yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
Yes, it is the same menu that you can use to read out your actual region (mine is hw/eu) and other things in Android directly.

And of course SDcard means internal storage as well (as explained in the article itself).

Only problem is that to my knowledge Firmware Finder does not work for EMUI 8.x stock ROMs (P20 is 8.x) if I am not completely mistaken from what I have seen in some other posts.

Once I got the OTA update stuff I will stick my nose deeper into this rebranding (region change) stuff. The hidden menu was a part that I already stumbled over when cross reading for this.

Thx for the link anyhow.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
My p20pro is CLT-AL01 which is chinese version. Can i use recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img ?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
The recovery image should be the same for every region out there. Best indication would be that you are looking at an english text when booting into the original fastboot.

I have a German phone and even for me it is plain english.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
I would say yes but I haven't had that device to test.

In theory you should be ok.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
I've tried it, it works. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 03:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:50 AM ----------

I've flashed it and got a recovery in Chinese.:laugh:
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
CLT-AL01, chinese version, unlocked, TWRP installed, no root

1. Get a "preview" OTA notification.

2. Flash the recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img and reboot.

3. Download OTA update via "Settings > System > System Update".

4. Install the OTA, reboot into erecovery and prompt " Failed when verify the OTA file"

5. reboot into system, Settings > System > System Update, there is no OTA update now.

It seems that recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img cannot install the OTA file of CLT-AL01.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
In step 4 you say "reboot into eRecovery", do you actually really mean eRecovery? Does this happen when you click the install now button after the OTA update has been downloaded ?

"recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img" in the partition "recovery_ramdisk" is not eRecovery (this sits in the "recovery" partition and you should not kill it!).

The typical process of an OTA update is as follows:

OTA update gets advertised. Download it. This also writes some commands to the file "/cache/recovery/command".

Reboot into "recovery", this actually is a reboot into "fastboot" aka "recovery_ramdisk", not eRecovery!

If you really end up in eRecovery, try to not reboot after the OTA update. Instead while still in Android, use ADB and the command "adb reboot bootloader".

Your phone should reboot into "fastboot" aka "recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img", pass the check and install the OTA update.

Anyone please correct me if I am talking nonsense here.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Syph0nX:
I'm struggling to find the user data folder through TWRP to flash Magisk, what is the correct path to it through recovery?

EDIT: Got it working, had to remove all security on the phone first
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
Sorry, I made a mistake.

I download the OTA and press install now, then the phone reboot and show EMUI logo and a circle installing progress bar. It may be "recovery_ramdisk", not eRecovery.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
Don't worry, I am still learning too.

Yesterday evening I finally got some time for my TWRP->RecoveryNocheck->TWRP script and while it is the recovery_ramdisk that should be active, it can easily be mistaken with the recovery as both are actually in EMUI look.

Before anyone asks, with my script I am now stuck at the step when RecoveryNocheck is active, trying to figure out how to create a flashable.zip or OTA update to get back to TWRP automatically.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] djparent:
I apologize if this is a naive question but I'm new to Magisk and Huawei. Is it possible to root without installing TWRP? Or is it okay to wipe TWRP after rooting and still use normally? Or am I just being paranoid about the whole update/brick thing and having TWRP is fine on this phone for OTA updates and such? I did read the thread and follow links but I'm very confused as some things seem to have changed along the way as techniques advance.

Thank you very much for the guide btw, it was a deciding factor in getting the P20 Pro last week. Knowing that this phone is rootable and there is at least a small community working on it is very exciting!
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
You need TWRP to install root, at least for the moment this is the way to go.

However, after this, you only need TWRP if root is gone, e.g. has been removed by an OTA update (does not have to happen with an OTA update but is possible).

If you do not use TWRP regularly (I use it for periodic backups of the whole system):

Flash TWRP

Install root via TWRP

Flash RecoveryNoCheck so you can handle OTA updates.

Only install TWRP if you need to root again.

Regarding bricking your phone:

As stated in the OP, as long as you keep "recovery" functional you are able to recover your phone from almost any semi-brick you managed to get.

TWRP and RecoveryNoCheck are flashed to "recovery_ramdisk", keeping Huawei eRecovery still intact.

In case you worry about flash wearing down by all the flashing back and forth, flashes are made for thousands of rewrites of the same addresses, so maybe you manage to kill your flash after a couple of years (more realistic even longer) if you flash TWRP and NoCheck back and forth dozens of times per day.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
I've got the stock recovery and will try it later for OTA update since recovery_ramdisk_nocheckP20.img cannot install OTA update on my CLT-AL01.

---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:52 AM ----------

I flashed twrp to install xposed. I don't root since I want to modify not system resource but 2 specific apps.

It reminds me that I can flash back to stock recovery right after xposed installed. TWRP is only needed if the OTA update killed xposed. Would the OTA update kill the xposed?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
If the OTA update includes changes to the files replaced by Xposed there is a good chance that this will happen.

You should make a TWRP backup before installing an OTA update, just so you can easily get back to before the update and prepare your next steps (in case you want to).
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] xSunshin3x:
When unlocking the bootloader, the phone says:

"All your personal data will be wiped for security reasons"

Does this really occur and which 'personal data' will be restored to default? Is it like a factory reset of the device?

Many thanks in advance
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Noir.:
Yes, it's exact the same as a factory reset.

Gesendet von meinem CLT-L29 mit Tapatalk
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] xSunshin3x:
gnaaah. Thanks for the reply.

Guess i have to take a look into backing up with huawei phones without TWRP..
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
Installed OTA update CLT-AL01 8.1.0.150(C00Patch02) yesterday.

1. OTA update gets advertised.

2. Reboot into bootloader. Flash the stock recovery ramdisk img.

3. Reboot into Android, download and install the OTA.

The Xposed is still there after that without TWRP. It means that I can install the next OTA directly.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] xSunshin3x:
Guys i need some serious help:

i made a backup with the Huawei PC Software , then unlocked my bootloader.

I was able to flash TWRP and also do a full backup to my Notebook.

i booted back into the phone, restored the backup, then installen Magisk via TWRP, rebooted once again into the phone to check the status of Magisk/rooting.

Noticed that i didnt had any access to internet whatsoever and i also got stuck in all google related apps with the message 'Checking info'....

Then i also tried to access the phone via adb which didnt work at all, so i did a factory reset.

Now im stuck in a boot loop with the phone booting right into TWRP, but beeing stuck in the TWRP logo screen.

It looks like i have no access to the eRecovery system as the option doesnt show up when rebooting the phone (which it definitely did before).

i guess i did some fubar right here and need help asap since i really need my phone.

any advice?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
Settings - system - backup and restore
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
Did you flash TWRP to "recovery" instead of "recovery_ramdisk"?

Try forcing it into recovery_ramdisk TRWP (if you have it there as well) by holding "volume up + power" until your phone restarts once from holding the power button long enough, then still hold it until you get the TWRP logo, then release it. Maybe you end up in the recovery_ramdisk TWRP that might work for you.

Try to get into fastboot from where you can flash TWRP to recovery_ramdisk if it is not. Power off the phone, hold "volume down + power" until you hopefully end up in the white fastboot screen.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] xSunshin3x:
thanks for your help. got i working last night at 4:30am with huawei's eRecovery.

edit// i did flash TWRP into recovery_ramdisk ;)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] mangusZen:
Updated my rooted c636 to .130

I removed root first, then flashed the recovery-nocheck.

Rebooted to system it downloaded the ota package and proceded through the install and failed to install.

Then it downloaded the full package (3,6 Gb) and installation went through fine.

I don't know why the OTA failed, I use substratum and adblock, so maybe it's because of this.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] DBBGBA:
Are there instructions to relock the bootloader?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] MRSOFT:
update to 131, perfect!!

Root, Magisk and Twrp Works!

Thx u!
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] c.senor:
I relocked my bootloader with the same tool : Tool All In One , with the same key

But now it is relocked, not locked!

Message with phone is unsafe does not appear when rebooting.

But I installed firmware 131 (latest) even if it was not approved for my phone yet. I do not know if I will ever get any official OTA updates anymore.

Does anyone know? My phone is now like stock... but higher software version than approved.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] damlancy:
I'm on CLT-L29 (C605). Will this tutorial work for me? I'm new to Huawei devices as a whole. :)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] mangusZen:
Sure, why not? Stick to the guide for twrp and root.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] damlancy:
Thanks for the swift response. I'll download all the necessary files tonight and give you a feedback tomorrow.

One thing I'm worried about: commands like "adb devices, etc" don't work on my windows 10 pc, instead, ". \adb devices, etc" work.

Can I still proceed?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] mangusZen:
Yes, it means that the commands in that folder (adb and fastboot) are not in the PATH variable of your windows system.

It will work the same, you just have to add ./ everytime

https://www.google.it/amp/s/www.xda-developers.com/adb-fastboot-any-directory-windows-linux/amp/
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] damlancy:
Thanks a million! Worked like charm
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sacredsoul:
Hey guys. I finally got the 130 update for OTA. However, I am rooted and I decided to do the PC method by flashing the stock recovery and then flashing OTA. However, my USB debugging isn't seeming to work. I have tried rebooting both my PC and my phone, turning on and off USB debugging, tried changing it to charge to transfer files, resetting the settings etc. Nothing seems to work and my ADB is not working. Is there any workaround? Or any way I can get ADB working again?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] c.senor:
I had the same issue with ADB not working, not sure what that is about... maybe because of root? magisk?

But fastboot was working! I could execute the fastboot commands from my PC.

For regular adb stuff... I had to use the android app Terminal and paste the commands directly on the phone terminal shell, not on windows adb. Hope it helps you.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] damlancy:
You said you relocked your bootloader with All in one tools; were you able to unlock it again with the same code you got from Huawei BL unlock website?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] nde123456:
Failed when installing the OTA update CLT-AL01 8.1.0.152 today.

Same steps, don't know why.

It worked sometimes and sometimes it failed .

Some one said that the Xposed should be uninstalled before OTA update. I'll try it later.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sacredsoul:
Nope, fastboot is not working either. I rebooted into fastboot mode manually and tried to flash the img file but I get 'waiting for device' even though the device is in fastboot and connected.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] damlancy:
Have you turned on the options I have activated in this screenshot?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sacredsoul:
Yep, all the options were enabled. I tried again. Same issue. Then I went to Device Manager and say a device that showed as unknown. So I hit right click and chose Update Driver. Windows automatically installed a driver called 'Android Bootloader Interface' if I remember correctly and fastboot was working! Thanks for the help :)

EDIT : Magisk 16.7 Changelog : [Daemon] Fix permission of /dev/null after logcat commands, fix ADB on EMUI

Amazing how only I seem to have a problem though.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Dougi:
hi,

thanks for this thread, guides on how to .......

i have questions:

- does rooting stock ROM will kill automatic OTA updates ??

- does rooting stock ROM will cause any problems on the device ?? i have a MATE 10 pro, never rooted it because it was not safe and could cause problems.

I had nexuses, HTC's, SAMSUNG's devices, i have some knowledge, but i'm new to huawei phones, don't want to mess up my monster :D

thanks a lot.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] sacredsoul:
Hello!

I've had the P20 Pro for a while now and have rooted EMUI and also tried LineageOS on it. Went back to rooted EMUI because I really missed the stock camera(in my opinion, the strongest suit of the P20).

Anyway, to answer your question, rooting the stock ROM will NOT kill automatic OTA updates. However, since you will probably have TWRP installed, the update will fail since it cant locate stock recovery. You will have to follow the "Install an OTA (Over The Air) stock update : PC method" steps on the first page of this thread. And then apply the OTA. Once the update is successful, you can flash TWRP and magisk again to get root.

To answer your next question, never did have major issues with rooting the stock rom on the P20. Only annoyance is having to reflash the stock recovery every time there's an OTA but (un?)fortunately, that is not very often. EMUI is stable rooted. One issue I had as seen with my earlier posts is that I couldn't get ADB to work no matter what I tried. Turns out it was a Magisk issue and that is fixed with the latest beta release. But yea, it is rock stable for me now. Keep in mind though that I do NOT use xposed or Viper4Android so cant attest to the stability of those.

P.S. Congrats to France on their second world cup! Supported you guys from all the way in Singapore.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Dougi:
Thanks for this complete answer, i just want to get root so i can install adaway and use substratum theming engine, no exposed or anything else, just simple root.

I'll get to it shortly.

Yeahhh second star ? ?

See you around.

I can go back to fully stock just by updating full firmware like Samsung devices right ??
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] djparent:
How can we uninstall Magisk? I tried installing the Sony framework mod and now I am in a boot loop. I can boot into fast boot or TWRP, but in TWRP everything seems encrypted and I can't access my back up as I had security enabled during the reboot. I imagine getting my phone to boot is as simple as disabling Magisk but I can't find clear instructions anywhere on how to do this in fastboot or adb. Any advice?

UPDATE: If anyone runs into trouble with modules try the module uninstaller from the link below. Sideload using TWRP then uninstall the mods in terminal. Works like a charm. May I request this link be stickied in the first post for other users that may run into this issue?

https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=72542167&postcount=242
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Noir.:
Flash the Magisk Uninstaller from the official Magisk thread.

If your device is encrypted, copy the uninstaller to root folder of the phone or install it with adb sideload.

Example: Boot into TWRP, connect USB, "adb push filename.ext /sideload" will copy the file into root/sideload folder. This shouldn´t be encrypetd and you can install it from there via TWRP. Or "adb sideload /sideload filename.ext" will sideload it.

By the way, great Guide - works fine. This is my first Huawei device after some Samsungs and Sonys. Just installed .131 on CL29(432) . First time after downloading and installing it fails, second time it will download the full package which worked. I really like the fact that the updater recognizes that something went wrong and then downloads a full firmware. eRecovery is also a great thing, it is so easy to recover the device even without a backup on external media.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Dougi:
Hi guys,

Do i need to activate oem unlock in developer option before adb unlocking etc...

Thanks in advance.

EDIT : found my answer ( https://xdaforums.com/huawei-p20/how-to/guide-bootloader-unlock-p20-t3773793 ) , should be added to OP i think ;)

EDIT 2 : other methods does not tell to activate OEM unlock, that's weird :confused:
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
Just a short sign of life.

Information up to this point will be added to the OP in the next couple of days whenever I find time for it.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] jcrompton:
What do you mean??
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
The posts with links right before my previous post.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Allesa:
wrong thread
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
When installing mods make sure you've made a nand because all the recoveries require all your passwords / pins to be removed, you can't access twrp whilst theyre in place.

You'll probably need to erecovery back to stock if it's encrypted.

You'll lose your data potentially, however I reset and I lost nothing so there you hope for you

---------- Post added at 04:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 AM ----------

Keep it checked
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] djparent:
TWRP works just fine when passwords are in place, you just can't access the internal storage. You can still flash, sideload, set permissions etc the files you're using just can't be on the encrypted portion. I recovered my phone with no problems using the uninstaller I linked in that post. There's lots that can be done in TWRP whilst encrypted it just takes a little resourcefulness to make it happen ?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
How does that work lol? I would have thought with it still encrypted it wouldnt be able to write to the system?

Fair play, didn't know that. Good t know.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] djparent:
Yeah I thought the same thing but was desperate enough to try. My guess is that only the user partition is encrypted as the zip files shouldn't have been able to flash otherwise. It saves a lot of time flashing updates when you don't have to remove all the security first. ?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Dougi:
yeah i know, i edited my message, it's not the first time that i unlock a bootloader, it should be added to OP, no one is telling in their GUIDE to turn on OEM unlock in Dev option, USB debbuging should be on to, can't run ADB command if not, it's also not in OP.

Anyway, this guide was helpfull to me, just little details that could be added ;)
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
Yea this is not my guide pal.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Dougi:
i also know that
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
You quoted me when you wrote it ??

NVM
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] gd6noob:
Root is not working

ctsProfile: false

Anyone know how to fix this?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] ابوذوق:
How i relock bootloader on p20 pro?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] windwaver:
Where's the new link to unlock bootloader?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] djparent:
I'd like to share some information that may be a time saver to some when taking OTAs via the nocheck_P20.img method and restoring Magisk or other zips via TWRP. I can confirm after now successfully doing 2 updates this way that your security DOES NOT need to be disabled to restore root or flash packages via TWRP's sideloading feature. It seems only the user partition is encrypted to TWRP, as I've been able to successfully flash packages to the system partition of my encrypted device numerous times now. Obviously you still can't install packages from your internal storage without removing security but 'adb sideload xxxxx.zip' has restored root and a few Magisk modules for me without issue through several updates without having to redo my fingerprints or face scans afterward. This may be a non-issue to some but it's 5-10 minutes I don't have to bother with after each update anymore. If someone else tries this out please confirm and maybe it can be added to the OP?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] Xcelsior:
Flashing TWRP or Nocheck does not wipe anything.

Flashing Magisk/Root does not do any harm as well.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] denniequiambao:
Thanks for the help, mate. Much appreciated. :good:
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] anabolic_guy:
Excuse me, how you did obtained the bootloader unlocking code ?

Thanks in advance.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] dlads:
It will have been prior to Huawei removing codes from their site.

You can't obtain them at this time.

May change in the future, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] cribol:
I'm stuck with an unrootable phone for the next 2 years at least (difficult to return stuff in my country).

I hope someone finds a workaround. I want my adblocker and Titanium to run :(

Edit: Actually I did a quick google search before my purchase and found a bunch of sites (including this thread) about rooting the P20 pro that were posted before Huwei decided to stop providing unlock codes. Didn't read all pages though.

I suggest to OP to modify the main post and warn would-be buyers that rooting is currently not possible. Not blaming OP or google, appreciate all your work. I was being lazy. But I guess this would help others save time too.
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] mosaiques:
Hi there, I've followed this instructions in order to make an OTA update.

There is a recent system patch for version CLT-L09 8.1.0.156(C432) which is only 9.50MB. I've installed "successfully" this patch at least 3 times but it keeps coming back as an update.

Is there a way to get rid of it?
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] matt4321:
Try updating to .159 which was released the other day and will include that patch. It also has the October security patches
[Huawei P20 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] mosaiques:
.159 still not available here. :confused:

P.S.: Besides, there is an Android 9.0 update (CLT-L09C432B97 – Build 9.0.0.47) Have you tried it?