Hello everyone,
Before I describe the issue I have been experiencing, I would like to say thanks in advanced for providing me assistance.
Okay currently, I am running.905 base band, and have followed the method for flashing back to .902(FXZ) in order to receive the .905(OTA), and have rooted my device using the moto-fail exploit. The issue I have been experiencing is persistent boot loops when flashing any ICS ROM(I am using CWM 4.0.1.5) via Bionic Bootstrap.
The procedure I have been using(assuming I am rooted and on .905),
Boot the device into recovery(CWM via Bionic Bootstrap)
Wipe Data/Factory Reset.
Wipe Dalvik, and System.
Apply update from SD-CARD(Initial ROM).
Apply update from SD-CARD(correct GAPPS for build).
Reboot ----->> Then the device boot loops.(I restore the device using the FASTBOOT Method).
I am aware of safestrap(but I do not want to "pseudo dual boot", ROMS, I prefer to flash over existing installs.
Is there anyone else experiencing this issue? or does anyone have a recommended solution(other than using safestrap)?
Thanks again!
Most, but not all, ROMs require GApps. Make sure the one you are installing does.
There is now a .905 FXZ that you can use to shorten the waiting time.
Make sure you are NOT using Bootstrap for ICS .
Most ROMs already wipe /system as a party of the install procedure.
*** MAKE SURE YOU ARE USING A ROM DESIGNED TO BE INSTALLED IN BOOTSTRAP AND ONE THAT IS NOT DESIGNED TO RUN ON THE ICS LEAKS.
HTH
Sent from my rooted BIONIC running ICS 6.7.235 via Tapatalk 2
johnlgalt said:
There is now a .905 FXZ that you can use to shorten the waiting time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where?
The one that has been available for download is not a true zip.
It fails in RSD and no zip utility can decompress it.
I've tried downloading from 3 different sources.
-s
Atheistnofaith said:
Hello everyone,
Before I describe the issue I have been experiencing, I would like to say thanks in advanced for providing me assistance.
Okay currently, I am running.905 base band, and have followed the method for flashing back to .902(FXZ) in order to receive the .905(OTA), and have rooted my device using the moto-fail exploit. The issue I have been experiencing is persistent boot loops when flashing any ICS ROM(I am using CWM 4.0.1.5) via Bionic Bootstrap.
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you installing one of the ICS releases like AOKP or CM9 or are you trying to install an ICS Leak?
If you're trying to install one of the official ICS Leaks, they will only flash in Stock Recovery.
suprsidr said:
Where?
The one that has been available for download is not a true zip.
It fails in RSD and no zip utility can decompress it.
I've tried downloading from 3 different sources.
-s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's there, it's not an OTA, it is a true FXZ, given to us one week ago.
If the file you are downloading is less than 300MB it is definitely not the right one. The file name is the same as the .902 FXZ except .902 is replaced by .905.
I don't have the link on my phone, but PM me and i can link you to it back here tomorrow.
Sent from my rooted BIONIC running ICS 6.7.235 via Tapatalk 2
johnlgalt said:
It's there, it's not an OTA, it is a true FXZ, given to us one week ago.
If the file you are downloading is less than 300MB it is definitely not the right one. The file name is the same as the .902 FXZ except .902 is replaced by .905.
I don't have the link on my phone, but PM me and i can link you to it back here tomorrow.
Sent from my rooted BIONIC running ICS 6.7.235 via Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried again w/ the one listed http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1328100
VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip ~488MB
and you cannot use it in RSD as it will fail and you cannot unzip it
7zip:"Can not open file 'VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip' as an archive"
I found it listed 3 different places and DL'd all each w/ same result.
I spent all day last Thursday flashing different ROMs and each time I had to use the OTA to get to .905 if this VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip had worked it would have saved me hours.
If you know where I can find a working version you would get my vote for president.
-s
suprsidr said:
I just tried again w/ the one listed http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1328100
VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip ~488MB
and you cannot use it in RSD as it will fail and you cannot unzip it
7zip:"Can not open file 'VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip' as an archive"
I found it listed 3 different places and DL'd all each w/ same result.
I spent all day last Thursday flashing different ROMs and each time I had to use the OTA to get to .905 if this VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip had worked it would have saved me hours.
If you know where I can find a working version you would get my vote for president.
-s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though I haven't tried it, this one might be the correct one, it's about 512 MB in size.
http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/fastboot/VRZ_XT875_5.9.905.XT875.Verizon.en.US_CFC.xml.zip
**Disregard, it is only listed as being 512 MB, it is actually the same as above.
Hey,
This is a pretty long post, so if all you're interested in is the 905 FXZ file, scroll down to the "FXZ to 905" section, it's bolded.
Problems with flashing ICS ROMs ( in regards to OP, by Atheistnofaith ) :
You may already know this, but each custom ROM is "built off" of one of the stock roms, flashing from a different starting point will often cause your phone to not boot correctly ( boot loop, or freeze at the Motorola logo ), or will boot, but not work correctly ( i.e. something like data will not work ). This, combined with the fact that many new ICS ROMs are built on the ICS leaks, could account for the problem ( Are you sure you're not trying to flash a ROM built on an ICS leak? That would definitely not work! ).
Another possible issue is that you are using the Bionic Bootstrap program to flash CWM. The version of CWM flashed by that program is rather old ( 4.x.x.x vs current: 5.x.x.x ). You may not like this, but Safestrap is the way to go. Before you defer me to the OP, "I am aware of safestrap(but I do not want to "pseudo dual boot", ROMS, I prefer to flash over existing installs." I want to point out that Safestrap is not for the purpose of Dual-booting ROMs, or at least, that's not how many people use it. Safestrap has many features that will: prevent being stuck at bootloops ( and needing to re-Flash 902/905 every single time ), allow you to always have a backup system ( i.e. I've soft-bricked the side that I flashed ROMs on, and since I needed to use my phone, I just opened safestrap ( battery pull, start booting phone, and hit the menu button at the Safestrap prompt ), and toggled safe system in the safeboot menu. This brings up another advantage of Safestrap: you don't need to be able to boot the phone to access CWM, installing safestrap adds a new bootup prompt that either lets you open safestrap or boot normally. Again safestrap is based on a much newer version of CWM, so if you don't want to install it for any other reason, install it for that one...
Setting up for, and using Safestrap:
So if I've convinced you that you want to use Safestrap ( I really recommend you do ), follow the instructions given here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993 until step 10. Then root with motofail, and install Safestrap 2.0 ( download it here:
Code:
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1359&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D1328100&v=1&libid=1343056993296&out=http%3A%2F%2Frombot.droidhive.com%2FROMs%2Ftarga%2FBionicSafestrap-ICS-2.00.apk&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D1006&title=%5BLIST%202012-07-18%5DOne%20Stop%20Shop%2C%20ROMS%2C%20MODS%2C%20SCRIPTS%2C%20TOOLS%2C%20ROOT%2C%20BOOTSTRAP%20-%20xda-developers&txt=2012-06-22%20Safestrap%20v2.0&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13430595105542
). The file should be an apk, just install it on your phone, open it, and select the option to flash it.
If I haven't convinced you to use Safestrap, go to the section titled, "Picking a compatible ICS ROM". ( Then reconsider, and come back, lol ).
When you're ready to flash a ROM, power off the phone, turn it back on, while booting, a new screen will pop up, saying something like "Safe system: Disabled", while that screen is shown, hit the menu button. The screen will temporarily go blank ( Don't panic ), then it should enter a CWM-like setup ( it looks very similar and functions the same ). Now's a good time to do a full backup ( Same as CWM ). From there, go to safeboot menu, then go to toggle safe system ( Don't do quick toggle ). This will take a few minutes. Next flash the zip like you normally would with CWM. If All goes well, you can exit that ( same as CWM ) and the ROM should boot. If it doesn't ( give it at least 5 minutes though ), do a battery pull, and power on the phone again, going into the Safestrap menu like before ( hit the menu key at the screen ), and then go to the safeboot menu and toggle safe mode ( DO NOT QUICK TOGGLE NOW!!! Doing this will require you to re-FXZ ). After that finishes, reboot and your phone should be back to stock, ready to load a working ROM on it.
Picking a compatible ICS ROM:
As mentioned before, each ROM is built on a certain OTA release, like 905 or 902, or even the leaked ICS OTAs. Any ROM that say "ICS" and "LEAK" in its name is not for 905, or anything prior. For a list of 905 based ICS ROMs, check this out: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ ( Make sure you don't install anything from the "ics-leak-builds" folder ). CM9, AOKP, and AOKP AXIOM should all contain 905-based ICS builds. Try flashing something from there.
If you have a specific ROM in mind, read the forum post about it, making sure it doesn't say that you need to be on an ICS leak build. Make sure it's 905 based.
FXZ to 905:
I found two links to the new 905 FXZ. While I can't guarentee that either will flash ( I don't want to flash right now, I like where I am... lol ), I have tested and found that RSD Lite is willing to extract them, so they should flash. If one doesn't work, you can always try the other:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B26Hj6_2TMNTZ256eV9QbWpBSTQ from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?71oyq7h8eskax6d from: http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...u-ics-back-updated-7-21-12-a.html#post4664922
Keep in mind that flashing these will essentially perform a factory reset on your phone, remove root, remove CWM and Safestrap, and possibly wipe all internal storage ( i.e. /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard ).
Conclusion:
Hopefully you found what you're looking for here. I would suggest trying out an ICS leak, they're all much more stable than the 905-based ICS builds. Also, there's a good amount of development going on that's based on them. ( For ICS builds based on the ICS leaks, See here: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ics-leak-builds/ ).
So if you want to try out an ICS leak, here's a link to a how-to ( but first a disclaimer ):
WARNING: DO NOT FLASH THE 235 ICS LEAK. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FXZ BACK TO 905. YOUR BEST BET IS 232
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
If you use the 905 FXZ linked to above, make sure to give crobs808 ( The OP of that above thread ), a good thumbs up, he's the one that posted the FXZ.
Sorry this got so long. I hope this helps you get things working again. Good luck,
jedi453
projektorboy said:
Are you installing one of the ICS releases like AOKP or CM9 or are you trying to install an ICS Leak?
If you're trying to install one of the official ICS Leaks, they will only flash in Stock Recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To further explain, I am not flash any of the ICS leaks, I am flash aokp, other etc etc. Also other posts stat to flash directly via FXZ file(the 905 firmware). I have attempted to flash the .905 on two bionics on both coming from 905 already, and will most defiantly wipe your web-top files, and corrupt your phones firmware(not brick it but Fasboot will end up failing to boot "A.6 error"), this is well documented not to flash directly to the fxz(.905) if you already have it installed it will corrupt your web-top files soft bricking your phone. The process requires you restore back to .902 and then apply .905 update(not fxz). Anyways thanks for the help, I have not flashed any of the leaks, only attempt were AOSP based roms. Maybe it is time to test out safestrap?
jedi453 said:
Hey,
This is a pretty long post, so if all you're interested in is the 905 FXZ file, scroll down to the "FXZ to 905" section, it's bolded.
Problems with flashing ICS ROMs ( in regards to OP, by Atheistnofaith ) :
You may already know this, but each custom ROM is "built off" of one of the stock roms, flashing from a different starting point will often cause your phone to not boot correctly ( boot loop, or freeze at the Motorola logo ), or will boot, but not work correctly ( i.e. something like data will not work ). This, combined with the fact that many new ICS ROMs are built on the ICS leaks, could account for the problem ( Are you sure you're not trying to flash a ROM built on an ICS leak? That would definitely not work! ).
Another possible issue is that you are using the Bionic Bootstrap program to flash CWM. The version of CWM flashed by that program is rather old ( 4.x.x.x vs current: 5.x.x.x ). You may not like this, but Safestrap is the way to go. Before you defer me to the OP, "I am aware of safestrap(but I do not want to "pseudo dual boot", ROMS, I prefer to flash over existing installs." I want to point out that Safestrap is not for the purpose of Dual-booting ROMs, or at least, that's not how many people use it. Safestrap has many features that will: prevent being stuck at bootloops ( and needing to re-Flash 902/905 every single time ), allow you to always have a backup system ( i.e. I've soft-bricked the side that I flashed ROMs on, and since I needed to use my phone, I just opened safestrap ( battery pull, start booting phone, and hit the menu button at the Safestrap prompt ), and toggled safe system in the safeboot menu. This brings up another advantage of Safestrap: you don't need to be able to boot the phone to access CWM, installing safestrap adds a new bootup prompt that either lets you open safestrap or boot normally. Again safestrap is based on a much newer version of CWM, so if you don't want to install it for any other reason, install it for that one...
Setting up for, and using Safestrap:
So if I've convinced you that you want to use Safestrap ( I really recommend you do ), follow the instructions given here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993 until step 10. Then root with motofail, and install Safestrap 2.0 ( download it here:
Code:
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1359&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D1328100&v=1&libid=1343056993296&out=http%3A%2F%2Frombot.droidhive.com%2FROMs%2Ftarga%2FBionicSafestrap-ICS-2.00.apk&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D1006&title=%5BLIST%202012-07-18%5DOne%20Stop%20Shop%2C%20ROMS%2C%20MODS%2C%20SCRIPTS%2C%20TOOLS%2C%20ROOT%2C%20BOOTSTRAP%20-%20xda-developers&txt=2012-06-22%20Safestrap%20v2.0&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13430595105542
). The file should be an apk, just install it on your phone, open it, and select the option to flash it.
If I haven't convinced you to use Safestrap, go to the section titled, "Picking a compatible ICS ROM". ( Then reconsider, and come back, lol ).
When you're ready to flash a ROM, power off the phone, turn it back on, while booting, a new screen will pop up, saying something like "Safe system: Disabled", while that screen is shown, hit the menu button. The screen will temporarily go blank ( Don't panic ), then it should enter a CWM-like setup ( it looks very similar and functions the same ). Now's a good time to do a full backup ( Same as CWM ). From there, go to safeboot menu, then go to toggle safe system ( Don't do quick toggle ). This will take a few minutes. Next flash the zip like you normally would with CWM. If All goes well, you can exit that ( same as CWM ) and the ROM should boot. If it doesn't ( give it at least 5 minutes though ), do a battery pull, and power on the phone again, going into the Safestrap menu like before ( hit the menu key at the screen ), and then go to the safeboot menu and toggle safe mode ( DO NOT QUICK TOGGLE NOW!!! Doing this will require you to re-FXZ ). After that finishes, reboot and your phone should be back to stock, ready to load a working ROM on it.
Picking a compatible ICS ROM:
As mentioned before, each ROM is built on a certain OTA release, like 905 or 902, or even the leaked ICS OTAs. Any ROM that say "ICS" and "LEAK" in its name is not for 905, or anything prior. For a list of 905 based ICS ROMs, check this out: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ ( Make sure you don't install anything from the "ics-leak-builds" folder ). CM9, AOKP, and AOKP AXIOM should all contain 905-based ICS builds. Try flashing something from there.
If you have a specific ROM in mind, read the forum post about it, making sure it doesn't say that you need to be on an ICS leak build. Make sure it's 905 based.
FXZ to 905:
I found two links to the new 905 FXZ. While I can't guarentee that either will flash ( I don't want to flash right now, I like where I am... lol ), I have tested and found that RSD Lite is willing to extract them, so they should flash. If one doesn't work, you can always try the other:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B26Hj6_2TMNTZ256eV9QbWpBSTQ from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?71oyq7h8eskax6d from: http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...u-ics-back-updated-7-21-12-a.html#post4664922
Keep in mind that flashing these will essentially perform a factory reset on your phone, remove root, remove CWM and Safestrap, and possibly wipe all internal storage ( i.e. /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard ).
Conclusion:
Hopefully you found what you're looking for here. I would suggest trying out an ICS leak, they're all much more stable than the 905-based ICS builds. Also, there's a good amount of development going on that's based on them. ( For ICS builds based on the ICS leaks, See here: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ics-leak-builds/ ).
So if you want to try out an ICS leak, here's a link to a how-to ( but first a disclaimer ):
WARNING: DO NOT FLASH THE 235 ICS LEAK. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FXZ BACK TO 905. YOUR BEST BET IS 232
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
If you use the 905 FXZ linked to above, make sure to give crobs808 ( The OP of that above thread ), a good thumbs up, he's the one that posted the FXZ.
Sorry this got so long. I hope this helps you get things working again. Good luck,
jedi453
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the advice, but I have tested the method of flashing .905 directly via fxz on two bionic's, and can/will soft brick your phone. This has been documented not to because the webtop files are not included in the .905 fxz files, and if you flash an existing systems running 905 you will corrupt your firmware(the good old AP Fasboot failing to boot with an A.6 error I have tested this on two bionics with the same results both running .905. The solution is to flash back to .902, and then apply the OTA update(or dump the update to the cache directory) to .905. That is just a warning.
jedi453 said:
Hey,
This is a pretty long post, so if all you're interested in is the 905 FXZ file, scroll down to the "FXZ to 905" section, it's bolded.
Problems with flashing ICS ROMs ( in regards to OP, by Atheistnofaith ) :
You may already know this, but each custom ROM is "built off" of one of the stock roms, flashing from a different starting point will often cause your phone to not boot correctly ( boot loop, or freeze at the Motorola logo ), or will boot, but not work correctly ( i.e. something like data will not work ). This, combined with the fact that many new ICS ROMs are built on the ICS leaks, could account for the problem ( Are you sure you're not trying to flash a ROM built on an ICS leak? That would definitely not work! ).
Another possible issue is that you are using the Bionic Bootstrap program to flash CWM. The version of CWM flashed by that program is rather old ( 4.x.x.x vs current: 5.x.x.x ). You may not like this, but Safestrap is the way to go. Before you defer me to the OP, "I am aware of safestrap(but I do not want to "pseudo dual boot", ROMS, I prefer to flash over existing installs." I want to point out that Safestrap is not for the purpose of Dual-booting ROMs, or at least, that's not how many people use it. Safestrap has many features that will: prevent being stuck at bootloops ( and needing to re-Flash 902/905 every single time ), allow you to always have a backup system ( i.e. I've soft-bricked the side that I flashed ROMs on, and since I needed to use my phone, I just opened safestrap ( battery pull, start booting phone, and hit the menu button at the Safestrap prompt ), and toggled safe system in the safeboot menu. This brings up another advantage of Safestrap: you don't need to be able to boot the phone to access CWM, installing safestrap adds a new bootup prompt that either lets you open safestrap or boot normally. Again safestrap is based on a much newer version of CWM, so if you don't want to install it for any other reason, install it for that one...
Setting up for, and using Safestrap:
So if I've convinced you that you want to use Safestrap ( I really recommend you do ), follow the instructions given here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993 until step 10. Then root with motofail, and install Safestrap 2.0 ( download it here:
Code:
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&drKey=1359&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D1328100&v=1&libid=1343056993296&out=http%3A%2F%2Frombot.droidhive.com%2FROMs%2Ftarga%2FBionicSafestrap-ICS-2.00.apk&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.xda-developers.com%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D1006&title=%5BLIST%202012-07-18%5DOne%20Stop%20Shop%2C%20ROMS%2C%20MODS%2C%20SCRIPTS%2C%20TOOLS%2C%20ROOT%2C%20BOOTSTRAP%20-%20xda-developers&txt=2012-06-22%20Safestrap%20v2.0&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13430595105542
). The file should be an apk, just install it on your phone, open it, and select the option to flash it.
If I haven't convinced you to use Safestrap, go to the section titled, "Picking a compatible ICS ROM". ( Then reconsider, and come back, lol ).
When you're ready to flash a ROM, power off the phone, turn it back on, while booting, a new screen will pop up, saying something like "Safe system: Disabled", while that screen is shown, hit the menu button. The screen will temporarily go blank ( Don't panic ), then it should enter a CWM-like setup ( it looks very similar and functions the same ). Now's a good time to do a full backup ( Same as CWM ). From there, go to safeboot menu, then go to toggle safe system ( Don't do quick toggle ). This will take a few minutes. Next flash the zip like you normally would with CWM. If All goes well, you can exit that ( same as CWM ) and the ROM should boot. If it doesn't ( give it at least 5 minutes though ), do a battery pull, and power on the phone again, going into the Safestrap menu like before ( hit the menu key at the screen ), and then go to the safeboot menu and toggle safe mode ( DO NOT QUICK TOGGLE NOW!!! Doing this will require you to re-FXZ ). After that finishes, reboot and your phone should be back to stock, ready to load a working ROM on it.
Picking a compatible ICS ROM:
As mentioned before, each ROM is built on a certain OTA release, like 905 or 902, or even the leaked ICS OTAs. Any ROM that say "ICS" and "LEAK" in its name is not for 905, or anything prior. For a list of 905 based ICS ROMs, check this out: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ ( Make sure you don't install anything from the "ics-leak-builds" folder ). CM9, AOKP, and AOKP AXIOM should all contain 905-based ICS builds. Try flashing something from there.
If you have a specific ROM in mind, read the forum post about it, making sure it doesn't say that you need to be on an ICS leak build. Make sure it's 905 based.
FXZ to 905:
I found two links to the new 905 FXZ. While I can't guarentee that either will flash ( I don't want to flash right now, I like where I am... lol ), I have tested and found that RSD Lite is willing to extract them, so they should flash. If one doesn't work, you can always try the other:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B26Hj6_2TMNTZ256eV9QbWpBSTQ from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?71oyq7h8eskax6d from: http://androidforums.com/motorola-d...u-ics-back-updated-7-21-12-a.html#post4664922
Keep in mind that flashing these will essentially perform a factory reset on your phone, remove root, remove CWM and Safestrap, and possibly wipe all internal storage ( i.e. /sdcard and /mnt/sdcard ).
Conclusion:
Hopefully you found what you're looking for here. I would suggest trying out an ICS leak, they're all much more stable than the 905-based ICS builds. Also, there's a good amount of development going on that's based on them. ( For ICS builds based on the ICS leaks, See here: http://rombot.droidhive.com/ROMs/targa/ics-leak-builds/ ).
So if you want to try out an ICS leak, here's a link to a how-to ( but first a disclaimer ):
WARNING: DO NOT FLASH THE 235 ICS LEAK. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FXZ BACK TO 905. YOUR BEST BET IS 232
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1771993
If you use the 905 FXZ linked to above, make sure to give crobs808 ( The OP of that above thread ), a good thumbs up, he's the one that posted the FXZ.
Sorry this got so long. I hope this helps you get things working again. Good luck,
jedi453
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the advice, I have already tried safestrap, but I do not want to dual boot,(safe strap will not allow you to flash over any currently installed ROMS, it appears to "sandbox" and new installs). To answer your question, I am not using the ICS leaks straigh AOKP, AOSP, and CM9(none flash without bootloops in CWM), and I understand the only way to install them is via stock recovery. lol I do not want a "sandboxed rom", because it simply is wasteful in regards to diskspace. Although, I do have a question are the ICS leaks still using motoblur as a the default launcher? Thank you again!!!
Related
Hey Guys, I don't think this has been posted before, so thought I'd share. I managed to get CM9 working with my Bell XT860 *without* needing to change up the phone using another country's fastboot file.
My phone was Bell 2.3.6, rooted, otherwise stock. I used Hashcode's safestrap to make a nandroid backup and install the latest patched CM9 from Rick#2 available here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465297
I actually didn't expect it to boot up, but thought I'd give it a go since even if it failed the worst that could happen is that I'd have to SBF anyways.
At first it was a black screen, I had to do a battery pull. After the battery went back in, it started booting up with the animation screen, which showed multiple times over about 5-10 minutes. Then the phone started up Ice Cream Sandwich!
I've been testing it out a bit.. not much yet, but Market is working, data 3g seems to be working 2700 kbps up / 1341 kbps down (with a server that's super far away, 321ms ping). GPS is working... Wifi good. Camera does not work.
Wow, I never expected this. I think this gives hope to those who want to try out Ice Cream Sandwich but still want the ability to go back to stock. Or am I missing something?
ncho2233 said:
Hey Guys, I don't think this has been posted before, so thought I'd share. I managed to get CM9 working with my Bell XT860 *without* needing to change up the phone using another country's fastboot file.
My phone was Bell 2.3.6, rooted, otherwise stock. I used Hashcode's safestrap to make a nandroid backup and install the latest patched CM9 from Rick#2 available here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1465297
I actually didn't expect it to boot up, but thought I'd give it a go since even if it failed the worst that could happen is that I'd have to SBF anyways.
At first it was a black screen, I had to do a battery pull. After the battery went back in, it started booting up with the animation screen, which showed multiple times over about 5-10 minutes. Then the phone started up Ice Cream Sandwich!
I've been testing it out a bit.. not much yet, but Market is working, data 3g seems to be working 2700 kbps up / 1341 kbps down (with a server that's super far away, 321ms ping). GPS is working... Wifi good. Camera does not work.
Wow, I never expected this. I think this gives hope to those who want to try out Ice Cream Sandwich but still want the ability to go back to stock. Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you bootloop while in safe mode DON'T SBF. Safestrap works by renaming /system to /systemorig and making /preinstall your new /system.
This means when you're in safemode you can always access recovery. So if you bootloop just battery pull to get out of the loop and then you'll e able to hit menu and enter safestrap. Either flash a different rom or return to nonsafe. If you are using safestrap 1.08 and not 1.08d you can't even flash nonsafe mode (1.08d is tweaked to allow advanced user to flash over their nonsafe, for example I have both liberty and eclipse roms on my phone no stock at all)
Also first boot of a rom always takes a long time. After that it should boot much faster
As another note if you do manage to screw up /systemorig somehow you can use motofastboot utility to flash just the system.img part of the SBF package. This will only replace the rom, then you just reboot, install safestrap and restore you backup.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Wow, thanks for the warning, very good information! It's so good to be able to try some custom roms again. I'm out of CM9 already for lack of camera but so far am really impressed with Liberty, it's like my phone has come to life again. Very quick and responsive, amazing ability to customize as well.
Endoroid said:
If you bootloop while in safe mode DON'T SBF. Safestrap works by renaming /system to /systemorig and making /preinstall your new /system.
This means when you're in safemode you can always access recovery. So if you bootloop just battery pull to get out of the loop and then you'll e able to hit menu and enter safestrap. Either flash a different rom or return to nonsafe. If you are using safestrap 1.08 and not 1.08d you can't even flash nonsafe mode (1.08d is tweaked to allow advanced user to flash over their nonsafe, for example I have both liberty and eclipse roms on my phone no stock at all)
Also first boot of a rom always takes a long time. After that it should boot much faster
As another note if you do manage to screw up /systemorig somehow you can use motofastboot utility to flash just the system.img part of the SBF package. This will only replace the rom, then you just reboot, install safestrap and restore you backup.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi there ,i using 1.08d and try to flash willis111's bell 2.3.6 rom ,and I want to flash it to the orig system ,not the preinstall ,but every I flashed it ,the my xt860 restart and into the ori rom(2.3.5 bra),not the bell 2.3.6.
here is what i do
1 restart my xt860,and press menu
2 in the safestrap,wipe date ,format system ,then in advance flash .zip nonsafe
3 restart my xt860,and still the 2.3.5 bra rom ..
sorry for my bad English ,and great thx
---------- Post added at 04:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:29 AM ----------
Endoroid said:
(1.08d is tweaked to allow advanced user to flash over their nonsafe, for example I have both liberty and eclipse roms on my phone no stock at all)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all I want to know is how to ....thxxxxxxxxx
That's how it should be done
Last time I flashed my /systemorig was before 1.08d had been released so I did it co ming off a fresh fastboot flash using bootstrap to flash liberty, then installed safestrap. I haven't found a rom to replace liberty in my /systemorig yet so I haven't tried the advance flash yet. Sorry.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
newaxis said:
hi there ,i using 1.08d and try to flash willis111's bell 2.3.6 rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
i' desperate for willis111's bell 2.3.6 rom but can't download from rapidshar, there is a way you upload the file to non-repidsher site?
Thanks ahead
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.
ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good writeup. As a note when your switch back to nonsafe you don't need to restore a nandroid. Actually with safestrap you should rarely have to restore a nandroid as its next to impossible to screw up your device so bad that a restore is required. The stock bell /system stays nice and untouched
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Dont you just root, install safestrap and flash paritions to preinstall from stock(to avoid not being able to return to true stock) and not flash the og /system? Obviously works on 2.3.4, 2.3.6 etc any rootable rom capable of running safestrap. You should be able to even use my rom to return to stock deodexed by flashing to /system(non-safe) and removing any custom recovery. It should be very easy to convert that or the og dumps into a system.img for use with rsdlite and even the rest of the stock img files. I'll take a look at it this aft. Thanks for the write up, hope some of this info helps.
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.
Tyfighter said:
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes we can root, there is no need to flash any other countries fastboot files as long as you are on bell 2.3.6. While bell doesn't have a fastboot package yet(sbf) if you borked your device you can use motofastboot to flash just /system from the fastboot package of another country, and then restore a backup, thus everything stays bell stock.
The best advice is to use safestrap and only flash the safemode. You should always be able to get into CWR with safestrap
And yes we are stuck with the GB kernel for now, which is part of the reason developing ics roms has been so painful
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?
Caz666 said:
This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you don't have su binary properly installed. I've had this happen with bootstrap. Check that you have su in both /system/bin and /system/xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Caz666 said:
Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you say that I remember someone else having the same issue and it turned out to be busybox. I had nearly the same problem with the bootstrap and it ended up being su missing from xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
OK I tried this and it works perfectly. Thanks man. This is what I needed.
Finally got around to trying this. I'd been in the middle of a move with my pc in a box, but now I've got ICS fully up and running (save for the whole camera thing). Panicked halfway through when I got into a bootloop, but then I wiped everything (forgot the cache the first time) and then everything worked.
I got wifi tether working with the app that was included in the rom, but have any of you had any luck with doing it natively through the settings? I only ask because being able to trigger it from the status bar would be pretty sweet.
edit: did some looking around and it looks like maybe its an issue with shoehorning GSM into a CDMA rom. At least that's the feel I've been getting, I'd love to be wrong.
Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?
twitchcity said:
Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use zergrush to root 2.3.6. Picture camera works in ics but you can't record or view video. There's some good gb roms. Give me a few and il shoot you some links
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php
ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I
twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Willis111 said:
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
Endoroid said:
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just use one of the patches (small xt860 patches) to get any rom working on our phones as far as I know.
pfak said:
Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for this it will help a ton of peeps
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.
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!
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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.
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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!
I am running the most current version of Liquid ICS on my Droid Bionic and it is rooted and I use safestrap. However recently in the past couple of days when I have tried to flash it to a different ROM (i.e. AOKP, CM9, MIUI, etc) I get the motorola screen on reboot and then my screen goes and stays blank and does not load. I then have to pop my battery out and wipe wipe wipe and then restore.......Any advice??? (yes I also installed my gapps)
Motorola Droid Bionic / [AOSP]LiquidSmooth-ICS-v1.5mr1 ROM
SexyGermanChik said:
I am running the most current version of Liquid ICS on my Droid Bionic and it is rooted and I use safestrap. However recently in the past couple of days when I have tried to flash it to a different ROM (i.e. AOKP, CM9, MIUI, etc) I get the motorola screen on reboot and then my screen goes and stays blank and does not load. I then have to pop my battery out and wipe wipe wipe and then restore.......Any advice??? (yes I also installed my gapps)
Motorola Droid Bionic / [AOSP]LiquidSmooth-ICS-v1.5mr1 ROM
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Hey man I have been having the same issue(s) as well. I have tried both CWM, and Safestrap following the typical clear cache/factory reset/wip dalvik etc(currently I am on .233). I suspect these roms (AOKP, and CM9, MIUI, etc) simply do not work on any of the other leaked based ROMS. From testing(I have tried everyone lol), they install fine on .902 based firmware some even work on .905, but installing over any of the ICS leaks seems to create boot loops(test in CWM, and Safestrap the results are the same). I would recommend flashing back to .902/905 and trying again. I am smelling a lot of bullshting come from people who say they are able to flash over any of the ICS Leaks. btw are you using CWM(4.x.x.x/5.x.x.x) or Safestrap?
Atheistnofaith said:
Hey man I have been having the same issue(s) as well. I have tried both CWM, and Safestrap following the typical clear cache/factory reset/wip dalvik etc(currently I am on .233). I suspect these roms (AOKP, and CM9, MIUI, etc) simply do not work on any of the other leaked based ROMS. From testing(I have tried everyone lol), they install fine on .902 based firmware some even work on .905, but installing over any of the ICS leaks seems to create boot loops(test in CWM, and Safestrap the results are the same). I would recommend flashing back to .902/905 and trying again. I am smelling a lot of bullshting come from people who say they are able to flash over any of the ICS Leaks. btw are you using CWM(4.x.x.x/5.x.x.x) or Safestrap?
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I am using safestrap and never had a problem until last week flashing from my ICS leak to the other ROMS. Should I go back to stock and then install the leak again?
SexyGermanChik said:
I am using safestrap and never had a problem until last week flashing from my ICS leak to the other ROMS. Should I go back to stock and then install the leak again?
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Yes, I would flash back the dev's are not putting correct information out most of these ROM'S (AOKP/CM9Gummy, etc) are not designed to be installed over any of the OTA Leaks(people keep insisting on it), and will cause boot loops like crazy. I have tested on two bionic's and the results where the same flashing over any ICS Leak to AOKP/CM9 etc will cause issues regardless of what 2nd stage boot loader you are using(Safestrap, or CWM via bootstrap). I would recommend flashing back to 902, or 905 using the SBF/FXZ method and installing eclipse 3.0(for .905 baseband), or sticking with the OTA Leaks untill the issues with flashing ROMS in both Safestrap, and CWM have been resolved or the dev's actually give solid advice(i.e. what firmware is actually needed, or what flashing requirements should be meet. Thanks again!!!
Atheistnofaith said:
Yes, I would flash back the dev's are not putting correct information out most of these ROM'S (AOKP/CM9Gummy, etc) are not designed to be installed over any of the OTA Leaks(people keep insisting on it), and will cause boot loops like crazy. I have tested on two bionic's and the results where the same flashing over any ICS Leak to AOKP/CM9 etc will cause issues regardless of what 2nd stage boot loader you are using(Safestrap, or CWM via bootstrap). I would recommend flashing back to 902, or 905 using the SBF/FXZ method and installing eclipse 3.0(for .905 baseband), or sticking with the OTA Leaks untill the issues with flashing ROMS in both Safestrap, and CWM have been resolved or the dev's actually give solid advice(i.e. what firmware is actually needed, or what flashing requirements should be meet. Thanks again!!!
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So I wonder why it has worked for this long and just stopped flashing?