Hey guys.. My System Version is listed as being 6.13.215.XT894.Verizon.en.us. (This phone is about a week or 2 old for me) I have installed safetsrap recovery just to see how it works etc and have successfully installed the Eclipse port on the non-safe system. Now that I am done having fun with that, I would like to upgrade my system to newer leaked versions. My question is this: Should I uninstall safestrap before attempting to flash any of the leaked updates? How should I go about removing safestrap the "best" way? Also could someone please enlighten me with the correct "order" of these releases? EG: 6.11.200, 6.11.202, 206 etc. I guess I'm confused bc my system version starts with 6.13 instead of 6.11. Any help much appreciated!
I'm in the same boat as you, safestrap w/eclipse setup and I think I want to just switch to ICS 211
Pretty sure there are 2 methods, one with fastboot, and one with safestrap.
Fastboot method (droidforums.net/forum/droid-4-roms/212634-simplified-211-update-guide.html) definitely requires you to uninstall safestrap, but I think that automatically happens when you flash w/stock 219.
Safestrap method (droidforums.net/forum/search.php?searchid=4780372) allows you to just use a 211 ICS rom. But, I'm not sure if you already have to have done the fastboot ICS, I think you may have to fastboot ICS then install safestrap and safestrap into 211 ICS from 206 or 208 ICS.... Anyways, that's about where I am right now, trying to figure out if I safestrap to a 211 ICS rom from my current stock 219 GB, will it brick my phone. :/
---------- Post added at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 PM ----------
Oh also (droidforums.net/forum/droid-news/212864-another-ics-leak-here-droid-4-maybe-closer-ota.html) says that "212 ICS should be leaked soon". You may want to just hold tight, lots of new leaks means that something big (and easy to install for noobs like me ) may be coming soon .
The adventure continues...
Thanks for the quick response man... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one in this situation! I've been "creeping" on this board for 2 years now, (which I can't believe how fast that time went by) and thought it was about time that I start posting etc... you know what I mean, I see that was your 4th post so, that makes 2 situations where we are in the same boat! Thanks for the links brother I have actually read those, but need to checkup on them again... ALSO, my system downloaded an update the other day, (OTA) and was automatically going to install it (I clicked on download, thinking it would just download and wait for me to do the install manually like i have been used to in the past...) So, I tried to interrupt the download by throwing my phone into airplane mode really quick and then forcing a shutdown. Next time I turned on my phone I end up seeing the "Green Android with a triangle" screen, and a progress meter.. and I KNOW what that means. Something was flashed automatically by the phone. I got nervous, but my phone booted up perfectly, and I still had root, along with safestrap intact. I'm still a bit confused by what might've happened, but am relieved that my phone is still working perfectly... strangeness. I'll update this thread w any more info I can find. Thanks again!
Time out guys! First off, you cannot flash the ICS leaks in safestrap. The leaks are updates, not full ROMs. Second, you cannot flash a ROM based off the ICS leaks in safestrap unless you update you stock system to an ICS leak first. Well, you probably could, but it wouldn't boot. If you are on GB .215 you will need to update to .219 first. If you are on GB .219, and have not installed safestrap, you should be able to flash the an ICS leak via stock recovery without fastbooting. If you have installed safestrap, I believe you have to fastboot using the .219 file since safestrap changes something in the build.prop that will cause the leak update to fail.
The Optimizer said:
Thanks for the quick response man... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one in this situation! I've been "creeping" on this board for 2 years now, (which I can't believe how fast that time went by) and thought it was about time that I start posting etc... you know what I mean, I see that was your 4th post so, that makes 2 situations where we are in the same boat! Thanks for the links brother I have actually read those, but need to checkup on them again... ALSO, my system downloaded an update the other day, (OTA) and was automatically going to install it (I clicked on download, thinking it would just download and wait for me to do the install manually like i have been used to in the past...) So, I tried to interrupt the download by throwing my phone into airplane mode really quick and then forcing a shutdown. Next time I turned on my phone I end up seeing the "Green Android with a triangle" screen, and a progress meter.. and I KNOW what that means. Something was flashed automatically by the phone. I got nervous, but my phone booted up perfectly, and I still had root, along with safestrap intact. I'm still a bit confused by what might've happened, but am relieved that my phone is still working perfectly... strangeness. I'll update this thread w any more info I can find. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, same here, I'm just taking as much info in right now as possible. I think our options are eclipse, stock 219 with frozen apps, or ICS. Oh if you use stock at all, I'd recommend upgrading to 219, I think that was a major update, my battery life has just about doubled... then again I only had my phone for about a week before upgrading, and about 3 weeks total now.
kwyrt said:
Time out guys! First off, you cannot flash the ICS leaks in safestrap. The leaks are updates, not full ROMs. Second, you cannot flash a ROM based off the ICS leaks in safestrap unless you update you stock system to an ICS leak first. Well, you probably could, but it wouldn't boot. If you are on GB .215 you will need to update to .219 first. If you are on GB .219, and have not installed safestrap, you should be able to flash the an ICS leak via stock recovery without fastbooting. If you have installed safestrap, I believe you have to fastboot using the .219 file since safestrap changes something in the build.prop that will cause the leak update to fail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clarifying that ^^, kwyrt, I've read some of your other posts they are always quite informative!
Glad I could help! There are a LOT of nice, helpful people in these forums. Just keep asking questions! Doing some of this stuff can be nerve wracking even if you know what your doing. I actually, finally, got up the nerve to jump on the ICS leak train last night. If you decide to take the leap, I highly recommend using jsnweitzel's Droid 4 Utility located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1714596. Made the process much easier than it has any right to be.
Android 4.0.4 flash Success! =)
So I decided to take the leap last night... first thing I did was every way of factory resetting I know how to do hehe. (Privacy, factory reset under settings, then a data and dalvik clear in recovery) Downloaded the GB219 file, put it on my SD, fired up the Droid 4 Utility (thanks to everyone who contributed!) and had no problems at all upgrading. I wasn't worried about root so I skipped the OTA rootkeeper process. Next I needed to get to an ICS build. Again, I used the Droid 4 utility.... only difference being that we had to flash the boot.img file first.. (ICSFIX.img). On my first go, I successfully flashed the new boot.img (ICSFIX), but then got a sig verification error when trying to flash the OTA zip. ****. Soft brick at 2AM... heh. at least I still had plenty of time. Re-DL the OTA file, copied it over again and repeated the entire procedure, this time with success. Really Glad I decided to upgrade! Thanks guys!
Related
Hey guys,
This is my first post and first rom on my D3. I have, however flashed my D1 multiple times. So I have an idea about what i'm doing, but i'm not 100%. Anyhow, I was running 5.7 since it got released OTA. Was extremely happy with the fixes that came out in that ver. Started searching around and ended up flashing Liberty3 2.0 a few weeks ago. I noticed the battery drained somewhat fast when idling. So I did some searching and installed the speedy v7 script. Even got the "it works!" file when i looked in root browser. I also made sure to wipe data, reboot multiple times, wipe battery states and click my heels 3 times.
Battery life probably improved a bit, I still dont think its as good as stock 5.7. It is probably acceptable, but I am used to charging my phone before I go to sleep. Having around 90% battery life when i wake up, and being able to run on that one charge for almost 24 hours. This may be attributed to the surprisingly good sleep policies in the stock blur battery manager. I would love to have those built in to liberty. But I think that some of it also has to do that when I flashed liberty, my version dropped to 5.6.890.
Now after reading the entire thread for Liberty3 2.0, I see that people say to "apply hascode's patch" for 5.7. The thing is, no one links it. Did some poking around and are they talking about the second link from the bottom of this page:
hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads (please add .html, i am new)
If so, do i just drop it on the SD card, boot in to safestrap and apply the zip?
Sorry this is long-winded. I just wanted to explain the extent that I have gone through before asking a question.
dtr3030 said:
If so, do i just drop it on the SD card, boot in to safestrap and apply the zip?
Sorry this is long-winded. I just wanted to explain the extent that I have gone through before asking a question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, just install the rom and patch, both from clockwork recovery (cwr/safestrap). That patch is for his cm7 build I believe but I would still give it a shot if I was you, worst that happens is you have to restore a backup w/cwr and it might be what you need.
Haha again no link. It's a mystery patch!
it's there. i'm a noob and cant post links. thats why i said "someone please add .html"
but here it is again:
hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads . h t m l
i looked again right now and the bottom two look like rooted stock roms. the one just above that labeled "Users of OTA 5.7.894 apply this patch (after applying main .zip) md5sum 46c140b55469ab557cd053e992142223" might be what i'm after. i'm still on 5.6 tho.
hashcodes patch will work for liberty if youre installing it on 5.7.894. Yes it is for CM7, but it works for CM9/Liberty and probably all AOSP roms. I havent tried it with a blurrred rom. http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html is the link (lol)
MrJudylicious said:
hashcodes patch will work for liberty if youre installing it on 5.7.894. Yes it is for CM7, but it works for CM9/Liberty and probably all AOSP roms. I havent tried it with a blurrred rom. http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html is the link (lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does it do btw?
I'm trying to figure out how to push my system to 5.7 while running liberty. Somehow I went from stock 5.7 to liberty 5.6. I still have the verizon system update on my sd card cuz I had debloated before and needed to manually update. It was 50mb I think. I don't think that will update libery tho, will it?
I assume the hashcode patch is his own system tweaks and fixes.
Thanks for sharing this. BTW, do you know how I would go to 5.7 when I already have Liberty3 2.0 running over 5.6? I have no idea how this whole bootstrap thing works... More complicated than HTC and Samsung where you'd only get bootloader and recovery...
I'm using SafeStrap 1.6 and I'd like to not delete any settings I currently have. If that is possible...
what you should do is return to stock blur 5.6.890 (i prefer to sbf but ive received a lot of flack for it). Once on stock, root, install OTA rootkeeper from market, download the 5.7.894, install via stock recovery. Restore root from OTArootkeeper, install safestrap 1.06, install recovery from within the app, restart, hit menu during boot menu, make a backup, toggle safe system, format /system (under mounts and storage), install liberty, install hashcodes 5.7.894 patch!!!, factory reset clear data/cache, boot it up.
Obviously you would lose every settting you have. the idea behind safestrap is to leave your stock system untouched, and its about as surefire as it gets.
Current phone information should be attached. Short form is, I'm using the Gummi 1.2.0 rom, put onto my phone after using safestrap (and following the instructions to make a backup before doing so). Safesystem is enabled.
Two backups: located on my external SD card
nonsafe-2012-05-26.07.52.54/
safe-2012-05-27.08.06.28/
Safestrap recovery v1.09 (afraid to update to 2.0 without breaking more stuff)
What I'm looking to do is return my phone to working stock, which I believe was Gingerbread 2.3.6. That said, every time I've touched this thing trying to go back, I've black screened it. I don't live in an area with 4g (screw the mountains, and their 1x service), so any attempts to connect to the 4g network for any part of the process will require me driving into Pennsylvania, 30 minutes away. I've heard before that you can't return from the ICS leak to the Stock for the Droid 4, for various reasons (but i believe the important one was it was a later firmware and it isn't a process designed to go backwards)
I'd like to know if thats still the case currently, or if something has changed. I'm getting shaky wifi/data/cell reception up here, and its flawless back on stock. Hell, I've got an old razor as an emergency phone that's flawless up here. Next time I'll do more research for this stuff I was a proud OG droid owner, and ran cyanogenmod on it before the vid card fried one evening. Thought the droid 4 would be a good deal, but I've had nothing but trouble with the roms on it.
All that said, I can simply smash and return this droid if its the only way to get a stock one back, but I don't like destroying useful and good technology when I can help it. Besides, I like fixing the problems I create.
Thanks for the help XDA, either way.
-- TheChaoticDoctor
Did you flash the leak ICS from Motorola or did you use Safestrap and flash Gummy ICS?
If you flashed the leaked ICS, there is no going back. You will need to find get the files to flash the partial .219 system back so you can run the .206 leak update again.
If you just used safestrap to flash Gummy 1.2.0 then you can use the .219 flash files to completely re-do your phone.
Currently there are no ROMs to flash if you are on the leak, Hashcode just released his Safestrap 2.0 to do so but still nothing to flash. All the current ICS ROM builds are for the stock phone running the Gingerbread Kernel.
Sorry about the delay, was off camping. I rooted the phone first on gingerbread, then eventually installed safestrap and flashed the gummi rom. Can you (or someone else) walk me through the steps for flashing the .219 files and then flashing the .206 files?
TheChaoticDoctor said:
Sorry about the delay, was off camping. I rooted the phone first on gingerbread, then eventually installed safestrap and flashed the gummi rom. Can you (or someone else) walk me through the steps for flashing the .219 files and then flashing the .206 files?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should probably go up to .208, that's the latest leak. Make sure to use rootkeeper, and follow all the instructions. So far I haven't lost root, but be aware I'm stuck on .206 because I don't want to lose root....
Look here for more info:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26311439
Sent from my XT894 running ICS
First of all, it sounds to me like you've just flashed a ROM, not flashed the leak. If that is the case, you can just toggle the safe mode in safestrap to get back to stock. Safestrap lets you toggle between stock and the ROM. It is pretty awesome because you can play with the ROM and then go back to stock whenever you need to.
If you HAVE flashed the Motorola leak (as opposed to just a ROM) you are SOL.
If you haven't flashed the Motorola leak and just want to get back to factory conditions, you'll have to flash via RSDLite. That info you should be able to find here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1622256
Honestly I WOULD NOT flash the leak at this time. IMHO, it doesn't really offer enough to risk getting off the upgrade path forever, and losing the ability to flash back via RSDLite.
soo my current phone right now is a Samsung stratosphere, well i have been having some big problems with it and well verizon said since i'm a long time and good customer (never ever been late on my bill) they said he will upgrade me to the droid 4 for 50$ without renewing my contract.
i am kinda new to the whole motorola stuff as i have allways had samsung android phones (i had a Motorola Backflip but i sold it 2 months later to get the Samsung captivate so i never got the chance to root it or anything) i noticed these phones have locked bootloaders and is just all pretty much on lock down compared to Samsung phones is that true?
does the droid 4 have root? and does it have custom roms? can you edit Boot animations on this phone with only root? does this phone officially have ICS?
i will be getting my Droid 4 tomorrow morning in the mail and very excited i have not done anything cool with phones since i had my Epic 4G as the stratosphere had no one working on it and only had root and that was that
First off, welcome to the D4! It really is a wonderful piece of hardware. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Now, to answer some of your questions.
1. Yes, the D4 has a locked bootloader. What does this mean? It means we are stuck with the kernel that Moto gives us. It does make it a bit more difficult of the devs but other than that, it’s really not THAT big of a deal. Of course I might not be saying that if I was the one developing ROMs for this thing.
2. The D4 does have root. The Droid 4 Utility makes it a piece of cake. Look for the “Droid 4 Utility Updated” thread in the dev section.
3. The phone does not officially have ICS. Not yet anyways. We have had 4 or 5 ICS leaks from Moto that run really really well so it can’t be far off. I am currently running the .213 ICS leak myself and it has been flawless for me.
4. We do have a few custom ROMs. There a couple of GB based ROMs that run off the stock GB kernel. Those are Eclipse and Arctic. I ran Eclipse for quite a while. Very nice. There is also CM9, AOKP, and Gummy ICS ROMs that run off the stock GB kernel. Your mileage may vary with these as they are a bit buggy from running off an older kernel. We now also have CM9 and AOKP ROMs based off the ICS kernel from the Moto ICS leaks. These are really early builds but I have been running the CM9 build for a few days now and it is surprisingly stable for how new it is.
5. I am not sure about changing boot animations. It seems I have seen somewhere, someone saying that using ROM Toolbox to change the boot animation sent them into a bootloop and they had to restore a backup. Not sure on that though. Haven’t tried it myself.
ok well from the looks of it i wanna go straight to ICS!
how would i go about doing that from Stock non root? i saw the one click root for GB and looks easy but how about ICS with root?
if i do flash the ICS leak and when the official ICS comes out will it brink my phone if i upgrade from ICS leak to ICS official?
it just seems for right now i wanna just have ICS with root and play with custom roms later when the official ICS comes out.
Since you will be going straight from stock the process will be really easy. Just download the latest ICS leak .zip file (currently .213) and stick it on your external sd card. Boot into stock recovery (hold power + volume up + volume down and select recovery), when you get to the little android guy in a box, hit volume up + volume down, then select the option to install from sd card, select the .zip file, let it do its thing and like magic, you’re on the latest Moto ICS leak. Then use the Droid 4 Utility update by jsnweitzel to root.
If you flash the ICS leak you will have to jump though a couple of hoops to get back on the OTA when it finally comes out. The OTA won’t brick your phone, it just won’t install. But there is a thoroughly tested way of jumping from leak to leak that should work to jump to the OTA and be back on the official upgrade path. This functionality is also built into jsnweitzel’s tool.
ok i went to http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...leak-kernel-crc-droid-4-build-6-16-213-a.html to download the .213 ICS update but it list 3 things
CRC file,Kernel,Leak
do i need to download the kernel or CRC file as well? or just the Leak file
icebear8 said:
ok i went to http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...leak-kernel-crc-droid-4-build-6-16-213-a.html to download the .213 ICS update but it list 3 things
CRC file,Kernel,Leak
which one do i download and put into the SD card and flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you will need is the leak as long as you have an external sd card. The kernel is only needed for people jumping from one leak to another and I believe the crc file is for those who do not have a external sd card installed.
ok i see i got that stuff downloaded
now about the Droid 4 utility
i downloaded the tool, but under the number 2 part it says to download the GB 219 fastboot files do i need those as well? i tried downloading them but it seems both links are down
also in that droid 4 utility walkthrough it says to download the kernel for
"2. Get the matching Kernel 6.16.213 (boot.img) here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Byw...1J0VFBCY1NBM2M
Unzip this folder and copy the boot.img to the "files" folder of the tool. It must be named "ICSFIX" for the tool to work."
also one more thing how does motorola phones do Backups? is there a CWM to backup my phone in case of a brick?
You will need the GB .219 fastboot files eventually to jump from the leak to the OTA (unless .213 ends up BEING the OTA). But you don’t need them right now since you will already be on unmodified stock GB.
You also do not need the kernel since you are on stock GB. You only need the kernel if you are going from one leak to another.
ok sounds good,
also one more thing how does motorola phones do Backups? is there a CWM to backup my phone in case of a brick?
icebear8 said:
ok sounds good,
also one more thing how does motorola phones do Backups? is there a CWM to backup my phone in case of a brick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now we have safestrap recovery. You should find the thread in the dev section. Since you will be on ICS you will want the 2.0 version meant for ICS. You can use this to make a backup as well as to boot into a "safe" system to install ROMs without screwing up you stock "unsafe" system.
i saw the droid razor is getting the ICS update as well, since we have pretty much the same phone are the updates suppose to come out at the same time? are the ICS leaks the same as the Maxx?
Unfortunately no. Moto has stated the D4 will get an ICS update in Q3. With the frequency and quality of the leaks I have to guess that that it will be sooner rather than later but who knows.
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk 2
icebear8 said:
ok well from the looks of it i wanna go straight to ICS!
how would i go about doing that from Stock non root? i saw the one click root for GB and looks easy but how about ICS with root?
if i do flash the ICS leak and when the official ICS comes out will it brink my phone if i upgrade from ICS leak to ICS official?
it just seems for right now i wanna just have ICS with root and play with custom roms later when the official ICS comes out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My office just got rid of BB and handed out D4's as replacements and the first thing I did with mine was to install the 213 ICS leak and am NOW happy with the device. Have not rooted it yet, that will happen in the next day or so.
well at first the Rep was not gonna let me have the droid 4 and said that most likely his boss wont give it out because the stratosphere is a cheaper phone (the phones he was gonna give me were the LG lucid,Droid charge,Pantech breakout.
but i told the guy i need a keyboard and that was the only reason why i got the strat for, so the guy said he would try to talk down with his manger and well he comes back and tells me he had good news and his manger said yes to the droid 4 as long as i paid something for it (i said $50) and he said that was fine
but he said he would send me a new backplate along with it but no charger (i got my old one but it is really ****ty and falling apart so i gotta order a OEM from Ebay tonight)
i tried using the search but could not find my question but do we have a list of apps that can be safely debloated from this phone on ICS? i like to have my phone free from Verizons crap along with un needed stuff that just waste battery
^^Also looking for a list of things we can remove to debloat all the [email protected] from verizon (can't even use it anyway since i am in canada!)
First off, unfortunately, most of the bloatware cannot be removed without causing problems. A lot of what moto and VZ builds into these things are interdependent on each other. Plus, the OTA updates look to make sure you still have that crap on your phone before it will update. So, unless you can long press on the app in the app drawer and it gives you an option to uninstall, it's best not to. There are some apps that can safely be uninstalled like, the golf and NFL games. The rest you are better off freezing with a program like Titanium Backup. I haven't seen a list on XDA but there is a good list on DF here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-4-hacks/198081-bloatware-apps-safe-remove-droid-4-a.html that are safe to freeze. This list was started based on stock GB but most, if not all, should apply to ICS as well. I used it to freeze a bunch of stuff on the .213 ICS leak with no problems.
kwyrt said:
First off, unfortunately, most of the bloatware cannot be removed without causing problems. A lot of what moto and VZ builds into these things are interdependent on each other. Plus, the OTA updates look to make sure you still have that crap on your phone before it will update. So, unless you can long press on the app in the app drawer and it gives you an option to uninstall, it's best not to. There are some apps that can safely be uninstalled like, the golf and NFL games. The rest you are better off freezing with a program like Titanium Backup. I haven't seen a list on XDA but there is a good list on DF here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-4-hacks/198081-bloatware-apps-safe-remove-droid-4-a.html that are safe to freeze. This list was started based on stock GB but most, if not all, should apply to ICS as well. I used it to freeze a bunch of stuff on the .213 ICS leak with no problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that you can now "disable" applications natively in ICS. keep in mind that if you updated any of the apps the updates must be uninstalled first. Just go to apps / all apps select the app/bloat you want to disable and select, you guess it, disable.
Never mind i think it was a bad download
question i got my phone charged to 100% my last from goes by 100% to 99,98,97 etc etc but i see on this phone after about 15mins it went from 100% to 90% and then 80 over time does this phone go by 10s?
I have had my Bionic for a while now and have been thinking about rooting it. I finally got the ICS update but have been using GO Launcher too much to even notice it. Anyway, like I said, I want to root my phone. I am current on all updates. For some reason it's running at a tenth of it's memory tho not much is running that I can see. This leads me to believe there's things running in the background that I can not see. I am reluctant to get rid of all my apps, but I also don't want anything that's eating all my resources either. I kinda want to start new but kinda don't. I guess I just don't like letting go of anything.
I know this is selfish of me, but I am hoping that this thread will stay clean of others chiming in asking about their issues. I just don't want the thread to lose focus since this is about what I hope to get from my phone.
Ok, so here are my questions or favors to ask:
Since my phone is fully updated, do I need to do some other updated steps for rooting my phone or is rooting always the same no matter the build or version?
When I go to root my phone, I back up everything first and then I get it back, right?
I read somewhere that it's possible to brick the phone. What precautions should I take to avoid that?
Can I get all the benefits of a rooted phone without a ROM?
Are ROMs really that awesome that I should get one, or three?
I am interested in a ROM after some posts and pages I read. I was attracted to CM at first but so is everyone else probably at first. Does CM even work on the Bionic? And if it does, does everything work like the camera and Bluetooth?
As I said earlier, I use GO Launcher. One of the things I really like about it is the folders I can make in the App Drawer. Now CM is based off of ADW Launcher, but no options to make folders in the app drawer? Is it possible in any way if I choose CM as my main ROM?
Is CM overrated? Liberty and Eclipse look nice too. I also read a little, very little, about AOKP. Any suggestions? I want to get rid of a lot of extra processes and bloatware but I don't want to lose some of the apps pre-installed like Google Maps and Navigation, etc. Unless there are other, much better replacements that anyone knows of.
I know most of this is personal preference but I am hoping to find a comprehensive way at figuring out what's best for me.
I had more questions but I will wait and ask more as the thread continues.
Oh, I don't really need answers in step by step unless I ask. A simple link would suffice unless it's not covered anywhere.
Thanks for reading this, I hope I am not frustrating anyone as I am sure similar posts have been made.
You're basically asking to have this entire forum summarized into one post...
Spend some time reading, then ask smaller, more concise questions.
Not trying to sound like a ****, but i could spend an hour answering all of that. Half of those questions could be answered with some reading of the ROM specific threads.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.
CycoPuppet said:
Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.
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Click to collapse
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/4026-samurihls-house-of-bionic/
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic
Obsidian_soul said:
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter Can not post links
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic
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Click to collapse
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?
CycoPuppet said:
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: http://droidbionicroot.com/droid-bionic-root/how-to-root-ics-on-droid-bionic-and-motorola-android/
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.
Ratamacue said:
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: Can not post links
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
Oh one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?
CycoPuppet said:
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
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Click to collapse
No, a factory data reset doesn't wipe the ROM, but it does require running the initial setup (as if you were setting up a brand new phone).
CycoPuppet said:
...one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You definitely want to back up everything you're not willing to lose. I ran a backup the very first thing after installing SafeStrap, and it was a good thing because with all my messing around I managed to bork my stock ROM to the point that it wouldn't boot. Fortunately, all I had to do was restore it from a backup.
My phone on CM 10.1 had enough issues with freezing and crashing that I decided this morning to try a different ROM. So far, I've had really good results with Icarus HD (a custom ICS ROM). I really don't know if my experience with CM 10.1 was typical.
OK, so I want to root. Now does rooting wipe any data? Regarding Safestrap, I install that first before rooting?
Rooting doesn't wipe any data. Root first, then install SafeStrap.
Okay, I will be rooting and installing safestrap when I get home for work today. I will still have more questions I am sure. I do have a few before I actually start rooting or right after.
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?
CycoPuppet said:
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. SafeStrap is full recovery only. Use Titanium Backup for backing up apps and data.
2. Flashing a ROM won't do anything to your external SD card.
3. When you set up ROM slots, you'll be asked how much room you'd like to allocate for data. The choices are 1, 2, or 3 GB. I started off allocating 3 GB to the stock ROM slot and was never able to load more than 3 separate ROMs before I ran out of room. I'd start with just using 1 GB for data.
4. Each ROM is an island. You have to download the apps separately (unless when you go through the initial setup you tell the system to restore apps and settings from the Google servers.)
Cool. I rooted and got safestrap but it's version 3.05 and not 3.11. Some ROM I was interested in said must have 3.11, which I am assuming that's the newest one so far. I did watch a tutorial about getting the current version, so no question there.
So the ROMs are separate islands and during flashing they can be in slots allocated up to 3GB. Does that mean that's the only amount of storage I can have when running that ROM? Say I like taking lots of photos and didn't save them to my external card, could I essentially run out of space or is the storage allocation just for the ROM itself and any updates it may have?
Sorry about these series of questions, just want to make sure I am doing it correctly in case I might make a mistake for future's sake.
The storage allocation is for the ROM, apps, and data that haven't been assigned to the external SD card. You can definitely run out of space if you load several ROMs and don't save any of your data to the external SD card.
Also, keep in mind that when VZW sends the OTA update to 4.1 next week, the only way to keep root is to root in ICS and use Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to protect root before you take the OTA. If you flash the system image, you will lose root, and there is no known working root exploit for the Bionic JB release.
Lost Root
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?
auglove3rd said:
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not root exploit yet for bionic JB. And if you try to FXZ back to an earlier version, you will brick your phone.
OK, so I rooted, got safestrap tho still not updated to 3.11, got TBU (free), got Voodoo. I had to race the clock today cuz it was updating android, or at least downloading the update. The root process I used gave me SuperSU and didn't tell me the version for the SU binaries. I searched around and all I could find was info on SuperUser in regards to backing up root. I uninstalled SuperSU, kinda. I just told it to use a different SU cuz when I used SuperUser and updated the binaries, SuperSU wanted to update them, then I opened SuperUser and the binaries reverted back. I was worried so I just told SuperSU to use a different SU. Was that ok? I didn't update to JB yet. Has there been luck with the Bionic using voodoo and keeping root after the JB update?
All this back and forth means I'm making a full image backup, then trying various ROMs. I've tried CM10.1, too many issues (no car dock, trouble installing lots of apps, no speakerphone). Next is... Whizzed Bean?
EDIT: Seems Speakerphone issue was fixed in the 0420 nightly. Will have to try it again.
AND I copied all the backups to my PC, so I can restore them at will (provided the phone still boots, that is... )
If I can't find a JB ROM I like I guess I can do HouseofBionic reflash (which did NOT cause me to lose data, as I upgraded to ICS that way) then allow the JB OTA to go through.
*sigh*... So much bull**** in these updates.
Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.
CycoPuppet said:
Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WB is a fork of CNA (codename Android) 4.1 JB (which is itself based on AOSP)
while Synergy is a fork of the standard Moto ICS (.246).
Yes, they look identical because they both used the Samsung UI elements.
So its been awhile since I flashed a ROM to my BIONIC. That was back before ICS was even released for the BIONIC. So I started looking at updating to one of the more stable ROMS that has way better performance that this stock one. Currently I have 6.7.232 on my phone and I would like advice on which ROMs are best for this device. I have looked into some such as Gameblur, Raging Bionic, and Icarus HD. Thus far I havent really decided on one but I have noticed that some of them are on Jelly Bean. I am not sure if I have to return to the OTA path to update to any of these. I also have Safestrap 3.11 installed. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.
Any help out there?? Thanks.
HarielA4 said:
I have looked into some such as Gameblur, Raging Bionic, and Icarus HD. Thus far I havent really decided on one but I have noticed that some of them are on Jelly Bean. I am not sure if I have to return to the OTA path to update to any of these. I also have Safestrap 3.11 installed. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Gameblur and Raging Bionic both require one to be on the 98.72.22 Moto 4.1.2 Jellybean update. Incarus HD however is ICS base and can be flashed with your current setup.
If you are destine to update your stock side I would first prep what you currently have on there right now. See this HERE for getting stuff ready.
I would backup anything on the internal storage before hand and make sure that you have a full battery.
You will find the proper FXZ files HERE. If you are on 6.7.2-223 update then use the one for 4.0.4. It would be easier to root again through the update process. After you have completed the restore processes and root through the HOB. Make sure you have VooDoo Root Keeper installed on your phone to back up Root and to disable Root. Then with a good Data connection you are going to take the update Via OTA. Once the update is complete and you are fully booted up. Use VooDoo to restore your Root and test using root explore or NoFrills CPU.
nobe1976 said:
See this HERE for getting stuff ready.
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The link provided there has a post from the OP that states House of Bionic is discontinued and to use House of Moto. Should I do that?
Secondly I havent for sure decided which Rom I will be moving to. I feel that the interface I have been using is kinda laggy. I installed Next launcher to see if that made a difference and it was more responsive but still my system memory usage skyrockets after a couple hours and sometimes the only way to resolve it is to restart the device. Any recommendations as to which Rom I should move to?
HarielA4 said:
The link provided there has a post from the OP that states House of Bionic is discontinued and to use House of Moto. Should I do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try using the House of Moto stuff also depending on what you feel more comfortable on using. The HOM was desighned to have one interface for all Moto devices instead of each having its own individual setup. I would still use HOB for your purpose only because I don't know if he added in the script to root the device, which was made for ICS versions not JB hence the discontinued portion of it.
HarielA4 said:
Secondly I havent for sure decided which Rom I will be moving to. I feel that the interface I have been using is kinda laggy. I installed Next launcher to see if that made a difference and it was more responsive but still my system memory usage skyrockets after a couple hours and sometimes the only way to resolve it is to restart the device. Any recommendations as to which Rom I should move to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tested and played around with a lot of different ROMs and tweaks to find the one that I am ultimately satisfied with. Flying Jelly, well the name speaks for itself, Rage, and GameBlur (which I had minor help in) all work fine for there purpose.. One must pick and choose which one suits there purpose. So my suggestion would be to install SafeStrap 3.60, which is the latest updated one, and create a few slots and run each the same as you would Stock or any other firmware to measure which one suits your needs.....
In a previous post you wrote "If you are on 6.7.2-223 update then use the one for 4.0.4.". I went to the FXZ site and it shows that the 4.04 rom has version 6.7.223 on it already. I already have root. Why would I need to install the same version again and reinstall root to get on the OTA. I just want to make sure I understand this to avoid making mistakes. Thanks.
Then if you feel confedent that all will go well then just install Voodoo to backup and disable root. Take the OTA update and see if it will install. The most that will happen is that if it detects that something is missing from the current firmware you have the installation process will fail and reboot back into what you currently have. At that point you will have to FXZ your stock back to the way it was installed originally, root, then backup root and disable, then take the OTA. ICS is way easier to root then JB. I have kept Root before via OTA when I got it, so I know it Voodoo will keep the backup and install it..
nobe1976 said:
Then if you feel confedent that all will go well then just install Voodoo to backup and disable root. Take the OTA update and see if it will install. The most that will happen is that if it detects that something is missing from the current firmware you have the installation process will fail and reboot back into what you currently have. At that point you will have to FXZ your stock back to the way it was installed originally, root, then backup root and disable, then take the OTA. ICS is way easier to root then JB. I have kept Root before via OTA when I got it, so I know it Voodoo will keep the backup and install it..
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I think I miscommunicated what my question was. The instructions say to install the FXZ for the 4.0.4 that has the same version of Android OS that is currently installed. the further instructions say to install the OTA from verizon but everytime I check for an update nothing shows up on my phone. Where else can I get the OTA?
In addition I want to know what I should do about safestrap. Should I remove it before installing the OTA or is it fine to leave as is when I go to install the OTA?
OK... If you cannot even get Big Red to send you the update. You can fxz the update, but at that point you will loose root, but have the option to keep your current data. Go see House of Moto or House of Bionic over at droidrazr.com
As far as Safestrap I would just uninstall recovery through the app the reboot so it clears out before the fxz process.
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fyi I think he took House of Bionic down, didn't see a link. I can however attest that House of Moto worked perfectly fine. Flashed fresh .232 and VZW sent me the OTA (I tried voodoo rootkeeper before updating). I did lose root despite following all of the steps. To get it back your best bet is to boot up a live Ubuntu disc. I tried the VM that someone compiled but it kept failing.
PS: nobe1976, how the hell did you fit 3 ROMS on your phone? I can only fit one ROM (besides obviously stock). Wish we could install ROMs through safestrap to SD (internal or external).
mikemikemikexxx said:
fyi I think he took House of Bionic down, didn't see a link. I can however attest that House of Moto worked perfectly fine. Flashed fresh .232 and VZW sent me the OTA (I tried voodoo rootkeeper before updating). I did lose root despite following all of the steps. To get it back your best bet is to boot up a live Ubuntu disc. I tried the VM that someone compiled but it kept failing.
PS: nobe1976, how the hell did you fit 3 ROMS on your phone? I can only fit one ROM (besides obviously stock). Wish we could install ROMs through safestrap to SD (internal or external).
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Click to collapse
This is the Exploit I have been using the past few days.. HERE.
However Samuri didn't remove the HOB site, He just doesn't maintain it as much since HOM. Here is the LINK to that f needed.