Develop Bugs

[Q] 4.2 Upgrade Problems-- verizon gnex

My vzw nexus has been running mRom version x.x for sometime. I went to install the upgraded 4.2 rom via clockworkmod, (wipe cache and dalvik, flash over current rom) and it appeared to install successfully. However, when I rebooted I saw the lock screen for a split second and it just started to boot loop. I rebooted back into recovery and wiped all data and tried to reinstall the rom via through the new 0 partition, but I get the error symlink: some symlinks failed
E: Error in /sdcard/0/mRom_v3.0_JOP40C.zip (status 7)
I think that this may have something to do with the multiple users in 4.2, but don't quote me on it. I cannot get my computer to recognize my phone, when I go to mounts in cwm I can mount everything except the sdcard, although I think this problem was evident before I flashed. Any suggestions? I could try to restore to stock using galaxynexusrestore-- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1743939 but I have not tried it before so I cannot speak to weither it will work or not.
HELP!

Always always wipe data when changing an Android version. Unless it comes via OTA, which is specifically designed to fix all the little problems that will arise.
As to how to fix the problem, flashing a factory image
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1626895 will probably work. Just follow the rules for Toro. The toolkit you linked may work, but it's generally a better idea to not use them and actually familiarize yourself with how to fix things yourself, you'll be less likely to make mistakes in the future.

Same thing happened to me.
when i try to restore from backup Clockwork can't locate the backup file because the root file structure has changed to \0.
Is there an update to Recovery that fixes this?
Help!

Misread OP.

ironerd said:
Same thing happened to me.
when i try to restore from backup Clockwork can't locate the backup file because the root file structure has changed to \0.
Is there an update to Recovery that fixes this?
Help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork dev said he knows about the issue and is working on a fix.
TWRP already has a patch out that solves the problem. If you decide to temporary move to TWRP it can be flashed through fastboot or Goomanager. CWM and TWRP backups are not compatible however.
http://teamw.in/androidmultiuser useful reading for how TWRP fixed it.

same problem, stuck at JB logo
Marisa said:
Clockwork dev said he knows about the issue and is working on a fix.
TWRP already has a patch out that solves the problem. If you decide to temporary move to TWRP it can be flashed through fastboot or Goomanager. CWM and TWRP backups are not compatible however.
http://teamw.in/androidmultiuser useful reading for how TWRP fixed it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was running stock JRO03O with Clockwork Recovery Mod and decided to flash the JB 4.2 ROM from Grouper (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993545 - I can't post there since I'm too new).
The update must have succeeded, because I can see the new 0/ partition on my phone, but it won't boot past the "X" logo. I can boot into CWM and try various things, but of course because of the data structure changes, I can't actually recover to my last save. When I'm home, I'm hoping I can get the CWM backup off my phone to restore later, but without a terminal in CWM, I can't try to fix the path.
It's nice to hear that CW is working on a fix - I hope it's retroactive (I mean, helpful to those of use who already screwed up). Also, I've never flashed anything but OTA, so I didn't realize I needed to wipe data before flashing something that's supposed to be almost stock. I guess it matters how different from stock the ROM actually is.
What's next? I'll try to interface with my PC at home. If others have this problem, I'd be happy to hear your success (or fail) stories. I'll share mine once I've tried it.

The issue with non-OTA version updates is that the OTA is specifically designed to know what little bits and pieces need to be updated, removed, or left alone.
Flashing a ROM is usually intended as a fresh slate, as the dev cannot know exactly from where you started. Basically without the wipe, you could end up with old files loitering about the system and making it do things incorrectly at boot.
Koush
When trying to restore CWM backup move previous backups AND blobs folder to /data/media/clockworkmod if the folder does not exist simply create one or if unsure just go to recovery and make new backup, it will create necessary folders for you then move (or copy to be safe) files to location.... The blobs folder is what I was missing and why I kept getting error while trying to restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should help your problem solving for the moment, if you're familiar enough with ADB to move the files that way it shouldn't take very long at all

thanks, and update of my status
Marisa said:
The issue with non-OTA version updates is that the OTA is specifically designed to know what little bits and pieces need to be updated, removed, or left alone.
Flashing a ROM is usually intended as a fresh slate, as the dev cannot know exactly from where you started. Basically without the wipe, you could end up with old files loitering about the system and making it do things incorrectly at boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the extra insight. I wrestled with my phone all night and finally got it back to 4.1.1 (JRO030). Along the way I screwed up my adb or fastboot drivers, and for all my efforts I couldn't get any of my nexus toolkits to recognize the phone as in fastboot mode. Adb was fine, but fastboot was a no-go. I moved to a fresh computer after someone else had success with that, and read up on how to do a manual (adb command line) flash to factory image.
Now that that's done, I'm hoping I can restore from CWM to get back to where I was. If not, then yuck, but I'm optimistic.

Problem updating to 4.4.3

I am on a stock rom, rooted with twrp. I downloaded the 4.4.3 update ota but when rebooting it went to twrp and I did not know how to proceed so I booted to system. The update did not apply and I am still on 4.4.2
Now I cannot download the update again as it says I have the latest version.
Please tell me how I can get 4.4.3
Thanks
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

goodboy1 said:
I am on a stock rom, rooted with twrp. I downloaded the 4.4.3 update ota but when rebooting it went to twrp and I did not know how to proceed so I booted to system. The update did not apply and I am still on 4.4.2
Now I cannot download the update again as it says I have the latest version.
Please tell me how I can get 4.4.3
Thanks
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First make sure you have the latest twrp, then boot into it, flash the ota zip from inside twrp, the ota zip is located in /cache...be sure to wipe cache and dalvik before restarting.

Many thanks for the prompt response. Unfortunately, when I try and install the update I get a message
Unexpected Content in system/app/iWnnIME.apk
Many thanks
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Me too!
I am having the exact same problem. I got a notice that an update was available but when i did the update via TWRP, it rebooted and i was still on 4.4.2. It thinks i already updated so say's I am already up to date when i check for updates again..
So i downloaded the 4.4.3 update zip file from somewhere and put in on my SDcard. Then went into TWRP to install it and it complains that /system/app.Videos.apk has unexpected contents - WTF??? Then aborts. Why is a simple update so damn problematic?
Am i out of luck? I don't want to have to wipe my tablet and start over.
James

goodboy1 said:
Many thanks for the prompt response. Unfortunately, when I try and install the update I get a message
Unexpected Content in system/app/iWnnIME.apk
Many thanks
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brandypuff said:
I am having the exact same problem. I got a notice that an update was available but when i did the update via TWRP, it rebooted and i was still on 4.4.2. It thinks i already updated so say's I am already up to date when i check for updates again..
So i downloaded the 4.4.3 update zip file from somewhere and put in on my SDcard. Then went into TWRP to install it and it complains that /system/app.Videos.apk has unexpected contents - WTF??? Then aborts. Why is a simple update so damn problematic?
Am i out of luck? I don't want to have to wipe my tablet and start over.
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both of you modified /system, you must dirty flash your stock system.img then flash the ota. Additionally, if you are using a custom kernel, you will probably have to flash the stock boot.img as well.
And both if you, don't forget to do a nandroid first!

By dirty flash if you mean wipe Dalvik and cache, i did that and then tried reflashing the update but it failed again.
James

brandypuff said:
By dirty flash if you mean wipe Dalvik and cache, i did that and then tried reflashing the update but it failed again.
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, what I mean is you need your system.img (and boot.img if you use a custom kernel) from the stock rom, then you need to flash that over your /system and /boot respectively, then flash the OTA, then wipe cache and dalvik.
And both if you, don't forget to do a nandroid first!

Updated!
Bought my Nexus recently and it was android 4.3 [Dad bought it in US and forgot to check the version)
I got the OTA update to 4.4.2 a few days back but it didnt install though it finished downloading. After trying all methods, i decided to do it with Nexus Root Toolkit. But to my surprise, NRT had the 4.4.3 stock img already! I flashed it and my Tablet is smooth. No problems noted till now. If you want me to check whether a particular app is working in 4.4.3 properly or not, let me know. I will test it and tell you

mdamaged said:
No, what I mean is you need your system.img (and boot.img if you use a custom kernel) from the stock rom, then you need to flash that over your /system and /boot respectively, then flash the OTA, then wipe cache and dalvik.
And both if you, don't forget to do a nandroid first!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm..I don;t remember removing video.apk but i may have done some house cleaning awhile back. i know i don't have a backup of it anywhere. Since I'm not running a custom kernel, i just need to flash razor-kot49h-factory-ebb4918e.tar, wipe dalvik and cache and then the update and then the update should work ok? will i lose any of my installed apps after flashing the factory image? I'm assuming this puts it back to the original out of the box OS.
Actually, if that's the case that I will lose everything, why can't i just flash the factory image 4.4.3 (KTU84L) directly?
James

brandypuff said:
Hmm..I don;t remember removing video.apk but i may have done some house cleaning awhile back. i know i don't have a backup of it anywhere. Since I'm not running a custom kernel, i just need to flash razor-kot49h-factory-ebb4918e.tar, wipe dalvik and cache and then the update and then the update should work ok? will i lose any of my installed apps after flashing the factory image? I'm assuming this puts it back to the original out of the box OS.
Actually, if that's the case that I will lose everything, why can't i just flash the factory image 4.4.3 (KTU84L) directly?
James
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no, no, extract system.img from this zip, then fastboot flash them.
i.e.:
fastboot flash system system.img
...then flash the OTA, then wipe cache and dalvik.
This process will revert system to stock, thus allowing the update to work. It will not wipe data, but any changes you made to /system will be gone, you will have to reapply those changes.
You did not ask, but I use MultiROM, and I will flash a new version to a secondary, then use titanium on app data, then boot into the new secondary, make whatever changes I need to, once I am fine with how it works, I then migrate my data to it, then use the swap ROM function in MultiROM. The whole OTA thing is a PITA when you modify too much of the system.

mdamaged said:
No, no, no, extract system.img from this zip, then fastboot flash them.
i.e.:
fastboot flash system system.img
...then flash the OTA, then wipe cache and dalvik.
This process will revert system to stock, thus allowing the update to work. It will not wipe data, but anychanges you made to /system will be gone, you will have to reapply those changes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much!
I will try this.
James

I fought with the Nexus 7 {2013} 4.4.3 update for a good day and a half. Tablet rooted with xposed modules , etc. Same messages you got.
Found that this method works very easily and preserves all data. Takes a few minutes to accomplish, then just one minute to reroot. Try this, it works:
http://nexus5.wonderhowto.com/how-t...ndroid-4-4-3-without-losing-any-data-0155334/

sucess
OK, I was able to update successfully.
I copied down the factory razor 4.4.2 kot49h image from google and extracted the tar file using cygwin's tar because winzip was giving me errors reading the tar file. Once i extracted the contents, i used ext4_unpacker to extract the system folder. I then copied videos.apk to the system\app directory using a the File Manager App and provided the correct RW attributes.
I tried the upgrade again but got an error this time about system\bin\app_process. I searched the web and realized that i need to uninstall the Xposed framework. Then i tried the upgrade again. this time it worked. I wiped dalvik/cache and rebooted. However, now I've lost root and need to remember how i rooted initially.
Thanks all.
James.

brandypuff said:
OK, I was able to update successfully.
I copied down the factory razor 4.4.2 kot49h image from google and extracted the tar file using cygwin's tar because winzip was giving me errors reading the tar file. Once i extracted the contents, i used ext4_unpacker to extract the system folder. I then copied videos.apk to the system\app directory using a the File Manager App and provided the correct RW attributes.
I tried the upgrade again but got an error this time about system\bin\app_process. I searched the web and realized that i need to uninstall the Xposed framework. Then i tried the upgrade again. this time it worked. I wiped dalvik/cache and rebooted. However, now I've lost root and need to remember how i rooted initially.
Thanks all.
James.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just download the newest SuperSU and flash it from recovery. Then install busybox from playstore.

I had to uninstall xposed, re enable all apps. Recovery, install update in cache, wipe cache dalvik, reboot, reboot to recover flash su, boot, install supersu, reboot to TWRP and boot then reinstall xposed.
Yep if you're unlocked and rooted it can be done without a computer but it's way slower!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Thank you everyone. I used the nexus toolkit suggested a few posts back and everything works.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I am having a similar issue where the error that pops up for me says "/system/bin/app_process has unexpected contents". I tried uninstalling xposed and gravity box but that didn't help. Help?

mccartad said:
I am having a similar issue where the error that pops up for me says "/system/bin/app_process has unexpected contents". I tried uninstalling xposed and gravity box but that didn't help. Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you uninstall xposed? If you did so the way you normally uninstall apps, you did it the wrong way. You should have uninstalled it from within xposed. I think you can still fix it by reinstalling xposed and doing it the right way.

mdamaged said:
How did you uninstall xposed? If you did so the way you normally uninstall apps, you did it the wrong way. You should have uninstalled it from within xposed. I think you can still fix it by reinstalling xposed and doing it the right way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy shnikies it worked! Thanks so much!

mdamaged said:
No, no, no, extract system.img from this zip, then fastboot flash them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can anyone please confirm that this is a flashable .zip of a full stock Kit Kat 4.4.3. or can anyone point me to one. - thanks :cyclops:

HELP: Issues updating rooted device to OOS 3.2.8

hello all,
I have a rooted OP3 running the latest TWRP recovery. Using these instructions I am trying to upgrade to 3.2.8 from 3.2.7. There are no errors displayed during OOS or SuperSU install steps.
But when the phone reboots - it stays stuck at the boot animation. This happens across several attempts. I do not have xposed installed, if it helps. Repeating the above steps with a 3.2.7 image works without issues.
Is there any way I can figure out where the 3.2.8 reboot is getting stuck at? I *do not* want to do a fresh install.
Any thoughts/ Suggestions? I have already posted at the above thread and thought I'd try my luck here too.
EDIT: Can a MOD please move this to Q&A forum. Just realized I posted to Guides, News & Discussion.

backup all your data and install 3.2.8 with the official procedure

Sacob said:
backup all your data and install 3.2.8 with the official procedure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my last option. But that's as good as starting from scratch. In which case, I might as well postpone until Nougat arrives on the OP3

tropicanapure said:
That's my last option. But that's as good as starting from scratch. In which case, I might as well postpone until Nougat arrives on the OP3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and wait without a phone?
Flash the new Beta 10. i'm currently using it with root and it works great

Not sure what you mean - without a phone. I was able to roll back to 3.2.7 with zero issues
I was mulling over installing the Beta - but I understand Nougat is due in Jan? Also, is there a process to move to b10 without losing data?
Sacob said:
and wait without a phone?
Flash the new Beta 10. i'm currently using it with root and it works great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tropicanapure said:
Not sure what you mean - without a phone. I was able to roll back to 3.2.7 with zero issues
I was mulling over installing the Beta - but I understand Nougat is due in Jan? Also, is there a process to move to b10 without losing data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i got the impression that your phone wasn't booting xD
well, every time i flash those betas (9 and 10) TWRP asks me for a PIN that doesn't exists and to solve that i need wipe everything... so i wouldn't count on that

tropicanapure said:
hello all,
I have a rooted OP3 running the latest TWRP recovery. Using these instructions I am trying to upgrade to 3.2.8 from 3.2.7. There are no errors displayed during OOS or SuperSU install steps.
But when the phone reboots - it stays stuck at the boot animation. This happens across several attempts. I do not have xposed installed, if it helps. Repeating the above steps with a 3.2.7 image works without issues.
Is there any way I can figure out where the 3.2.8 reboot is getting stuck at? I *do not* want to do a fresh install.
Any thoughts/ Suggestions? I have already posted at the above thread and thought I'd try my luck here too.
EDIT: Can a MOD please move this to Q&A forum. Just realized I posted to Guides, News & Discussion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you download the full 3.2.8 zip from http://downloads.oneplus.net? I did. And to my surprise, it erases the whole userdata partition, including TWRP backups and downloaded files (including SuperSU zip). So big warning if you try with that zip. I assume that this zip is intended for those reverting from Nougat Beta, to go back from F2FS to EXT4.
My solution was to restore an old TWRP backup that was saved on my PC and then reflash a modified full 3.2.8 zip where the last line in the update script was removed: the one that erases userdata partition. So before flashing full 3.2.8 zip from http://downloads.oneplus.net I recommend you to remove the last line in the update script.

No, I downloaded the Full ZIP from this official thread on the OP3 forums. I was aware of that line though. And from previous experience - the first thing I do when I make a TWRP backup is to move it off the phone. That and I purchased Titanium Backup long time ago. I use it to back up stuff surgically and sync it up to Dropbox every night. The app also seems to have the ability to make a recovery-flashable "update.zip" - something I have yet to try.
Appreciate the heads-up though.
ptblad said:
Did you download the full 3.2.8 zip from http://downloads.oneplus.net? I did. And to my surprise, it erases the whole userdata partition, including TWRP backups and downloaded files (including SuperSU zip). So big warning if you try with that zip. I assume that this zip is intended for those reverting from Nougat Beta, to go back from F2FS to EXT4.
My solution was to restore an old TWRP backup that was saved on my PC and then reflash a modified full 3.2.8 zip where the last line in the update script was removed: the one that erases userdata partition. So before flashing full 3.2.8 zip from http://downloads.oneplus.net I recommend you to remove the last line in the update script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

tropicanapure said:
No, I downloaded the Full ZIP from this official thread on the OP3 forums. I was aware of that line though. And from previous experience - the first thing I do when I make a TWRP backup is to move it off the phone. That and I purchased Titanium Backup long time ago. I use it to back up stuff surgically and sync it up to Dropbox every night. The app also seems to have the ability to make a recovery-flashable "update.zip" - something I have yet to try.
Appreciate the heads-up though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I also use TB, and from now on I use cloud storage :laugh:
After the full modified 3.2.8 zip I successfully flashed official SuperSU 2.79, Xposed v87 and Bluspark r25 kernel. I use F2FS on data partition. It boots and runs fine!
The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is that it stays on the bootlogo (OnePlus logo, Powered by Android) for about 25 secs before the bootanimation begins when booting to system. Much faster before. When booting to recovery (TWRP 28, Bluspark) the time on bootlogo is normal (short). Any thoughts on that?

I wish I had, man. You went a number of steps ahead when your phone went past the boot animation
As a afterthought - try looking through your logs.
ptblad said:
OK. I also use TB, and from now on I use cloud storage :laugh:
After the full modified 3.2.8 zip I successfully flashed official SuperSU 2.79, Xposed v87 and Bluspark r25 kernel. I use F2FS on data partition. It boots and runs fine!
The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is that it stays on the bootlogo (OnePlus logo, Powered by Android) for about 25 secs before the bootanimation begins when booting to system. Much faster before. When booting to recovery (TWRP 28, Bluspark) the time on bootlogo is normal (short). Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Galaxy S5 (G900F/ klte) - Can't install APKs in LineageOS 14.1!

Hi,
a few days ago moved from stock to twrp-3.0.2.2-klte, lineage-14.1-20170125-nightly-klte-signed and open_gapps-arm-7.1-micro-20170125.
So far I'm facing issues with APK installations. I always get the "parsing problem message" during manual installation. The files are not corrupt, I enabled untrusted apps as well as USB-debugging.
I went through some posts. Reinstalled GAPPS (micro and full), wiped everything, reinstalled the whole ROM and even tried last cm-14.1-20161225-NIGHTLY-klte but always get stuck with the same message... there is a problem parsing the package.
UPDATE: Same situation with lineage-14.1-20170131-nightly-klte-signed.
Has someone an idea? Would really appreciate some help. Thanks.
Device: Samsung Galaxy S5 (G900F/ klte)

MDAman said:
Hi,
a few days ago moved from stock to twrp-3.0.2.2-klte, lineage-14.1-20170125-nightly-klte-signed and open_gapps-arm-7.1-micro-20170125.
So far I'm facing issues with APK installations. I always get the "parsing problem message" during manual installation. The files are not corrupt, I enabled untrusted apps as well as USB-debugging.
I went through some posts. Reinstalled GAPPS (micro and full), wiped everything, reinstalled the whole ROM and even tried last cm-14.1-20161225-NIGHTLY-klte but always get stuck with the same message... there is a problem parsing the package.
UPDATE: Same situation with lineage-14.1-20170131-nightly-klte-signed.
Has someone an idea? Would really appreciate some help. Thanks.
Device: Samsung Galaxy S5 (G900F/ klte)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly did you "move from stock"? Clean/dirty flash? Use migration build? Details please.

I just installed lineage-14.1-20170131-nightly-klte-signed with open_gapps-arm-7.1-stock-20170131, rebooted, setup all my settings (Declined the restore from previous backup on first start) and went to Play to install all my apps. Rebooted to flash addonsu-arm-signed, then rebooted again and flashed SuperSU-v2.79-201612051815.
All working fine for now on my G900T and I had CM13 prior to this. From TWRP wiped all but the ExternalSD, rebooted to recovery and wiped again all but ExternalSD, then did a Factory Reset and installed LOS. The only thing not working is FolderMount, but I was expecting that until the next update.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

jhedfors said:
How exactly did you "move from stock"? Clean/dirty flash? Use migration build? Details please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've flashed TWRP using Odin3, booted into recovery, fully wiped stock (sys, data, cache, int sd, etc.) and installed LineageOS rom + GApps.

Reflash again and check md5 of your dowload rom agains the rom provided by lineage website.
This is md5 of the latest rom version 20170131
7305fd079020c0f872148241b437ceaa
md5sums are provided to verify the file download was successful. If you'd like to verify the file has not been tampered with, check its signature instead.

hanzaz said:
Reflash again and check md5 of your dowload rom agains the rom provided by lineage website.
This is md5 of the latest rom version 20170131
7305fd079020c0f872148241b437ceaa
md5sums are provided to verify the file download was successful. If you'd like to verify the file has not been tampered with, check its signature instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Done that. Still the same error.

Installed lineage-14.1-20170207-nightly-klte-signed (MD5 is fine). APKs still can't be parsed.
First I updated. Afterwards I wiped and tried clean install. No difference.

I have the exact same issue. Moving the apk from external to internal storage solves the problem though. Seems to be a hickup in the binding of the SD memory.

_-M-_ said:
I have the exact same issue. Moving the apk from external to internal storage solves the problem though. Seems to be a hickup in the binding of the SD memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
simple yet elegant.
Thank you very much.

Please help - near brick!!

Earlier today I tried to reboot my BND-L24 into TWRP, but I got seriously stuck and have been unable to get unstuck ever since.
TWRP will not load. It starts to load and then gets stuck on the splash screen.
I have tried to wipe from (standard) recovery, but that doesn't work either.
I have tried to install several different TWRPs (fastboot seems to be working ok).
If I could just get into TWRP I should be able to restore the System partition. I had previously installed the Morfuz kernel, but I would have to be able to get into TWRP to restore the original kernel.
I'm seriously stuck. Any advice??
Thanks!

I dont understand. What do you mean by "seriously stuck?"
Use these TWRPs....
https://drive.google.com/open?id=18uHjW73Th8iYKIs5m_QgwleMIOjsZd7S
RECOVERY TWRP OREO 3.2.1
the file is automated. http://zipansion.com/2t6QB
https://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/project/dl/?id=28883

TWRP will not load - it is stuck at the flash screen. I've tried several variants of TWRP and will try yours as well.

I've flashed the first one before without any luck. The second failed with "FAILED (remote: partition length get error). Didn't matter whether I flashed to recover-ramdisk or recovery, same error both ways.

egalambos said:
I've flashed the first one before without any luck. The second failed with "FAILED (remote: partition length get error). Didn't matter whether I flashed to recover-ramdisk or recovery, same error both ways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is recovery_ramdisk... that is the partition, not "recover-ramdisk" or "recovery"

I finally got into TWRP!!! Progress!!
I thought I had a good System partition backup, but apparently I don't.
How can I use TWRP to install a good System.img file that I do have?

egalambos said:
I finally got into TWRP!!! Progress!!
I thought I had a good System partition backup, but apparently I don't.
How can I use TWRP to install a good System.img file that I do have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should always use fastboot to flash .img files. at this point, i suggest you wipe internal storage, cache, dalvik and art cache, system, and data. then flash hurupdater and get back to stock.

I did that, except that I left the Data and the internal partition alone and it worked. I'm in the process of re-installing Magisk, etc., but, from what I can see, everything seems to be pretty much back to normal.
Thanks for the help! It was unbelievably frustrating. Can't believe I mixed up a dash with an underscore!
PS Do you have any idea why I was unable to do a System Update before I re-installed TWRP? I believe I was about as stock as stock can be at that point!

egalambos said:
I did that, except that I left the Data and the internal partition alone and it worked. I'm in the process of re-installing Magisk, etc., but, from what I can see, everything seems to be pretty much back to normal.
Thanks for the help! It was unbelievably frustrating. Can't believe I mixed up a dash with an underscore!
PS Do you have any idea why I was unable to do a System Update before I re-installed TWRP? I believe I was about as stock as stock can be at that point!
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probably because the bootloader was unlocked. one way to install updates manually is using firmware finder app, if the update is approved.