Custom recoveries can be installed to take the place of a stock recovery, allowing you to get more out of your recovery partition. Each device has a key combination that can be used to boot into recovery mode. When you get a device into recovery mode it is making use of the recovery partition, a separate part of the Android operating system that works similarly to how the boot menu works within a Windows environment.

With operating systems it’s best to have a separate partition that can be booted into so that way if something goes wrong with the operating system you can always still get access to the other partition. And that’s basically what the recovery mode in Android is for: you can boot into recovery mode when you are having problems with Android, and take a factory reset or apply updates to help correct whatever was wrong.

The stock recovery is only useful if you are using an official version of the Android operating system. If you wanted to install a custom ROM for example then you would need to do that from a custom recovery, given that the custom recovery has an extra option for getting the unsigned zip files uploaded and flashed. TWRP Recovery is the only custom recovery image that is currently being developed, making it the obvious choice of custom recoveries to install if you’re looking for one.

While it’s possible to install custom ROMs and even TWRP for that matter, from root applications after getting root access, most people go about flashing custom ROMs directly from the custom recovery. The TWRP Manager app is handy but can have issues that need resolved, As long as you don’t mind flashing the custom ROM files yourself directly through TWRP, there is nothing ever going to need updating by any application, since there is no application helping you with the flashing that way. Additionally, you’ve always got all the features you want for custom ROM flashing directly from the custom recovery GUI, including the option for backing up each Android partition and restoring them whenever you want as well.

Details of Note

  • The OnePlus 5T is a dm-verity device, meaning that swiping to allow system modifications results in your device being unable to boot if it is using the stock kernel. To get around dm-verity’s boot prevention, you must first install a kernel that has dm-verity disabled in the fstab.
  • The custom recovery images available in this guide are only to be installed on the OnePlus 5T smartphone. Most devices have a custom recovery image developed specifically for it, and you shouldn’t install one that is intended for another device unless advised it is okay by a professional.
  • You can follow this guide on any of the major three computer operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. You just need to download the right platform-tools file from the Android SDK package when you’re on the Android website, which is walked through during the guide below.

Files We Need

How to Install TWRP Recovery on Lenovo P2a42 Smartphones

1. Install the universal ADB drivers on the computer from the download link. That will make it possible for you to use adb commands as well as the OnePlus 5T smartphone. If you can’t get the OnePlus 5T smartphone connected to the computer, then you can also download the OnePlus USB drivers instead so the computer has both the ADB drivers and OnePlus drivers installed.

2. You need to have the platform-tools part of the Android SDK on your computer. From the download link, scroll down until you get to the command line tools section and then download the package that is made for your operating system.

3. Once you have the SDK Manager on your computer, check the box only for the platform-tools, so you end up with the adb and fastboot binaries installed on the computer.

You could also install the drivers from there as well if you wanted.

4. Pick up the OnePlus 5T smartphone and navigate to the Settings > About and tap your finger over the build number at least seven times so that the Developer Optionsmenu becomes unlocked. Then go back to the Settings, enter the Developer Optionsmenu and then enable the USB debugging mode.

5. Connect the OnePlus 5T smartphone to the computer by using the USB cable that it comes with.

6. Now on the computer open the Command Prompt and type the following command and hit Enter on your keyboard to get the OnePlus 5T smartphone into the bootloader mode and ready for the flashing:

adb reboot bootloader

7. Make sure you have copied the TWRP image file to the same folder as the adb and fastboot binaries. Also when you’re there, change the name of the TWRP to “twrp.img” by right-clicking the mouse pointer on it and selecting the Rename option from the menu.

8. From the command line type the following command and hit Enter on your keyboard to flash the custom recovery:

fastboot flash recovery twrp.img

9. Lastly type the following command and as soon as the OnePlus 5T smartphone reboots, hold down the key combination to boot directly into the recovery mode.

If you don’t sometimes the stock recovery will wipe over the custom recovery you just installed.

fastboot reboot

The custom recovery image for the OnePlus 5T smartphone is now installed, and you are ready to boot into recovery mode and start flashing the custom ROM or rooting zip files.

TWRP App Installation Method (Root Required)

If you decided to download the TWRP application from the Google Play Store or the apk file from the official TWRP website, then after you open the application you will be given a few different options to choose from. But before even going that far, it’s important to note that you should only install the TWRP apk file from the official TWRP website. If you’re installing it from Git, or any other file hosting website, it might not be the official version, and thus, it won’t have been built or tested by the official TWRP developers and maintainers.

Once the application is open, you’ll need to agree to not hold anyone from TWRP responsible for any issues that your device may face while using the application. This is a standard disclaimer that Team Win puts on top of each of the recovery image files from the official website as well, so it’s nothing new. It just explains that it is your decision to put the custom recovery on your device, and while they work hard to provide a quality product, there are no guarantees that your device isn’t susceptible to damages relating to TWRP while the custom recovery is installed. You can grant the application root permissions now as well. Root access can be obtained by flashing SuperSU, or other appropriate rooting files, from the custom recovery itself. Without root, you won’t have access to some of the app’s features, such as image flashing. It’s here also where you can enable InsightCore (a feature to monitor and record the network performance of your device).

Once you’ve accepted the agreements, you’ll see the TWRP application’s home screen, where you can choose to flash TWRP or view the network statistics. When choosing to flash the custom recovery, you’ll need to scroll and select your device from the list to make sure you are flashing the correct file. When the device is chosen, the TWRP application automatically then searches for the latest version of the TWRP for that device and will continue doing so every day for as long as the app is installed. This interval can also be altered from the Settings in the top right-hand corner of the device’s display when the apps open.

If root access has been enabled, you’ll see the chance to select the custom recovery image and the buttons for flashing the images to boot or from recovery. You should choose to flash the images to recovery. Only use the boot image flashing when you are flashing full boot images, not just kernel zimages.

That’s all.

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