Database Develop

[Q] Checking for OTA Update Error

Just got the Verizon Moto X and now I am attempting to update it to the latest version (Android 4.4.2). I am currently on Android 4.2.2, which came with the phone out of the box. Whenever I go to About Phone > System Updates, it says "Checking for an available update" for a second and then the error message "An unexpected error has occured. Please try again later." pops up. I tried talking to Verizon (they redirected me to Motorola) and Motorola, where I was sent through the standard troubleshooting steps by someone who clearly didn't know anything about the phone. I tried restarting the phone, wiping the phone's cache, and looking for updates through the Motorola Device Manager on my computer (which said that my phone was up to date, even though it clearly isn't). Is there anything else I can do before I try a factory reset? I would prefer to download the OTA, but I have experience with rooting and installing custom ROMs, so if I have to install the update manually, I will (if it gets to that step, I will probably end up installing the 4.4.4 update which got sent out to soak testers).

mikestrong19 said:
Just got the Verizon Moto X and now I am attempting to update it to the latest version (Android 4.4.2). I am currently on Android 4.2.2, which came with the phone out of the box. Whenever I go to About Phone > System Updates, it says "Checking for an available update" for a second and then the error message "An unexpected error has occured. Please try again later." pops up. I tried talking to Verizon (they redirected me to Motorola) and Motorola, where I was sent through the standard troubleshooting steps by someone who clearly didn't know anything about the phone. I tried restarting the phone, wiping the phone's cache, and looking for updates through the Motorola Device Manager on my computer (which said that my phone was up to date, even though it clearly isn't). Is there anything else I can do before I try a factory reset? I would prefer to download the OTA, but I have experience with rooting and installing custom ROMs, so if I have to install the update manually, I will (if it gets to that step, I will probably end up installing the 4.4.4 update which got sent out to soak testers).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do NOT upgrade until you've read another 24 hours on this board!!!!! I think you should take a second look at your status and see if you misread 4.4.2 as 4.2.2

If I may ask, why not update?

mikestrong19 said:
If I may ask, why not update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you dont mind having an unrootable phone than update.
4.2.2 and 4.4 is fully rootable and able to disable write protection, 4.4.2 and newer is not. once you upgrade past 4.4 you lose ability to gain write and root.

doitinthedirt said:
If you dont mind having an unrootable phone than update.
4.2.2 and 4.4 is fully rootable and able to disable write protection, 4.4.2 and newer is not. once you upgrade past 4.4 you lose ability to gain write and root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the info. I have another phone that I use for rooting, ROMs, etc. The Moto X is currently my daily phone, and I need it to be stable, so I am not worried about rooting or anything like that. Just want the latest stock Android version on there.
I just talked to Motorola on the phone again, and they went through the same standard checklist (restart, wipe cache, factory reset -- none of which worked). At this point, they are going to exchange my current phone for a new one, which works out for me. The Moto X I bought was used, so I am getting a new phone for a used price in a convoluted way.

mikestrong19 said:
Oh OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the info. I have another phone that I use for rooting, ROMs, etc. The Moto X is currently my daily phone, and I need it to be stable, so I am not worried about rooting or anything like that. Just want the latest stock Android version on there.
I just talked to Motorola on the phone again, and they went through the same standard checklist (restart, wipe cache, factory reset -- none of which worked). At this point, they are going to exchange my current phone for a new one, which works out for me. The Moto X I bought was used, so I am getting a new phone for a used price in a convoluted way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, what a waste. You could have just flashed the entire STOCK SBF as per the Return to Stock thread, and avoided costing Moto money, and hence raising the prices for everybody... :/
This would have repaired any filesystem corruption/damage, which is the only conceivable thing that might have caused your issue.

Your new one will probably have 4.4.2....which means no write protection disabling.
D'oh!
---------- Post added at 07:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 PM ----------
You could have had FULL root on 4.2.2.

Downgrade back to marshmallow

So can't check "allow OEM quick" on N.
Already opted out of developer preview thru the site, and 4 days later, still no ota back to MM. Suggestions?
I thought to just fastboot twrp and try to flash a stock rom to allow unlock then start from the beginning but wanted opinions first.
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app

sookieball said:
So can't check "allow OEM quick" on N.
Already opted out of developer preview thru the site, and 4 days later, still no it's back to MM. Suggestions?
I thought to just fastboot twrp and try to flash a stock rom to allow unlock then start from the beginning but wanted opinions first.
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, to flash stock, you dont use twrp, you use fastboot while youre in the bootloader. and in N, allow oem unlock is automatically enabled.

It isn't tho
It i tried OEM unlock and it didn't work. :-/
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app

sookieball said:
It isn't tho
It i tried OEM unlock and it didn't work. :-/
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how? did you do fastboot oem unlock?

Maybe you've already tried this, and I don't know if it will work, but have you tried re-enrolling and unenrolling in the hope that it will jog the revert mechanism into life?

I have tried enrolling and unenrolling a few times....
No dice.
Sims,
In fastboot... fastboot OEM unlock. Then error.
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app

sookieball said:
I have tried enrolling and unenrolling a few times....
No dice.
Sims,
In fastboot... fastboot OEM unlock. Then error.
Sent from my Robin using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you pribably cant oem unlock while on N then. that probably why they made it unavailable. im not on N now, so cant test.

What about trying a sideload of the full OTA? I thought (I might be wrong) that it's independent of a locked bootloader.
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/ota#instructions
It's worth a shot, especially as it doesn't overwrite your data.

On a related note, I'm on preview 3 - battery drain when idle is higher than what it was on stable M, so thinking about reverting back to M.
1. To avoid a factory wipe, can I just flash the img files from the stable M (skipping userdata) on top of the preview 3?
2. If so, to avoid getting the N preview update notification, I guess I will need to un-enroll from the beta program. Will that cause an OTA to be sent back to my phone (causing factory wipe as described on the beta page)? Or does it recognize that I'm already on 'M' and skip the OTA?
3. Before I do this, is it possible to flash the radio only from the latest "M" image on the "N" preview? (could that help with the drain when idle?)

Did you not like my previous answer...?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66961421&postcount=104

dahawthorne said:
Did you not like my previous answer...?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=66961421&postcount=104
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL! Yes, I did! And thank you for that as well - the part that I didn't understand (and unless I missed it in your response, I don't think we talked about in that post) was - since I'd still be enrolled in the preview/beta program, how do I get out of the program, without getting factory reset.
(I do have a nandroid backup as a last ditch option - trying to do this the 'clean' way first)
The preview is working well for me as well - skype is the only app giving me grief, but I can live with that. The battery drain on idle seems to be significantly higher than what I encountered with "M" stable. With barely any usage this morning (screen on for 11 minutes), my battery is at 77% (full charge and off the charger at 10 pm last night). Cell Standby is the the highest drain (6%). Phone idle and Android system tied for 2nd place at 3%.
With the latest M build, I'd be at over 90% battery remaining (with similar usage).

You're right on all counts...
I think the answer to your wipe question is that you'd have to agree to do it - if you unenrol and have already reverted manually to M, the downgrade OTA may be downloaded (though from my experience, as I said, I think the developers are smart enough to recognise that it's a waste of time and even that won't happen) but you would still have to push the button to accept it. They won't unceremoniously dump it on you without your permission.
And the battery drain... I was wondering if it was my imagination, or maybe just that my phone is a year old (I got a replacement last May) and the battery's a bit tired, but I've noticed that the percentage drops almost before my eyes. I have Battery Bot Pro showing my percentage figure on my status bar, and it seems to me that every time I unlock the phone another one or more percentage points have gone. It went from 97% this morning to 77% in a couple of hours, and I recharged it before I went out to work - it's now already down to 75% and falling. Like you, I'd expect it to be a clear 10% or more better than this over this period.
Looks like Google have a bit more work to do on their power management...
Edit: And in the 5 minutes since I wrote this, with the phone sitting beside me, screen off, nothing running, it's already down to 74%. Not at all impressive. Despite being relatively happy with it, I may have to renege on my previous comment that I can't see myself reverting to M.
And before you ask, I'll be reverting using my TWRP backup of M which I took immediately before I installed N...

Thank you
I'll wait for the June security update (factory image) and install that directly (skipping userdata). If that fails, I'll revert to the TWRP backup. (restoring TWRP on my old N5 has given me grief in the past, so going to avoid that if possible)
Edit: maybe I'll try flashing the radio from the May image onto "N" and see if that helps. The battery drain appears to be radio related.

Done. No problem at all. TWRP took about 12 minutes to restore 7GB of data, then a rather nerve-racking 5 minutes with the Google quad-icon swapping bits, and I'm back to MOB30I.
Seven updates waiting; BBC Radio, Skype, Google Drive, Sygic, all the broken apps working again, still have root.
Welcome back, old M world...
And if you're thinking of restoring M early next month, I'd give the OTA version a try. Just out of curiosity I sideloaded the MOB30H OTA on my Nexus 5 a few days ago, and it worked flawlessly without wiping any data. That's what I'll be doing on my N6 in June.
I've also just unenrolled from the Beta program, and checked for a system update. Exactly as I thought, "Your system is up to date" on MOB30I. I know that the OTAs have been slow for some people, but I don't expect to see the revert OTA - I'll post in this thread if I ever do.

dahawthorne said:
And if you're thinking of restoring M early next month, I'd give the OTA version a try. Just out of curiosity I sideloaded the MOB30H OTA on my Nexus 5 a few days ago, and it worked flawlessly without wiping any data. That's what I'll be doing on my N6 in June.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would the fact that I'm rooted cause any issues with sideloading the OTA? (I realize the new OTA is essentially a full image, so it should just overwrite the system, and I'd have to reroot after that)

No problems at all, no. My N5 was rooted & encrypted, and the OTA slid in easily. As I said in another thread, it boots into TWRP but the OTA is designed to handle that. I installed TWRP again anyway, probably pointlessly but just to be on the safe side, and then used it to install SuperSU 2.74.
Easy as pie...

I unenrolled, got a prompt for system "update" back to MM, it downloaded, and now I am going on 30 minutes on the install part....been stuck on the reboot screen with 4 colorful circles....
How long does it take to re-install MM? TIA
EDIT: Decided to hold down power button for about 5 seconds and it rebooted to setup screen

dahawthorne said:
And the battery drain... I was wondering if it was my imagination, or maybe just that my phone is a year old (I got a replacement last May) and the battery's a bit tired, but I've noticed that the percentage drops almost before my eyes. I have Battery Bot Pro showing my percentage figure on my status bar, and it seems to me that every time I unlock the phone another one or more percentage points have gone. It went from 97% this morning to 77% in a couple of hours, and I recharged it before I went out to work - it's now already down to 75% and falling. Like you, I'd expect it to be a clear 10% or more better than this over this period.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up flashing the radio (only) from MOB30I on to the N preview, and so far, the battery life on idle is back to how it was on M. I think I have a reason to stick on to the N preview a bit longer now
banditsw said:
How long does it take to re-install MM? TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you got it sorted out, but just for future reference, the reason it took long is because it essentially factory reset your phone - a factory reset with full wipe on the encrypted N6 cane take 20-30 minutes.

I'm impatient, me, so by the time I read this I was already back on MOB30I, but in any case I'm happier to have all working apps without the rash of library errors and force-closures. Interesting thread...
But we never heard back from sookieball after I suggested a sideload: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67013821&postcount=8

dahawthorne said:
But we never heard back from sookieball after I suggested a sideload: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67013821&postcount=8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ended up reverting back to the "M" stable image yesterday (was waiting for the June image to be available). No issues with the "N" to report, except one custom app that I use was giving me some issues.
Anyway, thought I'd share my "downgrade" story
If you do the downgrade the right way (un-enroll from the Beta program), and get the OTA back to the latest "M", it will likely go well - because it performs a factory reset on your phone.
I however, didn't wait to set my phone up from scratch (lazy), so I flashed the factory image for the latest "M" (and skipped userdata.img). Bad idea. Flash went thru' successfully, but I ended up with pretty much an unusable phone because two system processes kept crashing in a loop after booting up. I then tried ADB sideload for the new OTA image file - same results. Wiped cache partition - no difference.
I then remembered that some apps (like Google Maps) had different versions for "N", and realized that the issue must be because of apps like that not being compatible with "M". Thankfully, I had a nandroid backup of the "M" (May security release) from before I installed "N", and I installed that - and then, updated to the June security release of "M".
Whew!
So, in summary, If you are rooted, take a nandroid backup in TWRP before you install "N" preview. If not, plan to factory reset your device after going back (or while going back) to "M" - no shortcuts.

Questions about Pie update issues

What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.

Peabody424 said:
What I see re the Pie problem on the Lenovo forum is that several people have tried doing a factory reset to fix things. Some seem to think that works, but others say the improvement is only temporary, and the laggy performance returns after a week or two. Would you expect there to be any difference between doing a factory reset versus flashing what is presumably(?) the same rom using the methods found here on XDA? Seems both should put the phone in the exactly the same state.
I'm still on Oreo, and decline the repeated notifications to update. to Pie. And I've turned off automatic system updates in the Developers menu. Does anyone know if that will prevent the Pie update from being forced through? Is there any way to turn off the update notifications?
Is there any indication that Motorola/Lenovo is doing anything to fix this problem? There's a 43-page thread on their forum on this, which they abandoned as "solved" early on. If I could stop the notifications, I would happily stay on Oreo if they would let me do that.
Thanks for any insights or suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Peabody424...
It's always a bit tricky making recommendations to someone, based on one's own experiences, such as with an OTA update, and particularly when there's such a seemingly wide range of reported user experiences, ranging from the good to the bad to the outright atrocious! And like yourself, I'd also read similar (nightmare) accounts over on the Lenovo forums about the Pie update - so I was similarly cautious when I received the notification towards the end of March that a system update for Pie was awaiting my confirmation to go ahead and install it.
One of the major issues I'd read about Pie, was people's inability to access their device after the update, due to their password/lock-screen pattern not being recognised. And the only solution was to perform a factory reset via the stock recovery - not a good result at all!
This was obviously a significant concern to me, along with other reports of sluggish and poor screen responsiveness, with various solutions being proffered, such as using a custom launcher - I use Nova Prime anyway, so I've never actually used the stock Moto Launcher - and disabling Motorola's own background data collection processes (Android Settings>>System>>Advanced>>
Motorola privacy>>[DISABLE EVERYTHING THERE]), apparently is also reported to have helped make the device more responsive.
Anyhow, I'd prepared in advance of Pie, by ensuring everything on my device was backed up somewhere else, should I need to perform a factory reset in the event of possible problems after the Pie update.
So... after about an hour of downloading and installing Pie... Everything worked perfectly - in fact, Pie managed to resolve some long standing screen glitches I'd been having with Oreo, ever since I bought my G6 back in July of 2018.
Since the March 2019 Pie update, I've subsequently received two further OTA updates - in August and September.
The one in August was a security patch update for 1 June 2019, but it also included Google's Digital Wellbeing App, which for some strange reason had been omitted in the original Pie update back in March. Although this OTA update installed without any noticeable problems, I decided immediately afterwards to perform a factory reset... It just seemed a prudent measure to take - to clear the decks, so to speak, and begin afresh with a clean slate.
---------------------------------------
Here's a list of my Pie/Security patch updates, so far this year...
(Yeah, I know... I'm a bit OCD, keeping a detailed record of such things)
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-24) Android 9.0 Pie Update (from Android 8.0 Oreo) with 1st January security patch. Notified: 01:05, Tue 24 Mar 2019. Downloaded: 01:43 to 02:02 (17 mins to download 1431.2Mb). Commenced installation at 02:02; Completed at 02:37 with no problems.
Moto G6 OTA (PPS29.55-37-4) with 1st June security patch. Notified: 21:41, Mon 5th Aug 2019. Downloaded: 21:42 to 21:54 (12 mins to download 818.6Mb). Commenced installation at 22:00; Completed at 22:28 with no problems.
Performed a factory reset after this OTA, just to clear the decks and begin afresh.
Moto G6 OTA (PPSS29.55-37-4-3) with 1st August security patch. Notified: 04:15, Thu 12th Sept 2019. Downloaded: 04:17 to 04:20 (3 mins to download 155.4Mb). Commenced installation at 04:20; Completed at 04:46 with no problems.
---------------------------------------
In conclusion then, I'm afraid I cannot give any assurances that the Pie update will NOT give you any problems - there are no guarantees here, unfortunately, and whilst my Moto G6 has been improved with Pie, there's no denying that there have been many reports of Pie OTA related problems with this device. I would strongly recommend that if you do take the Pie update, prepare for a possible factory reset, by ensuring everything in the internal storage that is important, is safely backed up elsewhere first.
With regards to possibly reflashing the G6,
maybe back to Oreo, I'm afraid I can't help or advise you there. I haven't reflashed or rooted a device for about two years now - the benefits of doing so seem to me to be fairly marginal these days - so my knowledge about such things is a little out of date. My own Moto G6 will likely be my first device who's bootloader will probably never be unlocked.
As far as Lenovo fixing anything... Well, I wouldn't put money on it! They don't seem to be overly concerned with the kind of problems that I've seen reported on their forums.
---------------------------------------
Apologies for my somewhat non-committal response to your implied question ("Should I update to Pie?"), but as I mentioned at the beginning, my own experiences of Pie may not be reflected by others. Indeed, when reading through the posts on the Lenovo forums about Pie, a few months ago, I was very surprised by the largely negative response that the Pie OTA had engendered, and when the time came for me to update to it, I was even more surprised when everything went perfectly, with none of the problems that had been reported there.
All I can say then, is that Android 9.0 Pie on my Moto G6 has been problem free, and is an improvement over its predecessor, Android 8.0 Oreo.
Hope this helps - and apologies for this rather long post - I do go on a bit sometimes
Kind Rgrds,
Ged.

Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.

Peabody424 said:
Thanks very much, Ged. I really appreciate the info on your experience with the Pie update. I guess my first reaction is that you are in the UK, and the updates you received may or may not be at all similar to what's being offered to me in the US (PPS29.118.11.1 to update to Pie). One of the missing pieces of information is whether the problems are only with US phones, or even within the US, what percentage of phones have these problems.
I still wonder about the idea of flashing the latest rom from the archive here. I don't understand how/why that would be different from allowing the OTA update, then doing a factory reset. The latter process has been reported as providing only temporary benefits. And of course I would also like to find a way to turn off the update notifications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again, Peabody424...
Appreciate your kind works, and yep, you're correct in your deduction that I'm in the UK. I should have mentioned that in my prior post... My Moto G6 update channel is retgb.
Personally, I would be very hesitant to flash anything, from any archive. I used to flash stuff, frequently, on previous devices, some years ago. But it seems to me, reading here on these Moto G6 forums, that such things have become ever more complicated in recent years, and potentially prone to error, and possibly a device hardbrick.
It's not something you should do lightly, and not without a considerable amount of reading and research beforehand. Now, maybe I'm being a little over cautious, and some longstanding Moto G6 flashing expert will post saying so... But I'd rather be cautious and have a device that works with Oreo, rather than one that doesn't (maybe permanently) with an attempted failed flash of Pie. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and don't much care for the risks anymore...
--------------------------------
Regarding disabling OTA updates... I'm fairly certain you need root for that.
However... If you look in Android Settings>>Apps & notifications>>Advanced>>See all apps, then tap on the 3 dot overflow menu at the upper right hand corner of the screen, and select Show System... then scroll down to locate an app called Motorola Update Services. Tap to enter, and you'll notice that whilst it can be forced-stopped, the disable button is greyed-out, and is thus not available.
But you COULD disable it's notifications as illustrated in my screenshot below... Not sure if that would work in the long term, 'cos the update would still be pending, you just wouldn't be being notified of it - and maybe the update would/might proceed anyway, at some point - I'm just not sure, to be honest.
Hope this helps, and good luck, whatever you choose to do
Rgrds,
Ged.

Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.

Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Peabody,
I also saw your post in the other thread, so here is my $.02. I have a US retail unlocked phone that is running PPS29.118-15-11. I updated from 8.0 (OPSS27.104-92-6) to Pie with the PPS29.118-11-1 OTA. My experience was different from GedBlake in that the update almost immediately showed signs of lagginess. For me it seemed that anytime the phone tried to access anything from the network in the background, it would lag the foreground. I uninstalled stuff, played with settings, even reset to factory, to no avail. Then someone recommended that I use RSD Lite to reflash PPS29.118-11-1. The difference is, that unlike the OTA, RSD Lite wiped the phone entirely and gave me a fresh starting point. Why a factory reset did not obtain the same state, I have no idea. But what I can tell you is that my G6 ran like glass after that. I got nervous when I got the notification to update to PPS29.118-15-11 OTA, but I bite the bullet and the upgrade went fine and it still runs like a champ.
-Chris

First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
Code:
pm disable com.motorola.ccc.ota
---------------------------------------------------------------
To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!

WoKoschekk said:
First to say is to disable the update notification you have to freeze Motorola-Updateservices (com.motorola.ccc.ota)
---------------------------------------------------------------
To Ged Blake:
If your password/lock-screen pattern is not being recognised, you should erase locksttings.db in /data/system via adb/TWRP. It resets your lockscreen pattern and you can access your device.
--------------------------------------------------------------
If you update to Pie you can't downgrade to Oreo without losing your Wifi signal!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, WoKoschekk...
Yeah, the password/lockscreen problem was just something I'd read about over on the Lenovo Motorola forums - it was never a problem for me. And your solution of using TWRP, whilst useful to know, likely wouldn't have helped most of the posters there, as most, if not all, are running bootloader locked devices with no TWRP installed. I seem to recall that running unmodified factory stock is a condition of posting there, if you expect a response from a Motorola Service Agent, which I suppose is understandable.
Your solution of disabling Motorola's OTA update app using ADB is something that occurred to me too, but I'm not too enthusiastic about recommending procedures that I've not tried myself... I didn't want to suggest something that might have screwed up the OP's device, however unlikely that may be.
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.

You won't have any negative effects by disabling this app. Since it's not possible to deactivate it this might be the only way to turn off the notifications permanently. You can enable the app when ever you want it.

Thanks very much for the responses.
In years past, I have flashed new rom to an old Hisense tablet, but that was a high-anxiety process since I was a total newbie. I'm still basically a civilian here, but understand that it's not entirely impossible that I would be able to do these things successfully. But just so I understand:
Using ADB to disable the update app would (probably) stop the notifications and prevent Motorola from forcing through the update to Pie. But it is not rooting, is reversible, and (if reversed) wouldn't void my warranty. Right?
Using RSD Lite does root the phone, which is not reversible, and does void my warranty. (The rom is factory stock, but you can't un-root.) Also, it's not possible to revert to Oreo after flashing Pie. Right?
Edit: It looks like I was wrong about not being able to un-root. A Youtube video by RootJunkie suggests using RSD Lite restores the phone to stock in every way, and it would become unrooted. So no warranty issues?
Chris, your experience with RSD is really encouraging. From what you said, you did try a factory reset after the OTA update, and it was not successful. But the RSD re-flash of the same rom did work, and continues to work. I just wish I understood why the reset didn't work but RSD did. Anyway, there are now several more updates after 29.118.11.1. Should I let the 11.1 OTA happen, then do RSD LIte, or just do RSD Lite from the existing Oreo, or do RSD Lite from Oreo to the latest rom? I guess we don't know whether any of that matters.
I tried to download RSD Lite from rsdlite.com, but got a 404. Is it available directly from Motorola? Also, I have a Win7/64 computer and an XP computer. Does it matter which one I use for RSD Lite?
Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.

Peabody424 said:
Thanks, but I turned off notifications for Motorola Update Services in the beginning, and the system update notifications still come through. I suspect it's not possible to turn them off without disabling the Update app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peabody424 said:
A new post appeared today on the Lenovo forum:
"I did a factory reset on the first of September (2019-09-01). The phone is now back to how it was: lagging, freezing, slow to open apps, slow keyboard, Chrome is laggy and pops up with "app is not responding" prompt.
For me, the factory reset fix lasted a little over a month before the phone got bogged down again."
Chris, I think you did the RSD Lite flash a month earlier than this guy did the factory reset. Have you seen no deterioration in performance? I'm sorry to be so goosey about this, but I don't understand why the RSD Lite flash should leave the phone in a different state than a factory reset of the OTA update, and I just dread doing the Pie flash only to get the same result as the other guy got a month later - as I understand it, I wouldn't be able to go back to Oreo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris

cdaly1970 said:
I do see slow downs in the phone from time to time, but these can be and usually are explained by external forces, such as wifi strength, and lack of cell service. That said, these are nothing like the lag I experienced after the first OTA to Pie. BTW - RSD Lite does not root the phone, it is only a tool used to flash images to the phone. So if you are flashing an official image, you are not voiding the warranty. Historically, I've been a big fan of rooting phones, however with the G6, I simply haven't found a good enough reason to do it yet. Here is a link for RSD Lite - http://download.canadiancontent.net/RSDLite.html - I used this and downloaded version 6.2.4. I ran it on Windows 10, and ran into a issue with the USB 3.0 port I was connected too. I had to switch to an older port - luckily my system still has a few. I would suggest using the Windows 7 system you have.
-Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you said in the other thread that you did do a factory reset after the original OTA update, but found that it didn't fix things. If that's the case, then it seems pretty clear that the RSD Lite flash leaves the phone in a different state than the factory reset, although nobody knows why that would be the case since the rom is presumably the same either way.
Thanks for the clarification on rooting. The only reason I would need to root the phone is to be able to hide certain pictures and apps, but I may be able to do that without rooting.
So I have both the 11-1 and 15-11 roms and RSD Lite, and I have the v6.4.0 drivers although I don't think I need them since Win7 already communicates with the G6. If I can muster up the courage, I'll go ahead and give it a try, probably with the 15-11 rom.
A couple more questions: I don't have an SD card installed, but what about the SIM? Is it ok to leave it in the phone when doing RSD Lite? And do I need to set any Developer options, like USB debugging?
Thanks very much for your help on this.

GedBlake said:
Anyhow, @Peabody424...
This article may be worth reading for more details in how to disable/freeze the OTA app, as suggested by WoKoschekk...
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to try this, disabling com.motorola.ccc.ota for user zero as described in that article. And it appears to have worked. Well, normally I would have received the Pie OTA notification immediately on power-up, and after 20 minutes now it hasn't arrived. So while it may be a bit early to count chickens, I'm encouraged. If I decide at the last minute not to risk upgrading to Pie, maybe at least I can continue to run Oreo in peace.
When I go to Settings/Apps&Notifications/AppInfo/ShowSystem/Motorola Update Services, it shows "Not installed for this user". I think that's a good sign.
I did have to install the Motorola ADB driver for this to work. The article doesn't mention that, but I guess it would be obvious to anyone but me.

A question has come up in the Lenovo forum thread as to whether it is necessary to unlock the bootloader in order to run RSD Lite on newer phones like the G6. Chris, or anyone else who knows, can you clarify this? My understanding is that the whole point of RSD Lite was to restore a phone to factory condition, and that flashing stock roms signed by Motorola permitted them to be flashed without unlocking or rooting or anything else.

JimmiH on the Lenovo forum has found "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant", a new utility from Motorola, which is installed on your PC (Win 7 or 10). Included in the utility is a "rescue" function which appears to do the same thing as RSD Lite - resurrect a phone from any software issues. It downloads the correct official rom and reflashes it to the phone. JimmiH will be reporting back over the next few weeks as to whether the rescue has permanently solved his Pie lagginess issues.
The advantage of this LMSA over RSD Lite is that it runs on Windows 10, and presumably works with USB3 ports, while apparently neither was the case with RSD Lite. And of course you don't have to go hunting for the right rom.
This could potentially be a nice easy fix. Let's hope so.

Curious as to the results of the the "Lenovo Moto Smart Assistant" reflashing method on moto G6. Has anyone had sustained success using this method?
I factory reset my phone in an attempt to cure the Pie lagginess, and had limited success - as other users describe there was a joyful month without lag, then a return to lag over the following months. Within two months you will be back to the same state of constant lag.
I am preparing to move to a Google Pixel 3a but wanted to give the G6 one last chance. I will be attempting the LMSA fix and hope to report back within a few months if this solution is permanent.

OTA update endless fail loop PPWS29.69-39-6-4 on Magisk (un)rooted X4

I have two (identical) X4 1900-1 Android One phones , both were rooted with Magisk patched boot image on PPWS29.69-39-6-2. I was able to restore boot image with Magisk Manager on one and the January 1 PPWS29.69-39-6-4 OTA update completed successfully, I reinstalled Magisk per tutorial, root is present and Safetynet passed. The other one became stuck in a kind of updating loop for this OTA prior to restoring the image with Magisk, the update failed on "Step 3 of 6", then starts all over again, ad infinitum, causing battery drain and slowdown. It started this before I restored the boot image with Magisk but fail is continuing since doing so and after a reboot. Automatic updates were turned off in Developer Options, but it still tried to install the update before notifying me that it was available. One difference after restoring boot image with Magisk is that the phone is no longer showing the update progress page--when you tap System Updates the CHecking for Updates flashes briefly and then a toast says Software Update Unsuccessful. That message comes up every few seconds.
My past experience with failed OTA updates on other devices has been the update process stops with one failed update, never tries again and I had to flash manually. Wondering about the best way to address this issue is. One of these phones is my "backup" device, so I have some wiggle room on what to do. Should I (a) flash stock back on the problem phone and let it go through the several security updates, or could I possibly restore a TWRP backup from the updated phone on the problem one? I did a similar restore years ago from one Moto XT926 to another and it worked, but I believe the restored phone might have acquired the serial # of the donor.
I took logcats before and after unrooting, but had trouble uploading one of them. I'll try again.

I spoke a little too soon on the one that "successfully" updated. It is unable to complete phone calls with the same SIM that works in the one that keeps giving the failed update message. Calls just end as soon as send is pressed, or hang trying to connect. In Settings it shows the correct phone number etc., network settings are same as the working phone and this one worked with this SIM a few weeks ago. Some problems connecting to computer visa wifi as well. Beginning to wonder if this is a bad update? Could really use some help here as I don't have a fully functional phone now.

Turns out the "successfully" updated phone is pretty borked. Lots of strange behavior and black screen freezes. The modem/radio seem to have major problems. With no sim card in the phone, the LTE icon shows and indicates signal, but no connectivity. Freezes and blank screens when I hop around in Settings. Wifi connect is wonky. And no phone connectivity with SIM. Looking like I'm gonna have to go back to stock with PPWS29.69-39-6-2, the latest full FW I have.
Has anyone out there had problems with this OTA?
Where can I find the log file from the OTA update, to try and see what went bad?
On the "failed" phone, I was able to find the url for the OTA update (Blur_Version.29.461.4-29.481.10.payton_fi.google_fi.en.US.zip -- PPWS29.69-39-6-4) on the logcat and download it. I've uploaded it to Drive and here is the link is below if anyone needs it. There are lot of error and suspicious messages in one of the logcats from the failed one but interpreting them meaningfully is above my paygrade. I've attached another log to this post. Can someone tell me how to stop the endless updater loop until I can fix the other phone? I am unsure what app/service to disable. I read somewhere there is a way to delay updates on Pie, but it doesn't appear to be a toggle anywhere in Settings.
This is the Android One/Google Fi variant XT1900-1. Flash at own risk!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=151TRLKfmlROCT6f--U4PWRPqmkFyD0T9

The option to force updates is in Developer Options about 10 lines down.
Apparently it defaults to ON.
I have not tested that this would prevent updates since I leave it on, since I want updates.

Force Updates
KrisM22 said:
The option to force updates is in Developer Options about 10 lines down.
Apparently it defaults to ON.
I have not tested that this would prevent updates since I leave it on, since I want updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks , however that option was turned OFF in Developer Options. Update still forced itself on both phones.

Oh well! It's all google's fault!

Back to stock working so far
KrisM22 said:
Oh well! It's all google's fault!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appears so. Keep reading.
I flashed stock PPWS29.69-39-6-2 and so far things seem to be working--phone, data, wifi.
I'll give a full update on functionality and de-borking when the thing's finished its updates and app installs.
I did notice that in device setup, in the Google Terms the last item "Install updates and apps", states "This device may automatically download and install updates and apps from Google and your device manufacturer...." and there is no on/off toggle!!!! You are forced to accept this "setting", the only option is "Accept"!
Thanks again Google.
I suppose this means that the Developer Options setting is moot.
I would be interested to know if this "(it's not a bug it's a) Feature" is present in Oreo builds?

Remember that google doesn't write android so we can modify it - in fact, google goes WAY out of its way to prevent that - that is why there are so many releases of things like Majisk - google keeps blocking them.
Only a tiny tiny fraction of Moto X4 users attempt any modification of their phones.
You might succeed because you have not yet flashed a custom ROM and thus changed the bootloader and file system from the stock OTA'ed Pie setup. Those that have cannot return. Apparently ever.

KrisM22, would you say that the X4 is a less suitable device than others for rooting? And BTW appreciate your noob warnings, only wish they had appeared sooner. I had already rooted these earlier.
As a matter of practice, I never flash custom ROM or recovery on devices until after they've reached end of OEM support. Actually with the ability to boot TWRP via fastboot I don't see any advantage to installing it but numerous disadvantages. I have unlocked and rooted all my (unlockable) devices, but I may rethink that in light of these recent Android changes. For my next phone I would probably choose a more mod-friendly OEM, if such exists. One+ maybe?

a) you're welcome
b) don't mod this X4 in any way if you are OTA upgraded to Pie.
You might have been able to modify it if it was still on 7 or 8 but I have no idea what the devs are using for
1) bootloader
2)file structiure.
I think, if you have to root, go back to something like a G3, where the bootloader didn't change and the file structure didn't change. Even the Z play had probs around the Oreo bootloader change, but we still could use rsdlite to get back from most disasters.
iow, think pre/pre Treble in any form. It may be, in a couple more years, when Treble has stabilized, that we can get away with modifying things, but on a current phone I would avoid it, UNLESS others have already successfully/repeatedly done it.
I also feel that most of the reason for flashing a custom ROM are gone. People get there, spend a lot of time playing with updates and releases, and eventually go back to stock. There are always a few exceptions, but... As to the various reasons for "needing" root, I feel there are always alternatives. I use Block This! to keep ads out of Brave, BBC app, and APNews app. While there are occasions like can't-edit-build prop, I find I can live without it. It is an adjustment of attitude/expectation. Yes, I have had tons of fun and wasted tons of hours playing with my past phones, it happens I haven't missed it with this one, especially since the sec updates are so recent - I don't worry until it's a year or 2 past.
Once the X4 is on Pie stock, do not modify it in any way.
As to other phones, yes, if you really have to modify it, search the wealth of info that is XDA until you have found a phone that folks have been able to repeatedly get back to stock - be on the lookout for a trail of endless posts about bricked phones and blank flash stuff - a sure sign to avoid it. - This forum is littered with them!
If you have modified a phone: BEFORE taking an OTA, flash phone with latest stock, then let it take the OTA. I had to modify that - I have no idea if you can flash this thing once it is on Pie.

I also feel that most of the reason for flashing a custom ROM are gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, especially for current devices that are still supported. I'll leave these stock at least until that ends. I actually though it had already reached EOS, so I was caught with my pants down. That said, these phones ran just as well stock/rooted as all of their predecessors I have owned, and as well as when unrooted--until the update fail happened. I may root one if I decide to keep using it beyond EOS. And it's true that most custom ROMs are rarely as smooth and reliable as factory.
Yes, I have had tons of fun and wasted tons of hours playing with my past phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True Dat! But, a hobby is a hobby, and not everything hobbyists do in any field turns out stellar. One reason I always try to have have a decent running backup phone if I mess with a daily driver.
With an EOS device, the risk of a bad outcome is to a large degree mitgated by the greatly diminished value of the device. I have a Moto X 2015 Clark that I've been playing with Randomblame's LOS16 builds on, and it is very usable. Too bad that phone never had good battery life, I liked everything else about it. Might as well keep it rather than sell it for the maybe 50 bucks it might bring. Hell, I only cut my last XT926 loose early last year!

Everything's looking good. After flashing back to stock PPWS29.69-39-6-2, Phone updated OTA to PPWS29.69-39-6-4 and everything appears to be working well. So far no bad residue from past rooting etc.

redwoodie said:
Everything's looking good. After flashing back to stock PPWS29.69-39-6-2, Phone updated OTA to PPWS29.69-39-6-4 and everything appears to be working well. So far no bad residue from past rooting etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXCELLENT!!! Great to hear!
Yes, always have a backup!!!
EOS: I was surprised by this update and am now guessing that we might even get one in Mar or Apr. We'll just have to see if that includes 10. But to me a phone is not really "EOS" until maybe a year or 2 after it stops getting updates. I haven't heard of anyone getting hacked. On any phone.
Great!!!

If you are willing, could you do a couple things:
Go to first post edit, go advanced and mark thread as SOLVED.
add a post about how you did it:
1) disclaimer: "Do at your own risk. I am not responsible for anything." or some such!
2. a sentence or 2 about how you did the flash.
3. attach a copy of the bat file you used for the flash.
I think only works if you haven't changed bootloader or file system - NO custom ROM.
Thanks!

Post issue solved etc.
I will happily do that once I've gotten the second X4 straightened out, at that point I'll feel confident it is really "solved".. Probably next week at soonest, I have a minor medical procedure today. I didn't use a .bat file, I fastboot flashed each .img, erase and sparsechunk the old school way. There was a flashall.bat I found on XDA but it was for Oreo builds, had a couple lines in it I was unsure about, and wasn't comfortable modifying it.

Many thanks! Hope all goes well with that today!
If you could provide a log, or list of commands used, that would help!

Update on flashing 2nd X4 back to stock...Flashed PPWS29.69-39-6-2 twice same results: I have wifi/LTE connectivity issues, the wifi constantly connects and disconnects and phone/LTE tries and fails.
There are a couple of threads that discuss similar probles with the X4 and offer various solutions. I may try those, or going back to original Moto Pie ROM or an intermediate build. I also was able to grab the latest Jan. 1 update ROM and that's another option.
The odd thing about this flash is that everything about the phone state was 100% identical to the other X4 that I successfully restored via exact same methods. It would appear that "your mileage may vary" applies. I'll update again when I have new info.

redwoodie said:
Update on flashing 2nd X4 back to stock...Flashed PPWS29.69-39-6-2 twice same results: I have wifi/LTE connectivity issues, the wifi constantly connects and disconnects and phone/LTE tries and fails.
There are a couple of threads that discuss similar probles with the X4 and offer various solutions. I may try those, or going back to original Moto Pie ROM or an intermediate build. I also was able to grab the latest Jan. 1 update ROM and that's another option.
The odd thing about this flash is that everything about the phone state was 100% identical to the other X4 that I successfully restored via exact same methods. It would appear that "your mileage may vary" applies. I'll update again when I have new info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. modem problems? Dunno... Keep us posted! Thanks!

Are your two One fi, or regular - I bet the motherboards on the two are different, thus the different result.

Both One/Fi. Same baseband versionon both.
Just re-flashed NON-HLOS.bin ad fsg.mbn, same results.
I'm a little baffled by the script commands that follow these flashes to "erase modemst1/t2". One user on this thread claimed omitting (commenting out) those erase commands cured the problem https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/how-to/android-one-xt1900-1-wifi-sim-stock-t3941837.
I tried the modem flash mentioned above with out the erase commands. No change.
Another suggests:
My XT1900-7 had lost its IMEIs and Wifi connections, even after factory reset.
The solution:
Get XT1900-1_PAYTON_FI_9.0_PPWS29.69-39-2-4_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip from lolinet
if you are booting from slot _b, then go to fastboot and flash modem from this FI ROM:
Code:
fastboot flash modem_b NON-HLOS.bin
fastboot erase modemst1
fastboot erase modemst2
fastboot reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thinking about flashing back to original stock Pie 29.69-26, or the latest 29.69-39-6-4.

Latest securty-firmware patch screws up battery

I did the update 2 or 3 weeks agao and my battery has very odd behavior.
I am not the only one. Found youtube video of same problem and folks on moto forums talking about this.
very frustrating. Anyone have ideas?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5NtLPK9m1c
I think I may try to go back and flash older android 9 Firmware for my XT1929-4. Is there a factory app/program to flash or do most people use RSD? thx

How strange, what could it be? it's not my case. even still, this improved my battery performance..more than 8 hours of active screen.
My version is XT1929-6

Thanks for the info. I'm on the one update before at PCWS29.85-36-10 Sprint Version. Looks like I'll be staying on this firmware, no issues anyway. Rooted with Magisk, so it's a pain to remove and update, the OTA won't work even after disabling Magisk anyway.