Updating after root - X 2014 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Forgive me if this has been asked before. I did search, but I couldn't seem to find an answer to this.
I have a dev edition model. I really want to root, but have been holding off because there are bugs with the current build of Lollipop and I'm kind of hoping Moto will release a 5.02 update soon to kill the memory leak and other issues. That being said, I have really been itching for root.
If I did root, what would I have to do to this phone to update it to the new version? Would I have to completely return to stock and wipe? Or could I ADB sideload? Seems like I was reading that you can't update at all when you're rooted, even if you disable root.
Without any idea how much longer it'll be before the next update, I'm finding it harder and harder to hold off on root, but I don't want to go through hell to get it back to stock and update it.
Thanks for any help and sorry if this has already been asked.

From what I understand, root is fine. It is installing a custom recovery that will stop you from getting the OTA. You can very easily undo root. As a matter if fact, you can pretty easily reinstall the stock recovery also.

diggitydogg said:
From what I understand, root is fine. It is installing a custom recovery that will stop you from getting the OTA. You can very easily undo root. As a matter if fact, you can pretty easily reinstall the stock recovery also.
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Thanks for the reply.
Most of the time, that's true. I have updated a lot of phones by simply unrooting, applying the update, and rooting again, or using ADB sideload and then just rooting. But from what I have been reading about the Moto X 2014, you have to completely restore it back to stock before doing anything, even if you just use the temp boot method to root.
Is that wrong? I can't seem to find any info that confirms either way.

I've installed custom recovery, how can I reverse it and install the original recovery for update?

One advantage of root is you'll have Titanium Backup, so even if you do have to do a full wipe before applying the update, you could just update it and restore everything back quickly using TiBu. With lollipop, apparently the update file checks for the entire system checksum as a whole instead of each file so any slight modification to the system will mostly require pure stock and this is the same even with the nexus. So yeah, you most likely have to wipe your device before updating. I'd say, wait till Xposed for Lollipop is out, its almost there, once it comes out go ahead and root it, it'll at least be worth the hassle then

If you're rooted with lollipop and want to take an OTA update you can flash stock recovery and the stock system image. At that point you should still have all apps/data and be able to take a OTA update. The recovery and system files should be the exact version you already have and of course anytime you flash realize you could lose data!

Steve-x said:
If you're rooted with lollipop and want to take an OTA update you can flash stock recovery and the stock system image. At that point you should still have all apps/data and be able to take a OTA update. The recovery and system files should be the exact version you already have and of course anytime you flash realize you could lose data!
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Click to collapse
Right. All you need to do is flash the stock /system partition and also the recovery if you replaced it. I don't know why everyone's talking about having to wipe the entire phone with the all the stock images.

Related

[Q] 4.2.2 Root to 4.4 Root on AT&T

Okay, I am just wanting to clear things up for myself with this question. I've seen it similarly asked on other threads, but I have yet to find answer to them.
Currently, I am Stock + camera update + rooted with RockMyMoto. I haven't frozen or uninstalled or otherwise done anything to system apps or files (I disabled a few through Android itself before root, but never touched them since) I do use Permissions Denied; an app that does what it says for any app I chose, however I only use it for non-system apps. My phone is essentially stock, with root (bootloader locked). Thats all I want for whenever I update to 4.4 at the moment. Speaking of which...
I am trying to determine the best way to go about this. Since I havent done much to my phone, I am curious to know if I can just install the OTA (since I've altered no system files, but I know this isn't usually advised) then apply the latest root method done by jcase. Can it be as straight forward as that? Or do I absolutely need to flash back to STOCK stock, apply the camera update, the apply the 4.4 update, THEN use his method?
Trying to find a method that is at least safe. Preferably safe, quick and easy. But I know these methods aren't always quick .
NameLessThugZero said:
Okay, I am just wanting to clear things up for myself with this question. I've seen it similarly asked on other threads, but I have yet to find answer to them.
Currently, I am Stock + camera update + rooted with RockMyMoto. I haven't frozen or uninstalled or otherwise done anything to system apps or files (I disabled a few through Android itself before root, but never touched them since) I do use Permissions Denied; an app that does what it says for any app I chose, however I only use it for non-system apps. My phone is essentially stock, with root (bootloader locked). Thats all I want for whenever I update to 4.4 at the moment. Speaking of which...
I am trying to determine the best way to go about this. Since I havent done much to my phone, I am curious to know if I can just install the OTA (since I've altered no system files, but I know this isn't usually advised) then apply the latest root method done by jcase. Can it be as straight forward as that? Or do I absolutely need to flash back to STOCK stock, apply the camera update, the apply the 4.4 update, THEN use his method?
Trying to find a method that is at least safe. Preferably safe, quick and easy. But I know these methods aren't always quick .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pawnymoto hijacks the stock recovery so you won't be able to install the update, you need to flash the stick recovery at the least
Sent on my Moto X
flashallthetime said:
Pawnymoto hijacks the stock recovery so you won't be able to install the update, you need to flash the stick recovery at the least
Sent on my Moto X
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Click to collapse
What do I need in order to do that, or should I just RSD lite back to a stock Moto X?
NameLessThugZero said:
What do I need in order to do that, or should I just RSD lite back to a stock Moto X?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say its safer to rsdlite back to 100% stock, that way you know everything is ready to accept the ota and you won't end up in a bootloop
Sent on my Moto X

How to install monthly Nexus security firmware updates without starting over?

Usually when a new Android OS version is released, I'll just start over from scratch by manually flashing the seven image files using fastboot. I then install the unencrypt kernel/boot image and also root.
Now that these security updates are coming out every month, is there an easier way in my specific situation to install the update only without having to start from scratch every time like above?
Flash the system image only (if radio is different, flash that too). That won't overwrite your user data/apps
Edit: When flashing the system.img, flash the cache.img as well (to be safe)
Thanks. That is pretty simple. I wish I asked this a long time ago so I could avoided a lot of resetting EVERYTHING up all the time. 2 more clarifications if you don't mind...
1) Would this also work for point releases, like say if a 5.1.2 comes out, or would it be better to reflash everything in that case?
2) No other steps like clear cache or anything? Just flash those 2, reboot, and then I should be good to go?
Toaplan said:
Thanks. That is pretty simple. I wish I asked this a long time ago so I could avoided a lot of resetting EVERYTHING up all the time. 2 more clarifications if you don't mind...
1) Would this also work for point releases, like say if a 5.1.2 comes out, or would it be better to reflash everything in that case?
2) No other steps like clear cache or anything? Just flash those 2, reboot, and then I should be good to go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work just fine for point releases. For major releases (like when Android M is released), I will probably flash everything, and wipe everything (including userdata), and start from scratch ! lol!
In theory, it should work find even for major releases, but I'd rather start with a clean slate - especially with the new permissions manager that is being added in this release. I'd rather not take any old incompatible apps thru' - but that's just me
Clearing cache is usually not needed. I've heard of instances where some users get stuck on the Google boot logo for some reason when booting for the first time. If that happens, clearing cache seems to help.
To be safe, it may be a good idea to flash the cache.img too. It takes a few seconds. Better safe than sorry. I'll update my earlier post.
jj14 said:
...
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Huge thanks. This should make things a lot easier for me.
Is this the system update that just got pushed to my phone? It looks like a small update, like 26MB?
Mine tried to install and failed. My phone is stock, latest official version, never rooted, but the bootloader is unlocked and it is running the no force encrypt kernel, which I believe is probably what is causing the issue?
Only way is to restore completely to stock, take the OTA and then install the no decrypt?
I got the OTA today to upgrade to M from L- (on verizon) where can I Find that system image to flash- I tried sideloading the OTA and it didn't take.
caecusscius said:
I got the OTA today to upgrade to M from L- (on verizon) where can I Find that system image to flash- I tried sideloading the OTA and it didn't take.
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https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
SquireSCA said:
Is this the system update that just got pushed to my phone? It looks like a small update, like 26MB?
Mine tried to install and failed. My phone is stock, latest official version, never rooted, but the bootloader is unlocked and it is running the no force encrypt kernel, which I believe is probably what is causing the issue?
Only way is to restore completely to stock, take the OTA and then install the no decrypt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it's actually both of these things causing the OTA not to take. If anything, anything is changed from stock...no OTA. Bootloader unlocked, kernel, root, even just changing the build.prop (but you need root for that) would cause it to fail. I believe it checks every file and if anything in /system has changed, no OTA.
I've never messed around with the encryption pieces, but I'm wondering if you only flash the system.img (you'd need to re-root) if that would suffice or not as far as the update. You'd be flashing the entire system file instead of only the delta the OTA provides, but it's probably worth looking into.
Hmmm... Well, it takes 15 minutes to just wipe the phone and flash the new ROM with the toolkit, install my apps, copy my files over and set the phone up, so it isn't a big deal, I just want to make sure that I have the right version before I do that...
(LMY48M) That's the one that I want for the VZW N6, right?
I just use helium to backup my apps and everything. Even if I need to wipe it is a pretty easy restore process. I highly recommend helium backup.
hayzooos said:
I believe it's actually both of these things causing the OTA not to take. If anything, anything is changed from stock...no OTA. Bootloader unlocked, kernel, root, even just changing the build.prop (but you need root for that) would cause it to fail. I believe it checks every file and if anything in /system has changed, no OTA.
I've never messed around with the encryption pieces, but I'm wondering if you only flash the system.img (you'd need to re-root) if that would suffice or not as far as the update. You'd be flashing the entire system file instead of only the delta the OTA provides, but it's probably worth looking into.
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Unlocked bootloader doesn't affect it, the customised kernel does though . But yes, you could just flash the system.img

Is it safe to do a system update

I have a Droid Turbo that is currently on version 5.1 (23.21.44) and I just recently unfroze the system update notifications for my phone because of the news of MM. I am currently rooted and have an unlocked bootloader but I don't have TWRP installed and would rather not install it for now if I don't have to.
The system update that it is trying to push to my phone isn't MM, instead it is version 23.21.49.en.US. Is it safe to just take this update while being rooted and with an unlocked bootloader? I'm also not sure how many updates I'll have to make my way through before reaching the MM update, but if there are other updates, should it also be safe to go ahead with those as well? I know I could install TWRP and flash the MM ROM that way but I would prefer to do the updates officially if it is not risking a bricked phone.
Thanks for any advice.
EDIT: I forgot to finish the title of the thread...
AirJordanTS said:
I have a Droid Turbo that is currently on version 5.1 (23.21.44) and I just recently unfroze the system update notifications for my phone because of the news of MM. I am currently rooted and have an unlocked bootloader but I don't have TWRP installed and would rather not install it for now if I don't have to.
The system update that it is trying to push to my phone isn't MM, instead it is version 23.21.49.en.US. Is it safe to just take this update while being rooted and with an unlocked bootloader? I'm also not sure how many updates I'll have to make my way through before reaching the MM update, but if there are other updates, should it also be safe to go ahead with those as well? I know I could install TWRP and flash the MM ROM that way but I would prefer to do the updates officially if it is not risking a bricked phone.
Thanks for any advice.
EDIT: I forgot to finish the title of the thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's safe, but it will be unsuccessful until you unroot your phone and undo any other system modifications that you've done (xposed, for example). There's a huge part of the update script that checks every single file in your system partition to make sure nothing has been modified.
Ok great, thanks.
The only other modification I can think that I've made is enabling mobile Hotspot through editing a setting somewhere. Do you know if that would be affected or would need changed back?
AirJordanTS said:
Ok great, thanks.
The only other modification I can think that I've made is enabling mobile Hotspot through editing a setting somewhere. Do you know if that would be affected or would need changed back?
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You did that by modifying /system/build.prop. That change might be okay, but I would change it back if I were you just to be safe. The change is going to be overwritten anyway once the OTA is done.
AirJordanTS said:
Ok great, thanks.
The only other modification I can think that I've made is enabling mobile Hotspot through editing a setting somewhere. Do you know if that would be affected or would need changed back?
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It's possible it may miss overlooking that. The worst that could happen was the update just doesn't take. It fails and nothing is changed. There is a pure MM official version that you can Flash in TWRP. It will update everything, radios and all, but will not relock the bootloader. I recommend you download Titanium Backup and backup all of your apps and their data to be restored after the update. A factory reset is recommended after the update. Also, don't forget to back up all of your photos, documents, music, etc. 24.81.5 is MM. Your update was a prep for MM.
Thanks for the advice guys.
I didn't realize it but I had TWRP installed so I decided to flash a stock ROM and proceed with the OTA updates from there. The problem currently is that I'm being locked out of my phone because of the Google "verify your account" page. I reset my account password on that page and now I'm not able to log in.

question about maintaining root

So far I've been running my OP3T with stock rom with TWRP recovery and SuperSU to have root. This was mostly because I wanted the Adaway and titanium backup to work. I undid everything so I could update to the latest OxygenOS version, and now I'm on the stock recovery too, but with bootloader still unlocked I believe. I no longer have root after doing the upgrade as far as I can tell, still a bit new to all this flashing, haha. The last time I did this was when the nexus 4 came out
What is the best option for maintaining root while still being able to upgrade smoothly? I'm not against using one of the custom ROMs if that will help, but I do kinda like the stock rom so far!
thanks!
bluesrph said:
So far I've been running my OP3T with stock rom with TWRP recovery and SuperSU to have root. This was mostly because I wanted the Adaway and titanium backup to work. I undid everything so I could update to the latest OxygenOS version, and now I'm on the stock recovery too, but with bootloader still unlocked I believe. I no longer have root after doing the upgrade as far as I can tell, still a bit new to all this flashing, haha. The last time I did this was when the nexus 4 came out
What is the best option for maintaining root while still being able to upgrade smoothly? I'm not against using one of the custom ROMs if that will help, but I do kinda like the stock rom so far!
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread should answer all your questions and doubts
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/...-or-custom-recovery-without-data-loss.479265/
saurabh40629 said:
This thread should answer all your questions and doubts
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/...-or-custom-recovery-without-data-loss.479265/
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Click to collapse
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs
bluesrph said:
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
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Click to collapse
Dm-verity u can bypass but bootloader one, you can not. Look at the apps, mods section.
bluesrph said:
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't try to flash the partial OTAs while you are rooted and have a custom recovery installed. The partial zip will try to make specific changes in the restricted partitions (/system, /boot, /recovery, etc.) related to the update and prior modifications to these files may cause the update to fail and the phone to brick. You can still use the "Update" tab in the Settings menu to download the update though as OOS will detect root and download the full zip of the update for you. Simply flash the full zip in TWRP, wipe cache/dalvik, then flash SuperSU and you're good to go the next time an update rolls out. Updating by this method (rooting immedately after flashing update) will also prevent OOS from replacing TWRP with the stock recovery again. When you download the update, you'll know if it's the full zip if the file is >1 GB (they're usually ~1.4 GB,, whereas the partial zips are a few hundred MB).
Unlocked bootloader warning screen is cannot be removed without relocked and fully resetting (wiping) the phone. DM-verity warning screen can be removed by following this guide. Make sure that you are flashing the correct firmware for you current version of OOS though, flashing the wrong version can brick you phone.

Unroot/Relock/revert to stock

Hey everyone,
I'm over rooting. Had an issue today where a backup refused to restore and in trying to fix it, I've deleted my OS. Yes, I'm bad at this. No big deal, I have backups of all my photos and other important stuff.
I don't really want to do the rooting/flashing thing anymore and just want to get my phone back to normal/out of the box as possible so that it will receive regular OTA updates etc. I just want to simplify things.
TWRP is installed. Is it as simple as flashing the latest official update? Or do I need to relock the phone somehow too?
I was going to follow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-to-revert-oneplus-3t-to-stock-t3676210 but wanted to be sure that it would work even though I don't currently have an OS installed.
Thanks!
Southrncomfortjm said:
I'm over rooting. Had an issue today where a backup refused to restore and in trying to fix it, I've deleted my OS.
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Click to collapse
That isn't root. That is your lack of knowledge of the functions of custom recovery, and what the results will be. Better learning and knowledge, and a little more care could have easily prevented it from happening. You wiped the selections in the "Advanced" wipe section of TWRP. And the fact it's called "Advanced" should have been a good clue to not mess with it, unless you know exactly what you are doing.
It's also an easy condition to recover from.
Southrncomfortjm said:
I don't really want to do the rooting/flashing thing anymore and just want to get my phone back to normal/out of the box as possible so that it will receive regular OTA updates etc. I just want to simplify things.
TWRP is installed. Is it as simple as flashing the latest official update? Or do I need to relock the phone somehow too?
I was going to follow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-to-revert-oneplus-3t-to-stock-t3676210 but wanted to be sure that it would work even though I don't currently have an OS installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That guide is needlessly complicated. Just download the flash the "full" update zip using TWRP, from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/official-oxygenos-5-0-1-android-8-0-t3728119
Make sure you are using a version of TWRP which supports Oreo (if you were on Oreo when you wiped OS, it should be okay). And that is all there is to it. You will be fully restored to stock, and after rebooting, stock recovery will replace TWRP.
You don't need to lock the bootloader to do this, and you don't need it for future OTAs. But a locked bootloader is arguably more secure, if you really don't need custom recovery or root.
On the other hand, if you still want to give root/phone mods a shot; the way to restore, and still have root is the same (flash full update zip). But just flash Magisk or SuperSU before rebooting, and you will be rooted, and still have TWRP.

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