Related
Hi Everyone -
First off, let me apologize in advance for asking this question as I imagine it has been asked dozens of times previously.
I recently installed a custom ROM (OmniROM 4.4 'KitKat') on my Galaxy Note 2. I backed everything up, rooted it, installed recovery, etc. and then installed the nightly build of the ROM at that time.
The ROM is currently undergoing heavy development/nightly builds and I'd like to update from time to time.
Here's my question: do I need to wipe the device completely every time to UPGRADE the same ROM to a newer build? installing the ROM is straightforward enough, it's reinstalling all the apps, reconnecting email, etc. that's a PITA if I were to do this several times per week.
Can someone let me know what the process is for upgrading? Or point me to a link!
Thanks a ton in advance!
B
Hi, I've updated ist daily in the last 5 days. I just checked for updates in the phone settings and the phone (GT.I9100G) does everything automatically. All my apps and data are still there after an update. Nothing was deleted.
I am having a really weird issue I'm hoping someone can help me out with. I was on 4.1.2 Clean ROM which was working great. I wanted to move to 4.3 Clean ROM (8.1 Core Edition). I did the upgrade and then flashed my modem to ML1 both via TWRP.
The ROM setup fine and ran great. However the first time I did a reboot, the phone gets stuck at the Samsung Galaxy S3 logo and never goes anywhere. I left it sit there for 30 minutes and it was hard locked. Only a battery pull would reset it. Through numerous reboots/pulls, the same thing would happen. I tried wiping Dalvik and Cache in TWRP and fixing permissions, to no avail. Reinstalling Clean ROM 8.1 via TWRP without formatting data did not fix the issue either. The only way to get my phone back up and running was a complete wipe and reinstalling from scratch. Then as soon as I reboot the first time, the issue comes back. I've tested this on a clean install - letting the phone go through the initial setup process but not installing or updating any apps - and it still happens.
So I moved on to try AllianceROM build 22, also a 4.3 build and wiped to do a clean install. No matter what options I choose in the setup, the same problem happens. Interestingly in AllianceROM I always get a acore process has failed error on the first boot.
Then I went to download the Knox-free rooted version of stock 4.3 available from Scott's website. I have the same issue with this. Also a wipe with clean install.
It's obvious there is something my phone doesn't like about moving from 4.1.2 to 4.3. In total, I have probably installed three different ROM's about 20 times now after the past couple days.
I've searched about this problem extensively and the only thing I found is a thread for the AT&T S3 that talks about this exact issue, and using Odin to go to stock 4.3 and loading a custom ROM to fix the issue. But I am under the impression that a 100% stock 4.3 will lock my bootloader.
What I plan to do next is use Odin to flash a stock 4.1.2, then go through the process of moving to a custom 4.3 ROM again.
If anyone knows of a tar'd version of 4.3 that won't lock my bootloader, I would be grateful!
If anyone knows of a different way to fix my problem, I would be grateful for that too!
Well I think I can declare victory. My phone is running Clean Rom 8.1 CE and has survived a reboot after every app install for a total of 15 so far.
As it turns out, I think being on TWRP 2.5 and trying to upgrade to Android 4.3 was the issue. Before I went the route of flashing a stock 4.1.2 release, I thought to check if my version of TWRP was the latest, and it was not. I flashed TWRP 2.7, and did a complete wipe and clean install of Clean Rom 8.1 CE, and it's running like a champ.
I know, I know...the install guide on most every ROM says to use the latest version of your recovery - until now I thought that was a "recommendation" or "best practice" and not a hard requirement. Turns out, at least for me, that it is very much a hard requirement. In reading the release notes for TWRP 2.6 and 2.7, they both appear to implement things specifically for Android 4.3 or 4.4.
Hopefully this info helps someone who may be having the same issue.
Hello XDA!
I have some questions about my n8010. It is a tablet that I bought in Greece, in case that is necessary to know, and has an interesting background. It started late May. The tablet was unrooted and without any mods whatsoever. I was running the latest Jelly Bean update and had A TON of lag. I had replaced TouchWiz Launcher with Nova and a different gallery and music app with still a lot of lag. So I decided to flash CM11 since it would be lighter for the tablet. After some research I followed the root guide from Zedomax and everything was fine. I had root and so I proceeded doing a backup. This where everything got weird. The backup started but was stuck for long periods of time. After some time being stuck in a screen I decided I should force restart. After the Galaxy Note 10.1 logo appeared it just hanged there without booting into Jelly Bean. I checked recovery and download mode and they where all working fine so I flashed TWRP. It worked and so I took a backup and proceeded installing CM11. I had it already in my SD. I had followed the instructions in the XDA thread that said about removing a line to make it work on the n8010. The flash went great and after factory resetting I rebooted the tablet and everything was OK. At the first boot WiFi wouldn't work but after a reboot it was. The only thing that wasn't working was the video recording. It is a deal-breaker as I use it a lot. I had to switch ROMs. I tried CM10.2 and it still wouldn't. Same goes for Revolt. At lat I switched to a TouchWiz based ROM. Specifically Hyperdrive RLS8. Video was working so I stayed there. I was noticing that since I flashed CM11 my tablet showed up as an n8013 which was very weird but since these ROMs where designed for the n8013 I thought it was normal.
One ROM also had the front facing camera able to record. Upon further inspection I found that Download Mode had my tablet as an n8010 but with the flash count 0 and the status official! Now, I'm either super lucky or the completely opposite! It also says official under About Device! Fast forward a few months and I am now in a situation where the tablet lags once again like crazy. I uninstalled a couple of apps and also installed lighter alternatives and it's somewhat bearable. I was reading the Official OmniROM thread and saw that others also had issues, most of which had the new KitKat bootloader that I don't have, with YouTube and the Video Recording. The latest nightlies are said to have a fix. So I am thinking of installing OmniROM since I am lagging a lot and I would like Screen Mirroring to the Chromecast. My only concern is that I will either brick the tablet or the camcorder won't work. Many people have bricked their Notes and can't go back without the Samsung Service. Most have the new KitKat bootloader which I don't and I'm happy about. My tablet is in a weird situation, what should I do? Anybody else experiencing these issues? Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Edit: Forgot to say that I flashed Carbon ROM in September and I got a status 7 while flashing with PhilzCWM that I had installed in order to flash Hyperdrive. I had to flash back to Hyperdrive as it wouldn't boot after the status 7. It probably happened because it didn't have SE Linux support. If I do anything I'll flash the latest TWRP.
chrismin13 said:
Hello XDA!
I have some questions about my n8010. It is a tablet that I bought in Greece, in case that is necessary to know, and has an interesting background. It started late May. The tablet was unrooted and without any mods whatsoever. I was running the latest Jelly Bean update and had A TON of lag. I had replaced TouchWiz Launcher with Nova and a different gallery and music app with still a lot of lag. So I decided to flash CM11 since it would be lighter for the tablet. After some research I followed the root guide from Zedomax and everything was fine. I had root and so I proceeded doing a backup. This where everything got weird. The backup started but was stuck for long periods of time. After some time being stuck in a screen I decided I should force restart. After the Galaxy Note 10.1 logo appeared it just hanged there without booting into Jelly Bean. I checked recovery and download mode and they where all working fine so I flashed TWRP. It worked and so I took a backup and proceeded installing CM11. I had it already in my SD. I had followed the instructions in the XDA thread that said about removing a line to make it work on the n8010. The flash went great and after factory resetting I rebooted the tablet and everything was OK. At the first boot WiFi wouldn't work but after a reboot it was. The only thing that wasn't working was the video recording. It is a deal-breaker as I use it a lot. I had to switch ROMs. I tried CM10.2 and it still wouldn't. Same goes for Revolt. At lat I switched to a TouchWiz based ROM. Specifically Hyperdrive RLS8. Video was working so I stayed there. I was noticing that since I flashed CM11 my tablet showed up as an n8013 which was very weird but since these ROMs where designed for the n8013 I thought it was normal.
One ROM also had the front facing camera able to record. Upon further inspection I found that Download Mode had my tablet as an n8010 but with the flash count 0 and the status official! Now, I'm either super lucky or the completely opposite! It also says official under About Device! Fast forward a few months and I am now in a situation where the tablet lags once again like crazy. I uninstalled a couple of apps and also installed lighter alternatives and it's somewhat bearable. I was reading the Official OmniROM thread and saw that others also had issues, most of which had the new KitKat bootloader that I don't have, with YouTube and the Video Recording. The latest nightlies are said to have a fix. So I am thinking of installing OmniROM since I am lagging a lot and I would like Screen Mirroring to the Chromecast. My only concern is that I will either brick the tablet or the camcorder won't work. Many people have bricked their Notes and can't go back without the Samsung Service. Most have the new KitKat bootloader which I don't and I'm happy about. My tablet is in a weird situation, what should I do? Anybody else experiencing these issues? Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Edit: Forgot to say that I flashed Carbon ROM in September and I got a status 7 while flashing with PhilzCWM that I had installed in order to flash Hyperdrive. I had to flash back to Hyperdrive as it wouldn't boot after the status 7. It probably happened because it didn't have SE Linux support. If I do anything I'll flash the latest TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have fixed the original lag issues first. I would get it back to factory stock 100 percent, once back to factory I would do A factory reset and start all over. Get the system running stock as it should then reinstall apps one at a time. if it can't run stock for whatever reason other roms not going to fix the problem.
at least with factory stock you know what should be working. Instead of guessing if the problem is part of the new ROM
shaun298 said:
I would have fixed the original lag issues first. I would get it back to factory stock 100 percent, once back to factory I would do A factory reset and start all over. Get the system running stock as it should then reinstall apps one at a time. if it can't run stock for whatever reason other roms not going to fix the problem.
at least with factory stock you know what should be working. Instead of guessing if the problem is part of the new ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response!
Good idea! I was thinking of going back to stock and repeating everything. It should fix all my issues. It's too bad that I don't have a working stock backup and I will have to flash through Odin. The reason that I am not doing this is because I am afraid of making it even worse from the official status state that I have in Download Mode and my device is an n8013 under About Device. A flash back to stock through Odin would probably flash most of the system parts which would be kinda dangerous. But on the other hand that would mean that I could give it a brand new try with better luck possibly! It's not that TouchWiz ROMs don't work, it's AOSP that doesn't. I played a lot with Hyperdrive and seems like it's doing better from the lag prospective. But that's only gonna last 15 days. I am sure! So, I'll have your response in mind! Might try it out when I have some free time. Unfortunately, that will probably be Christmas.
Thanks,
Chris
Going back to stock is good advice.Should certainly fix the video problem which you said was important.
Phil789 said:
Going back to stock is good advice.Should certainly fix the video problem which you said was important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any video playback issues. It's just the camcorder that doesn't work in AOSP ROMs.
Yes.My use of the word "video" should have been "video recording".
The time has come!
Hello everyone, happy holidays!
The time has come that I follow your instructions. I've done my research and here's how I'll do it. Do you agree? Do you have any other suggestions?
Take full backups with my current configuration (Hyperdrive RLS8, PhilzCWM)
Factory reset the device and clean it up so that there is a lot of space
Install Samsung Drivers
Flash Stock Greek 4.1.2 Frimware (N8010XXUCMK2_N8010OXXCMK2_HOME.tar.md5) through ODIN v3 1.85
Let it boot up and do a factory reset from stock recovery
Flash TWRP 2.8.1.0 for the GT-N8010 (openrecovery-twrp-2.8.1.0-gt-n8010) (I chose this version since it has the most downloads)
Make a full backup once again
Flash Omni ROM 4.4.4 (omni-4.4.4-20141222-n801x-NIGHTLY)
Flash SuperSU (UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.40)
Flash PA GApps (pa_gapps-modular-mini-4.4.4-20141214-signed.zip)
Factory reset
REBOOT!
Check everything (Video, model, download mode, bugs, etc.)
REPORT!
If everything goes correctly I believe I should be OK! Hope my issues will be over since the tablet is slow once again. Kinda scared, so that's why I'm asking you. Will I be (mostly) brick safe? Hope so!
Thank you very much for your support,
Chris
P.S.: Should I root before leaving stock? I mean through TWRP.
chrismin13 said:
Hello everyone, happy holidays!
The time has come that I follow your instructions. I've done my research and here's how I'll do it. Do you agree? Do you have any other suggestions?
Take full backups with my current configuration (Hyperdrive RLS8, PhilzCWM)
Factory reset the device and clean it up so that there is a lot of space
Install Samsung Drivers
Flash Stock Greek 4.1.2 Frimware (N8010XXUCMK2_N8010OXXCMK2_HOME.tar.md5) through ODIN v3 1.85
Let it boot up and do a factory reset from stock recovery
Flash TWRP 2.8.1.0 for the GT-N8010 (openrecovery-twrp-2.8.1.0-gt-n8010) (I chose this version since it has the most downloads)
Make a full backup once again
Flash Omni ROM 4.4.4 (omni-4.4.4-20141222-n801x-NIGHTLY)
Flash SuperSU (UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.40)
Flash PA GApps (pa_gapps-modular-mini-4.4.4-20141214-signed.zip)
Factory reset
REBOOT!
Check everything (Video, model, download mode, bugs, etc.)
REPORT!
If everything goes correctly I believe I should be OK! Hope my issues will be over since the tablet is slow once again. Kinda scared, so that's why I'm asking you. Will I be (mostly) brick safe? Hope so!
Thank you very much for your support,
Chris
P.S.: Should I root before leaving stock? I mean through TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did it! It worked. Everything went OK but:
- Flash count is 0 and status official
- Back camera records in slow-mo
- Chromecast mirroring does not work
However:
-My device is an N8010
-I use the front camera instead
-Mirroring was not really needed
-LAG IS HISTORY!!! [emoji50] [emoji2] [emoji2] [emoji2]
I am so impressed by the performance, still doesn't best my nexus 4 with KK 4.4.4 but it's a GIGANTIC IMPROVEMENT! Veeery happy! Thank you for your support, I wouldn't be here without you!
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Chris.[emoji2]
Hi, I've got some random reboots after upgrading on stock Lollipop 5.1 on my Nexus 5.
I've used Android 5.0.1 without any reboots or problem, but after upgrading on 5.1 I'm facing many random reboots when I switch from an app (like a game or Hangouts) using Recents or Home button from NavBar (it also happens randomly when I'm using my phone, like writing a message on Hangouts).
The reboots I'm talking about are not "soft" but "hard", because bootloader's logo (Google) appears and restarts my phone, so it is caused by Kernel Panic (as you'll see in my last_kmsg) and they occured on both stock and custom rom.
Here is a "last_kmsg" when it occured on stock Lollipop 5.1: http://pastebin.com/80dDgzae (attached too).
The_Wolf91 said:
Hi, I've got some random reboots after upgrading on stock Lollipop 5.1 on my Nexus 5.
I've used Android 5.0.1 without any reboots or problem, but after upgrading on 5.1 I'm facing many random reboots when I switch from an app (like a game or Hangouts) using Recents or Home button from NavBar (it also happens randomly when I'm using my phone, like writing a message on Hangouts).
The reboots I'm talking about are not "soft" but "hard", because bootloader's logo (Google) appears and restarts my phone, so it is caused by Kernel Panic (as you'll see in my last_kmsg) and they occured on both stock and custom rom.
Here is a "last_kmsg" when it occured on stock Lollipop 5.1: http://pastebin.com/80dDgzae (attached too).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashed Android 5.0.1 and no random reboots (as I also said when i wrote my first post).
I don't know if the "question" is clear, but can you help me reading the "last_kmsg" which I attached in first post? Thanks
Same exact thing happening to me also.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
The same is happening to me. And it looks like a hardware problem cuz when the phone reboots it keeping reboot until I keep pressing the power button while boots.
I have a bad experience about it. In my Nexus S when updates to Jelly Bean the same occurs until phone suddenly die. (I live in Brazil so, guess what? I have now a wonderful paper weight)
No luck with 5.1.1
You guys found any fix?
I was waiting for 5.1.1 update from Google (5.1.1 code is already available on AOSP and I tested it on Chroma), but unfortunately it didn't solve this problem: it keeps rebooting after a long daytime doing the same things I already wrote in first post. I'll wait for factory Google factory images, but I'm pretty sure it won't fix this.
P.S.: I tested Chroma on 5.0.2 bootloader and modem.
Anyone can read "last_kmg" I posted in first post? Any other has the same trouble?
The_Wolf91 said:
You guys found any fix?
I was waiting for 5.1.1 update from Google (5.1.1 code is already available on AOSP and I tested it on Chroma), but unfortunately it didn't solve this problem: it keeps rebooting after a long daytime doing the same things I already wrote in first post. I'll wait for factory Google factory images, but I'm pretty sure it won't fix this.
P.S.: I tested Chroma on 5.0.2 bootloader and modem.
Anyone can read "last_kmg" I posted in first post? Any other has the same trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try another (custom) kernel.
beekay201 said:
Try another (custom) kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just flashed ElementalX kernel but no luck, random reboot happened on 5.1.1 too. By the way it was quite obvious because it happened already on 5.1 Google's factory image (stock kernel so)..
I have exactly the same issue with nexus 5 since upgrading to 5.1.0.
I went back to 5.0.1, which solved it for a few days, but now this happens with 5.0.1 as well.
also, before random reboots happen, the power button becomes extra sensitive, so one keypress causes the screen to turn on and off again, or to display the shutdown menu.
this does not happen when the phone is stable.
Hey guys i have the exactly same problem since i upgraded to 5.1.1 i am non-rooted please need help
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
noob424 said:
Hey guys i have the exactly same problem since i upgraded to 5.1.1 i am non-rooted please need help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.
LG Nexus 5 - Lollipop 5.1.1 LMY48B
Unlocked bootloader;
Rooted;
ClockWorkmod 6.0.4.5 (not flashed - just boot on image when used);
Wipe factory reset (in cwm). Flashed 5.1.1 image files (boot, radio, bootloader, system and cache).
Random reboots, and sometimes with apps optimizing.
I have the same problem with N5 since upgrading to 5.1.1 - never had any problems before. Doing it several times an hour now. Trying a cache clean next, after I wait for the optimising apps to finish yet again!
Hi all,
I had the same problem. Everything stock, up to datę, no root. Phone was rebooting itself several times in a row.
Right now it seems that problem dissapeared. Reboots in my case was caused probably by application Autoguard Dash Cam Blackbox. After removal no reboots for 2 months and no memory leak.
cleared cache and it happened again within a minute...
Does seem to be linked to the power button
There's a long thread about this issue over at Google Groups. It's affecting a lot of users and not just Nexus 5 users. Some in the thread are 4 and 7 users having the same issue. Some have replaced the battery and it has resolved the issue, at least temporarily. Others, like myself, saw success in rooting and replacing the kernel or using a new ROM. Users who have downgraded to Kit Kat report the issue goes away, so despite the power button triggers, it seems to be a software issue. Anyone have any insight? It's getting feisty in Groups thread.
Google Groups reboot thread
simbapenn said:
There's a long thread about this issue over at Google Groups. It's affecting a lot of users and not just Nexus 5 users. Some in the thread are 4 and 7 users having the same issue. Some have replaced the battery and it has resolved the issue, at least temporarily. Others, like myself, saw success in rooting and replacing the kernel or using a new ROM. Users who have downgraded to Kit Kat report the issue goes away, so despite the power button triggers, it seems to be a software issue. Anyone have any insight? It's getting feisty in Groups thread.
Google Groups reboot thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have N5 kit kat 4.4.2 in Chrome watching videos randoms reboot its happens
This is happening to my fiance's N5. It happens when she's using it and also when it's not being used. When it reboots, it optimizes the apps and says the battery is at 0 when it was a full charge. Only way to turn it back on is to connect it to a charger. Frustrating.
FYI the update to 6.0 did not solve the restart problem. It's either hardware related, app related or a bug that's still in the OS.
I'm selling my Nexus because of this, has been happening for a few months now.
It's not software related, it has to do with the actual power button. Some people had success changing it out, soldering it etc., but I don't have that time or knowledge.
Google wouldn't help, as I'm out of warranty. So I guess it's goodbye Nexus. Really unfortunate given that the phone works fine, it's just a quality issue.. will have to re-evaluate buying another Nexus in the future.
The_Wolf91 said:
You guys found any fix?
I was waiting for 5.1.1 update from Google (5.1.1 code is already available on AOSP and I tested it on Chroma), but unfortunately it didn't solve this problem: it keeps rebooting after a long daytime doing the same things I already wrote in first post. I'll wait for factory Google factory images, but I'm pretty sure it won't fix this.
P.S.: I tested Chroma on 5.0.2 bootloader and modem.
Anyone can read "last_kmg" I posted in first post? Any other has the same trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im getting them as well on 5.1.1. I hope its fixed in the 6.0 ota update.
---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------
I have been using this awesome app on my nexus 5, just so I don't have to use the power button here is the play store link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.plexnor.gravityscreenofffree
maccboy2010 said:
Im getting them as well on 5.1.1. I hope its fixed in the 6.0 ota update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Confirmed the update will NOT fix this issue.
Hi guys,
My girlfriend purchased a brand new Xperia Z3 D6653 not too long ago (about 2 months ago?). I flashed the 5.1.1 pre-rooted firmware for her and it's working fine and all but it does a random reboot every day or so, at random times, with random applications.
I have tried 2 different pre-rooted 5.1.1 firmwares already (yes, the correct model D6653 as well) and it still does it. The System Incident reports don't really say much (in fact you only see details about when it crashed, nothing else), and it seems like Google Play Services is the only thing mentioned in the Application Report.
The same thing also happened (more frequently) when she was on the 5.0 pre-rooted firmware. I'm not sure why, I haven't unlocked the bootloader or anything, it's just stock pre-rooted ROM, that's it. I haven't flashed any other ROMs other than the official pre-rooted ones.
Furthermore, before I flashed the 5.0 and 5.1 firmware for her, the phone came with Android 4.4.4. She used it for a month and reported several crashes as well, so that's with the original factory firmware, unrooted, unmodified etc.
She doesn't run any dodgy or random apps, she's just a typical girl that use Facebook and texting, that's pretty much it. I've done a lot of research on this issue and it seems to be quite common, however there isn't really a solution to this. The same apps she currently use never caused any issues on her older phones.
Also in case anyone asks, the only reason I flashed the pre-rooted 5.1.1 firmware for her is because it makes it easier for me to manage her phone (with Teamviewer, you can remote into the phone as long as it's rooted). Also, I get to backup her phone and do tests etc, makes it easier for me.
Also, I'm not using any custom kernels or overclocking the CPU etc. Everything is just stock but rooted.
Could this be caused by a hardware fault in the phone? I'm not sure what else I can do and would appreciate some suggestions.
Nobody have this issue??
Well, how about you try to flash a full, clean, stock ROM, don't root it, don't install any unnecessary app and see where it goes? If the issue persists, try getting a logcat from the phone and we can take a look at it. If it works fine after returning to stock, there might be a problem with the ROM or some apps you are using.
If it really is Gapps that are causing all the trouble, go to APKMirror and download the latest apps available (Play Services, etc) and see where it goes.
As mentioned already, prior to flashing anything, my girlfriend was running a completely stock, factory version of the phone. It came with Android 4.4.
I could flash a completely stock 5.1 ROM but was hoping that someone would share their experiences or a potential solution to this, considering this is quite commonly asked. I would also like to avoid doing this if possible, because if I were to go back to rooting the device, I'd have to downgrade to v4.4 pre-rooted, then flash to 5.1 rooted with custom recovery. It's just a lot of work for a simple testing that could be answered by others if possible.
Anyway, she didn't have any apps installed other than Facebook and Whatsapp, that's it. I might test with GAPPS and see how it goes, but I thought I'd ask here in case someone knows it's definitely a hardware issue or something else.
i would definitely give a pure stock 5.1.1 a go. I used to get the random reboots on the previous versions but i no longer have such issue.. Make sure you do a clean wipe and do it a few times.
Hi all, it's been a while but I thought I'd post an update and share what I've found/learned so far....
Basically, I'm still getting the frequent random reboots. I've tried reflashing the ROM and also tested out the latest .232 pre-rooted stock ROM, still getting the same issue. I've noticed that other than Google Play Services, sometimes Gapps will crash as well. But most of the time, there's nothing reported in the system or application crash logs. I've tested with everything running as stock, no additional apps installed. I then decided to flash the Minimal GAPPS 5.1.x and that sort of made the phone a bit more stable, but still reboots randomly every now and then.
Later on, I decided to try a custom ROM that still works on a locked bootloader. I found this here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/development/d6603-23-1-1-28-t3102271
The chef has provided a .232 firmware for you to flash in recovery, as well as the ROM base for the D6603 model. Mine is a D6653, but luckily the chef has also provided a D6653 patch for you to flash as well. I've flashed the ROM like so:
1. Wipe everything except my external microSD in TWRP. So basically, wipe system, data, cache, dalvik, internal storage etc.
2. Install .232 firmware.
3. Install v10.5
4. Install v12.0
5. Install D6653 v5 patch
It boots up fine but after using it for a while, I still get the random reboots. What's interesting is that I've also tried without flashing the D6653 patch, which essentially means I'm running just the D6603 base ROM on my D6653. It works, but still crashes as well. I just found it quite surprising that a D6653 could run a D6603 ROM, but it does make sense considering the main differences is just the baseband/frequencies.
Anyway, I later on decided to flash the pure 5.1.1 stock ROM, still getting the crash. Again, everything is tested on pure stock, no additional apps etc installed.
I'm starting to think perhaps this is a hardware issue on my phone?? I noticed that sometimes, my screen will show a bit of tearing and then it'll crash not long after. BUT, I also know that as soon as gapps or google play services crash, the phone will crash not long after as well.....
In fact, I later on used Titanium Backup to convert Google Play Services from a System to a User app, the phone will just boot into the lockscreen and then restart every time. This is a bit ridiculous because I've done this several times on other phones before and they never had such an issue. Of course, I'm not saying I always run Google Play Services as a User app, but that was just for testing and I honestly don't think it should cause a bootloop just because of that. I've also cleared dalvik and cache by the way, so it doesn't make sense that the phone boots into the lockscreen and then just restarts randomly.
I haven't tried uninstalling Google Play Services completely, but at this point I'm back to square one as I've exhausted pretty much all my options and it's been a complete waste of time. I'm beginning to hate this phone more and more. The only thing left is to unlock bootloader and play with other custom ROMs. But yeah, flashing the .232 firmware didn't fix it, AND flashing pure stock 5.1.1 Android didn't fix it either...
Just wondering if others have the same issue and any ideas what could be causing it? If I provide some Logcat logs, would someone be kind enough to look into this for me?
Update:
I'm still getting the random reboots and I think it's very likely to be hardware related. But sometimes also a bit related to software, specifically with Google Play services. I've had more time to test out a few things since my last update, they are as follows:
- Tested complete stock 4.4 ROM without root. Still crashes every now and then, but not as much compared to 5.0 and 6.0 (doesn't matter if it's stock or custom ROM).
- Finally gave in and unlocked bootloader (backed up my DRM keys of course). I thought perhaps that the stock Sony roms (and even the stock-based Sony custom roms) have issues for some reason. They are all the same base, so I thought I'd do a fair test by trying a completely different based rom, such as AOSP. I've used CM 1.2.1 nightly here:
forum.xda-developers.com/z3/development/rom-cyanogenmod-12-nightlies-xperia-z3-t3010201/page117
And yes, I know that nightly have bugs, but the nightly build as of 2016-03-03 seemed pretty stable according to most users. I've tried various other AOSP based roms and stock based Sony roms (for unlocked bootloaders) and they all produce crashes.
I've flashed custom kernels as well and updated my recovery to TWRP 3.0, but all the same results. On all of the custom ROMs I've flashed, the only thing I've done was setup my Google account (so I have my contacts and Gmail) and that was it. No other apps installed. I wanted to limit the environment down to just the stock setup of the ROM itself, as this helps me rule out any potential bugs caused by 3rd party apps.
Having done all of the above and still resulting in crashes, it's safe to assume that this is most likely unrelated to the software, but hardware. I've noticed that sometimes when I scroll a page too fast and move it up and down with my thumb, the screen will freeze and restart.
However, sometimes I will get crashes related to Google Play Services. Anything that relies on Google Play Services will crash randomly. If you re-open the apps, it just crashes again. If you force stop the app and open it, still crashes. The ONLY fix is to restart the phone. I have tried flashing different GaPPs, starting with the pico and nano versions, as well as the ones recommended by the ROM chefs. Still the same result.
So the conclusion is, I haven't really gotten anywhere with this annoying issue. There's definitely an issue with the phone somewhere, maybe a bit of software related, but mostly hardware.