Related
i'll try to be brief:
-if i root my phone (s3 mini), will samsung updates cause problems? would you suggest that i also flash the ROM (to smth custom like cyanogenMod)
-does the utility to root the phone provide a full backup of the stock firmware and data? so, if smth goes wrong i can revert back to stock (with my apps and settings. at worst, default factory settings).
-if i flash the ROM, will i lose anything? -say- will i lose proprietary stuff like touchwiz?
-do custom ROMs use the latest android version (that's one of the reasons that i wanna root & flash: to be up to date to latest android version)?
-can custom ROMs update to newer android versions automatically? or do i have to flash again and again everytime there is a new android update?
When I rooted my Galaxy S3 the status of the phone (visible in the preferences/device info) changed to "modified" and I stopped getting updates from Samsung (when checking for updates it said that I had a modified system so I wouldn't be able to get any updates). If you flash a ROM you will indeed loose everything, including Touchwiz, but if you backup your personal data then loosing Touchwiz could be a good thing, at least it was for me. I prefer Cyanogenmod.
Flashing ROMs is frequently done because you actually want to loose all that proprietary bloatware. Custom ROMs also can give you access to the latest Android version right away, wich is a lot faster than waiting months to get last year's version through Samsung. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to flash my phone. I don't use all the "features" that Samsung implements and with Cyanogenmod 10.1 my phone feels faster and has longer battery life.
As for updating, each ROM has different ways of handling it. Cyanogenmod has OTA updates which you can access through your phone "Settings/About phone" section and it will automatically flash them for you.
wtx1033 said:
i'll try to be brief:
-if i root my phone (s3 mini), will samsung updates cause problems? would you suggest that i also flash the ROM (to smth custom like cyanogenMod)
-does the utility to root the phone provide a full backup of the stock firmware and data? so, if smth goes wrong i can revert back to stock (with my apps and settings. at worst, default factory settings).
-if i flash the ROM, will i lose anything? -say- will i lose proprietary stuff like touchwiz?
-do custom ROMs use the latest android version (that's one of the reasons that i wanna root: to be up to date to latest android version)?
-can custom ROMs update to newer android versions automatically? or do i have to flash again and again everytime there is a new android update?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hcengar said:
When I rooted my Galaxy S3 the status of the phone (visible in the preferences/device info) changed to "modified" and I stopped getting updates from Samsung (when checking for updates it said that I had a modified system so I wouldn't be able to get any updates). If you flash a ROM you will indeed loose everything, including Touchwiz, but if you backup your personal data then loosing Touchwiz could be a good thing, at least it was for me. I prefer Cyanogenmod.
Flashing ROMs is frequently done because you actually want to loose all that proprietary bloatware. Custom ROMs also can give you access to the latest Android version right away, wich is a lot faster than waiting months to get last year's version through Samsung. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to flash my phone. I don't use all the "features" that Samsung implements and with Cyanogenmod 10.1 my phone feels faster and has longer battery life.
As for updating, each ROM has different ways of handling it. Cyanogenmod has OTA updates which you can access through your phone "Settings/About phone" section and it will automatically flash them for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you
the replies were as i hoped i am gonna root and flash soon.
but i am still looking for a reply to this one:
does the utility to root the phone also provides a full backup of the stock firmware and data? so, if smth goes wrong i can revert back to stock (with my apps and settings. at worst, default factory settings).
wtx1033 said:
thank you
the replies were as i hoped i am gonna root and flash soon.
but i am still looking for a reply to this one:
does the utility to root the phone also provides a full backup of the stock firmware and data? so, if smth goes wrong i can revert back to stock (with my apps and settings. at worst, default factory settings).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. You can use clockwork mod (cwm) to backup everything. Its recommended to take your backup using cwm before flashing a custom Rom. So that whenever you want your stock back or something with your new rom goes wrong you can revert back. You can use cwm to restore or use Odin which will make your device like when you bought it. You can restore the data alone using advance restore and your device will be like before flashing custom rom.
haridevil99 said:
Yes. You can use clockwork mod (cwm) to backup everything. Its recommended to take your backup using cwm before flashing a custom Rom. So that whenever you want your stock back or something with your new rom goes wrong you can revert back. You can use cwm to restore or use Odin which will make your device like when you bought it. You can restore the data alone using advance restore and your device will be like before flashing custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i guess, if smth goes bad during rooting i cannot revert back. since for backup one needs to root the device beforehand. is this right?
wtx1033 said:
i guess, if smth goes bad during rooting i cannot revert back. since for backup one needs to root the device beforehand. is this right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think cwm needs root access to take a backup. And you can rely on odin always if you got stock rom. So something goes wrong, Odin to the rescue.. So try taking backup with cwm first then root. Anyway if the root update was made for your device then its very very rare for things to go wrong.
Moto G, currently running 4.4.2 unlocked and rooted with TWRP v2.6.3.0 the firmware is tweaked to my liking with GravityBox. I am also using the Faux123 to over/under clock etc.
Very happy with the performance, features and battery life.
But I am now getting bugged by the Motorola update for 4.4.3
I did try to update and the phone got into a start, reboot loop. So I have restored to my last configuration.
It's been quite sometime since I played with configuring the above and I have gone a bit blank! Can someone please outline the steps that I have to do to complete the upgrade with minimum fuss.
As a side note. I have avoided custom ROMs so far because of all the problems that I was reading about several months ago. But perhaps enough time has elapsed for me to consider going say CM11 now? I would appreciate any comments as to me going down this route. ie. Are all bugs worked out is the Moto G fully functional, does a custom ROM truly provide worthwhile benefits?
Thanks.
I would also like to know this as well as I am currently on 4.4.2 unrooted, but really feel feel like I want to start and get my Moto G rooted and up and running with all the goody's available on the community, but feel like I should wait for the 4.4.3 rollout before I start going through the whole bootloader unlocking, rooting etc.
So I will check back on this post, and thank you to the thread starter as this saves me starting a similar topic.
Rooted 4.4.2 over here as well. Unfortunately I've had no such luck finding a way to update to 4.4.3 while being rooted. I've been through a plethora of guides and suggestions but nothing seems to be working. I'll end up getting an error no matter what I do.
Don't mean to try and hijack your thread, but I've been trying to flash the .zip for the update with both CWM and TWRP but I get an error every time. Anyone have any ideas why? Do I need to configure root-requiring apps beforehand or something?
ugh...same here! Please someone figure this out!
@Kwala Baerr I was hoping for a quick 1,2,3 Guide! I miss posted the question in the General section, then moved it here. I subsequently find a few similar posts in this section. But your message suggests that you may have already tried them which worries me! Anyway I will have a go tomorrow and post here if I get success.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
@grahamgo oh yea sorry. Well I've tried just about everything. I think I've narrowed down my problem to SoftKeyz messing up my SystemUI.apk so you might still have a chance. Let me know how it goes though!
grahamgo said:
Moto G, currently running 4.4.2 unlocked and rooted with TWRP v2.6.3.0 the firmware is tweaked to my liking with GravityBox. I am also using the Faux123 to over/under clock etc.
Very happy with the performance, features and battery life.
But I am now getting bugged by the Motorola update for 4.4.3
I did try to update and the phone got into a start, reboot loop. So I have restored to my last configuration.
It's been quite sometime since I played with configuring the above and I have gone a bit blank! Can someone please outline the steps that I have to do to complete the upgrade with minimum fuss.
As a side note. I have avoided custom ROMs so far because of all the problems that I was reading about several months ago. But perhaps enough time has elapsed for me to consider going say CM11 now? I would appreciate any comments as to me going down this route. ie. Are all bugs worked out is the Moto G fully functional, does a custom ROM truly provide worthwhile benefits?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put on your phone Us firmware http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2542219 setup the phone via wifi. Update is about 163mb. After that use Mototool to root the phone and fix the white screen http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2635706
mabey you can do a beckup of sms https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.CallLogBackupRestore
regards
I recently upgraded my stock rooted 4.4.2 Moto G to 4.4.3. The steps you have to take depends on how many modifications you've made. But basically, you need to make sure of these things:
Do a nandroid backup of your working system!
What I did:
Uninstall Xposed modules and Xposed Framework. You *must* do this through the XPosed installer itself.
Re-install/Re-enable system apps that you disabled. For me, I used Titanium Backup, and unfroze the apps that I froze. I made a mistake on my Nexus 7 and uninstalled without backup, which made this process harder.
Repeat the same for any other root apps that made changes to your /system folder.
Uninstall Busybox. If you don't know if you have it or not, download this BusyBox Installer app, and it will tell you. If it is installed, go to the bottom right of your screen and under its preferences, there is a 'delete busybox' option as seen in their 6th screenshot. The order of this is important! Some apps require BusyBox to work and do their installing/uninstalling.
Completely unroot by going to SuperSU's Settings tab, and selecting the Full Unroot option.
Download the latest version of SuperSU onto your SD card if you don't have it already.
Download 4.4.3 update and let it install.
Go into your recovery and re-install SuperSU.
Restore your old root apps like XPosed and BusyBox. I re-installed them and re-did my settings for gravity box and saved my settings using the in-app options for XPrivacy, but you might be able to use Titanium Backup for this if your settings are too extensive.
Alternately, if you're having trouble because you can't find the system apps you need or you're getting an error while updating due to something in your /system folder, you should download stock 4.4.2, extract it, and then re-flash the stock system & boot.img using fastboot or mfastboot. For my XT1034, it was in these images: system.img_sparsechunk1, system.img_sparsechunk2, system.img_sparsechunk3 + boot.img. Yours may differ depending on your model.
Note, I did not test this particular method when I upgraded, but I did use mfastboot to revert to a complete stock 4.4.2 when I changed from CM11 awhile back using this guide.
I was able to keep my bootloader unlocked, and to keep PhilZ's recovery through the update process with no issues.
Hope that helps!
tarotsujimoto said:
I recently upgraded my stock rooted 4.4.2 Moto G to 4.4.3. The steps you have to take depends on how many modifications you've made. But basically, you need to make sure of these things:
Do a nandroid backup of your working system!
What I did:
Uninstall Xposed modules and Xposed Framework. You *must* do this through the XPosed installer itself.
Re-install/Re-enable system apps that you disabled. For me, I used Titanium Backup, and unfroze the apps that I froze. I made a mistake on my Nexus 7 and uninstalled without backup, which made this process harder.
Repeat the same for any other root apps that made changes to your /system folder.
Uninstall Busybox. If you don't know if you have it or not, download this BusyBox Installer app, and it will tell you. If it is installed, go to the bottom right of your screen and under its preferences, there is a 'delete busybox' option as seen in their 6th screenshot. The order of this is important! Some apps require BusyBox to work and do their installing/uninstalling.
Completely unroot by going to SuperSU's Settings tab, and selecting the Full Unroot option.
Download the latest version of SuperSU onto your SD card if you don't have it already.
Download 4.4.3 update and let it install.
Go into your recovery and re-install SuperSU.
Restore your old root apps like XPosed and BusyBox. I re-installed them and re-did my settings for gravity box and saved my settings using the in-app options for XPrivacy, but you might be able to use Titanium Backup for this if your settings are too extensive.
Alternately, if you're having trouble because you can't find the system apps you need or you're getting an error while updating due to something in your /system folder, you should download stock 4.4.2, extract it, and then re-flash the stock system & boot.img using fastboot or mfastboot. For my XT1034, it was in these images: system.img_sparsechunk1, system.img_sparsechunk2, system.img_sparsechunk3 + boot.img. Yours may differ depending on your model.
Note, I did not test this particular method when I upgraded, but I did use mfastboot to revert to a complete stock 4.4.2 when I changed from CM11 awhile back using this guide.
I was able to keep my bootloader unlocked, and to keep PhilZ's recovery through the update process with no issues.
Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What recovery were you on?
Kwala Baerr said:
What recovery were you on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the thread with information on downloading & installing PhilZ Touch recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2639583
Looks like there's a new stable release out, but I still had PhilZ Touch 6.26.6 Falcon installed.
tarotsujimoto said:
I recently upgraded my stock rooted 4.4.2 Moto G to 4.4.3. The steps you have to take depends on how many modifications you've made. But basically, you need to make sure of these things:
Do a nandroid backup of your working system!
What I did:
Uninstall Xposed modules and Xposed Framework. You *must* do this through the XPosed installer itself.
Re-install/Re-enable system apps that you disabled. For me, I used Titanium Backup, and unfroze the apps that I froze. I made a mistake on my Nexus 7 and uninstalled without backup, which made this process harder.
Repeat the same for any other root apps that made changes to your /system folder.
Uninstall Busybox. If you don't know if you have it or not, download this BusyBox Installer app, and it will tell you. If it is installed, go to the bottom right of your screen and under its preferences, there is a 'delete busybox' option as seen in their 6th screenshot. The order of this is important! Some apps require BusyBox to work and do their installing/uninstalling.
Completely unroot by going to SuperSU's Settings tab, and selecting the Full Unroot option.
Download the latest version of SuperSU onto your SD card if you don't have it already.
Download 4.4.3 update and let it install.
Go into your recovery and re-install SuperSU.
Restore your old root apps like XPosed and BusyBox. I re-installed them and re-did my settings for gravity box and saved my settings using the in-app options for XPrivacy, but you might be able to use Titanium Backup for this if your settings are too extensive.
Alternately, if you're having trouble because you can't find the system apps you need or you're getting an error while updating due to something in your /system folder, you should download stock 4.4.2, extract it, and then re-flash the stock system & boot.img using fastboot or mfastboot. For my XT1034, it was in these images: system.img_sparsechunk1, system.img_sparsechunk2, system.img_sparsechunk3 + boot.img. Yours may differ depending on your model.
Note, I did not test this particular method when I upgraded, but I did use mfastboot to revert to a complete stock 4.4.2 when I changed from CM11 awhile back using this guide.
I was able to keep my bootloader unlocked, and to keep PhilZ's recovery through the update process with no issues.
Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im rooted running stock rom and using exposed installer with gravity box and a few other modules running and all I had to do to update to 4.3.3 was to use Moto Tool AIO v3.0 to revert back to stock kitkat recovery, after that I just accepted the update, installed it, and then went back to a custom recovery. I lost none of my exposed installs or settings, took maybe 10 minutes start to finish and was painless.
tarotsujimoto said:
Here's the thread with information on downloading & installing PhilZ Touch recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2639583
Looks like there's a new stable release out, but I still had PhilZ Touch 6.26.6 Falcon installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just wasted a lot of time...... I tried Philz Touch 6.43.8, no go, then an earlier version, still no go. Then I found a thread saying that there were bugs in later versions, they recommended the use of 6.26.6
I tried it and it works great. However I wasted almost 2 hours finding this out.
castuis said:
Im rooted running stock rom and using exposed installer with gravity box and a few other modules running and all I had to do to update to 4.3.3 was to use Moto Tool AIO v3.0 to revert back to stock kitkat recovery, after that I just accepted the update, installed it, and then went back to a custom recovery. I lost none of my exposed installs or settings, took maybe 10 minutes start to finish and was painless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate @tarotsujimoto post and I see the logic of this approach. But I too was thinking that it might be less troublesome (but maybe take longer) to go back to factory, update it to 4.4.3 and then re-install Xposed and apps + data, etc using Titanium.
@castuis I am intrigued by your mention of using a custom recovery. Could you please expand on what you backed up and if possible more details on how you did it etc.
I have wasted too much time today getting a working Philz Touch going, (maybe I should have stayed with TWRP!). But I do like the look of Philz 6.26.6 now its working. But will have to put my 4.4.3 update attempt off for a day or so.
Thanks!
Since none of the methods mentioned works for me, I have tried to extract the system.img from the original ROM archive. But how do I mount that system.img_sparsechunk files on Linux? They can not be converted by simg2img or unyaffs either ...
I had no success with any of the "short cut" methods either. I was hoping that @castuis promise of a 10 minute method would come true, but he hasn't been back to expand on his method. I myself reverted the phone to factory, let it upgrade. Then re-rooted, installed xposed and then let Google play reinstall my apps. It's definitely not a quick method. But at least it gave me a clean install. Significant frustration, caused by using Philz touch, but switched to TWRP. Finally did a system backup with Titanium. I thought that was it. Now it looks like there will be a 4.4.4 soon. I'm thinking to ignore it and wait for the next upgrade. @nodh I would wait for 4.4.4 !
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I've solved my upgrade problem: I've flashed the 176.44.1 (retail Germany, 4.4.3) stock ROM, as described here. Altough I didn't flash the recovery (to restore root with the ClockWorkMod recovey) and didn't erase userdata. Now I've got the upgrade, with all my settings preserved and even rooted again.
Hi
After rooting my phone using Kingo Root, i installed a rom from Sammobile.com (T111XXUANH3_T111OLBANH2)
The problem is, the installation did not make my phone better. All applications started to
crash (force close) especially Facebook, Whatsapp and messaging.
The crash occured in regular basis everytime i used some functions in the apps. The warning message says: " ...... has stopped". I can not even send sms anymore since it was always crashed seconds after writing the message.
I have done all of these steps suggested in many forums but they did not work:
1. Wipe partition and cache in recovery mode
2. Delete data and cache of the apps
3. Fix permissions in apps to fix their UIDs (i used fix permission app downloaded from google play store)
My questions are:
1. What is the best installer app to install ROM from computer?
2. What is the best ROM for Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite SM-T111?
3. When installing the ROM, Does it install the new kernel as well?
I'm still new in Android rooting and i don't have much knowledge about installing a new rom properly including its Kernel. Please help me to restore my phone's functions back to normal.
Thank you in advance.
robw7 said:
Hi
After rooting my phone using Kingo Root, i installed a custom rom from Sammobile.com (T111XXUANH3_T111OLBANH2)
The problem is, the installation did not make my phone better. All applications started to
crash (force close) especially Facebook, Whatsapp and messaging.
The crash occured in regular basis everytime i used some functions in the apps. The warning message says: " ...... has stopped". I can not even send sms anymore since it was always crashed seconds after writing the message.
I have done all of these steps suggested in many forums but they did not work:
1. Wipe partition and cache in recovery mode
2. Delete data and cache of the apps
3. Fix permissions in apps to fix their UIDs (i used fix permission app downloaded from google play store)
My questions are:
1. What is the best installer app to install ROM from computer?
2. What is the best ROM for Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite SM-T111?
3. When installing the ROM, Does it install the new kernel as well?
I'm still new in Android rooting and i don't have much knowledge about installing a new rom properly including its Kernel. Please help me to restore my phone's functions back to normal.
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're installing a stock ROM use ODIN always if its a Samsung device, if it's a custom ROM use a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP.
When installing a custom ROM it will install a new kernel most of the time (Very rare when a ROM doesn't contain a kernel and it's always custom ROMS). A stock ROM will always contain a new kernel.
Finally there is no such thing as a "best" ROM, everyone has a personal preference but to get you started I would recommend trying out CM11, Paranoid Android or PAC-ROM as these have a nice stock feel whilst containing useful tweaks.
To restore your phone to stock just download the stock firmware from SAM Mobile and flash using ODIN and select the PDA file in the PDA button area and then flash
TechMinerUK said:
If you're installing a stock ROM use ODIN always if its a Samsung device, if it's a custom ROM use a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP.
When installing a custom ROM it will install a new kernel most of the time (Very rare when a ROM doesn't contain a kernel and it's always custom ROMS). A stock ROM will always contain a new kernel.
Finally there is no such thing as a "best" ROM, everyone has a personal preference but to get you started I would recommend trying out CM11, Paranoid Android or PAC-ROM as these have a nice stock feel whilst containing useful tweaks.
To restore your phone to stock just download the stock firmware from SAM Mobile and flash using ODIN and select the PDA file in the PDA button area and then flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply but can i just replace my current ROM with correct custom ROM that will not make my phone crashed? I have installed the stock firmware but it did not make my phone any better.
I have also installed dr ketan custom ROM but still the phone functions not working properly. All apps crashed after only a few seconds opened and sub menu can not be accessed.
I wish someone can help me fix this because i have only one phone i use for work.
Sorry about my English and wrong term i use.
robw7 said:
Thank you for your reply but can i just replace my current ROM with correct custom ROM that will not make my phone crashed? I have installed the stock firmware but it did not make my phone any better.
I have also installed dr ketan custom ROM but still the phone functions not working properly. All apps crashed after only a few seconds opened and sub menu can not be accessed.
I wish someone can help me fix this because i have only one phone i use for work.
Sorry about my English and wrong term i use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the correct custom recovery installed and the correct custom ROM on an SD card sure you can replace the current one
using kingo withot issues
no offence but using kingo from last 20 days, typing fm same 111 tab, but no isssues, not installed cwm,twrp(actally thry r giving only bootloops) hense stock recovrry 4 now, so apps who depends upon cwm.... cant run
major problem cant write SYSTEM PARTITION.
I have a stock unrooted Motorola Droid Razr M xt907
4.4.2 OTA OS, but I DID remove a few stock items.
Sys Ver: 182.46.15.XT907.Verison.en.US
Kernel is: July 29 2014
I have never owned or worked with a smartphone before, but have OC exp dating back to MS Dos 1.x-2.1 and have some Linux exp using OpenSuse
If I understand correctly I need to back upi the system files BEFORE ROOTING the device to protect myself in the event I go to far while rooted and bootloop or brick the device.
I am trying to understand how to create a Nandroid backup without rooting, but I'm not understanding quite enough to have any great success.
I''d rather not wipe all the installed apps, but if I need to I'd like to know if I can
- back up apps and settings using a utility that does not require root access
- do a reset
- then back up the virgin unrooted 4.4.2 system files
- Then root
- Then install CM11 (KitKat 4.4.4 based)
- The restore the apps and settings fromt eh (non Nandroid) backup I need to do a real OTA reset because I killed some of the stock apps already. (At least, that's my understanding)
I really appreciate you all being here to help folks! Many thanks in advance!
XDA Visitor said:
I have a stock unrooted Motorola Droid Razr M xt907
4.4.2 OTA OS, but I DID remove a few stock items.
Sys Ver: 182.46.15.XT907.Verison.en.US
Kernel is: July 29 2014
I have never owned or worked with a smartphone before, but have OC exp dating back to MS Dos 1.x-2.1 and have some Linux exp using OpenSuse
If I understand correctly I need to back upi the system files BEFORE ROOTING the device to protect myself in the event I go to far while rooted and bootloop or brick the device.
I am trying to understand how to create a Nandroid backup without rooting, but I'm not understanding quite enough to have any great success.
I''d rather not wipe all the installed apps, but if I need to I'd like to know if I can
- back up apps and settings using a utility that does not require root access
- do a reset
- then back up the virgin unrooted 4.4.2 system files
- Then root
- Then install CM11 (KitKat 4.4.4 based)
- The restore the apps and settings fromt eh (non Nandroid) backup I need to do a real OTA reset because I killed some of the stock apps already. (At least, that's my understanding)
I really appreciate you all being here to help folks! Many thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock your bootloader.
Flash the latest TWRP recovery in fastboot.
Make a backup with TWRP.
THEN flash SuperSU to gain root using the TWRP Recovery.
It's actually a great idea to hold onto a non-rooted backup, in case you want to return to stock one day to get an OTA update.
Okay, in looking for directions to unlock the bootloader, I'm jsut finding a lot of hits that begin y saying the phone needs to be rooted first, so I could use a push in the right direction there.
The forum linked here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2226729
should give you all of the info that you need.
xunholyx said:
The forum linked here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2226729
should give you all of the info that you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm so confused. The first instruction in the first post is to root the phone, but then how can I get an unrooted Nandroid backup?
I believe the answer I need may be covered here, but I'm not sure I follow how to flash this properly BEFORE rooting the phone. I intend to make a walkthrough on another forum once I get this all sorted, and would be happy to plug XDAD and you for the help.
There is a broken link in the guide you linked me to. I just wanted to make you aware. I have the motorola driver loaded on my Win 7 Ultimate Retail 64 bit driven PC, so I'm good, but the link for the drivers is returning a 404
I'm the one who is confused.
Sorry, I should have read the OP in that link better.
You can backup all of your data using ADB: adb backup -apk -shared -all -f C:\Users\NAME\backup.ab
And restore it using this command: adb restore C:\Users\NAME\backup.ab
Replace "NAME" with your Windows username of course.
There is a more comprehensive guide here.
Read the OP, then go to the last 10pgs or so to see if there is new info (didn't read that far, but the thread is still active).
Okay, I suspect this last link is probably more what I'm after, but before I do that, I'm HOPING it is possible to back up the installed apps and their respective settings first. The reason for this is that I really do want a squeaky clean, uprooted Nandroid backup of the last OTA update supported which, (no surprise), is 4.4.2, which includes the handy Heartbleed bug "feature" and makes the Razr M all but useless.
Of course, as we know, 4.4.4 runs very well on the Razr M and the Heartbleed bug is easily solved by it, but Motorola prefers you buy a new phone, so they introduce a bug, load it on everyone's 1-1/2 year old devices, and they refused to fix it by not allowing users access to the "new" unbroken OLD KitKat platform! You can only run that LAST version of the OLD KitKat on NEW HARDWARE!
The other tactic used on consumers by Motorola and others is not allowing customers to purchase new factory fresh batteries for their devices, whether "non-replaceable" or not. These are two strong-arm tactics adopted that now dominate cellular and other technologies.
I digress.
I am going to HAVE to restore this phone before making the Nandroid because I pulled some stock 4.4.2 Motorola firmware bloat out of it, adn now I need iot back for that backup to be truly virgin. :/
Soooooooo . . . .
The first order of business is to determine if I can add the stock stuff back, or if I have to actually do a reset on the phone. I fear adding the stock items back MAY still leave changes in the system folder, which is not acceptable to me. *IF* I CAN successfully add the stock bloat back in and get a clean Nandroid, I'd be happy about that, though I'd be concerned about it working properly none-the less.
This is why I ask if I can back up apps and app data and later successfully restore that stuff that was backed up under 4.4.2 once I have successfully loaded the (KitKat 4.4.4 based) CM11 Mod.
If the backup of apps and app settings WILL restore to 4.4.4, I'd like to:
- > back up all apps, app data adn user data > reset the phone loading the 4.4.2 OTA BONE STOCK > make my Nandroid of the bone stock unrooted 4.4.2 > Root > Load CM11 MOD ROM > Restore my apps and user data.
I will work on learning to make the unrooted Nandroid some while I wait for a reply, as I'm going to have to do that as a later step.
Giving this a try. I'm about to crash. I'm pretty zonked out.
If all that you want is to save apps and app data, and not system and boot partitions, then use the ADB commands that I posted. That will do exactly what you want.
Oh no no, that's not all I want to do by any means. I am going to load the KitKat 4.4.4 based CM11 ROM, but before I do that I want a clean OTA backup of the stock unrooted KitKat 4.4.2 so I have that to fall back on.
To that end, in preparation for the new ROM I'd like to back up all apps that are currently loaded along with the current app data, and also to back up all personal data.
Once that is done, I need to do a reset to get 4.4.2 back into it;s stock trim as this will be my original 4.4.2 OTA Nandroid.
THEN I will root and install CM11
Then, if it's possible, I'd like to restore all of my current apps and app data.
I've been working on understanding the steps needed to make that unrooted 4.4.2 Nandroid while awaiting suggestions about how to do the app/app data and personal data backup., as well as a yea or neigh about if the app backup can even be successfully restored under the new (4.44 based) os.
So Ive got a vs980 LgG2 running SlimLp ROM. As you may know Niantic has named all users running rooted or jailbroken phones. My end game is I want to be able to keep my ROM and play the game. I really just want to remove root access from my ROM and not have to go to a stock ROM. But it seems like my only options are 1) go back to a stock ROM. 2) install Magisk and hope it works.
Any ideas or suggestions on the easiest route or an additional option?