Downgrade to MM then if desired, restore to Nougat - Moto Z Play Questions & Answers

Good day guys!
I have an app that I need to use for my phone but it seems in android N that it consumes more battery, maybe because it is not optimized for it yet. Regardless, I would like to try MM again and see if it does indeed drain less, if not, I would like to go back to android N. Can I flash MM thru bootloader as described here (Restore for OTA part) > https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/how-to/howto-moto-z-play-unlock-root-t3508547, obviously not flashing over bootloader.img or the modem. It is then my understanding I cannot take the OTA again to get back to android N because it will brick my device. With that, how would I get back to android N if and when I want? Could I just restore my backup that is made before my downgrade? Or do I have to flash custom stock ROMs provided here? Can I even do that?
I am rooted in android N, I am actually not sure how to unroot it to get another OTA. With the systemless root, I believe I just need to reflash boot.img, however, I didn't make a backup of that, and I am not sure where to get it. Maybe I get it thru the android N OTA? I found a file called boot.img.p. If I removed the p is this what I need?
Thanks, guys!
Cheers
Joshua

Just bumping this... No one has any thoughts or ideas here?

Related

[Q] One M8 LRA soft brick issues

Good evening everyone -
I'm running into some issues with my LRA version of the M8. I am/was rooted and running TWRP fine until I decided to revert back to the stock recovery so I could install the latest OTA that was released to me. Like an idiot I never backed up my stock OTA before flashing TWRP so I extracted the firmware.zip from the OTA download, relocked my bootloader, then used fastboot to flash firmware.zip. All seemed to go well until I rebooted, I'm now stuck at the HTC splash screen and can get no further. Things I've done:
- tried booting into recovery, got red triangle w/red exclamation mark
- unlocked bootloader and installed TWRP, can get into recovery now at least
- tried factory reset
- wiped cache, no luck
Unfortunately the LRA M8 isn't very common it appears so I'm unable to find a stock ROM to try and reinstall. I'm hoping someone might be able to help me get started back up without the need for my stock RUU or nandroid backup. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, please let me know what other info I could provide to help out. Thanks in advance.
promsos said:
Good evening everyone -
I'm running into some issues with my LRA version of the M8. I am/was rooted and running TWRP fine until I decided to revert back to the stock recovery so I could install the latest OTA that was released to me. Like an idiot I never backed up my stock OTA before flashing TWRP so I extracted the firmware.zip from the OTA download, relocked my bootloader, then used fastboot to flash firmware.zip. All seemed to go well until I rebooted, I'm now stuck at the HTC splash screen and can get no further. Things I've done:
- tried booting into recovery, got red triangle w/red exclamation mark
- unlocked bootloader and installed TWRP, can get into recovery now at least
- tried factory reset
- wiped cache, no luck
Unfortunately the LRA M8 isn't very common it appears so I'm unable to find a stock ROM to try and reinstall. I'm hoping someone might be able to help me get started back up without the need for my stock RUU or nandroid backup. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, please let me know what other info I could provide to help out. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did your firmware.zip have a boot*.img in it? You probably need the old version of the boot.img to match the old software. You might want to find on of the old Verizon RUUs and extract the boot.img from there and try flashing that in fastboot. Message me if the Verizon boot doesn't work for you, I might have some other ideas. I'd say be careful, but you're already in trouble.
Edit: You could also do a nandroid backup and try a custom ROM to get it functional in the short term.
I did eventually grab a nandroid backup and loaded Viper Rom on it, although it's a bit quirky - probably because the LRA version of the phone is slightly different than the stock Verizon version. That being said, the firmware.zip that I loaded did have a boot.img file in it so I'm guessing that's the issue. Do you think the boot.img from a Verizon RUU would work considering my phone is not the same exact version as the Verizon one? Or another way to ask it I guess is if there's really any harm in me restoring my nandroid and loading a standard Verizon boot.img? I'd think it can't render my phone any more useless than it was previously, just wasn't sure how locked in the boot.img file was to the specific model\OS that's on the phone. The whole LRA phone thing is really a kick in the pants.
promsos said:
I did eventually grab a nandroid backup and loaded Viper Rom on it, although it's a bit quirky - probably because the LRA version of the phone is slightly different than the stock Verizon version. That being said, the firmware.zip that I loaded did have a boot.img file in it so I'm guessing that's the issue. Do you think the boot.img from a Verizon RUU would work considering my phone is not the same exact version as the Verizon one? Or another way to ask it I guess is if there's really any harm in me restoring my nandroid and loading a standard Verizon boot.img? I'd think it can't render my phone any more useless than it was previously, just wasn't sure how locked in the boot.img file was to the specific model\OS that's on the phone. The whole LRA phone thing is really a kick in the pants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The boot.img from an older Verizon RUU would probably work, but you might have to try a couple to get the right one. The boot.img is directly tied to the ROM version that is installed, and is often called the kernel and tells the system how to boot the ROM.
Make sure you do a backup of your working Viper before restoring the stock one and trying to flash a boot.img.
I don't understand why you re locked the boot loader and flashed a firmware zip just to revert to stock recovery? All you had to do was pull the stock recovery from the firmware.zip in the OTA then flash it via fast boot. Then go ahead and flash the OTA.
You need to now find and flash a compatible boot.img. Just keep trying different ones until it boots.
I'm making a little progress here, thanks for the help. I downloaded a 4.4.3 Verizon kernel, loaded that (after restoring the old nandroid backup) and I'm able to boot, whew... I'm having two issues now, 1) my wireless won't turn on for some reason and 2) I tried installing the 4.4.4 OTA update my carrier released (downloaded via 4G) and it won't apply - I was hoping successfully applying this OTA would fix the wireless issue. Looking at my software version it looks like I'm actually running 4.4.2, could that cause both of these issues? I'm trying to locate a 4.4.2 kernel to load but figured I'd toss out the question in the meantime.
Ashyx - I wish I had a better answer to why I temporarily relocked the boot loader and flashed firmware.zip other than desperation (trying to get that darn OTA). It was a while ago I flashed the firmware.zip file but I thought that when I initially extracted the recovery from the zip file and flashed it I could no longer boot into a recovery, maybe I'm making that up though - I can hardly remember last week lol. I'm an IT guy, so I'm not completely clueless, but I'm far from proficient with mobile technologies, as I'm sure you gathered already.
Anyways, I'd appreciate any insight, in the mean time I'm going to keep hunting for a 4.4.2 kernel to try on this thing. Thanks again to all.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2723159
Try the zips from here, they should have a boot.img for 4.4.2.
Sent from my One M8 using XDA Free mobile app
Ok, I think I'm back up and running. I was able to find a 4.4.2 boot.img that allowed me to once again use my wireless. After getting the wireless working I had to find valid versions of flashlight.apk and calculator.apk to put in data/preload and the OTA finally took....success at last. I really appreciate the help durgis, I'll be grabbing a nandroid of my now working phone right away so I don't run into issues in the future. Again, thank you for the help, very much appreciated.
I suspect that we are on the same carrier, LRA__001. I've been fighting a similar problem to yours. The only custom rom I've been able to install is Cyanogenmod. It's good, but the battery life is horrible for me. Also, I can't get MMS or 4G to work. Everything other rom I've tried won't boot up for me. Any chance that you could provide a link to your nandroid backup? I'm looking to get back to a more stock rom that I can get OTA updates on. Thanks.
rook79 said:
I suspect that we are on the same carrier, LRA__001. I've been fighting a similar problem to yours. The only custom rom I've been able to install is Cyanogenmod. It's good, but the battery life is horrible for me. Also, I can't get MMS or 4G to work. Everything other rom I've tried won't boot up for me. Any chance that you could provide a link to your nandroid backup? I'm looking to get back to a more stock rom that I can get OTA updates on. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey rook, I do have the same CID, are you on Cellcom out of Wisconsin? I didn't grab a bare bones nandroid, but i can do a backup, uninstall my apps and do one, or rebuild mine from my unbootable one now that I have everything i need. If you want to try a different ROM you could try Viper, it worked decent for me, just a few quirks when i bounced from wireless to 3G for some reason.
I am with Cellcom. My problems started with the recent OTA update. The update wouldn't take, because of the flashlight.apk. I decided it was time to root this phone anyway and try some custom roms. I've done it with my other HTC phones in the past with no problems. Unlocked the bootloader, loaded TWRP and did a backup. Didn't check where the backup was being put and ended up saving it to internal. Put on a new ROM and wiped my backup. Cyanogenmod 11 is the only ROM that I've had success with. Every other rom that I have tried so far will not complete the initial boot. I suspect that I'm missing something stupid, or it has something to do with the OTA update not completing. Are you running Viper, or did you get the Cellcom OTA update to work?
I was running Viper for a while but now have my phone reverted to stock with the 4.4.4 OTA applied. If you want a nandroid of stock Cellcom 4.4.4 I can work on one for you, it may take a couple days to get it but I should be able to get one.
That would be awesome. I've been looking for a stock Rom for a while now. As you know those are nearly impossible to find. Not having a stock nandroid backup or the OTA update zip kind of put me in a SOL position. Thanks for your help.
Finally got around to this, try the download below, it's the stock 4.4.4 ROM and also the stock recovery (for future OTA updates). Let me know if it works out for you. I also have the 4.4.4 OTA updated if needed.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/thd0z8l2zlprt3r/One M8 LRA 4.4.4 Stock.zip?dl=0
That worked awesome. Thanks!!!
Hi Guys, (@rook79 , @promsos)
i have the same model and running into similar problem, i was also not able to flash any other rom than SkyDragon, wanted to be able to flash other roms but no luck, i thought its the firmware that wont let me install so i went for S-Off and flashed one of the firmware from verizon, since there was not much help for this specific model and everyone was referring it as a variant from verizon, i did flash one and my problem started, my phone had no signals after flashing the firmware and was still not able to flash any other ROM, i flashed couple of more firmwares and radios to get my network working but no luck, and i got a new problem that the phone keeps rebooting after a couple of minutes it loads into system.
then somebody helped me with the stock firmware 4.4.4 from here and nandroid from this thread, firmware was still verizon, i managed to restore it but still the same reboot issue and no signals, but i was able to download OTA which wont install, everytime i try to install it, it goes to stock recovery with a progress bar 1% filled and then stuck into boot loop and after n number of attempts it boots into system, where again it reboots after a couple of minutes.
extracted the firmware from OTA and manually flashed it and tried to install OTA but still same, i tried to reboot into stock recovery but every time i do that, it goes to black screen and then keep rebooting, i am not able to get to that red triangle screen.
help less clueless trying to find complete RUU for it (not sure if thats going to help)
my partition table has 2 vzw partitions as well because i flashed dottat's RUU for verizon.
can you guys help me with that?
my phone is m8_wlv CID: LRA_001 MID: 0P6B20000
s-off, and i am on a GSM network (not US).
promsos said:
Finally got around to this, try the download below, it's the stock 4.4.4 ROM and also the stock recovery (for future OTA updates). Let me know if it works out for you. I also have the 4.4.4 OTA updated if needed.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/thd0z8l2zlprt3r/One M8 LRA 4.4.4 Stock.zip?dl=0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll appreciate if you share the 4.4.4 OTA, I really need it now.
hoang555 said:
I'll appreciate if you share the 4.4.4 OTA, I really need it now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this what you are looking for? https://www.dropbox.com/s/2oozc291kwe5l9r/OTA_M8_WL_L50_SENSE60_MR_LRA_US_4.21.512.4-3.31.512.2_release_426215.zip?dl=0
hoang555 said:
I'll appreciate if you share the 4.4.4 OTA, I really need it now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Do you still have that LRA version?? I need some help

Upgrade to 5.1.1 Help Please

I've read around and see multiple starting points to do the upgrade and I guess I'm a bit confused. Hopefully you all can help.
I'm currently still on OB7 Stock 5.0.1 and rooted. I do have TWRP installed as well.
I'd like to update to the latest 5.1.1 and didn't unroot to get the little update between these two.
What's the best way to:
Update to the latest
Not wipe either of my storage areas
Not lose any settings
Gain root again
In other words, I'd just like to update and not flash a clean ROM.
I figure I'll probably have to use ODIN but I'm not sure which files to use or where to find them.
Again, I have read all the threads and they all seem to be different with different starting points and different issues.
Thanks in advance.

Upgrade to Nougat from roote MM

From what i see here on xda, seems to be no way of upgrading a rooted MM to Nougat?
All i can find is flashing a stock MM and sideloading the OTA.
Is it accurate, or is there a way to preserve current ROM?
Flashing the stock kernel / recovery perhaps?
On the other hand is there a real advantage of N over MM, other than the higher version number?
I am pretty satisfied with MM, but the temptation is high
Thank you!
dyonissos said:
From what i see here on xda, seems to be no way of upgrading a rooted MM to Nougat?
All i can find is flashing a stock MM and sideloading the OTA.
Is it accurate, or is there a way to preserve current ROM?
Flashing the stock kernel / recovery perhaps?
On the other hand is there a real advantage of N over MM, other than the higher version number?
I am pretty satisfied with MM, but the temptation is high
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are happy and everything is working the way you want, leave it alone. I do not see a great advantage of Nougat over MM. I have had N on a couple of my other phones and it made no real daily difference. There are a couple of customer oms based on N, you can flash just to scratch that itch.
Try Epsilon ROM
Just to clarify, i am only interested in the stock rom, but thank you for the suggestion.
I am quite upset Motorola did not release a recovery image for Z Play, as they did for the X, but i will get over it.
mahdif62 said:
Try Epsilon ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that based on NT? So even not an option for MM users...
Usually it should be possible to do OTA.
Root is usually systemless, so system is not modified.
Twrp only gets booted not flashed, so recovery is not modified.
Logo is not modified.
If you did not use the power of root to modify something, only modified part is boot partition. It was said some years ago that it would not be checked, but this may have changed.
I'll try it in some weeks. Don't have the time currently. Doing Nandroid backup is time consuming, and restoring system if something is not working also. OTA is supposed to work without problems, and it should revert to a usable (not updated) state if it doesn't, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Reverting to stock for replacment (on "developer edition")? Revert CID/need for PIT?

Reverting to stock for replacment (on "developer edition")? Revert CID/need for PIT?
Hey all,
I gotta send N4 to verizon for replacement (no 4G anymore) and I am trying to get back to as close to stock as possible. My big questions before I go about the final Odin restore flash are:
1. Will the fact that I changed it to developer edition (not developer options) by changing the CID matter at all? Do I need to undo my developer edition tweak as well? Worried about bricking by flashing the full stock images on a "developer edition".
2. Do I need to use a PIT during flashing, to really get it all fully stock?
3. With regards to TWRP, will flashing a stock image revert back to stock android recovery as well? Do I need to mess with TWRP before flashing via Odin?
4. Is it hopeless to try and remove the "custom" pad lock on boot? Is there any way to achieve that?
5. Is it better to use the "Stock" images from the community or should I use those from SamMobile?
Currently on a nandroid restore of my unrooted, fresh install of 6.0.1. Baseband ver CPF3, build CPD1 (using bootlader from hsbadr SafeUpgrade to MM).
Why do you need to send it to Verizon and to get fixed. Have you tried flashing back to a stock ROM and checking for 4g.
I lost my 4g a while back it turned out to be my sim tray and was a 5 dollar part and was 10 minutes to mix.
celticpride34 said:
Hey all,
I gotta send N4 to verizon for replacement (no 4G anymore) and I am trying to get back to as close to stock as possible. My big questions before I go about the final Odin restore flash are:
1. Will the fact that I changed it to developer edition (not developer options) by changing the CID matter at all? Do I need to undo my developer edition tweak as well? Worried about bricking by flashing the full stock images on a "developer edition".
2. Do I need to use a PIT during flashing, to really get it all fully stock?
3. With regards to TWRP, will flashing a stock image revert back to stock android recovery as well? Do I need to mess with TWRP before flashing via Odin?
4. Is it hopeless to try and remove the "custom" pad lock on boot? Is there any way to achieve that?
5. Is it better to use the "Stock" images from the community or should I use those from SamMobile?
Currently on a nandroid restore of my unrooted, fresh install of 6.0.1. Baseband ver CPF3, build CPD1 (using bootlader from hsbadr SafeUpgrade to MM).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
never heard of a fried phone where 4G only does not work. Are you getting any signal? Try going back to a mostly stock Rom.
Plus if you ever rooted, you tripped knox and Efuse. Not likely that the would just overlook that
LumberjackZac said:
never heard of a fried phone where 4G only does not work. Are you getting any signal? Try going back to a mostly stock Rom.
Plus if you ever rooted, you tripped knox and Efuse. Not likely that the would just overlook that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, didnt make sense to me either. Odin'd back to CPD1 and signaling was fine again. As soon as I throw a ROM at it (any 7.0 AOKP and tried Jasmine which is 6.0), the radios get drunk. Seems like a common issue for some. Oddly enough Emotion build 109 worked flawlessly on 4G, once I updated to 328 I've been unable to get 4G back, where texts work). Yeah, Knox 0x1 tripped, I was thinking it was hardware so was toying with taking the gamble that they wouldn't check on such an old phone.
celticpride34 said:
Yeah, didnt make sense to me either. Odin'd back to CPD1 and signaling was fine again. As soon as I throw a ROM at it (any 7.0 AOKP and tried Jasmine which is 6.0), the radios get drunk. Seems like a common issue for some. Oddly enough Emotion build 109 worked flawlessly on 4G, once I updated to 328 I've been unable to get 4G back, where texts work). Yeah, Knox 0x1 tripped, I was thinking it was hardware so was toying with taking the gamble that they wouldn't check on such an old phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how close did they look ? triangle away is cosmetic and wont withstand a logcat but might fool dip**** behind the verizon counter

Looking for some help getting off Vzw ROM to custom

Hello all,
Long story short I currently have an Unlocked 10, rooted, s off, and bootloader unlocked. I have flashed over the Verizon rom and radios last year and left it this way for a while. I'm getting to the point where I'm about ready for a factory reset but figured I might as well update if I'm going to do that. Better yet I'd like to get on LeeDroid but preferably on Android N.
So I need to update to an Android N ROM first, then over to LeeDroid. I can do it, but frankly I do this stuff so little that every time I get a little nervous. My 10 is my daily driver but I currently have a raggedy s6 here I can pop a sim in for a minute if needed.
So I'm wondering would it make sense to just do a backup, flash the latest Unlocked N version then flash LeeDroid? Wouldn't my Verizon radios stay where they're at, or will flashing those roms over write them? And, none of this flashing should overwrite my recovery, should it?
Also, I apologize if this is not appropriate but my other option at this point is to ask, are there any fairly well regarded XDA friends here with some spare time that would be open to taking 20 bucks or so to get me fixed up remotely over teamviewer or something?
Thanks for all your help. I don't post here often but when I do I always find the direction I need as someone who is not a frequent modder anymore lol.
Launchpadmcqu4ck said:
Hello all,
Long story short I currently have an Unlocked 10, rooted, s off, and bootloader unlocked. I have flashed over the Verizon rom and radios last year and left it this way for a while. I'm getting to the point where I'm about ready for a factory reset but figured I might as well update if I'm going to do that. Better yet I'd like to get on LeeDroid but preferably on Android N.
So I need to update to an Android N ROM first, then over to LeeDroid. I can do it, but frankly I do this stuff so little that every time I get a little nervous. My 10 is my daily driver but I currently have a raggedy s6 here I can pop a sim in for a minute if needed.
So I'm wondering would it make sense to just do a backup, flash the latest Unlocked N version then flash LeeDroid? Wouldn't my Verizon radios stay where they're at, or will flashing those roms over write them? And, none of this flashing should overwrite my recovery, should it?
Also, I apologize if this is not appropriate but my other option at this point is to ask, are there any fairly well regarded XDA friends here with some spare time that would be open to taking 20 bucks or so to get me fixed up remotely over teamviewer or something?
Thanks for all your help. I don't post here often but when I do I always find the direction I need as someone who is not a frequent modder anymore lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To minimize potential problems I would start fresh going from M to N.
Flash the full N RUU.exe. Flash the latest TWRP, then flash LeeDroid. New firmware, TWRP, and custom rom.
comstockload said:
To minimize potential problems I would start fresh going from M to N.
Flash the full N RUU.exe. Flash the latest TWRP, then flash LeeDroid. New firmware, TWRP, and custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you suggest Verizon N rom since I'm already on Verizon M or would Unlocked N be better?
Launchpadmcqu4ck said:
Would you suggest Verizon N rom since I'm already on Verizon M or would Unlocked N be better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a copy of your current M rom for the firmware you currently have and download that. Remember, we're talking full roms not updates. Now get the latest N rom for your device (full ruu.exe). Now you have options. I would flash the N rom, then the latest TWRP, then LeeDroid. Any problems, and you can go right back to M. I always use TWRP 3.0.2-6 with M. So if I go back to M I flash that version of TWRP (from within TWRP itself) first. Take your time. You can do this. You can get the latest N rom from HTC's website. To get your M rom you'll have to search for it using your firmware numbers. Someone should have a copy.
BTW, you can watch ROOT JUNKY's videos on youtube as a refresher on the basics of flashing TWRP and so on. Don't use his files though. They're old.
comstockload said:
Get a copy of your current M rom for the firmware you currently have and download that. Remember, we're talking full roms not updates. Now get the latest N rom for your device (full ruu.exe). Now you have options. I would flash the N rom, then the latest TWRP, then LeeDroid. Any problems, and you can go right back to M. I always use TWRP 3.0.2-6 with M. So if I go back to M I flash that version of TWRP (from within TWRP itself) first. Take your time. You can do this. You can get the latest N rom from HTC's website. To get your M rom you'll have to search for it using your firmware numbers. Someone should have a copy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think you're right. I made it this far lol. But the N rom from HTC would just be the unlocked N wouldn't it, not Verizon? I know the Verizon ruu is over in the Verizon HTC 10 forum here so I could get that. Also I think I need to go brush up on firmware vs rom I tend to think they're the same thing but they're not, right?
Launchpadmcqu4ck said:
Yeah I think you're right. I made it this far lol. But the N rom from HTC would just be the unlocked N wouldn't it, not Verizon? I know the Verizon ruu is over in the Verizon HTC 10 forum here so I could get that. Also I think I need to go brush up on firmware vs rom I tend to think they're the same thing but they're not, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. By "unlocked" you mean the US unlocked GSM HTC 10. I wouldn't mess with trying to alter your radios right now. Yes, stick with Verizon on everything. LeeDroid should run fine with that. Installing a new HTC rom changes your firmware. It will be updated as you go to N. If you decide to back to M, it will be downgraded. Installing a custom rom won't change your firmware. A full rom is composed of several components. The firmware is one component.
comstockload said:
I see. By "unlocked" you mean the US unlocked GSM HTC 10. I wouldn't mess with trying to alter your radios right now. Yes, stick with Verizon on everything. LeeDroid should run fine with that. Installing a new HTC rom changes your firmware. It will be updated as you go to N. If you decide to back to M, it will be downgraded. Installing a custom rom won't change your firmware. A full rom is composed of several components. The firmware is one component.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhh okay I follow. Yeah sorry I did mean the GSM Unlocked model, I bought direct from HTC. But I couldn't get it to work on unlocked firmware with Verizon so I ended up flashing the Verizon ROM and radio last year.
So I'll grab the Verizon RUU and flash that, then LeeDroid. And update my TWRP. Its long over due anyways lol
Can't thank you enough for your help. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend I think. I really want to run LeeDroid!

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