TeamWin has extended its custom recovery support to the Razer phone. Use the guide ahead to download and install TWRP 3.2.1 custom recovery on Razer phone. With every new device, Android enthusiasts patiently wait to see whether TeamWin will come out with an official TWRP release for it. In Razer phone’s case, fortunately they have done just that. The process of installing TWRP 3.2.1 is a little bit different to what we have seen with other phones mainly due to the fact that Razer decided to lock the phone and disable some essential commands. Anyhow, we have a complete installation guide ahead for running TWRP 3.2.1 custom recovery on the Razer phone.
As you continue reading further, we will guide you through the entire process of how to update Razer Phone with TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery using ADB and Fastboot. A custom recovery like TWRP 3.2.1 allows you to install custom ROMs, root Razer Phone, create system backups or restore your phone and most of all, you can easily install additional system tweaks as well. You may also want to read about how to save TWRP backups on PC. Make sure you backup all your data before trying out this tutorial below because we don’t want you to lose any data, and anything could go wrong unexpectedly. The following tips are important as they will help the installation procedure to go smooth without any issues. Let’s continue with the tutorial now.
Disclaimer: All the custom ROMs and firmware, official software updates, tools, mods or anything mentioned in the tutorial belong to their respective owners/developers. We (TeamAndroid.com) or the developers are not to be held responsible if you damage or brick your device. We don’t have you on gun point to try out this tutorial 😉
TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery for Razer Phone:
TWRP Touch Recovery will allow you to install custom ROMs, advanced options like formatting the system partition, making backups etc. The entire tutorial has been given on the next page for those who want to install this custom recovery on their phones. Here are a few details about TWRP:
Team Win Recovery Project 3.2.1, or twrp3 for short, is a custom recovery built with ease of use and customization in mind. We started from the ground up by taking AOSP recovery and loading it with the standard recovery options, then added a lot of our own features. It’s a fully touch driven user interface – no more volume rocker or power buttons to mash. The GUI is also fully XML driven and completely theme-able. You can change just about every aspect of the look and feel.
Our tutorial on the next page explains how you can install this TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery custom recovery on the following models of the Razer Phone:
- Razer Phone
Razer Phone will be getting a huge list of custom ROMs based on Android 7.0 Nougat, because of its popularity and most of them are installed using TWRP. Of course, you can always enjoy the added benefits of a custom recovery with TWRP 3.2.1.
You might be interested in the following article as well:
- Unlock Bootloader: How to Unlock Bootloder on Razer Phone.
- Recovery Mode: How to Access Recovery Mode on the Razer Phone.
- Install Oreo: How to Install Android 8.1 Oreo on Computer.
- Custom ROMs: For a complete collection of Razer Phone custom ROMs on Team Android, visit our Custom ROM section!
Razer Phone USB Drivers
You will need to connect your Android phone with the computer. For that, please make sure you have installed the USB drivers for Razer Phone properly. If not, you can download the latest official drivers from our Android USB Drivers section here:
Download Razer Phone USB drivers!
Backup and Other Important Tips
Done with the USB drivers? Perfect. The tutorial is on the next page, but first, please take a look at the following tips and important points you need to take care of. These are important, as we don’t want anyone losing their personal data or apps.
Always backup your important data that you might need after you install a new custom ROM, an official software update or anything else. Make a backup for just in case, you never know when anything might go wrong. Read: How to Backup Android Apps, Text Messages, WhatsApp, Call History.
If you already have a custom recovery (ClockworkMod, TWRP etc.) installed on your phone, we strongly recommend a backup using that as it creates a complete image of your existing phone set up. [Tutorial: How to Backup Android Phone using TWRP]
A few more optional tips that you should remember:
1. Having problems connecting your Android phone to the computer? You need to enable USB debugging mode. See here: How to Enable USB Debugging — for Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, KitKat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat and Oreo.
2. Make sure your Android device is charged up to 80-85% battery level. This might help you: How to Check Battery Percentage. Why? Because, if your phone goes off suddenly while installing a custom ROM, flashing an official firmware update or installing mods etc. — your phone might get bricked or go dead permanently. No one wants that, right?
3. Most of the tutorials and how-to guides on Team Android are for factory unlocked Android phones and tablets. We recommend not to try our guides if your phone is locked to a carrier, unless we have specified the carrier name or device model.
All set and ready? Good. Now, let’s proceed with the tutorial below and update Razer Phone with TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery.
How to Install TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery on Razer Phone
We have put together a detailed step-by-step instructions guide for how to install TWRP 3.2.1 custom recovery on Razer Phone.
Please read every line carefully and make sure you read the tutorial once before actually performing it on your Android device.
To Remember:
- This TWRP 3.2.1 recovery installation tutorial is only for Razer Phone.
- Enable Developer Options by going to Settings > About Phone and tapping on build number multiple times.
- Go to Settings > Developer Options and enable ‘OEM Unlocking’.
- Enable USB Debugging mode on your phone. [How to Enable USB Debugging]
- Make sure you backup all your data in your phone before proceeding as a precaution.
- This TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery tutorial works with Android Nougat firmware and all future Android updates.
Complete Step-By-Step Instructions:
Step 1 – Download Android SDK from the Android Developers website and install. Also set it up by downloading platform-tools and USB drivers package in SDK. Tutorial given here: How to Set up ADB and Fastboot on Windows.
or
Step 1 – Download ADB / Fastboot – Android SDK Platform Tools separate package and install on your computer. Download from the following links depending on your OS and extract it anywhere in your computer.
- Windows: Download platform-tools-latest-windows.zip
- MacOS: Download platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip
- Linux: Download platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
Step 2 – Download TWRP 3.2.1 Recovery package for Razer Phone and extract this file anywhere in your computer:
- Boot Image: twrp-3.2.1-0-cheryl.img
- Installation ZIP package: twrp-installer-3.2.1-0-cheryl.zip
Step 3 – Turn OFF your phone.
Step 4 – Get to the fastboot / download mode. Do this by holding Volume Down button whilst the phone is off and connect a USB cable which is connected to a computer.
Step 5 – Run this command through ADB.
adb shell getprop ro.boot.slot_suffix
It should return either of these results. Note down whether it is a or b.
[ro.boot.slot_suffix]: [_a]
or
[ro.boot.slot_suffix]: [_b]
Step 6 – Power off the device by holding the power button for 5 to 15 seconds.
Step 7 – Boot the device in download mode. Do this by holding Volume Down button whilst the phone is off and connect a USB cable which is connected to a computer.
Step 8 – You need to switch the boot slot. The suffix you found in Step 5, you would have to switch to the opposite one. So if it was a then you should switch to b and similarly, if it was b then you need to switch to a.
If you had boot slot a previously:
fastboot --set-active=_b
If you had boot slot b previously:
fastboot --set-active=_a
