yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
Sorry. I didn't realize that there's a new April update until after I posted my comment. I'm also planning on holding out for the same reason as above. Would like to have a boot.img to be able to restore it via TWRP
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Scaevola:
How can I extract the boot image from stock for the new update?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
In theory, you could use fastboot to switch boot slots, install TWRP to your non-boot slot and not overwrite the new boot image, then back up your boot image from within TWRP.

I can't remember offhand if you can use dd from adb to dump the boot partition to the sdcard and then copy it to your PC for safe keeping or not. You might need to have already rooted to do that. But you should be able to from the command line while booted into TWRP?

Worth a try. Just remember to switch partitions back before rebooting into the OS
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] albertohds:
Thanks, i re-stock but 8.1 zip, its possible re-lock bootloader?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bmg1001:
Possible? Yes. However, I suggest NEVER to relock the bootloader unless you're back on stock 100% (maybe flash an older stock build and take an OTA to test) AND you're returning the device/RMAing it.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
Did you use the back to stock 8.1 (release not beta) in the ROM thread?

If you did, it flashes both A/B partitions and you can re-lock the BL.

Unless you are returning a device, I would not re-lock the BL because it will wipe the data on the device.

Any boot loader lock status change will wipe the device.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] albertohds:
i re-stock 8.1 zip and update ota today
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Mistar Muffin:
Stock boot image for April update is in OP's Google Drive.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] c19932:
NVM!!! delete
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] jAm-0:
worked flawlessly with april .img

thanks for the hard work guys!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] rashaunny:
So no battery drain like Oreo 8.1 beta right?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mapleshadow:
Version 141 cannot be used. It will lead to a complete system crash. All data will be lost! ! !
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
What are you talking about? I'm on it and running fine all day
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Same here. Rooted too. Runs perfect.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] xDark_:
In case anyone is wondering how to update versions on stock firmware -

In my case, wanted to go from 092 (Mar) to 141 (Apr).

Flash current FW's boot image (so 092's)

Grabbed the update from here: https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=76160121&postcount=357

Remove fingerprint (cuz TWRP still can't decrypt for some reason)

adb reboot bootloader

Opened the flashall.bat from update ZIP in a text editor, removed both instances of "fastboot -w" from the bat

Saved it, then ran it

Waited for it to finish

When finished, booted to bootloader

Followed instructions in OP (flash TWRP, flash 141's boot image, flash Magisk)

And now I'm successfully on 141, rooted with all my data intact!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] eKeith:
Me three!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
I do miss all the customizations of a custom ROM however I think I'm going to stay stock rooted with a custom kernel it just runs so damn good with this 8.1 update there's a notable difference
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
Yea I was playing with Magisk modules on LOS andmade things crashy...and just went back to stock, took the OTA to *.141, and rooted. With EX kernel rooted stock runs great. Thinking of just keeping it that way.

Especially on Sprint, where the only way to update PRL or Profile is on stock (rooted or unrooted).
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Oh man exactly I tried validus ROM they build one for MATA but I could not get data no matter what I did. I couldn't update PRL or profile but the other custom roms I could do it. And I just flashed ElementalX and I'll tell you, this thing is booming it is smooth
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
If you use a smartwatch or other BT hardware...EX has a wakelock blocker to kill than damn WCNSS wakelock that doesn't let your phone sleep if you have bluetooth on. :good:

If you don't have his app...get it, (support Flar) look in Miscellaneous >Block wakelocks.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Thank you brother that is great to know because I do have a fossil Q smartwatch connected to the phone and of course I have his at first thing I bought that's going to work out great thanks for that info
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Like so? The top one
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
Bingo. :highfive:

I have an Gen3 Explorist...and while the non-Deep-Sleep battery drain wasn't atrocious it was annoying.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Nice I picked up a fossil Q wander Generation 1 still a really good watch even though it's almost 2 years old
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Excellent
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] LieutenantCommanderData:
hi, which version of Magisk are you using with 8.1 March/April ? 16.0 or 15.3 ?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] NaterTots:
I'm on 16.0 without any issues on the April build.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
I don't know WTF happened....could be Magisk modules not playing nice (systemless Adblock, MidnightFonts, and YouTubeVanceD)...April jus WENTt crashy on me last night. After boot the screen would freeze and the phone would reboot every now and again.

I ended up going back to rooted LineageOS for now (same modules). Don't know WTF the deal was, didn't have a back-to-stock zip to flash and try again with stock.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
I am fairly certain one of your modules is the issue. Try Magisk uninstall in twrp then reflash the stock rom image
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] avd:
PSA

-DONT LOCK THE BOOTLOADER

-DONT USE THE INCLUDED CABLE TO FLASH

BE GUIDED ACCORDINGLY.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] rashaunny:
Why not use the included cable? USB-C is kinda new most ppl dont have extra cables unless they have a comp with USB-C. I'm using an adapter at the end of it for usb3.0, not not 3.0 of course.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
The included cable has bricked phones when used for Fastboot/ADB. Essential has specifically warned against using it for basically anything but charging.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] madd_vybzz:
I need help rooting my essential phone.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
What have you done based on the OP so far? What is the issue you face?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] madd_vybzz:
OP? Anyway I read about flashing custom ROM and stuff I have no idea about, but what I wanna know is, is there a way to root the essential phone without a PC?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
The answer is no. You do need a pic to unblock bootloader
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] madd_vybzz:
Can't I just unlock bootloader from developer options?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] luisoman2000:
Nope, you need a pc to issue the unlock bootloader command, and you need a pc to flash twrp. The process is easy though just follow the instructions in the first post. There is also a video tutorial o how to unlock the bootloader.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] madd_vybzz:
Ok, after issuing bootloader command, and flashing a team win recovery project my phone is rooted?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cocolish:
Why do I have to flash the boot image after flashing twrp and magisk? This way, twrp won't remain on the phone. Isn't it possible to have twrp custom recovery to remain on one's phone?

Any help would be much appreciate.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
You do not flash the boot image after TWRP and Magisk.

You flash the stock image after TWRP and Magisk patches the stock image.

TWRP cannot remain because the boot image is old.

TWRP had not been updated. The recovery is part of boot and must match the OS version.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cocolish:
Seriously, I don't get what you're trying to explain to me. I'm sorry!

I wanted to root my essential ph-1 (I'm on Oreo 8.1 with build-no. OPM1.180104.141)

I managed to unlock the bootloader but failed while rooting the ph-1 according to the guide of this thread (very first post). I successfully flash twrp and install the magisk .zip file via twrp but after rebooting my phone into system, the phone keeps rebooting into bootloader. After it keeps rebooting into bootloader, I flash the stock boot img that I download through the first post from here https: //drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iayS6YHYZvqkD1Y8oYV3ewzW5aAPe8C2, hence twrp custom recovery was gone and my phone isn't rooted either. What did I do wrong?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mrcooter:
After you flash TWRP, you need to boot into TWRP and then flash the boot.img that matches the OS version you are using. Yes this replaces TWRP but it's a must. Device won't boot any OREO OS using the TWRP image. Once you do that DON'T reboot yet. Back up a bit and then install magisk zip which will then patch the boot.img you just flashed in the previous step. Reboot and should be good to go. If you still have issues, I would recommend a full wipe, flashing the full back to stock setup and try again. Also make sure you have the correct boot.img per version of the OS release you are on. Make sure to back up internal storage if you use the fastboot -w command when wiping though because it will wipe internal data too.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
You have to flash the stock boot image BEFORE flashing Magisk.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cocolish:
How do I flash magisk.zip without twrp custom recovery as I'm told not to reboot yet?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
Boot into TWRP, click install image at bottom. Flash the boot image. Click the back button to get back to the TWRP main menu. Click install zip. Flash Magisk. Reboot phone.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cocolish:
but twrp is gone after flashing the boot.img that matches the OS version I'm using.

What I've done so far

- flashed TWRP

- boot into TWRP

- flashed the boot.img that matches the OS version I'm using.

as mrcooter mentioned, the next step will be flashing magisk.zip

After flashing the stock boot img, twrp is gone and left me wondering how to flash magisk.zip without custom recovery. This is so frustrating.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
The instructions are in the very first post.

You cannot have a pin/passcode enabled.

1. Download both the stock boot image for whatever build you're running and the Magisk. Transfer files to your device's internal storage.

2. Reboot your phone into the bootloader, then open up your command prompt or terminal and flash the latest TWRP build for the device using:

Code:

fastboot flash boot twrp.img

3. Once TWRP has finished flashing, reboot into your recovery.

Do not reboot between installing the stock image and installing Magisk.

You will install the boot image as a .img file into boot.

You will then install Magisk as a zip file with no reboot in between operations.

You are still in TWRP. There should be no confusion.

4. Once you're in TWRP, install the stock boot image and then the Magisk/SuperSU zip.

5. Whenever Magisk/SuperSU finishes installing, simply reboot your device! You should now be rooted.

*NOTE: TWRP will NOT remain installed on your device.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mrcooter:
Flash it anyways. You are still in TWRP. Even though it's technically gone from flashing the boot.img it is still there until you reboot. Just don't exit or reboot recovery until you flash magisk. Guessing it's stored in run space or something until a reboot.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] cocolish:
I did as I was told. After flashing magisk.zip it says "failed to mount '/sytem' (Device or resource busy). Do I have to worry about that?

Anyway, thank you so much! I only managed to root my ph-1 thanks to you guys. It got me really frustrating at first, esp. as a girl but I'm happy now.

Greetings from Germany!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
123456
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Oh boy
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mrcooter:
Nope, don't worry about that. If system boots up fine and you have root, should be good to go! If you have any issues getting safetynet to pass though, just reinstall root through magisk app at that point and should fix it. Just choose the "direct install" option. Happen to me every so often when rooting for some reason.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tire_007:
I'm trying to download twrp but the link in op doesn't work are there any mirrors ?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
Check the ROM threads.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] rignfool:
Switch the www for download...

He moved it
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomfisk:
Can anybody share stock boot.img from OPM1.180104.141?

I've updated with the latest OTA but I now need the stock boot.img so Magisk can patch it and then I can flash it. Can someone post the stock boot.img for this OTA? Please?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tomzefi:
It's literally in the OP.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
Look for the following highlighted text in the OP:

The stock boot image for whatever build you're running/trying to root.

The latest TWRP build for our device.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] TheZadok42:
My phone is stuck

I've followed the guide and forgot to install the stock img, now my phone is stuck on the opening screen (the essential logo and powered by Android), is there anything I can do?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
Hold volume down +power buttons until you boot into fastboot mode, then flash TWRP and reboot into recovery again.

You're good, it's just scary the first time that happens.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Go to fastboot and reflash the boot image
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] FlyingTinOpener:
Just a note here on TWRP that I had to deal with today: it cannot decrypt Oreo 8.1 after the February security patch. The correct password/pattern/PIN won't work. You have to remove all pw/pattern/PIN from the phone before flashing TWRP, and even then I had trouble flashing zip files without errors. I had to ADB sideload zip files.

The following steps work for me for general purpose OTA-update and rooting needs:

1) Disable all lock/pw/pattern/pin on the phone.

2) Reboot into bootloader.

3) Fastboot flash boot TWRP.

4) Reboot into recovery.

5) Use TWRP to flash the stock boot image.

6) Use ADB sideload to flash whatever zip file(s) you need (stock/factory OTA zip, Magisk, Xposed, etc).

7) Reboot into the OS.

Using these steps, I was able to upgrade from Oreo 8.1 Beta 1 to Oreo 8.1 April release build, re-install Magisk, regain root, and install GCAM with AR stickers, all without losing any data. Magisk still passes the SafetyNet checks.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
Known issue with TWRP. That's why literally every single guide for our phone tells you to disable the screen lock security before entering recovery.

You can also just put everything you're going to flash on a USB-OTG drive and not worry at all about disabling the screen lock. Just install from the unencrypted USB drive once you've booted into TWRP. This may not work for magisk modules, as I can't remember if the magisk image needs access to /data to install modules through TWRP. I install this from within the app anyway.

Have yet to run into problems installing zips, though.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] FlyingTinOpener:
Obviously not every single one, considering the root guide on page 1 is still instructing people to decrypt with password/pattern/PIN in TWRP.

But I don't mean to complain. I'm aware the decryption issue is a "known" problem that many other guides have updated themselves with fixes for, and I'm sure the TWRP people are working on it. However, the linked TWRP version for our phone (twrp-mata_11.img) is also having persistent issues mounting both /system and /data partitions for me. This may just be a local problem on my end, but regardless, Magisk did not install via TWRP because of this, and I had to resort to ADB sideload (and then again for the GCAM module too). When that worked successfully, and Magisk passed SafetyNet, I wanted to report it here so that other people who may run into the same mounting issue can get around it like I did. That's all.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bmg1001:
While I admit one of the steps does say to decrypt if prompted, one of the requirements listed is also to remove your screenlock if on 8.1.

You also don't necessarily have to remove your screenlock. TWRP can still access other directories like /data/media just fine, so you should also be able to do things like adb push files like the Magisk zip there, or dump boot images there too, but it generally is just easier to remove the lock for most people.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Waxahatchee:
I have a couple of noob questions:

1. If you root with Magisk will OTA updates continue to work?

2. Why does TWRP not remain on your phone?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] fantamadnesss:
1 Yes

2 twrp (or the recovery in general) is in the boot Image, since this is a phone with a/b partition and There is no recovery partition. So, someone can build a kernel with inbuild twrp like some Sony z devices.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] spotmark:
If you're rooted OTAs WILL NOT work. You'll get the notification that an update is available but you must unroot in order to receive it.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] tech_head:
1. No. Magisk on this phone modifies boot and vendor partitions.

If they are modified OTA will fail. It will download then it will fail. Don't waste time and data.

2. Because TWRP has not been updated for and 8.1 boot image. Boot image must match OS version or you bootloop.

It can remain resident if you have 7.x.

It will need to be built with a stable boot from 8.1.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] muadzlee:
Little help please

Help me a little bit here, the last phone i root was note2.

I know ph-1 rooting is a little bit different, all i want is a root access nothing more. I don't want custom rom ect, i just want simple stock with root access. Do i still need the twrp? Or what is the main files/software i need to root?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Skripka:
Start with reading the OP...the only thing it doesn't give you is a tutorial on using Fastboot and ADB.

PS DO NOT use the USB cable that came with the phone to root it.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
Definitely read the OP. Short answer is yes. You need TWRP.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elinca247:
can some please writet a noob tutorial for 8.1. I can root nougat no problem except wifi is broken. I can't make beans of A/B partitions and there for don't under stand the commands . I've looked all over the place and what i have found just confused even more. Some one help....
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] rignfool:
There is one...

It's called the OP... It's VERY hard to make it any simpler...
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Nerd10:
I have NMI64C as my build number. Am I able to use the images supplied in the nougat post, or do something else?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] bmg1001:
I think 64C is a very old update, maybe from when the phone first launched. I'd suggest updating your device to the latest possible firmware before attempting to root.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aohus:
a little confused here. if i were to root the ph-1, am i not able to receive OTA updates?

i would need to revert back to stock to get an OTA update? is there a way to manually install an update without losing root?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
Yes, you are correct.

There are ways to manually update, but you can't exactly automatically keep root. You need to actively root the device again after you apply the update. It's a very easy process, once you have done it. It's simple enough to boot to TWRP and install magisk (or whatever you use to root) again
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] soulfulb:
Hey guys,

Just ordered this phone and plan on updating to 8.1 and then rooting it. Is it true that it's better not to use the supplied cable that came with the phone to root it?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
True. Essential recommends using a higher quality USB 3.0 cable for data transfer, as theirs is just suitable for charging
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] BottleB:
Its a usb c to usb c. I dont even think there are computers with the small c port? Maybe im mistaken though
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Macs, Microsoft surface, newer dell, HP and other laptops has it. More to come
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] BottleB:
That's really cool.

We learn everyday
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Yes we all do. Frankly, USB c is great. Just that good cables aren't cheap and as common as Micro USB
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] BottleB:
Timing was almost perfect. Just got a new work laptop. Has usb c. Insane that the docking station powers the laptop via usb c. Ha!
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] mobileman88:
Awesome. My work machine is still USB 3.0 on the old A connector. Would like to get some good c-to-c cables cheap tho' . It's amazing that the tiny connector can do 100W+ to power laptops.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] elkay:
Going to probably do this in the next day or two. What version of Magisk should we use if we're on April 8.1 right now and simply want to get root on stock with SafetyNet passing?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] RandomPooka:
16.0 and 16.4 both work nicely
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Thompson2x:
So I followed the instructions in Chris Panton's YouTube tutorial and everything seemed to go ok. Used the 16.0 version of Magisk. However when it came time for the final reboot, it kept booting back to the boot loader. I tried hitting start 2-3 times and on this last time it started to boot normally. However it has now hung at the spinning dots stage and has been there for 20 minutes. It is completely unresponsive and not detected by my computer. Is there something I did wrong and/or some way to fix it?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Sounds like you didn't flash stock boot.img prior to magisk
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Thompson2x:
Hmm. I did each step as he walked through them I thought. Is there any way to fix it at this point?
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
Flash twrp ------->flash stock boot.img---------->flash magisk

Magisk is always last, and you always need a stock boot.img, if for anything else, to blow away twrp.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] Thompson2x:
Ok, that makes sense. The problem is that I can't get the phone to be recognized by my computer at all.
[Essential Phone Guides, News, & Discussion] aer0zer0:
U try a different USB port?