yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] dsulps:
I've spent a couple hours trying to root the latest stock (8.1 July 267), but somehow I can't get fastboot to work properly. It's not that it doesn't work at all; unlocking the phone went fine. However, when I try to flash twrp, I get weird issues, and the same is true when I just ask for the current slot, which occasionally works, but at most times throws an error (though, curiously, not always the same error either):

I only have the cable that it came with, and I have tried both the essential drivers and the latest google drivers. adb and fastboot are using the latest version as well. Does anyone have an idea for what I might be doing wrong?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
they just probably forgot to relock critical. I totally cant wrap my head around why its not working for you. i might suggest using a BTS, and get to a clean slate and trying, but its up to you.

have you looked in your environment paths to see if fastboot is in more than 1 spot?

in control panel, hit system, advanced system settings, environmental variables, double click path and see if you have essential\ADB
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] oracleoftruth:
I'm on Ubuntu.

I can have a check for fastboot.

So would running the unlock critical command be useful? I havent tried flashing twrp after unlocking critical.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Based on your message output, it was already unlocked. You can try flashing twrp. Do you have the latest adb/fastboot environment?

---------- Post added at 12:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:25 PM ----------

The cable it came with isn't recommended for fastboot flashing. You should definitely be using essentials fastboot. Check your environment paths to make sure you don't have multiple instances of fastboot and adb paths.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] jonhern:
Just got my phone from the Amazon deal. Great phone for just $150. It's on 7.1, I have helium app to transfer data but my phone won't connect to the desktop app which is required for unrooted phones. So looks like I will have to root to restore my app data as all the apps I tried last night did not work.

My question is it best to update to latest Android version first and then root or to root on 7.1 and upgrade after? Thanks for the help.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] oracleoftruth:
Just did: flash flashing unlock_critical

It presented me with the unlock bootloader screen again. I chose unlock bootloader (again)

So I have wiped it (again)

Since my data is gone I may as well try flashing TWRP again.

I checked the hash md5 and it matches the hash Aerozero published so its not a corrupt TWRP.

could still be the cable i suppose but I'll give it another go

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------

BTW my adb version is 1.0.39

Is that OK or should it be higher?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] oracleoftruth:
It worked! After unlock_critical, I checked slot (slot a) and checked hash (twrp was fine) updated adb to latest version for my ubuntu install (1.039) and it booted into TWRP. Flashed stockboot.img and then Magisk 16.6 (got /system error but it doesnt matter) and rebooted. And it worked. Magisk was there and passed safetynet check first time without hiding anything or installing universal safetynet check zip. Now I can use netflix and Google pay again with android P.

Thanks to everyone for help, guides, images and work on this. Fantastic community!

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:10 PM ----------

Next question: Is it safe to update magisk from magisk app? I assume you allow magisk to patch the stockboot.img in order to update?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
yea, just do "direct install recommended"
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
Sorry, not sure why I'm having so much issues.

Flash twrp

Go to recovery, into "install folder" select image - OREO8.1-JUL0267" click on boot and drag to confirm flash.

Completes

Back to "install folder", click on "install zip" select "magisk-v16.6" checking zip signature verify, reboot after install is complete.

It fails, prompts "zip siganture verifcation failed. Error installing zip file magisk-v16.6.zip"

-- If I uncheck "check signature verification, it goes through but it did have a red error, "failed to mount / system"

I check root checker, PH-1 is rooted, but my wifi is disabled.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Before flashing magisk, mount system in twrp, and check "mount read only" then flash twrp. Where did you get your stock boot.img from?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
I'm getting the boot image from the first post.

So I should, install twrp, flash boot, mount twrp then flash magisk?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Yes, also, are you on .267?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
I have no idea, where do I check?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
In your settings, it should tell you what the date of your security patches are, as well as your boot info. The date of security patches is really all you need, they release monthly.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
may 5, 2018. build: opm1.180104.166
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Whelo your 2 months behind, and flashing the wrong boot image. See how yours is .267, but your rom is .166? Get the may boot image.

Go to the back to stock thread here

https://xdaforums.com/essential-phone/development/stock-7-1-1-nmj20d-t3701681

You can download the may back to stock, and grab the stock boot.img or you can update to July, and use the one you have.

Good luck
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
Ahh, cool thanks for your help. I'll report back once I get some time :D
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] awdrifter:
I have NMI64C build, can I use the NMI81C-TWRP.img?

---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Were you able to root the NMI64C? If so, what boot img did you use? Thanks in advance.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] awdrifter:
Edit: I was able to manually update to NMI81C which has a TWRP boot image file.

Updating to NMI81C and getting around the "adb: sideload connection failed: no devices/emulators found" error.

1.Download this ota update https://android.googleapis.com/pack.../19d4dd2871636b2bc9ee95445a3f208b0c0cf7e0.zip

2.Manually install it by booting into recovery mode (shut down the phone, then press and hold power down + power until you see the fell down Android logo, it should say "No Command")

3.Press power and hold it then press volume up button, now you should see some menu selection

4.Use the volumn buttons to select "Apply Update from ADB"

5.Plug in your phone to the PC (with Essential-PH1-WindowsDrivers.exe installed)

6.Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\Essential\ADB

7.Copy the ota update downloaded in step 1 to this folder, rename it ota.zip

8.Hold shift and right click in an empty area in the folder, select "Open Command Window Here"

9.Type in "adb sideload ota.zip" without quotes, wait for the process to finish, your phone will reboot

Then I followed this video to root using the NMI81C files. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrNnlso0rQM

I didn't have any issues with WIFI after root.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] csrow:
Getting 'No such partition' error when trying flash boot with twrp.img.

The device is unlocked (including the critical) and the active partition is '_b'. It's running the latest OREO 267 stock and all the security has been removed.

When I issue the command 'fastboot flash boot twrp.img' it sends the file to 'boot__b' but when it trying to write the file to 'boot__b' it fails and gets

FAILED (remote: No such partition.)

Need some help please.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
What version ADB/fastboot? Enter "fastboot --version" in cmd prompt in fastboot mode (also, that minus minus version). Post results
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] csrow:
fastboot version 28.0.0-4797878

Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.40

Version 4797878
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
I would suggest using ADB/fastboot that's included in the essential Windows driver. May not get you anywhere. This phone is voodoo, lol
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] antmunny:
fastboot flash boot_b twrp.img
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] csrow:
Is it only the b partition one has to specify?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] antmunny:
"fastboot flash boot twrp-mata_11.img" didn't work for me, but when I used "fastboot flash boot_b twrp-mata_11.img" or "fastboot flash boot_a twrp-mata_11.img", that worked.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] csrow:
Thanks, that worked!

When specified 'boot_b', fastboot saved and wrote to 'boot_b' instead of 'boot__b'.

One other question: Is it normal to get "System can not be updated" message at the end of Magisk install? Everything seems to be working fine.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] droidian5:
Root worked flawlessly! You folks are awesome!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] kittygotwet:
Hey, I'm not sure why but it's not allowing me to update. after flashing the stockboot in twrp. It gives me an installation problem.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Shyamani:
I'm no expert, but what is the error you are receiving EXACTLY?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DataDyne:
Hey guys,

after several great years of using a jailbreak on an iphone 5 i finally got the essential phone and rooting was the first thing i wanted to do to check out the possibilities on android.

First thing i did was unlocking the bootloader (worked fine), after that ive updated to 8.1 July Version. But then rooting somehow failed, on "root checker" i get the message that its not installed properly.

i Have tried to use this tutorial: youtube.com/watch?v=xrNnlso0rQM&t=130s

What i did:

1. "adb reboot bootloader"

2. put twrp-mata_11.img (renamed to twrp-ph1) into Fastboot Programs Folder in windows

3. "fastboot flash boot twrp-ph1.img"

4. starting recovery mode on the essential

5. "adb shell twrp sideload"

6. put Magisk-v16.0zip (renamed to Magisk.zip) into Fastboot Programs Folder in windows

7. "adb sideload Magisk.zip"

8. On the essential in the TWRP Menu: Reboot -> Bootloader (here i did not chose the option to install TWRP App)

9. Now the guy in the video says to restart the device. I could only manage this with keeping Vol Up + Down + Power Button pressed at the same time and then starting the phone again. (was only showing fastboot message otherwise)

10. Checked "root Checker" (says root not working) and also play store is not certified (which happened after unlocking the bootloader already)

Can someone please tell me what i did wrong? Ive also downloaded "OREO-8.1-JUL-267.img" but havent used that file at all. And another question: If i would lock the bootloader now would the essential phone be back in factory state or would it brick my phone?

I would really appreciate some help! And yes, with my knowledge i am probably the kind of guy who shouldnt mess with that kind of things. However my iphone 5 was so tweaked well that im having a hard time to replace my almost 6 years old phone with a current flagship, thats why i would have liked to check root out.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] droidstyle:
You don't need to adb side load.

Place stock boot.img and magisk in your phones internal storage.

Fastboot flash boot twrp.img with ADB in bootloader mode.

Reboot to twrp recovery from bootlader mode

Flash stock boot.img

Then flash magisk

Reboot system.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] DataDyne:
Thanks for your answer!

So in TWRP Recovery:

Click Install -> Click Install Image and Find Oreo 8.1 July Image -> Select Partition to Flash Image: Boot -> Swipe to confirm Flash

now i go back without reboot and find the Magisk-v.16.0.zip -> Select Zip Signature Verification (yes?) and Reboot after Installation is complete -> Swipe to confirm Flash

is that correct? Sorry for wasting your time with the very basics.

edit: Thanks man, i just did it and it worked out fine! The Phone is now rooted and SafetyNet Status is green. Thanks droidstyle! :) Just 2 more questions: Might my first attempt result is some problems? And second: Can i Uninstall the Magisk.zip and Oreo8.img from my internal Storage? Thanks again!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
nah, your good now. I wouldnt personally delete those yet, if you need twrp for anything again, you will need those files again, its better to keep them (not like they take up any real space) then just update your magisk and stock boot.image as the monthlies roll out.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] droidstyle:
Sorry for the late response but aerozero gave you a solid answer! Enjoy!!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bschmidy10:
Hey guys, what's the process for updating to the latest P beta and keeping root? I am currently on beta 2, rooted. I read about the BTS package but can't find that.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] oceansoul:
exact same process but with beta 3 boot image, just did mine.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Same exact way. Use magisk 16.4
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bschmidy10:
im sorry but just to be clear... what do you mean same process... do i just download the new boot.img and flash twrp, then new bootimg then magisk? or do i fastboot the full new update from essentials website then twrp and new bootimg and magisk? or just take the ota then re-root?

---------- Post added at 12:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

i just replied to previous post about same thing if you dont mind reading above, why do you suggest 16.4 , i am running 16.7 right now with seemingly no issues.

thank you guys for the help! just dont want to lose all my data lol and with nandroids not being an option i want to get it right.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
The first 6 steps worked flawlessly for me - root gone. But for some reason I still can't take the OTA update, I get an installation error whenever I try to. Thank you for any help you can provide!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
Just flashing the Boot.img of the version I was on never allows me to take the OTA.

So what I've been doing the past few months is,

Sideload the full build that I was already using through the stock recovery, (which was the 030 one)

Reboot and allow the OTA to install,

Remove fingerprint and lock screen security,

Flash TWRP,

Install the boot.img for the newest build, (066)

Flash magisk 16.4

Reboot

Profit
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
I just flash the stock OTA, from the Essential site, over my current rooted build using TWRP. I install it without wiping then just re-root. Quick and easy.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] vergilbt:
Short question: did anybody provide boot.img from last beta?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
Link is in the OP.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] vergilbt:
I know, but can't find new one
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
Don't know what else to tell you. It's there. I just downloaded it myself this morning.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
Yeah it was there yesterday.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] ceelos218:
Weird.. I see it.

Also the play store download lagging has been fixed. Works great on mines.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] vergilbt:
Thx for help...

Tried another browser and that was the trick.

Best regards.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] hssxda:
Hi All - I apologize for the NOOB question but can someone give a bit more detail to step #4in the OP for Oreo 8.1 rooting? I tried following the Chris Panton's youtube video based on this thread but it seems like he is missing a step, I can't figure out where he ever installs the stock boot img.

After I flash the TWRP img and reboot into recovery how exactly do I "install the stock boot image and magisk"? Do i do it through an ADB sideload? Do I just click "Install" on TWRP and then select the boot image? In the video, all Chris did after he got into TWRP was sideload Magisk but when I followed his instructions nothing happened.

Can someone help? Thanks in advance.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bmg1001:
You tap on "Install" in TWRP, tap the button on the bottom to flash images, then select the image.

The video you linked is for rooting the PH-1 on Nougat, which is a completely different process.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] rockhevy1000:
Please, could you be more specific with this?

I'm on 166 (May) with root, so, if I want to update to the 267 (July) stock room, what I have to do?

You say "Patch the boot image from within the Magisk Manager", how do I do that? downloading and flashing the oreo-8.1-Jul-267.img in the g drive folder you posted?

And then said, "then flash the BTS", the one in the aer0zer0 post? I have to download the OPM1.180104.267 AFH (latest oreo 8.1 July) and flashing with TWRP?

And then "and then flash the patched boot image to keep Magisk", what img? again, the oreo-8.1-Jul-267.img in the g drive folder?

When flashing the BTS, make sure to choose the "no wipe" flash-all script. This in TWRP?

Thanks in advance!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
I'm on latest Android P beta but got an issue. When I flash magisk I get an error and magisk doesn't flash. If I reboot the phone it gets stuck on the loading screen. This forces me to flash the update again. I tried with magisk v16, v16. 4 and v16. 7 and get the same result every time.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Follow the rooting steps in the OP. You need to flash twrp, boot into recovery, flash stock boot. The you are set.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
I did. I flash the stock boot image, then magisk zip.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
What did flashing the Magisk zip show in twrp? Any errors?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
Looks like I can't mount system on twrp. I'll try again after work to see which is the exact error and I'll post back.

Edit: Finally figured out what i was doing wrong. Flashed boot image as system image (Doh!). After flashing correctly i have working P beta and root. Thanks for the help.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] morphius88:
Not sure why it did not work for you, I just did this last week on another Essential phone with no problem.

Did you use the correct boot file?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
I did, yes. Root was gone. I restored root using a patched april boot image but I'm trying to figure out a way to safely upgrade. Do you think once the root is removed (first 6 steps) it would be safe for me to upgrade to the latest stock boot image through fastboot? Also, thank you for your response!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] morphius88:
I'm no expert at this by any means so I don't want to give you any false information. I usually backup my phone before I do any changes so I'd recommend the same for you just in case.

I don't know if you can just upgrade to the latest boot image without having the proper rom. I think it will give you boot loops.

You are currently on April's rom? Maybe try doing these steps again and if it doesn't work, try the twrp method.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] droidstyle:
You need to:

Reboot into bootloader mode via adb

fastboot flash boot twrp-mata_11.img in adb

Boot into twrp from bootloader

Flash the stock boot.img that matches your current build.

Reboot and take the OTA.

Should only have to flash a BTS package if you are coming from a custom room.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
Doesn't work for me, get stuck on the twrp loading screen. Though twrp was how I initially rooted the device. Not sure why it's not working now - all security is disabled.

---------- Post added at 04:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:51 PM ----------

Welp, I totally bricked my phone. I can enter fastboot and that's it.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
if you can enter fastboot (hold volume down after pressing power button) you can flash one of the back to stock files from the forum. I messed up a flash and managed to recover using one of those. I did have to wipe my phone though (had to make a backup first) but everything is running fine.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
Thanks, I tried this but it just gave me a bunch of failures. Waited about 20 min, seemed like despite the failures something was happening. But nope, still gives me the device is corrupt message after booting up. Getting flashing is not allowed for critical partitions errors
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
does it let you do a factory reset? what kind of message do you get? I got the "device is corrupt message" when downgrading from P to O, had to do a wipe for the device to boot properly.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
i tired using the no wipe bat. Kept getting critical partition errors. Tried to use Essentials official fastboot zip. Looked like it was going well but it brings me back to the your device screen is corrupt on boot.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
My guess is you will have to wipe. Try the wipe all, at this point you have nothing left to lose anyway.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] knicksfan6:
I backed up everything like a day ago so the wiping isn't a concern. Attempting it right now and getting the same flashing is not allowed for critical partitions errors. Also "invalid sparse file format at header magi" error

---------- Post added at 05:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:18 PM ----------

Managed to boot into recovery - sideloaded official Essential update. Still getting device is corrupt error :(

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------

Phone just randomly booted into the OS after like 10 restarts.

---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:41 PM ----------

Every reboot now gives me the "Your device is corrupted error." But pressing the power button lets me boot into the phone normally.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
PM

do you have a working fastboot environment? If so, you need the fix red boot.img file. PM me if you need help
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
not interested in fixing that problem?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
It's not an error. It just means you have an unlocked bootloader
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
He has red text of terror.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Ooooo
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Valicore:
Should I do this before or after I upgrade my phone to the Android P preview? I just got the phone, and am a little confused about the boot.img part and whether or not root persists through upgrades? How would I load the Android P preview if I root oreo first?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] coconutxyz:
so i downloaded the android p ota from essential website, is that beta 3 or dp2???

btw i sideloaded the whole thing and got into twrp but in twrp which path should i install the stock image on? system or boot?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] ceelos218:
Boot