[Q] How to reach a mostly bricked Moto X - Moto X Q&A

oh yes, I thought I was so smart. I had owned about five smart phones and easily rooted them all, was familiar with ADB, thought I knew how the boot loader worked in relation to start up of the phone, and it turns out I fell flat on my face in a cream pie.
I have a Moto X. I wanted to the Kit Kat features and I didn't care if I lost root. So… (Here's where I blew it) I accepted an offered OTA update. I guess I don't have to say much more. Needless to say my safe strap, save root, load back up ROM, nothing with a capital N, could help me. Aha!, I thought, now is the time for the subtlest of my techniques.… ADB.
Couldn't even connect to the phone. Phone, or now I guess I should say tablet, cannot connect over the air or by Wi-Fi. Hmm. Based on what it can do, maybe I should call it a Kindle or a Nook. Oh wait, even those can download. A Tomi Color Spell tablet perhaps?
Well, I was Deep In The Mud. In fact, I am still deep in the mud. No more phone until I figure this out. My thinking was my best first approach would be getting ADB to connect, and then seeing if it's possible to load a completely stock ROM even if I'm willing to wipe the entire phone. At this point that's my goal.
Anybody know how I can use ADB to do that? And whether I could go directly for a stock Kit Kat ROM?
Even though I've obviously been rooted, will Verizon flash me to stock?
Many thanks,
Leon Malinofsky

Related

[Q] To Root or Not?

Hi so I just heard that the D3 was rooted two days ago (been keeping up until a week ago). I'm not exactly a pro in this area or have ever rooted a device before but I have spent quite a few hours today reading up on the process and any info I could find.
Basically I just want to know if I should root my D3 or wait out another week or so? I heard that a SBF (?) hasn't been found yet so the stock rom can't be recovered and there is really no recovery net yet so should anything go wrong, there aren't a lot of options.
There is a one-click method to root but I'm going to try the original method using the adb shell (lol still researching what on earth to do with that still, just installed the android sdk :x). I'm not concerned about the process of rooting my droid, it's what comes after that makes me hesitant in doing so.
I read that there is a (seemingly simple) method to unroot the D3 by deleting the su file in some directory and rebooting (can't remember, it seemed legit however). Would "unrooting" have any consequences or would your device be back to the exact same state it was in right before you rooted? I'm not planning to drastically mess around with my D3 should I root it. Just want to take a few screenshots in an app to help out a dev, freeze any bloatware that won't cause problems, do a complete nand backup, and... thats about all that comes to mind right now.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is if rooting my D3 tonight would have any irreversible consequences and if there is any benefit in holding off the root?
Oh! Btw the OTA, I know that rooting won't affect ones ability to receive the update but that it will unroot your device and keep it that way. Would the rooting-discovery process have to start anew for people who update using the OTA (Thinking Verizon might patch the root-exploit) ? I know that updating via OTA isn't too bright anyway because devs just take the update and build on it before releasing it on their own custom ROMs and whatnot, but I feel official updates are somehow more stable (most likely flawed thinking, feel free to correct me on that lol).
Yes - SBF is an important component which would guarantee 100% pre-root configuration.
Removing the su binary and the superuser app would however put the phone back in factory state for this exploit. But anything you do while rooted inside /system is your responsibility to correct. Motorola patches usually verify only file existence/checksums and not creation/modification dates, so you should be fine with simple push of the removed (or renamed) stuff back. I remember I was able to update my D2G without unrooting in the past, but that's not necessarily granted for any other updates of that or any other Motorola phone. Ideally, you want phone in factory state to guarantee update will pass.
Another issue is nand backup you mentioned. Custom recovery isn't yet available for this phone. You can't do nand backups. So even this "safety net" isn't here. Installing custom recovery is a "100% secure way" to have OTA updates fail to apply since it messes up with phone's /system files. Un-doing CWM is a bit more complex than unrooting only and if not done carefully - a sure way for a soft brick. SBF is what we all want before start messing with anything, IMO.
So if an OTA updates fails for whatever reason, your phone will get soft bricked or?
I don't think ill be updating anway, but its good info to know for the future.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
I would say root the device and don't worry about unrooting. If you have to return it to the store or something, unfreeze the apps and delete su. Once you mess with it though, it will be very difficult (impossible?) to ever make /system binary identical to the factory image without an sbf. That said, I doubt VZW takes the time to investigate this very closely.
But I don't see any other reason to ever unroot. When the OTA update comes down, just don't install it. In a few days after its first released, the community developers will tell you how to install it with root and not botch anything up.
Dmw017 said:
So if an OTA updates fails for whatever reason, your phone will get soft bricked or?
I don't think ill be updating anway, but its good info to know for the future.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - fortunately not. It will just say "Update failed" and phone will reboot back to normal.
Regarding updates - you may want to reconsider - updates usually fix bugs, bugs like the bluish camera or the wrong geotagging. Or stuff like phone shooting at max brightness after removal from HD dock.
But as the other poster mentioned - the community would do the hard work for you 'back-porting' the update to a rooted phone. Sure enough - we need custom recovery to be made before we can install any 'backported' updates or other customizations.
But all will come with time.
If you need to use an app that requires root (like openvpn or VPNC), or if you want to remove some of the unwanted apps Verizon stuck on the phone, you should root of course, but if you don't care about such stuff and want to be 'compliant' with stock software - stay as is, until at least SBF comes.
Yeah I rooted already but should an update come, I could always unroot my device. An update would be really welcome too. Yeah the bluish tint on the cam is bad but there are soft fixes for that. What I really really want out of the update is the huge improvement in battery life I've heard about. Im using the extended battery right now and straight up, it sucks. I've heard good things about the extended battery but mine lasts ... maybe 10 hours under light - medium usage, playing music for several hours and having the display on for about an hour. I expected a lot more. Numerous people have reported getting 24-48 hrs of life while others got 15 under normal/heavy use.
There have been a few reports of peope already receiving an OTA update (devs/testers most likely) but have said many pf the d3s current issues were fixed with it, primarily the blue tint on cam and the battery life.
Honestly, with root, I figured my battery would outlast a day like a champ, but there have been no/minimal improvements, even with every piece of bloat frozen. I even froze google Maps because it constantly showed up as using cpu (and therefore battery), have my radio set to cdma, and only have 1 gmail account syncing.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

[Q] Installing ROMs. What Precautions to take?

I used to be a Droid 1 user and I played with a lot of custom ROMs. Got the Droid 4 on release day and I'm thinking of playing around with custom ROMs.
If I install the recovery and a custom ROM, isn't the factory restore option always on the phone so anytime I want, I can restore the phone to the day I got it?
Are there any downsides to installing custom ROMs as of now (such as battery, glitches, etc)
I rooted my phone and I've seen a decline in battery life. There is another thread about it but I wanted to ask here, anybody else have this issue?
Lastly, is it worth installing custom ROMs now or just waiting for the official ICS update? I basically just want a working phone with the best battery possible. The only reason I rooted was to uninstall the bloatware on the phone however wifi tether and screenshot are nice to have.
Thanks!
Installing any custom ROM right now is going to be a little risky simply because there are no fastboot files to restore your phone with. Now, SafeStrap does a pretty good job of minimizing that risk by creating what is essentially a dualboot environment allowing you to run a secondary ROM on your phone while leaving the stock ROM intact.
I am running the ICS Beta ROM by Hashcode and it is running really well for me. Battery life has been fine, pretty much on par with stock. Being a beta there are things that are not perfect but I am using it as a daily driver with no issues. You can find a list of known bugs in the ROM OP. Although it seems to be hit a miss with some of them. I have had no issues with wifi or mobile data connections at all.
I ran stock rooted for about 1 1/2 weeks and didn't notice any decline in battery life personally. Not I froze apps rather than uninstalling anything so I could get them back if I needed to. And I really didn't freeze much unless it was something I saw running in the background that I knew I wouldn't need/use.
Really, if you are just looking for a phone that works with the best battery life, you are probably better off staying with stock. In my experience with the Droid 2, no ROM I ran could touch stock for battery life. And really, I think the stock experience on the D4 is fine. The bloatware wasn't overly bad IMO, smart actions is pretty neat, and the UI was plenty snappy. I'm just a flashaholic.
I am quite happy with stock after debloating it.
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
Thanks for explaining safestrap. Does it actually set up a dual-boot environment, or does it swap out /system, /data, etc. I've tried reading hashcode's blog, but the instructions are a little fuzzy on what exactly is going on. I don't have my D4 yet, and I'd like to get a handle on what exactly safestrap is doing before I take the plunge.
Currently I have a D1 and I'll fully admit I'm spoiled that it is essentially unbrickable. Once, I screwed it up so bad that it wouldn't even boot up into recovery. I have no idea how I managed that, but a quick session with RSDlite fixed everything...
Of course, I know a lot more now than I did back then, but here is hoping we get hold of some fastboot images for the D4 soon...
I finally took the plunge and installed Safestrap. Once your phone is rooted, you just run an APK installed on your phone. The process feels incredibly clean, and I was completely comfortable that as long as I was careful, nothing bad would happen. This proved to be true.
It really does set up a dual-boot. I spent several hours today playing with CM9, and when I was done, I simply disabled the safe system, and the phone booted right back up into my rooted and debloated stock. The most dangerous part is making sure that you do NOT try to flash over the non-safe system, and, in fact, Safestrap generally won't even let you do that.
Not only did I find that Safestrap worked great, but CM9 works better on the Droid 4 than almost any other device I have played with it on. If they can make sure that the data connection is reliable and get the font camera working, it is practically ready for prime time. Everything else works great. I am now confident that we will see CM9 for the Droid 4 as soon as CM itself is complete and stable, since drivers do not seem to be a problem on this phone. I also suspect we will see some CM7-based roms quite quickly as well.
I am also very glad of the option to always easily revert back to the stock system without losing anything, it will make going to the Verizon store very easy if I ever need to.
I also came from a D1, installing ROMs was so easy, I'm a little hesitant on this one especially since a genuine ICS update is on the way. I might wait for that before I try custom ROMs. I use a front camera a lot so CM9 is unfortunately out of question. My battery issue was solved with a calibrate (deleting batterystats) even though it's not supposed to work, I can confirm that it definitely worked for me.
Once you toggle on the safe system, installing ROMS is just as easy as it was on the D1. What is nice, though, is you can keep your stock system fully in tact. I actually keep my phone on a simple rooted stock, but when a friend asks about Android ICS, I just toggle on the safe system, and boot it up. When I'm done, I toggle off the safe system, and back to stock. Safestrap is awesome.
core2kid... this is moto, the official update is gonna take 3-6 months so i would not suggest waiting it out.
i came from a D1 as well and safestrap bugged me out for a while... but once i installed and started using it i really like it. think of it as a dual-boot.
1 is your stock system that you do not f** with... you just leave it so that you have a backup should you f** up your...
2nd system is the one you flash all your ROMs on... no matter what you do to it, the first system is not touched, so you have to try REALLY hard to brick it.
Thanks. I'll give it a go. Last question, if I have hardware issues with the phone, is there a way to restore it to factory so I can warranty it? My main concern is my battery dying. I don't want to be stuck with a useless phone because the battery is in built.
i cant say with 100% certainty, but theres got to be a way.
as for the battery... it will probably die the day after your warranty is up, and by then there will be DIY replacement kits.
greekchampion04 said:
as for the battery... it will probably die the day after your warranty is up, and by then there will be DIY replacement kits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With my luck, I can see that happening :/

[Q] Kingo Root Question

I used the Kingo Root method to root my Note 3 that was running 4.3. When I decided that I was ready to go ahead with the AT&T 4.4.2 FOTA; I used it to un-root so my phone would accept the update. Both processes indicated that they were successful. However; my Note 3 will not accept the update under any circumstances. It downloads the FOTA - which takes close to an hour - and gets to the 25% install point after rebooting and fails with "Invalid Signature" appearing for a few seconds after the "Installation Failed!". It then unceremoniously does a factory restore and I'm left with, yet, another setup procedure and reinstallation of all of my apps, passwords, etc.
This has happened twice with two different phones - the other being my Samsung S4. Exactly the same sequence. I took the S4 to Best Buy, after AT&T forced an update to it, and it, too, failed. Samsung did a direct flash to the S4 and it indicated that it took the 4.4.2 successfully. However, when the phone rebooted, it was still 4.3. Samsung scratched their head and couldn't figure it out. I see no sense in try to do the same with the Note 3 since it will likely be the same experience.
Neither phone show the KNOX trigger having been tripped, and both show "Official" as though nothing had ever been done. I never did any modifications to either phone, other than the root / un-root to stall the FOTA, until I was sure that I was comfortable with the update.
I sent an email to the same effect as this post to Kingo, with no response.
Has anyone had the same experience?
I know that for a while, there was a great deal of concern over the Kingo Root method, but thought that it had been resolved and that any myths had been debunked.
Did I shoot myself in the foot?
Hey friend, this has been asked A LOT in this forum. All you had to do what look through the first page and you'd see this topic.
However you're scared and our phone are probably our more personal and needed device so I understand your impatience and panic.
How to fix: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2701062
Be well, relax, everything is going to be ok. You're not alone . We're with you my new friend.
Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk
Sorry for posting in the wrong thread. I searched over the weekend, but didn't see what looked like an answer.
Thank you so much for posting the direct link! And, thanks for not mountain climbing me about the gaffe.
I'm still fairly new to this, so I genuinely beg everyone's pardon for the mis-post. I'm still trying to learn how to navigate through the different sub-forums. I'll try to be more courteous in the future.
Now, I'm in a REAL pickle! AT&T is trying to cram KK down my throat on my Note 3 and I have about 4 hours (according to their website) to respond before they force it. On the AT&T variant; there is no way that I know of to block the update; except temporarily. Then; it's back to the wash, rinse, repeat cycle of having to restore my phone and apps - EVERY time the update fails!
I still haven't done the downgrade; because after rooting and installing a custom 4.4.2 ROM on my kid's phone least night; I decided that I want to re-root my Note 3 and install KNOXRAID as a custom on my Note 3.
My dilemma is; if AT&T crams the update down my throat - as they did with my S4; it's going to fail again, and I'm going to have to start from scratch again, and again until I find a solution.
I tried re-rooting my Note 3 with Kingo, but it fails every time, now.
So; what should I do? My hunch is that I'm going to have to do the 4.3 fix and restore it back to factory, but then it would allow AT&T to actually force THEIR KK into the N3, and I'd be screwed, until a root method is obtained for KK.
PLEASE! Any suggestions? I suppose, for the short term; I could cut off my N3; install my SIM into my S4 and use it until I'm able to resolve the issue with the N3. I need Total Recall to work on my N3, and KK will definitely kill it.
*UPDATE* I turned the N3 off, removed the battery and SIM and installed the SIM in the S4, and am using it for the short term. Unfortunately; my S4 already has the AT&T KK update installed, and I need to resolve the issue with the N3 as quickly as I can. My hunch is; to avoid them doing it again; I'm going to have to turn off Wi-Fi and place the N3 in "Airplane" mode and leave the SIM card out of it until I'm comfortable - and have a clear method of installing KNOXRAID.
Still hoping for a solution. At this pint; I'm not that concerned about tripping the KNOX sensor on the N3, but would prefer to be able to flash back if I needed to enforce my warranty.
Thanks!

[Q] Hi, need help here, please. XT1064

I'll keep this short.
I got a moto G 2nd gen from WindMobile in Canada (terrible carrier btw), it automatically downloaded the Lollipop update, which I didn't want.
Long story short, it's garbage. I've had the phone for 3 months and it was great, fast, responsive. Now with this update, it lags 2-3 seconds, it's terrible.
My option with the carrier is to send it to Motorola but they said they can't put Kit Kat back on the phone. Total garbage.
So I did some searching on here and signed up after the mass confusion.
My phone is the XT1064 version.
But it seems there are so many out there.
Am I okay to just get one from here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mot...dows-tool-moto-g-2014-xt1064-restore-t2957167
or from here, but there are 3 different versions it seems...how do I know which one is the right one for my phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g-2014/general/xt1064-canadian-stock-firmware-t3048167
Do I need to root the phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g-2014/general/wip-unlock-bootloader-moto-g-2nd-gen-t2875728
It came unlocked, so I don't know if it's the same thing or not.
I just want my phone to work the way it did out of the box, nothing fancy or anything, just a simple phone.
Thanks.
Oh and here's another site with so many versions, this is just crazy.
http://www.filefactory.com/folder/c6cdedc45a775d27
CindysD said:
I'll keep this short.
I got a moto G 2nd gen from WindMobile in Canada (terrible carrier btw), it automatically downloaded the Lollipop update, which I didn't want.
Long story short, it's garbage. I've had the phone for 3 months and it was great, fast, responsive. Now with this update, it lags 2-3 seconds, it's terrible.
My option with the carrier is to send it to Motorola but they said they can't put Kit Kat back on the phone. Total garbage.
So I did some searching on here and signed up after the mass confusion.
My phone is the XT1064 version.
But it seems there are so many out there.
Am I okay to just get one from here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mot...dows-tool-moto-g-2014-xt1064-restore-t2957167
or from here, but there are 3 different versions it seems...how do I know which one is the right one for my phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g-2014/general/xt1064-canadian-stock-firmware-t3048167
Do I need to root the phone?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g-2014/general/wip-unlock-bootloader-moto-g-2nd-gen-t2875728
It came unlocked, so I don't know if it's the same thing or not.
I just want my phone to work the way it did out of the box, nothing fancy or anything, just a simple phone.
Thanks.
Oh and here's another site with so many versions, this is just crazy.
http://www.filefactory.com/folder/c6cdedc45a775d27
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. First of all try to factory reset your phone, since you installed the brand new version, there are a lot of garbage in it. if this won't help, you can unlock bootloader and install Titan Prime ROM, which i am using right now. No lags, almost pure android, with no moto apps. To install custom rom you don't have to root your phone. BTW, got mine from Staples, did not notice any lags on Lollipop
I did reset my phone and it keeps going back to lollipop. Battery drains very fast, opening app lag 2 seconds minimum, dialing lag is worse, 3-4 seconds.
Done with this, I just want the original kitkat that came out of the box or something similar.
So anyone give me suggestions for a stock xt1064 kitkat version that I can download.
I tried the ROM thing, not working out at all, my network isn't working, so I tried factory reset and it still doesn't work.
I guess a clean factory install would help.
Anyone? please?
Thanks.

From Nook to Kindle, needing a little help.

Hello all, I appreciate any help you could give me.
I just recently bought a Kindle Fire (2015) with the intention of rooting it out, and throwing CyanogenMod on there, but I'm having trouble finding solid, step-by-step instructions. I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the process in general, I currently own a Nook Color that I did the same thing with. Originally my Nook was running off an SD card that had CM on it as part of a bootable SD card, but after a while I had decided to just skip the extra step, free up a little bit of space on the card, and throw it natively onto the Nook.
However, time has not been kind to my poor Color and with the 5th Gen Kindle being almost comically cheap, (I got it during a recent sale for less than 40 bucks after shipping) and way more powerful than my poor Nook it looked like it was time to retire my beloved tablet.
I've got a passing familiarity with how ADB works, and I've used some of the tools for college work. I've rummaged through CM's wiki on the unofficial release for the system, but honestly the thread on here for the process is not very concise. It gives leaps of steps, rather than an Idiot Proof methodology and I'd really rather not brick out the tablet no matter how cheap it cost.
Alternatively! I really only used my Nook for book reading, I just didn't like the limited functionality that it offered originally, is there any suggestions on other possible ROMs that would offer a bit more functionality without the somewhat unnecessary power that CM offers?
I appreciate, greatly, any guidance that you all could offer me. :highfive:
First step, turn off the wifi, then go into settings, Device Options, System Updates and see what Fire OS it says you are running.
If as I suspect it's 5.1.1 then you can't root or install any roms atm.
Pond-life said:
First step, turn off the wifi, then go into settings, Device Options, System Updates and see what Fire OS it says you are running.
If as I suspect it's 5.1.1 then you can't root or install any roms atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most likely it is, but just out of curiosity, I don't currently have anything on it, so if I were to set it back to factory defaults would it still keep the 5.1.1, or since when I got it it updated (Which is why I think it does have the 5.1.1 as you said) would it bounce back to the previous version?
If it does bounce back, any suggestions on where to go to try and proceed with the rooting?
Vez'Roth said:
so if I were to set it back to factory defaults would it still keep the 5.1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, once the fire updates itself, you're stuck with it. And don't try to manually side load 5.0.1, results in a brick.
No root is available for 5.1.1. No custom ROMs. Only thing you can currently do on 5.1.1 is install google play store.
Vez'Roth said:
Most likely it is, but just out of curiosity, I don't currently have anything on it, so if I were to set it back to factory defaults would it still keep the 5.1.1, or since when I got it it updated (Which is why I think it does have the 5.1.1 as you said) would it bounce back to the previous version?
If it does bounce back, any suggestions on where to go to try and proceed with the rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope factory defaults doesn't affect the system only personal files, it would be on a clean 5.1.1 which it already is.
And trying to revert from 5.1.1 to the old 5.0.1 bricks the tablet.
So if it is on that, your quest to apply a different rom of any kind is thwarted for now.
Pond-life said:
Nope factory defaults doesn't affect the system only personal files, it would be on a clean 5.1.1 which it already is.
And trying to revert from 5.1.1 to the old 5.0.1 bricks the tablet.
So if it is on that, your quest to apply a different rom of any kind is thwarted for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for responding at least. I will remain thwarted, but I am sure that this will not stop you all, or me, for long. It'll be broken open again. I don't know why these companies are so against it.
Vez'Roth said:
Thank you for responding at least. I will remain thwarted, but I am sure that this will not stop you all, or me, for long. It'll be broken open again. I don't know why these companies are so against it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because they're EVILLLLL!
[emoji49] [emoji35] [emoji48]
[emoji83]
lol

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