yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
Ok, I am back in business with a fully working Shield on 7.1 :)

-Only problem left is that I can not push files through ADB onto the internal storage anymore.

ADB states the directory does not exist, but pulling files from the exact same directories works fine LOL

As I now could finally use my old backup again, I updated to the latest Kantjer Magisk and still all worked fine.

Now, to stay "clean" I will see what happens if I try to flash a modifed firmware with just the OTA APK renamed over the existing 7.1.

If that already fails then at least I have a problem.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
Hey mate, I made a debloated, pre-rooted 7.1 firmware with firmware updates turned off if you want to try. Flashed trough twrp for me with no issues. Just let me know.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
LOL - That is what I did too.

But it seems I have EPA problems, my enviroment must be pulluted.

Getting to close to giving up and installing Winodws from scratch here.

Guess at some point some install included with the NVidia developer suite messed things up big time.

With the Shield working fine now again I jumped back to manual labour on the shield and I can mod the living crap out of it.

But even my oldest kitchen tools now totally fail to create something as simple as a flashable boot.img.

So I added breaks here and there, more info output and I came to this conclusion:

All my Python, VB and Java stuff claims to work fine but when running decent tests then none of them actually execute from the right place or in the correct way.

For example simply PY scripts including memory operations go nuts and give results that make no sense.

Nvidia was nice enough to provide an installer for ALL their crap that simply overwrites and changes whatever it feels like in the system.

But there is no option to uninstall any of it, just to update.

With an amount of install that feels like endless it will hard to get around a fresh Windows :(

So in a last ditch attempt I signed up for your kitchen and in there I am bomabrded with python related errors all over the place, can't even update it.

Of course I uninstalled and installed all related things now several times but the outcome stays the same.

That's what happens if you think building roms from source is good thing ROFL

If there is one thing this entire fiasco has shown then not to trust NVidia.

Linus was sooo right with his comments LOL
[Shield Android TV Android Development] pop4xda:
I'd like to try that.

How many apps are debloated anyway? Will this pre-rooted with Magisk? I'm on 7.1 with SU root (Shield 2017 16gb) but want to try Magisk.

Thanks in advance.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
Probably too many for most people, but I deleted Amazon Video, Google Games, Music, Video etc, Youtube, all the BBC crap. a few language and Keyboard packs I don't need. Nothing that can't be reinstalled if needed. It is pre-rooted with the normal version of Magisk 18. Just need to open Magisk Manager to finish the setup. Best thing about it for most users if they are happy with 7.1, you won't get prompted to update. Me personally, I will be going back to the 7.2.2 Engineering Firmware, but made a Custom 7.1 Firmware for the 2017 Darcy model just to see if it would work really. Now that I see that it does, I will most likely go back to 7.2.2 and see what I can do there.

But if you are interested in trying the Custom 7.1, here is a link: https://mega.nz/#!ShNXGY7I!_BD9zUl-yudtSV-V_IOWa3FpA6Sr2tykCfM71K0-XpQ

Just make sure you take a backup of your setup first, just in case things don't work out or you don't like it then you can flash back your setup.

Only little issue I noticed, once I flashed through twrp, I let it boot up and then I did a Factory Reset as this is the process I like to do when trying/testing new setups etc, on first bootup, when it was doing the Playstore updates, the screen went black, can't remember 100% if it rebooted itself or if I left it for 5-10 mins and then done a Power Reboot myself, but after Reboot everything was fine. Let me know how it goes.

If you could leave feedback on whether it flashed for you or not and how it worked for you, that would be great.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] pop4xda:
[MENTION=8898246]whiteak[/MENTION]

Just install your debloated rom, all went well.

At first boot after wifi connected successfully my shield went black screen for 3-5 minutes and then appears welcome screen.

Thanks for the file. I will playing around a bit more to see if there's any issues.

Update

- magisk app seems fail to update and open on first start. I just uninstall and reinstall magisk manager 6.1 and let it updates itself which all went well this time.

- I noticed that pre-installed magisk is 18.1rc unofficial I wonder when there is an official version of magisk 18.1 or newer can I update to the official version or should I leave it as is?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
You must have installed a unofficial Magisk Manager and not the Official one as the version of Magisk should be Official 18.0. I actually like to use Kantjers version, but the kitchen I used when making the Rom used the official 18.0, as it was mainly a test, I just left it at that. If you wanted to, you could run the Magisk uninstaller and then flash whatever version you wanted, totally up to you.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] pop4xda:
Thanka for advice.

I thought the magisk version 18.1r5-unofficial comes with your rom.

Anyway I just press install v18.0 in magisk manager and choose direct install. The process goes successfully. Now I'm on magisk official 18.0.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] tinhsoftware:
Hellow may i have download link of your TWRP.img which you used to flash Whiteak custom rom. I want to flash it to my 2017 shield tv running 7.1. When you flash the rom, you flash twrp to your shield first or you can temp boot to twrp to flash the rom, thank you.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
https://dl.twrp.me/foster/twrp-3.2.3-0-foster.img.html

You can temp boot it, no need to flash.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Mogster2K:
Did you get it working on the 7.2 bootloader, or did you downgrade it?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
I didn't try the 7.1 Rom with a 7.2 bootloader, but I did try a custom 7.2.2 rom with the 7.2 bootloader, it flashes a white screen and goes on a boot loop, I'm sure if I flashed zulu99's dtb file it would probably boot, but I have 2 shields, one I am running the 7.2.2 Engineering test images and the other I am running the 7.1 with firmware updates disabled etc.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] jionny:
Just trying to verify, some say you dont need DTB file to get full root access on Pro(foster) others say you do. Which one is it?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
I only own 2017 Darcy models, so can only confirm that it is needed for them.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Mogster2K:
It is not needed for foster. Also, please be very careful with DTBs - foster and darcy are not compatible, and flashing the wrong one will almost certainly brick your console.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
As the DTB file is clearly marked to be for darcy units the question and the full quote was not really required ;)

But Mogster pointed out that it is not a good idea to mix...
[Shield Android TV Android Development] twistedumbrella:
Interesting read. It may be a little easier to swallow with a bit more formatting. It seemed similar to the scientific research papers you see people post for college courses. Very informative, but hard to keep your place when performing right from the page.

I have the 4th device (2015 500GB Developer), so not much of it really applies to me. Thanks for putting in the time, though.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] elliwigy:
not sure what the issue is? i rooted 7.2.1 dev image with magisk 18.0 without any dtbo or anything special?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] elliwigy:
dtb not even required lol.. can root with magisk patched boot.img.. just a few more steps..
[Shield Android TV Android Development] elliwigy:
it is not
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
Can you check to see if you only have Partial Root Access, or Full, try and delete a system app, for example Youtube. Unless something has changed in the 7.2.1 dev firmware, at the time when we discovered it was not Full Root Access patching the Stock Firmware, there was no publicly available 7.2.1 Dev firmware available to download. We were able to grab the 7.2.1 Stock zip from the devices themselves, but Nvidia had not yet shared any 7.2.1 firmwares on there website, not stock and definitely no 7.2.1 dev image. Look at the dates.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] elliwigy:
they have 7.2.1 dev os images available as of 12/27... root is also full, i deleted play store and a few other system apps from /system/priv-app using root explorer, rebooted and theyre gone.. trying to launch play store for example doesnt do anything now..

I am not sure if it was fastboot commands i ran for vbmeta or verity commands but so far no issues and all i really used was a 7.2.1 magisk v18 patched boot.img..

if u would like to try or anyone else does pm me and ill provide instructions.. if it works as it should then we can post it on xda..

also, you should check nvidia sites again.. check the dates in screenshot attached below...
[Shield Android TV Android Development] whiteak:
Exactly, I originally posted about the modified dtb to gain Full Root Access on the 26th, there was no dev firmware to download until after this (27th).

If the 7.2.1 dev firmware does have full Root Access, great, but at the time, there was nothing released on Nvidia's download page, 7.2.1 was only available OTA.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] elliwigy:
gotcha.. i had to mess with it a bit to get magisk working but wasnt too bad.. essentially patch the boot.img, start fresh, disable dm verity then fastboot boot the patched boot img then once u get magisk manager up install and select direct install then reboot
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
I am slowly getting back into business after a fresh install of Windows and now trying to get everything back the way it was.

There is good news: The kitchen cooks properly now!

I was able to produce a clean firmware based on the 7.1 dev firmware.

Since Whiteak was already so nice to jump in and providea fix for the 7.1 I will focus on a replacement for the official 7.1 with the apps already updated to spare the long wait for the additinal downloads.

Where possible I will try to include the new apps from the 7.2 but for now I will not tinker with the kernel of the 7.2 to allow full root.

My aim is to create two versions, maybe three.

1. All possible stock apps from the 7.1 and 7.2 included, pre-rooted.

2. Full and stock 7.1 including vendor, pre-rooted.

3. Maybe a clean 7.1 with just the stuff required for streaming but no games, suggestions and so on.

If all this works now as expected on my 2017 model and if there is still a need I will implement this for the firmwares of the other models as well.

For the 7.2 I have some ideas but at this stage I am not certain it will work with the restricted kernel of the stock developer firmware.

From what I could gather so far it seems I need to patch the kernel to work with the 7.1 bootloader first.

Then the forced DM-Verity needs to be either set less restrictive or fully removed, same for the secure boot functions.

Only then a full root with Magisk is possible without messing around with the DTB.

As most of the vital apps and functions in 7.2 are all linked to these new security features I see no other option to include the in the 7.1 firmware.

Which actually leaves one vital question:

Do we actually need all this nonsense for our tasks anyway?

For example I am happy to use my Shield as media streamer and only play some simple games on occasion.

Others migh just use it as a game console or to watch Netflix.

Automation might be good but personally I don't really like the idea of having Alexa and her friends "help" me with everything ;)

So what is there in 7.2 that you guys actually need and use?

Maybe it is possible to get at least some of it working in 7.1...
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Mogster2K:
Nothing yet. Nvidia says the move to a 4.9 kernel is necessary for SMB3, but there's no telling when that's coming. Personally I want a way to mount an external SSD as /data. I used to do that by editing fstab.foster_e in the kernel ramdisk, but that no longer works. I've been told that the only way to do it now is by editing the DTB because that's where Nvidia moved the mounts. I'm reluctant to try it because a) I don't know how, and b) making a mistake with the DTB can potentially brick the system.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
I had similar discussions with the support team.

Pointing out that it is no longer possible to actually get root access, rendering a developer firmware into a release version.

Same for annoying restirctions in terms of write access.

What again is the point of a media streamer if you can't get write access to external storage without first rooting it and adding modules?

And now even this route is impossible on the 7.2.

Funny enough they now state that rooting is actually not officially supported anyway - WTF?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] ragingnomad:
Praise the lord! Thank you my friend! I was able to gain root access and have full control over the entire file system, but I can't push and pull to the system or vendor partitions directly through adb. I wish Android TV had a good selection of ROOT file managers or package managers. I was also unable to boot the TWRP recovery on the device. Are we waiting for an updated TWRP? Do you know if there is one avail? Mine just freezes at the nVidia Logo when I try to boot a reg TWRP img.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
For the 2017 model there will be problems aheaf with TWRP but the older devices should still work with TWRP.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Mogster2K:
Sadly no, TWRP does not work on 2015/foster. Steel01 is still waiting on Nvidia to release the source code. (It's only been a month, WTF Nvidia...)
[Shield Android TV Android Development] Downunder35m:
It might be a bit problematic to keep going if I interpret my last support chat right.

Like many other companies they seem to go the route of compliance now.

Compliance with Google that is.

All required firmware sources for the "operating" system shall be released soon.

When I asked if that means the entire hardware tree I was corrected.

Their own code will be available as source for the required parts that a developer might have to modify, the rest only as ready to go modules of sorts.

No clue what that might mean though.

Culprit is "operating" system here.

The nice support guy stated that the Vendor part should not need any developer access.

Only the system is what a developer would work with.

As a result all system modifications have to be applied by flashing.

Either a complete one or a patch only for the system partition.

According to the guy this how it was always done.

A "developer" is required to create his own firmware from the sources.

But from 7.2 on he will not get a rooted firmware as a base anymore.

Google requires strict adhearance to their security policies and appearently the best way is to keep this up during development.

After a lot of back and forth in regards to the bootloader and boot image I think I got the most vital info so far:

The bootloader will accept a boot image created from sources even if set to userdebug.

Not sure if the same is true for the stock firmware but it leaves hope.

And yes, I tried to simply change the current boot image so all is the same as in a userdebug version.

But as you guessed it the bootloader does check the has codes and all and realises it is faked.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] St Patrick:
adb to set device owner app?

Since you mentioned adb, is it possible to set a device owner app from adb on the Shield?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] pinkBEAT:
@whiteak,

I was able to root (my very first time flashing anything) following the directions here https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-root-nvidia-shield-experience-upgrade-v7-2-with-magisk-v18-0.3882254/. My purpose for doing this is that I want to delete PLEX server and download from the Playstore and put it on my external Seagate 500GB SSD Drive being used for internal storage so that I can have all the media data on that drive, otherwise it will fill up my 2017 16GB drive before I can put all my movies and TV in the libraries of PLEX. However, I've learned that it isn't actually a full root where I can delete system programs such as PLEX Server. I've looked but cannot find any up to date tutorials on getting true full root and the one here in post 36 no longer has the dtb file uploaded, which is probably outdated anyway. I'm on 8.2.2 Shield Experience. Can someone help me out with getting full root access? Remember, I'm brand new at this and don't understand a lot of things but can follow detailed, step by step instructions pretty well. Thanks in advance for any help.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] dsa13dsa:
Hi people!

Has anyone installed the latest firmware for developers (8.2.3)?

I installed recently, everything works well, but I did not see the promised root access. In the archive with the firmware there is a file with the name factory _ramdisk.img, I cannot understand what it is for and how to flash it, when I try to flash it with the fastboot command flash factory_ramdisk factory_ramdisk.img, I get an error that such a partition does not exist. I unpacked this file and saw inside the kernel and the ramdisk folder as in boot.img, I renamed it to boot.img and flashed it, but after that the prefix does not load beyond the nvidia logo.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] schalacker:
I just updated to v8.2.3 and rooted.

Here were my steps:

I updated via the "usual" method with the v8.2.3 developers image (boot to bootloader, run the "flash-all" installer).

Reboot to system

Reboot back to bootloader

Temp boot (not flash to boot partition) TWRP (twrp-3.3.1-0-shieldtv-pie)

sideload the latest Magisk Canary in TWRP (app-release.apk renamed to app-release.zip, sideload that .zip file)

Reboot to system

Viola, root

Hope that helps. I waited for the developers version of 8.2.3 to be released. I've always rooted Developers via Magisk and had pretty good success, never assumed i had root access just by flashing that image. Developers versions (from my understanding) are just a little more compliant with the rooting process, not that they come with root access granted after an install/upgrade.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] dsa13dsa:
Hello Friend!

I downloaded the 8.2.3 image from the nvidia website and there was no flash-all.bat file in the package.

Сan you tell me how to flash the factory _ramdisk.img file ?
[Shield Android TV Android Development] schalacker:
No need to flash the ramdisk.img, just follow my prior instructions.

Download the

developer only OS

v8.2.3 image ZIP:

https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload

NVIDIA SHIELD ANDROID TV 2017 Developer Only OS Image

8.2.3

2021/07/02

Just follow the below fastboot/bootloader steps to initiate the v8.2.3 factory upgrade (from the NVIDIA flashing instructions page), you can use these steps to create a flash-all.bat file:

* SHIELD UNITS WITH ANDROID MARSHMALLOW OR NEWER

*** Flashing instructions:

1. Execute these commands on the host PC:

fastboot flash staging blob

fastboot flash boot boot.img

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

fastboot flash system system.img

fastboot flash vendor vendor.img

fastboot reboot

Once you upgrade to v8.2.3 Developer then you can follow the rest of my previous directions (flash Magisk Canary zip via TWRP) to gain root.
[Shield Android TV Android Development] dsa13dsa:
Thanks for the information
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] oXydead:
Tried to flash latest gtaxlwifi for my 8.1 Oreo Galaxy Tab A 10.1 SM-T580,

after Odin finished, i encountered a problem. The device didn't respond to the power button, so i can go to the recovery for the first time.

After many tries, i managed to get it back to download mode. After that, i tried to go the recovery and my screen showed some red bars, like the lcd is all messed up.

Putting it back to download mode, the screen works fine.

What should i do, please help me.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] TheMadScientist:
The LCD isn't bad if download screen is good. May have some how flashed wrong firmware
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] oXydead:
I didn't flash a firmware i tried to flash a custom recovery.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] TheMadScientist:
Well restore your stock firmware properly per your model and location and it should be good you probably flashed the wrong one or something for your current firmware
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] oXydead:
Tried but it fails.

<ID:0/004> Added!!

<ID:0/004> Odin engine v(ID:3.1301)..

<ID:0/004> File analysis..

<ID:0/004> skip file list for home binary

<ID:0/004> param.bin

<ID:0/004> userdata.img

<ID:0/004> Home Binary Download

<ID:0/004> Total Binary size: 2473 M

<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..

<ID:0/004> Initialzation..

<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..

<ID:0/004> Firmware update start..

<ID:0/004> NAND Write Start!!

<ID:0/004> SingleDownload.

<ID:0/004> sboot.bin

<ID:0/004> cm.bin

<ID:0/004> FAIL!

on tablet

SW REV. CHECK FAIL (BOOTLOADER) DEVICE 4 BINARY 3
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] aabraham:
It does the same thing to me running android 7 Galaxy Tab A6 10.1 SM-T580. I tried installing different versions of twrp with different versions of odin. Does the same thing to me. some red lines, blue lines. Although if you shut down & then boot, it works normally.. but i guess no root for us!! :(
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] TheMadScientist:
thats the bootloader telling you your flashing older firmware than whats on the device hence trying to downgrade which isnt possible obviously with that error download a newer firmware with a bit 4 because your device is bit 4 nd your flashing bit 3
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] oXydead:
Managed to flash an older twrp. Tablet saved.

But when i tried to install a wifi version (that's the correct for me), it said error 7 u have the LTE version (not true) and you try to install a wifi version.

A tweak with Notepad++ did the job.
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] MikeN68:
oXydead - I have the same issue - which old verison of TWRP worked for you?

Not to worry - found your comments in "[Recovery][T580] Official TWRP for Galaxy Tab A 10.1 WiFi 2016 (gtaxlwifi) by jcadduono"

Thanks
[Samsung Galaxy Tab A series Questions & Answers] GuestK00247:
you can fix it:

https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=78478237&postcount=573

for Oreo (8.1) use the last Odin 3.13.1
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] beevme:
Hey everyone, I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (G965U, US Version) on ebay.

I was really happy when it arrive and was going to keep it. I wanted to check if it's fake or not, so I boot into download mode and got this:

Chinese menu on the download mode in a G965U US version Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Are some Legit US version Samsung Galaxy Phone suppose to have Chinese menus in the download mode? If yes, how can I get it to English?
[Samsung Galaxy S9+ Questions & Answers] YrrchSebor:
Are you able to download apps, download Phone Info app to check out all the hardware on firmware on your phone?