Database Develop

[Q] Any way to put Safestrap Recovery on without APK?

My Droid 4 is bricked, but out seems to me that if I could get safestrap recovery in, I could boot any working "safe" ROM and leave my non-functioning "unsafe" system alone until the day a fastboot image becomes available.
The only wrinkle is that since the current OS is bricked, I can't load the Safestrap recovery via Apk. Is there any way to load it using one of the remaining capabilities in the phone (normal recovery, fastboot, etc.)?

I definitely don't have the full technical ability to answer your question, but to get the ball rolling:
Can you get adb up and running? If you can't, my guess is no... If you can, somebody who knows more than I do might be able to get you going...

Call Motorola or the wireless vendor where you got your phone and play dumb.
How did you brick your phone?
I bricked mine the first time by restoring a saved stock rom that I had made. Little did I know, but I got the webtop save mixed up, and totally soft-bricked my handset.
Safestrap is a good alternative to having nothing, but you should read everything there is to know about it before installing it. Conceptually, it doesn't share a whole lot with the original clockworkmod recovery.

RueTheDayTrebek said:
Call Motorola or the wireless vendor where you got your phone and play dumb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've thought about it. (1) there's stuff on the internal "sdcard" (/sdcard, as distinct from the removable real SDC) I'd like to recover if I could, so restoring the phone I have right now is preferable, unless restoring from a fastboot recovery wipes /sdcard).. and (2) I hate the idea of "cheating" on a warranty for a self-inflicted product failure, both on the ethics of it and on the remote possibility I could get caught.
How did you brick your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had safely rooted the phone (Droid 4 Utility is awesome) and installed Titanium Backup Pro. I was playing around with freezing bloatware, deleting bloatware, and the like... the last thing I did before rebooting and never coming back was integrating system application dalvik cache into the ROM and then undoing that integration. But I can't be sure that was the killer, since I hadn't rebooted for a while before that... one of the other changes earlier could have been it.
Safestrap is a good alternative to having nothing, but you should read everything there is to know about it before installing it. Conceptually, it doesn't share a whole lot with the original clockworkmod recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I recognize it's a very different world because of the locked bootstrap, so I'd obviously have to adapt to the differences, but just the ability to get some use out of the phone before the fastboot recovery leaks would be a good start. My needs are not great. Something besides repeated reboots ("Droid..." every 10 seconds until the battery runs flat) would make me happier than a pig in slop.

podspi said:
I definitely don't have the full technical ability to answer your question, but to get the ball rolling:
Can you get adb up and running? If you can't, my guess is no... If you can, somebody who knows more than I do might be able to get you going...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. The times I've tried, the phone never boots to the point that the USB debugging driver on the PC ever sees the phone ("adb devices" lists nothing).
About the only interaction I can get to is to force the phone into fastboot and plugging in with the fastboot USB driver on the PC. RSD Lite does see the phone then. Too bad I don't have a fastboot recovery to use at that point.

[Q] First Nexus

So this is my first Nexus device. I'm coming from and S4 followed by a Note 3 so I'm kinda used to the samsung environment and don't want to screw anything up. I have a couple of questions.
First, if I root with CF-Auto Root, does the tool wipe all of the current data?
Second, how will rooting the phone affect the OTA updates and their availability?
Third, are the root apps already compatible with 5.0/Nexus 6?
Thank you!

Cf auto root does not remove all data per se, but unlocking your phone will if it is not.. And it's part of the process.
Rooting probably doesn't affect OTAs, and if it does, can easily be undone.
Yes, I haven't found a common root app that isn't compatible.

Dankchild said:
So this is my first Nexus device. I'm coming from and S4 followed by a Note 3 so I'm kinda used to the samsung environment and don't want to screw anything up. I have a couple of questions.
First, if I root with CF-Auto Root, does the tool wipe all of the current data?
Second, how will rooting the phone affect the OTA updates and their availability?
Third, are the root apps already compatible with 5.0/Nexus 6?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No it does not wipe your data unless your bootloader was locked.
2. It has no effect. You'll be able to accept the OTA and lose root (you can enable a survival script).
3. Yes.

Dankchild said:
So this is my first Nexus device. I'm coming from and S4 followed by a Note 3 so I'm kinda used to the samsung environment and don't want to screw anything up. I have a couple of questions.
First, if I root with CF-Auto Root, does the tool wipe all of the current data?
Second, how will rooting the phone affect the OTA updates and their availability?
Third, are the root apps already compatible with 5.0/Nexus 6?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some people here are wrong, will it wipe data? for the first time (when unlocking the OEM) yes. Lollipop now has a different way to check ROOTING, once it detects you modified ANY file in the system core files, it aborts. To work around this, either use a ROM and upgrade via FLASHING (which i do) or use NEXUS ROOT TOOLKIT. Using the toolkit (which is very noob friendly) allows everything to be done by a click. BUT, to upgrade via toolkit, (ota) you need to flash stock which in the toolkit completely wipe system, then unroot, then update, then reroot and flash whatever ROM you want, which would again wipe your device. the way i do it is easier, it requires no wiping and i get to keep my ROM at all times and i get earlier versions (depending on ROM creators) then OTA, i currently have 5.0.2 on my nexus 6, which isnt ven out yet OTA. :fingers-crossed:

TheSkillfulTroll said:
some people here are wrong, will it wipe data? for the first time (when unlocking the OEM) yes. Lollipop now has a different way to check ROOTING, once it detects you modified ANY file in the system core files, it aborts. To work around this, either use a ROM and upgrade via FLASHING (which i do) or use NEXUS ROOT TOOLKIT. Using the toolkit (which is very noob friendly) allows everything to be done by a click. BUT, to upgrade via toolkit, (ota) you need to flash stock which in the toolkit completely wipe system, then unroot, then update, then reroot and flash whatever ROM you want, which would again wipe your device. the way i do it is easier, it requires no wiping and i get to keep my ROM at all times and i get earlier versions (depending on ROM creators) then OTA, i currently have 5.0.2 on my nexus 6, which isnt ven out yet OTA. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People modify the OTA zip to remove the abort of installation if any system files are modified/removed. Of course this can lead to problems, but can also be successful most of the times. Depends on what the user modifies.
Nexus Root Toolkits, I highly do not encourage users to use this. As easy as they are, they prevent users from learning about fastboot and adb. They are essential things to learn and relying on a program to do them for you is not good practice especially when it is quite easy to do it manually. If everybody used the toolkit then no body would understand how its done.
The part about custom ROMs, I recommend using custom ROMs. There are many to browse through, it depends on what you're looking for. Its very exciting to look at all the ROMs to select one to try, just to be eager to try another ROM for fun.
You can read more about toolkits @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/dangers-tool-kits-one-click-root-t1469909
Very good read.

zephiK said:
People modify the OTA zip to remove the abort of installation if any system files are modified/removed. Of course this can lead to problems, but can also be successful most of the times. Depends on what the user modifies.
Nexus Root Toolkits, I highly do not encourage users to use this. As easy as they are, they prevent users from learning about fastboot and adb. They are essential things to learn and relying on a program to do them for you is not good practice especially when it is quite easy to do it manually. If everybody used the toolkit then no body would understand how its done.
The part about custom ROMs, I recommend using custom ROMs. There are many to browse through, it depends on what you're looking for. Its very exciting to look at all the ROMs to select one to try, just to be eager to try another ROM for fun.
You can read more about toolkits @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/dangers-tool-kits-one-click-root-t1469909
Very good read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the toolkit helps alot of new comers who have no idea on what to do, sure they can try the manual way, but doing so can end up very bad as its not easy to revert, while the toolkit helps by being able to bring you back from bricks. i started off using the toolkit and now i just use flashify for rom installations, if anything goes wrong (a brick) i just have tbe option to use the toolkit to set me back to pure stock and factory condition.

TheSkillfulTroll said:
the toolkit helps alot of new comers who have no idea on what to do, sure they can try the manual way, but doing so can end up very bad as its not easy to revert, while the toolkit helps by being able to bring you back from bricks. i started off using the toolkit and now i just use flashify for rom installations, if anything goes wrong (a brick) i just have tbe option to use the toolkit to set me back to pure stock and factory condition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its very easy to do manually, if it was a long and tedious step such as G1 rooting or manually exploiting a phone then a toolkit is reasonable.
For Nexus 6, its as simple as.
1. install drivers & fastboot.
2. bootloader mode (vol down + power)
3. fastboot oem unlock
4. fastboot flash recovery <name-of-recovery>.img
5. flash supersu
A very good sticky guide is posted, http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/how-to-nexus-6-one-beginners-guide-t2948481
And we all know that regardless if you use a Root Toolkit, you MUST read before you do anything.
Toolkit doesn't really help you bring you back from bricks, in fact I would argue that it does the opposite. You're relying on a program to do what you're supposed to do. In my experience of helping people in XDA forums, they've used toolkits and got themselves into bad positions and wasn't sure how to fix their problem or the toolkit soft-bricking their device. They had to learn fastboot / adb to resolve their issue.
Read the dangers of toolkits, they're not as fancy as people view it to be. Its not difficult to do the tasks manually. Very easy to do. I was able to root/unlock my N6 in a minute since I already had the environment set up.
Think of it this way, you have math homework. You can either go input it into the calculator and have the answer. Congrats, you have the answer but did you understand how they got to that step? No not really.
Its imperative for any user on XDA to learn the fastboot/adb step, its not difficult as I've mentioned time and time again. It takes some reading, but it'll save you time because later down the line you'll understand why you did what you did and you can get yourself out of situations instead of going to Q&A and asking for someone help on how to get back to factory or a soft-brick situation.
A snippet from the link above,
The people who are using these scripts aren't learning what is actually happening when they press 1 on their keyboard. Boom, their phone is unlocked, su-binaries and cwm recovery installed. Then, they flash a rom without creating a nandroid. What happens if something goes wrong and they didn't place any safety nets to help them? They post a thread saying their phone is bricked. People take time out of their day to help these people out, but since the user doesn't understand what the helper is talking about, they can't fix it.
Just last weekend I spent 30 minutes replying to a PM with step by step instructions how to flash stock images and including links to files and resources. The person replied back. Instead of fixing his phone himself, he said he "claimed his phone as stolen and will be getting sent a new one lol". WTF?! Not only is that morally wrong, it's also insurance fraud. And we wonder why carriers and OEM's are trying as hard as they can to lock down non-nexus phones.
Please, take the time to learn how to get yourself out of a mess before you are in a mess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone can't take a couple minutes out of their time to follow a step-by-step guide then they shouldn't be tinkering with their device.

For information sake (I have already rooted via TK) your post actually does prove a point. For myself and maybe others, would you be willing to P.M me the instructions to do it via ADB/Fastboot just in case , I , myself get screwed over. Thanks Z
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

flash you phone manually you will learn a lot about how the toolkits work.
I find it faster to flash manually than to use a tool kit.
once an OTA is available you can grap the image from the google site and flash the files manually.
There is a way to manually flash you phone and save userdata so you keep all your apps.
One you learn and get a little practice It will be so easy you will be able to flash like it is second nature. (I was a noob that came from iphone and jailbreaking)
I can actually flash the files manually faster that an OTA can update a phone and I type with maybe a total of 6 fingers. because i never took a typing class

zephiK said:
Its very easy to do manually, if it was a long and tedious step such as G1 rooting or manually exploiting a phone then a toolkit is reasonable.
For Nexus 6, its as simple as.
1. install drivers & fastboot.
2. bootloader mode (vol down + power)
3. fastboot oem unlock
4. fastboot flash recovery <name-of-recovery>.img
5. flash supersu
A very good sticky guide is posted, http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/how-to-nexus-6-one-beginners-guide-t2948481
And we all know that regardless if you use a Root Toolkit, you MUST read before you do anything.
Toolkit doesn't really help you bring you back from bricks, in fact I would argue that it does the opposite. You're relying on a program to do what you're supposed to do. In my experience of helping people in XDA forums, they've used toolkits and got themselves into bad positions and wasn't sure how to fix their problem or the toolkit soft-bricking their device. They had to learn fastboot / adb to resolve their issue.
Read the dangers of toolkits, they're not as fancy as people view it to be. Its not difficult to do the tasks manually. Very easy to do. I was able to root/unlock my N6 in a minute since I already had the environment set up.
Think of it this way, you have math homework. You can either go input it into the calculator and have the answer. Congrats, you have the answer but did you understand how they got to that step? No not really.
Its imperative for any user on XDA to learn the fastboot/adb step, its not difficult as I've mentioned time and time again. It takes some reading, but it'll save you time because later down the line you'll understand why you did what you did and you can get yourself out of situations instead of going to Q&A and asking for someone help on how to get back to factory or a soft-brick situation.
A snippet from the link above,
If someone can't take a couple minutes out of their time to follow a step-by-step guide then they shouldn't be tinkering with their device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you provide to me instructions on a manual way? Like the other poster said I would like to learn to manually flash OEM unlucks and root and Roms (if possible) thanks Z! P.M ME if you decide to thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

if you have drivers installed already from first link above then you can follow these steps:
Download the required factory image files to your computer and extract them
1) Create an empty directory. All of the files that are required, need to be in one (i.e., the same) directory. It does not matter what it is called, but all the files need to be in there, with NO subfolders. EVERYTHING needs to be extracted into this one directory; (it is easier this way)
2) If all you want to do is unlock your bootloader, skip to step 6 in this section.
3) Download the version of Android you want to your new directory. Make sure you are using a nexus 6 image.
4) Extract the files from within the .tgz file which you downloaded in step 3 using 7-zip, not WinZip or WinRAR or whatever.
5) Make sure you have extracted ALL the files (including extracting any files in any archives inside the .tgz file). You should have six (6) files ending with .img in the directory you created in step 1. The other files you extracted from the .tgz are not necessary;
6) Reboot your device into bootloader mode (by turning it off, hold volume down, and press and hold power) and plug it into your computer;
7) Open a command prompt in the same directory (i.e., make sure you are in the same directory as your files are located). You can hold the shift key when you are in the folder in Windows explorer and right-click in a blank spot and it will open a command prompt. In Ubuntu just cd to the directory.
Type in the commands into the command prompt
1) Make sure your computer recognizes your device by typing: fastboot devices
2) Unlock your bootloader (if you have not already done so): fastboot oem unlock
3) You will see a prompt on your device. This will wipe your entire device (including the /sdcard folder). Accept. Note: you use the volume keys to change the option and the power button to accept. You cannot use the touch screen.
4) Reboot by typing: fastboot reboot-bootloader
5) Flash the bootloader: fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-some-description-number.img (or whatever the name of the bootloader image that you downloaded).
6) Reboot: fastboot reboot-bootloader
7) Flash the radio: fastboot flash radio radio-some-description-number.img (or whatever the name is of the radio image that you downloaded).
8) Reboot: fastboot reboot-bootloader
9) Flash the system partition: fastboot flash system system.img
10) Optional, but read note. Flash the data partition: fastboot flash userdata userdata.img Note: this command will wipe your device (including /sdcard), EVEN if your bootloader is already unlocked.
11) Flash the kernel/ramdisk: fastboot flash boot boot.img
12) Flash the recovery partition: fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
13) Erase the cache partition: fastboot format cache
14) Reboot: fastboot reboot
15) Done! The first boot will likely take quite a bit longer than you are used to, as Android builds the cache.
Now you have a fully stock image on your device. The only thing that is different from out-of-the-box condition is that your bootloader is unlocked.
No you can root or decrypt. Search for directions on the forum or the internet.
I'm not the original writer of these instructions, but I found these helpful to people wanting the step by step instructions.

TheSkillfulTroll said:
Can you provide to me instructions on a manual way? Like the other poster said I would like to learn to manually flash OEM unlucks and root and Roms (if possible) thanks Z! P.M ME if you decide to thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the first couple of posts of the following threads. The first talks about how to root, and the other, about how to flash the factory images. Very detailed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/how-to-nexus-6-one-beginners-guide-t2948481
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/guide-flash-factory-images-nexus-6shamu-t2954008

If someone can't take a couple minutes out of their time to follow a step-by-step guide then they shouldn't be tinkering with their device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How true. I certainly don't want a paper weight...

Larzzzz82 said:
How true. I certainly don't want a paper weight...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, and if they believe that everything is magical and click on a button "yay I rooted, unlocked my bootloader." Sure you saved time by clicking a button rather than following a step-by-step guide which is quite easy, what happens when you encounter a problem like a soft brick? Questions on whether or not you can flash a older radio etc?
A toolkit can't do that for you, by finding out why something works this way will be better in the long run. I don't mind answering questions but what I do mind is when people use toolkits for something that is already so easy. For Samsung and other manufacturers that lock down their bootloaders, I fully understand why toolkits are needed because they are not unlockable via bootloader mode (unless its HTC, OnePlus, and some other exception) and requires a exploit to obtain root access (e.g. Towelroot).
For Nexus devices (and HTC/OnePlus/etc) devices where the company gave you a "fastboot oem unlock." Use it very simple to do. The hardest part is installing a driver and fastboot executable, which if you have a mac you don't even need the driver. Once you do it once, you're set for life on that computer. When I unlocked my N6, I just literally plugged it in... activated the OEM unlock via developer options and went into bootloader mode and typed fastboot oem unlock.
Finished that all in one minute.

zephiK said:
Exactly, and if they believe that everything is magical and click on a button "yay I rooted, unlocked my bootloader." Sure you saved time by clicking a button rather than following a step-by-step guide which is quite easy, what happens when you encounter a problem like a soft brick? Questions on whether or not you can flash a older radio etc?
A toolkit can't do that for you, by finding out why something works this way will be better in the long run. I don't mind answering questions but what I do mind is when people use toolkits for something that is already so easy. For Samsung and other manufacturers that lock down their bootloaders, I fully understand why toolkits are needed because they are not unlockable via bootloader mode (unless its HTC, OnePlus, and some other exception) and requires a exploit to obtain root access (e.g. Towelroot).
For Nexus devices (and HTC/OnePlus/etc) devices where the company gave you a "fastboot oem unlock." Use it very simple to do. The hardest part is installing a driver and fastboot executable, which if you have a mac you don't even need the driver. Once you do it once, you're set for life on that computer. When I unlocked my N6, I just literally plugged it in... activated the OEM unlock via developer options and went into bootloader mode and typed fastboot oem unlock.
Finished that all in one minute.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree the hardest part for me was on windows trying to get the stupid drivers to work correctly.
Dumped windows for Linux and followed the manual steps i found on XDA and never looked back.
No drivers needed in Linux either.

TheSkillfulTroll said:
some people here are wrong, will it wipe data? for the first time (when unlocking the OEM) yes. Lollipop now has a different way to check ROOTING, once it detects you modified ANY file in the system core files, it aborts. To work around this, either use a ROM and upgrade via FLASHING (which i do) or use NEXUS ROOT TOOLKIT. Using the toolkit (which is very noob friendly) allows everything to be done by a click. BUT, to upgrade via toolkit, (ota) you need to flash stock which in the toolkit completely wipe system, then unroot, then update, then reroot and flash whatever ROM you want, which would again wipe your device. the way i do it is easier, it requires no wiping and i get to keep my ROM at all times and i get earlier versions (depending on ROM creators) then OTA, i currently have 5.0.2 on my nexus 6, which isnt ven out yet OTA. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is my main concern. Back in my Samsung days, i remember flashing ROMs everyday, but the whole wiping got really annoying. When i got my Nexus 5 i just kept it stock. Now I do want to root to use the double tap to wake and the LED, but i don't want to wipe everytime there's an update. From what I remember, whenever you flash a ROM you have to wipe the phone. So is there a way around having to wipe your phone completely everytime there's an update?

miike1106 said:
Yes, this is my main concern. Back in my Samsung days, i remember flashing ROMs everyday, but the whole wiping got really annoying. When i got my Nexus 5 i just kept it stock. Now I do want to root to use the double tap to wake and the LED, but i don't want to wipe everytime there's an update. From what I remember, whenever you flash a ROM you have to wipe the phone. So is there a way around having to wipe your phone completely everytime there's an update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say you flashed SimpleAosp which is currently 5.0.2, whenever 5.0.3 comes out you need to Download it on your phone, open flashify and boot into TWRP, in there you need click install then DONT WIPE, find the updated version and flash over the current one, reboot and bam, you have new version and you didn't lose anything. Only do this method if you are transition from the same ROM to a new one, if you decided to go from SimpleAosp to liquidsmooth you need to wipe.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app

TheSkillfulTroll said:
Say you flashed SimpleAosp which is currently 5.0.2, whenever 5.0.3 comes out you need to Download it on your phone, open flashify and boot into TWRP, in there you need click install then DONT WIPE, find the updated version and flash over the current one, reboot and bam, you have new version and you didn't lose anything. Only do this method if you are transition from the same ROM to a new one, if you decided to go from SimpleAosp to liquidsmooth you need to wipe.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok, this is what i was looking for.

miike1106 said:
Ah ok, this is what i was looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or... You could live dangerously and try a dirty flash first every time... Worst case... You go back and wipe in recovery

miike1106 said:
Yes, this is my main concern. Back in my Samsung days, i remember flashing ROMs everyday, but the whole wiping got really annoying. When i got my Nexus 5 i just kept it stock. Now I do want to root to use the double tap to wake and the LED, but i don't want to wipe everytime there's an update. From what I remember, whenever you flash a ROM you have to wipe the phone. So is there a way around having to wipe your phone completely everytime there's an update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can dirty flash but this is only the case when you update from the same ROM to a newer update of the version.
When we say wipe, it only wipes the OS not internal storage.

Need help rooting Nexus 6 on 6.0.0

I want to root my Nexus 6 running stock android 6.0.0 but not sure exactly how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

dbzturtle said:
I want to root my Nexus 6 running stock android 6.0.0 but not sure exactly how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chainfire just released a new root for mm, http://www.xda-developers.com/chainfire-releases-root-for-android-6-0-without-modifying-system/
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

blueyes said:
Chainfire just released a new root for mm, http://www.xda-developers.com/chainfire-releases-root-for-android-6-0-without-modifying-system/
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says that it's experimental and will likely have bugs. is there a stable way to root? If not I don't mind waiting until there is.

dbzturtle said:
It says that it's experimental and will likely have bugs. is there a stable way to root? If not I don't mind waiting until there is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fastboot flash twrp, and then flash 2.52superuser.sip in recovery. Look up wugfresh Nexus root toolkit, it'll explain the process.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I rooted my N6 on Android 6.0 with 2.52 weeks ago and it's absolutely fine - I've seen no problems at all. The "experimental" mention is a disclaimer to cover Chainfire in case you have problems - a very sensible warning in my opinion, but in this case you can probably ignore it.
And I agree with blueyes - Nexus Root Toolkit is pretty much idiot-proof as long as you read the instructions and in particular choose the correct ROM.

dahawthorne said:
I rooted my N6 on Android 6.0 with 2.52 weeks ago and it's absolutely fine - I've seen no problems at all. The "experimental" mention is a disclaimer to cover Chainfire in case you have problems - a very sensible warning in my opinion, but in this case you can probably ignore it.
And I agree with blueyes - Nexus Root Toolkit is pretty much idiot-proof as long as you read the instructions and in particular choose the correct ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with using toolkits when they are "idiot-proof" is that if you go into the process as an idiot, you leave the process still an idiot, so if something goes wrong with the device at a later date, the user has not got the skills to fix it, which becomes a problem on these forums as rather than telling someone how to fix it, we also have to teach the skills that should already have been learned.
Toolkits are great if you know what they're doing but if you dont, use fastboot the first time to get an understanding of it and also to ensure you know it is working on your computer correctly. It's easier to troubleshoot PC configurations when the device is fully working rather than waiting until it is "broken"

"you leave the process still an idiot"
I'll take that in the spirit I think you meant it...
Sure, point taken, but the problem with telling someone to start learning to use tools they don't understand is that this forum ends up with a flood of "I've bricked my device" posts. I agree that the manual way is useful for resolving problems, and I don't use NRT for everything - I'd say maybe 50% of the time for installing a brand new factory ROM, and the rest of the time using ADB/Fastboot for stuff I (think I) understand.
I just think that if someone has taken the time and trouble to give me the commands typed perfectly in the correct order and proven to work, why would I risk typing them in maybe in the wrong order or accidentally installing an image into the wrong partition? My own stupid fault, sure, but why take the long way round instead of the simple straight proven path?
Just sayin'...

dahawthorne said:
"you leave the process still an idiot"
I'll take that in the spirit I think you meant it...
Sure, point taken, but the problem with telling someone to start learning to use tools they don't understand is that this forum ends up with a flood of "I've bricked my device" posts. I agree that the manual way is useful for resolving problems, and I don't use NRT for everything - I'd say maybe 50% of the time for installing a brand new factory ROM, and the rest of the time using ADB/Fastboot for stuff I (think I) understand.
I just think that if someone has taken the time and trouble to give me the commands typed perfectly in the correct order and proven to work, why would I risk typing them in maybe in the wrong order or accidentally installing an image into the wrong partition? My own stupid fault, sure, but why take the long way round instead of the simple straight proven path?
Just sayin'...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not really the long way round. Once everything is installed, its as quick if not quicker. And as I said, you need all this installed for ongoing maintenance anyway so may as well do this whilst your device is working.
You can't brick your device by flashing to the wrong partition so there are no floods of posts from people doing things manually at all. .if you flash to the wrong partition,.just flash to the right partition. It's not rocket science either. If you flash a radio, flash it to the radio partition. If you flash system, flash it to the system partition. ...and if you type something wrong, it won't do anything at all.
Fastboot is well documented (by me and others) in the general forum. People should feel free to nude toolkits once they have learned it, but noobs should definitely learn it and use it the first time for the reasons I have already mentioned.
To root is so simple.
1. In fastboot, use
"fastboot oem unlock"
2. In fastboot, flash a custom twrp recovery image
"fastboot flash recovery twrp.img "
3. If marshamallow, flash a custom boot.img to allow it to be rooted
"fastboot flash boot boot.img"
4. Copy SuperSU to sdcard
5. Flash SuperSU zip from recovery
Once these steps have been carried out, you've used fastboot, know how it works and also have proof your computer has working fastboot. That ticks essential boxes.that every root user needs to have ticked. Once they're ticked, use toolkits to your hearts desire.
The worst thing about noobs using toolkits is when we need them to use fastboot when helping with their issues, they don't know what it is and we have to teach them that. We also need to troubleshoot setting it up which can be extremely hard if their device is bricked or in a state of needing repair. 10 minutes learning now can help prevent hours of wasting our time later. Surely it's only being courteous to learn these things ?

Where can I find a custom boot image ? I'm asking because I'm rooted but every time I try to go into recovery it ask me for a password

getmoneygreen said:
Where can I find a custom boot image ? I'm asking because I'm rooted but every time I try to go into recovery it ask me for a password
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're encrypted, recovery will always ask you for a password. If you've set a password in android, you use that..if you have not set a password in android, you use the default twrp password.

I am an Android Noob! My first Android devices were the Nexus Player and the Nexus 6. (I came from iPhones and Apple TV) It did not take me long at all to learn how to use fastboot and adb. I manually flashed my Nexus 6 and Nexus Player to 6.0 before the OTAs were rolling out no problem. I have root on both of my devices.
My point is, if I can learn how to do this in a matter of a day (I have not had my Nexus 6 a full month yet) You can learn how to do it as well. There are tons of guides out there on how to do all of this. Google is your friend. You will feel awesome and have a sense of accomplishment if you take the time to learn this stuff. It is easy to learn, not hard at all! I come from a pretty extensive tech background so I was a step ahead, but anyone can do / learn this stuff.
There are toolkits that can do this stuff for you pretty much. I have not downloaded or used one myself. I don't trust someone else's code with my device. That's just me though. I like to feel in control when I flash stuff.

@danarama
"Surely it's only being courteous to learn these things ?"
I know that it's all too easy to be taken wrong when writing a post, so I'll say up front that I'm serious - thanks for posting those steps. I've watched the NRT run through its steps a number of times and it clearly does a lot more than this, which is why i'm glad that it's doing the typing for me
I have used your steps when flashing various things, I've just never used them for a ROM upgrade - except once when I was trying to recover a broken-radio N5 and was installing Chroma.
One value at least of the NRT for noobs is its help in setting up your PC's drivers - that alone is a good reason to look at it.
Just for interest, what would happen if I flashed recovery into the radio partition? Or the boot partition?
Seriously, thanks for these steps - I appreciate it.

dahawthorne said:
@danarama
"Surely it's only being courteous to learn these things ?"
I know that it's all too easy to be taken wrong when writing a post, so I'll say up front that I'm serious - thanks for posting those steps. I've watched the NRT run through its steps a number of times and it clearly does a lot more than this, which is why i'm glad that it's doing the typing for me
I have used your steps when flashing various things, I've just never used them for a ROM upgrade - except once when I was trying to recover a broken-radio N5 and was installing Chroma.
One value at least of the NRT for noobs is its help in setting up your PC's drivers - that alone is a good reason to look at it.
Just for interest, what would happen if I flashed recovery into the radio partition? Or the boot partition?
Seriously, thanks for these steps - I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Radio may boot but won't connect to a network.
Boot is the kernel so it won't boot without it (bootloop)
Both can be fixed by flashing the correct image to the correct partition.
The images in the factory image are appropriately labelled too, so it would be difficult to flash to the wrong partition without realizing it was wrong.. Eg
"fastboot flash radio boot.img" looks wrong when you have radio.img too.

Thanks, danarama. I suppose that's the point I was trying to make at the top - that if you're a bit of a thicko then you could flash to the wrong partition, which a predefined script won't. As long as it's recoverable, no problem, but I remember the pumping heart and breathlessness as I watched my devices on several occasions sitting with the boot animation for 10-15 minutes and thinking "What the hell do I do now?"
I know I'm hijacking this thread (sorry...) but is there anything you can think of that would definitely hard-brick my device if I'm being thick or careless? I've never managed it, and maybe as Android progresses it's becoming harder to hard-brick, but is there ever a time when I need to think "There's no way back from this one"?

danarama said:
If you're encrypted, recovery will always ask you for a password. If you've set a password in android, you use that..if you have not set a password in android, you use the default twrp password.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank for the heads up really appreciate that. BTW what is the default password for twrp

getmoneygreen said:
Thank for the heads up really appreciate that. BTW what is the default password for twrp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, Im not encrypted. But its documented somewhere by twrp dev. Maybe on their site or in their thread

Issues after trying to Root : Bootloader Code 3 : Soft Bricked?

Using this guy's guide for the Nexus 5 I had no issues, bought a N6 today and was giddy to flash on Cataclysm for N6 and figured might as well use same person's guide for next phone up.
http://www.androidrootz.com/2014/12/how-to-root-nexus-6-windowsmaclinuxubun.html
Was able to unlock bootloader, then installed TWRP but now am getting the 'corrupt phone' message, however unlike others like I have read on XDA, am unable to boot up by just letting it sit. Screen turns off and that's that. Before beginning entire process I enabled "enable/allow oem unlocking". I'm assuming that when the phone factory resets after the bootloader unlock I need to go back in and recheck 'allow oem unlock' in dev options, but I didn't as I assume/ed that it wasn't necessary and the guide doesn't tell you to.
Tried relocking the bootloader to maybe get phone to open up, but terminal tells me that I need to have 'allow oem unlock' checked. Nice Catch-22 http://puu.sh/moOUf/d0f8fa9050.png
Tried formatting data from within TWRP and factory resetting/wiping everything but it tells me that it is unable to mount '/data'
Have since tried WugsToolkit and flashing to stock with 'softbricked' option enabled the shamu-mmb29k-fact....tgz image that I downloaded and imported myself into Wugs (was taking 10 minutes to dl 1%). That seemed to work and told me it was a success, however when I then went back to re-enable the bootloader via wugs it fails and reboots with the lock sign still open and boots again onto 'corruption' screen that then flashes off and turns phone off, left it for 30 minutes at one point and didn't boot so don't think I'm lucky enough to be able to sit if through like others who had that issue
Where to go from here? Really hoping I didn't brick this phone less that 3 hours after getting it. I can still boot and see the Google screen and can get onto the bootloader and used to be able to get into recovery (since wugs have been getting the android with red triangle)
Been rooting/rom'ing since day one that I've had androids. Had a Samsung Apollo with CM on it, same for the Nexus S, then the Galaxy Nexus, then the N5 and looks like my chain of no issues ended tonight
Anything you can do for guys would be greatly appreciated. No clue where to go from here....

So from what I gathered, I think you are in luck. It sounds like your bootloader is unlocked. This is a very good thing. Under no circumstances do you want to try to re lock it right now or do you ever when stuck not being able to boot or any issues like that. If you lock it while stuck, thats when you are soft bricked. If I remember correctly, I got myself in the same situation , although maybe with out a custom recovery installed. None of that matters though. The way to fix this is to reflash the the factory image. Here are the guides for that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_m6bYNKrXQ
This is the video I used the first time. A bit rough but, It did the job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hao_Yf-gaw
Here is a bit of a nicer one. I used it the second time around.
and lastly here is an xda post http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/guide-flash-factory-images-nexus-6shamu-t2954008
I would recommend reading and watching all of these and maybe doing more research so you really knows whats going on. The flash-all script is not going to work from what I've read and I've always done it manual so go with that. It may also be a good idea to keep the custom recovery, so look into to keeping that. Maybe it is as simple as not erasing the recovery partition and not flashing the recovery image. This is what should save your nexus.
Now, I am fairly new to the Rooting and ROMming, really only started 2 months ago, so I would really appreciate if any of the more experienced guys on XDA can confirm what I said. Please don't try any of this without confirmation from another member here, I do not want to be responsible for sending your device past the point of no return. I recently had to order a new Nexus 6 as the screen is dead, so I know it's frustrating to have that loss. In your case, as long as that boot loader is unlocked, you should be safe. Best of luck to you.

DO NOT RELOCK THE BOOTLOADER!!!!! I cannot emphasize how critical it is that you do not relock the bootloader, given the position you are in. If you somehow manage to relock the bootloader and "enable OEM unlock" is toggled off and Android will not boot (even after attempting a factory reset), then you are 100% bricked with no way to fix your phone. Personally, I leave my bootloader unlocked 100% of the time so that I can fix anything that may go wrong with my phone. Additionally, I (as well as many other users on here) will always advise against using Wug's or any other toolkit in order to do stuff to your phone. While they do provide a nice GUI as well as an easy way to install the necessary drivers, using the regular platform-tools command line method isn't all that hard to figure out, and it allows you to know exactly what you have done to your phone. With Wug's and the like, you never really know what commands that they are running and exactly at what point in the process a flash may fail. Right now, I would advise you to read up on using the platform-tools method to flash stock images. After you have all of the necessary drivers, platform-tools, etc. working properly on your computer, I would strongly advise that you download MMB29S (the latest official update) from the Google Developer page and flash it using the platform-tools method, NOT with Wug's. And whatever you do, I repeat, DO NOT LOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER!
---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:51 AM ----------
triguyrn said:
So from what I gathered, I think you are in luck. It sounds like your bootloader is unlocked. This is a very good thing. Under no circumstances do you want to try to re lock it right now or do you ever when stuck not being able to boot or any issues like that. If you lock it while stuck, thats when you are soft bricked. If I remember correctly, I got myself in the same situation , although maybe with out a custom recovery installed. None of that matters though. The way to fix this is to reflash the the factory image. Here are the guides for that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_m6bYNKrXQ
This is the video I used the first time. A bit rough but, It did the job.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hao_Yf-gaw
Here is a bit of a nicer one. I used it the second time around.
and lastly here is an xda post http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/guide-flash-factory-images-nexus-6shamu-t2954008
I would recommend reading and watching all of these and maybe doing more research so you really knows whats going on. The flash-all script is not going to work from what I've read and I've always done it manual so go with that. It may also be a good idea to keep the custom recovery, so look into to keeping that. Maybe it is as simple as not erasing the recovery partition and not flashing the recovery image. This is what should save your nexus.
Now, I am fairly new to the Rooting and ROMming, really only started 2 months ago, so I would really appreciate if any of the more experienced guys on XDA can confirm what I said. Please don't try any of this without confirmation from another member here, I do not want to be responsible for sending your device past the point of no return. I recently had to order a new Nexus 6 as the screen is dead, so I know it's frustrating to have that loss. In your case, as long as that boot loader is unlocked, you should be safe. Best of luck to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the flash-all script, my friend and I just used the script included with MMB29S and it worked fine. In addition, I was able to use the one with MMB29K, MRA58K and MRA58R, all of which worked fine. I'm not sure if these scripts always work for some users and never work for others, but I always recommend that people who are new to flashing simply try them, as they are quite convenient when they work. In addition, I have only been in the rooting and ROMing scene for about a month or two as well, but I would consider myself pretty seasoned by now considering all the different ROMs, rooting methods, etc. that I have tried. All the advice that you gave to the OP is excellent and I agree with it all.

matthew2926 said:
Regarding the flash-all script, my friend and I just used the script included with MMB29S and it worked fine. In addition, I was able to use the one with MMB29K, MRA58K and MRA58R, all of which worked fine. I'm not sure if these scripts always work for some users and never work for others, but I always recommend that people who are new to flashing simply try them, as they are quite convenient when they work. In addition, I have only been in the rooting and ROMing scene for about a month or two as well, but I would consider myself pretty seasoned by now considering all the different ROMs, rooting methods, etc. that I have tried. All the advice that you gave to the OP is excellent and I agree with it all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. I always wanted to try the flash-all script but, I ahve read a few places it wouldn't work and haven't had the chance to give it a try lately. When my new device arrives in a day or two, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the confirmation, makes me feel good knowing I'm starting to get the hang of this stuff

triguyrn said:
Thank you. I always wanted to try the flash-all script but, I ahve read a few places it wouldn't work and haven't had the chance to give it a try lately. When my new device arrives in a day or two, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the confirmation, makes me feel good knowing I'm starting to get the hang of this stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem! It's too bad to hear about your device but at least you got a new one on the way. There is really no harm to at least trying the flash-all script. It will either work and save you time or fail halfway through and force you to flash everything manually.

triguyrn said:
Thank you. I always wanted to try the flash-all script but, I ahve read a few places it wouldn't work and haven't had the chance to give it a try lately. When my new device arrives in a day or two, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the confirmation, makes me feel good knowing I'm starting to get the hang of this stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash-all script is still broken, flash the img files individualy in fastboot.

gee2012 said:
Flash-all script is still broken, flash the img files individualy in fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys are life savers, thank you so much
Got it to work after I was getting ready to phone it in and bring it to a repair shop and eat whatever the charge might've been

Delete all files and re-partition all?

If you ever had loaded into recovery in temporary TWRP you'll note that even after formating /data/ and doing an advance wipe (selecting everything), then enter the file manager there is still a bunch of folders and some files throughout your device.
Is there a way to wipe out everything and start completely 100% fresh?

DO NOT DO THIS --- OR --- DO but do not cry about it
I have an answer to my question and it is as I suspected. The short and more official answer is, no. The longer answer is, yes, technically. -- But you should not try it unless you are 100% sure you can live without your phone (forever).
As it turns out no one had a full 100% flash for the whole device and its complete file system structure (except for Motorola). But as it turns out without a manufacturing cable it would be useless anyway. This is because part of your phone is protected and cannot be wiped clean and flashed so blindly... ie... Unlike your desktop computer. But if you're like me you have noticed some orphan files (a few logs).
Is it worth taking the risk just to clear some orphan files? Probably not. But since you do not have a manufacturing cable and technically, your phone can recover, what you can do is the following.
Do NOT use the TWRP installed on your phone. Rather use it in memory
Code:
sudo fastboot boot twrp-3.3.1-0-payton.img
Load TWRP and format DATA
Reboot, go to advance wipe, wipe everything.
Reboot to TWRP (again)
In TWRP via the terminal type in
HTML:
rm -r -f *
You will see a lot of things that cannot be deleted. This is because you do not have permission to do so. What little is removed will likely be restored after reboot from the master rom hidden somewhere on your phone which cannot be played with unless you have a manufacturing cable (so I am told). ---- If you have such a cable --- DO NOT DO THIS. --- If you suspect you have such a cable --- Do NOT do this. -- I did this with just my normal charging cable.
After you have run the command which will take forever. Tell TWRP to reboot to bootloader. You will now have a BLACK screen. This is where I panicked. I waited a while and long pressed down the power button (presumably turning off my device). Then I pressed down the power button and the lower volume button. -- Keep holding the buttons. -- It will take longer than you like but your phone will boot up. And low and behold everything that was in the master rom (chip?) has been restored and you will now see the bootloader screen (finally). Load TWRP and install your ROM of choice.
How many times have I done this successfully? 2x
Does this mean this is dependable? Unlikely
Do I recommend this? No.
Should you depend on this? No.
Are you taking a large gable? YES
Can this brick your device? YES, more than likely.
Should you do this if you have any doubts? NO.
Will you get any help if this goes wrong? NO.
So why did I do it? As I look to possibly upgrade my phone in the future I feel a little more daring and can afford to do so. lol

you say "yes, technically", but I have yet to see someone get back to a fully operational stock. The best they can do is get to a mostly operational custom ROM. I (and a bunch of other folks here) would love to be proven wrong.

KrisM22 said:
you say "yes, technically", but I have yet to see someone get back to a fully operational stock. The best they can do is get to a mostly operational custom ROM. I (and a bunch of other folks here) would love to be proven wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After performing this I installed only the official firmware. No additional ROM or GSI. The firmware itself includes the stock software.
A word of caution. --- I did this on 3 phones now. 2 work just fine. But 1 does not. The one that does not reports my IMEI as 0. This means it boots, it loads, it will play games and apps and update via Google Play Store, but it will never make a single phone call ever again. --- Food for thought.

Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?

KrisM22 said:
Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The world will never know. lol --- I'm a Linux user and their app doesn't seem to like Wine. I suppose I could set up a virtual machine with Windows and hope to connect through that. But I was once informed you really cannot do that via a virtual machine. Unless I was misinformed?! In any case, flashing the phone is not a problem. I can wipe it and reinstall any ROM or GSI at the moment. Or I can repeat my process too back to stock under a full wipe. The results appear to be the same.
I already have ordered a cheap Moto G7 from Google as a replacement. My current plan will be to find a very light (small), bare-bones ROM / GSI and install it onto this Moto X4. From there I'll load it up with games and such and let the kids play with it. Figure since it cannot make or receive calls anymore (or text messages either) it will make for a fun little toy.

MotoX4 said:
The world will never know. lol --- I'm a Linux user and their app doesn't seem to like Wine. I suppose I could set up a virtual machine with Windows and hope to connect through that. But I was once informed you really cannot do that via a virtual machine. Unless I was misinformed?! In any case, flashing the phone is not a problem. I can wipe it and reinstall any ROM or GSI at the moment. Or I can repeat my process too back to stock under a full wipe. The results appear to be the same.
I already have ordered a cheap Moto G7 from Google as a replacement. My current plan will be to find a very light (small), bare-bones ROM / GSI and install it onto this Moto X4. From there I'll load it up with games and such and let the kids play with it. Figure since it cannot make or receive calls anymore (or text messages either) it will make for a fun little toy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Yeah, in the past I have been a lot on Ubuntu and stuff like this is not forgiving for wine.
It's a darn shame that we can't just send these phones to Moto with $25 and get it fixed. Oh well!

KrisM22 said:
Thanks. That got me thinking - I wonder if you took the one with no IMEI and plugged it to Moto's Smart Assistant, would it recognize it? Would it allow you to force flash it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moto smart assistant can`t recognize the phone in rescue mode..

St.Noigel said:
Moto smart assistant can`t recognize the phone in rescue mode..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it can't on yours, and most folks with this prob. I was wondering about MotoX4's case. But thanks for trying it!
I had high hopes for that smart assistant when I discovered it, but no joy. When we lost RSDlite, we lost a lot - unless they upgrade it...

KrisM22 said:
I know it can't on yours, and most folks with this prob. I was wondering about MotoX4's case. But thanks for trying it!
I had high hopes for that smart assistant when I discovered it, but no joy. When we lost RSDlite, we lost a lot - unless they upgrade it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RSDlite? Lost? Is this what you seek? https://rsdlitetool.com/

MotoX4 said:
RSDlite? Lost? Is this what you seek? https://rsdlitetool.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
6.2.4 won't recognize a Moto X4 after it is upgraded to Pie.

I used RSDLite since the times of the P2K and MAGX (Linux)... but since it's easier to use fastboot commands...
I have a stock X4 Android One around, if I want to flash Pixel Experience, can I go back to stock in the future?

joel_sinbad said:
...snip...
I have a stock X4 Android One around, if I want to flash Pixel Experience, can I go back to stock in the future?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all probability, NO.

Then I'm gonna stay on Stock Rom, so... If I want to flash custom Roms, there's not way back...

joel_sinbad said:
Then I'm gonna stay on Stock Rom, so... If I want to flash custom Roms, there's not way back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read a lot on this forum, that's the message I see.

I agree, NO going back. You can, I have... flash any factory Pie rom . All will flash fine and no IMEI, wifi. Radios are gone. I use Google Fi and cell data services go wierd on custom roms, if you want carrier switching.

This makes me think that the Moto X4 is more dangerous than the back then Atrix 4G with their Tegra 2 chipset...

joel_sinbad said:
This makes me think that the Moto X4 is more dangerous than the back then Atrix 4G with their Tegra 2 chipset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't recall thinking that the Moto Atrix 4g was at all dangerous when I had one - a rather nice phone imho, though that was a very long time ago. I don't think of the Moto X4 as "dangerous" - it is simply that there is not a correct understanding of the Pie file structure by the custom ROM devs such that their ROMs would not so change the file structure of the phone as to prevent it from being flashed back to stock.
Users need to recognize that, with this phone, you can't get back to stock if you flash any custom ROM.
afaik.
This change happened with the file structure and boot structure changes of the Pie update. Prior to that, folks could get away with all manner of mods. Devs for this phone need to approach modifications with the idea of assuring that any mod can be flashed back to stock, BEFORE it is released. That has not happened. And likely won't. User beware!

KrisM22..... Thank you for stating what I could not do as well.

kkjb said:
KrisM22..... Thank you for stating what I could not do as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we ALL do it, and CAN do it - all in hopes of saving some newbie from disaster!