Greetings y'all.
I'm rocking a Moto X from the Canadian carrier Rogers and I'm currently running on Android 4.2, with the well... what was latest version for the Moto X, the update that included the camera fixes. I originally rooted my Moto X with the first root method that became available and then recently I used the new RockMyMoto method and I've experienced a peculiar issue and I was hoping someone would be able to offer me some advice.
After rooting my device with RockMyMoto my device had root working perfectly! The applications that rely on root were working perfectly and then one day... something happened. AdAway failed to install the updated host file, so I went into AdAway and it gave me a warning that said root was required.
I found this to be odd... so I exited the application and tried again. The same dialog came up with the same message. I decided to clear the application data and remove AdAway from SuperSU and then reinstalled the application. The problem persisted. I then rebooted my device and tried again and all of a sudden it worked. Now it appears my device is getting intermittent root?
When I turn my phone on I get a notification from Koush's Superuser (I switched from SuperSU, this might be the issue, at least I thought it might be until I switched back to SuperSU) saying that the binary was outdated and I needed an update, so I updated it and it was working so then I decided to try AdAway and... it worked! Success! or so I thought... a few minutes later I tried again and that same dialog came up.
Herumph! I proclaimed. What is this sorcery? Well... it seems my Moto X is getting an intermittent root or something that's only available once the system starts up again.
I tried running RockMyMoto again but that didn't seem to work, mind you I didn't unroot and then reroot.
My question for you is, well... how can I fix this? I don't want to restore my device to stock Android and I also don't want to do some sort of complex trickery because I'm expecting a 4.4 update sometime soon. Anyways, give me a hand guys!
You may not have root after 4.4 anyway... Some say.
Sent from my Moto X cell phone telephone...
Turbocom said:
Greetings y'all.
I'm rocking a Moto X from the Canadian carrier Rogers and I'm currently running on Android 4.2, with the well... what was latest version for the Moto X, the update that included the camera fixes. I originally rooted my Moto X with the first root method that became available and then recently I used the new RockMyMoto method and I've experienced a peculiar issue and I was hoping someone would be able to offer me some advice.
After rooting my device with RockMyMoto my device had root working perfectly! The applications that rely on root were working perfectly and then one day... something happened. AdAway failed to install the updated host file, so I went into AdAway and it gave me a warning that said root was required.
I found this to be odd... so I exited the application and tried again. The same dialog came up with the same message. I decided to clear the application data and remove AdAway from SuperSU and then reinstalled the application. The problem persisted. I then rebooted my device and tried again and all of a sudden it worked. Now it appears my device is getting intermittent root?
When I turn my phone on I get a notification from Koush's Superuser (I switched from SuperSU, this might be the issue, at least I thought it might be until I switched back to SuperSU) saying that the binary was outdated and I needed an update, so I updated it and it was working so then I decided to try AdAway and... it worked! Success! or so I thought... a few minutes later I tried again and that same dialog came up.
Herumph! I proclaimed. What is this sorcery? Well... it seems my Moto X is getting an intermittent root or something that's only available once the system starts up again.
I tried running RockMyMoto again but that didn't seem to work, mind you I didn't unroot and then reroot.
My question for you is, well... how can I fix this? I don't want to restore my device to stock Android and I also don't want to do some sort of complex trickery because I'm expecting a 4.4 update sometime soon. Anyways, give me a hand guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I presume you're making changes/updates to SuperSU booting into recovery? I'm not sure, but I know I had some problems, lost root briefly when I updated but wasn't in recovery.
Issue resolved! I wasn't applying the update in recovery. Silly me!
The annoyance I saw was I had to reboot into "recovery" to make it have R/W status. That only lasts until the next reboot.
I ran the new pwnnomo or however its spelt, and don't have to worry about that anymore. And also now have safestrap
Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk
It is a Rogers Moto X so you can always make life simple and simply unlock the bootloader, no stopping you from enjoying root then even with the 4.4.x update.
Steve-x said:
It is a Rogers Moto X so you can always make life simple and simply unlock the bootloader, no stopping you from enjoying root then even with the 4.4.x update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using 4.4?
What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.
Peabody424 said:
What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Peabody424...
It's always a bit tricky making recommendations to someone, based on one's own experiences, such as with an OTA update, and particularly when there's such a seemingly wide range of reported user experiences, ranging from the good to the bad to the outright atrocious! And like yourself, I'd also read similar (nightmare) accounts over on the Lenovo forums about the Pie update - so I was similarly cautious when I received the notification towards the end of March that a system update for Pie was awaiting my confirmation to go ahead and install it.
One of the major issues I'd read about Pie, was people's inability to access their device after the update, due to their password/lock-screen pattern not being recognised. And the only solution was to perform a factory reset via the stock recovery - not a good result at all!
This was obviously a significant concern to me, along with other reports of sluggish and poor screen responsiveness, with various solutions being proffered, such as using a custom launcher - I use Nova Prime anyway, so I've never actually used the stock Moto Launcher - and disabling Motorola's own background data collection processes (Android Settings>>System>>Advanced>>
Motorola privacy>>[DISABLE EVERYTHING THERE]), apparently is also reported to have helped make the device more responsive.
Anyhow, I'd prepared in advance of Pie, by ensuring everything on my device was backed up somewhere else, should I need to perform a factory reset in the event of possible problems after the Pie update.
So... after about an hour of downloading and installing Pie... Everything worked perfectly - in fact, Pie managed to resolve some long standing screen glitches I'd been having with Oreo, ever since I bought my G6 back in July of 2018.
Since the March 2019 Pie update, I've subsequently received two further OTA updates - in August and September.
The one in August was a security patch update for 1 June 2019, but it also included Google's Digital Wellbeing App, which for some strange reason had been omitted in the original Pie update back in March. Although this OTA update installed without any noticeable problems, I decided immediately afterwards to perform a factory reset... It just seemed a prudent measure to take - to clear the decks, so to speak, and begin afresh with a clean slate.
---------------------------------------
Here's a list of my Pie/Security patch updates, so far this year...
(Yeah, I know... I'm a bit OCD, keeping a detailed record of such things)
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-24) Android 9.0 Pie Update (from Android 8.0 Oreo) with 1st January security patch. Notified: 01:05, Tue 24 Mar 2019. Downloaded: 01:43 to 02:02 (17 mins to download 1431.2Mb). Commenced installation at 02:02; Completed at 02:37 with no problems.
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-37-4) with 1st June security patch. Notified: 21:41, Mon 5th Aug 2019. Downloaded: 21:42 to 21:54 (12 mins to download 818.6Mb). Commenced installation at 22:00; Completed at 22:28 with no problems.
Performed a factory reset after this OTA, just to clear the decks and begin afresh.
Moto G6 OTA (PPSS29.55-37-4-3) with 1st August security patch. Notified: 04:15, Thu 12th Sept 2019. Downloaded: 04:17 to 04:20 (3 mins to download 155.4Mb). Commenced installation at 04:20; Completed at 04:46 with no problems.
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In conclusion then, I'm afraid I cannot give any assurances that the Pie update will NOT give you any problems - there are no guarantees here, unfortunately, and whilst my Moto G6 has been improved with Pie, there's no denying that there have been many reports of Pie OTA related problems with this device. I would strongly recommend that if you do take the Pie update, prepare for a possible factory reset, by ensuring everything in the internal storage that is important, is safely backed up elsewhere first.
With regards to possibly reflashing the G6,
maybe back to Oreo, I'm afraid I can't help or advise you there. I haven't reflashed or rooted a device for about two years now - the benefits of doing so seem to me to be fairly marginal these days - so my knowledge about such things is a little out of date. My own Moto G6 will likely be my first device who's bootloader will probably never be unlocked.
As far as Lenovo fixing anything... Well, I wouldn't put money on it! They don't seem to be overly concerned with the kind of problems that I've seen reported on their forums.
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Apologies for my somewhat non-committal response to your implied question ("Should I update to Pie?"), but as I mentioned at the beginning, my own experiences of Pie may not be reflected by others. Indeed, when reading through the posts on the Lenovo forums about Pie, a few months ago, I was very surprised by the largely negative response that the Pie OTA had engendered, and when the time came for me to update to it, I was even more surprised when everything went perfectly, with none of the problems that had been reported there.
All I can say then, is that Android 9.0 Pie on my Moto G6 has been problem free, and is an improvement over its predecessor, Android 8.0 Oreo.
Hope this helps - and apologies for this rather long post - I do go on a bit sometimes
Kind Rgrds,
Ged.
Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again, Peabody424...
Appreciate your kind works, and yep, you're correct in your deduction that I'm in the UK. I should have mentioned that in my prior post... My Moto G6 update channel is retgb.
Personally, I would be very hesitant to flash anything, from any archive. I used to flash stuff, frequently, on previous devices, some years ago. But it seems to me, reading here on these Moto G6 forums, that such things have become ever more complicated in recent years, and potentially prone to error, and possibly a device hardbrick.
It's not something you should do lightly, and not without a considerable amount of reading and research beforehand. Now, maybe I'm being a little over cautious, and some longstanding Moto G6 flashing expert will post saying so... But I'd rather be cautious and have a device that works with Oreo, rather than one that doesn't (maybe permanently) with an attempted failed flash of Pie. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and don't much care for the risks anymore...
--------------------------------
Regarding disabling OTA updates... I'm fairly certain you need root for that.
However... If you look in Android Settings>>Apps & notifications>>Advanced>>See all apps, then tap on the 3 dot overflow menu at the upper right hand corner of the screen, and select Show System... then scroll down to locate an app called Motorola Update Services. Tap to enter, and you'll notice that whilst it can be forced-stopped, the disable button is greyed-out, and is thus not available.
But you COULD disable it's notifications as illustrated in my screenshot below... Not sure if that would work in the long term, 'cos the update would still be pending, you just wouldn't be being notified of it - and maybe the update would/might proceed anyway, at some point - I'm just not sure, to be honest.
Hope this helps, and good luck, whatever you choose to do
Rgrds,
Ged.
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Peabody,
I also saw your post in the other thread, so here is my $.02. I have a US retail unlocked phone that is running PPS29.118-15-11. I updated from 8.0 (OPSS27.104-92-6) to Pie with the PPS29.118-11-1 OTA. My experience was different from GedBlake in that the update almost immediately showed signs of lagginess. For me it seemed that anytime the phone tried to access anything from the network in the background, it would lag the foreground. I uninstalled stuff, played with settings, even reset to factory, to no avail. Then someone recommended that I use RSD Lite to reflash PPS29.118-11-1. The difference is, that unlike the OTA, RSD Lite wiped the phone entirely and gave me a fresh starting point. Why a factory reset did not obtain the same state, I have no idea. But what I can tell you is that my G6 ran like glass after that. I got nervous when I got the notification to update to PPS29.118-15-11 OTA, but I bite the bullet and the upgrade went fine and it still runs like a champ.
-Chris
First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
Code:
pm disable com.motorola.ccc.ota
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To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
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If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!
WoKoschekk said:
First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
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To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, WoKoschekk...
Yeah, the password/lockscreen problem was just something I'd read about over on the Lenovo Motorola forums - it was never a problem for me. And your solution of using TWRP, whilst useful to know, likely wouldn't have helped most of the posters there, as most, if not all, are running bootloader locked devices with no TWRP installed. I seem to recall that running unmodified factory stock is a condition of posting there, if you expect a response from a Motorola Service Agent, which I suppose is understandable.
Your solution of disabling Motorola's OTA update app using ADB is something that occurred to me too, but I'm not too enthusiastic about recommending procedures that I've not tried myself... I didn't want to suggest something that might have screwed up the OP's device, however unlikely that may be.
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.
You won't have any negative effects by disabling this app. Since it's not possible to deactivate it this might be the only way to turn off the notifications permanently. You can enable the app when ever you want it.
Thanks very much for the responses.
In years past, I have flashed new rom to an old Hisense tablet, but that was a high-anxiety process since I was a total newbie. I'm still basically a civilian here, but understand that it's not entirely impossible that I would be able to do these things successfully. But just so I understand:
Using ADB to disable the update app would (probably) stop the notifications and prevent Motorola from forcing through the update to Pie. But it is not rooting, is reversible, and (if reversed) wouldn't void my warranty. Right?
Using RSD Lite does root the phone, which is not reversible, and does void my warranty. (The rom is factory stock, but you can't un-root.) Also, it's not possible to revert to Oreo after flashing Pie. Right?
Edit: It looks like I was wrong about not being able to un-root. A Youtube video by RootJunkie suggests using RSD Lite restores the phone to stock in every way, and it would become unrooted. So no warranty issues?
Chris, your experience with RSD is really encouraging. From what you said, you did try a factory reset after the OTA update, and it was not successful. But the RSD re-flash of the same rom did work, and continues to work. I just wish I understood why the reset didn't work but RSD did. Anyway, there are now several more updates after 29.118.11.1. Should I let the 11.1 OTA happen, then do RSD LIte, or just do RSD Lite from the existing Oreo, or do RSD Lite from Oreo to the latest rom? I guess we don't know whether any of that matters.
I tried to download RSD Lite from rsdlite.com, but got a 404. Is it available directly from Motorola? Also, I have a Win7/64 computer and an XP computer. Does it matter which one I use for RSD Lite?
Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.
A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peabody424 said:
A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris
cdaly1970 said:
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you said in the other thread that you did do a factory reset after the original OTA update, but found that it didn't fix things. If that's the case, then it seems pretty clear that the RSD Lite flash leaves the phone in a different state than the factory reset, although nobody knows why that would be the case since the rom is presumably the same either way.
Thanks for the clarification on rooting. The only reason I would need to root the phone is to be able to hide certain pictures and apps, but I may be able to do that without rooting.
So I have both the 11-1 and 15-11 roms and RSD Lite, and I have the v6.4.0 drivers although I don't think I need them since Win7 already communicates with the G6. If I can muster up the courage, I'll go ahead and give it a try, probably with the 15-11 rom.
A couple more questions: I don't have an SD card installed, but what about the SIM? Is it ok to leave it in the phone when doing RSD Lite? And do I need to set any Developer options, like USB debugging?
Thanks very much for your help on this.
GedBlake said:
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to try this, disabling com.motorola.ccc.ota for user zero as described in that article. And it appears to have worked. Well, normally I would have received the Pie OTA notification immediately on power-up, and after 20 minutes now it hasn't arrived. So while it may be a bit early to count chickens, I'm encouraged. If I decide at the last minute not to risk upgrading to Pie, maybe at least I can continue to run Oreo in peace.
When I go to Settings/Apps&Notifications/AppInfo/ShowSystem/Motorola Update Services, it shows "Not installed for this user". I think that's a good sign.
I did have to install the Motorola ADB driver for this to work. The article doesn't mention that, but I guess it would be obvious to anyone but me.
A question has come up in the Lenovo forum thread as to whether it is necessary to unlock the bootloader in order to run RSD Lite on newer phones like the G6. Chris, or anyone else who knows, can you clarify this? My understanding is that the whole point of RSD Lite was to restore a phone to factory condition, and that flashing stock roms signed by Motorola permitted them to be flashed without unlocking or rooting or anything else.
JimmiH on the Lenovo forum has found "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant", a new utility from Motorola, which is installed on your PC (Win 7 or 10). Included in the utility is a "rescue" function which appears to do the same thing as RSD Lite - resurrect a phone from any software issues. It downloads the correct official rom and reflashes it to the phone. JimmiH will be reporting back over the next few weeks as to whether the rescue has permanently solved his Pie lagginess issues.
The advantage of this LMSA over RSD Lite is that it runs on Windows 10, and presumably works with USB3 ports, while apparently neither was the case with RSD Lite. And of course you don't have to go hunting for the right rom.
This could potentially be a nice easy fix. Let's hope so.
Curious as to the results of the the "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant" reflashing method on moto G6. Has anyone had sustained success using this method?
I factory reset my phone in an attempt to cure the Pie lagginess, and had limited success - as other users describe there was a joyful month without lag, then a return to lag over the following months. Within two months you will be back to the same state of constant lag.
I am preparing to move to a Google Pixel 3a but wanted to give the G6 one last chance. I will be attempting the LMSA fix and hope to report back within a few months if this solution is permanent.