[Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (Exynos) ROMs, Kernels, Rec] _alexndr:
Tips & Tricks

1. OTA updates:

- Basically, the only thing you need to take OTA update is to perform "Full unroot" in the SuperSU app. However, a better way is to use "unroot2ota" terminal command, because this will not remove DevBase boot script from /su/su.d and the only thing you will need to re-activate SYSTEMLESS DevBase (and all your systemless MODs) after performing OTA update is just re-root your device with CF-Auto-Root.

- If you flashed custom recovery like TWRP - it is mandatory to restore your stock recovery (otherwise OTA will not work). You can do it using FlashFire app (the easiest way) - just open recovery.img file (extracted from your original FW) using "Flash firmware package" option, disable "Preserve recovery" option and then tap "FLASH". EDIT: Starting from version v1.2 there is a new "unroot2ota" feature which allow you to restore stock recovery using /system/recovery-fromm-boot.p file. There is no guarantee to perform it successfully (even if there is no error message) but in most cases it works well (tested on Nougat beta). Please go to recovery before you try to get OTA to check if you have stock recovery already after performing "unroot2ota" (if not - you need to use PC Odin to flash recovery.img packed in tar file).

- It is recommended to temporarily disable "Auto-update apps" in Play Store settings before you unroot your device. It will prevent updating applications covered by Safe De-Bloat list, as there apps will temporarily appear until you re-root the phone after performing OTA update.

Note (devices which use dm-verity): You should never allow /system modifications in TWRP, never allow to remount /system r/w in any app (e.g. Root Explorer, FlashFire, etc.) and never flash a ZIP file which could modify your /system or remount it r/w. Failure to follow these recommendations will break dm-verity verification and will cause, that your device may not be able to boot with the stock kernel (you will need to re-flash your original FW using PC Odin to make your device bootable).

UPDATE:

Due to the fact that installing TWRP and/or rooting encrypted phones running stock Nougat is not possible without format /data - the above described advantages applies to stock ROMs based on Android up to 6.0 :(

2. Making your own modifications:

- You can systemlessly replace any existing system app by modded one. Just put modified app to /data/devbase/system/app or /data/devbase/system/priv-app and then reboot your device

- You can systemlessly replace jar or apk in /system/framework. Just put modified one to /data/devbase/system/framework and then reboot your device (NOTE: framework support has been added for advanced users -> there is high risk of bootloop if you do something wrong!)

- You can systemlessly add or override any line in /system/build.prop. Just put (only new or changed) line to /data/devbase/system/build.prop and then reboot your device (NOTE: one additional auto-reboot may be performed if /data/devbase/system/build.prop file has been added, modified or removed (SuperSU case). It is not a bug - it is required for the changes in /data/devbase/system/build.prop to take effect!)

- You can systemlessly replace any existing file in /system/csc and /system/etc (but NOT in subdirectories). Just put modified copy of a file to /data/devbase/system/csc or /data/devbase/system/etc and then reboot device

Limitations: original app or file MUST physically exist with the same name in /system, you can NOT add a new app or file this way!

Example 1 (Ad-Blocking): Download the latest Ad-Blocking ZIP installer from

THIS

thread. Extract "hosts" file (placed in /system/etc inside ZIP file), then copy it to /data/devbase/system/etc, set rw-r--r-- (644) permissions and then reboot device

Example 2 (modded SamsungCamera6): Create "SamsungCamera6" directory in /data/devbase/system/priv-app and then put modified "SamsungCamera6.apk" file into it. Set rwxr-xr-x (755) permissions to "SamsungCamera6" directory, rw-r--r-- (644) permissions to "SamsungCamera6.apk" and then reboot device

Example 3 (De-Bloating a bit more): You can just create empty directories in /data/devbase/system/app (or priv-app) corresponding to applications in /system/app (or priv-app). Alternatively (more advanced method), you can add an app to modded enforceskippingpackages.txt file (you can find it in /data/devbase/system/etc or /data/devbase/system/csc_contents, depending on the original location in /system) and increase number in the 1st line. Second method should not be used by beginners (without a basic knowledge related to UNIX text format)

3. How to manually maintain the newest ROM version:

If you do not care about OTA - you can manually update your device to the newest ROM available @ Sammobile, keeping your original CSC (you need multi-file original FW, I mean separate files for BL/AP/CP/CSC). You need to download 2 ROMs: ROM with the newest changelist and the latest ROM containing your original CSC. Extract both and open in PC Odin BL/AP/CP files from the ROM with highest changelist but open CSC file from the ROM containing your CSC (I recommend to use HOME_CSC_* file to avoid auto-wipe-data). Flash such "mix", re-root and enjoy :cool: