Following situation: I have bought a Nexus S from someone. The previous owner installed Superuser at some point and later on updated to ICS 4.0.3 (and unrooted the phone as well before the update, apparently). For warranty reasons, I want to remove the Superuser application completely, but naturally I can only do that by rooting the phone again (otherwise I will not be able to delete /system/app/Superuser.apk).
I searched around here and other sites around the web and found a few guides, but haven't found anything specifically for the i9023 with ICS 4.0.3, especially for unrooting.
Could someone may be point me in the right direction? Or is there simply no way of doing that currently on an i9023 with ICS 4.0.3?
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Also, recently some sort of flash counter resetter has come to light for ICS devices, look it up and check it out before you unroot, it might be worth the probable risk, if you're willing to go the distance to ensure a warranty. I have no clue on how or if it works though, be careful.
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
Erythnul said:
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Also, recently some sort of flash counter resetter has come to light for ICS devices, look it up and check it out before you unroot, it might be worth the probable risk, if you're willing to go the distance to ensure a warranty. I have no clue on how or if it works though, be careful.
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
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Click to collapse
Nexus S doesn't have a flash counter
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Erythnul said:
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already went ahead and tried that, but I ran into a problem unfortuantely: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=22599816#post22599816
Other users on a german Android forum reported the same problem, when using this method (the Nandroid backup image and restoring it via CWM). They then tried a different method using Odin.
(Funnily enough, when I reverted to my original ICS 4.0.3 backup image via CWM, my USB Transfer Speed problem got fixed. I only had 1 MiB/sec before, and now after this whole ordeal I have ~20 MiB/sec (or more).)
Erythnul said:
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do still have warranty on it. The device was bought on 14th of December 2011 and I have the receipt. According to the seller, he got a Galaxy Nexus on Christmas 2 weeks later, so he simply sold his brand new Nexus S.
I may want to send the phone in, because the phone speaker is a bit bad. It's not completely broken, I can still understand everything, but the quality is rather bad, some frequencies get really distorted etc. I don't know if the Samsung support partner where I'll go to will grant me the warranty here, but I want to try nonetheless. Paid too much money for it to have a bad speaker .
In my opinion, you should never use other people's CWM backups on your own phone. It can mess things up BAD. Especially when they don't say what model they have.
Grab a full ROM from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1445635 and you'll be good to go. Don't forget to wipe /system, /data, /cache, /boot, dalvik cache and do a factory reset before flashing, assuming you're using CWM.
Good to hear about the warranty, good luck with that!
Erythnul said:
In my opinion, you should never use other people's CWM backups on your own phone. It can mess things up BAD. Especially when they don't say what model they have.
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Yeah, well, I am thinking the same now . I simply trusted the stickied FAQ . Maybe this should get removed.
Erythnul said:
Don't forget to wipe /system, /data, /cache, /boot, dalvik cache
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Click to collapse
Phew, but for that, I'd need to root it again, right? I am still not sure if any of the rooting guides I found so far also apply to my case, since I have ICS 4.0.3 on it. (As I said superuser is already installed, but the device is not rooted and it seems to be a leftover from before the ICS 4.0.3 update.)
Well, I wouldn't know Try booting into recovery, if it's CWM recovery it's really very easy, and that's all you'll need anyway. doing the full wipe and reflash guarantees that there'll be no traces of the rooting process remaining at all.
If you don't have CWM, but the phone boots up with an unlocked symbol at the Google logo (first indicator of an unlocked bootloader), you can easily flash CWM again and then flash to all-stock. Then relock. Most rooting guides still hold, just make sure you flash the latest CWM (5.0.2.0 (non-touch) or 5.8.0.x (touch)), especially as for what you want to do you don't need SU, just CWM.
Step-by-step quick guide written by me
Install Android SDK if necessary (for adb and fastboot) (plenty of guides for that around)
download recovery file from CWM and rename to recovery.img
Connect phone to computer and reboot into bootloader
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
use CWM to wipe everything and reflash
fastboot oem lock
???
Profit!
Alternately, use a one-click root method to flash CWM and then work from there
Good luck
EDIT: The FAQ you mentioned is probably old news by now, but I wouldn't know how to get that updated I'll see if I can get something done about that. I feel linking to a backup, especially with a dedicated full ROM thread (also stickied btw ) around, isn't a good idea at all
Thx for that.
I did look into CWM before you posted it and noticed these wiping options. However, I am unsure what exactly I should use. There is
- wipe data/factory reset
- wipe cache partition
in the main menu of CWM and
- Wipe Dalvik Cache
under advanced. But there is no specific mention of /system and /boot .
Also is this
download recovery file from CWM and rename to recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually necessary? I searched around a bit and I thought that I simply have to grab one of the full ROMs (e.g. Android 2.3.6/GRK39F/XXKF1 Radio/KA3 Bootloader) and then use
- install zip from sdcard
in CWM.
Ah, I wasn't sure whether you had CWM on there, that makes all this way easier
The format options are under mounts and storage. Be careful not to wipe the SD, and make backups of stuff you want to keep (like SMS messages or apps etc). What I always do is wipe everything (except the sd-card!) under mounts and storage and then do a factory reset, that should also take care of the dalvik cache if I remember correctly. So just skip everything I said before wipe and reflash
Sounds like you have a good handle on the situation now, good luck on the warranty thing!
Erythnul said:
Ah, I wasn't sure whether you had CWM on there, that makes all this way easier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, although I have to flash it every time I want to use it (I guess because the stock Android ICS ROM is removing it on every boot?).
Erythnul said:
The format options are under mounts and storage. Be careful not to wipe the SD, and make backups of stuff you want to keep (like SMS messages or apps etc). What I always do is wipe everything under mounts and storage and then do a factory reset, that should also take care of the dalvik cache if I remember correctly. So just skip everything I said before wipe and reflash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaah ok, so under
- mounts and storage
I do
- format /system
- format /cache
- format /data
- format /boot
and maybe
- format /sdcard
as well, if I don't need anything on it anymore, and then
- wipe data/factory reset
in the main menu of CWM, correct? And after that
- install zip from sdcard
with the aforementioned ROM.
Exactly, but don't wipe the sdcard, as the ROM you're going to flash is on there
and after that, don't forget to relock your bootloader, if it's still unlocked they'll know it used to be rooted
Erythnul said:
Exactly, but don't wipe the sdcard, as the ROM you're going to flash is on there
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Click to collapse
lol, damn, yeah, that would have been stupid
Hey guys, its my first post and I tried searching the forums and google for the answer but didn't seem to find any.
I have the s3 SCHi535-VRLHE firmware and rooted my phone with through Noxious Ninja's walkthrough. During the process (Win7 4bit) after installing the drivers I let windows update update my drivers and cause a conflict with the 1.4.6 drivers. Should of stopped there but went through with rooting anyway (I know I'm a noob).
I have not flashed any custom ROMs after I rooted so my question is what's the difference between a factory reset vs. flashing the stock rom back onto my phone now?
Looking forward to reading and hopefully learning something from your responses!
Malik
A factory reset will just clear out your user data. You should probably put a stock ROM on your exSDcard, boot into recovery, wipe data, then flash the ROM. That will put you back to stock. Though you'll still be rooted and unlocked.
e90driver said:
A factory reset will just clear out your user data. You should probably put a stock ROM on your exSDcard, boot into recovery, wipe data, then flash the ROM. That will put you back to stock. Though you'll still be rooted and unlocked.
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Click to collapse
If I already did a factory wipe/reset is it safe to flash the stock rom onto that or do I have to root again?
Sorry if this has been covered way too many times but I want to make sure.
I have rooted my phone that was running 3.20.502.52 with the AAHK so now I'm on the version it sent me back to and I have done nothing since. I am getting ready to switch to the Jellytime R29 ROM. I know to make a Nandroid backup but I was a little concerned about getting back to the state my phone is right now should anything go wrong or if I don't like it, go back. It seems that I can't just restore my Nandroid through CWM without flashing a different kernel since I'd be coming from a JB ROM.
My current setup is:
Android: 2.3.3
Sense: 2.1
Kernel: 2.6.35.10-gd2564fb
Software 2.47.502.7
So, in order use my Nandroid in case the Jellytime messes up, do I simply have to do a factory reset, and wipe cache, and dalvik-cache (this is considered a "full" wipe, yes?) and then flash a compatible kernel then restore my backup? And if so, can I find that exact kernel somewhere to flash or is there another one you guys can recommend me to use in my situation? OR, can I just straight up restore the Nandroid since the backup should cover the kernel too?
Sorry I'm a newb. I'm trying to learn. All help is greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to flash Jellytime as soon as I know how to recover from it.
1. Welcome!
2. The kernel is included in the backup. You also don't need to wipe anything; just restore the nandroid. Make sure you use a fully updated recovery; make sure using ROM Manager for CWM or the 4ext Updater or Play Store app for 4ext.
3. A full wipe is system, data, and cache. Dalvik is already included if you wipe those. A factory reset only wipes data and cache, leaving system unwiped. In 4ext just choose "wipe all partitions except sdcard."
Alright. I already flashed Jellytime a while ago and so far I see no reason for wanting to go back although I did a quadrant standards test and scored lower than stock. Not sure why, but either way, this was a nice first ROM. What I wiped in cwm was the reset, cache, and dalvic. So far everything is working if I missed anything.
Didn't know wiping wasn't necessary for using backups. Must of missed that in my reading. Thanks though. I'll become less of a newb over time.
I was trying to do a fresh install of viper one s, I made a nandroid back up. Then, I picked factory reset on the bootloader. then everything was wiped off the bootloader. Even the nandroid backup. Please help!
itsKenneh said:
I was trying to do a fresh install of viper one s, I made a nandroid back up. Then, I picked factory reset on the bootloader. then everything was wiped off the bootloader. Even the nandroid backup. Please help!
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Click to collapse
what do you want to hear?
your nandroid is gone..
the factory reset in the bootloader always delete eeeverything.
your data and your nandroid is helplessy lost now, sry for that.
the next time if you want to do a clean install do it this way!
nandroid of your old rom
wipe system 3x
wipe data 3x
wipe cache & dalvik 3x
and then flash the new rom and do not forget to flash the boot.img afterwards if you are on s-on.
this procedure will wipe everything which is needed for a clean install and it keep your "sd"storage untouched.
The EXACT same thing happened to me, and I was also trying to do a fresh install of Viper One S just after making a full nandroid. Only difference was that I didn't mean to click FACTORY RESET in the bootloader, I'd already wiped everything through recovery.
See here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2269288
Long story short, I'm sorry but I hope you have at least some stuff backed up on your PC.