FolkPatch

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Install / Use

About 1376 wordsAbout 5 min

2025-08-16

This guide will help you install and use FolkPatch from scratch.

Basic Knowledge

What is FolkPatch?

FolkPatch is a fork of APatch, extending the manager in multiple ways. It not only focuses on optimizing interface design and function expansion, but also introduces core feature additions such as Magic Mount (Magisk-like mounting), Meta Module system, KPM auto-loading, batch module flashing, and module backup.

Preparation

  • A phone with unlocked Bootloader
  • A computer with ADB tools
  • Your phone kernel supports KernelPatch

Check Device Compatibility

Supported Device Conditions

  • ARM64 architecture (most Android phones in recent years support this)
  • Linux kernel version 3.18 - 6.15+

Unsupported Devices

  • Non-ARM64 architecture devices (some old tablets)
  • Devices with kernel version lower than 3.18

How to Check Kernel Version?

  1. Method 1: Phone Settings

    • Settings -> About Phone -> Software Information -> Kernel Version

  2. Method 2: Use ADB Command

    adb shell uname -r

How to Check Kernel Configuration (Root Required)

If your phone is already rooted, you can use the following command to check the kernel configuration:

zcat /proc/config.gz | grep CONFIG_KALLSYMS

Should display:

CONFIG_KALLSYMS=y
CONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL=y

Hint

CONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL=y is the ideal configuration. If only CONFIG_KALLSYMS=y and CONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL=n, some features may be limited.

If any of the above configurations are displayed, your device theoretically supports KernelPatch, and therefore supports FolkPatch. However, actual compatibility is also affected by the specific kernel implementation.

Not all kernels expose /proc/config.gz. If this file does not exist, you cannot check through this method.

Get Necessary Files

Get Boot Image

  1. From Official Firmware Package

    • Download the official firmware corresponding to your phone model
    • Unzip and find the boot.img file
    • Copy to computer for backup

  2. Extract from Current Device

    # Requires ADB permission
adb pull /dev/block/by-name/boot ./boot.img

Backup Boot Image

注意

Be sure to backup the original boot.img image!

This file is an important guarantee for restoring the system. If there is a problem such as failure to boot, you need it to repair the phone!

Install FolkPatch

FolkTool is an official Windows-only one-click flashing tool designed to simplify the installation process.

For detailed tutorial, please refer to: FolkTool Usage Guide

  1. Download Tool: Visit FolkTool Release Page to download the latest version of the tool.
  2. Connect Device: Ensure your phone has USB debugging enabled and is connected to the computer.
  3. One-Click Flash: Run the tool and follow the interface instructions to automatically complete the flashing.

  1. Install FolkPatch Manager

    • Download and install FolkPatch Manager APK on your phone
    • Allow "Install apps from unknown sources"

  2. Patch Boot Image

    • Open FolkPatch Manager
    • Click the patch button in the upper right corner
    • Select "Select a boot image and patch"
    • Find and select the boot.img file you prepared

    Use Local Patch File (KPimg)

    On the install page, under the KernelPatch Patch/Install menu, there is a "Use local patch file (KPimg)" option. Tap it to select a custom kpimg-android file for patching. The rest of the process is the same as normal patching.

    This feature is useful when you need to use a specific version of the KernelPatch patch. The kpimg-android file must be downloaded manually from the KernelPatch Releases page. FolkPatch does not include this file by default.

    相关信息

    Starting from FolkPatch 4.3, pure signature verification is used for authentication. No password is required. For details, see Authentication Mechanism.

  3. Finish Patching

    • Click "Start Patching" and wait for completion
    • After successful patching, the path of the patched image will be displayed, for example: /storage/emulated/0/Download/folkpatch_xxxx.img

Continue reading the "Flash Image" section below to complete the installation.

Method 3: Manual Patching (For Advanced Users)

When KernelPatch is updated but the manager is not yet updated, you can use this method.

  1. Download Tools

    • Visit KernelPatch Release Page
    • Download the following files:
      • kptools-win.zip (Windows users) or kptools-linux (Linux users)
      • kpimg-android

  2. Patch Kernel Since KernelPatch 0.13.0, kptools has built-in unpacking and repacking capabilities, eliminating the need for magiskboot. The process consists of three steps:

    # Windows Users
 kptools-x86_64-win.exe unpack boot.img
 kptools-x86_64-win.exe -p --image kernel --skey "su" --kpimg kpimg-android --out kernel
 kptools-x86_64-win.exe repack boot.img

 # Linux Users
 ./kptools-linux unpack boot.img
 ./kptools-linux -p --image kernel --skey "su" --kpimg kpimg-android --out kernel
 ./kptools-linux repack boot.img

After completion, you will get a file named new-boot.img, which is the patched image.

Method 4: Direct Flashing (Via Recovery)

The latest version of FolkPatch supports one-click flashing from third-party Recoveries like TWRP.

Note

This feature was introduced in version 11142. Earlier versions do not support this method.

  1. Rename Installation Package Rename the downloaded FolkPatch installation package (.apk) extension to .zip, for example:

    FolkPatch-11142-release.apk -> FolkPatch-11142-release.zip

  2. Flash via Recovery

    • Boot your phone into third-party Recovery (such as TWRP)
    • Select "Install" function
    • Browse and select the renamed .zip file
    • Swipe to confirm flashing and wait for completion

    Tip

    The adb sideload method used by third-party AOSP ROM Recoveries (e.g., LineageOS) is also supported.

Important Warning

When flashing via Recovery, the authentication method is still signature verification. No additional configuration is required. After booting, simply ensure the officially signed FolkPatch Manager is installed and authentication will complete automatically.

Flash Image (For Method 2 and Method 3)

Preparation

  1. Ensure USB debugging is enabled on the phone
  2. Copy the patched image to the computer
  3. Connect phone and computer

Start Flashing

  1. Enter Fastboot Mode

    adb reboot bootloader

  2. Flash Patched Image

    # Replace PATH/TO/boot.img with the actual path of your patched image
fastboot flash boot PATH/TO/boot.img

  3. Reboot Device

    fastboot reboot

Tip

If you are not sure if the flashing is successful, you can first use the following command to boot temporarily:

fastboot boot PATH/TO/boot.img

This way, if the system cannot start normally, just restart the phone to restore the original state.

Post-Install Operations

Verify Root Permission

  1. Install Root permission detection app (such as Root Checker)
  2. Open the app and check if "Root permission obtained" is displayed

Use Root Apps

FolkPatch is a kernel-space root management solution. Unlike Magisk's passive popup authorization, you need to manually grant Root permissions in the Manager:

  1. Open an app that requires Root permission (the app will show "Root not obtained")
  2. Open FolkPatch Manager and go to the Superuser page
  3. Find the app in the list and manually grant Root permission
  4. Return to the app and it will work with Root access

Install Modules

  1. Open FolkPatch Manager
  2. Enter "Modules" page
  3. You can download and install various functional modules

Uninstall FolkPatch

Method 1: Uninstall via Manager

FolkPatch Manager has a built-in uninstall feature, no additional tools required:

  1. Open FolkPatch Manager
  2. Go to the Settings page
  3. Find and tap the Uninstall button
  4. Confirm the uninstall operation and wait for completion

Method 2: Uninstall via Recovery

  1. Download the FolkPatch installation package identical to your current version
  2. Rename the file, add -uninstall, for example: FolkPatch-10888-release.apk -> FolkPatch-10888-release-uninstall.zip
  3. Transfer the file to the phone and flash it via Recovery

提示

The adb sideload method is also supported for flashing the uninstall package.

Method 3: Manually Flash Back Original Boot Image

  1. Put the phone into Fastboot mode:

    adb reboot bootloader

  2. Flash back your previously backed up original Boot image:

    fastboot flash boot PATH/TO/original_boot.img

  3. Reboot phone:

    fastboot reboot

警告

FolkPatch always patches the boot partition. Patching init_boot is an invalid operation. Flashing init_boot will only cause the system to fail to boot!

Complete

Congratulations! You have successfully installed FolkPatch.

Safe flashing principles:

  • Only install apps and modules from reliable sources
  • Regularly backup important data
  • Do not modify critical system files at will

Some materials cited from APatch Documentation

Copyright Ownership:FolkPatch Team

License under:Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)