Root [STATUS UPDATE 6/6/15, See OP] BUTTERNOOB Stock 4.4.4 v2

ravenslight · Sep 12, 2015

sean vreeland said:
I got root, and was able to boot into recovery...however, when I flash this rom, it's says successful in TWRP, but when it reboots it says: "Security Error: This phone has been flashed with unauthorized software & is locked...."

Suggestions?

What version of zmax do u have?

sean vreeland · Sep 12, 2015

I have a tmo...tried to flash the zmax 4.4. stock, as well as the BN 4.4, both do the same thing.

Masterchief87 · Sep 12, 2015

sean vreeland said:
I have a tmo...tried to flash the zmax 4.4. stock, as well as the BN 4.4, both do the same thing.

It sounds like T-Mobile and ZTE pushed an update that locks the bootloader so that it does a security check before it boots. You installed the T-Mobile stock ROM and it still wouldn't boot?

sean vreeland · Sep 12, 2015

Yeah, I'm thinking there is something weird about this...that message took me by surprise as well.. I'm VERY familiar with rooting, done it to many diff devices on many diff carriers... (although this is my first with this device) and this has me baffled. Tried putting the stock back on, and it flashes (meaning I have access to /system) but then it gives me that message. I've tried adb sideload, but it doesn't recognize the device in the command prompt. Any other ideas?

ravenslight · Sep 13, 2015

sean vreeland said:
Yeah, I'm thinking there is something weird about this...that message took me by surprise as well.. I'm VERY familiar with rooting, done it to many diff devices on many diff carriers... (although this is my first with this device) and this has me baffled. Tried putting the stock back on, and it flashes (meaning I have access to /system) but then it gives me that message. I've tried adb sideload, but it doesn't recognize the device in the command prompt. Any other ideas?

Try the unrooted stock of T-Mobile ROM. If it boots lest u know its rootable

hammerdroid · Sep 13, 2015

Is xposed 2.6 the correct version to use for this rom?

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

hammerdroid said:
Is xposed 2.6 the correct version to use for this rom?

You can either use 2.6.1 or 2.7.1

sean vreeland · Sep 13, 2015

ravenslight said:
Try the unrooted stock of T-Mobile ROM. If it boots lest u know its rootable

You talking about this one:

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24052804347793417

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

sean vreeland said:
You talking about this one:

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24052804347793417

That one is your best bet. Just keep in mind that if the bootloader is locked down as hard as you are saying, your phone still might not work because of the fact that it came with a newer firmware. We are in uncharted territory here(as far as the zmax goes anyway). It is possible that the security check won't allow that ROM to boot because only the firmware that came on your phone and newer firmwares released after the one that came on your will pass the check.

sean vreeland · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
That one is your best bet. Just keep in mind that if the bootloader is locked down as hard as you are saying, your phone still might not work because of the fact that it came with a newer firmware. We are in uncharted territory here(as far as the zmax goes anyway). It is possible that the security check won't allow that ROM to boot because only the firmware that came on your phone and newer firmwares released after the one that came on your will pass the check.

Okay, so that flashed, and removed TWRP, which I can tell because it's the stock recovery, however, same error....WTF?

9h0s7 · Sep 13, 2015

9h0s7 said:
When attempting a fresh installation after the first boot you're prompted with a dialog box attempting to force the 194mb update and won't allow you to sign in to Google or get to the home screen.

I tried installing again and just skipped setting up a google account altogether until the home screen had launched and it worked.

fino8129 · Sep 13, 2015

if u still under warranty get a replacement

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

sean vreeland said:
Okay, so that flashed, and removed TWRP, which I can tell because it's the stock recovery, however, same error....WTF?

Can you tell us what firmware version came on your phone so that others can be warned not to try to root that version due to the bootloader being locked down worse than before?

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

It looks like your phone must have had the new b33 update that T-Mobile rolled out at the beginning of this month. Judging by what happened to your phone it looks like this update locks the bootloader in a very devious way. You are able to root and install twrp, but once you do so, your phone will refuse to boot because it is not running the factory stock firmware. They could have just as easily write protected the recovery partition to prevent people from obtaining permanent root but instead they would rather implement a security check that will brick your phone if you do anything more than temp-root. The Zmax is my first and last ZTE device I will ever buy.

Andrewred772 · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
It looks like your phone must have had the new b33 update that T-Mobile rolled out at the beginning of this month. Judging by what happened to your phone it looks like this update locks the bootloader in a very devious way. You are able to root and install twrp, but once you do so, your phone will refuse to boot because it is not running the factory stock firmware. They could have just as easily write protected the recovery partition to prevent people from obtaining permanent root but instead they would rather implement a security check that will brick your phone if you do anything more than temp-root. The Zmax is my first and last ZTE device I will ever buy.

Seems kind of like a purposely asshole move by T-Mobile and ZTE. They didn't make it unrootable, but they made it so anything more than a root and maybea custom recovery will brick your phone. And, since the message of unofficial firmware displays, you'll be out of warranty

Andrewred772 · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
It looks like your phone must have had the new b33 update that T-Mobile rolled out at the beginning of this month. Judging by what happened to your phone it looks like this update locks the bootloader in a very devious way. You are able to root and install twrp, but once you do so, your phone will refuse to boot because it is not running the factory stock firmware. They could have just as easily write protected the recovery partition to prevent people from obtaining permanent root but instead they would rather implement a security check that will brick your phone if you do anything more than temp-root. The Zmax is my first and last ZTE device I will ever buy.

Masterchief, shouldn't we be able to extract the bootloader from one of our phones (I think someone has already posted a download for it), and make it into a flashable zip so anyone on that updated rom can downgrade the bootloader to a lesser locked one?

Ethanbanker2428 · Sep 13, 2015

Andrewred772 said:
Masterchief, shouldn't we be able to extract the bootloader from one of our phones (I think someone has already posted a download for it), and make it into a flashable zip so anyone on that updated rom can downgrade the bootloader to a lesser locked one?

No

Andrewred772 · Sep 13, 2015

Ethanbanker2428 said:
No

alright, just an idea. Good to know you still glance over us Ethan!

sean vreeland · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
Can you tell us what firmware version came on your phone so that others can be warned not to try to root that version due to the bootloader being locked down worse than before?

I can't tell what firmware version it is because it wasn't my phone, and it's essentially "soft-bricked" now, with no way to un-do it. But yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking....this is pretty gnarly for ALL phones from ALL carriers....If this is true, well, might just change how we root ANY device.

sean vreeland · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
It looks like your phone must have had the new b33 update that T-Mobile rolled out at the beginning of this month. Judging by what happened to your phone it looks like this update locks the bootloader in a very devious way. You are able to root and install twrp, but once you do so, your phone will refuse to boot because it is not running the factory stock firmware. They could have just as easily write protected the recovery partition to prevent people from obtaining permanent root but instead they would rather implement a security check that will brick your phone if you do anything more than temp-root. The Zmax is my first and last ZTE device I will ever buy.

Yup, exactly. Crazy.

hammerdroid · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
You can either use 2.6.1 or 2.7.1

As far so the actual framework goes, will the same package that I used from cm12.1 work? Doesn't quite seem right?

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

hammerdroid said:
As far so the actual framework goes, will the same package that I used from cm12.1 work? Doesn't quite seem right?

No. You download xposed installer 2.6.1 or 2.7.1

hammerdroid · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
No. You download xposed installer 2.6.1 or 2.7.1

Oh, ok. I did that. Just thought that was a different version of the installer. I have the apk from 5.1.1, i gotta change that out, right?

Masterchief87 · Sep 13, 2015

hammerdroid said:
Oh, ok. I did that. Just thought that was a different version of the installer. I have the apk from 5.1.1, i gotta change that out, right?

Yes you need to uninstall the xposed installer apk for lollipop and then install xposed 2.6.1. If you are not using a switcher for system rw you can install the framework via twrp by doing what I show in these screenshots. After doing what is shown in the screenshots just reboot to twrp, flash the installer zip, and reboot system.

hammerdroid · Sep 13, 2015

Masterchief87 said:
Yes you need to uninstall the xposed installer apk for lollipop and then install xposed 2.6.1. If you are not using a switcher for system rw you can install the framework via twrp by doing what I show in these screenshots. After doing what is shown in the screenshots just reboot to twrp, flash the installer zip, and reboot system.

Sweet, I appreciate it. Thanks for your time, man, I Know that took a few minutes.

Root [STATUS UPDATE 6/6/15, See OP] BUTTERNOOB Stock 4.4.4 v2

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