grab a rom. It'll show in either /downloads or /Download on your internal /sdcard - TWRP surfs like a file manager, you'll see.

The nuances we'll cover tomorrow - tonight, stick with the basics, before either one of us (especially me) makes a goof from the late hour.

Cool?

PS - if you can't wait, just plug that Patriot in, surf in settings to the sd card and tell it to erase it. The phone is more intelligent, I'll bet dollars to donuts it'll work just fine.

My 64GB card was, and that's all I did.

But srsly - just save it all until later, go for the download and install.

Remember - to verify what's on your phone, EStrongs File Explorer is your friend.

 

[EarlyMon]

At the risk of people screaming BIAS! BIAS! here's the link to Viper4G -

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1805993

Surf and download from your phone.

The installer is beyond what you expect - it's a wizard, like on your Mac.

Tell it full/normal installation and tell it you want to wipe everything.

Enjoy.

 

[scudder]

LoL - nice!

How to verify you have TWRP, from step 4 of my instructions -

Power the phone off. Then press volume_down + power to get to Fastboot. Choose Bootloader and from there, choose Recovery.

In recovery - choose Install and follow prompts to install your rom.

If you are running a phone with hboot 1.12, you're probably done at this point, depending on the rom installer.

Hate to keep you (and me!) up but I got a bit of a problem. if you respond now, THANK YOU, but I'm likely going to sleep...the phone works and I can continue tomorrow.

When I boot into recovery and I'm left with an icon that looks like a phone icon with a red triangle and exclamation point. When I first boot up in recovery (or perhaps fastboot?) I can see the phone searching for and attempting to flash a zip (forgot the file name but it is the .zip file that AUTOMATICALLY flashes if named a certain way...PMsomethingsomething.zip...the one that has to be renamed or you will continuously flash it). Phone then continues through the bootup and I'm left with the triangle/exclamation point.

I can get out of it...just wait minutes (rebooted by itself while I have been typing) or hold down power key.

BTW...I'm running hboot 1.19 if that is an issue...

So, not sure why I can't reboot into recovery...

And I did wind up trying to boot in recovery without AND WITH the sd card installed. I even tried to use GooManger to install the recovery....perhaps it didn't take??

Maybe I should try to install the recovery with the one of the other options?? Your Step 3 in the [HOW-TO] indicates:

You're well off just grabbing Goo Manager as they suggest for their first install choice and follow their instructions.

Sometime however, that won't work. No big deal.

In that case, look for the DOWNLOAD of the .img file on the TWRP site linked above.

Plug your phone into your Mac.

Get it, move it to your sdk-tools folder and then say this in your terminal window -

./fastboot-mac flash recovery use-the-full-name-of-twrp-download-img-file-here

Is this done with the phone simply plugged in to the Mac?? Or does the phone have to be plugged in and in fastboot mode??

Thanks!!

 

[EarlyMon]

Boot normally, hold down your power button for 10 seconds, that's the same exact thing as a battery pull.

Sounds like either I gave a bad key sequence (whoops, sorry! ) or we need you to flash TWRP from fastboot on your Mac.

Either way, you're safe and over the hump!

PS - second rule of rooting - Don't Panic. So let's finish it tomorrow when we're fresh.

 

[scudder]

Boot normally, hold down your power button for 10 seconds, that's the same exact thing as a battery pull.

Sounds like either I gave a bad key sequence (whoops, sorry! ) or we need you to flash TWRP from fastboot on your Mac.

Either way, you're safe and over the hump!

PS - second rule of rooting - Don't Panic. So let's finish it tomorrow when we're fresh.

Agreed....THANKS MUCH!! Good night!!

 

[EarlyMon]

LoL no worries!

BTW, here's your preview. If you go to settings, about the software info, more, and your screen matches this, you can skip step 5 of my instructions tomorrow if you go with Viper4G or the latest stock rooted.

 

[scudder]

You know me...I LIKE figuring stuff out...

But SAVE THIS FOR TOMORROW PLEASE...I'm REALLY off to bed now...

I booted up in Fastboot, put the TWRP image file in the sdk-tools folder and ran a command as you indicated previously with the full file name:

openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-jewel.img

I used the following full terminal command:

./fastboot-mac flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-jewel.img

...but got the following error in terminal:

unknowne4ce8f04aea2:sdk-tools scudderpro$ ./fastboot-mac flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-jewel.img
sending 'recovery' (4 KB)... OKAY
writing 'recovery'... FAILED (remote: image error! (BootMagic check fail))
unknowne4ce8f04aea2:sdk-tools scudderpro$

ScudderPro is my MacBook Pro home folder I'm off to bed...NO JOKE THIS TIME!!

 

[scudder]

Yes...I cannot fib....I stayed up!!

I tried the bootloader method at the bottom of the TWRP website, renamed and put on root, booted up as necessary and file was processed, however, yielded the following error:

Main Version is Older
Update Fail!

There was a suggestion in the TWRP link above to open the zip, edit the .txt file and then it will work but this didn't work for me:

Mikey i figured it out.. go into the zip and edit the text file so that mainver is the same as the software version you are running... worked like a charm for me after that
​

I changed the .txt value of 12.something to my 1.19.000. Did NOT work...still don't have recovery flashed.

NOW I'm going to sleep!!

 

[EarlyMon]

Check the size of the download.

openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-jewel.img should be 7,602,176 bytes.

I tried the bootloader method at the bottom of the TWRP website, renamed and put on root, booted up as necessary and file was processed, however, yielded the following error:

Main Version is Older
Update Fail!

There was a suggestion in the TWRP link above to open the zip, edit the .txt file and then it will work but this didn't work for me:

Mikey i figured it out.. go into the zip and edit the text file so that mainver is the same as the software version you are running... worked like a charm for me after that​

​

If you're going to do that, the correct value is -

mainver: 2.13.651.1

 

[scudder]

Check the size of the download.

openrecovery-twrp-2.3.1.0-jewel.img should be 7,602,176 bytes.


[/INDENT]If you're going to do that, the correct value is -

mainver: 2.13.651.1

Yeah, checked the size of the .img...was 7.25MB. Interesting because the original value of mainver was "1.12.0000" which I assumed was the hboot value so I changed mine to "1.19.0000" rather than the above

I changed the value to 2.13.651.1, rezipped with the .img file and flashed in hboot as PJ75IMG.zip. Seem to go through fine and rebooted...

When I booted into Recovery the FIRST time NOTHING happened. Rebooted the phone normally. Then the second time I got "Team Win Recovery Project" and a bunch of options...Install Wipe, Backup, Restore!!!

I'm in!!!

I noticed when I boot into hboot not only does it say "***UNLOCKED***" at the top but now says "***TAMPERED***"...I guess that is GOOD news yes??

Question regarding Backup. I'm used to my old EVO and Amon RA so when I created a nand backup, I choose boot, system, data and sd-ext. Since this card isn't partitioned, there is no sd-ext. So what do I backup on TWRP?? Default is System, Data, Boot...open for Recovery, Cache and Android Secure...

Also no need to worry about radios because no longer wimax right??

LASTLY, flashing a ROM...best way to do so?? Through GooManager or through TWRP and (I think) "Install"??

I think I'm good...>>THANKS SO MUCH!!<<

 

[EarlyMon]

w00t

Yeah - unlocked (HTCdev) and tampered with (TWRP) is very good news.

For your nandroids - default is System, Data, Boot as you've noted - and that's fine.

We don't have WiMax keys, so you don't need to worry about that, as we did in the early cwm/amon ra days.

Because you're not s-off and you are on hboot 1.19, the boot partition doesn't matter - you can back it up, but the only way to write kernels (i.e., the boot partition) is through fastboot as shown in my step 5. A nandroid restore in your case won't restore kernels in other words.

If you go with roms using the stock kernel for 2.13.651, which is what you have now, you won't worry about that. When you need to change kernels, step 5 as mentioned above.

I could be wrong, you might want to add an ext partition to your sd card, but I doubt it. This phone has a lot more storage than the Evo and limited storage was why you did that stuff back then in the first place.

ALWAYS install roms and goodies via TWRP.

From this point forward, the only thing you'll use Goo Manager for is to conveniently update TWRP. From this point forward, it will work unless their servers are down - in which case you can use the bootloader or fastboot methods now without having to rename things.

Now that you have the mini-sdk installed in your sdk-tools folder, you can archive/backup both sd cards with one command - http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-lte-all-things-root/567529-how-make-full-sd-card-backup-via-usb.html

That link has a long explanation of things but you've already done the hard part - installing the mini-sdk and getting comfortable with the terminal and your phone.

Also - with TWRP you can mount either your internal or external sd cards to your Mac and just use drag and drop for either - ending any issues with Android File Transfer and OS X revision changes. I think the mounting options are under twrp -> Advanced - but play around and check.

Note you can name your backups before making them inside twrp.

As for your first rom choice - if you're not going with Viper4G, look for ones with an APM - advanced power menu. That ends the whole Vulcan nerve pinch to get into your bootloader or twrp - just hold the power button, get the menu, and choose what you want to boot into. (Two extra smileys show that's how much I like that!)

I'll stop there - you'll want to snoop around here, we have a lot of goodies.

You can also flash #Fapple (to get your normal plain text recognition as links, as it was before the Apple/HTC lawsuits), an enhancement to the stock camera to do less compression of snaps and videos, DSP Manager if you'd like to try out something besides Beats audio - and whatever else I've forgotten lol.

Glad this worked out for you!

I'm going to go through and move some of our posts over to the [how-to] thread to have it there to help others in the future.

Thanks for trusting my instructions, glad you're on your way!!!

 

[EarlyMon]

PS - another reason I recommend Viper - if you choose a custom install, you can leave off things that you consider bloaty rather than having to go in later and freeze them.

 

[EarlyMon]

The latest TWRP that solves the new touchscreen issue on the 1/31/2013 OTA is -

Techerrata Downloads - Downloading openrecovery-twrp-2.4.1.0-jewel.img

 

[nlsdaddy]

Can anyone help. I have followed all of the above steps - unlocked using htcdev, flashed the most recent twrp.img (2.6.3.0), flashed the newest viper ROM (3.1.7) and flashed the Kernal that came with it. My phone will not boot up. I see the HTC quietly brilliant, followed by VIPER and then a graphic of a Viper with LTE and flashing lights. It won't go past this. Any ideas?

 

[ocnbrze]

Can anyone help. I have followed all of the above steps - unlocked using htcdev, flashed the most recent twrp.img (2.6.3.0), flashed the newest viper ROM (3.1.7) and flashed the Kernal that came with it. My phone will not boot up. I see the HTC quietly brilliant, followed by VIPER and then a graphic of a Viper with LTE and flashing lights. It won't go past this. Any ideas?

did you wipe with twrp or the aroma installer? what did you wipe? did you make a nandroid backup prior to flashing the rom? you can always nandroid restore back, if you have. if not then this is something you should always make a practice to do.

just remember that as long as you have a recovery then all is not lost. you can always use the usb mount to get access to your sd card should you need to re-download the rom file so that you can re-flash the rom.

 

[EarlyMon]

They changed the aroma installer and the text explaining how to wipe is nearly the same color as the background. Easy to miss.

Either way - verify the checksum of the download and reflash.

On a Mac, the command is:

md5 filename

The correct value is on the Viper4G download page.

Reflash just as you did, say full wipe in aroma installer, reflash the kernel.

 

[nlsdaddy]

Thanks earlymon and ocnbrze for your replies. I'm brand new to this and still a bit.confused. I neglected to back up before flashing, a mistake I won't repeat. After unlocking and flqshing the twrp I copied my viper Rom zip file to my phones SD card then booted to recovery. I clicked fastboot then bootloader then recovery which I believe opened my newly flashed twrp custom recovery. I clicked the install button on the screen, found my zip file, selected full wipe and flashed the viper zip. Then out restarted and only went to the viper graphic so I went back to fastboot and used my terminal to flash ./fastboot-mac flash boot boot.img. I continued to load to viper graphics. I decided to seek help at this point. I can mount my SD card on my old EVO to put files on it. I don't know what the aroma installer or checksum are. Can you be more specific. I so appreciate your help. You guys rock!

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok, don't panic.

You're doing great with that complete feedback (tip of the topper to you! ) and I promise - we've all been in your shoes, it's scary the first time, but it's always fixable from where you are.

The Aroma installer is a smart installer rather than a plain zip and Viper uses it - it's like having a installer wizard on top of TWRP Install.

You did it properly, you did a full wipe when you ran the Viper install. Good, check.

For whatever reason, a bad installation can happen. We call it a bad flash.

Sometimes it can be due to a bad download of the rom zip file. To verify the download is good, we make use of a cross-checking tool - it's a sanity test on the file in other words and it's formally called an md5 checksum.

You went here to download your 3.1.7 Viper4G rom - Dev-Host - Viper4G_3.1.7.zip - The Ultimate Free File Hosting / File Sharing Service

Double check me - on that page please find this line:

MD5 Sum: 4a95832c443e11e30379475efc60ce53

Your Mac has the tool to generate that number built-in, it's called "md5" - and what we want to do is verify that your download was good.

Check the rom on your Mac. If it's in your downloads folder, then in the Terminal say this -

md5 $HOME/Downloads/Viper4G_3.1.7.zip

Notice the space after the md5, it's ok to copy/paste the above line.

If your zip file someplace else, let me know if you need help finding the path.

Your Mac will report:

MD5 (/Users/(your name)/Downloads/Viper4G_3.1.7.zip) = (what it calculated)

Go ahead and compare to the file from the download site.

If it's different, you can download again - and go into TWRP, Advanced and then mount your sd card. It will show up in your Mac Finder, and you can repeat the copy over to your phone.

Remember to delete the bad copies.

If the checksums are the same, you could have had a bad flash because of the phase of the moon (rarer, but it happens).

In such a case, don't bother with a repeat performance of the download, just repeat your installation steps exactly as you did.

When you first boot Viper4G, it's going to take a while, it optimizes and does tricks under the hood.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised at waiting more than 5 minutes for that first boot.

So - if it sticks on the Viper boot screen, heck, let's play it safe - give it 15 minutes.

Then let us know if worked or not, or just post to chat in the meantime.

~~~~~~~~~~~

After this, we'll take it to the next level and show you how to do the md5 check on your phone before installing. But let's walk first and run later.

And above all - don't panic.

 

[nlsdaddy]

Thanks so much. I will try this tonight and let you know. I am so glad I found this forum. You guys are awesome. I really appreciate the advice!

 

[nlsdaddy]

OK, so my MD5 shows my Viper zip to check out ok. I am going to try and re-flash it. Do I need to delete anything prior to doing this? Or just put the zip back on the SD and do the TWERP install?

 

[ocnbrze]

OK, so my MD5 shows my Viper zip to check out ok. I am going to try and re-flash it. Do I need to delete anything prior to doing this? Or just put the zip back on the SD and do the TWERP install?

If the zip file that is on your sd card checks out ok with md5 then you can just re-flash the rom.....if you want you can also just do a fresh install by re-downloading. Just make sure to delete the old file to avoid confusion.

So other then deleting the old file, you do not have to do anything else other the flash the rom......just remember to make a nandroid backup, once you know viper flashed correctly and everything is working.

 

[nlsdaddy]

Should I delete the Folder called "Viper 4G" as well before flashing the new rom or just ignore it?