Rooting the Astro Slide

[Dom (shymega)]

you neglected to mention that the bootloader MUST be unlocked, otherwise the Astro will be soft-bricked until repaired.

s/neglected to mention/didn't know/ 

In fact, I still don't fully understand… Do all Astros arrive unlocked, or was I just very lucky that mine wasn't?

And while it's great to include that on the wiki too, could you expand it into idiot-proof instructions like the rest — possibly including a line on what locking is, and how to tell whether an Astro is locked? (“You can do this by using Fastboot” is only helpful if you already know what Fastboot is, how to install it, and how to use it to unlock something — and if you already knew what, you probably wouldn't need to be reading the instructions in the first place!)

The wiki looks great otherwise — except that it doesn't seem to have any of the hyperlinks, which are pretty vital. I'd also suggest copying the bold highlighting too, though that's more subjective.

Hey,

Sorry, poor choice of words on my part. I assumed you had unlocked your bootloader.

Do you get a message on the boot about 'Orange State'? I'm wondering if `mtkclient` unlocks the bootloader when it flashes. I'm not sure.

I'm not very good at writing idiot-proof instructions but would welcome PRs to that file.

Hyperlinks I'll add now. I changed the download link to use the tag release because using my script from mainline can break easily. And boldness, I'll add that too.

[gidds]

Do you get a message on the boot about 'Orange State'?

No, nothing like that. As far as I can tell, the boot sequence looks the same as it did before rooting. (I can confirm it is rooted: I can su in Termux.)

And I can't submit a PR coz I don't have the necessary knowledge to write it! (Also, I've only looked at the page on GitHub, not bothered to clone it and everything.)

But let's try to work it out. You said “You can do this by using Fastboot and the OEM Unlocking in Settings -> Developer Options”:

• Is that the program you can install with e.g. apt install fastboot?
• What would you type into it, and what would that do?
• On my phone, the latter is Settings → System → Advanced → Developer options → OEM unlocking. Is that the right one?
• I'm guessing that option needs to be enabled to unlock the phone? Is that also the right way to check whether the phone is unlocked?
• Do you need to do both the Fastboot and the OEM setting, or will either work?

[Dom (shymega)]

Weird. I don't know much about `mtkclient`, but the boot image isn't signed with Planet's crypto keys, so in _theory_ it shouldn't boot unless the bootloader is unlocked - we get around this in Gemini/Cosmo by using 'untrusted boot slots', which don't require verification.

I don't particularly think including detailed Fastboot and OEM unlocking instructions in the wiki is necessary, and it'll also add to the length of the tutorial, which might put people off. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to do OEM unlocking, which is practically the same for most Android phones. A link to one of those pages would do nicely, I think.

[cam1965]

Do you get a message on the boot about 'Orange State'?

No, nothing like that. As far as I can tell, the boot sequence looks the same as it did before rooting. (I can confirm it is rooted: I can su in Termux.)

And I can't submit a PR coz I don't have the necessary knowledge to write it! (Also, I've only looked at the page on GitHub, not bothered to clone it and everything.)

But let's try to work it out. You said “You can do this by using Fastboot and the OEM Unlocking in Settings -> Developer Options”:

• Is that the program you can install with e.g. apt install fastboot?
• What would you type into it, and what would that do?
• On my phone, the latter is Settings → System → Advanced → Developer options → OEM unlocking. Is that the right one?
• I'm guessing that option needs to be enabled to unlock the phone? Is that also the right way to check whether the phone is unlocked?
• Do you need to do both the Fastboot and the OEM setting, or will either work?

I am surprised you did a root without unlocking the bootloader. Can someone explain this ? Thanks.

[Dom (shymega)]

Looking at `mtkclient`'s README, it _is_ necessary to unlock the bootloader before flashing an unsigned image.

I can't tell how it's possible to get past the unverified boot warning. I've edited the tutorial, but it's still important to unlock the bootloader before rooting or flashing non-OEM boot images.

The only conclusion I've come to is that Andy's Astro has had some sort of prior modification we're/Andy's not aware of. Possibly factory. Did it come pre-installed in Chinese or have Deejay-dota installed?

[gidds]

Did it come pre-installed in Chinese or have Deejay-dota installed?

Plain (British/UK) English. I don't know what ‘Deejay-dota’ is, but if it's an app, then it's not there!

I did turn on the Astro a few times before trying to flash it, so it's not impossible I might have changed that setting — but I don't recall doing so.

But Planet have always encouraged, or at least allowed, other OSs &c, so maybe it arrived unlocked?

[cam1965]

Did it come pre-installed in Chinese or have Deejay-dota installed?

Plain (British/UK) English. I don't know what ‘Deejay-dota’ is, but if it's an app, then it's not there!

I did turn on the Astro a few times before trying to flash it, so it's not impossible I might have changed that setting — but I don't recall doing so.

But Planet have always encouraged, or at least allowed, other OSs &c, so maybe it arrived unlocked?

If you go to settings, about device you will see deejoy-dota. Please see my attachments, but it is in portuguese ( I am Brazilian )

[cam1965]

Looking at `mtkclient`'s README, it _is_ necessary to unlock the bootloader before flashing an unsigned image.

I can't tell how it's possible to get past the unverified boot warning. I've edited the tutorial, but it's still important to unlock the bootloader before rooting or flashing non-OEM boot images.

The only conclusion I've come to is that Andy's Astro has had some sort of prior modification we're/Andy's not aware of. Possibly factory. Did it come pre-installed in Chinese or have Deejay-dota installed?

I think you are correct. The bootloader can't prevent images from being flashed, it just prevents unsigned images from loading. My answer to this question has some details on the way locked/unlocked bootloaders work.

MTK Client communicates with the bootloader of MediaTek devices to flash images, the lock status of the bootloader does not affect ability to flash. (It is still possible to block flashing by only allowing signed binaries to communicate with the bootloader) But , if an unsigned image is flashed, the bootloader will refuse to load the image. This case is really a big surprise. I don' t know how the multi boot of Cosmo works, but I think cosmo can boot unsigned images. ( PC probably made changes ). In astro slide who knows ?
Most   of the times images are flashed using Fastboot (even when there are more options to flash like "SP Flash Tool and MTK Client ") And Fastboot checks most of the times if the bootloader is unlocked, and only lets flashing images if it is unlocked. Mine is unlocked with orange state. So I cannot verify if using only MTK client tool will boot astro without this warning or will refuse to load the unsigned boot image.
As I know Just to clarify I think MTK Client tool connects directly to your CPU Firmware prior to booting up the device.
Please see what happened to me :
I have unlocked my phone and did a root on it. After this some apps like bank apps and others were not working. I decided to do a reset on my phone and after this I did a lock to oem again. After this the phone was bricked booting only in fastboot mode. ( like a bricked phone ). So, I have unlocked the oem again and for my surprise android returned.  So, do not lock oem after you unlock it.
And do not edit lk file to prevent the warning orange state. Please don't do this. After I did his, the smartphone did not turn on anymore. It didn't even go into fastboot mode. I thought : Now it's gone. Luckily the mtkclient that was installed on my linux recognized the smartphone and I restored the old file. This is why I think MTK Client tool connects directly to your CPU Firmware prior to booting up the device.

[gidds]

If you go to settings, about device you will see deejoy-dota. Please see my attachments, but it is in portuguese ( I am Brazilian )

I can see what look like the corresponding fields on my Astro in Settings → About phone — but there's nothing corresponding to ‘Deejoy-Dota’:

(Yours)	(Mine)
…	…
Tempo em atividade	Uptime
12:59:52	10:55
Versão Embutida Padrão	Custom built version
alps-mp-r0.mp1-V8.132_haocheng.r0mp1.k61v1.64.bsp_P20	alps-mp-r0.mp1-V8.132_haocheng.r0mp1.k61v1.64.bsp_P20
Deejoy-Dota
Aktualizações de software	System Update
Verificar nova versão do software
────────────	────────────
Número da versão	Build number
Astro-11.0-Planet-05182022-V01	Astro-11.0-Planet-05182022-V01
…	…

(And what is ‘Deejoy-Dota’, anyway? Google finds only 5 results, of which this page is one, and the other 4 look like Japanese or Russian…)

[cam1965]

If you go to settings, about device you will see deejoy-dota. Please see my attachments, but it is in portuguese ( I am Brazilian )

I can see what look like the corresponding fields on my Astro in Settings → About phone — but there's nothing corresponding to ‘Deejoy-Dota’:

(Yours)	(Mine)
…	…
Tempo em atividade	Uptime
12:59:52	10:55
Versão Embutida Padrão	Custom built version
alps-mp-r0.mp1-V8.132_haocheng.r0mp1.k61v1.64.bsp_P20	alps-mp-r0.mp1-V8.132_haocheng.r0mp1.k61v1.64.bsp_P20
Deejoy-Dota
Aktualizações de software	System Update
Verificar nova versão do software
────────────	────────────
Número da versão	Build number
Astro-11.0-Planet-05182022-V01	Astro-11.0-Planet-05182022-V01
…	…

(And what is ‘Deejoy-Dota’, anyway? Google finds only 5 results, of which this page is one, and the other 4 look like Japanese or Russian…)

I think it  is a service to update android ( provided by PC )  but really don' t know.
Please see: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=36854.0

[Cedd]

Hello, I would like to know, at the moment:

   - Is it possible to install linux on the astro ?
   - Does the Root wiki work well ? Is there a problem with the IMEI ?

I want to use rooted android. or linux in the absence of sailfishos

[gidds]

I want to use rooted android.

See my instructions earlier in this thread for details of how to root Android on the Astro; it works fine for me, including mobile voice and data.

(I know nothing about installing Linux on it.)

[spa]

I fastboot flashed the img posted here.
-----

Code: [Select]

D:\>adb reboot bootloader

D:\>fastboot flashing unlock
                                                   (bootloader) Start unlock flow

OKAY [ 21.063s]
Finished. Total time: 21.071s

D:\>fastboot flash boot_a boot-magisk.img
Sending 'boot_a' (40960 KB)                        OKAY [  1.133s]
Writing 'boot_a'                                   OKAY [  0.195s]
Finished. Total time: 1.404s

D:\>fastboot reboot
Rebooting                                          OKAY [  0.003s]
Finished. Total time: 0.009s
-----
When I rebooted, I got a warning message and ASTRO started up.
Next, I installed Magisk.
In Csomo, after installing Magisk, additional setup and rebooting was done automatically to complete rooted.
However, with Astro, after installing Magisk, the same does not occur. My Astro is not rooted.
Is there a mistake in my procedure?

[Noppe]

A couple of thoughts...

First of all, the images at the beginning of this thread are at this point very old. I would caution you against flashing a very old boot image unless you're confident it matches the version of Android currently installed on your device. If it does not match, you may end up with an unbootable device. I haven't used my Astro Slide in quite a while, so I do not know if the OS was ever updated in a way that would render the images in this thread unusable. Caveat emptor. Perhaps someone more up to date can comment.

Second, you are flashing to boot_a. Do you know for a fact that your device is trying to boot off the A partition and not the B partition? From the factory, boot_a is the boot partition, but if there's been an OS update in the meantime, it may have flipped over to boot_b for boot partition. If you use "fastboot flash boot ...", rather than boot_a or boot_b, it will always end up flashing the current boot partition, whichever one it is.

However, please revisit the first point. If you have indeed had an OS update that moved your boot partition to boot_b, and you flashed an out-of-date image to boot_a, you may have accidentally saved yourself by not overwriting the bootable image with an unbootable one.

[ZimbiX]

@spa Please see the instructions in the wiki: https://github.com/planet-community/planet-devices/wiki/Astro-rooting