How to root the [ Taiwan Mobile Amazing A32 ] smartphone

Obviously,  after updating the firmware, the next best thing to do is to root the phone, right?

To root or not to root 

I couldn't find a rooting guide for the Amazing A32 when I started, and I wasn't really expecting to find anything specific for what most forums would call a relatively unknown "China" phone. However, I did find a few guides on how to root some recently released phones, and wanted to test them out --- I honestly did not have much to lose since my Amazing A32 unit was just a cheap back-up phone for me. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the process was a success. The instructions here are based off the details provided in this site:


Disclaimers and warnings

Rooting is risky business, so a couple of reminders first:

  • There is a high possibility that this process will break your phone.
  • This process is only applicable for the [ Taiwan Mobile Amazing A32 ] model.
  • Rooting voids the phone's warranty. Official shops will NOT service rooted phones.
  • This process includes formatting one of the phone's primary storage disks. You will lose all user and system data in the phone if you decide to continue. If the phone already contains a lot of important non-replaceable stuff, perform a full backup to save everything.
  • Do extensive research first before proceeding. You are fully responsible for your phone. What works for my phone may not work for yours, so adjust steps as needed.  


Required tools 

Before continuing, verify that you have all the tools needed to root the phone. Ensure that you are sufficiently familiar with how everything works. 

  • A fully working [  Taiwan Mobile Amazing A32 ] phone updated to v2.0 firmware. Check my previous post if you need to upgrade.
  • The phone must have Developer options enabled, with the USB debugging and OEM unlock options toggled on. Instructions here. Both options can only be enabled during the phone's normal booted state, so ensure that you enable these options before you enter the commandline. The unlock command will not work if you fail to do this step.
  • A copy of the v2.0 firmware (in zip format) from the official website.
  • An SD card that has at least 4 GB of storage space.
  • A good USB data cable that supports data connection with a PC.
  • A Windows PC that has both the  ADB and Fastboot binaries installed. You can download these here. Do a bit of research first as these get updated rather frequently.  
  • The latest version of the Magisk app. Since the app is not hosted on the Google Play store,  download it from the project’s GitHub repository. 

Use an SD card that has at least 4 GB of storage space.
↑ Photo by Supratik Deshmukh on Unsplash

I highly recommend doing the following first in preparation: 

  • Test the connection between the PC and the phone first. Verify that the PC can successfully detect the phone every time you connect it.  
  • Check that the USB cable is in good working condition. I've encountered flaky USB cables that intermittently connect and disconnect every second or so. The cable must be able to provide a strong and stable connection.
  • Research on how  ADB and  Fastboot works, especially on what commands are available for your installed version. The phone must be able to successfully receive commands issued by  ADB and  Fastboot from your PC. I will not be going into detail on how to setup /install /use these tools because there are already a million tutorials on these topics out there.    


Let's root the A32!

Once you have all the tools prepared, it's time to root the phone. Again, I'd like to remind that this process resets all system settings and removes all data from your phone, so please backup your data first (contacts, messages, pictures, etc.) if you feel you have anything important saved in the phone.


Step 1: Copy files to the SD card  

First, we need to prepare the contents of our SD card.


(a) The 📃  Boot.img file

  1. Download the v2.0 firmware from the official website. 
  2. The file should be in zip format. Double click the file and locate the Boot.img file inside. 
  3. Extract the  Boot.img file to a local folder. 


(b) The 🎭  Magisk APK

  1. Open your browser.
  2. Go to  GitHub repository of the Magisk app.
  3. Download the latest version of the Magisk app to a local folder. 

 

Once we have both files, we can now copy them to our SD card.

  1. Connect the phone to the PC using the USB cable.
  2. Copy the  Boot.img file and the  Magisk APK file from the PC onto the root directory of the SD card. 
  3. After copying, use the phone's built-in file manager to verify that both the IMG and APK file are accessible. Do not disconnect the USB cable yet.
  4. On your PC, start ADB and verify that ADB can detect the phone. You can use the following command. adb devices



Step 2: Patch image via ADB & Magisk

We will use the  Magisk app to patch our boot image. Perform the next steps on the A32 unit. 

  1. On the phone, tap the  Magisk APK file to install it. Since this  Magisk apk was not obtained from the Google Play Store, you need to allow sideloading apps from unknown sources first.
  2. After install, launch the  Magisk app. Do not delete the APK file on the SD card yet.  
  3. On initial launch,  Magisk detects the phone's hardware configuration. Verify that the reported parameters match exactly with the values given below:
    • Ramdisk - Yes
    • A/B - No
    • SAR - No

If the A/B parameter shows Yes, please do not continue. The A32 I rooted uses an A-only partition scheme. The following instructions apply only if the A/B parameter is No. If it says otherwise, please check here for other possible solutions you can take.
  1. If the A/B parameter shows No, tap the Install button in the Magisk card.
  2. Choose Select and Patch a File in Method.
  3. Select the Boot.img file copied earlier.
  4. Wait for the app to complete the patching process.
Hardware info on the Magisk screen.


The Magisk app will save the patched image to an internal location. Note the reported location. You will not be able to see this file using the default file explorer. 

  1. On your PC, head over to the ADB command console window you opened earlier.
  2. Use ADB to copy the patched image file to your PC. Replace the placeholders with the location provided by the Magisk app.
    adb pull /<location>/magisk_patched-<random_characters>.img
  3. Once you are 100% sure that the copy process was successful, type the following command to reboot the A32 phone to the Select Boot Mode screen. 
    adb reboot bootloader


If you did everything correctly, you should now have a copy of the patched IMG file on your PC, and the A32 phone should now be on the  Select Boot Mode screen. 


Step 3: Flash image via Fastboot 

Now head over to the A32 unit, and verify that the phone has successfully booted to the  Select Boot Mode screen. We will use the buttons on the right side of the phone to navigate this screen: 

  1. Press the Volume Up key to move to the Fastboot position. 
  2. Press the Volume Down key to enter Fastboot Mode. 


⚠️

Before proceeding with the next steps, it is mandatory that the A32 phone is in  Fastboot Mode first. If you were not able to enter the   Select Boot Mode screen earlier, another option is to turn off the phone, then hold down the Volume Up + Power buttons until the   Select Boot Mode screen appears. Afterwards, perform the steps mentioned above to enter  Fastboot Mode.


Once you are 100% sure that the A32 is in  Fastboot Mode, return to the PC cmd console as we will now use the PC to send several commands to the phone:


  1. Check first if the PC can communicate properly with the phone. Ensure that the command reports the correct phone to flash. To be safe, I highly recommend that you connect only one android phone throughout this entire process.  fastboot devices
  2. If everything looks OK, type the following command to unlock the bootloader:  fastboot flashing unlock
  3. Flash the patched  Boot.img file that was transferred earlier.  Replace the placeholders with the actual file name.   fastboot flash boot magisk_patched-<random_characters>.img
  4. Once the flashing process is complete, lock the bootloader again. Note that the phone will refuse to start if the bootloader is left unlocked.  fastboot flashing lock  
  5. Then finally, restart the phone by typing the command:  fastboot reboot


If you did everything correctly, your cmd window should look like this:

A quick summary of the process.


Step 4: Verify if root was successful 

Now we hold our breaths and wait...

  1. Allow some time for the phone to finish rebooting. The phone may appear stuck on the boot screen for several minutes.
  2. Once the process leaves the boot screen, wait for the Upgrading Android... dialog to go away. 
  3. When the welcome screen appears, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup process. I would recommend skipping adding a Google account for the meantime, so we can get to the home screen faster.
  4. Once you're on the home screen, wait for a couple more seconds before interacting with anything. Note that everything has been wiped and reset to default.
  5. If everything looks stable, open the A23's default file manager to check on the SD card. Verify that both the IMG file and the APK file are still in there.
  6. Tap the Magisk apk to install the app again, since our previous installation was removed during the flashing process. You may need to enable   sideloading apps from unknown sources again to complete this step.
  7. Wait for the installation to complete, then launch  Magisk.
  8. The Installed parameter should now report the version of the  Magisk binary flashed on the device.


To further verify that we now have root access:      

  1. Download and install the CPU-Z app. This is a small app that should install in seconds.
  2. Launch the app and go to the System tab.
  3. Review the info on the page. The Root Access row should report Yes.

Install an app that requires root access:

  1. Install a root checker app from the Play store.
  2. Launch the app.
  3. Magisk should now act as the phone's permission manager. It will ask if you want to grant root permissions to the app.
  4. Click Yes. The app should then report that root access is enabled.
  5. Check if all app features that require root are working properly.


So what's next?

Now that we're rooted, we can do the following:

  • Debloat the phone. The A32 comes preinstalled with a lot of bloatware. Honestly, after removing some of the preinstalled apps, the phone feels snappier.
  • Install system-wide adblockers. Say goodbye to ads.
  • Explore apps that take advantage of root. Several apps that customize the system do require root.
  • And many more...

Let me know in the comments below how your rooting experience went. That's all for now. Till next time! 😆


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