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

Adb reboot bootloader does work. it doesn’t work when I try it after the fastboot reboot during the boot logo with the unlocked bootloader.

Picture from the post ^

after fastboot reboot, it goes to the setting up the android for the first time. Do I go through the setup and activate developer option to enable usb debugging?

  1. WARNING: Unlocking the Bootloader WILL PERFORM A FACTORY RESET on your phone. Please backup your data BEFORE PROCEED.

As it warns, unlocking the bootloader successfully will wipe your phone, leading to setting it all up again including enabling USB debugging and allowing your specific device to connect again.

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Hi @ide - were you able to get through using info provided by @Maymne ?

Yes I was able to get into TWRP with Maymne help. But I’m unable to sideload the os because of the device name is yk673v6_lwg62_64 instead of 2e,teracube_2e .

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Hi all, I have a Teracube 2e pre-loaded with the /e/ OS. One of the nice things about this version is that the bootloader has already been unlocked for me, and they have installed their in-house recovery module, eRecovery. However eRecovery is very primative, in that it’s pretty much only good for installing OTA updates (or other OS). There is no option for flashing a backup, for example. So I would like to install TWRP instead, but would like to know if anyone else has tried this and if they are happy with the results?

A quick sidenote about the Magisk directions above. Trying the directions today (2021-10-29) on my current (10u16) Teracube 2e with the recommended (2021-10-27) current version of Magisk Canary failed to actually detect Magisk after the process was done. I’m currently using an version of Magisk Alpha from September, but alternatively people can get the version from before the core was rewritten by going through the revision history. As the Canary does not have proper releases, you can download the app-debug.apk from this link:
Update Canary Channel: Upstream to f822ca5b · topjohnwu/magisk-files@4f737b7 (github.com)

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Just curious if this has been addressed in TWRP?
I have a “Murena” Teracube 2e (from e Foundation with /e/ OS preinstalled). I was able to install Magisk with the instructions here as modified by @Maymne above, but I would really like the functionality of TWRP because the native /e/ recovery doesn’t have a backup/restore capability.

When I installed the version of TWRP linked here, I had the encryption problem where TWRP couldn’t access my file structure (couldn’t do backups), AND it broke automatic OTA updates. I was only able to recover by selecting for the option that reinstalls recovery on updates, and that (of course) overwrote TWRP.

Would it solve my encryption problem if I installed TWRP and wiped my current /e/ OS, then reinstalled /e/ OS with TWRP, or is this something that won’t work because of the “yk673v6_lwg62_64”? Would my OTA updates still be broken?

The Teracube 2e TWRP as it currently stands does not support any form of encryption, whether the storage was formatted from inside TWRP or from a different recovery. You can sometimes get around this by fully disabling your screen lock and therefore encryption, but this will wipe your fingerprints and other biometric data every time you need to access TWRP in a useful fashion.

Regarding the OTA, it depends on how the /e/ OTA is signed. If they made 2e or the yk673v6 as valid device names and haven’t just locked it to Teracube_2e as the official OTA does, then you should be able to use a corresponding TWRP to perform the OTA after temporarily disabling encryption. But… as I haven’t used /e/ and tried this, I can’t say whether or not the OTA is viable.

Personally I lost TWRP access when working through fixing Magisk on my device several weeks ago. I haven’t restored it yet, but would definitely consider trying it again after a new TWRP is released, especially if it had encryption support.

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OK, thanks – at this point I have Magisk up and running with the “native” /e/ recovery installed, so I’ll probably stick with that until TWRP for 2e supports encryption.

FWIW, I could not apparently get around encryption with TWRP – I changed screen lock to “none” before I installed TWRP, but everything was still encrypted in storage, so I couldn’t install anything. I didn’t try sideload at that point, but it sounds like that wouldn’t have worked either.

All Teracube 2e editions - be it /e/OS, or iode, or stock - all can run TWRP absolutely fine. The only issue with TWRP is that encryption is pretty much dead, and that’s still a work in progress.

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Sideload will work whatsoever. And if you feel like, you can store your backups to an SD Card or a USB flash drive via OTG so you can flash your backups whenever.
TWRP supports the 2e codename, so you can use that for Lineage/iode/e/any other ROM

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Yes, that mirrors my experience – was able to install/run TWRP, but couldn’t decrypt the existing /e/ OS install. Is the ability to interact with encrypted files working for other devices on TWRP, do you know?

The Magisk github location given here is deprecated. The correct location is:

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@jbray - thanks for letting us know :+1:. Link updated.

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BTW, two things: the 5-second boot delay on booting unlocked phones, presumably so one can read the unprofessional-quality message about ‘Orange’, is annoying.

Also: I can’t find any link on the site to the ‘Teracube App’.

We might work on that bootloader messaging in the future.

Is that something on the phone? Could you share a screenshot of where you see a reference to this app?

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Can anyone post as to how the bootloader message is edited? I’ve always been interested in how that splash screen can be personalized, especially to get rid of the annoying and alarmist screen that most phones default to when I’ve unlocked the bootloader myself.

The 2e that is sold by the /e/ Foundation has a very nice splash screen with “Teracube 2e” and the Teracube logo in the middle, then “Powered by Android” with a little “Bugdroid” logo at the bottom. It looks quite professional. Nothing about /e/ comes up until the OS boots. Maybe Teracube should ask /e/ about that.

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TWRP not dealing with encryption is important. As you probably know, all other recoveries are essentially useless crap in comparison. If the TWRP developers won’t do this, you should get someone to look at the decryption code for other devices and port it. As you can see from the messages, because of the removable battery and reparability, you are interesting to what we might call the XDA-Developers folks (been there for years myself: @cashmundy). Those folks will want a working TWRP and good distros available, which e and iode are currently providing.

As for the app: I saw a blue notification-link to it when I first logged back in with this new phone, accidentally deleted it and have never seen it since. The app was clearly just the website with some extra stuff like keeping my login session.

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I have a major problem. When I try to run fastboot flash recovery <twrp-image>, it says “This partition doesn’t exist”.

I tried to just install LineageOS since TWRP wasn’t working, and now the phone won’t even turn on.

I don’t understand, why is there no recovery partition? Clearly there used to be, since no one has had this issue.

How can I fix this if the phone won’t even turn on?