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 Most of the information I find is either outdated (old methods, old software), or for the XT925 rather than the XT926(M), or the wrong country/carrier.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!
Related
If so why?
I have the following questions:
#1 Can you still receive Android system updates such as Gingerbread right away once they're received?
#2 Before rooting, should I backup my phone just so I can restore it before returning to Verizon in case it's damaged physically?
#3 Is it worth rooting?
#4 What are ALL the DISadvantages of Rooting?
Thank you,
Please reply quickly.
NEW questions that I have:
Can someone explain to me in detail these terms and how they're used with rooting:
Themes: I know what they are, but can you use themes with other Roms?
Roms: I sort of know what they are, but can you still get OTA updates, use themes with them, icon packs, etc?
Cynamod [not sure how it's spelled] what is it??
SuperClickRoot [Not sure what it's called, but what is it??]
Z4root [What's the difference between this and Superclickroot]?
What's better SuperClickRoot or Z4root? My android OS is 2.2.1. After rooting, can I still get OTA updates?
I plan on rooting TODAY, so my last question would be: if I end up bricking or somehow mess up and make my phone not open at all, and it was rooted the last time it was working, can Verizon know that I'm rooted if I try and return it for warranty [replacement etc]?
I'm going to be rooting to have the ability to use Roms, some apps that require rooting and some themes.
unbreakab1e said:
If so why?
I have the following questions:
#1 Can you still receive Android system updates such as Gingerbread right away once they're received?
#2 Before rooting, should I backup my phone just so I can restore it before returning to Verizon in case it's damaged physically?
#3 Is it worth rooting?
#4 What are ALL the DISadvantages of Rooting?
Thank you,
Please reply quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) You won't get it from Verizon, but when gingerbread does get released all the devs will make a ROM and you'll have it in no time but only if you use a custom rom.
2) There is a way to unroot back to stock but there is nothing wrong with making a backup.
3) I like my root access. More options to get more out of your phone (over clocking, themes, custom ROMs, kernels, etc)
4) Your warrenty is void (unless you can unroot it and take it back to stock. They will never know) and you can mess up your phone if you don't read and double check instructions before doing anything
Hope I helped
unbreakab1e said:
If so why?
I have the following questions:
#1 Can you still receive Android system updates such as Gingerbread right away once they're received?
#2 Before rooting, should I backup my phone just so I can restore it before returning to Verizon in case it's damaged physically?
#3 Is it worth rooting?
#4 What are ALL the DISadvantages of Rooting?
Thank you,
Please reply quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Ability to install custom ROMs lets you have Gingerbread before Moto and VZW send it out OTA.
2. Probably a good idea; however I didn't on my Incredible, as there are a lot of ways to return to stock without doing that for the Inc. and I assume for the X too.
3. YES. Wifi tether without paying VZW $20 a month, custom ROMs, etc...
4. Technically, it voids your warranty. But, like you said, return it to stock and s-off and they'll never be able to tell
Also, there's a small chance to brick your phone; if you follow all instructions exactly, that's not an issue. And remember: ALWAYS back up your ROM before flashing a new one, be it through ROM Manager or through nandroid. And, if a kernel flash goes wrong and you get stuck at the 1st startup screen, relfash your ROM through ClockworkMod Recovery. From the .zip, not the backup. Titanium backup is good for apps backup, and MyBackup is dead simple for contacts/bookmarks/etc.
Hope this helps, and enjoy your Droid X!
Rooting is nothing, its what you do with it. If you are not interested in overclocking or a custom rom then dont do it, otherwise you must do it.
IF i had a droidX i would be soooo happy
NEW questions that I have:
Can someone explain to me in detail these terms and how they're used with rooting:
Themes: I know what they are, but can you use themes with other Roms?
Roms: I sort of know what they are, but can you still get OTA updates, use themes with them, icon packs, etc?
Cynamod [not sure how it's spelled] what is it??
SuperClickRoot [Not sure what it's called, but what is it??]
Z4root [What's the difference between this and Superclickroot]?
What's better SuperClickRoot or Z4root? My android OS is 2.2.1. After rooting, can I still get OTA updates?
I plan on rooting TODAY, so my last question would be: if I end up bricking or somehow mess up and make my phone not open at all, and it was rooted the last time it was working, can Verizon know that I'm rooted if I try and return it for warranty [replacement etc]?
I'm going to be rooting to have the ability to use Roms, some apps that require rooting and some themes.
unbreakab1e said:
NEW questions that I have:
Can someone explain to me in detail these terms and how they're used with rooting:
Themes: I know what they are, but can you use themes with other Roms?
Roms: I sort of know what they are, but can you still get OTA updates, use themes with them, icon packs, etc?
Cynamod [not sure how it's spelled] what is it??
SuperClickRoot [Not sure what it's called, but what is it??]
Z4root [What's the difference between this and Superclickroot]?
What's better SuperClickRoot or Z4root? My android OS is 2.2.1. After rooting, can I still get OTA updates?
I plan on rooting TODAY, so my last question would be: if I end up bricking or somehow mess up and make my phone not open at all, and it was rooted the last time it was working, can Verizon know that I'm rooted if I try and return it for warranty [replacement etc]?
I'm going to be rooting to have the ability to use Roms, some apps that require rooting and some themes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Themes: The theme thread should say what ROMs it works with. If the one you're using isn't on that list and you're feeling adventurous, make a nandroid backup through your recovery and try flashing it! Themes don't work on the stock ROM, however.
SuperOneClickRoot I think it is, and Z4 both root your phone, but SuperOneClick runs from your PC, and Z4 from the phone (I think, HTC's have unrevoked)
Either *should* be fine.
OTA updates: When I rooted my Incredible, I was concerned about this too. Then I installed a custom ROM... don't worry about OTA.
Oh, and CyanogenMod. It's a ROM based on the official Google code's open source with a LOT of extra settings. Haven't used it myself, but I've heard great things about it.
Hey guys I have been working on building a ROM based on the current OTA, pre-rooted and deodexed and a few other perks thrown in. At any rate, this is my first ROM and while I would be comfortable flashing a ROM for experimenting with to my Kindle or my Dinc because they have bootloaders that are worth something, the problem with the D2G is that if I get caught in a bootloop I don't know what to do because as far as I know there is no way to access CWM from outside of rebooting to it from a rooted ROM. Does anyone know what to do because I would like to get this development rolling but I would rather not run the risk of bricking my phone if I can help it. Thanks!
In other words, in the case that i get a bootloop how would I go about recovering my device? flash a stock update.zip through stock recovery?
OTA updates can only be installed on top of stock firmware they are made for. If there are altered files in /system that are on the check list, it won't work.
Read this for information on reflashing: http://droid.koumakan.jp/wiki/SBF
OK, so I've got a totally stock ROM and I've unlocked the bootloader, put TWRP custom recovery on and rooted mt Nexus 5 and all is going well.
The only thing is I know there is at least one OTA update and because of the changes I've made I cannot get them.
Try as I might, I cannot find anywhere to download the OTAs and flash them manually. I have seen this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47128349&posted=1#post47128349 which says it lists the updates available but it makes no mention of which one I need or if I need both of them or which order to do them in if I need to install them all.
Can anyone help? I've been doing this since Eclair and have installed many custom ROMS on many different phones but this is the first time I've come up against something I need some help with.
If someone can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.
Cheers.
The goal: Get my sluggish phone (Razr Maxx HD, JB 4.1.2, currently 9.16.6.XT926.Verizon.en.US, rooted, bootloader locked) to be less sluggish.
The proposed method: Wipe phone and start over.
The "problem": Because I am rooted and want to stay that way, I am aware that I can't just do a factory reset. I believe that I need to unroot first, then wipe, then reroot. But there are many more possible methods to do this than there were before and I'm having trouble figuring out which might be the best method for me (or which will even work, at all).
Background: If I had just blindly done what I did the last time I wiped (I think I was starting from ICS 0.7.2 last time, not JB), I would have backed up everything, used DROID_RAZR_HD_Utility1.10 which I have from before (dates appear to be 1/28/2013) to go back to 0.6.25.X926., and, using the zip files I have from before, go from 0.6.25 to 0.7.2 to 9.1.41 to 9.16.6. (I was never able to successfully take OTA updates). Like this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2024423 BUT, now that I'm on JB, it's not clear to me that I can even do this. One post is telling me that if I'm on 9.16.6, I should NOT use Droid Razr HD Utility 1.10. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33610625#post33610625 and when I found the thread for the 1.21 utility, it also says no 9.16.6.
I've been wandering around the relevant posts that are linked from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2247250
but for whatever reason, this is just making my head spin. I'm more confused about what I can and cannot do, than I was before I started. I think too many OTA versions have passed me by... I was happy with the way things were working so I just didn't care about updates, KitKat, etc. I don't have a good feel for how many versions there are between 9.16.6 and current.
My actual question: I think I could really use some help narrowing down my options. Do I have any options at all? If so, can anyone suggest what my realistic options actually are? I don't care if I end up in JB or KitKat at the end; I do want to be able to restore some of the data from some of my apps using Titanium Backup and/or MyBackup Pro; and I want to be rooted when I am done. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, dlc
dlc2001 said:
The goal: Get my sluggish phone (Razr Maxx HD, JB 4.1.2, currently 9.16.6.XT926.Verizon.en.US, rooted, bootloader locked) to be less sluggish.
The proposed method: Wipe phone and start over.
The "problem": Because I am rooted and want to stay that way, I am aware that I can't just do a factory reset. I believe that I need to unroot first, then wipe, then reroot. But there are many more possible methods to do this than there were before and I'm having trouble figuring out which might be the best method for me (or which will even work, at all).
Background: If I had just blindly done what I did the last time I wiped (I think I was starting from ICS 0.7.2 last time, not JB), I would have backed up everything, used DROID_RAZR_HD_Utility1.10 which I have from before (dates appear to be 1/28/2013) to go back to 0.6.25.X926., and, using the zip files I have from before, go from 0.6.25 to 0.7.2 to 9.1.41 to 9.16.6. (I was never able to successfully take OTA updates). Like this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2024423 BUT, now that I'm on JB, it's not clear to me that I can even do this. One post is telling me that if I'm on 9.16.6, I should NOT use Droid Razr HD Utility 1.10. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=33610625#post33610625 and when I found the thread for the 1.21 utility, it also says no 9.16.6.
I've been wandering around the relevant posts that are linked from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2247250
but for whatever reason, this is just making my head spin. I'm more confused about what I can and cannot do, than I was before I started. I think too many OTA versions have passed me by... I was happy with the way things were working so I just didn't care about updates, KitKat, etc. I don't have a good feel for how many versions there are between 9.16.6 and current.
My actual question: I think I could really use some help narrowing down my options. Do I have any options at all? If so, can anyone suggest what my realistic options actually are? I don't care if I end up in JB or KitKat at the end; I do want to be able to restore some of the data from some of my apps using Titanium Backup and/or MyBackup Pro; and I want to be rooted when I am done. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, dlc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to get rid of the slowness of the phone i recommend going to a lolipop rom , LP has to be the quickest my phone has ran... ever.
-step 1 use rsd lite to flash [4.4.2] 183.46.10 fxz (make sure it ends with a 10 not a 14 or 15 or you wont be able to unlock bootloader)
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/45494-fxz-442-1834610/
-step 2 root and unlock use TR.apk (root)and motopocalypse.apk (bootloader unlock)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2783912
-step 3 use ADB fastboot to Flash custom recovery, i personally use twrp there are others you can use if you decide to do the research
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/51883-recoverytwrp-2810-11-01-14/
-step 4 flash LP custom rom, i use blisspop, it seems to have the most updates at the moment . it has really impressed me
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/60153-rom502lollipopmsm8960-kkbl-blisspop-official/
that rom comes with supersu built in so you will have root. if your reason for having root is to have exposed, it doesnt work on lolipop so stop at sstep 3 and either flash a KK custom rom or just flash supersu which will give you root on stock kitkat
OK, I will spend a little more time absorbing/reading and then I'll give it a shot, thanks muchly. I want to do some backups just in case, so it'll take a while...
Couple of followup questions based on the reading I've done so far from the links you provided, just so I know what I'm doing before I do it:
1. I think I get Steps 1 and 2. After Step 2 I am rooted and on stock KK, correct? So if I stop there do I still need to "flash supersu" per your comment at the end? Does the root in step 2 put supersu in my apps, and if not can I not just install it from google play?
2. Seems like I can use the Step 1 method to flash back to JB (or any other FXZ I can find) if I want. If I do that, is there any way to root JB, or is this trip I'm about to take, a one-way trip? Just to clarify, JB hasn't always been slow for me... it's just slowed down recently. Not saying I want to go back to JB for sure, but I like to know what options I am closing off when I move forward, and reviews of KitKat are not universally splendid.... I hear you about the custom ROM but for various work-related reasons I may be better off staying stock (well, stock + root) for a while at least.
Again, thank you for your help.
dlc2001 said:
OK, I will spend a little more time absorbing/reading and then I'll give it a shot, thanks muchly. I want to do some backups just in case, so it'll take a while...
Couple of followup questions based on the reading I've done so far from the links you provided, just so I know what I'm doing before I do it:
1. I think I get Steps 1 and 2. After Step 2 I am rooted and on stock KK, correct? So if I stop there do I still need to "flash supersu" per your comment at the end? Does the root in step 2 put supersu in my apps, and if not can I not just install it from google play?
2. Seems like I can use the Step 1 method to flash back to JB (or any other FXZ I can find) if I want. If I do that, is there any way to root JB, or is this trip I'm about to take, a one-way trip? Just to clarify, JB hasn't always been slow for me... it's just slowed down recently. Not saying I want to go back to JB for sure, but I like to know what options I am closing off when I move forward, and reviews of KitKat are not universally splendid.... I hear you about the custom ROM but for various work-related reasons I may be better off staying stock (well, stock + root) for a while at least.
Again, thank you for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can install it from playstore, but once your bootloader is unlocked you can always root by flashing in custom recovery. you dont need exploits anymore
All done, worked great!
Hello friends, I am new to posting here, but have read lots, and appreciate the hard work the developers here have put in to making Android more enjoyable for users.
My situation:
About a year ago, I rooted my Droid Maxx XT1080 running 4.2.2 with 12.15.15 camera update using jcase's method. I have been very careful about clicking "Install Later" (not wanting to update to KitKat) when prompted for the 4.4 OTA update, but yesterday morning the prompt appeared under my finger as I was clicking something else, and I selected "Install Now" by accident. I am now stuck in a bootloop with no recovery to fall back on. After searching all day (here, and other places) , I can not find a valid link to download the 4.2.2 FXZ so that I can use RSD Lite or another method to return to stock firmware and correct the issue.
My questions:
Is there a valid link for the 4.2.2 12.15.15 update for XT1080M currently available? The one on droid-developers.org gives an error and I can not find another one.
Is there another method for returning to stock that doesn't require FXZ?
Can I use a FXZ for KitKat to fix my phone, or do I have to use the stock FXZ for my phone (12.15.15)?
I am not opposed to flashing stock KitKat and losing both Jelly Bean and root if it will recover my phone. I have my app data and contacts backed up (linked with my Google account) so I am not worried about starting fresh.
Sorry if this has been covered, but I have now spent hours searching and reading and have not come across a solution. If anyone can answer or at least point me in the right direction, you have my greatest thanks.
You cannot flash Jellybean from KitKat with a locked bootloader, but you should be able to flash a current (or newer) version of KitKat. Try flashing the following file from your bootloader: http://motofirmware.com/files/download/1063-1ff-obake-verizon-user-444-su6-7-release-keysxmlzip/
I had my bootloader unlocked using the exploit through the Chinese group offering the service. I think I paid $30 and it has been PRICELESS. I can flash anything I want to my phone, including previous versions of Android, custom ROMS and recoveries, and root. Sadly this guy is no longer offering codes, but this has happened before so keep your eye out in http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x/moto-x-qa/china-middleman-t2751177 for an update. This thread might be an alternative, but I don't know how long until they devise a method for unlocking the bootloader in KitKat: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2792487