Database Develop

Updating after root

Forgive me if this has been asked before. I did search, but I couldn't seem to find an answer to this.
I have a dev edition model. I really want to root, but have been holding off because there are bugs with the current build of Lollipop and I'm kind of hoping Moto will release a 5.02 update soon to kill the memory leak and other issues. That being said, I have really been itching for root.
If I did root, what would I have to do to this phone to update it to the new version? Would I have to completely return to stock and wipe? Or could I ADB sideload? Seems like I was reading that you can't update at all when you're rooted, even if you disable root.
Without any idea how much longer it'll be before the next update, I'm finding it harder and harder to hold off on root, but I don't want to go through hell to get it back to stock and update it.
Thanks for any help and sorry if this has already been asked.

From what I understand, root is fine. It is installing a custom recovery that will stop you from getting the OTA. You can very easily undo root. As a matter if fact, you can pretty easily reinstall the stock recovery also.

diggitydogg said:
From what I understand, root is fine. It is installing a custom recovery that will stop you from getting the OTA. You can very easily undo root. As a matter if fact, you can pretty easily reinstall the stock recovery also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
Most of the time, that's true. I have updated a lot of phones by simply unrooting, applying the update, and rooting again, or using ADB sideload and then just rooting. But from what I have been reading about the Moto X 2014, you have to completely restore it back to stock before doing anything, even if you just use the temp boot method to root.
Is that wrong? I can't seem to find any info that confirms either way.

I've installed custom recovery, how can I reverse it and install the original recovery for update?

One advantage of root is you'll have Titanium Backup, so even if you do have to do a full wipe before applying the update, you could just update it and restore everything back quickly using TiBu. With lollipop, apparently the update file checks for the entire system checksum as a whole instead of each file so any slight modification to the system will mostly require pure stock and this is the same even with the nexus. So yeah, you most likely have to wipe your device before updating. I'd say, wait till Xposed for Lollipop is out, its almost there, once it comes out go ahead and root it, it'll at least be worth the hassle then

If you're rooted with lollipop and want to take an OTA update you can flash stock recovery and the stock system image. At that point you should still have all apps/data and be able to take a OTA update. The recovery and system files should be the exact version you already have and of course anytime you flash realize you could lose data!

Steve-x said:
If you're rooted with lollipop and want to take an OTA update you can flash stock recovery and the stock system image. At that point you should still have all apps/data and be able to take a OTA update. The recovery and system files should be the exact version you already have and of course anytime you flash realize you could lose data!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. All you need to do is flash the stock /system partition and also the recovery if you replaced it. I don't know why everyone's talking about having to wipe the entire phone with the all the stock images.

[Q] 5.1 OTA Update Boots into Recovery

I have never done an OTA update as when I first got into Android I was flashing ROMs nearly every week and never waited for updates just flashed a new ROM, however when I got my Nexus 6 I decided to just root and stick with stock.
I woke this morning and the 5.1 update was available but when I download it and select install and reboot it boots into recovery (TWRP) and I can't see where the download is - I presume I am having to flash it myself? So I have to reboot and it says I am up-to-date with 5.0.1 and then an hour later the download is available again and I go through the same process.
Can anyone help, tell me where i am going wrong.

I had same issue after relocking bootloader and this worked for me and hopefully it may work for you. Put phone in fastboot mode.(hold power + volume down) then use fastboot command fastboot -w

How do you define stock if you have TWRP. LOL
Sent from my Nexus 6

DebianDog said:
How do you define stock if you have TWRP. LOL
Sent from my Nexus 6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well OK stock except for the recovery. I presumed you would know what I meant. I will ensure my posts are word prefect next time.

md1008 said:
I had same issue after relocking bootloader and this worked for me and hopefully it may work for you. Put phone in fastboot mode.(hold power + volume down) then use fastboot command fastboot -w
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I'll give it a go

Same issue here. Let us know how you make out.

Hate to do a "me too" post, but I've had the exact same experience.
I'll wait to see whether the fastboot -w method works before I do anything else.
I did try to find the (410.4Mb) download on my N6, but I suspect that the failed update must have deleted it, as it's asking me to download it again.

fastboot -w just wiped userdata so needed to do a fresh install and was still at 5.0.1. So just had to install my backup again to get back to where I was this morning.

Ouch! Sorry to hear it (though glad that you had a backup) - thanks for saving the rest of us from trying that particular route.
I'm still looking for a way to get to 5.1.

You can't do an OTA update with a NON-STOCK recovery.
You can however, if your bootloader is unlocked, download the factory image, extract it, and flash the system.img, bootloader.img, radio.img, cache.img etc...use fastboot to flash those.
Or you can fastboot flash the stock recovery, and take the OTA again.

Thanks.
I assume that I can also use Nexus Root Toolkit to "Flash Stock + Unroot" (without wiping the device), then take the OTA update to 5.1, and then use NRT to Root again?
Just doing a full backup at the moment before I start playing!

UPDATE: The above worked fine.
I started with 5.0.1, rooted, unlocked Bootloader
Then, in Nexus Root Toolkit, I used:
1) Backup (using Create Nandroid Backup w/Custom Recovery option)
2) Flash Stock + Unroot (using No Wipe Mode. I also had to enable Force Flash Mode)
Then, on the phone, accept the OTA 5.1 update, which downloaded and installed first time.
Back to NRT, and:
3) Root and also flash Custom Recovery
I ended up with 5.1, rooted, unlocked Bootloader (and all my apps and data were untouched).

Since doing the method recommended in the second post the OTA update hasn't been available on my device?

Have you tried rebooting the phone?
Or going into Settings > About Phone > System Updates > Check for Updates
It's always possible (if unlikely) that Google have stopped the roll-out to fix some of the issues that people have been reporting with SmartLock, etc?

Philip said:
Have you tried rebooting the phone?
Or going into Settings > About Phone > System Updates > Check for Updates
It's always possible (if unlikely) that Google have stopped the roll-out to fix some of the issues that people have been reporting with SmartLock, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes and yes done that too

Philip said:
UPDATE: The above worked fine.
I started with 5.0.1, rooted, unlocked Bootloader
Then, in Nexus Root Toolkit, I used:
1) Backup (using Create Nandroid Backup w/Custom Recovery option)
2) Flash Stock + Unroot (using No Wipe Mode. I also had to enable Force Flash Mode)
Then, on the phone, accept the OTA 5.1 update, which downloaded and installed first time.
Back to NRT, and:
3) Root and also flash Custom Recovery
I ended up with 5.1, rooted, unlocked Bootloader (and all my apps and data were untouched).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you take the scenic route? This is by far the longest method to do that.
Instead of flashing stock with nrt, why not just flash stock normally? That way you could have just flashed 5.1 without having to take any OTA...
And further, if you wanted to keep recovery, why not just flash the system and boot image keeping everything else as it is? Then just flash SuperSU from twrp?
2 commands
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
Boot into recovery and flash root.
Much quicker than the method you used.

rootSU said:
Why did you take the scenic route? This is by far the longest method to do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, my fist step was a backup, which you conveniently left out - you may be happy to update your phone without backing it up first, but I chose not to take that chance.
Apart from that, it's about the same number of steps - I was happy to take 5.1 OTA (which meant that I was certain that it was the correct version for my phone), and Nexus Root Toolkit is a much nicer piece of software to use than fastboot. I know that some people don't like NRT because they feel that it demystifies the black arts of updating and it threatens their voodoo status, but I find it an excellent piece of software and recommend it to you.
In the meantime, while you had to go and find the appropriate system.img and the appropriate boot.img and download them before fastbooting them, these were steps that I was able to avoid whilst enjoying my "scenic" journey.
So you take the high road and I'll take the low road - but I reckon that it took me no longer to update my phone than it took you to update yours!

Philip said:
Well, my fist step was a backup, which you conveniently left out - you may be happy to update your phone without backing it up first, but I chose not to take that chance.
Apart from that, it's about the same number of steps - I was happy to take 5.1 OTA (which meant that I was certain that it was the correct version for my phone), and Nexus Root Toolkit is a much nicer piece of software to use than fastboot. I know that some people don't like NRT because they feel that it demystifies the black arts of updating and it threatens their voodoo status, but I find it an excellent piece of software and recommend it to you.
In the meantime, while you had to go and find the appropriate system.img and the appropriate boot.img and download them before fastbooting them, these were steps that I was able to avoid whilst enjoying my "scenic" journey.
So you take the high road and I'll take the low road - but I reckon that it took me no longer to update my phone than it took you to update yours!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It took you loads longer haha.

rootSU said:
It took you loads longer haha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that bothered you so much that you had to tell the whole world about it? Wow!

Philip said:
And that bothered you so much that you had to tell the whole world about it? Wow!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest no. The route you took was so long that I thought you just didn't have a clue about what you were doing so I thought I'd help out and let you know the quicker version... And if anyone reads your post and thinks its the best way to do it, well now they have some contrast.
What bothers me is your attitude however. But I don't care enough to get into an argument with people who would rather waste their time and the people they try to help than listen to constructive criticism.
But yeah, your way is needlessly long so I hope people don't take your lead.

How to install monthly Nexus security firmware updates without starting over?

Usually when a new Android OS version is released, I'll just start over from scratch by manually flashing the seven image files using fastboot. I then install the unencrypt kernel/boot image and also root.
Now that these security updates are coming out every month, is there an easier way in my specific situation to install the update only without having to start from scratch every time like above?

Flash the system image only (if radio is different, flash that too). That won't overwrite your user data/apps
Edit: When flashing the system.img, flash the cache.img as well (to be safe)

Thanks. That is pretty simple. I wish I asked this a long time ago so I could avoided a lot of resetting EVERYTHING up all the time. 2 more clarifications if you don't mind...
1) Would this also work for point releases, like say if a 5.1.2 comes out, or would it be better to reflash everything in that case?
2) No other steps like clear cache or anything? Just flash those 2, reboot, and then I should be good to go?

Toaplan said:
Thanks. That is pretty simple. I wish I asked this a long time ago so I could avoided a lot of resetting EVERYTHING up all the time. 2 more clarifications if you don't mind...
1) Would this also work for point releases, like say if a 5.1.2 comes out, or would it be better to reflash everything in that case?
2) No other steps like clear cache or anything? Just flash those 2, reboot, and then I should be good to go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should work just fine for point releases. For major releases (like when Android M is released), I will probably flash everything, and wipe everything (including userdata), and start from scratch ! lol!
In theory, it should work find even for major releases, but I'd rather start with a clean slate - especially with the new permissions manager that is being added in this release. I'd rather not take any old incompatible apps thru' - but that's just me
Clearing cache is usually not needed. I've heard of instances where some users get stuck on the Google boot logo for some reason when booting for the first time. If that happens, clearing cache seems to help.
To be safe, it may be a good idea to flash the cache.img too. It takes a few seconds. Better safe than sorry. I'll update my earlier post.

jj14 said:
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huge thanks. This should make things a lot easier for me.

Is this the system update that just got pushed to my phone? It looks like a small update, like 26MB?
Mine tried to install and failed. My phone is stock, latest official version, never rooted, but the bootloader is unlocked and it is running the no force encrypt kernel, which I believe is probably what is causing the issue?
Only way is to restore completely to stock, take the OTA and then install the no decrypt?

I got the OTA today to upgrade to M from L- (on verizon) where can I Find that system image to flash- I tried sideloading the OTA and it didn't take.

caecusscius said:
I got the OTA today to upgrade to M from L- (on verizon) where can I Find that system image to flash- I tried sideloading the OTA and it didn't take.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images

SquireSCA said:
Is this the system update that just got pushed to my phone? It looks like a small update, like 26MB?
Mine tried to install and failed. My phone is stock, latest official version, never rooted, but the bootloader is unlocked and it is running the no force encrypt kernel, which I believe is probably what is causing the issue?
Only way is to restore completely to stock, take the OTA and then install the no decrypt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it's actually both of these things causing the OTA not to take. If anything, anything is changed from stock...no OTA. Bootloader unlocked, kernel, root, even just changing the build.prop (but you need root for that) would cause it to fail. I believe it checks every file and if anything in /system has changed, no OTA.
I've never messed around with the encryption pieces, but I'm wondering if you only flash the system.img (you'd need to re-root) if that would suffice or not as far as the update. You'd be flashing the entire system file instead of only the delta the OTA provides, but it's probably worth looking into.

Hmmm... Well, it takes 15 minutes to just wipe the phone and flash the new ROM with the toolkit, install my apps, copy my files over and set the phone up, so it isn't a big deal, I just want to make sure that I have the right version before I do that...
(LMY48M) That's the one that I want for the VZW N6, right?

I just use helium to backup my apps and everything. Even if I need to wipe it is a pretty easy restore process. I highly recommend helium backup.

hayzooos said:
I believe it's actually both of these things causing the OTA not to take. If anything, anything is changed from stock...no OTA. Bootloader unlocked, kernel, root, even just changing the build.prop (but you need root for that) would cause it to fail. I believe it checks every file and if anything in /system has changed, no OTA.
I've never messed around with the encryption pieces, but I'm wondering if you only flash the system.img (you'd need to re-root) if that would suffice or not as far as the update. You'd be flashing the entire system file instead of only the delta the OTA provides, but it's probably worth looking into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocked bootloader doesn't affect it, the customised kernel does though . But yes, you could just flash the system.img

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 about maintaining root

So far I've been running my OP3T with stock rom with TWRP recovery and SuperSU to have root. This was mostly because I wanted the Adaway and titanium backup to work. I undid everything so I could update to the latest OxygenOS version, and now I'm on the stock recovery too, but with bootloader still unlocked I believe. I no longer have root after doing the upgrade as far as I can tell, still a bit new to all this flashing, haha. The last time I did this was when the nexus 4 came out
What is the best option for maintaining root while still being able to upgrade smoothly? I'm not against using one of the custom ROMs if that will help, but I do kinda like the stock rom so far!
thanks!

bluesrph said:
So far I've been running my OP3T with stock rom with TWRP recovery and SuperSU to have root. This was mostly because I wanted the Adaway and titanium backup to work. I undid everything so I could update to the latest OxygenOS version, and now I'm on the stock recovery too, but with bootloader still unlocked I believe. I no longer have root after doing the upgrade as far as I can tell, still a bit new to all this flashing, haha. The last time I did this was when the nexus 4 came out
What is the best option for maintaining root while still being able to upgrade smoothly? I'm not against using one of the custom ROMs if that will help, but I do kinda like the stock rom so far!
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread should answer all your questions and doubts
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/...-or-custom-recovery-without-data-loss.479265/

saurabh40629 said:
This thread should answer all your questions and doubts
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/...-or-custom-recovery-without-data-loss.479265/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs

bluesrph said:
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dm-verity u can bypass but bootloader one, you can not. Look at the apps, mods section.

bluesrph said:
Thank you, I have seen that post. I'm guessing any route I go I'll have to flash updates then? I was hoping to find a way to be able to use OTA updates.
I've also never been able to get rid of the dm-verity error, even after going back to stock and locking the bootloader. Is there anything I need to worry about with that or is it just an annoyance?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't try to flash the partial OTAs while you are rooted and have a custom recovery installed. The partial zip will try to make specific changes in the restricted partitions (/system, /boot, /recovery, etc.) related to the update and prior modifications to these files may cause the update to fail and the phone to brick. You can still use the "Update" tab in the Settings menu to download the update though as OOS will detect root and download the full zip of the update for you. Simply flash the full zip in TWRP, wipe cache/dalvik, then flash SuperSU and you're good to go the next time an update rolls out. Updating by this method (rooting immedately after flashing update) will also prevent OOS from replacing TWRP with the stock recovery again. When you download the update, you'll know if it's the full zip if the file is >1 GB (they're usually ~1.4 GB,, whereas the partial zips are a few hundred MB).
Unlocked bootloader warning screen is cannot be removed without relocked and fully resetting (wiping) the phone. DM-verity warning screen can be removed by following this guide. Make sure that you are flashing the correct firmware for you current version of OOS though, flashing the wrong version can brick you phone.