Root AT&T G3: Basic Questions

[blackdogAC]

I would like to root my G3 to "fix" KitKat microSD issues and to remove AT&T bloatware. I'm not so much into custom ROMs right now.
I've never done this before. I'm not an idjit, but I want to make sure I get everything right.
How do you assure that you can get back to stock condition if desired?
What is "Custom Recovery"
Is the Towelroot method safest for a noob?

thanks guys.

 

[VW Maverick]

How to root your LG G3 - AndroidPIT

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...ng-reverting-back-stock-without-computer.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...recoveries-versus-stock-there-difference.html

Mav.

 

[blackdogAC]

OK, I read most of that.
Can someone explain exactly what "Recovery Mode" is?
It's a developer portal into the OS?
So without any modification, the stock G3 can be booted into Stock Recovery mode?

And a Custom Recovery like TWRP replaces the stock recovery?
And gives more options than the stock recovery does, right?

What if all I want to do is root to remove carrier bloatware and "fix" microSD KitKat issue?
What's the simplest option without going off the deep end?

 

[xocomaox]

OK, I read most of that.
Can someone explain exactly what "Recovery Mode" is?
It's a developer portal into the OS?
So without any modification, the stock G3 can be booted into Stock Recovery mode?

Recovery Menu is something the manufacturer puts in there to allow you to restore your phone to defaults if something goes bad with your OS. It can be booted into this from any stock phone. It's more of a menu than a "Safe Mode" like you are asking about.

And a Custom Recovery like TWRP replaces the stock recovery?
And gives more options than the stock recovery does, right?

It replaces the stock recovery to allow you to do many more things. (like booting into a custom ROM, etc.)

NOTE: You will not be able to do this on your AT&T phone yet because the bootloader is locked and if you try putting a custom recovery on it the phone will fail to boot because of the locked loader.

What if all I want to do is root to remove carrier bloatware and "fix" microSD KitKat issue?
What's the simplest option without going off the deep end?

Use the ioroot method described in the article linked above. it is very easy and should only take a few minutes of your time. (Don't forget to download RootChecker and SuperSU from the Google Play Store!) I did this and was able to fix the SD card issue, uninstall bloatware and even changed the Verizon boot animation to the stock LG G3 boot animation. Because I hate when I boot up the phone and it says my carrier name all over the screen. (It's already on the front bezel!)

 

[RHChan84]

Use IORoot and follow the directions. Root within minutes.

As for the SD card its very easy to do buy you do need root explorer or similar. I've done it and it works great. My apps and write to SD cards now.

Sent from my LG G3 (tapatalk)

 

[JaiMento]

Use IORoot and follow the directions. Root within minutes.

As for the SD card its very easy to do buy you do need root explorer or similar. I've done it and it works great. My apps and write to SD cards now.

Sent from my LG G3 (tapatalk)

So after rooting, how would you go about allowing 3rd party apps write access to the SD Card???

 

[xocomaox]

So after rooting, how would you go about allowing 3rd party apps write access to the SD Card???

Kitkat SDcard fix
If you want sdcard read write on kitkat
1. Open /system/etc/permissions/platform.xml
2. Search for android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
3. Edit it like this
Code:

   <permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
        <group gid="sdcard_r" />
        <group gid="sdcard_rw" />
	<group gid="media_rw" />
    </permission>

4. save it
5. fix the permission to rw-r-r or 644 (chmod 644 platform.xml )
6. reboot


(from xda via spiderio)

 

[JaiMento]

Kitkat SDcard fix
If you want sdcard read write on kitkat
1. Open /system/etc/permissions/platform.xml
2. Search for android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
3. Edit it like this
Code:

   <permission name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" >
        <group gid="sdcard_r" />
        <group gid="sdcard_rw" />
	<group gid="media_rw" />
    </permission>

4. save it
5. fix the permission to rw-r-r or 644 (chmod 644 platform.xml )
6. reboot


(from xda via spiderio)

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

 

[blackdogAC]

Recovery Menu is something the manufacturer puts in there to allow you to restore your phone to defaults if something goes bad with your OS. It can be booted into this from any stock phone. It's more of a menu than a "Safe Mode" like you are asking about.



It replaces the stock recovery to allow you to do many more things. (like booting into a custom ROM, etc.)

NOTE: You will not be able to do this on your AT&T phone yet because the bootloader is locked and if you try putting a custom recovery on it the phone will fail to boot because of the locked loader.



Use the ioroot method described in the article linked above. it is very easy and should only take a few minutes of your time. (Don't forget to download RootChecker and SuperSU from the Google Play Store!) I did this and was able to fix the SD card issue, uninstall bloatware and even changed the Verizon boot animation to the stock LG G3 boot animation. Because I hate when I boot up the phone and it says my carrier name all over the screen. (It's already on the front bezel!)

thanks for all that info.
I DID purchase the phone outright/no contract. Will it be SIM unlocked? (I realize that' separate from bootloader-unlocked)
So if I need to unlock the bootloader first, how do I do that?
thanks.

 

[blackdogAC]

Kitkat SDcard fix
If you want sdcard read write on kitkat

5. fix the permission to rw-r-r or 644 (chmod 644 platform.xml )
(from xda via spiderio)

Fixing the permission is a separate process from the code edit?
Is the permission option a "preselect" or do you have to write "rw-r-r or 644 (chmod 644 platform.xml) "
If you have to write it, WHAT exactly do you write, the text within the parentheses or the first part before the parentheses.

 

[JaiMento]

Alright, sorry for the topic hijacking here, but, what is the best app to use to remove bloatware? Titanium Backup doesn't seem to want to work for me when I select the "Force Remove" option. Reboots the phone and boots into recovery, but the process fails.

 

[xocomaox]

Alright, sorry for the topic hijacking here, but, what is the best app to use to remove bloatware? Titanium Backup doesn't seem to want to work for me when I select the "Force Remove" option. Reboots the phone and boots into recovery, but the process fails.

Root uninstaller. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ls?id=com.rootuninstaller.free&token=7MQi8bPl

 

[xocomaox]

thanks for all that info.
I DID purchase the phone outright/no contract. Will it be SIM unlocked? (I realize that' separate from bootloader-unlocked)
So if I need to unlock the bootloader first, how do I do that?
thanks.

You cannot unlock the boot loader until someone creates a way to do so.

 

[xocomaox]

Fixing the permission is a separate process from the code edit?
Is the permission option a "preselect" or do you have to write "rw-r-r or 644 (chmod 644 platform.xml) "
If you have to write it, WHAT exactly do you write, the text within the parentheses or the first part before the parentheses.

You have to open platform.xml and find the code in that file, except the last part will be missing in yours.

<group gid="media_rw" />

Is the missing line which you have to add to it. Use a text editor of some kind.

After you save it, you have to make sure the permissions are identical to the original platform.xml file. By original, I mean the one you backed up, hopefully. I used ES File Explorer to do this, because it's the best file explorer out there. (Make sure to enable root access in ES app)

 

[JaiMento]

Root uninstaller. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ls?id=com.rootuninstaller.free&token=AIxc47Q1

Thanks. Hopefully, last question. I've read that sometimes you can't get the OTA updates if you are missing apps that were preloaded. Do you know if that is really the case? I'm really just trying to get rid of junk stuff like the Yellow Pages that was preloaded on the phone. Nothing really system related.

 

[xocomaox]

Thanks. Hopefully, last question. I've read that sometimes you can't get the OTA updates if you are missing apps that were preloaded. Do you know if that is really the case? I'm really just trying to get rid of junk stuff like the Yellow Pages that was preloaded on the phone. Nothing really system related.

I have not heard of that before.

 

[JaiMento]

I have not heard of that before.

Thanks. You've been a lot of help.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[pseudoware]

To root my phone:

https://towelroot.com/

To make my SD card writable, I used this app:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...details?id=nextapp.sdfix&hl=en&token=hPwd2QvF

Stupid easy. Took less than five minutes to do both.

Thanks. Hopefully, last question. I've read that sometimes you can't get the OTA updates if you are missing apps that were preloaded. Do you know if that is really the case? I'm really just trying to get rid of junk stuff like the Yellow Pages that was preloaded on the phone. Nothing really system related.

OTA likely won't install if you've altered the stock system in anyway. This includes custom kernels, custom recovery, or removing system files or applications. There are exceptions, and it shouldn't hurt to try to download/install the OTA. At worst, it just won't install.

First step before rooting: do a nandroid of your unaltered, stock firmware. (Now that I just typed that, I realized I didn't do that w/my G3, lol).

Good luck.