[Advanced users only] TWRP recovery + root for Teracube 2e (1st batch, SN:2020)

Hi there it seems that after this step and before I root my device, I get the message

Carrier Services keeps stopping

fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta-2e-stock.img
fastboot reboot

I’ve reverted to the stock vbmeta and recovery.img from the Teracube_2e_06_2020.zip but that doesn’t seems to have fixed the issue.

TWRP recovery also seems to behave weirdly with a pattern password enabled for the default android user:

  • with a pattern password present, TWRP asks to decrypt User [0] however the password for the Android user does not seem to work.
  • Disabling the pattern from the Android security settings allows me to bypass the issue

This has all happened after a bootloader unlock, factory reset, and before rooting the phone right after TWRP is flashed to recovery.

EDIT:
factory reset reset with 4 digit pin also seems to have the TWRP password issue.

EDIT2:
It seems that encryption was persisting after factory reset.
fastboot format userdata finally fixed the encrypted user 0 issue.
I had been using fastboot erase userdata previously.

EDIT3:
Still getting a flashing yellow and blue “decrypt data” prompt in TWRP that does not allow me to enter the correct password, grasping at straws here.

@Glebden, I owe you a beer! Worked like a charm!

It seems magisk and magisk manager have been merged in the latest release (v22). Wasn’t that working? Reason I ask is that downloading magisk from non-github sources is not recommended.

Not an option too - internal memory encrypted :frowning:

When you start your phone normally, you have to set it to ‘swipe to unlock’ instead of a pattern/password/fingerprint verification. (settings - security). When you have done that, reboot to TWRP and the prompt should be gone. Have you tried that?

I’ve done exactly that to create backups/restore however I have to set it to swipe everytime I want to decrypt a user in TWRP. Something I never encountered with my rooted Pixel 1.

One further issue with TWRP in addition to needing to fully disable encryption anytime you want to access TWRP is that it changes the device type (in TWRP) from Teracube_2e to yk673v6_lwg62_64 which means that official updates won’t flash, since it doesn’t pass the device verification.

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@AgentFabulous - can you check if this can be fixed?

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Ahh, totally overlooked this. Will update the trees soon.

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Teracube,

EDIT:

I was able to get into TWRP, but every time I try to install Magisk I keep going into boot loops. I can’t even boot into Recovery to try to recover. I am using the TWRP-3.5.0_10-2-Teracube-2e.img file and I downloaded the latest Magisk file from GitHub.

What am I doing wrong?

I was able to root but I had troubles, especially when rebooting into recovery: I can boot to TWRP only if I reboot to recovery (keeping Vol+ pressed) immediately after the phone reboots after flashing the TWRP image, otherwise it doesn’t and it just goes to the “normal” recovery screen… While I’m looking for a way to solve this, I wrote a (I hope) more detailed guide for newbs like me :smiley: (read it @ https://www.notion.so/Teracube-2E-root-0177b0316b794bd48d5aa6c0f2d57583)

Rebooting to recovery through Magisk is how I normally get in.
ADB is another reliable path back to recovery, if you aren’t rooted.

It does bring me to the menu, but when I choose “Recovery” it doesn’t boot to TWRP
I also tried adb reboot recover and the screen I get is always the same screen

If you’re getting the ‘normal’ recovery screen, you probably don’t have TWRP anymore. Any chance you’re flashing something that is removing it, or not adding the disables (verity/verification), or something else similar?

No, I followed the guide step by step and I didn’t flash anything beside TWRP, “or not adding the disables (verity/verification)” I think I did this since I followed the guide, I had to install the img from the zip because the suggested vbmeta-2e-stock.img gave me problems. Is this something I have to do more than once?

Should just be once, as long as it isn’t trying to recover and reloading the stock recovery, which it sounds like it is in your case. Not certain though… the downloaded vmbeta-2e-stock worked for me without any issues. That being said, pretty sure most people don’t use Aria2 with the -R flag (to preserve file date/time) for the majority of their downloads…

Ok, anyway my phone is rooted and I don’t plan to install a custom ROM unless I notice some heavy slowdowns, so I’m good for now :smiley:, also I’m on Magisk 23 and I don’t seem to find a way to boot to recovery from there, do I need any module? (first time using magisk)

In Magisk, the spinning circle next to the gear on the main screen is for advanced reboot options, including rebooting to bootloader, download, EDL, and recovery.
One bonus though is that by having stock recovery for now, you’re actually able to flash the new security update for Teracube 2e that just released.

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Hello, I’m having trouble entering bootloader (using adb reboot bootloader command) after disabling AVB to able to flash twrp recovery.

I waited for the fastboot reboot to finish then enter adb reboot bootloader and encounter this issue adb is waiting on device. However fastboot reboot bootloader command does boot into bootloader but it’s not in the instruction. Not sure if I’m doing it right , any help is welcome.

Worked for me using adb reboot bootloader last week. Just verifying… you’ve got USB debugging enabled in the settings, confirmed it in notifications, and you only have a single device attached (no emulator or other Android device) on your system? What does adb devices say… does it see the one device? Is it connected?