Bootloader Downgrade - Nexus 6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi, I am currently using CM13 on Android M because I wanted Xposed. Recently, I have planned to switch to The Pure Nexus ROM for Android N, but I have been told something disheartening. I was told if I update my bootloader to Android N latest from Google, I will not be able to downgrade the bootloader because it can cause it to brick. Since my backups are for CM13, would I not be able to restore them through TWRP with the new Android N bootloader?

Bootloaders are backwards compatible. The 7 bootloader should work as far back as 5.1.1. You're right though, don't downgrade the bootloader.

Related

[Q] Just unlocked bootloader on XT1028 suggestions?

Hi All,
I have a XT1028 running Android 4.4.2. I unlocked the bootloader with Sunshine and temprooted it with pie, then backed up the phone with nandroid backup to a USB flash stick plugged into an OTG cable with both clockworkmod and TWRP backups.
Question for you all going forward. It seems to me that I have 3 future options here:
1) Run the phone on Android 4.4.2 permanently, and use my rooted apps on it with the pie temproot. I almost never turn off my phone (my job requires it to be on 24x7) This will allow me to take advantage of OTA updates in the future as I assume EVENTUALLY Verizon will release Android 5.x for the Moto G, and EVENTUALLY there will be a root for that which doesn't involve flashing a rom. It's easy enough to disable update notifications and the 4.4.4 OTA update is sitting on the phone right now waiting for the day I let it install. (which may be never)
2) Allow the phone to OTA update itself to Android 4.4.4, then flash SuperSU boot.
3) Say hell with it and flash a custom rom. However, all the instructions I've found out there seem to assume your flashing a custom rom from an SD card, which the Moto G XT1028 does not have. nor does the XT1028's fastboot seem to have the ability to flash from a backup, it seems it can only boot off the recovery partition. So I'm not entirely sure how to do this with an XT1028.
The problem with option 2 & 3 is they break OTA updates. And while there's lots of custom roms for XT1032 and so on - there's very little mention of anyone running them on an XT1028.
I unlocked the bootloder on this phone because I'm looking ahead to the future - Sunshine exists and works right now, there's no guarantee it will 2 years from now - and there's no guarantee that the community will ever find a vulnerability that will allow rooting Android 4.4.3 and later with a locked bootloader. Eventually I'll want to upgrade to 5.x and I may have to flash a custom rom to do it.
Suggestions, catcalls?

Nexus 6 5.1 Bootloader

When I first got the N6 in June I immediately unlocked the bootloader and flashed CyanogenMod 12. Now I remember reading beforehand that if you updated your device to 5.1 via the factory images or OTA, that the bootloader cannot be downgraded anymore. I made sure to not do this so my N6 is on the very first bootloader still and I haven't had any issues.
Now, I feel like I read that there was a reason to want to downgrade and a reason for not wanting this new bootloader but I can no longer find any information on this whole topic, other than people saying yo ucannot downgrade.
I'm asking if there are potentially issues if I do update or if it's ok to stay on my current old bootloader when I update to 6.0 soon?
admiralspeedy said:
When I first got the N6 in June I immediately unlocked the bootloader and flashed CyanogenMod 12. Now I remember reading beforehand that if you updated your device to 5.1 via the factory images or OTA, that the bootloader cannot be downgraded anymore. I made sure to not do this so my N6 is on the very first bootloader still and I haven't had any issues.
Now, I feel like I read that there was a reason to want to downgrade and a reason for not wanting this new bootloader but I can no longer find any information on this whole topic, other than people saying yo ucannot downgrade.
I'm asking if there are potentially issues if I do update or if it's ok to stay on my current old bootloader when I update to 6.0 soon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You couldn't downgrade from a 5.1 bootloader to a 5.0 bootloader, because the 5.1 bootloader brought some new security features in. I don't know of any reason why you would want to downgrade the bootloader.
There is no reason to not upgrade it either, though as far as I am aware, 6.0 will work with a 5.1 BL, just don't think it will work with a 5.0 one.
I see, thank you!

Help! How to downgrade from marshmallow ( nexus experience rom) to lollipop (stock ro

Can anyone pls tel how do i downgrade from marshmallow 6.0.1 to lollipop 5.0.2?
Currently my bootloader version is 48.83. I dnt remember what it was on lollipop. Pls help!
Just use your backup that you made prior to upgrading to Marshmallow. If you don't have the backup, just flash a different ROM. Plenty of guides on the site.
spetrie said:
Just use your backup that you made prior to upgrading to Marshmallow. If you don't have the backup, just flash a different ROM. Plenty of guides on the site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have made the backup. But i have heard about many people hard bricking the phone when trying to downgrade and then again upgrading via ota. Thats why i askd.
If u are on custom rom other than motorola marshmallow soak test ota.. you will not get ur phone bricked when downgrading. Hard brick occurs if u downgrad from soak test ota to lollipop. In your case u just need to flash retaildsdsall firmware via fastboot mood. Search for tutorials for reverting to stoc 5.0.2.
Just DON'T CHANGE BOOTLOADER. You shouldn't be able to downgrade bootloaders but Motorola screwed that and with M bootloader you "can" downgrade, but bootloader downgrade results in BRICK. Just flash the rom you want, EXCEPT THE BOOTLOADER. For custom roms you shouldn't have problems.
gauravrai said:
If u are on custom rom other than motorola marshmallow soak test ota.. you will not get ur phone bricked when downgrading. Hard brick occurs if u downgrad from soak test ota to lollipop. In your case u just need to flash retaildsdsall firmware via fastboot mood. Search for tutorials for reverting to stoc 5.0.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have made a nandroid backup. Currently m on nexus experience rom. One of my friend was in resurrection remix (marshmallow) he faced some bugs so he came back to lollipop. It worked fine for him. But when he tried to flash the soak test ota, he hard bricked his phone... Why did that happen??
rcoacci said:
Just DON'T CHANGE BOOTLOADER. You shouldn't be able to downgrade bootloaders but Motorola screwed that and with M bootloader you "can" downgrade, but bootloader downgrade results in BRICK. Just flash the rom you want, EXCEPT THE BOOTLOADER. For custom roms you shouldn't have problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently my bootloader versuon is 48.83
What is the version on lollipop? Bootloader dsnt change on flashing roms ryt?
sumedhs said:
I have made the backup. But i have heard about many people hard bricking the phone when trying to downgrade and then again upgrading via ota. Thats why i askd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I can say is that I was on Nexus Experience 10.0.4 (Marshmallow) but could not get adopted storage to work so restored my previous AOSP lollipop ROM from TWRP backup and no issues. My Bootloader is 48.82. I have never used the soak test version or OTA version of marshmallow.
I have also in the past restored stock lollipop V5.0.2 from other lollipop versions with no issues.
rcoacci said:
Just DON'T CHANGE BOOTLOADER. You shouldn't be able to downgrade bootloaders but Motorola screwed that and with M bootloader you "can" downgrade, but bootloader downgrade results in BRICK. Just flash the rom you want, EXCEPT THE BOOTLOADER. For custom roms you shouldn't have problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which files or command to skip in this process
if u use L ROM then this one is the latest or last update of L ROM and i have used many days.........and its good.....its CM based LINK or If u like a pure Stock L ROM with Optimized then here it goes LINK
ezio1723 said:
which files or command to skip in this process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same question here as well. Which command flashes the bootloader, so that I can skip them
rebzin said:
Same question here as well. Which command flashes the bootloader, so that I can skip them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use easyinstaller file it will automatically flashes the files
My bootloader is 0×4887 I am running a stock mm and I wud like to downgrade to lollipop to use the stellar kernel way shud I do...???pls help
Just a noobie....
Sry if tat was bad English..!!
Just don't downgrade your Bootloader and you should be fine, if you're using an easyinstaller script to flash stock Lollipop make sure and remove the lines of code that flash motoboot.img & I'd also recommend removing the line that flashes gpt.bin to be safe.

To Install a Custom Rom Safely, Plzz Help ... :D

Hi,
I own a Motorola Moto g2 (2014) Indian Version, 16 gb and i am running a stock firmware 5.0.2, rooted and bootloader unlocked. and i want to install a Custom ROM, So i went on to Youtube and find out how to unlock the bootloader and install Super SU.
After that i came to know about this site, and thought of flashing CM 13, and so in order to do that it was required to update bootloader, since it won't work on bootloader 4.4
So, i followed the instructions clearly and updated the bootloader and the TWRP Recovery , Both are successfull.
Now comes the problem part for me:
So when i browsed the xda developers site in the moto g 2014 thread , i came across this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g-2014/general/6-0official-indian-ota-zip-captured-t3299550
It said
So to everyone here. After updating to 6.0 I don't think it's a good idea to downgrade to 5.0.2 and update it with stagefright update over the air.
I made it and it hardbricked my phone.
5.0.2 bootloader version is 48.83
6.0 bootloader version is 48.86
So, don't downgrade your bootloader, it can cause hardbrick!
so, i got afraid, since i am going to install cm 13 nightly which is unstable and the bootloader already updated, will i be having problems when i restore it back to stock 5.0.2
and would it be safe if i installed cm 12.1 after updating the booloader or will it hard brick my phone. (since cm 12.1 is stable version compared to cm 13)
P.S Can someone post a link on how to backup before installing the Custom ROM, since i always see this step:
that is to make a backup using TWRP and then use advanced wipe to wipe the device, the only question is won't the adavanced wipe deletes the backup folder ?
And Is there any stable ROMS for moto g that runs marshmallow, + is it possible to install multi ROM twrp and Install CM 13 Along with the Stock Android

OTA Updates After Unlocking Bootloader on xt1058?

I have an xt1058 which is running Android 4.4.0 build 140.44.5.ghost_att.ATT.en.US. I've downloaded and installed Sunshine and am planning to unlock the bootloader as all tests passed without issue. What I am wondering is, after I do this can I take any OTA updates or will this cause me to lose the bootloader unlock?
Of particular concern is incompatibility between older versions of the bootloader and ROMs based on newer Android versions. I ran into this with my Atrix HD which also had an unlocked bootloader. The bootloader on that device was based on Android 4.3 Jellybean. I could not flash any ROMs for MSM8960 devices which used newer bootloaders, for example I always needed to use CM versions with Jellybean bootloader.
Will I have similar issues with my Moto X once the bootloader is unlocked?
Thanks!
No issues, flash latest XT1058 AT&T ROM, and you are in safety. Once unlocked, bootloader can't be locked by any app, but your hands. And there will be no more OTA for this phone.
Btw, you can use Safestrap (for free) on Android 4.4, it will give you possibility to use any stock ROM up to 4.4.4. If you need CM, or 5.1 stock, then yes, Sunshine only.
Just to be clear, I have now successfully unlocked my bootloader using Sunshine (I see the "warning bootloader unlocked" splash at boot up, and have also booted into bootloader and I see "device is UNLOCKED".
I am currently on build 140.44.5.ghost_att.ATT.en.US which is Android 4.4.
Ultimately what I want to do is get rooted but be running stock 5.1. I don't want to go to a custom ROM right now, but don't want to do anything that would prevent me from doing that later. That's why I unlocked the bootloader now.
I am planning to use this process to root the phone:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x/moto-x-qa/step-step-instructions-unlocking-t2649738
Once this is done, what is the easiest way to move to stock Android 5.1 but not lose root and bootloader unlock/s-off ?
My advice would be - don't update to 5.1 official, it's very very buggy and you'll want to get rid of it very fast.
The best you can do for this phone atm, if you want anything above 4.4 is to go for Mokee 6. It's nearly perfect MM.

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