Database Info

[Q] Nexus 5 strange behaviour after root

As the title suggest, does anyone else having such (one, more or all) issues on Nexus 5 after root?
1. Kitkat kinda initializes after every reboot. Not like the very first time starting the device (setup assistent) but installing/updating apps (which) are already on the device (same Verstion) and re-setting configuration to what it already should be.
2. Always showing H (internet connection) and at least two bars on signal strength even when there is no signal (accourding to chrome and (stock) dialer app.
3. Loss of signal but pretending there is one (like in 2.) and only regaining signal after reboot.
4. Loss of distance between apps within the appdrawer (more apps per page) until uninstallation of an app (remains normal after reinstall)
5. many app crashes (before and after rooting)
6. sometimes notification led keeps blinking after notification was dismissed, sometimes the notification led blinks very fast.
I rooted my device with cf auto root.

Except for 4 &5, yes.

I am glad that I am not alone but does anyone know whats the source of this strange behaviour or how this can be fixed?

In a case like this i would go back to stock, make a factory reset and then rooting the N5 again, manually, without using cf auto root.
Rooting manually it's just a good way to understand the android OS, and how it's made, imho.

Is there a good low-risk way (manual/tutorial) to manually root without a custom rom and custom recovery (CWM/TWRP) ?
Because besides root access I want to stay as close as possible to stock.

Nik_B said:
Is there a good low-risk way (manual/tutorial) to manually root without a custom rom and custom recovery (CWM/TWRP) ?
Because besides root access I want to stay as close as possible to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wugfresh's toolkit is imho the best and safest way to root and do most changes to all nexus devices. About the only difficult you may experience is usb driver/connectivity issues. The usb driver guides are well documented and easy to follow. It's no different than the standard adb usb drivers. Most have no issues, but that is the only thing that can cause problems with adb or Wugfresh's toolkit.
Read through Wugfresh's forum topic to acquaint yourself with mtp/ptp and driver installation and you should breeze through using his toolkit.
Sent from my Apple ] [e using ProTERM 2.2

Nik_B said:
Is there a good low-risk way (manual/tutorial) to manually root without a custom rom and custom recovery (CWM/TWRP) ?
Because besides root access I want to stay as close as possible to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
custom recoveries do not prevent the OTA.. plus you can just fastboot boot recovery whateverrecovery.img
i blame your problems on the CF-autoroot as i have none of the symptoms you describe.

Looking into the script chainfire offers shows me that there are only 2 commands executed.
the
fastboot oem unlock - command is clear to me that it unlocks the bootloader
but i have some questions about the second one: fastboot boot image\CF-Auto-Root-hammerhead... ...nexus5.img
Am I correct assuming that this command tells the bootloader to start this image instead of the regular android (once?)
which modifies "something" within the "original" android os (image)?
If yes, can somebody tell me?
Is the only modification made there the mount configuration of the system partition and/or user settings?
Is a documentation for such internal matters of rooting somewhere out there?
yeah I know I have lots of questions and yes I am very curious.
Thanks in advance

Nik_B said:
Looking into the script chainfire offers shows me that there are only 2 commands executed.
the
fastboot oem unlock - command is clear to me that it unlocks the bootloader
but i have some questions about the second one: fastboot boot image\CF-Auto-Root-hammerhead... ...nexus5.img
Am I correct assuming that this command tells the bootloader to start this image instead of the regular android (once?)
which modifies "something" within the "original" android os (image)?
If yes, can somebody tell me?
Is the only modification made there the mount configuration of the system partition and/or user settings?
Is a documentation for such internal matters of rooting somewhere out there?
yeah I know I have lots of questions and yes I am very curious.
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unless someone looks into the boot image CF has setup, there's no way to tell what his image does.
thats why its easiest to just boot a custom recovery and then flash supersu.zip, yet a lot of people want to just use toolkits cause "its easier" but when you do use a toolkit, you end up with issues.

DreamLinker said:
In a case like this i would go back to stock, make a factory reset and then rooting the N5 again, manually, without using cf auto root.
Rooting manually it's just a good way to understand the android OS, and how it's made, imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go with this guy.

As soon as I read your thread title, I knew you rooted using an "auto root". Rooting a device is actually very simple, just takes a few minutes of your time to research the steps. As long as you have 10 minutes, a USB cable and a Windows Computer, it should be easy and result in a errorless experience.

Zepius said:
unless someone looks into the boot image CF has setup, there's no way to tell what his image does.
thats why its easiest to just boot a custom recovery and then flash supersu.zip, yet a lot of people want to just use toolkits cause "its easier" but when you do use a toolkit, you end up with issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already know that. Maybe my question was not correct.
What I wanna know is what happens when i flash a custom recovery, root my device and so on in the background
and what are necessary steps to such actions?
Because I would like to do all those actions on my own. (for example make my own image to boot for rooting)
But I won't unless I know exactly WHAT I am doing.
Hope this for wording made my intentions clearer. (Sorry I am not that good in English)

Nik_B said:
I already know that. Maybe my question was not correct.
What I wanna know is what happens when i flash a custom recovery, root my device and so on in the background
and what are necessary steps to such actions?
Because I would like to do all those actions on my own. (for example make my own image to boot for rooting)
But I won't unless I know exactly WHAT I am doing.
Hope this for wording made my intentions clearer. (Sorry I am not that good in English)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fastboot boot recovery recovery.img - this just boots into the recovery once, but leaves the stock recovery as the recovery that is written to the device
when you flash supersu.zip what it does is execute a script that places the su binary in /data/xbin i believe and gives it the proper permissions, and also places supersu app on your phone.
you do not need to make your own boot image, or anything of the sort.

The root process is not capable of causing any of these issues. Root using wugfresh is the exact same as using auto root and both of these are the same as manually doing it yourself. None of them can cause visual changes or signal loss alone, and the only reason we don't recommend toolkits or auto root is so people don't get comfortable with the idea that they don't need to know fastboot commands in the event that they boot loop, etc.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

joshnichols189 said:
The root process is not capable of causing any of these issues. Root using wugfresh is the exact same as using auto root and both of these are the same as manually doing it yourself. None of them can cause visual changes or signal loss alone, and the only reason we don't recommend toolkits or auto root is so people don't get comfortable with the idea that they don't need to know fastboot commands in the event that they boot loop, etc.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do I understand you correctly that neither wugfresh nor auto root are causing the problems in your eyes. I´m just curious because many people including me used Chainfire´s auto root but not all of them are reporting problems. In my case the Nex5 seems to forget already set default apps e.g. for tapatalk links, urls etc.
Cheers, T.

Super SU binaries not installing.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2699089&page=40
I tried using that method to root my phone, but Super SU just won't install binaries. First time around it just wouldn't work, after a few tries I unrooted my device and started over. I got the same message, "Unable to install, reboot"
Then after that it said something like "If you upgraded to 4.3 then reroot" Something like that. Which is weird because I have 4.4.2.
What's going on? I tried Superuser but when I tried installing the binaries it crashed when it was doing a software update twice so I had to hold down on volume up and the power button to reboot it on both occasions.
Also, how do I do an ADB Reboot? What's the easiest method? I tried doing that on my PC but it keeps saying device not detected Maybe I'm not setting up the program for that right? Yes, Developer Options and USB Debugging are enabled.
Yes my M8 is from Verizon. Is there another method for one-click rooting?

Anyone?

CannedBullets said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2699089&page=40
I tried using that method to root my phone, but Super SU just won't install binaries. First time around it just wouldn't work, after a few tries I unrooted my device and started over. I got the same message, "Unable to install, reboot"
Then after that it said something like "If you upgraded to 4.3 then reroot" Something like that. Which is weird because I have 4.4.2.
What's going on? I tried Superuser but when I tried installing the binaries it crashed when it was doing a software update twice so I had to hold down on volume up and the power button to reboot it on both occasions.
Also, how do I do an ADB Reboot? What's the easiest method? I tried doing that on my PC but it keeps saying device not detected Maybe I'm not setting up the program for that right? Yes, Developer Options and USB Debugging are enabled.
Yes my M8 is from Verizon. Is there another method for one-click rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably the last thing you wanna do but if it wont work have you considered a factory reset? Usually solves most issues & are you S-OFF? Asking the S-OFF question because if you are you can flash a custom recovery and just flash the binaries. 0% failure rate with that as far as I know. About the ADB Reboot question, did you install the HTC Sync Manager so it would install the proper drivers and then removed the Sync program (not drivers)?

S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
Probably the last thing you wanna do but if it wont work have you considered a factory reset? Usually solves most issues & are you S-OFF? Asking the S-OFF question because if you are you can flash a custom recovery and just flash the binaries. 0% failure rate with that as far as I know. About the ADB Reboot question, did you install the HTC Sync Manager so it would install the proper drivers and then removed the Sync program (not drivers)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not considered a factory reset. Also, what's S-OFF? I'm not sure what that is. Also do you mean the HTC Transfer Tool? I don't have that.

CannedBullets said:
I have not considered a factory reset. Also, what's S-OFF? I'm not sure what that is. Also do you mean the HTC Transfer Tool? I don't have that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know how to explain what "S" is other than its security/signature verification(not sure on signature verification), when your phone is S-ON you can't flash any non verified rom or write to protected areas of your phone such as /system which is required for root, etc and I know it does more than that but I'm not 100% educated as to what it means yet though so can't give you a 100% accurate or complete explanation.
Now based off of what I just said and a little research i'm quite sure you actually require it for a permanent root solution such as SuperSU but could be wrong.
Anyways if you're interested in doing it go here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2708628 and follow the instructions carefully. This also unlocks your bootloader which means you can install custom roms, kernels, flash scripts, apps, SuperSU for PERMANENT root, etc. In order to do these things you'll need to flash a custom recovery such as TWRP or CWM (Team Win Recovery Project & Clockwork Mod/Philz Touch). Afterwards it's quite simple from there on out, just be careful and research before you do anything I've suggested/stated. Also on the Sync Manager thing, what you need to do is install it from here http://www.htc.com/us/support/software/htc-sync-manager.aspx and then let it install the phone drivers for your M8 on your computer and then you need to uninstall it "HTC Sync Manager" from your computer in order to do the S-OFF process.
Please do be careful and get a good understanding before you do this though, re-read things a few times and make sure you're well aware of what it means and how to do it properly.

S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
Probably the last thing you wanna do but if it wont work have you considered a factory reset? Usually solves most issues & are you S-OFF? Asking the S-OFF question because if you are you can flash a custom recovery and just flash the binaries. 0% failure rate with that as far as I know. About the ADB Reboot question, did you install the HTC Sync Manager so it would install the proper drivers and then removed the Sync program (not drivers)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
I don't really know how to explain what "S" is other than its security/signature verification(not sure on signature verification), when your phone is S-ON you can't flash any non verified rom or write to protected areas of your phone such as /system which is required for root, etc and I know it does more than that but I'm not 100% educated as to what it means yet though so can't give you a 100% accurate or complete explanation.
Now based off of what I just said and a little research i'm quite sure you actually require it for a permanent root solution such as SuperSU but could be wrong.
Anyways if you're interested in doing it go here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2708628 and follow the instructions carefully. This also unlocks your bootloader which means you can install custom roms, kernels, flash scripts, apps, SuperSU for PERMANENT root, etc. In order to do these things you'll need to flash a custom recovery such as TWRP or CWM (Team Win Recovery Project & Clockwork Mod/Philz Touch). Afterwards it's quite simple from there on out, just be careful and research before you do anything I've suggested/stated. Also on the Sync Manager thing, what you need to do is install it from here http://www.htc.com/us/support/software/htc-sync-manager.aspx and then let it install the phone drivers for your M8 on your computer and then you need to uninstall it "HTC Sync Manager" from your computer in order to do the S-OFF process.
Please do be careful and get a good understanding before you do this though, re-read things a few times and make sure you're well aware of what it means and how to do it properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'll have to look into that. I'm not sure if I'll ever flash a custom ROM though on my M8, Sense 6 is good as it is, I need to get Cyanogenmod on my Razr Maxx, Motoblur on it is just slow ever since they updated it to 4.1.2.

CannedBullets said:
Yeah I'll have to look into that. I'm not sure if I'll ever flash a custom ROM though on my M8, Sense 6 is good as it is, I need to get Cyanogenmod on my Razr Maxx, Motoblur on it is just slow ever since they updated it to 4.1.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the ROM's for the M8 are Sense based anyways so you won't have a problem if you want Sense.

S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
Most of the ROM's for the M8 are Sense based anyways so you won't have a problem if you want Sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just had a strange morning. What's new right? This morning I saw that my Titanium Back had a superuser fail. I had no problems yesterday. I used SuperSU to root and checked to see if Titanium Back was granted rights and it was. Still no luck running it. So Titanium suggested I load Superuser which I was not running. I installed it and it said it could not update the binary. That's weird so I read this post and reflashed SuperSU and yep Titanium backup was denied in the grant list. I granted it and everything is OK now. I posted here because I saw an unusual program in the grant list in SuperSU. It is com.koushikdutta.superuser. I don't know what that is but I bet that was the culprit. It did not show before I updated so it was hidden. Anybody know where this came from?

Weaksauce will not install binaries that's why it needs to reroot your phone every time you reboot. If you want your root to stick you need to be S-OFF. Since you are on 4.2.2 you could try Firewater to gain S-OFF. (Only works for some M8'S on 4.2.2)
http://firewater-soff.com/instructions/
If firewater does not work then you need to use Sunshine which I believe it cost $25. (Will not work on 4.4.4!)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2792487
Not sure if you have adb/fastboot set up on your computer but if not...Google! I know there are instructions on how to set that up because I had to Google it. I think that may be the hardest part of all of this, if you can follow instructions WORD FOR WORD after setting that up I don't see how you can mess up. If you do find yourself stuck well we are here

SOLUTION
CannedBullets said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2699089&page=40
I tried using that method to root my phone, but Super SU just won't install binaries. First time around it just wouldn't work, after a few tries I unrooted my device and started over. I got the same message, "Unable to install, reboot"
Then after that it said something like "If you upgraded to 4.3 then reroot" Something like that. Which is weird because I have 4.4.2.
What's going on? I tried Superuser but when I tried installing the binaries it crashed when it was doing a software update twice so I had to hold down on volume up and the power button to reboot it on both occasions.
Also, how do I do an ADB Reboot? What's the easiest method? I tried doing that on my PC but it keeps saying device not detected Maybe I'm not setting up the program for that right? Yes, Developer Options and USB Debugging are enabled.
Yes my M8 is from Verizon. Is there another method for one-click rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
**SOLUTION**
Download the SuperSU ZIP from the link below;
http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu
Reboot your device into your custom recovery of choice, install the ZIP (which should be in your download folder on "sdcard" by default), reboot.
It should now work with no issues!

KnightAlex said:
**SOLUTION**
Download the SuperSU ZIP from the link below;
download.chainfire.eu/supersu
Reboot your device into your custom recovery of choice, install the ZIP (which should be in your download folder on "sdcard" by default), reboot.
It should now work with no issues!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed CM13 on my Moto G 1st Gen also GApps, I also had TWRP working. So my next step was to install SuperSU (UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip) with TWRP, after it says it was succesfull, i wanted to reboot the system, it is stuck in the Cyanogenmod Bootanimation and won't boot into the system. And It also stuck in the TWRP loading screen when i want to load into recovery!
What can I do? I have still files on the phone which I want to preserve!

Umm. This is a HTC one m8 forum?

[Q] Root preventing update to 5.0. PLEASE HELP!

For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone.
Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps.
The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.
I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.

1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read

Upgrading to 5.0
Though you don't know it, you most likely just dodged a bullet. 5.0 is not yet ready for prime time, or visa versa. Puzzle and Dragons can't launch under it (and probably won't for months.) My bank's app likewise won't launch under 5.0, and there are other impositions and quirks and annoyances. So maybe better that you couldn't do so.
I just put mine back to 4.4 and am very glad to have my old friend back. Installing 5.0 reminded me of installing Windows 8, and then wondering why the F*** I did so.
Good luck... enjoy 4.4 as long as possible. If you're not up for fixing the root issue you just described, you're also not ready for putting the phone back to 4.4 if, like me, you find 5.0 intolerable.

tthomas12 said:
For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone. . Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps. The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.. I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the EXACT same problem as you. I rooted my phone with towel root, then i flashed a custom recovery with an app called flashify. after that i flashed the proper supersu.zip file with the custom recovery. Next i rebooted my phone. I used an app called root checker to see if my root was working, and it was. Then i flashed my custom recovery back on. I tried updating my phone with the OTA Android 5, it was updating until around 25% once it hit that stage it just said error. Then i un rooted my phone and tried it again i got the same error. I did a factory reset and tried it again but i got the same result? i dont know why this is happening i need help!
---------- Post added at 07:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 PM ----------
rootSU said:
1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello rootSU, you seem pretty experienced when it comes to stuff like flashing custom roms and rooting... My nexus 5 is on stock android 4.4.4, i have the stock recovery,i never flashed a rom....
When i try to use the OTA update and update to android 5.0 it always says error when its flashing. When the notification pops up i click it, then i click the button to start the download. once its downloaded and verified i click install. It takes me to my recovery and shows the android flashing logo thing and it says updating, when the progress bar reaches to 25% give or take a few percent an android logo pops up with a warning sign and it says error. I've tried multiple times and i got the same result. I even factory reseted my nexus and it still didn't work. Help ASAP please.
Regards,
cyberusman

Can't help with OTA. I refuse to use them. You can follow other advice from me in my thread in my signature

cyberusman said:
I have the EXACT same problem as you. I rooted my phone with towel root, then i flashed a custom recovery with an app called flashify. after that i flashed the proper supersu.zip file with the custom recovery. Next i rebooted my phone. I used an app called root checker to see if my root was working, and it was. Then i flashed my custom recovery back on. I tried updating my phone with the OTA Android 5, it was updating until around 25% once it hit that stage it just said error. Then i un rooted my phone and tried it again i got the same error. I did a factory reset and tried it again but i got the same result? i dont know why this is happening i need help!
---------- Post added at 07:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 PM ----------
Hello rootSU, you seem pretty experienced when it comes to stuff like flashing custom roms and rooting... My nexus 5 is on stock android 4.4.4, i have the stock recovery,i never flashed a rom....
When i try to use the OTA update and update to android 5.0 it always says error when its flashing. When the notification pops up i click it, then i click the button to start the download. once its downloaded and verified i click install. It takes me to my recovery and shows the android flashing logo thing and it says updating, when the progress bar reaches to 25% give or take a few percent an android logo pops up with a warning sign and it says error. I've tried multiple times and i got the same result. I even factory reseted my nexus and it still didn't work. Help ASAP please.
Regards,
cyberusman
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever remove any of the system apps? If you did, you will need to put them back or you will get an error with the OTA.

rootSU said:
1) you must be fully stock to accept OTA
2) various methods to update to and root lollipop are in my signature
3) this is the problem with one-click root methods. People don't get to learn what they need to know.
Please read my adb and fastboot thread. Again, you can get to it via my signature. Its in sticky roll-up
By the way, lack of paragraphs made your post a nightmare to read
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xda6969 said:
Did you ever remove any of the system apps? If you did, you will need to put them back or you will get an error with the OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy life to help me, i already found a solution but thanks.
---------- Post added at 01:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 AM ----------
tthomas12 said:
For the past two days, I've been constantly struggling to find a way to update my phone to android 5.0. When trying to download the OTA update, it will download fine, but once it goes to install and reboot, it will stop halfway through and the same screen you see when you enter what i believe is called bootloader mode. On this screen i see clockworkmod and other words such as error which really confuses me because i do not believe I ever worked with that. Ill then be met by a message asking if i want to trust the untrusted zip to install. Upon clicking no, the phone will either reboot normally or go to another screen, where the android icon is now on his back with a red triangle above him and ill be asked if i would like to keep root access. Choosing either yes or no will result in the phone booting normally. If i click yes when asked if i want to download the untrusted zip, the result will be the same except the android will not get the red triangle. After being asked if i would like to keep root access, choosing either option will just reboot the phone.
Ive spent countless hours searching the web for solutions, and on the phone with google. I tried to flash a new image but I lack the skill and knowledge, to do this. My method of root was towerroot which i realize now was a mistake, because here i am with no knowledge on what ive actually done and no knowledge on how to fix it. I did not install a custom rom. So far, ive tried a factory reset, flashing a factory image (unsuccessful), using supersu to unroot my device, and deleting all root files in ex file explorer. I'm using windows if that helps.
The biggest kicker here now is that my phone tells me that i do not have root access any longer if i download a root checker, but when trying to install the update it asks me if i would like to keep root access. I also still have custom navigation keys stuck on my phone from the "softkeyz" app. As far as i know, there are no other traces of root on my device. I have almost no knowledge on how android os functions and am unfamiliar with terms I've been met with recently such as "custom image" "bootloader" "apk" "sdk" etc.
I completely understand that being this uninformed and rooting was a mistake, but what is done is done. If anybody has any idea at all on what i need to do to be able to update to lollipop please let me know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. I may have left out key imformation but i've included all i can think of. If any other information is needed i can likely provide it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, like i said in one of my previous posts i had the same problem as you. But i looked around and found out how to fix it. The new android OTA update checks if every single file and system app is there, if u make any changes you cant use the OTA lolipop update.To fix this you have to flash a factory image. Flashing the factory image maks your nexus have a stock android rom on it. The instructions are really easy...
https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
^^go on this website^^ and look for the android 4.4.4 or 5.0 factory image. There are instructions on how to flash it.

Hello Cyberusman. This isn't new in Android. Even in past versions of Android, if you removed or renamed apps or if you changed app permissions, the OTA would fail. Flashing the factory image is one way of fixing it but you could also put any removed apps back with correct permissions and that would work as well.

ZTE Z830 (Compel) Rooting Thread

ZTE Z830: As some of you (who have recently broke your high-end devices like me!) know this is a cheap "GoPhone" you might have purchased as a replacement. As some of us know: the phones Hardware isn't bad for a low-end device. All very capable. The problem however; THE DAMN RESTRICTIONS ZTE HAS PUT ON THE PHONE.
Here are the problems in case you don't own a Z830:
No Apps are allowed on the SD-card
The bloatware cannot be uninstalled
Almost no internal memory (ZTE claims "4 Gigs of internal storage" but there is only around 800MB when disabling all unnecessary apps)
Anyways if you are stuck like me and have been suckered into buying this prepackaged paperweight. You most likely have one goal: ROOT IT. Which is the main point of this thread; as all of the other forum posts about this phone seem to be with people who have even less knowledge than I have about rooting. I want to figure out how to root this phone so it can live up to its capabilities.
I'm posting here about the methods I've been trying to root this phone with; so someone who has more knowledge about general rooting and coding then they can chime in and add some info.
First Attempt (FAILED) to Root the Device
ALSO KNOWN AS UPDATE.ZIP​The BREAKTHROUGH Information: I've managed to find the stock recovery from the phone's firmware. By pressing Volume Up + Power I got into the phones menu with various options to "update the firmware" It looks like this:
Android system recovery <
Z830V1 . 0 . 0B14
Volume up/down to move
highlight;
Press power to select.
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from sdcard
apply update from cache
md5 cache
So I tried to the original rooting method and this is what happened
-- Install /sdcard ...
(Installs about 25%)
Package corrupt.
Installation aborted.​
So anyways: I would love some help trying to discover how to root this damn thing. If you own one of these and find some more breakthrough info I would love to know; because I am as well messing with this thing to see if this will ever work.

Just Tried TowelRoot. Doesn't support the z830.

Bump
I didn't want to post a new thread, is there any new information on this front? It doesn't seem like this was a popular enough phone to warrant it's own set of instructions
**************************************
A few of us were successful in finding a perm root. I know the phone has aged a bit now, but it really is a nice cheap spare phone without the bloatware.
The following instructions for the ZMAX worked perfectly but TWRP does not support the touch screen for the z830 so you have to use an OTG mouse to use TWRP. Touch functionality works fine once the entire process is complete. Uninstalling bloatware seems to have to be done with a 3rd party app such as Purify.
https://boycracked.com/2016/04/16/how-to-root-installing-twrp-v3-0-1-recovery-on-zte-zmax-z970/

I have this phone and have been trying various automatic root programs for some time. No luck.

qaz1233 said:
I have this phone and have been trying various automatic root programs for some time. No luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it seems like the phone uses some sort of bizarre coding.

........
I try everthing... nothing works....
all apps and PC methods fail...

Does adb work on your device? What are the different modes for your devices? Can you get into the bootloader?
Sent from my Z970 using XDA Free mobile app

TecheTag said:
Does adb work on your device? What are the different modes for your devices? Can you get into the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I decided to pitch in as I also have this unfortunate phone. adb does in fact work, but it is crippled. I cannot perform "adb reboot bootloader" as it will simply reboot the phone normally. I tried to boot into the bootloader by pressing volume down+power and was entered into field test mode, as I have come to understand (says FTM on a white rectangle). Volume UP + power does put me in recovery mode, which is cool. Most interestingly, hold UP+DOWN+POWER mounts on my windows machine as ZTE handset diagnostic interface DFU... which apparently is made for flashing firmware with zte's own utility. adb reboot fastboot also just rebooted it normally.
if anyone knows of a useful test i could perform or a could point me towards new strategies i would appreciate it.

Well that sounds promising. It seems like we're breaking new ground here though.

830ingarg said:
Most interestingly, hold UP+DOWN+POWER mounts on my windows machine as ZTE handset diagnostic interface DFU... which apparently is made for flashing firmware with zte's own utility. adb reboot fastboot also just rebooted it normally..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think there is something that can be used to flash our own custom firmware on it?

Please someone bump

I have the same phone and it's about worthless without root. Hopefully someone cam figure it out. I would even donate some cash for a solution.

Sort of temporary root achieved with KingRoot
So, I have this goofy phone and I did manage to get something that appears to be root using KingRoot. The PC version didn't work, and neither did TowelRoot or OneClickRoot. Downloading the apk for KingRoot and running it gave me root access, but only until I rebooted the phone. I managed to install SuperSU which allowed me to confirm that I had root. Unfortunately I was not able to uninstall any pre-loaded software while rooted via KingRoot or KingUser. KingRoot acted like it had successfully uninstalled the pre-installed software, but all it uninstalled were the updates. I didn't get a list of software when I tried to uninstall software via KingUser.
So we can boot into Recovery, and can get temporary root. Any ideas on how to get farther with this crippled phone?

pippinstrano said:
So, I have this goofy phone and I did manage to get something that appears to be root using KingRoot. The PC version didn't work, and neither did TowelRoot or OneClickRoot. Downloading the apk for KingRoot and running it gave me root access, but only until I rebooted the phone. I managed to install SuperSU which allowed me to confirm that I had root. Unfortunately I was not able to uninstall any pre-loaded software while rooted via KingRoot or KingUser. KingRoot acted like it had successfully uninstalled the pre-installed software, but all it uninstalled were the updates. I didn't get a list of software when I tried to uninstall software via KingUser.
So we can boot into Recovery, and can get temporary root. Any ideas on how to get farther with this crippled phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually gain any space when you uninstalled items with that temporary root? I am able to uninstall updates on default apps even without root. I had one time with KingoApp where it claimed to be rooted, but I lost it with reboot and haven't gotten it back. Very frustrating. Wish I had avoided the reboot.

nothing works

I too got temporary root with kingroot, got to ambitious with uninstalling system apps and got into a force close loop. A factory reset from the stock recovery got me back in business. I didn't think that a factory reset was supposed to recover apps deleted while in root access. Also kingroot didn't work the first time for me, had to try several times, that was with latest apk, 4.1 I think.

Has anyone contacted zte about a bootloader unlock code? I know most phones it is necessary to unlock the bootloader to gain permanent root access. Plus then maybe we could get a custom recovery. I tried contacting them with no luck.

Talked to zte today, won't give unlock code since it will void warranty. Told them I didn't care about warranty since phone is worthless as is, no luck.

It could work the method used in the ZTE Z970? http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/help/zte-zmax-rooted-kingroot-t3110178

I was able to get temp root with Kingroot but doesn't stick after reboot. Today I got root to stick by using Flashify to flash superuser zip (http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu). I then deleted Kingroot apps. I was able to uninstall some ATT apps but not google apps. I tried SD Card Fix but didn't work and still can't change/mount r/w in root explorer.

Life after ROOT

So, I finally got my phone (SM-J320FN) rooted, thanks to info and downloads on this forum.
But now I have some questions, to which I haven't found the answers to anywhere else on the web.
1. To root, I followed instructions that told me to switch-on OEM unlock and USB debugging. However, there was no mention about turning them off again after root. Should they be on, or off?
2. Part of my rooting process involved installing/flashing TWRP. I did read that TWRP can be removed after root. What are the advantages/disadvantages of leaving or removing?
3. Now my phone is rooted, what is the best app/way to prevent it becoming unrooted by updates?
That's all for now, thanks.

SGJ3 said:
So, I finally got my phone (SM-J320FN) rooted, thanks to info and downloads on this forum.
But now I have some questions, to which I haven't found the answers to anywhere else on the web.
1. To root, I followed instructions that told me to switch-on OEM unlock and USB debugging. However, there was no mention about turning them off again after root. Should they be on, or off?
2. Part of my rooting process involved installing/flashing TWRP. I did read that TWRP can be removed after root. What are the advantages/disadvantages of leaving or removing?
3. Now my phone is rooted, what is the best app/way to prevent it becoming unrooted by updates?
That's all for now, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's better to let them on.
You can remove the TWRP recovery by flashing stock recovery. But TWRP can backup your whole android partitions (nandroid backup) that can restore your android if anything goes wrong.
TWRP can flash custom roms, mods, mount partitions, and many more. So, it's better to you have TWRP(custom recovery) installed.
If you are using SuperSU superuser app then in option you found OTA survival that prevent root from OTA updates.
I think you can't get OTA updates because you are rooted. If you get OTA updates and applied on rooted android then it chances of brick your android.

Hi every one. First sorry for bad grammar I am not so good at english. Now to the problem at hand.
Jester day I bought a smj320fn and realise it is not what I paid for, so I tried to root witk KingoRoot and fail. Then I realised there is a "bootlock" witch prevents root (I think it does that).
So I tried ODIN and installed a custom FMW and it worked, allso I instaled a custom twrp and boot win.rar file. and there is the problem.
Every time I hold the power buton the samsung logo apears for 5 seconds and then goes black. It wont take any commands. I tride the recover meny to open, no it wont, but I can restars it to boot again and fails every time.
I tried to do it from a youtube tutorial and maby I know what I did wrong. I Instaled a Sm-j320h boot on my smj320fn so I think thats the problem. Any whay how do I fix this. All and any solution are good.