In this guide, we will show you the steps to extract the init_boot file from your device without downloading the firmware. With the introduction of Android 13, we witnessed a major change in how we used to root our devices. Up until its predecessor, we were patching and flashing the stock boot.img. However, this changed with the thirteenth iteration of OS [and its higher builds] as now we now have to patch and flash the stock init_boot.img.
As before, this file is also present in the stock firmware, which you could download from the OEM’s official site or a trusted third-party site. However, downloading the entire firmware which might be anywhere between 3-5GB every time you need just. single init_boot.img calls for a lot of time and effort, in addition to the fact that it will exhaust your network bandwidth as well. So what else could be done?
Well, there exists a nifty method through which you could extract the init_boot file from your device without even the need to download the firmware. So without any further ado, let’s show you how this could be carried out.
Extract Init_boot from Device Without Downloading Firmware
Before starting with the process, there’s a major point that deserves your attention: this process requires root. So you might ask what’s the need for this guide then since have come here to extract init_boot.img to root your device but the process is itself asking for root in the first place. Well, your doubt/argument is completely genuine. Actually, the thing is this guide doesn’t fit in the scenario if you are rooting your device for the first time.
For that, you still have to download the firmware, extract the payload.bin, and root. But from the subsequent time onwards, you wouldn’t have to do so [granted your device remains rooted]. One of its best use-case scenarios wherein this guide could come in handy is if you are planning to install OTA updates on your rooted device. So with that in mind, let’s get started.
- Download and extract the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC.
- Then enable USB Debugging and connect your device to your PC via USB.
- Now type in CMD in the platform-tools folder address bar and hit Enter.
- This will launch the Command Prompt. Type in the below command in it:
adb shell
- Now type in the below command to get the partition table for your device:
ls -la /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name
- In the output, refer to the lines that have init_boot_a and init_boot_b [it should be something as shown below].
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-09-21 21:40 init_boot_a -> /dev/block/sde32 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16 1970-09-21 21:40 init_boot_b -> /dev/block/sde63
- Note down the block address for both the init_boot partitions. In our case, these are:
init_boot_a: /dev/block/sde32 init_boot_b: /dev/block/sde63
- Transfer these stock init_boot.img files to your device’s internal storage.
- You may now patch it via Magisk and flash it via Fastboot to obtain root.
That’s it. These were the steps to extract the init_boot file from your device without downloading the firmware. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
