Endure A 10 Second Verified Boot Screen On The Nexus 5X or 6P If You Root Your Device!

[DroidModderX]

​

Verified boot was introduced to Android way back in 4.4 KitKat. It was a concern to the Android modding community back then, but we haven't really seen this surface. Google is taking this feature a bit more seriously in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Verified boot exists to detect persistent rootkits that could stick around longer than they should compromising your devices security.

If you root or bootloader unlock either the Nexus 5X or the Nexus 6p you will need to endure a 10 second boot screen warning you that your device software can't be verified for corruption, asking you to lock your bootloader. There is an included link which will take you to the nexus support page which give the below list.

• Yellow warning: This message lets you know that your device has a different operating system than the one that originally came on your device.
• Orange warning: Your device is in an “unlocked” state. This means that your operating system can’t be checked to make sure that it’s safe to use.
• Red warning: The operating system on your device has been changed or corrupted and is not safe to use. The device may not work properly and could expose your data to corruption and security risks.

I am sure there will be ways of getting rid of this, but it is pretty annoying that it shows up at all. I guess if you used some sort of malicious root tool to root your phone it would be nice to know if it was still secretly running in the background, but not if you have just unlocked your bootloader.

 

[wicked]

That would be annoying

 

[Mustang02]

Awesome! I love wasting time.

 

[tech_head]

I need to unlock the bootloader long enough to root.
I can then lock it, I don't care at that point. I don't want to run a custom ROM.
I need root long enough to enable Ad blocking and tethering.
I can then switch off root.

 

[cynkrzy]

Annoying Yes, But if that's the price of an unlocked bootloader and root, I can live with it... at least until someone brighter than I figures out a mod to get around it

 

[Mustang02]

I need to unlock the bootloader long enough to root.
I can then lock it, I don't care at that point. I don't want to run a custom ROM.
I need root long enough to enable Ad blocking and tethering.
I can then switch off root.

Tethering should already be on by default. It is for the MXPE.

 

[pc747]

This is just google covering their backsides. They don't care if you root they just want you to know that you are taking full responsibility including data.

Get use to this because as long as we continue to live in a sue happy society that love to pass the buck to everyone but themselves companies are going to go the extra step to cover themselves even at the cost of it being an annoyance. You waiting 10 seconds is better than them losing millions or more.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I wiped the main cache partition on my Note 4 a while back to avoid having to do a full fdr. When I tried to boot back into recovery just after I did that, I got a similar warning that it didn't have the right software installed. It was weird. I should check and see if that's still the case...

With that said, I'm not getting the 6P because I want/need to root or unlock the bootloader. I'm impressed with what I've seen about the device and want the pure stock experience. I may never see this screen in person.

 

[tech_head]

Tethering should already be on by default. It is for the MXPE.

From what I understand about previous Nexus Devices it was not.
After KitKat they added the tethering provision flag for checking if it was okay.
You need root to modify the /system/build.prop file.

 

[dezymond]

Oh how times have changed....

But it's a small price to pay.

 

[akhenax]

I need to unlock the bootloader long enough to root.
I can then lock it, I don't care at that point. I don't want to run a custom ROM.
I need root long enough to enable Ad blocking and tethering.
I can then switch off root.

Exactly. Give us a way to lock our bootloaders (and password protect it) and keep ROOT!
That way, if my phone is lost or stolen, I don't have to worry about someone using my phone as they please.

 

[patmw123]

I need to unlock the bootloader long enough to root.
I can then lock it, I don't care at that point. I don't want to run a custom ROM.
I need root long enough to enable Ad blocking and tethering.
I can then switch off root.

Seems like to me, if I'm rooted, I would want to keep the bootloader unlocked just to avoid running the risk of legitimately bricking my device should anything with root go bad. That way, worst case scenario, a simple flash of the factory images would get you back up and running.

 

[Mustang02]

Seems like to me, if I'm rooted, I would want to keep the bootloader unlocked just to avoid running the risk of legitimately bricking my device should anything with root go bad. That way, worst case scenario, a simple flash of the factory images would get you back up and running.

But you can relock it very easily. *Does it wipe data on a relock? I've never tried.

 

[patmw123]

But you can relock it very easily. *Does it wipe data on a relock? I've never tried.

Yeah I'm fully aware of how easy it is to lock/unlock the bootloader. I'm not concerned with wiping data. I'm more concerned about altering the /system partition and then relocking the bootloader while the /system partition is altered. If the bootloader is locked, and something gets screwed up with root and you are unable to boot back into the bootloader, you can't flash the factory images.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't ever suggest or condone relocking the bootloader while still being rooted or if the /system partition has been altered in any way. Seems like quite the risk to take to avoid a short boot message.

You also can't accept OTAs while rooted. So you would have to unlock/relock the bootloader for every update. And seeing how Nexus devices will start receiving monthly security patch update builds, that seems like a massive pain just to avoid a few seconds seeing a boot message.

 

[pc747]

Yeah I'm fully aware of how easy it is to lock/unlock the bootloader. I'm not concerned with wiping data. I'm more concerned about altering the /system partition and then relocking the bootloader while the /system parition is altered. If the bootloader is locked, and something gets screwed up with root and you are unable to boot back into the bootloader, you can't flash the factory images.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't ever suggest or condone relocking the bootloader while still being rooted or if the /system partition has been altered in any way. Seems like quite the risk to take to avoid a short boot message.

Great point.

I am reminded of the panic when people forgot to check the oem unlock box in settings.

Though I do not care for apple and itunes what I do like is that you can at anytime plug your phone into itunes and restore it. There should be a method to be able to always be able to flash a factory image to stock regardless, then again I guess that don't really secure your phone. I guess the idea is that if the phone is stolen that no one can just boot into recovery, wipe your data, and boot the phone stock. If your phone is stolen and they can not pass the encryption the phone becomes a brick.