Looking to try installing a GSI to a device without any third-party ROMs ported to it yet. Want to back up the stock ROM in case something goes wrong. Manufacturer doesn't offer the stock ROM for download and the only copy online is from a website that looks pretty shady. Can unlock the bootloader, but no reports of anyone rooting or installing a custom recovery environment for it. Every tutorial says to just look for a ROM on the internet, but how do people extract them in the first place?
EDIT: Ideally, it would go as follows on recent Android devices: (https://gist.github.com/gitclone-url/a1f693b64d8f8701ec24477a2ccaab87)
- Unlock bootloader
- Install rooted GSI, which takes over one of the two redundant system partitions
- With rooted shell now available in the GSI, extract the other system partition holding the stock image
But it turns out this could be a weeks-long adventure for Huawei and Honor phones. I spoke too soon and it turns out the OEM unlocking in developer options on Honor phones doesn't get you very far. Once we reach fastboot / bootloader, the actual unlock commands require a 16-digit code to proceed. Huawei/Honor no longer issue the codes, though the IMEI of the first slot is related, so it is used as the starting point for a many days long bruteforce attack. Also does not work if the code is not just numeric, but instead alphanumeric, as is the case for all non-European and some European units.
https://github.com/vcka/huawei-honor-unlock-bootloader
https://github.com/Martazza/Huawei-Bootloader-Unlocker
On Day 1, the battery died while plugged in, so I had to charge and am now resuming with a USB C to C cable in hopes it will deliver sufficient power. As for the ROMs, it looks like there were attempts to tap from the Honor update CDN, but I could not get the following solutions to work:
https://github.com/rabits/honor-tools
Will update if I succeed. Moral of the story: Don't buy Honor phones if you intend on degoogling.
Unless it's a privacy issue for you, it would be easier –IMO– to find help if you'll share the exact model you have, and the custom ROM you're using.
Honor 90 Lite (CRT-NX1), attempting to get LeOS GSI on it or at least some flavor of AOSP GSI.