Device rooting

Technical guide

All the following phases are applicable for devices with AB layout (e.g. all the pixels) and were tested on a Google Pixel 6a.

• Enable the Developer Options and the USB Debugging on the device.

• Identify device and partition layout (A/B vs A-only)

  adb shell getprop ro.build.ab_update    # "true" means A/B
  adb shell getprop ro.product.device     # device codename

  If A/B, you will often patch the boot image and flash it back (no custom recovery needed on some devices). If A-only, you commonly flash a custom recovery (TWRP) then flash Magisk.

  
• Install the latest Magisk version from here on the mobile device:

• Unlock OEM in Developer Options to unlock the bootloader:

• Download the system OTA (Over-The-Air) update related to your system version and extract it:

Download payload-dumper-go to dump the OTA payload payload.bin and collect the boot.img in the results folder using the following command:

payload-dumper-go payload.bin

• Transfer the boot.img from the PC to the mobile device, for example:

  adb push boot.img /sdcard/

• Run magisk and, after clicking on the install button, select the boot.img previously transfered to patch it:

  

  

  

  

  or run via adb shell:

  su
  data/adb/magisk/magiskboot repack boot.img

• Transfer the patched boot image, created by magisk, to the PC:

  adb pull magisk_patched-<xxx>.img

• Restart the device on bootloader

  adb.exe reboot bootloader

  

  
• Unlock the bootloader

  fastboot flashing unlock

  

  
• Flash patched boot image

  flash boot magisk_patched-<xxx>.img

  

  image
• Reboot the device

  fastboot reboot

  

  image