how to revert back to Stock? - Google Pixel 3a Questions & Answers

Hey Guys i wanted to revert back to Stock.
Im rooted with twrp on a custom rom
What are the exact steps?
Will revert back to Stock wipe my Pictures etc?
Where can i find the Stock rom / img?
Thx

Coming from a custom ROM, I suggest that you flash the full factory image from Google. You can find the images and directions here. This will fully reset your phone and wipe all data from it, including everything on the "SD Card" partition, so make sure you back up anything important to an off phone storage location.
The directions should be pretty easy to follow. The entire process does take some time to flash however (perhaps 45 minutes) - just be patient with it. Let us know if you have any issues.
Doing this will obviously remove root, but it does not relock the bootloader. If you want to keep the completely stock ROM, you can relock the bootloader after flashing the full factory image. However, if you root it or otherwise modify the phone at all, do not relock the bootloader.

Reverting back to stock (all Pixels)
sic0048 said:
Coming from a custom ROM, I suggest that you flash the full factory image from Google. You can find the images and directions here. This will fully reset your phone and wipe all data from it, including everything on the "SD Card" partition, so make sure you back up anything important to an off phone storage location.
The directions should be pretty easy to follow. The entire process does take some time to flash however (perhaps 45 minutes) - just be patient with it. Let us know if you have any issues.
Doing this will obviously remove root, but it does not relock the bootloader. If you want to keep the completely stock ROM, you can relock the bootloader after flashing the full factory image. However, if you root it or otherwise modify the phone at all, do not relock the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reverting back to stock is dead-simple with *all* Pixels - all you need is a factory image and the proper cabling (in this case, USB-A to USB-C). When you extract the factory image, you will see two scripts - flash-all.sh (for Linux computers) and flash-all.bat (for Windows computers). Where the decision gets tough is *what* factory image do you want to revert to - especially with older Pixels. (The original Pixel has Android 7.1.1 as an optional factory image - it is, in fact, the "only" Pixel that goes back that far, as this version of Android 7 was unique to it. Yes; there are still original Pixels in service; my Mom has one, in fact. However, I had no interest in saddling Mom's refurbished Pixel with the unicorn that is Android 7.1.1; instead - despite that the phone she had been running was sporting the even older - and moldier - Android 7/Nougat - she would follow me to Android 10. (The difference is that she is not running in "dark mode"; however, that is the only difference.)

Grab an Android Pie factory image (Google "Pixel Factory Images") and flash it in Fastboot. Will wipe the internal memory and restore the stock recovery. Setup the phone with the bare basics (you will wipe it again). Then boot back to Fastboot and relock the bootloader. Phone will auto wipe. Done.

Related

[Q] Help! Think I bricked my TF101!

I have one of the newer TF101's (B90). I had the Revolver ROM installed on it. I encrypted the tablet. I attempted to install the stock ROM back on the device, which also wiped out CWM and reinstalled the stock recovery. Here's the thing: The original password I had does not work on the device anymore, and the tablet is seemingly still encrypted. I cannot boot into UPX (probably due to the HW version), and the recovery ROM only displays the ! graphic.
Is there anything I can do?
whatexcusenow said:
I have one of the newer TF101's (B90). I had the Revolver ROM installed on it. I encrypted the tablet. I attempted to install the stock ROM back on the device, which also wiped out CWM and reinstalled the stock recovery. Here's the thing: The original password I had does not work on the device anymore, and the tablet is seemingly still encrypted. I cannot boot into UPX (probably due to the HW version), and the recovery ROM only displays the ! graphic.
Is there anything I can do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to wipe the data partition. This isn't windows. This is android. In windows, you have 1 big partition so reinstalling the OS kills everything. In android, there are over a dozen different partitions. Installing a new OS doesn't touch the data partition. And since revolver is based on the stock, some data will still work in the stock, like your encryption.
You need to nvflash in the cwm and use it to wipe the data.
goodintentions said:
You need to nvflash in the cwm and use it to wipe the data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but he has a B90 so no NVFlash
Oh, didn't see that part.
I am constantly amazed at people refusing (for religious reason or whatever reason) to wipe data before flashing another rom and then complain that something is wrong.
Someone else might be able to help. In the mean time, let me think about this one.
You can follow the Unroot Process, which will wipe /Data (also your /SDCARD) - you're already through the first part since you have the stock recovery installed.
Just download the stock firmware from Asus' website and follow the instructions in the "Updated Version of SOP" manual (also from Asus' website) - it involves using an micro-sd card and extracting the stock firmware to it, then booting to Recovery. The stock recovery should automagically find the firmware update and flash it.
Edit: Edited for clarity, and added a link to the download's page - http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Eee+Pad+Transformer+TF101&p=20&s=16
hold vol down, wait until it asks about data wipe, press vol up, wait a few minutes while it does the datawipe

[Q] [i9023] Rooting & Unrooting (ICS 4.0.3)

Following situation: I have bought a Nexus S from someone. The previous owner installed Superuser at some point and later on updated to ICS 4.0.3 (and unrooted the phone as well before the update, apparently). For warranty reasons, I want to remove the Superuser application completely, but naturally I can only do that by rooting the phone again (otherwise I will not be able to delete /system/app/Superuser.apk).
I searched around here and other sites around the web and found a few guides, but haven't found anything specifically for the i9023 with ICS 4.0.3, especially for unrooting.
Could someone may be point me in the right direction? Or is there simply no way of doing that currently on an i9023 with ICS 4.0.3?
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Also, recently some sort of flash counter resetter has come to light for ICS devices, look it up and check it out before you unroot, it might be worth the probable risk, if you're willing to go the distance to ensure a warranty. I have no clue on how or if it works though, be careful.
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
Erythnul said:
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Also, recently some sort of flash counter resetter has come to light for ICS devices, look it up and check it out before you unroot, it might be worth the probable risk, if you're willing to go the distance to ensure a warranty. I have no clue on how or if it works though, be careful.
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nexus S doesn't have a flash counter
Sent from my ice cream powered Nexus S
Erythnul said:
The best thing to do would be to root, flash a stock image (incl bootloader and recovery). Then relock the bootloader, and you're all done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already went ahead and tried that, but I ran into a problem unfortuantely: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=22599816#post22599816
Other users on a german Android forum reported the same problem, when using this method (the Nandroid backup image and restoring it via CWM). They then tried a different method using Odin.
(Funnily enough, when I reverted to my original ICS 4.0.3 backup image via CWM, my USB Transfer Speed problem got fixed. I only had 1 MiB/sec before, and now after this whole ordeal I have ~20 MiB/sec (or more).)
Erythnul said:
One question though, do you actually have any warranty seeing as you bought the device used? If not, why not just reroot it and enjoy that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do still have warranty on it. The device was bought on 14th of December 2011 and I have the receipt. According to the seller, he got a Galaxy Nexus on Christmas 2 weeks later, so he simply sold his brand new Nexus S.
I may want to send the phone in, because the phone speaker is a bit bad. It's not completely broken, I can still understand everything, but the quality is rather bad, some frequencies get really distorted etc. I don't know if the Samsung support partner where I'll go to will grant me the warranty here, but I want to try nonetheless. Paid too much money for it to have a bad speaker .
In my opinion, you should never use other people's CWM backups on your own phone. It can mess things up BAD. Especially when they don't say what model they have.
Grab a full ROM from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1445635 and you'll be good to go. Don't forget to wipe /system, /data, /cache, /boot, dalvik cache and do a factory reset before flashing, assuming you're using CWM.
Good to hear about the warranty, good luck with that!
Erythnul said:
In my opinion, you should never use other people's CWM backups on your own phone. It can mess things up BAD. Especially when they don't say what model they have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, well, I am thinking the same now . I simply trusted the stickied FAQ . Maybe this should get removed.
Erythnul said:
Don't forget to wipe /system, /data, /cache, /boot, dalvik cache
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phew, but for that, I'd need to root it again, right? I am still not sure if any of the rooting guides I found so far also apply to my case, since I have ICS 4.0.3 on it. (As I said superuser is already installed, but the device is not rooted and it seems to be a leftover from before the ICS 4.0.3 update.)
Well, I wouldn't know Try booting into recovery, if it's CWM recovery it's really very easy, and that's all you'll need anyway. doing the full wipe and reflash guarantees that there'll be no traces of the rooting process remaining at all.
If you don't have CWM, but the phone boots up with an unlocked symbol at the Google logo (first indicator of an unlocked bootloader), you can easily flash CWM again and then flash to all-stock. Then relock. Most rooting guides still hold, just make sure you flash the latest CWM (5.0.2.0 (non-touch) or 5.8.0.x (touch)), especially as for what you want to do you don't need SU, just CWM.
Step-by-step quick guide written by me
Install Android SDK if necessary (for adb and fastboot) (plenty of guides for that around)
download recovery file from CWM and rename to recovery.img
Connect phone to computer and reboot into bootloader
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
use CWM to wipe everything and reflash
fastboot oem lock
???
Profit!
Alternately, use a one-click root method to flash CWM and then work from there
Good luck
EDIT: The FAQ you mentioned is probably old news by now, but I wouldn't know how to get that updated I'll see if I can get something done about that. I feel linking to a backup, especially with a dedicated full ROM thread (also stickied btw ) around, isn't a good idea at all
Thx for that.
I did look into CWM before you posted it and noticed these wiping options. However, I am unsure what exactly I should use. There is
- wipe data/factory reset
- wipe cache partition
in the main menu of CWM and
- Wipe Dalvik Cache
under advanced. But there is no specific mention of /system and /boot .
Also is this
download recovery file from CWM and rename to recovery.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually necessary? I searched around a bit and I thought that I simply have to grab one of the full ROMs (e.g. Android 2.3.6/GRK39F/XXKF1 Radio/KA3 Bootloader) and then use
- install zip from sdcard
in CWM.
Ah, I wasn't sure whether you had CWM on there, that makes all this way easier
The format options are under mounts and storage. Be careful not to wipe the SD, and make backups of stuff you want to keep (like SMS messages or apps etc). What I always do is wipe everything (except the sd-card!) under mounts and storage and then do a factory reset, that should also take care of the dalvik cache if I remember correctly. So just skip everything I said before wipe and reflash
Sounds like you have a good handle on the situation now, good luck on the warranty thing!
Erythnul said:
Ah, I wasn't sure whether you had CWM on there, that makes all this way easier
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, although I have to flash it every time I want to use it (I guess because the stock Android ICS ROM is removing it on every boot?).
Erythnul said:
The format options are under mounts and storage. Be careful not to wipe the SD, and make backups of stuff you want to keep (like SMS messages or apps etc). What I always do is wipe everything under mounts and storage and then do a factory reset, that should also take care of the dalvik cache if I remember correctly. So just skip everything I said before wipe and reflash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aaah ok, so under
- mounts and storage
I do
- format /system
- format /cache
- format /data
- format /boot
and maybe
- format /sdcard
as well, if I don't need anything on it anymore, and then
- wipe data/factory reset
in the main menu of CWM, correct? And after that
- install zip from sdcard
with the aforementioned ROM.
Exactly, but don't wipe the sdcard, as the ROM you're going to flash is on there
and after that, don't forget to relock your bootloader, if it's still unlocked they'll know it used to be rooted
Erythnul said:
Exactly, but don't wipe the sdcard, as the ROM you're going to flash is on there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, damn, yeah, that would have been stupid

[Q] Two questions relating to fresh odin original FW flash, TWRP & encryption

I have been having a persistent issue trying to encrypt my phone's internal storage. (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini LTE (GT-I9195). I thought it might be related to me rooting the device, since I read that you can't encrypt a rooted phone.
So a few minutes ago I plucked up the courage to follow the tutorial to flash my original downloaded firmware to the phone, in an attempt to erase all trace of root. Well the phone came up and wanted my password, so I rebooted and installed TWRP via odin again, then did a factory reset and then used the wipe data option and proceeded to make a backup, assuming this would be as useful and as good as odin-flashing my original firmware back for future use and more convenient and less dangerous than using odin.
Well, after booting it up, going through the setup wizard and then adding a lockscreen password, I am still unable to encrypt the phone. It shows the green android robot, screen fades out, then very soon after that the phone reboots and it all comes back up as normal unencrypted. Bare in mind that this is still the stock firmware that was odin-flashed and then a factory reset.
After all this, what would I need to do to get the phone encryption working?
Also, is my assumption correct, that the new TWRP backup I made, after flashing the original firmware via odin, is that new fresh backup as good as flashing the original again via odin? At least in terms of the OS status? I know the recovery isn't changed by such a backup and odin wipes absolutely everything, but I think you know what I am asking.
Morthawt said:
I have been having a persistent issue trying to encrypt my phone's internal storage. (Samsung Galaxy S4 mini LTE (GT-I9195). I thought it might be related to me rooting the device, since I read that you can't encrypt a rooted phone.
So a few minutes ago I plucked up the courage to follow the tutorial to flash my original downloaded firmware to the phone, in an attempt to erase all trace of root. Well the phone came up and wanted my password, so I rebooted and installed TWRP via odin again, then did a factory reset and then used the wipe data option and proceeded to make a backup, assuming this would be as useful and as good as odin-flashing my original firmware back for future use and more convenient and less dangerous than using odin.
Well, after booting it up, going through the setup wizard and then adding a lockscreen password, I am still unable to encrypt the phone. It shows the green android robot, screen fades out, then very soon after that the phone reboots and it all comes back up as normal unencrypted. Bare in mind that this is still the stock firmware that was odin-flashed and then a factory reset.
After all this, what would I need to do to get the phone encryption working?
Also, is my assumption correct, that the new TWRP backup I made, after flashing the original firmware via odin, is that new fresh backup as good as flashing the original again via odin? At least in terms of the OS status? I know the recovery isn't changed by such a backup and odin wipes absolutely everything, but I think you know what I am asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ODIN doesn't wipe everything. Perform a factory reset via stock recovery immediately after flashing the firmware via ODIN to set your phone back to stock. And who told you that enryption doesn't work with rooted phones?!
LS.xD said:
ODIN doesn't wipe everything. Perform a factory reset via stock recovery immediately after flashing the firmware via ODIN to set your phone back to stock. And who told you that enryption doesn't work with rooted phones?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a factory reset and deleted data and performed a new backup that I have saved to the computer.
But when I started to realise I could not encrypt I went googling and found a blog post by someone who claimed that he had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it to encrypt after he rooted his S4 mini. But my problem is even non-rooted on default firmware with TWRP recovery installed I cannot encrypt So I am hoping someone here will have the answer.
Morthawt said:
I did a factory reset and deleted data and performed a new backup that I have saved to the computer.
But when I started to realise I could not encrypt I went googling and found a blog post by someone who claimed that he had to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it to encrypt after he rooted his S4 mini. But my problem is even non-rooted on default firmware with TWRP recovery installed I cannot encrypt So I am hoping someone here will have the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point is that that KNOX detects the TWRP recovery. Enryption is possible with any rooted custom rom and probably with any roms but Samsung's S4 generation and newer due to the stupid KNOX security.
LS.xD said:
The point is that that KNOX detects the TWRP recovery. Enryption is possible with any rooted custom rom and probably with any roms but Samsung's S4 generation and newer due to the stupid KNOX security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did get encryption working one time on a custom rom but I have no idea how I did it. What should I do to improve my chances of getting encryption working? I thought when I rooted the original rom it removed knoxx?

TWRP says no OS is installed, but I just flashed it. Can anybody help?

Hi,
Its been a while since I been attentive to my Pixel. I was a lucky one who managed to get a Verizon 7.1.2 with an unlocked bootloader. I unlocked the bootloader, flashed a ROM, and rooted and haven't had a single major problem since.
I was running Resurrection Remix from about March and I yesterday I wanted to try to use Android Pay, so I followed a tutorial I found in another thread here to install Magisk, and when it was all said and done I ended up in a boot loop where the phone would reset as soon as it reaches the Google logo, ramdump, and eventually boot back into TWRP.
In the attempts to delete out all kinds of caches and dalviks and factory resets and whatever else, nothing worked.
So in the end I decided to just flash a new ROM. Flashed the latest Pure Nexus, reflashed TWRP, flashed the vendor image... went to go reboot and it gives me the WARNING! NO OS INSTALLED! error. I thought that was odd and decided to just update to the latest Resurrection Remix - same problem.
At this point I am unsure what to do next. I don't care about any user data on the phone, I just want to get it back up and running with a new ROM.
I have a few questions and thank you in advance for all help you may be able to offer:
1) Why am I getting the NO OS INSTALLED issue directly after flashing a ROM? Logs indicate no errors whatsoever. /system/ is mounted. Every time I boot into TWRP it asks me if I want to Keep System partition read only. I always tell it to allow modifications and never ask me this question again - it asks every time. Is it possible that /system/ can actually remain empty even after a fresh ROM install that gives no errors in the log?
2) I believe that I am supposed to reflash to stock image that this phone shipped with to start all over. If I reflash back to stock, will my bootloader have any chance of locking again? I don't even know what version the stock image was, and I'm further confused/concerned about the fact that it was a 7.1.2 image I shipped with - from my understanding there were security updates which make unlocking/rooting impossible. I don't understand why you have to start that far back - is it even needed? The latest Resurrection Remix ROM install instructions assumes that I am on latest "Firmware" NOF26W. This is another issue I don't understand - what is a firmware? The full factory image? In any case, NOF26W is specifically for Rogers Google Pixel devices. Since I need to be on this "firmware" before I install latest, can I just flash the NOF26W Stock image despite the fact that I am using a rooted Verizon Pixel? The NOF26W image is 1.8GB: What exactly in this ZIP am I supposed to flash?
3) There were various weird things about this phone/flashing ROMs that I seem to recall such as having to boot an older TWRP before flashing ROM and then flashing the newer TWRP - is any of this stuff still relevant?
4) I also remember that many people were fastbooting TWRP rather than flashing TWRP for some reason - are there specific builds/non-standard stuff required for any of this to work on the Pixel?
I really appreciate all and any help that anybody can provide. If there's files that you're referring to, PLEASE send links. I need to get this phone back up and running ASAP.
Thanks again!!
when you wipe system, twrp wipes current active slot but when install a rom, it gets installed in the inactive slot (which will become active upon reboot). but twrp still thinks the currently active slots system is erased and complains that no os is installed.
rohitece06 said:
when you wipe system, twrp wipes current active slot but when install a rom, it gets installed in the inactive slot (which will become active upon reboot). but twrp still thinks the currently active slots system is erased and complains that no os is installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I just reboot anyway after seeing that message and I've never had any issues.

Can I backup & restore including appdata with TWRP?

In the past I've always backed up my complete ROM incl. appdata with twrp. I didn't have to competely setup my device if flashing went wrong and reverted to stock. I had some bad luck flashing roms because the A/B slots are new to me. I now have my bootloader unlocked and everything setup on stock OOS, and made a twrp backup of super, recovery and data.
Before flashing another ROM I just want to make sure I can revert easily to the previous OS without doing a complete setup of app settings and stuff
My question is
Can I wipe/factory reset and then just restore with twrp?
Do I restore when in the active slot where current os is?
Are there any issues with password/encryption when restoring?
Expected scenario;
I'm on stock OOS, wiped and want to restore appdata, settings, homescreen, etc...
I failed to install custom ROM and want to revert to stock OOS without having to redo the entire setup
I did search google and this forum for an answer or guide but couldn't find one (please correct me if I missed a thread)
yusisushi said:
In the past I've always backed up my complete ROM incl. appdata with twrp. I didn't have to competely setup my device if flashing went wrong and reverted to stock. I had some bad luck flashing roms because the A/B slots are new to me. I now have my bootloader unlocked and everything setup on stock OOS, and made a twrp backup of super, recovery and data.
Before flashing another ROM I just want to make sure I can revert easily to the previous OS without doing a complete setup of app settings and stuff
My question is
Can I wipe/factory reset and then just restore with twrp?
Do I restore when in the active slot where current os is?
Are there any issues with password/encryption when restoring?
Expected scenario;
I'm on stock OOS, wiped and want to restore appdata, settings, homescreen, etc...
I failed to install custom ROM and want to revert to stock OOS without having to redo the entire setup
I did search google and this forum for an answer or guide but couldn't find one (please correct me if I missed a thread)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you read the first 3 posts of https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...recovery-project-8t-kebab-2022-03-09.4302449/ ?
BillGoss said:
Did you read the first 3 posts of https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...recovery-project-8t-kebab-2022-03-09.4302449/ ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI, yes I did
I am still confused because it says before a restore I have to disable screenlock, if my phone is softbricked or has no OS does that count as not having fingerprint/lockscreen enabled?
yusisushi said:
HI, yes I did
I am still confused because it says before a restore I have to disable screenlock, if my phone is softbricked or has no OS does that count as not having fingerprint/lockscreen enabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you start TWRP, does it prompt you for a password/pin/pattern?
If Yes, then you have a lock screen password set. And if you can't get into the system to disable it, you'll have to format data (completely wipes all data).
If No, then you're good to go.
BillGoss said:
When you start TWRP, does it prompt you for a password/pin/pattern?
If Yes, then you have a lock screen password set. And if you can't get into the system to disable it, you'll have to format data (completely wipes all data).
If No, then you're good to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, first of all; thank you for taking time to help me!
I managed to completely wipe the phone including data, and afterwards I restored it by copying the backup (which was now on my computer) and restoring it. SUCCESS! All appdata seems to be there, homescreen, and after second reboot my fingerprint still worked as before.
I just have one more question if you don't mind;
Below partitions I backed up;
Data
Boot
DTBO
Super
However, I'm not able to copy over the "super" partition from my computer to my phone, is this normal? it's almost 8GB and I was convinced I wasn't going to get to the OS without restoring it but apparently I didn't need it (?)
I suppose with the Fastboot Enhance Tool I'll be able to also restore this?
You really only need to backup the "system" partitions (boot, dtbo, super) if you're changing to custom ROMs. If you're always on OOS then you can forget about backing them up.
You should be able to copy the full backup, including super files from your PC to your phone using ADB. I've done that lots of times.
I've never used the tool you referred to. But I do know that you can't use fastboot to flash the super partition - it's too big.
However, if you break it up into chunks (I did it in 512MB chunks) using SparseConverter (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-sparseconverter-v1-0-1.2749797/) then you can successfully flash it.
Just to confirm, if a ROM bootloops and I don't have access to a computer, there's no way to restore the TWRP backup? Seems like this defeats the point of even making on-device backups (AFAIK encryption can't be disabled for many roms)
tech.central said:
Just to confirm, if a ROM bootloops and I don't have access to a computer, there's no way to restore the TWRP backup? Seems like this defeats the point of even making on-device backups (AFAIK encryption can't be disabled for many roms)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can enter TWRP (even if your rom bootloops) there is a great chance you can restore backup in TWRP.

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