[Q] having issues with a side load - X 2014 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm pretty new to flashing and I was watching a few YouTube videos on how to do it.
There was mention of the ADB side loader to do so and saw somewhere in the comments where someone said you can just download the zip file on your device and boot into recover and then flash the file directly. Not having to root or unlock or anything.
I'm wondering if this was the wrong way to do it and if it will have negative impacts?
I'm noticing my battery life hasn't been that great especially with people who have naturally received the OTA.
I'm thinking of trying to flash back to stock and getting the official OTA.

Sideloading an ota file is exactly the same as doing an OTA update.
There is no difference and no risk to do it : if your device accept to do it then it means the update file is legit and made for your device.
Keep in mind when you do a sideload process your device is checking a numerical signature on that file and process the update only if this signature is legit and valid.
Again, no risk with sideload.
If you think your device is not working properly then I highly suggest you to do a factory reset and to setup it as a new device ( no apps or settings will be restored).
Procedure: disable in parameters the auto-restore function, do a factory reset, choose your language, dismiss tap and go restore function, and do not enter your google account.
Then you can add your google account and use it normally.

Related

[Q] OTA update wont work?

Hi
newb here!
i have FRG33 build on my phone, and some time ago an OTA update came out that i couldn't install (i get "failed to verify whole-file signature" "signature verification failed" errors). i'm guessing the update is the 2.2.1 release - so how can i install it? i figure there's something i can drop on the sd card and install from there but i don't know what to search for or why this error happens at all (and google has been exceedingly unhelpful)
any help?
thanks!
Is your phone completely stock? Unrooted, stock recovery, stock rom...?
erm.. how can i tell? <,<
i bought it from a friend
i'm pretty sure it's at least rooted though, whatever that means (sudo-like access to phone i guess?) since i have an app called superuser and i downloaded lamppu (led flash as flashlight) which apparently needs root access to work (and it works)
if you need me to paste certain things from settings/options, i can do that
lavalove said:
erm.. how can i tell? <,<
i bought it from a friend
i'm pretty sure it's at least rooted though, whatever that means (sudo-like access to phone i guess?) since i have an app called superuser and i downloaded lamppu (led flash as flashlight) which apparently needs root access to work (and it works)
if you need me to paste certain things from settings/options, i can do that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone has an unlocked bootloader if there is a padlock symbol on the first screen when you boot up (the one with the static x).
You can see what recovery is on the phone if you press and hold the volume down button while powering the phone on. This will take you to the Fastboot screen, and you will use the volume down button again to scroll down and select "Recovery" and then press the power button. That will either get you into the stock Android recovery (which will pretty much just be a /!\ symbol) or a custom recovery (which should have a nice text-based menu with options and such).
You can find out information about your ROM by going to Settings --> About phone, and scrolling down the bottom. If you would, post the various version numbers and settings and such.
If you are running another other than the stock recovery and a stock ROM, no OTA update will install for you.
aha, good stuff
here's what i got:
unlocked padlock symbol on boot
my recovery menu is "clockworkmod recovery 2.5.0.7"
android ver:
2.2
baseband version:
32.36.00.28U_4.04.00.12_7
kernel:
2.6.32.9-27237-gbe746fb
[email protected] #1
build#
FRG33
so presumably no OTA updates
how do i get my updates then? (and stop the "you have an update, update now!" pop-up which pops up even during video playback.. i mean, really?)
If you want to get the automatic updates, you'll have to revert back to a stock ROM and a stock recovery. There should be instructions for that in one of the stickied threads.
well, i assume there's a way to update manually as well?
so i guess my question is
a) how do i know what's this OTA update (i.e. where i can find a link for it)
b) how do i install it manually?
and/or i guess more generally -- is there a general intro tutorial to tinkering with android phones that also explains terminology etc (for instance, you said i need a stock ROM, but from http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Nexus_One/Roms, FRG33 is a stock ROM, so am i misunderstanding terminology here? i.e. difference between ROM & build?)
thanks btw, you've been really helpful
Answer: SEARCH.
There must be at least 100 threads on this very topic. To update, you're either going to have to flash a new rom, or revert back to the original shipping rom. Search or read the wiki on how to do either.
Or disable signature checking on CW recovery and OTA updates will install fine.
GldRush98 said:
Answer: SEARCH.
There must be at least 100 threads on this very topic. To update, you're either going to have to flash a new rom, or revert back to the original shipping rom. Search or read the wiki on how to do either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've tried searching but it's a little difficult when i don't know any related terminology (hence the request for an intro guide of sorts). it's not like i'm posting here without doing nothing else, but google queries like site:xda-developers.com nexus one ota error frg33 for example didn't yield much. i did find a how-to-get-back-to-stock tutorial here but i am still looking for a tutorial to understand that tutorial as i have no experience with adb or fastboot, etc. (not to mention its last updated date is a year ago (although last edited date is fairly recent.. but i'm still wary) i'm learning though.
Rusty! said:
Or disable signature checking on CW recovery and OTA updates will install fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there any risk to doing this? if not, this seems to be the simplest option so far, but doesn't a failed signature check usually signal an incompatibility/corruption?
thanks again for your help guys!
The reason it failed the check is because custom recoveries use test keys, and OTA updates use release keys. It's quite safe
If you poke around a little bit, you'll find stickies referencing you to the NexusOne wiki. The following are two guides on adb listed there:
[Newbie Guide] adb/fastboot/bootloader/android 101
[GUIDE] ADB For Beginners (Setup, Use, and More!)

[Q] I357 Lollipop Interruption

Hello, I just today found out about the update to the Lollipop 5.0. I checked and attempted the download. It got all the way to the restart and install and then it stopped and instantly booted back up. It came up with the notification "Update Interrupted" or something very similar. I tried again after resetting the phone back to factory mode. It did the same thing. I have seen people have the problem of not enough storage but i had plenty. Especially after the factory reset. I know that this is an over wifi update and i am trying to understand why my phone isn't accepting it or why it isn't working. Thank you for any help you can offer.
Alan1727 said:
Hello, I just today found out about the update to the Lollipop 5.0. I checked and attempted the download. It got all the way to the restart and install and then it stopped and instantly booted back up. It came up with the notification "Update Interrupted" or something very similar. I tried again after resetting the phone back to factory mode. It did the same thing. I have seen people have the problem of not enough storage but i had plenty. Especially after the factory reset. I know that this is an over wifi update and i am trying to understand why my phone isn't accepting it or why it isn't working. Thank you for any help you can offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have rooted or modified the system apps in any way then the update is going to fail. You have 2 options:
You can wipe your phone and start with a clean stock ROM; or
You can follow the guide to retain root on OC6. You don't have to be rooted for this method, but this method will allow you to update if you've modified your system.
Devo7v said:
If you have rooted or modified the system apps in any way then the update is going to fail. You have 2 options:
You can wipe your phone and start with a clean stock ROM; or
You can follow the guide to retain root on OC6. You don't have to be rooted for this method, but this method will allow you to update if you've modified your system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My system has been rooted before but it no longer has root access.
When you say wipe and start with a fresh rom, isnt that also the same as resetting the device?
Alan1727 said:
My system has been rooted before but it no longer has root access.
When you say wipe and start with a fresh rom, isnt that also the same as resetting the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To explain a bit further, the way the update works is there's a program built into the OTA. This program checks the signature of all the system files on your phone against a database included in the OTA. If all the signatures match then the update will proceed, but if even 1 of the signatures doesn't match then the update will fail as you have experienced.
When you root your phone you are exploiting a weakness in some aspect of android that allows you to modify system files. Once you modify system files by rooting you change their signature. Even if you unroot, it is impossible to change the signatures back to what they originally were. This is the reason that even if you unroot the update will fail.
By resetting the device you are essentially deleting all the user apps and settings, the system files go virtually unchanged. So if you unroot, your signatures still don't match and when you factory reset the device the system files don't get touched so the signatures still won't match. The only thing you can do to get the signatures to match is to flash the NE3 full Odin package. This will completely wipe out our phone and install everything (the bootloaders, modems, system files, etc.) from scratch.
So like I said you have 2 options:
Follow the guide I linked to above; or
Flash the NE3 Odin package and take the OTA.
Either way you have to use Odin at some point.

OTA will not take, (mac osx, 4.4.4, small update)

Forgive me here. I have a VZW dev edition.
Currently running 4.4.4 stock rom. I had it rooted before and I think I recently lost root. Forgot why but I didn't really need it.
EDIT: I remember now. I did a factory reset. Did I lose root?
anyways the OTA that came a few weeks ago the small one will not install. I have enabled my apps again that I had disabled. I do not remember if I did a tether hack before which was just replacing a file. Bootloader is unlocked still.
So after the OTA downloads and reboots the android shows up the bar starts to move and then red exclamation mark.
Update unsuccessful.
What do I need to do? I also do not want to wipe data.
The OTA alert is annoying me to no end.
It sounds like the pre-flash validation checks are failing for some reason.
A few things don't add up in your post...
You have a Dev Edition, so to root you unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP, boot into it, and when it prompts you too, allow it to root (or if you don't get rooted, install SuperSU while booted to TWRP). IN that state, a Factory reset doesn't remove root. So did you root by some other method? If so, that is why the OTA is failing.
Next.. you say you did a tether hack that was just replacing a file. Did you put the ORIGINAL file back? If no, that will cause the OTA to fail.
The only way to really know exactly why is to NOT install the OTA, instead just download it. Move the OTA zip from /cache to your /SDCard (which takes root) after it finished downloading. Again Do NOT install it the "normal way". Make sure you have a working STOCK Recovery on your phone. Manually boot to stock recovery and apply the update zip via the menu options. When it errors, it will pause and tell you why, what caused the issue. You need to correct it and try again.
One final option... See -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x/general/faq-how-to-prepare-ota-update-carriers-t3126425 you can take some time and read the first post... then skip to Post #2, and use the Requirements section, and Option 2.

January ota update help needed

OK I got the notification to update today it's MMB29S, I am on K. I am rooted but stock, unlocked using systemless root for root. I've always been rooted and expected it to fail and have to install manually but this time because I'm not rooted like the old way. So i downloaded and went to install to my surprise dead Android with the triangle didn't show but it went to custom recovery screen twrp. I just hit restart because I've never not had a fail and never seen it do this before. Well when it restarted I was not updated and still on K. I also for the life of me can't get it to redo the ota. Tried to clear system service in apps and recheck but nothing.
So my question is since I'm new to systemless root what should I have done when it went to custom recovery? So that way if I can get it to pop up again I can be updated. Thank you in advance for any help and it would be awesome if possible to update this way without having to manually do it.
My best guess, based on what Chainfire replied to me when I asked about OTA, is that because you're somehow rooted the OTA will refuse to install. He said that using the "unroot" function in v2.63 (and I suppose in subsequent versions) he was able to apply the OTA and then just had to re-root.
As to the OTA, I read in the long-distant past that once it's been provided to your device you sort of go to the back of the queue, and even pressing the "check for system update" button has no effect. One day your turn will come again. When it happens, before you press the "install now" button, use the unroot function, reboot, and give it another go.
And I would really appreciate it if you could report back on the success or failure, just so we all know - thanks...
And before I close... your alternative is just to download the full ROM from Google, unzip everything in sight (including the zip within the zip), copy system.img to a convenient folder, and use Fastboot to flash system. After that you'll need to re-root (simple flash) and when you reboot everything will be as it was, apart from the version and security update date. I did it myself to MMB29S a week or so ago.
But my lawyer advises me to advise you to take a full backup first and store it off your device before you do anything to your device - just in case, you know?
I will definitely reply if I get the update again in a few days. If it doesn't I'll probably do it manually. I was just really surprised I hadn't gotten the error, just so used to it. Thank you for the info though.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but to install an OTA don't you need to be completely stock, including recovery?
If I'm not mistaken but since 4.3 (I'm probably wrong) if your rooted (before systemless root) when you try to the ota you will always get the dead Android because rooting changes the system files causing the update when it does is checks to think your system is corrupt.
Also it was really bad when people tried going from 5.x.x to 6.x even doing it manually some of us got bootlooped or when starting the phone up after updating manually saying system is corrupt but still starting up fine. Leaving like me having to completely clear out everything and installing the factory image just to not be corrupt and able to use Android pay.
Systemless root though I've not had a single problem and still able to use AP. And is also the first time in years I've gotten as far as I did with the OTA.
Rbh50815 said:
OK I got the notification to update today it's MMB29S, I am on K. I am rooted but stock, unlocked using systemless root for root. I've always been rooted and expected it to fail and have to install manually but this time because I'm not rooted like the old way. So i downloaded and went to install to my surprise dead Android with the triangle didn't show but it went to custom recovery screen twrp. I just hit restart because I've never not had a fail and never seen it do this before. Well when it restarted I was not updated and still on K. I also for the life of me can't get it to redo the ota. Tried to clear system service in apps and recheck but nothing.
So my question is since I'm new to systemless root what should I have done when it went to custom recovery? So that way if I can get it to pop up again I can be updated. Thank you in advance for any help and it would be awesome if possible to update this way without having to manually do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These small ota's can be done with boot modifications because they don't include any boot.img changes and if they do then they just blanket overwrite what's already there. The only part that is checked is /system. However TWRP won't ever install an ota update for compatibility reasons. Even if you reflash the stock recovery then you'll fail the ota because when you installed TWRP it protected itself (by modifying /system) from being overwritten by the stock recovery which is what unmodded stock android will always do on boot by default. And there are 2 things the ota verification looks for when updating: 1. It looks for whether /system has been ever mounted as Read/Write. 2. It hash checks the /system, if it finds any mismatch it fails. As for the update not showing up again, the ota checker hides the update after a failure to stop from flooding the download server. If you want to extract the update zip you can look in /cache for the zip. But since you don't have an unmodded /system you might as well just download the newest factory image and manually flash the system.img
You can use Wug NRT, unroot with MMB29S provided in the NRT , then root.

Question Will root persist after an OTA update?

I've wondered this ever since my Tab S8+ reported it's device status as official despite me having flashed the tablet with magisk-patched firmware and asked me to update. This same exact scenario has happened with my rooted Tab S7+. However, I rooted that by flashing Magisk in TWRP rather than flashing patched firmware with Odin. I don't think anyone has tried applying an OTA update on their rooted Tab S8 device since the latest firmware isn't available yet, and could result in needed to flash patched firmware again. Then again, most rooted device will have their devices report as custom instead of official, so that may be why.
I'm willing to try this out on my Tab S7+ first as that device has TWRP, and I can easily restore my device to a rooted state afterwards. Since both tablets are relatively similar, I'll assume that if root persists after updating in the Tab S7+ then it should be safe to do so on the S8+ I'm curious of doing this solely for stability and performance updates in combination with everything root access grants.
With any part of the firmware patched, OTAs won't work - they'll fail. You could also wind up with a brick - most likely one you can recover from but I wouldn't bet either way on that. As always, have everything backed up in case the worst happens.
Since I still won't get my Tab S8 Ultra for another 10 days (unless they delay again), I haven't paid too close attention to the rooting instructions specific to this, and have only made note of them, however, the basic rule still applies - if any part of the firmware has been modified from stock, then OTAs will recognize that it's been modified and fail to apply - or as I said, it could possibly try to apply what it can but you could wind up with a mix and match of different firmware versions due to the OTA failing eventually, which would need some manual work to recover from - or very worst, you might need to start over from scratch and lose everything.
When I'm on any rooted device, I go into Developer options and disable Automatic system updates. It's still possible you could get an update prompt if you manually check for an update, but it's not advised to use OTAs when rooted.
I've always been a practitioner on all devices of flashing the full new firmware updates and re-rooting, however, I know that at least with devices with dual system partitions like Google Pixels (as far as I'm aware, Samsung still hasn't adopted dual partitions yet), there have been ways to apply Magisk to a manually sideloaded OTA, although I've observed other users who do this and something inevitably goes wrong with the process from time to time.
Not that full firmware flashes are immune to things going wrong.
Edit: If you try an OTA on yours, by all means, let us know what happens.
Edit 2: Adding TWRP to the mix may, or may not, affect the viability of applying OTAs. I've hardly used TWRP on any device in the last five years, so I'm not sure if it's smart about some things and can take root into account, but since TWRP doesn't exist on the Tab S8 (I don't have any older Tab), it won't matter for me.
roirraW edor ehT said:
With any part of the firmware patched, OTAs won't work - they'll fail. You could also wind up with a brick - most likely one you can recover from but I wouldn't bet either way on that. As always, have everything backed up in case the worst happens.
Since I still won't get my Tab S8 Ultra for another 10 days (unless they delay again), I haven't paid too close attention to the rooting instructions specific to this, and have only made note of them, however, the basic rule still applies - if any part of the firmware has been modified from stock, then OTAs will recognize that it's been modified and fail to apply - or as I said, it could possibly try to apply what it can but you could wind up with a mix and match of different firmware versions due to the OTA failing eventually, which would need some manual work to recover from - or very worst, you might need to start over from scratch and lose everything.
When I'm on any rooted device, I go into Developer options and disable Automatic system updates. It's still possible you could get an update prompt if you manually check for an update, but it's not advised to use OTAs when rooted.
I've always been a practitioner on all devices of flashing the full new firmware updates and re-rooting, however, I know that at least with devices with dual system partitions like Google Pixels (as far as I'm aware, Samsung still hasn't adopted dual partitions yet), there have been ways to apply Magisk to a manually sideloaded OTA, although I've observed other users who do this and something inevitably goes wrong with the process from time to time.
Not that full firmware flashes are immune to things going wrong.
Edit: If you try an OTA on yours, by all means, let us know what happens.
Edit 2: Adding TWRP to the mix may, or may not, affect the viability of applying OTAs. I've hardly used TWRP on any device in the last five years, so I'm not sure if it's smart about some things and can take root into account, but since TWRP doesn't exist on the Tab S8 (I don't have any older Tab), it won't matter for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just attempted to OTA update on my Tab S7+ after making a backup, and it failed. When it rebooted to start applying the update, it booted into recovery to start flashing, but since I have TWRP installed, it booted to that instead, went straight to the main menu, and didn't apply the update. It's extremely ironic; my tablet says it's running unauthorized software and will no longer receive firmware updates, but it also says my device status is official and allows me to download and install updates if I check for them (it'll even mention there's an update available without having automatic download installed).
I rebooted to system, it said they the update failed, and prompted me to download the update again and try again. I can't tell if anything got affected since it seems like because the update failed, nothing got applied or changed. This makes me slightly less willing to try and OTA update on the Tab S8+. However, since the stock recovery is still in place (no TWRP yet), the update process would probably go a long smoother. Not to mention, if something was to go wrong, and I needed to flash patched firmware again, I could just flash HOME_CSC instead of the regular CSC so I can keep my data. There's no guarantee that will work, as a failed update could require my system to prompt me to factory data reset anyway, but it's definitely an option that's available.
I'll backup whatever I can before attempting this, and I'll post the results later.
Answer would be no, doing OTA requires bootloader to be locked. But since you rooted, then you have unlocked the bootloader. So if your tab s8+ has locked bootloader then OTA will pass without a problem.
Jake.S said:
Answer would be no, doing OTA requires bootloader to be locked. But since you rooted, then you have unlocked the bootloader. So if your tab s8+ has locked bootloader then OTA will pass without a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I thought having an unlocked bootloader would be a non-issue since you can flashing official and unofficial firmware with an unlocked bootloader. Not to mention that the recovery has remained unaffected, and stock recovery needs to be accessed to apply the update.
SavXL said:
Really? I thought having an unlocked bootloader would be a non-issue since you can flashing official and unofficial firmware with an unlocked bootloader. Not to mention that the recovery has remained unaffected, and stock recovery needs to be accessed to apply the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when unlocking bootloader you have to manually flash the stock firmware. Since OTA becomes unavailable when bootloader is unlocked. So if root is done in for example android 12 and you get a monthly patch then it will revoke the root since root usually modifies the OS files and gives you the root access sort off and flashing a update will write over those files and your root privileges will be removed.
Jake.S said:
when unlocking bootloader you have to manually flash the stock firmware. Since OTA becomes unavailable when bootloader is unlocked. So if root is done in for example android 12 and you get a monthly patch then it will revoke the root since root usually modifies the OS files and gives you the root access sort off and flashing a update will write over those files and your root privileges will be removed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh. I thought that doing an OTA update wouldn't remove anything that was already a part of the system and would just just update whatever needed to be updated and called it a day. With the method of patching the firmware and flashing it, I assume root would just be a regular part of the system, and an OTA update wouldn't affect it. Odd...
SavXL said:
Huh. I thought that doing an OTA update wouldn't remove anything that was already a part of the system and would just just update whatever needed to be updated and called it a day. With the method of patching the firmware and flashing it, I assume root would just be a regular part of the system, and an OTA update wouldn't affect it. Odd...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is because your normal access is only admin not root. So it has almost full rights, but when you add root access it is mostlikely a modification that you have to do, either by a command or flashing a file. But updating the OS will revoke the root since method you used becomes unavailable for next update which is why it can reset your changes backwards so your root privileges becomes lost and your access is back to default as before. But I wouldn't touch bootloader since doing that also bricks KNOX so features for KNOX will become permanently disabled since it requires a working Knox chip to work, but since KNOX chip fuse becomes blown when bootloader is unlocked then feature like Samsung pass, samsung secret folder and such will no longer work.
Jake.S said:
That is because your normal access is only admin not root. So it has almost full rights, but when you add root access it is mostlikely a modification that you have to do, either by a command or flashing a file. But updating the OS will revoke the root since method you used becomes unavailable for next update which is why it can reset your changes backwards so your root privileges becomes lost and your access is back to default as before. But I wouldn't touch bootloader since doing that also bricks KNOX so features for KNOX will become permanently disabled since it requires a working Knox chip to work, but since KNOX chip fuse becomes blown when bootloader is unlocked then feature like Samsung pass, samsung secret folder and such will no longer work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turns out you were absolutely correct. I downloaded and attempted to install the update, it booted into the stock recovery and got to 25% before erroring out. It booted back into Android and said that the update failed. Thankfully, nothing ended up getting removed or corrupted, and I still have root access. Guess I gotta stick to finding the latest firmware and patching it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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