Background info:
Updated Cyanogenmod 12.0 to 12.1 through a nightly update that the OS automatically recommended me do. Upon updating, the phone went into a boot loop. I did a data backup through TWRP and then I wiped the dalvik-cache and cache, but it still bootlooped, so I wiped the data. After wiping the data, the phone booted up just fine. At this point, I'd like to restore my data and I have tried doing so through TWRP, but then it just goes into a bootloop again.
Primary Questions:
Can I restore my data and not get the boot loop? If not, can I go back to Cyanogenmod 12.0 and then restore my data and not get the boot loop? If not, what are my options from here?
Secondary Questions:
What did I do wrong to get the boot loop and how can I prevent this from occurring in the future when updating to a new nightly?
thex2 said:
Background info:
Updated Cyanogenmod 12.0 to 12.1 through a nightly update that the OS automatically recommended me do. Upon updating, the phone went into a boot loop. I did a data backup through TWRP and then I wiped the dalvik-cache and cache, but it still bootlooped, so I wiped the data. After wiping the data, the phone booted up just fine. At this point, I'd like to restore my data and I have tried doing so through TWRP, but then it just goes into a bootloop again.
Primary Questions:
Can I restore my data and not get the boot loop? If not, can I go back to Cyanogenmod 12.0 and then restore my data and not get the boot loop? If not, what are my options from here?
Secondary Questions:
What did I do wrong to get the boot loop and how can I prevent this from occurring in the future when updating to a new nightly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to answer your second question first, as the second answer shapes the first answer.
Sometimes a ROM needs a wipe before flashing..the reason for this is conflicting data.. Most commonly,.this will happen if going from one ROM to another from a different dev, but can also happen upgrading roms from the same dev.
The conflict will happen due to system settings.. All system settings go in /data/data along with your user app settings. Most settings will go in an sqlite database.
The boot loop problem occurs usually when there is an entry in one or more of these databases that correlates with a setting that no longer exists, or the entry doesn't match the options in a ROM. For example, if your ROM allows you to set screen sleep in 15, 30, 60 seconds only, but your database has your setting set at 45, android doesn't know what to do and boot loops.*
The fix is of course, wiping data.. This is why when restoring using titanium backup on a new ROM, we recommend only restring your user apps and data (using the filters and options) otherwise if you restore system apps and data you're restoring the problem.
The first question, you can restore app a from a nandroid backup using titanium. There is an option in preferences.
*please note, this is just a basic example for illustration purposes. Screen sleep may or may not cause a loop
Thank you for the detailed response. It was very helpful. I have a few more questions for you below.
rootSU said:
Sometimes a ROM needs a wipe before flashing..the reason for this is conflicting data.. Most commonly,.this will happen if going from one ROM to another from a different dev, but can also happen upgrading roms from the same dev.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there an easy way to predict whether this will occur prior to upgrading? And if so, how?
Can I downgrade back to my old nightly and restore my data to go back to the working setup that I previously had?
Is there a way to get my old OS customizations back from the nandroid backup that I created? For example, my desktop icon positions for my apps, etc..
Is it probable that a new version will come out that's compatible with the old versions settings? For example, you mentioned the screen sleep timer being 15, 30, 60 and then changing to 45 and the boot loop occurs. Do the developers ever recognize this issue occurred and then correct it in the next nightly to allow for 15, 30, 45 and 60 so I could restore my data without the boot loop occurring?
thex2 said:
Thank you for the detailed response. It was very helpful. I have a few more questions for you below.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's see what I can do
thex2 said:
Is there an easy way to predict whether this will occur prior to upgrading? And if so, how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no hard and fast rules.. If you're going from Dev A ROM to Dev B ROM, you will almost certainly have to wipe. Also, between major version updates (5.0 to 5.1 for example) you too will most likely have to wipe
Usually for any upgrade on the same ROM that isn't a major version update (dev a 5.0 to dev a 5.0 base) you usually won't have to wipe, but you may well have to, depending on whether the dev changes things a lot. Always have a titanium and a nandroid backup before updating.
thex2 said:
Can I downgrade back to my old nightly and restore my data to go back to the working setup that I previously had?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes probably. Restore the full nandroid if you want.
thex2 said:
Is there a way to get my old OS customizations back from the nandroid backup that I created? For example, my desktop icon positions for my apps, etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends which launcher you're using.. If you install a launcher from play store, it is a user app.. So if you're restoring user also using titanium filters, it should restore it fully, including widgets etc. That said, sometimes it doesn't always work out. If the launcher has built in backup, it may be wise to use it.
If the launcher is built into the ROM, its classed as a system app, so even though user apps and system apps both keep their app data in /data/data, it will not be seen with titanium if you're using a filter to shoe only user apps and data.. Work around is backup system and user data without a filter in titanium then when restoring, apply the filter for user apps.. Then once user apps are restored, find the system apps you need to restore data for and restore individually as required. You need to restore as little as possible though to avoid the boot loop.
thex2 said:
Is it probable that a new version will come out that's compatible with the old versions settings? For example, you mentioned the screen sleep timer being 15, 30, 60 and then changing to 45 and the boot loop occurs. Do the developers ever recognize this issue occurred and then correct it in the next nightly to allow for 15, 30, 45 and 60 so I could restore my data without the boot loop occurring?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually not.. Generally ROM v2 changes from ROM v1.. ROM v3 is usually even further away from ROM v1. If a dev is changing such a setting they are probably doing so for a reason.. Sometimes if the setting is part of a function that the dev decides to remove again ROM v3, its possible. But its best to be prepared and accept that wiping and restoring is a common practice in custom ROM flashing
Related
Few questions
1. I have sprint and nexus 6. Ideally I'd like a stock rom, but with the clear recent tasks button in the bottom, and enabled tethering, and also rooted. What minimalist or close to stock rom would you suggest? I am tired of using stock and having a pain every time there is an OTA update whereby it won't flash and having to go through the steps of editing build.prop and the sql database file to enable tethering.
2. What is the easiest way to keep a custom rom up to date. I just want it to almost behave like stock with updates easy to obtain and near automatic. Is there an app or rom that has this feature?
3. what is the difference between factory build LMY48M and LMY47Z? They are both listed as 5.1.1
4. I use titanium backup. However, if i update a rom and just save user data (when i previously had it save system data I had a problem) and after i flash restoring user data, I notice many of the settings such as my bluetooth and smart lock etc. settings aren't saved. Any suggestion to streamline the flashing process further?
Thanks for your help and advice!
deadave said:
Few questions
1. I have sprint and nexus 6. Ideally I'd like a stock rom, but with the clear recent tasks button in the bottom, and enabled tethering, and also rooted. What minimalist or close to stock rom would you suggest? I am tired of using stock and having a pain every time there is an OTA update whereby it won't flash and having to go through the steps of editing build.prop and the sql database file to enable tethering.
2. What is the easiest way to keep a custom rom up to date. I just want it to almost behave like stock with updates easy to obtain and near automatic. Is there an app or rom that has this feature?
3. what is the difference between factory build LMY48M and LMY47Z? They are both listed as 5.1.1
4. I use titanium backup. However, if i update a rom and just save user data (when i previously had it save system data I had a problem) and after i flash restoring user data, I notice many of the settings such as my bluetooth and smart lock etc. settings aren't saved. Any suggestion to streamline the flashing process further?
Thanks for your help and advice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you do realize that all you have to do to update a rooted stock rom is flash the system.img via fastboot, then quickly reroot(flash the supersu file)? yes, its that easy.
oh, and i backup my apps and settings through google. every time i wipe, google will restore all my apps, my wallpaper, and my system settings.
/data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ doesn't have to get changed if you just flash system img?
deadave said:
/data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/ doesn't have to get changed if you just flash system img?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. that is if you don't wipe data. you wont lose any data flashing just the system.img. you will lose SuperSU though. but all you have to do is reflash it.
Is there a TWRP for the Nexus 6? Can I go from stock rooted to CM12 & back without bricking?
RichTJ99 said:
Is there a TWRP for the Nexus 6? Can I go from stock rooted to CM12 & back without bricking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, TWRP is available for the Nexus 6.
And yes you can go from stock rooted, to a different ROM (CM12 if you want) and back without any problems.
I am new to my Nexus 6 and new to flashing custom roms. I have read the thread all morning long and still don't feel comfortable with what information I have obtained. I'm currently running marshmallow 6.0 rooted with supersu 2.52. How can I flash the latest pure Nexus project 6.0.1 correctly? I do have TWRP recovery installed and I'm running on build number MRA58R
Make a backup in TWRP, wipe your system partition, Flash the ROM zip and the GAPPS zip, reboot, profit. If anything fails you can roll back to your backup and try again.
Real simple. Download the latest built as well as the latest google apps (gapps)
Reboot to TWRP
Do a backup, so you have a restore point if something happens
Go to wipe->advanced wipe and choose both caches, system and data. DO NOT wipe internal storage
Go to install, choose the ROM and gapps and install them
Reboot
You will now be on the latest. You will have to set your phone up again, and all your text messages, home screen, act will be gone but all your stuff on your sdcard (internal storage) will be untouched.
You can also get real ambitious and make backups with something like titanium backup of all your apps and data and restore it after booting PN, but try to not back up system apps or system data (it should be an option... I dont know, I never use tibu). The main thing you lose without backing up is texts, I usually just deal with it/redownload apps/set up home screen again.
On future updates, unless there are major changes and its indicated by a majority of people in the PN thread, just dirty flash.
That is, backup, wipe caches, install new ROM version( I wouldn't reflash gapps ) this will leave all your apps, settings, ect... But should only be done when flashing the same or a very similar ROM. If you dirty flash and experience problems, go back and clean flash as I first instructed.
So I should not worry about flashing the new 32r radio?
shouldnt this have been one of the first things to learn BEFORE you ever rooted your phone? yea, nice job jumping in before learning your way around. i bet you even used a toolkit to root your device..
Everyone's got to start somewhere. And no toolkit here but thanks for your input! And thank you for the helpful responses.
roy.garlington said:
Everyone's got to start somewhere. And no toolkit here but thanks for your input! And thank you for the helpful responses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no tool kit? ok, your -1 on not learning before rooting has a +1 right by it, for rooting the proper way. you just might earn some respect
Hey there simbo, what do you say about flashing the radio?
Sure. Or don't.
Whatever.
The radio is pretty separate from android. Its basically drivers to tell you phone how to use hardware.
FI has certain requirements for activation that may check what radio you have, but outside of that run what ever works good for you., its not going to for sure be any specific one. Newer may often be better but its not uncommon that an older one may work a little better.
Different apps can help you monitor (I dunno which ones... But I know its a thing ), you can also go into about phone -> status -> sim status and check signal strength where lower dBm is better(well a lower numeric value... Its technically a negative number, so higher is better i.e. -113 is worse then -104). This will vary slightly minute to minute and place to place so just taking a glance once won't really settle it for you
I just use it for a day or two, pay attention to how my signal is (just kinda how often did I have decent # of bars, nothing scientific), and check battery stats clicking on cell standby and looking at % of time with out signal.
roy.garlington said:
Hey there simbo, what do you say about flashing the radio?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youre choice. you can try any of the radios, from previous android versions, on any android version. they arent specific. im using the 27R radio. whichever one works best for you, thats whats important
roy.garlington said:
I am new to my Nexus 6 and new to flashing custom roms. I have read the thread all morning long and still don't feel comfortable with what information I have obtained. I'm currently running marshmallow 6.0 rooted with supersu 2.52. How can I flash the latest pure Nexus project 6.0.1 correctly? I do have TWRP recovery installed and I'm running on build number MRA58R
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it's all very easy if you read a little. Still i will give you one extra tip in case you start flashing all kinds of roms: You unlocked your bootloader. Before doing that you enabled "OEM unlocking" in 'Developer options'. Leave that enabled (this setting is 'sticky'. even when you wipe the device)!!!!. Leaving OEM unlocking enabled will disable "Device Protection" that causes sometimes a 72 hours lock-out from your Google account.
I've tried to look for the sultan otas but haven't found so if I just flash the whole ROM I should be fine right? Is there some other way to get the OTA from the updater if that deletes stuff?
Escabrera said:
I've tried to look for the sultan otas but haven't found so if I just flash the whole ROM I should be fine right? Is there some other way to get the OTA from the updater if that deletes stuff?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll be fine. What you're doing is called dirty flashing. It's not always the most stable thing to do especially if subsequent versions have significant changes, but if the update is just adding things like security patches and minor bugs, go ahead. Be aware that it's best to clean flash, or wipe the system partition because there will be no chance of conflicting code. Even if you're unsure if flashing a whole ROM would delete data, you can always just make a backup on TWRP. In fact, always make a backup before doing something like this.
Inflection said:
You'll be fine. What you're doing is called dirty flashing. It's not always the most stable thing to do especially if subsequent versions have significant changes, but if the update is just adding things like security patches and minor bugs, go ahead. Be aware that it's best to clean flash, or wipe the system partition because there will be no chance of conflicting code. Even if you're unsure if flashing a whole ROM would delete data, you can always just make a backup on TWRP. In fact, always make a backup before doing something like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just that I'm getting Google play services crashes constantly and 2 patches ago it wasn't happening so I'm trying to reflash the newest release. So I'll probably do a TWRP back up first. Does it also back up stuff like downloads and files on the phone?
Escabrera said:
It's just that I'm getting Google play services crashes constantly and 2 patches ago it wasn't happening so I'm trying to reflash the newest release. So I'll probably do a TWRP back up first. Does it also back up stuff like downloads and files on the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should probably also be reflashing the gapps as well since you are having issues with play services. In the case of TWRP, it doesn't back up files on the phone; rather it backs up the system partition, data (excluding storage), and some other optional stuff. Even if you were to clean flash, you wouldn't need to worry about your files (that is in the partition Internal Storage) because you almost never need to wipe media. A clean flash only requires you to wipe Dalvik, system, data, and cache. What you're doing is dirty flashing, where you wipe nothing and flash your zips over the existing ROM. The backup is just insurance in the instance that something goes wrong and you soft brick the phone.
i tried to flash it again and old updates with the issue still being there so i just nuked everything. I'm just going to use titanium backup plus having the files on a computer to get back to where i was before.
Im on Superior OS - Android 10.
I wanted to know how does TWRP DATA backup work, and where can I have problems?
I was thinking of giving a try to Pixel Experience 10.
If I backup just DATA usign TWRP, install pixel, gapps, magisk and after that I restore DATA, will the rom work perfectly and I will have all my configuration, settings, etc; or it just will work perfectly if I restore it to a clean installation of Superior OS.
Following that question.
May I go and try Havoc - Android 9, and restore DATA from Android 10? Will there be any problems?
And the last one.
If I go from Android 9 to 10, may I restore DATA?
Thanks!
When changing operating systems it's always best to re-install all apps.
I believe TWRP backup doesn't backup apps & data. Stuff like photos, music etc will not be backed up. You'll need to back those up separately. If you use Titanium, that would do more but reinstall your apps from their source and then restore data.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab S5e using XDA Labs
TWRP absolutely backups and restores data... But you only want to do this to the same OS version. You will likely get a bunch of force closes, and instability if you attempt to restore to different version.
A fresh install is always recommended, but you may want to check out the app called "Migrate" - YMMV.
jhedfors said:
TWRP absolutely backups and restores data... But you only want to do this to the same OS version. You will likely get a bunch of force closes, and instability if you attempt to restore to different version.
A fresh install is always recommended, but you may want to check out the app called "Migrate" - YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would add, "same OS version" yes, but even custom 10 to another custom 10, I would strongly advise re-installing everything.
The problem is that you don't know what the environment is in an operating system and each app looks at its environment while it is installing and sets itself up appropriately.
So you have problems and you waste your own and others' time trying to shoot needless problems just in the hope of saving a few minutes.
You might think, "well, this custom 10 is like that custom 10" but unless you compare the full build trees and sources, you really don't have the faintest idea. They are different, because, well, they ARE different!
I thought I would just casually go through my installed apps and clean some up. I disabled the following...
1. Accessibility Suite
2. Gmail
3. Google TV
4. Google Music
5. Chroma
6. Razor Store
7. Logo+ (Uninstalled)
I then thought to myself that I would probably need the Accessibility Suite for apps that needed that as a permission to work. So I re-enabled it and it updated. I then rebooted and now the phone hangs at the Razor logo. I do have TWRP installed so I can get to that. I also have a complete backup from about a year ago using TWRP which I would like to use as my last resort. I am thinking that by disabling one of the above apps caused this issue. So, can I fastboot and re-enable them using adb? If so what is the command and the name for each app above? I am not an adb guru so the exact commands and names would help. Or if someone can think of another way to get my phone working besides a complete wipe I would greatly appreciate it! I am running MR1 stock with Magisk/art97. I do remember back in the day having a similar problem and I ended up re-flashing the ROM or something and it kept all my data but I think it just repaired the OS or something and that fixed a not booting issue. That was a long time ago so I cannot remember all the specifics but if that rings any bells for anyone as to another way I can approach this I am all ears. Thank you!
Logo+ - you uninstalled it. I dont think any others will prevent booting. If there is no logo, it will sit till it gets one. Reflash logo+ if at all possible. (I have a logo.img in my firmware, but different fone.
Pachacouti said:
Logo+ - you uninstalled it. I dont think any others will prevent booting. If there is no logo, it will sit till it gets one. Reflash logo+ if at all possible. (I have a logo.img in my firmware, but different fone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. Logo+ is not a system app and shouldn't have anything to do with the Razor logo when booting up. Logo+ is a 3rd party app that allows to manipulate the colored logo on the back of the phone. For example when a notification comes in Logo+ can light up the colored logo on the back of the phone or make it flash. The app is from here. I've actually uninstalled and reinstalled Logo+ in the past when updating and such with no adverse effects. I can't imagine Logo+ would be the culprit here. What do you think?
I think only logo+ is capable of preventing boot, because your bootlooping. all other apps should NOT cause ANY bootloop, because they do not access anything previous to logo+, your first step in your problem.
Try this...
Logo+ if incorrect in any way will not show. This CAN cause bootloops. No other app you mention can. Perhaps your fone took a silent update, maybe it checked for the Logo+ and 'kicked' you for messing with it. Maybe google decided not to like it, so silently ordered your fone to delete the logo you installed leaving you with no logo+, and until you can see a logo+ your fone will stay there, so try my suggestion, seems your only choice. I have been flashing chips for years so can help, just go with my suggestion, reflash ONLY stock system.img/.bin using your stock flashing application, you'll be glad you did.
Pachacouti said:
I think only logo+ is capable of preventing boot, because your bootlooping. all other apps should NOT cause ANY bootloop, because they do not access anything previous to logo+, your first step in your problem.
Try this...
Logo+ if incorrect in any way will not show. This CAN cause bootloops. No other app you mention can. Perhaps your fone took a silent update, maybe it checked for the Logo+ and 'kicked' you for messing with it. Maybe google decided not to like it, so silently ordered your fone to delete the logo you installed leaving you with no logo+, and until you can see a logo+ your fone will stay there, so try my suggestion, seems your only choice. I have been flashing chips for years so can help, just go with my suggestion, reflash ONLY stock system.img/.bin using your stock flashing application, you'll be glad you did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will follow your instructions but I am needing some clarification please.
The app Logo+ never came with the stock OS or the Razor Phone 2. It is a separate app made by a 3rd party. So flashing the system.img will not bring back Logo+. So should I first attempt to flash the Logo+ app using TWRP?
If you want me to reflash the stock system.img, I don't believe I have that. How can I obtain this? And could you please provide me with the steps to reflash? Should I use TWRP or fastboot and use Windows adb?
So the Logo+ is only an app. Not a zip. So I don't believe I can flash that. Should I attempt to sideload it? Can I install an app on the phone when the phone cannot boot?
So logo+ IS your prob. Personally I would never use an app to do such work, I'd edit and flash it myself, but hey, you prob know this by now.
Go to (motorola?) Razor support, look for your firmware, it may help if you have phone plugged in while doing so in case they have a detector script to detect firmware for your fone.
Regardless, grab stock offered for your fone. This should also point you in the direction of the correct flashing frmware. once you have them, get back to me.
Or look at what I found using startpage/google:
Need help in flashing stock rom on Razer Phone 2 ! (Stuck in Bootloop)
Hello Everyone , I have ran into a very bad problem and would appreciate some help. I tried rooting my phone (Razer Phone 2 Atnt varient) with the following method...
forum.xda-developers.com
Take your pick, so many stock firmares online here:
Startpage Search Results
www.startpage.com
(I use startpage for these results)
Choose what you believe is for your fone, then read the XDA razor thread I linked to above, I will guide you once you have your files if you still need it, but read the razor thread first
Pachacouti said:
So logo+ IS your prob. Personally I would never use an app to do such work, I'd edit and flash it myself, but hey, you prob know this by now.
Go to (motorola?) Razor support, look for your firmware, it may help if you have phone plugged in while doing so in case they have a detector script to detect firmware for your fone.
Regardless, grab stock offered for your fone. This should also point you in the direction of the correct flashing frmware. once you have them, get back to me.
Or look at what I found using startpage/google:
Need help in flashing stock rom on Razer Phone 2 ! (Stuck in Bootloop)
Hello Everyone , I have ran into a very bad problem and would appreciate some help. I tried rooting my phone (Razer Phone 2 Atnt varient) with the following method...
forum.xda-developers.com
Take your pick, so many stock firmares online here:
Startpage Search Results
www.startpage.com
(I use startpage for these results)
Choose what you believe is for your fone, then read the XDA razor thread I linked to above, I will guide you once you have your files if you still need it, but read the razor thread first
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Razer Phone 2 is made by Razer https://www.razer.com/mobile. Motorola makes the Razr which can be confusing.
I don't know how to edit and flash the Logo+ app. Can you do this for me and I'll test? The app is located here https://github.com/CurtisMJ/LogoPlus/releases.
As I understand it as soon as I flash the stock rom it'll put me back to factory settings right? So I'll have to re-personlize my entire phone from scratch. I'd like to leave this as my last resort if possible. So if we can I'd like to flash the Logo+ if you can make that zip for me.
Hi, developer of Logo+ here
I think there's maybe some misunderstanding as to what the app does. It doesn't work on the bootloader splash in any way (this can actually cause failed boots). It's for controlling the RGB on the Razer logo on the back of the device. I named it "Logo+" to avoid any legal issues with caling it "Chroma" since thats a trademark of Razer. The app is entirely user space and is not active during boot. It modifies the lights via sysfs values (with root) that are entirely in RAM so they're cleared on boot.
You can typically just put the .apk in /data/app in recovery mode to install it. I think this may have changed slightly with newer android versions.
Ultimately I don't think Logo+ is needed for or can interfere with boot. I would suggest flashing the system image as suggested for a clean slate.
EDIT: You may end up having to use your last resort backup if you're not keen to loose *too* much data. Not booting is a difficult thing to troubleshoot because there's no feedback as to what went wrong on Android. If its a data thing and not a system thing that is. You could try fastboot flash each system image part to maybe fix any corruption
EDIT2: Take another backup before you do anything though. Titanium back can extract app data from TWRP backups so you can restore your user data at least
CurtisMJ said:
Hi, developer of Logo+ here
I think there's maybe some misunderstanding as to what the app does. It doesn't work on the bootloader splash in any way (this can actually cause failed boots). It's for controlling the RGB on the Razer logo on the back of the device. I named it "Logo+" to avoid any legal issues with caling it "Chroma" since thats a trademark of Razer. The app is entirely user space and is not active during boot. It modifies the lights via sysfs values (with root) that are entirely in RAM so they're cleared on boot.
You can typically just put the .apk in /data/app in recovery mode to install it. I think this may have changed slightly with newer android versions.
Ultimately I don't think Logo+ is needed for or can interfere with boot. I would suggest flashing the system image as suggested for a clean slate.
EDIT: You may end up having to use your last resort backup if you're not keen to loose *too* much data. Not booting is a difficult thing to troubleshoot because there's no feedback as to what went wrong on Android. If its a data thing and not a system thing that is. You could try fastboot flash each system image part to maybe fix any corruption
EDIT2: Take another backup before you do anything though. Titanium back can extract app data from TWRP backups so you can restore your user data at least
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for taking the time to chime in here @CurtisMJ. I did end up gettijg it to boot now in partition a. I went into TWRP and switched to partition a and phone boots but no longer has root or magisk. I'm not sure how the partitions work but it looks like there are two that the Razer uses. A and b. And I guess I've been using b since the beginning and since b won't boot now I tried booting off partition a and the phone seems to work as it did. All apps and widgets are in the same place except magisk and phone isn't rooted. I could reflash the system image but the amount of time to re-personalize everything will be extensive. So I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could before that. I'll try copying the apk as suggested and see if that works.
Do you know if there is a way to enable system apps when they've been disabled like I did when phone won't boot? I am in partition a right now and booted and I reinstalled logo+ and saw that all the apps I disabled in OP are back to being enabled. So I am not sure if partition a and b share the same system and user data but everything is exactly what it looks like from partition b. So it is a good chance they share everything except magisk which I guess is flashed at the partition level. Just trying to make sense. Thanks for everyone's time.
So the A-B partition layout is a thing that was introduced by google for more reliable system updates. Effectively the phone has 2 copies of the OS, including system partition,kernel,vendor etc and the phone flip-flops between them on every update, updating the "other" partition to the one its running so if it fails it can boot to the still good one. So you effectively went a system update backwards, but using the same user data partition (or Magisk kept an old copy of the system around). System apps disabled status is stored in /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml which can edited in TWRP with some effort. Magisk is likely flashed to kernel B so you're correct in that its a partition level thing.
CurtisMJ said:
So the A-B partition layout is a thing that was introduced by google for more reliable system updates. Effectively the phone has 2 copies of the OS, including system partition,kernel,vendor etc and the phone flip-flops between them on every update, updating the "other" partition to the one its running so if it fails it can boot to the still good one. So you effectively went a system update backwards, but using the same user data partition (or Magisk kept an old copy of the system around). System apps disabled status is stored in /data/system/users/0/package-restrictions.xml which can edited in TWRP with some effort. Magisk is likely flashed to kernel B so you're correct in that its a partition level thing.
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Thank you so much for that explanation. That makes a lot of sense. My OS has been MR1 for a long time and OTA has been turned off so I guess there hasn't been any OS updates so there's been no reason to switch between partition a and b I guess. So I guess there's technically been a backup of my OS all this time with the double partition thing which is cool. And I guess I could magisk and root partition a. If I reflash the system image to partition b will that effect partition a?
I think he's talking bootloaders re: a/b partitioning, The point of A/B being if your using 'A' to boot, and you update, the updated BOOTLOADER is flashed to 'B' and when you reboot the f'n, 'B' becomes your main bootloader until next update where that update will use 'A' having been 'emptied' after the previous update sort of thing, I dont have a/b, but this is my understanding of the a/b partitioning,,,?
Opens up the options for dual booting fone with or without magisk, If I had a/b, i'd flash magisk to one and stock to the other...
Pachacouti said:
I think he's talking bootloaders re: a/b partitioning, The point of A/B being if your using 'A' to boot, and you update, the updated BOOTLOADER is flashed to 'B' and when you reboot the f'n, 'B' becomes your main bootloader until next update where that update will use 'A' having been 'emptied' after the previous update sort of thing, I dont have a/b, but this is my understanding of the a/b partitioning,,,?
Opens up the options for dual booting fone with or without magisk, If I had a/b, i'd flash magisk to one and stock to the other...
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Click to collapse
I was thinking the same. I believe I have the opportunity to stick with the working partition which is a, and magisk that. And then for the partition b I could put the official lineage OS on there. My only concern is if lineage had an update does it update both a and b partitions which I would lose my original OS then. I guess I'll have to research.
I think it's safe to assume that when an update takes place, upon reboot, whichever bootloader you WERE using, a OR b, is now empty... it's staring you in the face
Just remember what we agreed on. Once you magisk your current bootloader, make a backup of said bootloader, store it on main computer, because when you flash lineage, your magisk in your current slot will be wiped. Once you have installed Lineage, you will need to boot into fastboot to re-flash magisk, and then use fastboot boot a or b for dual booting until you get an app or sumat to choose in gui what you choose to boot into
What I am thinking I will do for the time being is stick with booting into partition a which is currently not rooted and I am fine with that. At least it works unlike partition b. This is my main phone, my only phone, and I need it to work right now so would rather not risk causing issues flashing stuff. I know enough about flashing to be dangerous.
Currently the official release of lineage for the Razer Phone 2 is still not stable yet according to the forum here. So camera still doesn't work and I need the camera to work. So I'll wait until the camera is fixed which hopefully will be soon.
You stated in your previous post "sumat to choose in gui what you choose to boot into" can you clarify? Are you saying there is a GUI that helps choose what to boot into? Currently I am using TWRP to select partition a or b to boot into. It takes about a minute to load into TWRP but I wouldn't be doing it often. I don't think I really have a use for dual booting.
I appreciate the help. As soon as I am ready to proceed I'll update this post and If you're still around I'll receive your assistance. Thank you for your time.