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I need to root a custom MTK Android device. This device does not have volume keys at all so unlocking bootloader is impossible.(If anyone knows differently please educate me)

What I did previously that worked was use SP Flash Tool to flash over just the custom recovery. Then I would 'adb reboot recovery' and boom... there's my TWRP and I can easily root. We recently got some software upgrades so I flashed them over (complete ROM), device works great. But now, when I flash over my custom recovery and boot to it I get the native android recovery. It flashes successfully, it's definitely the right recovery.img... how is this possible. Any advice would be MOST appreciated.

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  • Does it reboot straight to recovery or the system first even for second?
    – Bo Lawson
    Jul 30, 2019 at 19:37
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    When I wrote this, straight to recovery, HOWEVER, just today I noticed it quickly flash the animated android icon (meaning the little green dude) before going right to recovery. I read a post elsewhere blaming the file located in the system files called recovery-from-boot.p however this file cannot be modified without root and when I did modify it (rename) the device is bricked and will not start. I managed to use Magisk to root the device boot img and then flash that onto the device which results in root but there are operation issues. I need SuperSU and therefore a TWRP.
    – RbK
    Aug 1, 2019 at 17:52
  • recover-from-boot.p info mentioned above: androidforums.com/threads/…
    – RbK
    Aug 1, 2019 at 17:57
  • So after you modified the boot.img with magisk you then renamed the recovery-from-boot.p? Renamed it to what/how? Did you do was that before or after you tried to flash TWRP? Since modifying that file is exactly what TWRP does then what went wrong . Can you please explain what detailed steps and order did you take when modifying the boot-from-recovery.p?
    – Bo Lawson
    Aug 2, 2019 at 3:31
  • That was it! I tried renaming it to "recovery-from-boot-old.p" I did this twice once before I flashed twrp and once after. I also tried deleting it completely without much confidence but ALL resulted in the device not booting. What I JUST did was change it to "recovery-from-boot.bak" and then flashed my twrp after. (I also tried flashing it before with the same result) It rebooted fine and I was able to boot into my twrp after. So that was it. Note that you need to install SuperSU BEFORE uninstalling Magisk otherwise it bricks.
    – RbK
    Aug 2, 2019 at 16:55

1 Answer 1

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When you boot directly into TWRP after flashing TWRP patches the stock system recovery-from-boot.p file by renaming (modifying) it:

rename"/system/recovery-from-boot.p", "/system/recovery-from-boot.bak"h

This prevents the system from replacing twrp with stock recovery.

Simplifying the process there are a couple of files involved. First, the install-recovery.sh is called by the init.rc at boot. If there is an update to recovery or an issue then the install-recovery.sh calls for the recovery-from-boot.p (the patch) to patch the recovery and boot.img.

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