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I'm preparing to exchange my Droid Bionic because of issues with hardware and responsiveness. I one-click rooted the phone and also modified the Hotspot to enable it using a SQL editor.
I wanted to get my Bionic back into fresh-out-of-the-factory conditions. I used Pete's Unroot tool and also did a factory reset. Is this enough to pass any checks Verizon can do to void my warranty? Or will I have to use RSD Lite to reinstall the firmware?
Thanks in advance.
if you didn't delete anything then yeah it's good.
I think the worst I did was freeze apps. I didn't unfreeze any of them before I unrooted and did a factory reset, but I double-checked and they're all back and working (e.g., VZW Navigator, Blockbuster, etc.).
I just want to make sure that when Verizon gets this and they're doing their inspection, a directory doesn't appear that has extra files in it, the firmware seems modified, or anything else that could indicate the firmware was tampered with.
a factory reset doesn't wipe the SD card right?
fine. i meant the SD-ext you stupid phone
you might have rootish directories/files hanging around there...unless i'm wrong
Truly you should just do the rsdlite restore. Minus the download time, it takes like 7 minutes. And it is completely stock.
Thanks for the info. I ran the RSDLite restore on my phone. I started freaking out at first - my phone went from booting up and being ready to be delivered back to Verizon, to not even getting to the Motorola logo during boot-up. I thought I bricked my phone because RSD kept failing. I read through some posts, and it apparently RSD is successful after repeating the steps over and over and over and over and over... again.
Anyway, I ran RSD with the full Bionic restore possibly 100 times. After 2 hours, it was successful. I re-checked the settings and apps and everything was okay (I had read some people were missing the camera app, but mine was there and working). The phone was good-to-go (hopefully). If I get a huge bill from Verizon, I'll update this post in the next 2-3 months (*knock on wood*).
I'm on my second Bionic, the first had to be replaced due to hardware failure. Before it was replaced though I had rooted it and I was unable to update via an OTA update, it would fail everytime. I had not frozen any apps or any of the basic stuff. The only change I made was via an SQL editor for a few app changes which I undid while trying to update. Still to no avail I was unable to update. I'm wondering if this is an Known issue. I am tempted to root my new bionic but I do not want to run in to the same issue. I'm wondering the update failing was related to those hardware issues or if this is some sort of bug caused by rooting that happens from time to time. The Root was done via pete's one touch. Thanks.
Not a known problem. Most likely one of the changes you made caused the issue. Without the exact error messages there is no way to know or help
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA
This is an issue that can be fixed by using r3l3as3droot and for3v3r root to take you back to 886 and then using path saver to get you back on the right track.
The issue isn't from rooting itself but changing certain things or adding things (for me it was adding the webtop hack that prevented me from updating). There may be other ways to fix this problem, but when I had your problem, that's how I fixed it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA
It is so much easier to simply flash the. 902 xml with RSD Lite. All the going back and firwards again is completely unnecessary.
DISCLAIMER: This is my personal experience, it may not be the same for you, YMMV and all that.
Well, short story is that I got fed up with my Nexus 7 having performance of my ancient Win Mobile smart phones. It got to a point where no matter what ROM I ran, be it stock 4.2.1, 4.2.2 or custom Roms from XDA, my Nexus would struggle with even simple tasks.
Examples:
closing tab in chrome - 2-3 seconds
Rotating a screen (nova launched home, only 1 page total) - 3-6 seconds
Launching NFS (game) - 3-6 seconds before I'd see the loading screen, would load for about 15-20 seconds. In game fps would dip to what felt like around 25-30 fps.
Battery dying at 10-15% (tried everything, including disassembly).
After trying everything I decided to ditch the 4.2+ and go back to how it was when I bought it. Reason being that I remember sudden increase in overall system lag when Google released 4.2.
So, here I am running 4.1.2, so far on my second day of use. Here's what I see:
Chrome - much more responsive, tabs client immediately, pages redraws quicker on scroll.
Rotating screen - 1, maximum 2 seconds.
Launching NFS - immediate, loads for about 5-7 seconds. Game interface way more fluid and responsive. Game runs at what feels like fluid 60 fps most of the time, with many cars on screen dips to, I'd say, around 40 fps.
Battery is now at 5%, not shutting down, which is good news to me.
Obviously, things like performance can be very subjective, but overall I do see huge improvement in performance.
Maybe it will work for other people as well who are as annoyed by 4.2.2 sluggishness as I was.
Did you reinstall 4.1.2 from scratch - including fastboot erasure/formatting of file systems suggested by the factory install instructions?
I'm wondering if you would see essentially the same performance if you now reinstall 4.2.2 using exactly the same procedure. (Obviously, you might want to make a full Nandroid backup of the 4.1.2 install so you could nuke 4.2.2 and restore back to 4.1.2 easily).
For instance, if the performance issues were related to filesystem corruption or just simply buildup of app "cruft" over time, or a misbehaving app due to some fault condition happening sometime after the original 4.2.x ota upgrade. (Kinda like re-installing the same version of Windows always seems to speed it up, LOL)
I guess the point is that the most likely root-cause of "lag" is something to do with flash memory (filesystem) I/O as it is the slowest operation in the device. A fair comparison would be fresh install vs. fresh install.
cheers
Try using Clemsons Elite 1500 Extreme Kernel and Cookies and Cream if you can find them, they blow away any 4.2 Kernel/Rom combo and its not even close.
I agree with darkdvr with games being laggy on the 4.2.2. Playing nova 3 stutters a lot.not too pleased with it.the battery drain is also pretty crazy compared to what they say the battery should last with certain usages.I'm also going to downgrade to 4.1.2 to see the difference.hopefully it works and plays better than this 4.2.2. I also think that rooting has something to do with a lot of lag. When stock its smooth and fluent opposed to after rooting. You get pauses and stutters.gonna give it a go tonight
I never delete fastboot, but I formatted sdcard/system, and all caches. I holy doubt that this case is that "build up" that we are all familiar with on Windows, since 4.2.2 was laggy for me right away, as soon as apps are installed and launcher configured - nexus immediately becomes a slow ass lag sloth. It was always rather terrible for me, although I am hyper sensitive to lags and delays on any system. I know most people aren't that anal about it.
Interestingly enough, I restored almost all my apps with titanium, including their data, s I can say that its not the apps, its the system. Using android since 2.1, I can safely say that 4.2.2 is the laggiest and most messed up release since, probably, eclair. They really dropped the ball here. I hope 4.3 will be QAed more thoroughly.
bftb0 said:
Did you reinstall 4.1.2 from scratch - including fastboot erasure/formatting of file systems suggested by the factory install instructions?
I'm wondering if you would see essentially the same performance if you now reinstall 4.2.2 using exactly the same procedure. (Obviously, you might want to make a full Nandroid backup of the 4.1.2 install so you could nuke 4.2.2 and restore back to 4.1.2 easily).
For instance, if the performance issues were related to filesystem corruption or just simply buildup of app "cruft" over time, or a misbehaving app due to some fault condition happening sometime after the original 4.2.x ota upgrade. (Kinda like re-installing the same version of Windows always seems to speed it up, LOL)
I guess the point is that the most likely root-cause of "lag" is something to do with flash memory (filesystem) I/O as it is the slowest operation in the device. A fair comparison would be fresh install vs. fresh install.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested. Could you post the steps to do the downgrade?
hotsync100 said:
I'm interested. Could you post the steps to do the downgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really easy with the Nexus 7 toolkit - get it HERE (dev forum).
Basically, I backed up user apps with Titanium Backup and copied the backup to my PC.
Launched the toolkit, created nandroid backup of 4.2.2 ROM (option 4 in the Toolkit AFAIR).
Booted into the recovery, formatted everything (sdcard, system, all caches).
From recovery booted into fastboot mode (all volume buttons + power button).
With toolkit, downloaded and installed 4.1.2 factory ROM and installed it onto Nexus.
For some reason first one didnt boot for me (stuck at nexus X), so I cleared cache/system data, redownloaded it and flashed it again. Thankfully, Toolkit guides you through the steps.
Then, an optional step, I used a hack apk from xda to prevent nexus from checking for ROM OTA updates. Now I'm at 4.1.2 and my Nexus is finally back to its original snappiness.
is it possible to run 4.1.2 with 4.2.2 bootloader?
RobYyY said:
is it possible to run 4.1.2 with 4.2.2 bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I highly doubt it, and it would ruin your experiment "cleanliness", I'd say.
I recently attempted to downgrade to 4.1.2, to see what all the fuss is about... but without flashing the bootloader. My attempt didn't get very far...
Code:
checking product...
OKAY [ 0.031s]
checking version-bootloader...
FAILED
Device version-bootloader is '4.18'.
Update requires '3.41'.
finished. total time: 0.250s
Press any key to exit...
I'm loathe to unnecessarily flash the bootloader (unless absolutely required to do so). So I abandoned my attempt...
----
All I can say is 4.1.2 must be pretty damned fast, because I've never had any problems with 4.2.2.
I have noticed though (and this could just be the 'placebo' effect), that wiping CACHE and DALVIK CACHE does seem to make for a marginally more smoother experience.
LagFix (fstrim) Free is also widely reported as fixing lag issues in 4.2.2... although I can't say I've noticed much difference after running it.
But then, as I say, 4.2.2 (custom ROM - see sig) runs liquid smooth for me anyway.
Rgrds,
Ged.
hotsync100 said:
I'm interested. Could you post the steps to do the downgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you wanna try manual method here is step by step guide to downgrade from 4.2.2 to 4.1.2 using fastboot.
Following instruction in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1907796 except for
1.Download the Nexus 7 4.1.2 factory image from the link instead of 4.2.2 .
2.On Flashing the Factory Image step.
Change following line
fastboot flash bootloader
and
fastboot -w update
to match the name of 4.1.2 factory image instead of 4.2.2 for example
change from
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-grouper-4.18.img TO fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-grouper-3.41.img
and
fastboot -w update image-nakasi-jdq39.zip TO fastboot -w update image-nakasi-jzo54k.zip
Downgraded for a bit, and did not particularly enjoy 4.1.2, and I wound up going back to 4.2.2 after completely wiping the system and accidentally having to re-update my recovery. I've noticed my battery life has finally gone back to the way it used to be when I first got my N7, and the performance seems better to me when I play Voxel Rush (only game I really play on here). I believe my problems with 4.2.2 earlier were indeed caused by a lot of crud built up from flashing previous ROMs and kernels over time.
dwxvi said:
Downgraded for a bit, and did not particularly enjoy 4.1.2, and I wound up going back to 4.2.2 after completely wiping the system and accidentally having to re-update my recovery. I've noticed my battery life has finally gone back to the way it used to be when I first got my N7, and the performance seems better to me when I play Voxel Rush (only game I really play on here). I believe my problems with 4.2.2 earlier were indeed caused by a lot of crud built up from flashing previous ROMs and kernels over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4.2.2 after flashing seems to be somewhat on par with 4.1.2, but please report back to us in several days, I bet it will slow down to a crawl.
Another easy way to downgrade would be to install cyanogenmod 10.0.0. Also, please don't start downgrading your bootloader. It shouldn't be necessary for flashing stock 4.1.2 and it might complicate things if you want to flash custom kernels in the future.
For what it's worth, I'm running 4.2.2 with no noticeable lag. I just bought it used so I did a factory reset just before updating. Maybe that has something to do with it?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Hm. I have none of the problems you had on 4.2.2. I'm running 4.2.2 and it's pretty snappy.
Rotating the screen takes about 1-2 seconds.
Closing tabs in Chrome is instantaneous.
Apps launch quickly.
Battery holds out to about 3% before I plug it in.
Hm. Maybe you had a lot of apps installed? I have quite a few but not as much as some people
Do you guys have multiple user accounts? I've been playing around with it a bit, and maybe it's just me but I feel it's a bit slower when you have more than on user. Anyone else noticed this? I did a quick Google search and seems others have noticed it too.
dwxvi said:
Downgraded for a bit, and did not particularly enjoy 4.1.2, and I wound up going back to 4.2.2 after completely wiping the system and accidentally having to re-update my recovery. I've noticed my battery life has finally gone back to the way it used to be when I first got my N7, and the performance seems better to me when I play Voxel Rush (only game I really play on here). I believe my problems with 4.2.2 earlier were indeed caused by a lot of crud built up from flashing previous ROMs and kernels over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery life also sucks,I want to try this.
Which way did you downgrade?
demolition23 said:
My battery life also sucks,I want to try this.
Which way did you downgrade?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't have to downgrade to do this, you would just have to back up your data (the important stuff) and completely wipe your internal storage so that everything is cleaned up and ready for a re-install of 4.2.2. Then you can re-load your data. I would reccommend using Wugfresh's Nexus Toolkit for this.
dwxvi said:
You won't have to downgrade to do this, you would just have to back up your data (the important stuff) and completely wipe your internal storage so that everything is cleaned up and ready for a re-install of 4.2.2. Then you can re-load your data. I would reccommend using Wugfresh's Nexus Toolkit for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did that, and will post results when I have a clear picture.
I never want to touch the stock rom again, how do I make the most of my xt894?
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
mirddes said:
I never want to touch the stock rom again, how do I make the most of my xt894?
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install the Rom you want on stock slot
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
Its that easy?
Because I installed safestrap on the stock rom, does it not get deleted when I wipe the stock rom?
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
mirddes said:
Its that easy?
Because I installed safestrap on the stock rom, does it not get deleted when I wipe the stock rom?
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
safestrap will replace needed files as long as Rom on stock slot is compatible.
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
What sort of rom would not be compatible? I would like to use a overclocking 12.1 rom. Unless there would be a significant advantage to using 4.4.4 (overclocking of course). A link to list of differences in features between 4.4.4 and 5.1.1 would be great, then I can make my own mind up without trying both (kinda leaning towards 4.4.4 as I've not tried it, 4.1.3 stock had minimal lag in safe mode and the process limit doesn't seem to stick to a limit of 2, reverts back to no limit as often as I change it. Adblock plus also seems to be less than flawless, much less than flawless. Perhaps there is add injection occuring somewhere however they [adverts] are rather offensive.
Sometime I get huge lag spikes that should never happen on hardware of this caliber unless significant lack of optimization exists.
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
mirddes said:
What sort of rom would not be compatible? I would like to use a overclocking 12.1 rom. Unless there would be a significant advantage to using 4.4.4 (overclocking of course). A link to list of differences in features between 4.4.4 and 5.1.1 would be great, then I can make my own mind up without trying both (kinda leaning towards 4.4.4 as I've not tried it, 4.1.3 stock had minimal lag in safe mode and the process limit doesn't seem to stick to a limit of 2, reverts back to no limit as often as I change it. Adblock plus also seems to be less than flawless, much less than flawless. Perhaps there is add injection occuring somewhere however they [adverts] are rather offensive.
Sometime I get huge lag spikes that should never happen on hardware of this caliber unless significant lack of optimization exists.
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
every Rom that was built in the last 2 years should be compatible with safestrap, and can be installed on stock slot. just be sure not to reboot if you get errors when installing.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3181430
Installing and using Safestrap 3.75 (2015)
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
7jkKok terrible stuff happened.
I wiped the stock slot and booted back into slot1. worked fine
went in with the latest nightly and it failed so I did an advanced wipe of ./system and fell asleep flashing 0907 (the sam rom that's running on slot 1) woke up to an un happy android symbol on my phone. safestrap seems to be gone and I can access the recover options as per the guide at
droidforums.net/threads/how-to-restore-your-motorola-droid-4-xt894-to-stock-windows-only.206972/
the "Decompress And Start Flashing" option is greyed out.
please advise, my phone is a partial brick until remedied
mirddes said:
7jkKok terrible stuff happened.
I wiped the stock slot and booted back into slot1. worked fine
went in with the latest nightly and it failed so I did an advanced wipe of ./system and fell asleep flashing 0907 (the sam rom that's running on slot 1) woke up to an un happy android symbol on my phone. safestrap seems to be gone and I can access the recover options as per the guide at
droidforums.net/threads/how-to-restore-your-motorola-droid-4-xt894-to-stock-windows-only.206972/
the "Decompress And Start Flashing" option is greyed out.
please advise, my phone is a partial brick until remedied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wiped stock have how?
RSD Lite version?
use decompress only
Droid 4: Flashing XML/Firmware with RSD Lite http://youtu.be/CM3XjZT80m0
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk
Vs most KitKat ROMs, CM12.1:
Is subject to random slowdowns, due to memory management issues and outright lack of memory (can be remedied to a point via Joojoobee's kernel and aggressive minfree settings), limited overclocking (KK-based ROMs have access to the JBX kernel and its exotic voltage controls, enabling higher overclocking limits), and just because (the cause hasn't quite been pinned down yet)
Is easier on the battery at idle due to less Play Services wakelocking (note: Play Services can be toned down in KK as well, but you lose some functionality like automated mail pushes and such)
Is more modern, some apps need Lollipop APIs
Has some features that rely on Lollipop APIs (as far as I know, anyway), such as Motodoze for pocket/wave detection
If you don't specifically want Lollipop stuff like Motodoze, the better Play Services, etc, go with a KK ROM. I've always been fond of SlimKat, myself, but whatever ROM you choose it will run well more consistently than CM12 does.
If you're still set on CM12, once you get the phone back to factory condition, try flashing CM11 first, then CM12 on top of that. CM12 wasn't intended for use in the stock slot, so going straight from stock JB to it causes...oddities. Used to, anyway, CM12 might contain the same stock-slot housekeeping stuff as CM11 these days.
What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.
Peabody424 said:
What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Peabody424...
It's always a bit tricky making recommendations to someone, based on one's own experiences, such as with an OTA update, and particularly when there's such a seemingly wide range of reported user experiences, ranging from the good to the bad to the outright atrocious! And like yourself, I'd also read similar (nightmare) accounts over on the Lenovo forums about the Pie update - so I was similarly cautious when I received the notification towards the end of March that a system update for Pie was awaiting my confirmation to go ahead and install it.
One of the major issues I'd read about Pie, was people's inability to access their device after the update, due to their password/lock-screen pattern not being recognised. And the only solution was to perform a factory reset via the stock recovery - not a good result at all!
This was obviously a significant concern to me, along with other reports of sluggish and poor screen responsiveness, with various solutions being proffered, such as using a custom launcher - I use Nova Prime anyway, so I've never actually used the stock Moto Launcher - and disabling Motorola's own background data collection processes (Android Settings>>System>>Advanced>>
Motorola privacy>>[DISABLE EVERYTHING THERE]), apparently is also reported to have helped make the device more responsive.
Anyhow, I'd prepared in advance of Pie, by ensuring everything on my device was backed up somewhere else, should I need to perform a factory reset in the event of possible problems after the Pie update.
So... after about an hour of downloading and installing Pie... Everything worked perfectly - in fact, Pie managed to resolve some long standing screen glitches I'd been having with Oreo, ever since I bought my G6 back in July of 2018.
Since the March 2019 Pie update, I've subsequently received two further OTA updates - in August and September.
The one in August was a security patch update for 1 June 2019, but it also included Google's Digital Wellbeing App, which for some strange reason had been omitted in the original Pie update back in March. Although this OTA update installed without any noticeable problems, I decided immediately afterwards to perform a factory reset... It just seemed a prudent measure to take - to clear the decks, so to speak, and begin afresh with a clean slate.
---------------------------------------
Here's a list of my Pie/Security patch updates, so far this year...
(Yeah, I know... I'm a bit OCD, keeping a detailed record of such things)
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-24) Android 9.0 Pie Update (from Android 8.0 Oreo) with 1st January security patch. Notified: 01:05, Tue 24 Mar 2019. Downloaded: 01:43 to 02:02 (17 mins to download 1431.2Mb). Commenced installation at 02:02; Completed at 02:37 with no problems.
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-37-4) with 1st June security patch. Notified: 21:41, Mon 5th Aug 2019. Downloaded: 21:42 to 21:54 (12 mins to download 818.6Mb). Commenced installation at 22:00; Completed at 22:28 with no problems.
Performed a factory reset after this OTA, just to clear the decks and begin afresh.
Moto G6 OTA (PPSS29.55-37-4-3) with 1st August security patch. Notified: 04:15, Thu 12th Sept 2019. Downloaded: 04:17 to 04:20 (3 mins to download 155.4Mb). Commenced installation at 04:20; Completed at 04:46 with no problems.
---------------------------------------
In conclusion then, I'm afraid I cannot give any assurances that the Pie update will NOT give you any problems - there are no guarantees here, unfortunately, and whilst my Moto G6 has been improved with Pie, there's no denying that there have been many reports of Pie OTA related problems with this device. I would strongly recommend that if you do take the Pie update, prepare for a possible factory reset, by ensuring everything in the internal storage that is important, is safely backed up elsewhere first.
With regards to possibly reflashing the G6,
maybe back to Oreo, I'm afraid I can't help or advise you there. I haven't reflashed or rooted a device for about two years now - the benefits of doing so seem to me to be fairly marginal these days - so my knowledge about such things is a little out of date. My own Moto G6 will likely be my first device who's bootloader will probably never be unlocked.
As far as Lenovo fixing anything... Well, I wouldn't put money on it! They don't seem to be overly concerned with the kind of problems that I've seen reported on their forums.
---------------------------------------
Apologies for my somewhat non-committal response to your implied question ("Should I update to Pie?"), but as I mentioned at the beginning, my own experiences of Pie may not be reflected by others. Indeed, when reading through the posts on the Lenovo forums about Pie, a few months ago, I was very surprised by the largely negative response that the Pie OTA had engendered, and when the time came for me to update to it, I was even more surprised when everything went perfectly, with none of the problems that had been reported there.
All I can say then, is that Android 9.0 Pie on my Moto G6 has been problem free, and is an improvement over its predecessor, Android 8.0 Oreo.
Hope this helps - and apologies for this rather long post - I do go on a bit sometimes
Kind Rgrds,
Ged.
Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again, Peabody424...
Appreciate your kind works, and yep, you're correct in your deduction that I'm in the UK. I should have mentioned that in my prior post... My Moto G6 update channel is retgb.
Personally, I would be very hesitant to flash anything, from any archive. I used to flash stuff, frequently, on previous devices, some years ago. But it seems to me, reading here on these Moto G6 forums, that such things have become ever more complicated in recent years, and potentially prone to error, and possibly a device hardbrick.
It's not something you should do lightly, and not without a considerable amount of reading and research beforehand. Now, maybe I'm being a little over cautious, and some longstanding Moto G6 flashing expert will post saying so... But I'd rather be cautious and have a device that works with Oreo, rather than one that doesn't (maybe permanently) with an attempted failed flash of Pie. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and don't much care for the risks anymore...
--------------------------------
Regarding disabling OTA updates... I'm fairly certain you need root for that.
However... If you look in Android Settings>>Apps & notifications>>Advanced>>See all apps, then tap on the 3 dot overflow menu at the upper right hand corner of the screen, and select Show System... then scroll down to locate an app called Motorola Update Services. Tap to enter, and you'll notice that whilst it can be forced-stopped, the disable button is greyed-out, and is thus not available.
But you COULD disable it's notifications as illustrated in my screenshot below... Not sure if that would work in the long term, 'cos the update would still be pending, you just wouldn't be being notified of it - and maybe the update would/might proceed anyway, at some point - I'm just not sure, to be honest.
Hope this helps, and good luck, whatever you choose to do
Rgrds,
Ged.
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Peabody,
I also saw your post in the other thread, so here is my $.02. I have a US retail unlocked phone that is running PPS29.118-15-11. I updated from 8.0 (OPSS27.104-92-6) to Pie with the PPS29.118-11-1 OTA. My experience was different from GedBlake in that the update almost immediately showed signs of lagginess. For me it seemed that anytime the phone tried to access anything from the network in the background, it would lag the foreground. I uninstalled stuff, played with settings, even reset to factory, to no avail. Then someone recommended that I use RSD Lite to reflash PPS29.118-11-1. The difference is, that unlike the OTA, RSD Lite wiped the phone entirely and gave me a fresh starting point. Why a factory reset did not obtain the same state, I have no idea. But what I can tell you is that my G6 ran like glass after that. I got nervous when I got the notification to update to PPS29.118-15-11 OTA, but I bite the bullet and the upgrade went fine and it still runs like a champ.
-Chris
First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
Code:
pm disable com.motorola.ccc.ota
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To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
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If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!
WoKoschekk said:
First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
---------------------------------------------------------------
To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, WoKoschekk...
Yeah, the password/lockscreen problem was just something I'd read about over on the Lenovo Motorola forums - it was never a problem for me. And your solution of using TWRP, whilst useful to know, likely wouldn't have helped most of the posters there, as most, if not all, are running bootloader locked devices with no TWRP installed. I seem to recall that running unmodified factory stock is a condition of posting there, if you expect a response from a Motorola Service Agent, which I suppose is understandable.
Your solution of disabling Motorola's OTA update app using ADB is something that occurred to me too, but I'm not too enthusiastic about recommending procedures that I've not tried myself... I didn't want to suggest something that might have screwed up the OP's device, however unlikely that may be.
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.
You won't have any negative effects by disabling this app. Since it's not possible to deactivate it this might be the only way to turn off the notifications permanently. You can enable the app when ever you want it.
Thanks very much for the responses.
In years past, I have flashed new rom to an old Hisense tablet, but that was a high-anxiety process since I was a total newbie. I'm still basically a civilian here, but understand that it's not entirely impossible that I would be able to do these things successfully. But just so I understand:
Using ADB to disable the update app would (probably) stop the notifications and prevent Motorola from forcing through the update to Pie. But it is not rooting, is reversible, and (if reversed) wouldn't void my warranty. Right?
Using RSD Lite does root the phone, which is not reversible, and does void my warranty. (The rom is factory stock, but you can't un-root.) Also, it's not possible to revert to Oreo after flashing Pie. Right?
Edit: It looks like I was wrong about not being able to un-root. A Youtube video by RootJunkie suggests using RSD Lite restores the phone to stock in every way, and it would become unrooted. So no warranty issues?
Chris, your experience with RSD is really encouraging. From what you said, you did try a factory reset after the OTA update, and it was not successful. But the RSD re-flash of the same rom did work, and continues to work. I just wish I understood why the reset didn't work but RSD did. Anyway, there are now several more updates after 29.118.11.1. Should I let the 11.1 OTA happen, then do RSD LIte, or just do RSD Lite from the existing Oreo, or do RSD Lite from Oreo to the latest rom? I guess we don't know whether any of that matters.
I tried to download RSD Lite from rsdlite.com, but got a 404. Is it available directly from Motorola? Also, I have a Win7/64 computer and an XP computer. Does it matter which one I use for RSD Lite?
Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.
A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.
Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peabody424 said:
A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris
cdaly1970 said:
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you said in the other thread that you did do a factory reset after the original OTA update, but found that it didn't fix things. If that's the case, then it seems pretty clear that the RSD Lite flash leaves the phone in a different state than the factory reset, although nobody knows why that would be the case since the rom is presumably the same either way.
Thanks for the clarification on rooting. The only reason I would need to root the phone is to be able to hide certain pictures and apps, but I may be able to do that without rooting.
So I have both the 11-1 and 15-11 roms and RSD Lite, and I have the v6.4.0 drivers although I don't think I need them since Win7 already communicates with the G6. If I can muster up the courage, I'll go ahead and give it a try, probably with the 15-11 rom.
A couple more questions: I don't have an SD card installed, but what about the SIM? Is it ok to leave it in the phone when doing RSD Lite? And do I need to set any Developer options, like USB debugging?
Thanks very much for your help on this.
GedBlake said:
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to try this, disabling com.motorola.ccc.ota for user zero as described in that article. And it appears to have worked. Well, normally I would have received the Pie OTA notification immediately on power-up, and after 20 minutes now it hasn't arrived. So while it may be a bit early to count chickens, I'm encouraged. If I decide at the last minute not to risk upgrading to Pie, maybe at least I can continue to run Oreo in peace.
When I go to Settings/Apps&Notifications/AppInfo/ShowSystem/Motorola Update Services, it shows "Not installed for this user". I think that's a good sign.
I did have to install the Motorola ADB driver for this to work. The article doesn't mention that, but I guess it would be obvious to anyone but me.
A question has come up in the Lenovo forum thread as to whether it is necessary to unlock the bootloader in order to run RSD Lite on newer phones like the G6. Chris, or anyone else who knows, can you clarify this? My understanding is that the whole point of RSD Lite was to restore a phone to factory condition, and that flashing stock roms signed by Motorola permitted them to be flashed without unlocking or rooting or anything else.
JimmiH on the Lenovo forum has found "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant", a new utility from Motorola, which is installed on your PC (Win 7 or 10). Included in the utility is a "rescue" function which appears to do the same thing as RSD Lite - resurrect a phone from any software issues. It downloads the correct official rom and reflashes it to the phone. JimmiH will be reporting back over the next few weeks as to whether the rescue has permanently solved his Pie lagginess issues.
The advantage of this LMSA over RSD Lite is that it runs on Windows 10, and presumably works with USB3 ports, while apparently neither was the case with RSD Lite. And of course you don't have to go hunting for the right rom.
This could potentially be a nice easy fix. Let's hope so.
Curious as to the results of the the "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant" reflashing method on moto G6. Has anyone had sustained success using this method?
I factory reset my phone in an attempt to cure the Pie lagginess, and had limited success - as other users describe there was a joyful month without lag, then a return to lag over the following months. Within two months you will be back to the same state of constant lag.
I am preparing to move to a Google Pixel 3a but wanted to give the G6 one last chance. I will be attempting the LMSA fix and hope to report back within a few months if this solution is permanent.