yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
Thanks! but will I be able to install LineageOS afterwards? or I'll be stuck with the china MIUI in order for the fingerprint to keep working?
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
I´m using latest Lineage OS with fingerprint working, no problem with that :D
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
That's good news! now I only need to find the time to install all my stuff all over again.

Thanks for the info sharing, I'll update after I'll try it.

If someone here with the same problem try it, please report the results here.
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
Hi again, how do I flash in EDL mode? do I have to buy / make a special cable? or if I have unlocked bootloader I don't need that?

Will it work without EDL mode? or it's necessary?
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
No special cable is needed, and it works with unlocked bootloader (mine is unlocked). Instructions are in miui link. If you use windows, it is important install qualcomm driver having disabled driver signature enforcement (more info here: http://www.gizbeat.com/9603/a-digit...le-driver-signature-verification-enforcement/ )
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
I can't manage to enter EDL mode, no matter what I do, every time I try to enter EDL it just restart and phone normally.

Tried everything that's written in the links you sent, both using "adb reboot edl", and special fastboot script, everything fails.

Also disabled driver signature enforcement.
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
When you installed qualcomm driver, windows show you this option (attachment)?

If not, you don´t have qualcomm driver installed correctly
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
Where do I get a qualcomm driver that will match the Mi 5s ?
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
Reboot windows in disable driver signature enforcement mode and open mi flash with admin rights. In top left corner, click on "Driver" option and after that, click Install/Reinstall on dialog.
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
ok I found the drivers, it's under "Driver" menu in the MiFlash tool, and I clicked reinstall after I rebooted windows with "disabled driver signature enforcement".

I got the screen you attached 5 times, and clicked "install anyway". After that tried again to enter EDL and the same result.. just restarts..
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
Having the phone connected to pc in fastboot mode, i use this https://xdaforums.com/redmi-note-3/how-to/guide-reboot-to-edl-mode-fastboot-test-t3398718

And my phone entered in EDL mode (is just a black screen).
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
Yea I believe you, but when I do it it simply restarts the phone back to the OS :(
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
I don´t know how to solve that, sorry :confused: . You can try to flash persist.img via fastboot mode (Part I of miui link)
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
When I try to erase persist, I get error message:

FAILED (remote: partition write protected)
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] david_korku:
I get that error too, that´s the reason why i used EDL :(
[Xiaomi Mi 5s Questions & Answers] quarvin:
It's ok, I appreciate all your effort, thanks mate!
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
I've been informed that this secure boot unlock is only for Windows 8.0 and NOT 8.1. Attempting this on Windows 8.1 can result in a brick! This may also be risky for Windows 8.0 You've been warned.​

We need some serious help and organization. This thread will be dedicated to getting Linux on these Surface RT tablets. We already have the secure boot unlock so why don't we have a full Linux install? I believe it's because all the information is strewn about the internet with incomplete information and broken links. So please keep this thread topic only on the topic of secure boot unlock and Linux booting on Surface RT.

Ok so about the unlock, for those who are asking you can get it here, check the end of the post. To run the secure boot unlock: Move the SecureBoot zip to the desktop, unpack it, and run the script InstallPolicy.cmd as an administrator. (right click and "run as administrator"). In my case it was not working properly because I was trying to run it off a removable usb thumb drive, you should run it from the desktop. Your tablet should reboot then you should get the "secure boot debug policy applicator" install menu with a bunch of warning text. If your RT device has a removable keyboard then please use the volume keys as the "arrow keys" to select accept and confirm it by taping the "windows key" below the screen, I had to do that for my Surface RT. It now should reboot back to windows and at this point you'll want to open a CMD in administrator mode (search for CMD, right click and "run as administrator") and run the command as mentioned in the included readme file.

bcdedit /set {default} testsigning on && bcdedit /set {bootmgr} testsigning on

Now reboot one last time and your good.

So now what? How do you boot? You can boot anything now by going to settings in the side bar menu, clicking "change PC settings", navigating to "general" settings, and at the bottom of that you should see an "advanced startup". Selecting "restart now" underneath "advanced startup" should bring you to a menu that will allow you to select a USB drive to boot off of. Included at the bottom is also a grub bootloader that's been created for these RT devices and a couple of other possibly related zips.

WE NEED PEOPLE WORKING ON GETTING THE KERNEL TO BOOT! SHARE THIS TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO COULD HELP! I was trying to use the source for a related (but not totally the same) hardware known as the "Cardhu Development Board" from Nvidia. The source code for that can be found here, and their own released version of Ubuntu Linux for Cardhu can be found here. I couldn't get the compiled kernel from source to boot but maybe some drivers can be had from that repository.

I DID NOT CREATE ANY OF THESE HACKS, I'm just more a hobbyist learning computers and programming who also loves Linux. Credit seems to go to users @Wack0Distractor, @black_blob, and the folks at ROL for the original hacks. Credit goes to @P@S@f for recovering the files, his original post is here, seems ROL had a bit of a issue and a lot was lost but their IRC is still up.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
List of possibly related and useful information

Secure Boot Golden Keys: https://web.archive.org/web/20170604013028/https://rol.im/securegoldenkeyboot/

Below is a index of posts in this thread that should be of interest.

Page 9 Post #85 -- Getting into APX mode (AKA RCM mode): https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=77286176&postcount=85
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
Reserved #2
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] XDA-00:
How do we use the GRUB, ci_tools_arm & EFIESP??

I have Windows RT 8.1
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
My Surface RT was a used tablet and it came with Windows 8.0 afaik, so everything just worked. I actually don't know what "ci_tools_arm" are but I do know with EFIESP and GRUB you just unzip the contents of just one (take your pick) to the root of a USB drive and they will boot whatever you configure them to boot. "EFIESP" can be used to boot the Windows IOT from https://xdaforums.com/windows-8-rt/rt-development/windows-phone-windows-10-mobile-surface-t3365743/ while GRUB can be used to boot ANYTHING, even Windows, so long as you have the proper kernel or files. If you try to boot GRUB you'll just get the GRUB loader screen and the attachable keyboard doesn't work in GRUB, a USB keyboard might though. Right now we need someone to compile a working kernel with drivers for the RT line of devices.

EDIT: Booting stuff requires that you unlocked "secure boot" as mentioned above.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
You are going to get people bricked with this method.

DO NOT under any circumstance use this guide if you are on RT 8.1. It will end up in crashing your device and possibly even bricking it (that has been reported). RT 8.1 automatically relocks the secure boot and if you try and install the EFI, it will brick your device.

DO NOT follow this guide unless you are on RT 8.0. Even if you are on RT 8.0, it is still risky.

The kernel for RT is structured differently than a standard linux ARM kernel. That's one of the reasons why linux will most likely not happen for RT devices.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] 2390:
Is there any way to revert to RT 8 from 8.1?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
Nope
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
Added warning to op. Thank you for letting me know.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Sam Za Nemesis:
Quit the fearmongering, MSFT's security update has already been worked around

What do you mean by this
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
The new dev tool, when run together with unlocking secure boot, bricks your device.

The ARM processor is configured to the NT kernel. Unlike most which are configured to a Unix kernel.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
Isn't the device not loading any kernel when GRUB is loaded on a Surface RT? I thought when GRUB was proven to load, that any kernel would load on the Tegra processor, I've seen documentation online where most of the Tegra code (from Nvidia or from Open Source) was ported into the latest Linux kernel.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
We could just adapt a Linux kernel (like with Android) if the RT kernel was a Linux kernel, but it isn't. RT blocks different kernels from being loaded (like a locked bootloader, just more complex)
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
Is there any documentation stating this? Is the RT kernel active when we boot up GRUB?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] P@S@f:
There is Linux (Android) kernel available for TF502T Asus tablet which is almost the same as Surface RT and totally same as TF600T. Here you can still download it from Asus website: https://www.asus.com/us/support/Download/28/1/0/17/32/
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
I could give it a shot later, sure. Thanks for the information.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
We have restricted access (basically cannot do anything), but yes. It is active.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
I'm guessing there is no known button combo to boot up some sort of debug mode, like the fastboot mode on android devices.

Has anyone seen if there are any JTAG or serial connections somewhere on the board?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
Not as far as I know
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShapeShifter499:
Microsoft has really screwed this tablet then, I'm out of ideas for now. For anyone coming across this, if you have ideas or possible solutions please share them.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
Theoretically it would work, but the drivers are configured differently (Linux vs Windows), so there is no guarantee the display or anything else will work.

You could try it, but you'd be on your own. I'm still using my surface 2 for day-to-day work, so I can't try it out.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] notass:
If this can be done, dual boot with android and windows would be possible. I hope someone can do it...
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
This may have been the one case where the RT device sold more than the counterpart. There's very little information on the device.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] vvnux:
Question: If i have already applied the patch "MS16-095" for my Surface RT why cant I just reimage to Windows RT Update 3 and then apply this SecureBoot bypass?

Also why cant we load a linux kernel compiled for Nvidia Tegra 3 aka armhf NOT arml. If we need some driver thats unique to these devices, as mentioned before the Asus TF502T is running the same hardware, and its also opensource.....
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
You could, but there would be no point as you can still do more with RT than with win10 iot.

They may have the same hardware, but the bootloader and recovery partitions are configured differently. Like with the idol 4s: https://xdaforums.com/idol-4s/help/android-alcatel-idol-4s-windows-edition-t3609429
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
Try seeing if you can build it as an iso. Then you could boot from that
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] yaro666:
is it possible to downgrade 8.1 to 8.0? I tried to boot from pendrive, but after choosing language setup goes to boot options, i.e. continue to boot win 8.1, advanced.... etc.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
No, there is protection against downgrading
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fox_7:
Hello. Can you upload this TWRP?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
I guess technically you could configure grub to run a .img...
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fox_7:
I don't know. I want try
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] yaro666:
ok, found a way to downgrade, so thanks for disinformation
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] fgghjjkll:
could you please pm me the process? I also want to downgrade from 8.1 to 8 :)
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Danilo_RSC:
Can you please pm the way to do it?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] bitfed:
Please share it! I can't think of a better place for you to share this information. 100% of the information I have seen has said you cannot downgrade, yet I would very much like to do so.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] yaro666:
here

The whole thread, just read everything. I typed whole Code in cmd diskpart to create partitions, Then copied install.wim, etc.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] puppychow:
new guy on the project

Hey guys I just found this thread and I was hoping that it didn't die yet. I have a Surface rt and I'm trying to make it a Linux device that is probably more useful than what it currently is. I'll be working with 2 friends. One is on the same level of programming as me. The other is a Linux guru and has worked on Linux for a very long time.

I would like to add that the link to the Asus device has gone dead. If anyone has a copy of that image posting it would be very useful. If it could be added to the list of open-ware we have at the beginning of the thread that would be optimal. :)
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
Linux distributions for ARM processors

Canonical (Ubuntu on ARM)

Debian

Fedora

Linaro

Maemo

MeeGo

Movial

Thundersoft

ArchLinuxArm
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] puppychow:
I found the Asus image. I'll post it later today. It runs on the same hardware (almost) as the surface. It looks like a good basis to start with. :D
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
5000 dollars offered for the first man who makes linux work on windows surface rt 2 :)
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] puppychow:
well i doubt it will be because of me but I will do my best to help us along.:laugh:
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
Asus kernel source code here: ift.tt/MPEHhK

ift.tt/MPEGdQ

---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 PM ----------

Tegra Boot Flow

http.download.nvidia.com/tegra-public-appnotes/tegra-boot-flow.html
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
Bitlocker hijacking could not solve the problem of boot?

ElcomSoft Decrypts BitLocker

M3 Bitlocker Recovery
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
it can help you?

https://www.freesoftwareservers.com...elemental-kernel-pure-nexus-rom-12517385.html

https://gist.github.com/nethunteros/e7e0b667deff3e88646f67035daf89f6

https://github.com/grub4android/build/blob/master/core/tasks/grub.mk
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] wdammak:
Someone tried to load the MultiRom? :confused:

Core of TWRP modified for MultiROM : https://github.com/Tasssadar/Team-Win-Recovery-Project
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
If you follow the answer here: https://superuser.com/questions/349633/boot-from-usb-using-grub You may be able to boot from usb. From there, if you make a bootable USB with a raspberry pi 2 Linux image, you may be able to boot it.

Ubuntu Mate: https://ubuntu-mate.org/raspberry-pi/

Ubuntu Snappy: https://developer.ubuntu.com/core/get-started/raspberry-pi-2-3

If those don't work, RISC OS is lighter and may work better: https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/raspberry-pi
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] thandiBear:
Would be a dream come true
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fessler:
tf300tg kernel jb tegra 3

https://github.com/cb22/tf300tg_jb_kernel?files=1

Archlinux tf300tg tegra3

https://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1918849

more http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=403212

Will this help us run Linux on the device?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
The kernel is not close enough to work with RT, sorry.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fessler:
what does it mean? Do not run Linux at all?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
It means that the kernel source you gave me does not have enough compatible drivers to work with RT
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fessler:
but Debian arm, Ubuntu, Arch?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
Those have generic drivers that work on nearly any ARM device. Android kernels are very specialized
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fessler:
so let's try to run them, why should we have an android
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Fessler:
how to find it? on the forum he has not appeared for a long time
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] darkonerakot:
There is no any protection of downgrade it is simple, what I did:

I suggest you understand what all it does

1) windows 8.0

2)recovery mode ->cmd->diskpart->clean all.

3)recover with 8.0

4)profit

You have possibility to boot from flash with grub

I am stuck on grub I have no drivers an imagination how to do it, I am not programmer. And sorry for my bad English.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Tywashere:
So has this thread been forgotten?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] thandiBear:
Technically no, but effectively yes
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Qiangong2:
The last person to actually work on this was black_blob and he has left the scene
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Paul Dilley:
I'm a software developer and I'd love to help. Unfortunately I have 0% experience with these kinds of things, but I have a useless device sitting at home, so I can give it a go.

Anyone know where is best to start learning the technical architecture of Linux? As I understand it from a brief read of this thread, GRUB works, but getting Linux to boot is a problem because of the lack of compatible drivers? Or is it that no one has yet tried?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Grillac:
I'd love to see any progress you make on this and could try to help out as a tester as I also have a useless Surface RT just hanging about collecting dust.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] truzz:
Found 3x 8.1 RTs at work which are no longer needed because they are so locked-down. Any way to get Linux onto them to give them a new life would be appreciated - they could be such a handy little unit :D
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] lachrymoselake:
I'm in the process of doing that!

Hey there. I'm in a similar situation, I was given a Surface RT as a gift. Currently I've disabled secure boot and have found a compatible linux distro (a server distro, nothing flashy, will try to get a desktop envirnment onto it). I'm currently stuck trying to disable digital driver signiture checking, but as it's an RT, theres no option for that in advanced startup (oh Microsoft, you soulless cash-grabbers).
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] spyroz540:
Man i'm so sad about my surface rt, just collecting dust in the basement, it would be an awesome linux device.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] Watson花生酱:
Did anyone try the Arch Linux ARM？Maybe it would work
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] P@S@f:
TF502T dump anyone?
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] darkonerakot:
Red led

Unscrew it and open. When u push up vol button and try to turn on surface rt light on the red led(nothing happens,but u cannot turn it on during the led is on)! Maybe it’s a mode to load firmware, there is Atmel chip inside it, I think it bios, but I too stupid to find out what can we do with it.
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] black_blob:
If it's nvflash, you cannot use it unless you get the MS key. For Linux, you need to find where the UART is first, and I failed at that for now at least
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] therobokitten:
Is it possible, that you just need a $100 efi-signed kernel for arch?

On another note, someone's gotta atleast write a device tree for grub at the bare minimum. Unless they have some compatible u-boot firmware that can be loaded in by some type of USB hack that modifies bios.

There was that one usb hack that could totally modify your bios. h tt ps:// cri ticalinformati cs.com/reso urces/blog/5-t hings-to-do-no w-usb-jtag-i me-exp loit/

Forensics forums might be of assistance here, a lot of the windows RT stuff comes from windows phone 7, some noted that omap4 from ubuntu would work but I have no idea why.

Arch for armv7 would be the best bet with a working devicetree if someone wants to develop that, however, android might be a good route from here.

According to this:

The minimum signing level determines how trusted an executable's signature is on the scale: Unsigned (0), Authenticode (4), Microsoft (8), and Windows (12). The default value on x86 machines is 0, to allow a user to run anything they like on their computer. On ARM machines, the default is set to 8. This is not a user setting, but a hardcoded global value in the kernel itself. It cannot be changed permanently on devices with UEFI's (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) Secure Boot enabled. It can, however, be changed in memory.

ht tps://ww w.scie ncedir ect.co m/sci ence/ articl e/pii/S 174228761 4000164

However, a memory corruption hack is possible through this. Either way, I'm fully up to date with latest firmware and I can still boot into grub. I'm putting money that there might be a JTAG in the battery connector internally, the USB port with some type of custom flash efi firmware, that... or secureboot can be somehow fully disabled with that cert.

---------- Post added at 08:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:36 AM ----------

However I was able to make some progress debugging grub, to do this yourself type:

set pager=1
set debug=all

straight into grub before anything.

My grub debug:

htt ps://i mg ur. com/a /cGW 8U

I'm halting on a memory error according to a few forums, maybe the clock speed is wrong or memory timing is wrong, I'm loading the wrong devicemap, or the devicemap does not exist.

I've been trying to load omap4 from ubuntu and armv7 images for arch to no avail, but just now got grub debug output.....

Been using this arch image: htt p://os.ar chlin uxarm.or g/os/ArchLinu xARM-armv7-latest.tar.gz

As I think it's the correct one, but I have no idea. The information for the processors in these is so spotty, We need to know the exact tegra3 processor that was placed into these things while, at the same time the memory map needs to be defined in a devicetree .dts from arch as a template, and somehow map:

DDR3-L 1500

LPDDR2-1066

Clocks as defined by nvidia tegra 3 specs. With 4x1.3Ghz cores.

I don't know much else, as I know nothing about devicemaps.:angel:
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] therobokitten:
Useful code

Someone should take a look at this:

ht tp s://github. com/NVID IA/te grarcm

and these device trees:

h tt ps://an droid.goo glesource.com/ kernel/tegra/+/andro id-tegra-molly-3.4- l-preview/arch/arm/b oot/dts/
[Windows RT Development and Hacking] ShadowOBS:
Is it possible to unlock Secure boot on the Surface RT with windows 8.1? I really need windows 10 on my tablet because windows 8.1 rt is ultra limited... I really need help.