What is google doing!? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Why have they have not posted the stock recovery images yet! This is killing me I'm getting sick and tired of waiting. If they are not up by the end of the night I don't know what I will do. What do you guys think the problem is?

Why does it matter?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

In case I want to return to stock

You should have made a nandroid image of your system when it was stock and tucked it away on your computer someplace for safe keeping. There's stock nandroid images in the development section if you need one.
That said, I'd like to see Google post something we know is straight from them and 100% pure.
Lots of people griping Google hasn't posted them, but has anyone actually bothered to ask them if they will, and when they will? Perhaps over on the Google Help Forums where that ry_guy seems very responsive to questions? Maybe it's just an oversight and not some nefarious plot to deprive us of stock images.
Wouldn't hurt to ask Samsung either. Perhaps tweet it to @galaxyssupport. They'll just tell you they'll pass it along to google, but if enough people bug them about it, maybe they really will...

check out the stock image in DEV forum with Odin, and original ROM out of the box
the oldest version without any of the recent OTA

Related

A suggestion.

Hello everyone. I want to thank you all for this site, I have learned a great deal here and appreciate all your efforts. I have a question that many new comers have asked and they have been told to go read, so thats what I will do. I want you to know tho that its very hard when you have a baby, and very little time. I also want you to know that the only times I am really productive getting somewhere with my phone is staying up till like 4 am because everyone is asleep and I have the time needed to dedicate to all this reading, trying and learning.
I am not complaining, in fact I am grateful because I am getting somewhere thanks to your help, which has been more valuable than all the help Samsung and Rogers have given me washing their hands clean and leaving me with a defective phone. My problem has not been solved just yet, but I think a 2.2.1 rom will fix my problem. Ill keep reading and trying, ill get there.
I suggest you guys have a wikipage with a table with all the roms, what versions of android they are, what kernels, modems, etc they work with ( or not work with ), bugs, features, something all in 1 page for easy access. This would make it easier for people to access information. The easier it is the more people will use them and come here, the more ideas you will have, the more testers, its a win win situation!
I have been to the pages for all the roms, some of them tell you the bluetooh voice dialing is not working, most don't, id have to go looking for my answer. I have learned that for instance it seems people do not have an issue with it with froyo 2.2.1 but again, some roms tell you in the main page its 2.2.1, others don't.
I can't grasp all the information staying up at night till 4 am. Its the only time I have. I almost had a heat attack when I thought I bricked my phone, I can't afford another one. If all the important information is right there on 1 page, like links to the usb drivers, tools, roms, kernels, everything. Have the instructions to flash. Have a table with all the roms, their versions, what versions of kernels, modems, etc, they do ( or dont ) work with. maybe even some of the table cells are clickable, for instance bugs, click on it and a window pops up with a list of them.
I know all this information is in here somewhere. Thanks to everyone for it, but it needs to be on 1 page. Please make it easier for people who are new to this. You will benefit as well as them. Looking forward to being able to use voice dialing. I think it will be working by tomorrow or after tomorrow thanks to you guys. I could have done it in a day if all the information was right there .
Thanks for reading.
Try searching.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SGH-I897
I have that bookmarked. It is also a sticky in this section.
But it doesn't say for instance which ones are 2.2.1, or which ones have the terrible voice dialing over bluetooth..
I do search and end up with over 15 tabs...
I am getting by, I am just saying it could be organized better for everyones benefit. It could be made so someone who has never done this before can get it done in a couple of hours if even, without keeping asking you the same questions here. I understand why people keep asking to recommend a ROM. It is not they they do not search, not all of them anyway. Things can be better organized.
I hear what you're saying, I think it's just that within the course of a month, about 20 ROM's have been released, if not more. And no one has had time to update the wiki.
vunuts said:
I hear what you're saying, I think it's just that within the course of a month, about 20 ROM's have been released, if not more. And no one has had time to update the wiki.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
The thing is that its not just the number of ROMs, but also the number of versions that are released. It would be a real pain and an added overhead for anyone maintaining it.
Also note that most devs are working too, and doing this in their free time. The little time they have to spare is taken up for making improvements. But they do release changelogs to look into.
If anyone has time, I would suggest they take it up to create a wiki and maintain it, rather than relying or asking the devs to do it.
Try capfaq.com it has a ROM table section, and I've used it alot.
Same issues with being 100% up to date, but it's the best Rom table format I've seen.
i897 running Cognition 3.02
Madtowndave said:
Try capfaq.com it has a ROM table section, and I've used it alot.
Same issues with being 100% up to date, but it's the best Rom table format I've seen.
i897 running Cognition 3.02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.capfaq.com/w/ROM_Table
Looks like they have updated it!
Thanks guys, I will check that table out tomorrow.
It'd be nice if there was a modem chart as well. I know there are modems in the modem thread
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=835272
...but near as I can tell it's not up to date, or at least the first page is not up to date (ie base Cognition runs on JL1 and Andromeda on JL2, but aren't on the first page).
If anyone knows a good and current modem reference guide, please let me know.
I can't complain too much because obviously things change all the time and it's a PITA to constantly update info...I'd volunteer but I got a 2 year old and baby 2.0 due in April.
Madtowndave said:
baby 2.0 due in April
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
made me lol at the versioning of baby
diablo009 said:
made me lol at the versioning of baby
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Click to collapse
Yeah it's like Richter Scale difference at least 0 to 1, and 1 to 2 kids...people that have more than 2 are either really bad at birth control, Catholic, or gluttons for punishment.
distortionist said:
I want you to know tho that its very hard when you have a baby, and very little time. I also want you to know that the only times I am really productive getting somewhere with my phone is staying up till like 4 am because everyone is asleep and I have the time needed to dedicate to all this reading, trying and learning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I thought I was the only one!
Thanks pal for making my day...
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
I bricked my phone
distortionist said:
I bricked my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? What happened?
I have no Idea what I did wrong, my goal before I started was getting voice dial over bluetooth working for me, its essential to me. It started with trying to install paragon, as per http://www.capfaq.com/w/ROM_Table mentioned above.
I was stock rogers 2.2 so I wiped it clean, and tried the update thing, it didnt work. The only step I skipped was flash to stock and the master clear since it was 2.2 recently and I did the factory wipe. It did not work but I did not brick anything just yet. I figured most people tell you to flash with the one click odin which puts stock at&t on it. I did that and the phone stopped going into download and recovery, it did not stop completely i have gone into download and recovery a few times after that but it was a battle with my phone, since it was booting, I used adt instead which worked like a charm. at&t rom was not happy on my phone, it was going into at&t reboot loops where it would just reboot the bios over and over. after trying and trying it would boot android, i was trying to fix it but each time it restarted the reboot loop would kick off. I could not go to recovery or download mode till i finally got back into the OS and used adt to tell it to go to download mode where i reflashed my stock rogers.
My phone now had at&t logo on boot before rogers, which is not that bad but i had read you can get rid of it, i tried going into download mode with the buttons but didnt try too hard, adt was easier.
I was following these instructions :
http://www.mmacleod.ca/blog/2011/01/removing-the-att-boot-screen-from-a-samsung-captivate/
it wanted me to use odin to flash a file. I used my oden 1.3, i think he says oden 1.0, I didn't think it would make a difference.
Odin started to flash and said fail. I got the screen with "android ! computer", I have been there before when I first ever tried using odin and had to fight with my phone to get to download mode at the time ( this was before at&t ever came close to the phone, i never used odin before so i probably had trouble because of inexperience ).
anyway, this time no matter what I do I cannot go to download mode, I plan on making a jig today if i find someone who sells resistors in this little town.
any help would be appreciated. I dont want to put any more roms on my phone, i just want it to work. I am worried. Ill wait till samsung releases 2.2.1 I just want my phone back to the way it was when I bought it
As the person who write most of the documentation for Team Komin (the developers who make Andromeda), I would say this would be an immense pain. copying all of our information from the website, formatting it into wiki form and then posting it would be very time consuming.
nbs11 said:
As the person who write most of the documentation for Team Komin (the developers who make Andromeda), I would say this would be an immense pain. copying all of our information from the website, formatting it into wiki form and then posting it would be very time consuming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, but once done, it would be much easier to maintain and navigate. There is going to be a lot of crossposting and people asking for insight and advice.
I'm sure we all understand the search feature in the forum, but to be honest things change topic within a thread, and where someone asks a question that is somewhat unrelated and gets a very good answer, it is not always apparent by poking through page after page of posts to find that nugget of gold. I mean, searching for 'kernel' will give literally thousands of hits. A wiki would be much better in terms of 1. Where you are starting out from 2. what you need to do what you want 3. where to find these things, and 4. maintaining updates and version revisions.
I really appreciate all the work people do here, and I have had to find everything I wanted to know the 'hard' way, but as Android grows in popularity and market percentage, more and more people are going to come here looking for this information. Pobably better to do it sooner than later.

Worth Rooting?

I just got the MT4GS after being a long time MT4G user and I'm wondering if it is worth it to root as there is currently no CM or stable Virtuous Rom which is what I used on the MT4G. Any helpful opinions are much appreciated.
micahman said:
I just got the MT4GS after being a long time MT4G user and I'm wondering if it is worth it to root as there is currently no CM or stable Virtuous Rom which is what I used on the MT4G. Any helpful opinions are much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Virtuous is what you like then I'd say yes, go for it and root. The Virtuous ROM might be in beta here in the MT4GS forums but it was smokin' fast and stable enough when I used it. I'm sure an official release is just around the corner anyway. good luck and welcome to the MT4GS family!!
siani_8 said:
If Virtuous is what you like then I'd say yes, go for it and root. The Virtuous ROM might be in beta here in the MT4GS forums but it was smokin' fast and stable enough when I used it. I'm sure an official release is just around the corner anyway. good luck and welcome to the MT4GS family!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback and welcome, good enough reason for me. One thing I do like a lot on stock is the camera app, is that included in the beta or is there a flashable mod?
micahman said:
Thanks for the feedback and welcome, good enough reason for me. One thing I do like a lot on stock is the camera app, is that included in the beta or is there a flashable mod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes sir, the Doubleshot camera app is included.
micahman said:
I just got the MT4GS after being a long time MT4G user and I'm wondering if it is worth it to root as there is currently no CM or stable Virtuous Rom which is what I used on the MT4G. Any helpful opinions are much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root it. Then you can:
Enhance your gps ability because of the generic gps file that's coded very poorly (in fact wrongly ... T-Mo doesn't maintain a good SUPL server, and if you're not on the T-Mo network your AGPS isn't working in stock configuration...well, maybe a little, but not anything worth mentioning. )
Flash a better security update to fix the big-brotheresque HTC spy mode (htcloggers.apk). HTC released an update to patch their security hole, but they are still monitoring everything you do with the device. Flash Undeadk9's security patch to just cut them off at the knees instead, or uninstall htcloggers.apk ( and other file I can't remember at the moment )
Change your hardware key files and re-map some buttons to be more useful.
Flash custom ROMs, as you're aware...
Play with the upcoming kernel files from myself and others...( give us time to make it stable )
...and so much more!
Generally do the things with the device that you've paid for that you should be able to do. Why spend all this money on something, and only use like 60% or less of what it can do?
If you're here and posting, then you should probably just go ahead and root it. It won't be long after you've been poking around in here reading through all the things we have been/are doing with the device before you'll go for it.
Check the sticky at the top of the general section to get a good handle on where to go first and what to read through. Take the time to read through the threads ( I know they are long ) - you'll see what all the problems were that people encountered, and how they were solved. Even if you don't run into the problems, at least you'll learn a whole lot and understand your device much, much more intimately.
...and if you get stuck, we're here to help. Many of us have been through this whole process countless times before, and are willing to lend a hand - just don't post random questions in the dev section and everything will be good.
Welcome to our little corner of the XDA universe - you'll love this device!
Blue6IX said:
Root it. Then you can:
Enhance your gps ability because of the generic gps file that's coded very poorly (in fact wrongly ... T-Mo doesn't maintain a good SUPL server, and if you're not on the T-Mo network your AGPS isn't working in stock configuration...well, maybe a little, but not anything worth mentioning. )
Flash a better security update to fix the big-brotheresque HTC spy mode (htcloggers.apk). HTC released an update to patch their security hole, but they are still monitoring everything you do with the device. Flash Undeadk9's security patch to just cut them off at the knees instead, or uninstall htcloggers.apk ( and other file I can't remember at the moment )
Change your hardware key files and re-map some buttons to be more useful.
Flash custom ROMs, as you're aware...
Play with the upcoming kernel files from myself and others...( give us time to make it stable )
...and so much more!
Generally do the things with the device that you've paid for that you should be able to do. Why spend all this money on something, and only use like 60% or less of what it can do?
If you're here and posting, then you should probably just go ahead and root it. It won't be long after you've been poking around in here reading through all the things we have been/are doing with the device before you'll go for it.
Check the sticky at the top of the general section to get a good handle on where to go first and what to read through. Take the time to read through the threads ( I know they are long ) - you'll see what all the problems were that people encountered, and how they were solved. Even if you don't run into the problems, at least you'll learn a whole lot and understand your device much, much more intimately.
...and if you get stuck, we're here to help. Many of us have been through this whole process countless times before, and are willing to lend a hand - just don't post random questions in the dev section and everything will be good.
Welcome to our little corner of the XDA universe - you'll love this device!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thank you for all the info, I am very grateful. I've noticed there are a few threads detailing how to root but can you tell me which one would be the best and most reliable? Thanks again for all the info, especially about that HTC spy stuff, I had no idea.
micahman said:
Wow, thank you for all the info, I am very grateful. I've noticed there are a few threads detailing how to root but can you tell me which one would be the best and most reliable? Thanks again for all the info, especially about that HTC spy stuff, I had no idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used theunlockr.com to root it, worked like a charm and has a video walk throu.. which I'm a big fan of. Easier to follow. but the only difference is to flash modoco cwm not revolutionary.. so you can flash undeadK9's roms.. id suggest senseless.
Sent from my Senseless Doubleshot using xda premium
shady503403 said:
I used theunlockr.com to root it, worked like a charm and has a video walk throu.. which I'm a big fan of. Easier to follow. but the only difference is to flash modoco cwm not revolutionary.. so you can flash undeadK9's roms.. id suggest senseless.
Sent from my Senseless Doubleshot using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man! Got it rooted and running senseless! So far so good!
Not to contradict Shady's advice, especially since it seems like it worked for you, but i've previously and still do recommend against going to a third party web resource outside of XDA to root the device.
The reason being is that a lot of us did everything from the information available here, and we are familiar with the processes and common problems people run into following the guides posted here in the forums.
If you post questions about problems or an issue you run into, you run the risk of slow or no support because of the unfamiliarity the majority of us here have with outside methods and resources.
I know off the top of my head I could post a helpful response to someone having a problem with a method described here. For an outside resource...i'd probably have to go look it up, maybe download somehing, and probably try the method before being able to help.
Then i'd have to dig into the code of whatever offering was in question, to ensure it wasn't doing anything I didn't want it to do before installing anything.
Ultimately, this is a lot more time and trouble then just digging into my memory or looking up a specific thread to verify something, and also probably provide a link to the specific post that addresses the problem.
I'm hitting overtime consistently on my night job, and still picking up hours at my day job, and honestly would rather commit the level of time necessary to troubleshoot an outside resource on something more personally productive, like digging deeper into kernel source or something.
Just a thought to keep in mind as you (and others in the future) wander around here. I promise that everything you need to root your phone and install custom ROMs and such is right here in the MT4GS forums. (excepting the need to go to the revolutionary resource for S-OFF).
Cm7 just dropped like a bomb
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
mbernusg said:
Cm7 just dropped like a bomb
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a follow up by Official CWM Recovery. Today was a good day.
Coug76
Blue6IX said:
Not to contradict Shady's advice, especially since it seems like it worked for you, but i've previously and still do recommend against going to a third party web resource outside of XDA to root the device.
The reason being is that a lot of us did everything from the information available here, and we are familiar with the processes and common problems people run into following the guides posted here in the forums.
If you post questions about problems or an issue you run into, you run the risk of slow or no support because of the unfamiliarity the majority of us here have with outside methods and resources.
I know off the top of my head I could post a helpful response to someone having a problem with a method described here. For an outside resource...i'd probably have to go look it up, maybe download somehing, and probably try the method before being able to help.
Then i'd have to dig into the code of whatever offering was in question, to ensure it wasn't doing anything I didn't want it to do before installing anything.
Ultimately, this is a lot more time and trouble then just digging into my memory or looking up a specific thread to verify something, and also probably provide a link to the specific post that addresses the problem.
I'm hitting overtime consistently on my night job, and still picking up hours at my day job, and honestly would rather commit the level of time necessary to troubleshoot an outside resource on something more personally productive, like digging deeper into kernel source or something.
Just a thought to keep in mind as you (and others in the future) wander around here. I promise that everything you need to root your phone and install custom ROMs and such is right here in the MT4GS forums. (excepting the need to go to the revolutionary resource for S-OFF).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true. They use a lot of information found at xda to build their guides off of thou. And a video tutorial is always nice, for me anyways. but yeah.. don't expect support from theunlockr.com.
I always go their, sometimes their outdated or wrong. But still gave me a general idea and I was able to use multiple guides to give me the correct process..
Sent from my Senseless Doubleshot using xda premium
I'm glad I was able to find this thread, cause I've been wondering whether or not it would actually be worth it to root a MT4GS or not. And ya, I can agree that for the most part, rooting has more benefits than problems. And I always have gotten the same answer when asking that question about other devices, "Just root it; you'd have to be crazy not to; nothing compares to a rooted phone, etc...". So I gave in and rooted my MT3G 1.2 (w/ the headphone jack on top). After a while I noticed some definite problems: a few important features were gone, also it was impossible to update G. Maps (because of being rooted), and finally the worst scenario of all: not being possible to un-root the device. I must have tried 10 times, following the directions to the T and repeatedly getting the same failure error. I was finally able to find someone else with a similar problem who posted their solution. Tried, waited, failed. Fully bricked, I mean not even a flicker or a battery light would come on after that. Fortunately, I was able to lie to customer service and convince them to do a warranty exchange (Aeon-1, T-Mobile-0) so I got a replacement and haven't rooted since.
So I guess my point is, I'm actually scared to root my new MT4GS for the sake of potentially not being able to unroot it if need be. But, so far from what I've read it looks like it is reversable if I ever need to. I was likely considering using theunlockr.com's method due to clearly stated, and easily understood instructions. I wish I could say the same about the posts I've read @ XDA regarding rooting instructions.
-Which rooting methods are guaranteed to be un-rootable? That option is crucial, if I ever need to go back to stock or do a warranty exchange (for all those people who were gonna say "Why the hell would you ever consider unrooting?)
-So some people suggest ClockworkMod Recovery, others don't seem to care. I ask, is there any real difference between the two? And why?
-Also, which are the best/most stable roms you would suggest? Because I've done the trial and error thing before, comparing several different roms, and I never seemed to find anything worthwhile. (Also, I checked CyanogenMod's site and either I'm blind or they don't have a single rom for the MT4GS)
-I think you somewhat answer the question regarding features of the stock camera being available after rooting. But I need to know: After rooting, is the camera going to be the same as the stock one, including ALL available features (SweepShot, ClearShot HDR, Burst Shot, Macro, Night...)? And is that camera program featured within all rooted roms, or does it have to be installed seperately?
-And ditto that question in regards to G-Maps.
-And finally this may seem like a n00b question, but I've still never gotten a clear answer: How/When can a Nandroid Backup be performed? I know that it would be a safety precaution in case I ever f*cked up my device and needed to restore, but I've never been able to find clear, accurate, and relevant instructions on how to nandroid backup or even nandroid restore.
So I apologize for asking so many questions, especially since I imagine they seem redundant and novice. However, I have rooted phones before so I'm not a complete n00b; I'm just trying to be VERY thorough this time around, to avoid any potential for error. Thank you in advance for your time.
-Colton
@eon said:
I'm glad I was able to find this thread, cause I've been wondering whether or not it would actually be worth it to root a MT4GS or not. And ya, I can agree that for the most part, rooting has more benefits than problems. And I always have gotten the same answer when asking that question about other devices, "Just root it; you'd have to be crazy not to; nothing compares to a rooted phone, etc...". So I gave in and rooted my MT3G 1.2 (w/ the headphone jack on top). After a while I noticed some definite problems: a few important features were gone, also it was impossible to update G. Maps (because of being rooted), and finally the worst scenario of all: not being possible to un-root the device. I must have tried 10 times, following the directions to the T and repeatedly getting the same failure error. I was finally able to find someone else with a similar problem who posted their solution. Tried, waited, failed. Fully bricked, I mean not even a flicker or a battery light would come on after that. Fortunately, I was able to lie to customer service and convince them to do a warranty exchange (Aeon-1, T-Mobile-0) so I got a replacement and haven't rooted since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that didn't work out so well. I think you'll find that your MT4GS experience will be a lot better.
Check the link to my backup thread in my signature. Read through it, and feel free to ask any questions in that thread you may have. I or another will be happy to help you clear them up.
Link: Backups - After Rooting, before ROMing, take this step
@eon said:
So I guess my point is, I'm actually scared to root my new MT4GS for the sake of potentially not being able to unroot it if need be. But, so far from what I've read it looks like it is reversable if I ever need to. I was likely considering using theunlockr.com's method due to clearly stated, and easily understood instructions. I wish I could say the same about the posts I've read @ XDA regarding rooting instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, everything tends to happen first here, so trying to keep it all organized as things change and develop is difficult at times, much too convoluted at others.
Basically, you need to take your bootloader from S-ON to S-OFF. Do this with the Revolutionary exploit. It installs CWM 4.0.0.8 during the process.
Then you need to make a nandroid backup. (see my backup thread)
Then you should upgrade to the official Clockworkmod Recovery, replacing 4.0.0.8 that was installed with the S-OFF exploit. The version is 5.0.2.7
Dev section link for the official CWM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1329160
Once you do that, you should already have the superuser.apk you need for rooting that you found when you got the Revolutionary S-OFF tools. You can either have done it then, or now.
I'd wait until after getting the official CWM first, simply because that makes your first nandroid backup as fresh as it can be. It's up to you when you do it.
And that's basically it.
You now have a stock, rooted phone that you can start to play with. I'd say play with it for a little while on the stock ROM before switching to another, that way you'll get a feel for what you gain or lose, and if the various trade-offs are worth it.
Before doing any of that stuff, though, read through this thread:
Read this before posting. MT4G Slide Compendium
That will get you a little more familiar with the terminology, and provide helpful links to start exploring what you need to know.
Also read as much of this thread as you can stand:
S-OFF for Retail (S-ON) Devices, NOTE ADDED 8/17/11
This S-OFF for retail is the thread that officially announced the Revolutionary exploit for S-OFF here. The links in the OP will take you to where you need to go to get it.
If you get through that one, then this is a follow up:
PERMANENT-ROOT (NEW!) & Temp-Root (v2) for any MT4GS (Windows)
The temp-root thread is a bit confusing, because before we got S-OFF you could root the phone until you rebooted it. Once the Revolutionary S-OFF method was out, this thread also ran tandem with the official announcement thread. Because it was also dealing with temp root, it led to a lot of confusion.
There is some really good info in that thread, but I recommend reading the official release thread first. It'll make more sense that way, and you may not even have to check the temp-root thread.
(again, this lends to the evolving nature of what we're learning here - hard to keep it organized as it grows.)
Also, this thread: How To Turn S-Off, Install MoDaCo Clockworkmod Recovery, and Install a Rom For Dummie
Was written as a summary on how to get S-OFF and Root, because of how convoluted and looong the two previously mentioned threads got.
Once you hit this point, you're basically set.
My next move would be to install busybox, which you can find in the market, then immediately flash the Security patch to fix a glaring security flaw created by HTC.
At this point i'd make another nandroid backup.
@eon said:
-Which rooting methods are guaranteed to be un-rootable? That option is crucial, if I ever need to go back to stock or do a warranty exchange (for all those people who were gonna say "Why the hell would you ever consider unrooting?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are all un-rootable, but once you go from S-ON to S-OFF that's a one-way trip. Several people have reported exchanging their devices after returning to stock with an S-OFF bootloader without issue.
This is returning to T-Mobile, though, it's questionable if HTC will accept a return directly of a device with an S-OFF bootloader.
@eon said:
-So some people suggest ClockworkMod Recovery, others don't seem to care. I ask, is there any real difference between the two? And why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned, upgrade to the official Clockworkmod recovery as soon as possible. From here on out it will be the only supported recovery.
@eon said:
-Also, which are the best/most stable roms you would suggest? Because I've done the trial and error thing before, comparing several different roms, and I never seemed to find anything worthwhile. (Also, I checked CyanogenMod's site and either I'm blind or they don't have a single rom for the MT4GS)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm working on releasing the updated version of Bulletproof right now, actually, and you'll like that one. Should be out in a day or so. The original developer is moving on and is handing it off to me.
I've just spent the last....dunno how long working at it, and needed to take 5 and clear my head. Cruised through the XDA MT4GS forums as i'm winding down for a break, and you caught me at a good time to give a response.
CM7 just got officially put on hold, but with your interest in the camera you probably wouldn't have gone for that right away. It's an alpha release, and we are very excited to have official CM support for the device, but since Ice Cream Sandwich ( Android 4.0 ) source code was just released, the CM team is focusing on that and it's likely to be a while before the CM7 for our phone sees an update.
Honestly, i'm more excited that they are focusing so exculsively on Ice Cream Sandwich, because that means a lot more for all the phones and devices beyond just our own version of CM7.
I'll leave other ROM recommendations to others who will surely come through here and tell you more about them.
@eon said:
-I think you somewhat answer the question regarding features of the stock camera being available after rooting. But I need to know: After rooting, is the camera going to be the same as the stock one, including ALL available features (SweepShot, ClearShot HDR, Burst Shot, Macro, Night...)? And is that camera program featured within all rooted roms, or does it have to be installed seperately?
-And ditto that question in regards to G-Maps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much all of the ROMs will support both the Camera app (in its entirety, included in the ROM) and Google maps.
The alpha port of CM7 is the only one (pretty sure) that doesn't support the camera, because the camera is tied into the sense frameworks. CM7 has no Sense components to it, and it was stated very clearly in the thread that it never will. The CM team and their ROM is worth losing the camera app over to a lot of people, and they are the lone exception to the "no camera app" stigma.
Keeping the camera app is one of the things that has been driving development around here, and very few people were willing to use or invest time in making a ROM that would exclude it.
I should take this time to point out that the stock gps configurations are, well, flat out wrong. Misconfigured, and it doesn't work well.
Myself and another developer independently spent a lot of time working on fixing this issue, and when we realized what each other were doing we also realized that we had the piece of the puzzle the other needed to make it work.
We released a collaboration that solved the problem, which you can find here: GPS lock too long or not at all? Try this
If you want to know how my half of the puzzle works, that thread will explain it in almost excrutiating detail. I recommend my patch over the other developers, as he is no longer with us and I will only be continuing support in my thread.
@eon said:
-And finally this may seem like a n00b question, but I've still never gotten a clear answer: How/When can a Nandroid Backup be performed? I know that it would be a safety precaution in case I ever f*cked up my device and needed to restore, but I've never been able to find clear, accurate, and relevant instructions on how to nandroid backup or even nandroid restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just cruise through my backup thread. Post 1 is an adb method, post 2 is the nandroid method. If you have any questions, post them in that thread and help us try to maintain some kind of order (hah!)
@eon said:
So I apologize for asking so many questions, especially since I imagine they seem redundant and novice. However, I have rooted phones before so I'm not a complete n00b; I'm just trying to be VERY thorough this time around, to avoid any potential for error. Thank you in advance for your time.
-Colton
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, don't ever worry about asking too many or too long of a question, as long as you don't post the question itself as a new thread in the development section of the MT4GS forums.
I'm sorry to hear it took such a bad experience for you to become as cautious as you are, but now that you're long past it you are much better off.
I'd much rather see someone ask questions, read some stuff, ask more questions, and then act on knowledge then just go and do and then say "I broke it, what do I do".
I'm happy to help either way, but if the information is there already then reading it before you start is much better then retroactively. Save the "how do I fix it" for uncharted territory learning things that aren't already common knowledge.
Again, part of the problem is that information is so convoluted because we keep adding to it as we learn new things. You can't really structure it before you know what it's going to be.
Myself and a few others have been trying to put effort into organizing things, but it's really a monumental task and i'd like to develop new things more so then catalogue what we already know. It's a crappy balance, but I try to put equal time to developing and organizing/answering questions.
I hope this helped you out some, I know I didn't completely cover it all but it should give you some things to chew on and help you sift through the data by spending more time on the relevant parts. Even then it's still a lot that you should know.
Don't be afraid to ask questions, one of the reasons I go into such depth is because people can correct me precisely where i'm wrong if I am about something.
You learn more when you're willing to admit you don't know something, then to pretend you do for whatever reason. Asking the right questions depends on being honest about what you do and don't know with yourself, so fire away.
I've got to get outside for a few minutes, then get back into coding, but someone else will come along and add to this soon enough.
Take care!
Well I definitely very much appreciate your prompt, and very detailed response to my many questions. I've been reading over what you've written plus the links over the past day. The main issue I have is digging through each thread looking for relevant information, while trying not to get sucked into each and every tangent post/link/info. I lost track of how many hours I've wasted reading irrelevant info which I initially thought actually had something to do with what I was after. And now a day later, I have my desk covered in reference notes (which are no longer comprehensible) and I'm more confused than I was before.
There are plenty of issues I have with forums in general. First of which being, organization seldom exists. Its like going into a library with a single question about 'how to change a tire', and leaving with 15 random, heavy books on quantum theory and black-matter, because apparently someone implied they were somehow related (I'm referring to other people, not you). Discouraging to say the least. I thought this would be more black-and-white; more simple. When 'Android' was new, rooting was simple (less ways to re-invent the wheel).
I'm walking away from this for now. The headache isnt worth it (I literally feel like I got skull-f*cked by god himself). But thank you for your help and feedback.
micahman said:
I just got the MT4GS after being a long time MT4G user and I'm wondering if it is worth it to root as there is currently no CM or stable Virtuous Rom which is what I used on the MT4G. Any helpful opinions are much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is DEFINITELY worth it... Root away my friend and welcome to the MT4GS family. This phones kicks ass and we are expanding every day like wildfire
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium
@eon said:
...
I'm walking away from this for now. The headache isnt worth it (I literally feel like I got skull-f*cked by god himself). But thank you for your help and feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah, yea, XDA is like that all over - just the nature of the beast.
This is not the quick-answer type of home, yet from a developers point of view there is no better place on the internet for android/phone development information and help.
It really does all start here, and the journey of discovery is much more prized and worthwhile then the actual end result. In that respect the way XDA is, is the way it should be.
Sometimes the best way to come to grips with something is to forget about it for a little while. Let your mind work it over running in the background, and when you bring it back into focus you'll have a better hold on what you need, and what you still have to learn.
Again, feel free to ask any questions you may have and we'll do the best we can to get you set in the right direction.
Ya, it was like mass overload the other day; it was like trying to make a PBJ sandwhich, then realizing I have to bake my own bread from scratch, grind up peanuts into butter, and somehow pick my own berries for jam, etc...
Anyways, I read over some of those topics again and some of it makes a little more sense. But still, some of those threads are so damn long, Im not gonna read each and every post from top to bottom of the thread, at least not yet. But the main issue I've realized is definitely going to be a problem is the fact that turning S-Off is irreversible. There is absolutely no method of turning S-On after its been turned off, which doesnt seem to make any sense; I figure, if you are able to flip a light-switch on, its only obvious you should be able to flip the switch off. So why is the 'S-Off' method a one-way path? And is this problem going to be fixed?
I read a bunch of articles and tutorials on 'unrooting' the MT4GS, and each one says that it will change the phone back to the stock factory condition it was in before rooting. Of course, once I scroll down and keep reading comments, everyone says that there isnt a way to turn "S-ON". SO, how the hell would someone be able to root their phone while still ever having the option to do a warranty exchange? Unrooting is great cause it gets you most the way there. But I've been reading that when T-Mobile recieves the phone, they send it to HTC for inspection/repair, and thats where they look at all the software/firmware/h-boot/recovery/S-ON Versions to make sure they are at factory specs. So once again, even though it is possible to "unroot" the MT4GS if need be, it still impossible to fully go back to factory standard (which is exactly what I was worried about).
Thats ****ty cause I was actually willing and ready to start rooting via theunlockr.com's method (cause its a hell of a lot easier than any tutorial in these forums, it does it the same way, its just easier to understand). BUT, that S-ON/S-OFF snafu is enough for me to reconsider. As I'm sure there are tons of benefits to rooting and therefore I may not ever want to unroot, I still may need to for the sake of the warranty exchange. And believe me when I say that I NEED to have the ability to exchange; I've had to exchange the MT4GS 5 times within 3 consecutive weeks because each one I recieved in the mail had some physical manufacturer defects. And since the most recent replacement is a refurb, I need to leave that Warranty-Door open in case I need to exchange.... again.
By the way, I forgot why S-Off was required in the first place. Is it possible to remain rooted without S-Off???
@eon said:
Ya, it was like mass overload the other day; it was like trying to make a PBJ sandwhich, then realizing I have to bake my own bread from scratch, grind up peanuts into butter, and somehow pick my own berries for jam, etc...
Anyways, I read over some of those topics again and some of it makes a little more sense. But still, some of those threads are so damn long, Im not gonna read each and every post from top to bottom of the thread, at least not yet. But the main issue I've realized is definitely going to be a problem is the fact that turning S-Off is irreversible. There is absolutely no method of turning S-On after its been turned off, which doesnt seem to make any sense; I figure, if you are able to flip a light-switch on, its only obvious you should be able to flip the switch off. So why is the 'S-Off' method a one-way path? And is this problem going to be fixed?
I read a bunch of articles and tutorials on 'unrooting' the MT4GS, and each one says that it will change the phone back to the stock factory condition it was in before rooting. Of course, once I scroll down and keep reading comments, everyone says that there isnt a way to turn "S-ON". SO, how the hell would someone be able to root their phone while still ever having the option to do a warranty exchange? Unrooting is great cause it gets you most the way there. But I've been reading that when T-Mobile recieves the phone, they send it to HTC for inspection/repair, and thats where they look at all the software/firmware/h-boot/recovery/S-ON Versions to make sure they are at factory specs. So once again, even though it is possible to "unroot" the MT4GS if need be, it still impossible to fully go back to factory standard (which is exactly what I was worried about).
Thats ****ty cause I was actually willing and ready to start rooting via theunlockr.com's method (cause its a hell of a lot easier than any tutorial in these forums, it does it the same way, its just easier to understand). BUT, that S-ON/S-OFF snafu is enough for me to reconsider. As I'm sure there are tons of benefits to rooting and therefore I may not ever want to unroot, I still may need to for the sake of the warranty exchange. And believe me when I say that I NEED to have the ability to exchange; I've had to exchange the MT4GS 5 times within 3 consecutive weeks because each one I recieved in the mail had some physical manufacturer defects. And since the most recent replacement is a refurb, I need to leave that Warranty-Door open in case I need to exchange.... again.
By the way, I forgot why S-Off was required in the first place. Is it possible to remain rooted without S-Off???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not permanently. you'd have to temp-root every time you reboot.
Revolutionary is about the easiest way to root a phone in existence so I'm not sure why you're so scared... assuming you have adb working, it's literally as easy as plugging your phone in and opening a single file in the Revolutionary zip archive. everything is done for you. as long as you don't download their faulty recovery (it will ask you if you want to... just say no), it's literally the easiest rooting method available that I've ever seen.
don't make it too complicated. I certainly believe in having all of your bases covered, especially when it comes to potentially screwing up a $500 bundle of plastic, metal and silicone, but rooting is not a big deal anymore.
many people will tell you that they have received warranty replacements after sending in S-OFF/rooted phones. my best guess would be that HTC/Tmo randomly pick phones to "thoroughly check" and the majority don't receive this type of treatment.. and even if they find a rooted device, there's no telling whether or not they will deny your replacement.
I received a warranty replacement (faulty hardware buttons, the leds never turned off) for my gal's rooted MT4GS simply by installing the stock rom and recovery, but still with Revolutionary's hboot installed. No issues whatsoever. I'm not saying it's "right" and I'm not guaranteeing you the same result, just offering my first-hand experience.
here's how you can obtain perma-root and s-off in ~10 minutes. no complicated guides:
www.revolutionary.io
download installer, enter serial # to get your code.
open archive and find the installer... let it run.
when it's done, you'll be rooted and s-off with a custom hboot. say "no" to the download recovery option and manually flash the official CWM recovery, or modaco's 4.0.0.9 recovery image. (either should be fine, although roms are going to start coming out that may have issues with the 4.0.0.9 modaco recovery so cwm is probably your best bet)
if not being able to flip the S-OFF switch back to S-ON at this point is something you can't get over, this isn't for you. personally, I spent $500 on this phone and I'm going to do whatever the hell I want to it, and if TMO and HTC have a problem with that, I will happily take my business elsewhere.
Its not rooting that I'm worried about, its the possibility of having to do (yet another) warranty exchange and being caught sending back a warranty-void device. And since I just found out that my premium phone insurance extends my warranty for an indefinite amount of time, I imagine that i will undoubtedly be exchanging this phone sometime in the future. I can only hope that by then either the S-Off thing has been fixed or T-Mobile announces they no longer care. I can see both happening, honestly.
Rooting is going to be the easy part, if/when I decide to do it. The last things I havent yet figured out are:
-Which Rom(s) I'm going to try. When I compare most roms side by side, they all seem vaguely identical. I remember Cyanogen having the option of fully customized visual aspects/themes, as well as tons of settings/features that werent offered through other roms. But the problem with CM is that, as you said before, the several camera options/modes in the stock rom are not being used by CM. I'm looking for a rom that is, above all, stable; lightweight/fast; includes all camera features of stock rom; and if apps like gmaps wont be included, I'd like to be able to find something that is comparable, or even better if possible. If not, I really hope the market allows gmaps to be installed on a rooted device (a while back on my rooted phone, the install of gmaps would always fail) Also, you had mentioned that you were nearing completion of a Rom of your own, so I might read up on that as well.
-I read up on that article on micro sd cards regarding speed comparisons, so I ended up running the benchmark app on my pc and found that my SanDisk 8bg Class 4 was (apparently) faster than my currently used Samsung 16gb Class 2, which sucks cause I like having more space than I use. But anyways it got me thinking, I realize that speed is important for file-transfers and also running apps that have been moved to the sd, but I could have sworn I remember someone talking about how they had rooted and then installed their OS/Rom onto their SD card instead of the phone itself. I dont know if I read that wrong or not. And if that was accurate, then I want to know if there is truly any benefit from doing that or not.
-Also, in regards to sd cards, I remember last year when I had a rooted MT3G with Amon Ra's recovery, there was an option to throw in partitions. Almost everyone I talked with on here told me to add a partition. Then after a few updates to the recovery, I noticed new options in the partition section: Ext.2, Ext.3, and Ext.4 as well as the options to select the partition size and "swap" size. I never did understand what exactly the difference (if any) between "Ext.2, Ext. 4.... etc" was.
And as far as the "swap" size, I remember there being a LOT of debate over what exactly this number should be. Some people started suggesting outrageously high numbers, while others explicitly explained to not do that, because apparently the lower the number the faster it becomes. Ok, so if thats the basic concept, great. But I still never did find any reliable information regarding "swap" size.
So ya, those are the final questions/issues that have been bugging me. Any advice/help is greatly appreciated.

Stock Rom

I want to do everything I can to develop for this phone. What I need from the people here is a stock flash able rom. I have made great progress on this phone but but idk how to build stock roms and at this point I'm not sure I have the mental capacity to learn it.
Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk
So...you have made great progress doing what?
There is a Chinese ROM floating around, maybe you can use that.
I want to do everything I can to develop for this phone. What I need from the people here is a stock flash able rom. I have made great progress on this phone but but idk how to build stock roms and at this point I'm not sure I have the mental capacity to learn it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL...
Without a stock ROM, we have been unable to develop much...
What have you developed, here?
Mostly the community is hacking the stock installed rom, and fixing what Motorola has purposefully broken, but with out a few more pieces and a working sbf, you are not going to get a "Stock" ROM.
If you really want to help out go jump into the bootloader unlock forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1328714
jimbridgman said:
LOL...
Without a stock ROM, we have been unable to develop much...
What have you developed, here?
Mostly the community is hacking the stock installed rom, and fixing what Motorola has purposefully broken, but with out a few more pieces and a working sbf, you are not going to get a "Stock" ROM.
If you really want to help out go jump into the bootloader unlock forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1328714
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use cheesecake 4 times a day every day. If I find something I compare it to what others have found.. What have I developed? Nothing more then a headache. Using the bionic safestrap I have been able to recover from 3 soft bricks. 2 of them using adb to push to the phone and 1 using the restore tool. But i had to remount /emmc to /sd-ext. But I think at this point I am done trying anything with this phone.
One more thing.. what can't we use all the stock files I've pulled from the phone to make a flash able zip?
lfaber06 said:
I use cheesecake 4 times a day every day. If I find something I compare it to what others have found.. What have I developed? Nothing more then a headache. Using the bionic safestrap I have been able to recover from 3 soft bricks. 2 of them using adb to push to the phone and 1 using the restore tool. But i had to remount /emmc to /sd-ext. But I think at this point I am done trying anything with this phone.
One more thing.. what can't we use all the stock files I've pulled from the phone to make a flash able zip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like you know a lot more than all of us who have been working diligently for the last 60 or so days with this phone.... Why don't you give it a try and see if you can create a flash-able zip.
You can't build a flash-able zip, because you can not zip or tar files on the filesystem that are in use, and the kernel has a ton of files open and locked. the backup software gets around this in a couple ways that we really can't do, and backups are useless to make flash-able zip from. That is why we need the sbf or fxz or source code to make a flash-able, zip or ROM.
That is why we have warned everyone over and over and over, about trying things we post, right now. The information is not to try out, it is sharing of the developers, and for those of us working on actually developing solutions for this phone. There have been so many bricks, because people are not listening.... I am actually thinking of trading my phone with a buddy to get out of this, because I am tired of hearing about all the bricking people are doing, and having to help save someone who did something to their phone that they did after we told them not to.
Unless You Know What You Are Doing Don't Try This At Home. Until we get the fxz or sbf files. I am getting tired of saying this...
P.S. doing work on the cheesecake thing does not make you a Developer. Hell I am not an Android Developer, I am a UNIX and Linux Hardware architect and UNIX and LINUX Kernel Developer, so I am am able to use all that, 20 years of experience on the Android kernel, and I have been hacking and working on phones a long time.
Now I know it is great to try things and learn, but while learning, it is best to try things we say are safe first, then once you are more comfortable with certain things, then try something daring, that you know how to do.
I am in no way trying to insult you, just realize that right now, with the little help we have on the experienced development side of things, it is real painful to get things moving forward when people don't listen, or do things they are not ready for and then keep asking for help when they killed their phone in the process.
jimbridgman said:
I am actually thinking of trading my phone with a buddy to get out of this, because I am tired of hearing about all the bricking people are doing, and having to help save someone who did something to their phone that they did after we told them not to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't leave us Jim. You are an incredible resource. I'm new to Android and have learned many valuable things from you.
Remember, you don't have to help every person that bricks their phone.
Jim if you try to leave we will find you! ;p
Sent from my MB865
mtnlion said:
Jim if you try to leave we will find you! ;p
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL... I am not going anywhere, I am just trying to make a point, that things like this killed the Atrix board, and I hope we don't repeat that.
We are here to help, and I wish that it would be realized that we are in "Research" mode right now, and are not to point of actually hacking, or have very many how to post yet for that reason.
You can't buy common sense but stupidity is free.
Sent from my MB865
jimbridgman said:
LOL... I am not going anywhere, I am just trying to make a point, that things like this killed the Atrix board, and I hope we don't repeat that.
We are here to help, and I wish that it would be realized that we are in "Research" mode right now, and are not to point of actually hacking, or have very many how to post yet for that reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WHEW.....You had me fixing to start looking at phone options!!! Honestly I'm to the point where I just read them and ignore them otherwise I say things I shouldn't LoL. But I will be the first to say this, IF THIS BOARD GETS AS BAD AS THE OG ATRIX DID, I WON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WALKING AWAY!
---------- Post added at 01:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:01 AM ----------
mtnlion said:
You can't buy common sense but stupidity is free.
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't fix stupid either......
JRW 28 said:
WHEW.....You had me fixing to start looking at phone options!!! Honestly I'm to the point where I just read them and ignore them otherwise I say things I shouldn't LoL. But I will be the first to say this, IF THIS BOARD GETS AS BAD AS THE OG ATRIX DID, I WON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WALKING AWAY!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Part of the issue I think is that everyone, who is doing these things, is of the I need this now, no matter what, camp... I just came a phone that had this, so this phone should too... LOL.
Yeah if it comes to anywhere close to the OG Atrix board I am out so fast it is not funny.
The thing is that I am most of the time ignoring these posts, but when you 6 people all did something similar, or like the OP did 4 or five things that messed his phone up, because he/they were impatient, you kind of have to tell them, look if you don't like it, get another phone. Heck the OP tried to say he was helping the cause by doing these things, when it was said so many times don't try this....
jimbridgman said:
Part of the issue I think is that everyone, who is doing these things, is of the I need this now, no matter what, camp... I just came a phone that had this, so this phone should too... LOL.
Yeah if it comes to anywhere close to the OG Atrix board I am out so fast it is not funny.
The thing is that I am most of the time ignoring these posts, but when you 6 people all did something similar, or like the OP did 4 or five things that messed his phone up, because he/they were impatient, you kind of have to tell them, look if you don't like it, get another phone. Heck the OP tried to say he was helping the cause by doing these things, when it was said so many times don't try this....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The funny thing is the "OP" didn't do anything he was told not to due.. Instead he/I tried new approaches and have actually been able to recover from a few soft bricks at this point. We get places from trying new things not by talking down to those that try them. I'm trying to help as I own the phone too. I am not in any way "under-educated". I am a .Net developer and I am doing my best in my free time to help the community by opening up this phone to its full potential. Now, Am I impatient.... Hell Yes.. I want CM7 and ICS now. Will I get it now?.. No, but i'm trying to get the rest of you on your way. I cant believe you would try to push someone so willing away..
A better way to go about it would be to post your discoveries and share them to help others out instead of demanding things you need.
lfaber06 said:
What I need from the people here is a stock flash able rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We aren't pushing anyone away that is willing to help and we welcome everyone that is willing to hel. But when you experiment know that we might not be able to help you and we have no way back to stock. By experimenting we found root,the bionic's bootstrap and we will have to continue to experiment. Part of progress is by finding out what works and what doesn't.
We need to all work together and not against each other. But with that said if you look at the amount of recent posts with people experiencing problems and calling for help is because they didn't do any research before hand and now they are asking for help for something they could have very well prevented by patiently doing a little homework.
With the progress you have said to have made, start a new thread about it explaining the procedures you went about to recover from the soft bricks so others can benefit from them as well. I can promise you we are all very interested.
JRW 28 said:
A better way to go about it would be to post your discoveries and share them to help others out instead of demanding things you need.
We aren't pushing anyone away that is willing to help and we welcome everyone that is willing to hel. But when you experiment know that we might not be able to help you and we have no way back to stock. By experimenting we found root,the bionic's bootstrap and we will have to continue to experiment. Part of progress is by finding out what works and what doesn't.
We need to all work together and not against each other. But with that said if you look at the amount of recent posts with people experiencing problems and calling for help is because they didn't do any research before hand and now they are asking for help for something they could have very well prevented by patiently doing a little homework.
With the progress you have said to have made, start a new thread about it explaining the procedures you went about to recover from the soft bricks so others can benefit from them as well. I can promise you we are all very interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, and Very well said, I agree 100%

[Q] Tegra Zone Shield APK? The app that launches with the shield button.

Anyone got a copy of that? With a shield the app that launches when you hit the shield button I need that exact app.
Looking to try spoofing tegra in my nexus 4 to try streaming with a normal controller
Thanks!
I hope someone makes this happen, due to it streaming I can't see hardware being a limitation.
It could be like the Ouya framework though... Dependent on the actual device.
Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app
I sure hope someone will be able to release the APK. I would be interested in using it on my Galaxy S3.
It's not the same as the TegraZone already on the Play store?
Furyus said:
It's not the same as the TegraZone already on the Play store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it is not. And while I can't speak too much about it, it's not just a side-load onto any device. So don't be holding your breath about someone uploading the APK and getting all the features running this week.
right....because it sooo hard to make rudimentary changes to a launcher.
The APK is called Dashboard.apk. It resides in /system/app and can be launched as a normal app.
?? Then why did you say the opposite not 2 posts ago?
LegionTHEFecalExcretion said:
right....because it sooo hard to make rudimentary changes to a launcher.
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Let me know when you get this working, since you love trolling. One of us has been helping everyone to the largest extent they can. The other is just demanding a bunch of stuff since he doesn't want to buy one himself.
I will personally post the full system image tonight if it isn't already uploaded by then. And you can go to town, I'm seriously curious about how much you can get working this week, since its obviously so easy.
LegionTHEFecalExcretion said:
?? Then why did you say the opposite not 2 posts ago?
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It won't do anything. It will crash on another device.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
You're the one going around posting false information. And asking for a system dump is not "demanding a bunch of stuff".
If you want to get into a pissing match about who's done more to help the XDA community, you're gonna lose. I've done alot more than post some roms for the EVO 3D. If anyone's a troll here its you.
And 20x more people have found my comments helpful. So you're still trolling. What false info have I given?
Unlike you i'm not a thanks whore, and the thanks meter wasn't even implemented when I started posting on XDA. I have released numerous firmware images and sbf files that would otherwise have not been obtainable, saving countless devices in the process(See the technician only Xoom recovery file that was the only way to restore a bricked Xoom for months after release). That's a little more important to me than some likes.
Oh and False info? You just said not a few moments ago it runs like a normal app.
Now now boys, calm down.
I must admit I am on legions side on most of his points so far. This is a community forum for the general public and what we do here is Share and Mod. I do believe "agrabren" that as you are part of the Nvidia team you don't want to see parts of your product ported and such, but the product is now in the hands of the user and so now it is up to us what we do with our purchases.
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2
LegionTHEFecalExcretion said:
Oh and False info? You just said not a few moments ago it runs like a normal app.
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It didn't occur to me that I might need to explain that in more detail, but in hind-sight, it does need clarification. What I mean, and meant from the beginning, is that the framework doesn't issue any "magic" to launch that app. There's no special "back-door" entry into that APK which makes it work on the device, nor is the Intent anyway modified. My natural instinct is to distrust every aspect of a system app that doesn't sideload correctly. In this case, I gave extra insight into areas of attack on getting the APK to load on other devices by eliminating one method a company could use for an app that has a special method of launch (the center button on the device).
So my statement, properly clarified, is that the APK itself has nothing special about it in regards to Intent launching or its AndroidManifest.xml, but that without some efforts with other components, will not run directly on another device, especially one based on a non-Tegra device.
poo-tang said:
Now now boys, calm down.
I must admit I am on legions side on most of his points so far. This is a community forum for the general public and what we do here is Share and Mod. I do believe "agrabren" that as you are part of the Nvidia team you don't want to see parts of your product ported and such, but the product is now in the hands of the user and so now it is up to us what we do with our purchases.
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2
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Great, except I've actually been trying to help most people with most parts of ROM sharing and modding. I've already said that I'm going to post the OTA1 system and boot images, in their official entirety, as well as I'll probably post a rooted version as well. I've been helping people prevent bricking their devices.
If you'd rather I just go away, I'm happy to. But I wouldn't expect anyone else from NVIDIA to be reaching out to get CM10.2 up and running on this device, or to get a custom recovery up and running quickly. I've never objected to him getting the system image, I'm all for it being uploaded and even promised to do so. I'm trying to help clarify what will work easily and what won't. I even answered the question that nobody else had, the APK he's asking for (because he didn't know the name of it) is Dashboard.apk, and it resides in /system/app. His contributions right now to the SHIELD forums on XDA are: Give me the system image, give me some APKs that may be on the device! That rubs me the wrong way as a person who has spent plenty of time developing ROMs for different phones, helping fix kernels for multiple CM-supported devices, and who has *always* fought for companies to give to the community. Unlockable bootloader? Yeah, I was part of that push. I'm trying my best to get as much source as possible made public.
Maybe I came off poorly in this thread (because this was after the thread asking for an apk that has only been demoed at tradeshows and special press meetings). So I'm sorry if I came off wrong, but while everyone else is helping each other out, he's just demanding stuff.
I what world do you live in that posting a thread asking for a system image and a possibly pre-loaded app qualifies as "demanding stuff"? Why should I have to have done anything to be worthy of your approval to post such a thread?
There is a huge conflict of interest with you both working for Nvidia and unofficially releasing official firmware and hacks, so frankly no, I don't trust you being involved in this devices xda development.
LegionTHEFecalExcretion said:
I what world do you live in that posting a thread asking for a system image and a possibly pre-loaded app qualifies as "demanding stuff"? Why should I have to have done anything to be worthy of your approval to post such a thread?
There is a huge conflict of interest with you both working for Nvidia and unofficially releasing official firmware and hacks, so frankly no, I don't trust you being involved in this devices xda development.
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So a guy who doesn't own the device is not going to trust ROMs I make for a device he doesn't own. Oops, no loss to me. You can go back to trolling, I'm done with your thread. You have your system image and boot image in either manner you want it.
Oops, my bad. It wasn't your thread, you just came into this thread to troll me. My mistake.
Raptor, if you check in the Android Development section, you'll find the system images. I'd suggest the ZIP version, because it's both smaller and already extracted. The system.img is an uncompress image to be flashed via fastboot in case someone messes up their system or boot partitions.

[Q] 4.3 downgrade??

I was going through the 4.3 update discussion thread and came across twitter links to a possible downgrade from 4.3 to 4,1,2. Anyone have any new information on this? Is this true, and if so how can you do this.
wibirt14 said:
I was going through the 4.3 update discussion thread and came across twitter links to a possible downgrade from 4.3 to 4,1,2. Anyone have any new information on this? Is this true, and if so how can you do this.
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https://twitter.com/MobileTechVids/status/454103612721860608
heres the tweet
Moved to Q&A.
Let's not be fooled here one of two things are happening. Either it is a trick to get followers or they mistakenly "downgraded" a 4.3 rom that already had the insecure boot loader and are trying to figure out why it won't work again. There is no reason why the haven't put up the links already. I'm betting its a trick but who knows? Deep down inside I hope they figured something out.
ThePagel said:
Let's not be fooled here one of two things are happening. Either it is a trick to get followers or they mistakenly "downgraded" a 4.3 rom that already had the insecure boot loader and are trying to figure out why it won't work again. There is no reason why the haven't put up the links already. I'm betting its a trick but who knows? Deep down inside I hope they figured something out.
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MobileTechVideos is a very renown website and Josh Groce is a very respected developer. He wouldn't try to "trick" anyone to believe something like this isn't true. Also, there is a reason he wouldn't put up any links because this wouldn't be something that can be done on the software level. It's most likely a hardware mod and requires JTAG.
Could he have been mistaken and jumped the gun on this announcement? Possibly. However it wouldn't be something as simple as not realizing the phone already had an insecure bootloader. He knows what he is doing.
To get a taste of the stuff he does check out some of his youtube videos. Here's an example:
BattsNotIncld said:
MobileTechVideos is a very renown website and Josh Groce is a very respected developer. He wouldn't try to "trick" anyone to believe something like this isn't true. Also, there is a reason he wouldn't put up any links because this wouldn't be something that can be done on the software level. It's most likely a hardware mod and requires JTAG.
Could he have been mistaken and jumped the gun on this announcem ibly. However it wouldn't be something as simple as not realizing the phone already had an insecure bootloader. He knows what he is doing.
To get a taste of the stuff he does check out some of his youtube videos. Here's an example:
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I retract my last post. I took a look down in his Facebook posts and he accidentally found a way to downgrade. So call me crazy but you don't accidentally stumble across a fix like this if it requires a hardware mod and I thought jtag was proven to not work because of the efuse or qfuse or whatever its called. From the "feel" of his post he did a repair he has done before that works with both the 4.1.2 and 4.3 boot loader and didn't realize he mixed the two up until the customer told him he was on 4.3 before sending it in. I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about bootloaders and there operation. Perhaps he bypased the fuse by removing and programing the chip directly and that is his normal repair operation instead of jtag and that is why it worked? No matter what it is I am happy he figured it out and hope he gets a lot of business out of it. Sorry for my ramble I probably didn't need to post all of that but its done and I don't feel like deleting it.
This is really exciting news, but I hope he updates soon. If he is wrong, I would not be mad but would rather know sooner than later. Right now, it's just a big tease
yoyomonk said:
This is really exciting news, but I hope he updates soon. If he is wrong, I would not be mad but would rather know sooner than later. Right now, it's just a big tease
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He did it three times on three different phones so I'm sure he is correct.

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