It is likely that the answers to my questions are to be found in several threads on the forum already so my apologies for not being able to track them down - it is a bit confusing.
I have a Xoom which started out as a UK wifi only model which I recently flashed to a US GED model using the guide written by Simon Stuart. As a result I am running 4.04.
I am now considering rooting the device and moving to JB however I am not sure about the following:
Easiest/simplest method for someone who hasn't done this before,
Which ROM is most suitable,
What are the differences between ROMs
And finally
When I did the GED conversion I discovered that my Apps backup didn't work and I had to reinstall everything again. What is the best way to avoid having to do this? - Sorted. Did an App backup with Astro and then copied the Backup folder to my back up drive in the house and to Google Drive.
Thanks in advance.
If your bootloader is not already unlocked, you are going to need to unlock it before rooting/flashing a custom rom and you'll be losing all your apps/data/anything again.
Related
Hi guys. Just bought my nexus s (i9023) recently and i decided it's the time to root it so i can try out some different roms and experiment with my phone a bit.
I already read and searched a lot before opening this thread, however there were some questions i couldn't find the answer for:
- Will i be able to restore the phone to its original factory state if i need to (unrooted)? I see there are lots of threads with stock roms for this phone, but i only found the radio (not sure what this means either) in a thread somewhere in the development section so i'm not sure i can. The reference i have in my phone is GRI40, what's the difference between this and the other versions i see out there?
- I see that rooting will wipe my phone. What's the best way to backup everything in my phone? There's a lot of talk about titanium backup, however in the market it says root is needed to use it.
- Is there any thread for beginners with everything i should know about android and its "structure"?
Thanks in advance
cap87 said:
Hi guys. Just bought my nexus s (i9023) recently and i decided it's the time to root it so i can try out some different roms and experiment with my phone a bit.
I already read and searched a lot before opening this thread, however there were some questions i couldn't find the answer for:
- Will i be able to restore the phone to its original factory state if i need to (unrooted)? I see there are lots of threads with stock roms for this phone, but i only found the radio (not sure what this means either) in a thread somewhere in the development section so i'm not sure i can. The reference i have in my phone is GRI40, what's the difference between this and the other versions i see out there?
- I see that rooting will wipe my phone. What's the best way to backup everything in my phone? There's a lot of talk about titanium backup, however in the market it says root is needed to use it.
- Is there any thread for beginners with everything i should know about android and its "structure"?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All of the questions you asked can be found via Searching.
1. To restore back to stock, perform a nandroid restore. (Easy way is to make your own backup before you flash a new ROM). When you want to go back to stock, just restore back to that.
2. Titanium Backup (With Pro License.. "Pro" is a must). When you flash ROMs, you NEED root in order to flash. So that's a given.
3. Stickies all over the forum will get you started.
Greetings to all Xoom users!
I'm a happy Xoom Wifi user (HWI69) with some basic root questions.
- If I unlock and root my Xoom will I be able to unroot and relock my xoom since the official motorola files are out?
- If I follow the procedure to unlock and root the xoom will I lose all the apps/configuration that I have customized?
- Is there a way to make a full backup without rooting?
- Is there anyway to use the sdcard slot without rooting the xoom?
- Any news on a motorola update that will activate the sdcard slot?
- I saw quite a lot of users who have bricked their wifi xoom trying to root the beast. Since the official motorola wifi files are available is it guaranty that I will be able to unbrick my xoom if something goes wrong?
- Is there a difference between soft brick and hard brick?
I think that's all for the moment
Thanks for your help!
spirouzbe said:
Greetings to all Xoom users!
I'm a happy Xoom Wifi user (HWI69) with some basic root questions.
- If I unlock and root my Xoom will I be able to unroot and relock my xoom since the official motorola files are out?
Possibly
- If I follow the procedure to unlock and root the xoom will I lose all the apps/configuration that I have customized?
If you don't back them up .... Yes
- Is there a way to make a full backup without rooting?
Yes and No
- Is there anyway to use the sdcard slot without rooting the xoom?
Not currently
- Any news on a motorola update that will activate the sdcard slot?
No Answer
- I saw quite a lot of users who have bricked their wifi xoom trying to root the beast. Since the official motorola wifi files are available is it guaranty that I will be able to unbrick my xoom if something goes wrong?
No Answer
- Is there a difference between soft brick and hard brick?
I would think Yes
I think that's all for the moment
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my .02 but more detailed information is available in the forum.
spirouzbe said:
- I saw quite a lot of users who have bricked their wifi xoom trying to root the beast. Since the official motorola wifi files are available is it guaranty that I will be able to unbrick my xoom if something goes wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have had problems only because they attempted to relock without flashing the official Motorola images first; Motorola did not have these available for download until very recently. So long as you don't try and relock without the correct images on the device first, you should be fine.
Land Master said:
That was my .02 but more detailed information is available in the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answers ! I have read about all the posts on the Xoom section and i asked those questions because im kind of confused as the informations found are quite different depending on the model/date of the posts.
Some more questions
- For the unrooted backup do you have any app suggestions ?
- What is the purpose of ClockWorkMod Recovery ? Will it protect me from flashing the wrong xoom files (boot ?) ? Kind of a HardSPL/USPL we use with the HTC custom roms ?
ydaraishy said:
They have had problems only because they attempted to relock without flashing the official Motorola images first; Motorola did not have these available for download until very recently. So long as you don't try and relock without the correct images on the device first, you should be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So now that we have those correct motorola images we are able to relock the Wifi Xoom without any problem ?
Thanks again for all your help
spirouzbe said:
So now that we have those correct motorola images we are able to relock the Wifi Xoom without any problem ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do it properly, I don't see why not.
I use My Backup Pro. It's not free but its pretty good. Actually haven't tried it yet on the Zoom but it works fine on my EVO. For rooted users Titanium Backup is good.
The custom recovery will be the foundation of "easy" upgrades to new Rom's, kernels, etc. through flash-able files. Without it you would be required to use ADB to "push" everything to the device. It is also the best backup solution to insure a "complete" backup of your entire system through the Nandroid backup feature. This feature is currently experiencing issues because it is trying to backup the entire "internal" storage to an "external SD card". Since the card is formatted as Fat32 the largest file it can hold is 4GB. This poses a problem because the "internal" drive could have "partitions" larger than 4GB if you have a lot of media on your device. Its still a work in progress. As far as if it "protects" you.....probably not. You need to be sure of what you are doing before using the features.
Regarding the re-lock.... A few users have posted that they were able to re-lock their device but I do not believe anyone has posted as to whether doing so erases any indication that the device was originally un-locked. If you plan on keeping your Xoom for the long haul, I would recommend un-locking and leaving it alone. If for some reason you need to return it for service...THEN worry about re-locking it and dealing any potential pit falls doing so may uncover.
Land Master said:
I use My Backup Pro. It's not free but its pretty good. Actually haven't tried it yet on the Zoom but it works fine on my EVO. For rooted users Titanium Backup is good.
The custom recovery will be the foundation of "easy" upgrades to new Rom's, kernels, etc. through flash-able files. Without it you would be required to use ADB to "push" everything to the device. It is also the best backup solution to insure a "complete" backup of your entire system through the Nandroid backup feature. This feature is currently experiencing issues because it is trying to backup the entire "internal" storage to an "external SD card". Since the card is formatted as Fat32 the largest file it can hold is 4GB. This poses a problem because the "internal" drive could have "partitions" larger than 4GB if you have a lot of media on your device. Its still a work in progress. As far as if it "protects" you.....probably not. You need to be sure of what you are doing before using the features.
Regarding the re-lock.... A few users have posted that they were able to re-lock their device but I do not believe anyone has posted as to whether doing so erases any indication that the device was originally un-locked. If you plan on keeping your Xoom for the long haul, I would recommend un-locking and leaving it alone. If for some reason you need to return it for service...THEN worry about re-locking it and dealing any potential pit falls doing so may uncover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent advice. Thank you Land Master.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Hi everyone
First off I would like to thank everyone who contributes on this board, I have been lurking for quite awhile even though I dont have any android devices, the reading is very interesting.
I have just got my first android device today delivered from BH Photo (I am in Australia) and have charged and powered it up. I have been reading on the forums about rooting and then unlocking. The android version appears to be 4.0.3 (ICS).
My questions are these:
Should I root this device and unlock the bootloader with ICS, then install TWRP and make a backup of it. Once this is done then update to JB? The firmware of the tablet is (I think this is right) IM74K:US_epad_9.4.5.26-20120720 and the kernel is 2.6.39.4 [email protected] #1
or
Update the device to JB then root it, but Im a bit confused with the unlocking part here what program is used to unlock the bootloader? Is it the Asus one? Also with rooting programs which one is more commonly used for both ICS and JB? Can I apply a manual update of JB using the Ausrtalian version instead of the US one.
Sorry for all the noob questions. I have read the index and after reading it still had some questions.
Thank you for your time
deathwalker01 said:
Hi everyone
First off I would like to thank everyone who contributes on this board, I have been lurking for quite awhile even though I dont have any android devices, the reading is very interesting.
I have just got my first android device today delivered from BH Photo (I am in Australia) and have charged and powered it up. I have been reading on the forums about rooting and then unlocking. The android version appears to be 4.0.3 (ICS).
My questions are these:
Should I root this device and unlock the bootloader with ICS, then install TWRP and make a backup of it. Once this is done then update to JB? The firmware of the tablet is (I think this is right) IM74K:US_epad_9.4.5.26-20120720 and the kernel is 2.6.39.4 [email protected] #1
or
Update the device to JB then root it, but Im a bit confused with the unlocking part here what program is used to unlock the bootloader? Is it the Asus one? Also with rooting programs which one is more commonly used for both ICS and JB? Can I apply a manual update of JB using the Ausrtalian version instead of the US one.
Sorry for all the noob questions. I have read the index and after reading it still had some questions.
Thank you for your time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the Community!
There are a few on-going threads regarding this same topic. You might want to read those and make sure you understand the lingo/jargon being used (like: fastboot, bootloader, Recovery, adb. etc) as well as what it's for before you start your hacking.
Some things to keep in mind
Currently to have Root access in JB, you need to get root in ICS then use OTA Keeper to maintain Root for JB update.
The Bootloader unlocker tool is from ASUS and needs to communicate with ASUS servers for it to unlock.
Unlocking the bootloader will void your warrenty. Make sure you have a good device before you do it.
You have a version of tablet (9.4.5.26) that is able to use NVFlash that can help recover your tablet during a soft brick.
You should use an update that is appropriate for your device. If it comes with US, stay with US. Installing an update for a different region might not cause problems but there is no guarantee. Best to avoid the possibility by staying with the region it comes with.
For some reading material, I think that my blog post might help give you some additional details. However, I highly suggest that it be used for research only until you are aware of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. Remember to ask questions if things are confusing or if you are wondering what needs to be done next. 'Tis better to ask and be delayed than to be over-eager and bricked.
Hope this helps you during your first steps of XDA Android hacking!
I just got my TF700 last week and I wanted cleanrom on it and this is the order of stuff I did:
1. Unlocked bootloader
2. Nvflash setup
3. Installed TWRP
4. Flashed official Asus update
5. I lost TWRP so I installed it again
6. Flashed cleanrom
Probably not the most efficient way, but it was easy to do and didn't take too long.
hong90 said:
I just got my TF700 last week and I wanted cleanrom on it and this is the order of stuff I did:
1. Unlocked bootloader
2. Nvflash setup
3. Installed TWRP
4. Flashed official Asus update
5. I lost TWRP so I installed it again
6. Flashed cleanrom
Probably not the most efficient way, but it was easy to do and didn't take too long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the most efficient way.
I have nothing to add except for the remark that NvFlash is key -- GET IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!
I'm not even kidding here. It gives you 100% flexibility in doing whatever you wish (up- as well as downgrading, even the bootloader!) and provides a key benefit in recovering your device when that whale-sized piece of excrement hits the large ventilator running at top speed.
Thanks to everyone that has replied to my post. I have successfully rooted the tablet and unlocked the bootloader. Before I do anything else Im going to run NVflash and back it up. I have a quick question though. I have download NVFlash to my computer and extracted it. Do I need to copy it across to the tablet and then enter fastboot? I havent got an extenal sd card will it save the images to the tablet's hard drive?
Cheers
Deathwalker
i followed this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ypzUaKxvo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
i watched it before i actually did it once or twice to make sure i know what to do. you don't need an external sd card. following the fastboot steps will pull the files that you need onto the internal one in a folder
Last night I used NVFlash to make backup of the tablet. A big thank you to alienedd as I followed his blog and also the guide from androidmobi team and managed to get the img files done. Is there anyway to test bar for wiping the tablet?
Now all I have left to do is install OTA RootKeeper and TWRP, back up the existing tablet and then flash a custom ROM (Im thinking cleanrom)
You don't need OTA Rootkeeper anymore because you have unlocked you're bootloader. And custom roms like Cleanrom are already pre-rooted so after flashing the cleanrom you will have root anyway.
Sorry if this is a request for a lot of other threads out there but I can't find anything definitive, specifically since the release dates for JB are scattered by region and there's not always a clear answer to my situation because of that.
I have an XT925, the international RAZR HD. I got it recently her in Australia on the Telstra network with ICS preinstalled and with JB already released as an upgrade. I did save my root from ICS and still have root currently on Jelly Bean. It does, however, annoy me that I have to pull apart CWM packages, move all the files, and set permissions. In addition to that I've seen some talk about lag and people doing a factory reset to fix that. I have tremendous lag in folders in the default launcher and occasional noticeable lag in Nova launcer (which I prefer to use) window animations. My experience with Android has been with the Galaxy S II, which is still a great phone, however it is a phone that's easy as pie to root and deal with.
I have a lot of questions, some answered elsewhere but not necessarily in a context that applies to the situation I'm thinking of (and all the ins and outs would be too much to list), nor specifically for JB. Things get obscure given the
Please don't ask questions about why I'd want to unlock the bootloader, be rooted, etc. These are things I can decide for myself. Also, I'm aware I need to backup all my apps and app data to the SD card and pull the entire SD card contents. Please don't answer any of the questions unless you have first hand experience; I really would rather not get well intentioned misinformation that leads to a problem.
1. Can root survive a factory reset of JB. I presume it formats everything needed but still have to ask.
2. If the bootloader is unlocked, and I'm on JB, can I flash SuperSU by sideloading? If not, has anyone done it on a bootloader unlocked XT925 with CWM?; I've read some posts that involve a lot of confusion about the ease of installing CWM and using it on this phone. I should mention that I'm not familiar with TWRP and would like to stick to what's more familiar for the time being, assuming I go down this route.
3. Is there some advantage of TWRP over CWM? Honestly I don't even know what TWRP is; is this something I should learn since I have a Motorola phone? Also, is CWM well written for the device so far? Has anyone done a Nandroid backup and restore with it? Does it perserve time stamps (for OTA updates later given that system files have a 2010 timestamp on my device, for example)?
4. Has anyone had any of the more seemingly unlikely problems stated on the unlocking page of the Motorola site that you "may" have and for example, phone calls not working, apps not working anymore etc? Also, it specifically says "You will not be able to watch any movies you downloaded". Does this apply to videos purchased from google or does it mean that videos I've put on my phone will be unplayable? (I'm not even sure we can purchase Google movies from Australia).
5. There's a thread about disabling the unlocked bootloader warning, at boot, by replacing the file that provides the warning with one that does not, however I recall that the thread discussion was before the JB update (in my locale). Is this something that can still be disabled using the same tools in JB (assuming the original discussion was indeed for ICS)?
6. Does a factory reset wipe the system partition?.. specifically asking this because I've been keeping track of all files put to my system partition so that if there's another OTA at some point, it hopefully won't fail because I can remove everything added but if resetting wipes everything it would be easier to just do that.
7. Did anyone with an unlocked bootloader on ICS have a problem with the JB update, or more specifically if you had an unlocked bootloader on ICS, did it interefere with the OTA update to JB?
8. You know when you wake up to an alarm and have responsibilities but you'd rather just go back to sleep, but you get up anyway and it takes time before you accept the day ahead; doesn't that suck?
Any help here is appreciated.
It would be great if we had a master sticky FAQ thread for all the noob questions that one could conceive of. I hope that someone is able to write one.
I want to install a custom Lollipop ROM on my phone, but even after days of sifting through years and various iterations of information and methods, I'm pretty confused.
I have a Razr Maxx HD. I believe the model is XT926M. I bought my phone in December 2012 from Verizon and it's running Android 4.1.2 OTA (stock) currently. The currently installed ROM is 9.18.94.XT926.Verizon.en.US. I'm not using a custom recovery. The bootloader is UNLOCKED and the phone is rooted! I used the Motopocalypse exploit method from around April of 2013. I've been extremely happy with the stability of 4.1.2, after the lockup/freeze/crash bug was fixed, which is why I haven't been quick to upgrade to anything else until now. I've also been afraid to mess with the phone out of fear of doing something wrong and creating more trouble for myself than it is worth (such as a soft brick from a failed OTA upgrade). I've seen enough posts about something going wrong or experiencing glitches in flashing methods which required workarounds that I want to ask before taking any action.
So, now I want to install a recent ROM free of Verizon's bloatware, in this case CM12. However, I can't seem to find any solid guide targeted at my scenario. Most of the information I find is either outdated (old methods, old software), or for the XT925 rather than the XT926(M), or the wrong country/carrier. Additionally, I know the newer ROMs are only available for KKBL, but I'm pretty sure that I'm still on JJBL if I'm on 4.1.2 OTA, and I can't find any recent or relevant guide for getting me out of where I am starting. If I was already on KKBL, I know all I would need to do is install a custom recovery and then install a custom ROM, but I'm at a disadvantage because I'm not even there yet and it's probably the part that's confusing me most.
I don't care about losing any data on my phone - I want to start completely fresh. The only thing I've done is create a nandroid backup (using the Online Nandroid app) for both CWM and TWRP recoveries. What next?
I don't know where to begin. Can someone help steer me in the right direction? I'd greatly appreciate it if you could be as specific as possible with versions and/or links to files I would need. Thanks!