Little complicated but standart - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So back when i got my nexus 4 with a stock 4.2(or 4.2.x) The first thing I did was to root it with, im pretty sure i used this guide
Now im pretty sure that after 4.3 came out i didnt do the steps to root it back, I might have though, and i wasnt sure on the status of my custom recovery either(nor the bootloader), now please forgive my ignorance for forgetting what exactly the bootloader is and what does unlocking it provide on the technical level.
Anyway my phone works well, with 4.4.2 installed, problem is i need it rooted, now i try to launch SU but it tells me there was a problem and it might have something with 4.3 . So before going here i tried to to launch custom recovery, but it says "no command" there, now im a little worried.
I might be left without a recovery.
The phone launches normally though.
As it stands the issue might be a little over my head, and I not sure on how to approach the whole situation as it seems a little complicated.
So an explanation on what have might have happened with all the nexus updates, and a clarification if its safe to flash a custom recovery the normal way? And how do i proceed to reroot the device from there(since im aware its a different matter than rooting from scratch).
Thanks in advance and hope I didnt miss anything i could do for myself before asking here.

Related

Rooting a flashed NS...noob

Hello everyone, Im new here so please dont kill me if this is a common question. I have searched all over but cant find the answer I need. Im excited to learn from all the wonderful information here and cant wait to get started.
Anyway, I had a Nexus S 4g flashed to work on Boost. I would like to root it so that I can change some things. However, I do not know if my phone was previously rooted. Is there anyway to find out? If it was, and I rooted it again, would that cause problems? Also, does rooting the phone cause problems with the flashing, or will it keep all of the necessary network information intact (so that it doesnt screw up my service)?
Rooting doesn't cause problems with the flashing, it just -potentially- opens up the system to damage. This is a user responsibility and not a fault of the rooting process; it's a possibility of having too much power over the system.
Most likely it would have had the bootloader unlocked and have been rooted. Turn off the phone and turn it on again by holding Vol. Up and Power simultaneously for a few seconds. If it was rooted, the best way to know is if it says "bootloader unlocked" in the upper half of the screen. If not, there is a high chance it isn't CURRENTLY rooted. If it is unlocked, the most work you need to give root access to android is going into recovery and installing a .zip file.
Exactly so after finding that out just look over one of the many guides we have here at XDA to flash the superuser package.
Sent from my Nexus S
I didnt see anything saying unlocked. I see 'Lock State - Locked', so Im assuming this means that it is not currently rooted. I guess now I will go through some guides and learn which method would be best for me. Thanks for the quick reply and help.
Most likely you aren't rooted either - you can test by typing "su" in terminal emulator.
Just remember if u unlock bootloader the internal data and sdcard will all be deleted.

[Q] Removing root. Unable to upgrade

Hello folks. Unsure weather or not i post this in the correct place. So i rooted my SM-N9005 the other day just because well i"had" to. Ofcourse the next day the 4.4 update got released and i couldn't upgrade since my by now unfriendly phone told me i had tampered with it. I tried to restore it without really knowing what the hell i did and feeling a bit stupid for not getting it. I managed to remove root but it still says it's tampered with. Reckon i triggered the flash counter somehow. I could really use your help removing root and get my little phone back to "original" shape. Talk to me like a 3 year old since i apparently couldn't figure it out on my own. Cheers!
(And yes I have been reading so much about this my head spins now. I tried different ways to recover but i cant get it to work. I intentionally left out all the different apps i used here from the forum since that will probably confuse you guys aswell.)
how did you root?
download the kitkat firmware from sammobile then flash it using odin (so you don't need to upgrade via ota) then re-root
toinktoink said:
how did you root?
download the kitkat firmware from sammobile then flash it using odin (so you don't need to upgrade via ota) then re-root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, it started when i tried to root it by following an online gtuide. However it didnt work so I tried another one and "semi-bricked" it. Using odin. I tried readiing up on it as much as i could but the more i read the more different ways i found. Long story short, i rooted it. It worked fine. But removing root didnt seem to do the trick. I would just like to return it to stock without ruining anything. And be able to upgrade OTA if possible.I love fiddling with these things but since i pay so much for this damn phone I rather not do anything more that can destroy warranty etc. As i understood it rooting it wouldnt leave a trace and should be easy to undo. Now I understand that wasnt the case. I know I am the one to blame but would love if anyone could just try to explain what to do in a simple step by step way. If you need any info on what i did I can try to explain but i ended up with like 12 different webpages open with different solutions and to be honest I am not sure I can explain everything i tried...
JFKruuse said:
Ok, it started when i tried to root it by following an online gtuide. However it didnt work so I tried another one and "semi-bricked" it. Using odin. I tried readiing up on it as much as i could but the more i read the more different ways i found. Long story short, i rooted it. It worked fine. But removing root didnt seem to do the trick. I would just like to return it to stock without ruining anything. And be able to upgrade OTA if possible.I love fiddling with these things but since i pay so much for this damn phone I rather not do anything more that can destroy warranty etc. As i understood it rooting it wouldnt leave a trace and should be easy to undo. Now I understand that wasnt the case. I know I am the one to blame but would love if anyone could just try to explain what to do in a simple step by step way. If you need any info on what i did I can try to explain but i ended up with like 12 different webpages open with different solutions and to be honest I am not sure I can explain everything i tried...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Solved

[Q] Need help unrooting my Samsung Galaxy S4-i19505! Specifics inside.

Hey everybody, if you've already opened up this thread, you already have my gratitude for seeing what my problem is.
If you haven't already caught on, I want to unroot my Samsung Galaxy S4. I have no idea why I decided to root it in the first place (maybe because that's what everybody else was doing? maybe because I'm just stupid? who knows), but now I really need to unroot it because I need the latest firmware.
The thing is, I've done a lot of stupid stuff to try and unroot it. I know, I should have looked for help instead of going out and doing stupid stuff on my own, but.. well, I don't really have an excuse - I'm just an idiot. My phone is still fully functional, but the device status is custom. But let me just tell you what happened.
1. I decided that I didn't want this phone to be rooted anymore. I opened up SuperSU and investigated the settings, and found an option to uninstall the phone. I decided to just go with it, and I uninstalled it. Everything went smoothly, nothing big happened, and before I knew it, SuperSU wasn't there anymore and everything seemed okay.
2. But it wasn't. I checked my device status, but it was custom. I was so confused. Wasn't it meant to be back to normal now? SuperSU wasn't there anymore, but it was still.. rooted? I turned on my S4 on Download mode. It said that it was still custom (or something similar to that, I don't remember the specific word). By now, I was confused and scared - what have I done?!
3. I searched around the internet for tutorials, and one in particular told me to download TriangleAway. Sweet, an app that unrooted and all I had to do was sit back and relax and let it do it's job! So I downloaded it and... it said that I didn't have SuperUser permissions or that I was unrooted. WHAT. I re-downloaded SuperSU and it said "There is no SU binary installed, and SuperSU cannot install it. This is a problem!" JESUS CHRIST, tell me something I don't know, SuperSU! You're useless to me!! How could something be rooted yet unrooted at the same time? Life is so hard.
So now I'm sitting here, typing on my laptop, wondering what I could do to fix everything that transpired today. I searched up tutorials, but none of them had the same specifics on their phone as mine was. You see, my phone's baseband version is different from most. I have no idea why, but I'll list everything specific out here:
Model number: GT-I9505
Android version: 4.2.2
Baseband version: I9505XXUBMG4 (and for some reason, there is barely any help regarding this baseband, is it really rare to have this or something? or is is just the same as the I9505XXUBMGA? I don't know, so I don't want to take the risk)
If you've read and got up to here, you are already in my gratitude. If you help me, you have my thanks, and even if you don't, you still have my thanks for reading thus far.
If you could please help me, it would make this world just a little bit better! Thank you in advance. If you need any more information, please just tell me and I'll do the best I can to provide you with it.
Nyxdan said:
Hey everybody, if you've already opened up this thread, you already have my gratitude for seeing what my problem is.
If you haven't already caught on, I want to unroot my Samsung Galaxy S4. I have no idea why I decided to root it in the first place (maybe because that's what everybody else was doing? maybe because I'm just stupid? who knows), but now I really need to unroot it because I need the latest firmware.
The thing is, I've done a lot of stupid stuff to try and unroot it. I know, I should have looked for help instead of going out and doing stupid stuff on my own, but.. well, I don't really have an excuse - I'm just an idiot. My phone is still fully functional, but the device status is custom. But let me just tell you what happened.
1. I decided that I didn't want this phone to be rooted anymore. I opened up SuperSU and investigated the settings, and found an option to uninstall the phone. I decided to just go with it, and I uninstalled it. Everything went smoothly, nothing big happened, and before I knew it, SuperSU wasn't there anymore and everything seemed okay.
2. But it wasn't. I checked my device status, but it was custom. I was so confused. Wasn't it meant to be back to normal now? SuperSU wasn't there anymore, but it was still.. rooted? I turned on my S4 on Download mode. It said that it was still custom (or something similar to that, I don't remember the specific word). By now, I was confused and scared - what have I done?!
3. I searched around the internet for tutorials, and one in particular told me to download TriangleAway. Sweet, an app that unrooted and all I had to do was sit back and relax and let it do it's job! So I downloaded it and... it said that I didn't have SuperUser permissions or that I was unrooted. WHAT. I re-downloaded SuperSU and it said "There is no SU binary installed, and SuperSU cannot install it. This is a problem!" JESUS CHRIST, tell me something I don't know, SuperSU! You're useless to me!! How could something be rooted yet unrooted at the same time? Life is so hard.
So now I'm sitting here, typing on my laptop, wondering what I could do to fix everything that transpired today. I searched up tutorials, but none of them had the same specifics on their phone as mine was. You see, my phone's baseband version is different from most. I have no idea why, but I'll list everything specific out here:
Model number: GT-I9505
Android version: 4.2.2
Baseband version: I9505XXUBMG4 (and for some reason, there is barely any help regarding this baseband, is it really rare to have this or something? or is is just the same as the I9505XXUBMGA? I don't know, so I don't want to take the risk)
If you've read and got up to here, you are already in my gratitude. If you help me, you have my thanks, and even if you don't, you still have my thanks for reading thus far.
If you could please help me, it would make this world just a little bit better! Thank you in advance. If you need any more information, please just tell me and I'll do the best I can to provide you with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you flash root the custom word wont get away unless you use triangle away to get rid of it that the use of triangle away and if you want stock :
Download latest firmware for your model and flash it through Odin done.
Why do you take the hard route?
You know you can just flash the stock rom you want with Odin? No need to unroot etc.

Sprint V20 In-Store Restore Question

I have successfully rooted my Spring LG V20 using DirtySanta and it seems to be working for the most part, but I'm not really impressed with the benefits of rooting at this point. What's even more disappointing was the lack of a method for reverting to stock. My question is--can I bring this in to a Sprint store and ask them to restore it to stock? I checked fastboot for oem status and everything reads false. I don't have SuperSU or any other root apps installed on the phone. The only thing that shows up is the damn red triange every time I boot. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't really want to get in trouble for rooting, but I'd really like to get back to factory stock. Doesn't look like we'll be getting a restore method any time soon either, correct? Thanks in advance...
I don't think there is a revert method (inside or outside the store). I know it's after the fact, but on your next device, you may want to figure out exactly what you'd want to do with root before you go through with it. I typically only do it for TB backup purposes and XPOSED, but I've found that I can back up in other ways, and I dig stock enough not to risk rooting. I don't knock you for rooting (there are plenty of good reasons to), this is just my advice going forward. In the meantime, you should look around XDA, you may find your golden goose app that you can leverage root for. Good luck.
bgibson72 said:
I have successfully rooted my Spring LG V20 using DirtySanta and it seems to be working for the most part, but I'm not really impressed with the benefits of rooting at this point. What's even more disappointing was the lack of a method for reverting to stock. My question is--can I bring this in to a Sprint store and ask them to restore it to stock? I checked fastboot for oem status and everything reads false. I don't have SuperSU or any other root apps installed on the phone. The only thing that shows up is the damn red triange every time I boot. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't really want to get in trouble for rooting, but I'd really like to get back to factory stock. Doesn't look like we'll be getting a restore method any time soon either, correct? Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey sorry to hear that your having issues,
but you and the other poster are correct, sprint never released a restore file that wasn't encrypted.
And to my knowledge the repair centers would not be able to fix this issues, and sadly lg would more then likely deny a
warranty claim as this was modifications done by the end user.
A good chance in the future that we will get the files needed or a process to revert back to stock, but currently there is no SAFE method to try, and pushing the stock aboot and system.img back to the device WILL hard brick the device.. @me2151 attempted the restore process once, and failed, so please be careful as you may have issues.. The red warning triangle is due to your aboot "bootloader" being swapped for the debug version and will never go away, unless we get a dev willing to risk his device for a .png swap of the warning RED img. Other wise its there forever.
The static on boot up can be removed using a custom kernel but be aware it WILL break things in return. Typically update to prl and profile
fm radio, comfort view and a few other little things..
Hey, thanks for the reply. I can deal with the red warning screen, I just get a little anxious when I can't use the touchscreen or my cellular data gets hosed. As long as there are fixes here (which there have been--thanks to all) and I can use my phone, we're good. I figured if someone could break encryption on government files then why would an encrypted KDZ file be such a challenge? At any rate, I appreciate the help. I'll just keep my fingers crossed for a PNG swap!

(Lots of words) I want to understand why I lose root instead of just flashing to fix

Let me start by saying I never gave rooted phones much though. I knew of them but never even knew anyone that ever had one. I figured the Galaxy S8 (G950U) would be a good phone to start with:laugh: Since it was my first rooted phone I couldn't resist experimenting, a lot. So I would flash this flash that, whatever I thought had a very small chance of working i flashed, lol. I usually would end up having to fireing up Odin and flashing the most important files on my PC, Partcyborg's awesome work, which I can flash with my eyes closed basically by now :laugh: Some things I would flash would just cause me to lose root though. It's driving me nuts not to be able to get it back without Odin. I could use Odin+Partcyborg's rom and have it back in 15 minutes, but I'm tired of being feed I'm ready to hunt, lol.
The thing is, I still have TWRP Safestrap custom recovery that I can access. I flash Supersu, it appears to flash fine but changes nothing, not even an SU icon in the app drawer. I did make SupoerSU Pro a system app a while ago, was that a mistake? I see it in the Apps list in Settings but I can't do much there except disable it and enable it (no it's not disabled,lol)
How can I get root back using custom recovery only? What should I have checked in Safestrap when flashing SuperSU?, Cache, System, Modem, etc? If anyone would care to explain some of the reasons I lose root but not custom recovery it would really calm my curiosity . I'm sure it would help a lot of other noobs also.
Boot animations is another thing that I find very interesting. Trying to change it has been the cause of at least 10 factory resets
I go to /system/media/ and swap out Booitanimation.zip, change the permission then I either get no change or I have reflash with Odin. What is all the files labeled Battery _000 Battery _001 Battery_002 all the way to Battery_100? Does the resolution need to be exactly the same as stock?
Is my rooted S8 not as rooted as other rooted phone? Lol, does that sentence make sense? Because of its locked bootloader and lack of custom roms is why I ask. Am I an idiot for buying a S9+ (G965U) since I love having root? I was hoping someone "cough...Part...cough cough...cyborg would be on it. If not though, no big deal. I do still have the S8 and still use it a lot even though it has no service, lol. Amazing phones not so amazing bootloaders though:laugh:
Thanks for reading. If you only skimmed it, thank you also. I know it's very long, lol. I just found something called a Combination Rom. Since I still have Safestrap I'm gonna do what I usually do, flash it and ask questions later:laugh:
Gregbmil1 said:
Let me start by saying I never gave rooted phones much though. I knew of them but never even knew anyone that ever had one. I figured the Galaxy S8 (G950U) would be a good phone to start with:laugh: Since it was my first rooted phone I couldn't resist experimenting, a lot. So I would flash this flash that, whatever I thought had a very small chance of working i flashed, lol. I usually would end up having to fireing up Odin and flashing the most important files on my PC, Partcyborg's awesome work, which I can flash with my eyes closed basically by now :laugh: Some things I would flash would just cause me to lose root though. It's driving me nuts not to be able to get it back without Odin. I could use Odin+Partcyborg's rom and have it back in 15 minutes, but I'm tired of being feed I'm ready to hunt, lol.
The thing is, I still have TWRP Safestrap custom recovery that I can access. I flash Supersu, it appears to flash fine but changes nothing, not even an SU icon in the app drawer. I did make SupoerSU Pro a system app a while ago, was that a mistake? I see it in the Apps list in Settings but I can't do much there except disable it and enable it (no it's not disabled,lol)
How can I get root back using custom recovery only? What should I have checked in Safestrap when flashing SuperSU?, Cache, System, Modem, etc? If anyone would care to explain some of the reasons I lose root but not custom recovery it would really calm my curiosity . I'm sure it would help a lot of other noobs also.
Boot animations is another thing that I find very interesting. Trying to change it has been the cause of at least 10 factory resets
I go to /system/media/ and swap out Booitanimation.zip, change the permission then I either get no change or I have reflash with Odin. What is all the files labeled Battery _000 Battery _001 Battery_002 all the way to Battery_100? Does the resolution need to be exactly the same as stock?
Is my rooted S8 not as rooted as other rooted phone? Lol, does that sentence make sense? Because of its locked bootloader and lack of custom roms is why I ask. Am I an idiot for buying a S9+ (G965U) since I love having root? I was hoping someone "cough...Part...cough cough...cyborg would be on it. If not though, no big deal. I do still have the S8 and still use it a lot even though it has no service, lol. Amazing phones not so amazing bootloaders though:laugh:
Thanks for reading. If you only skimmed it, thank you also. I know it's very long, lol. I just found something called a Combination Rom. Since I still have Safe-strap I'm gonna do what I usually do, flash it and ask questions later:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the boot animations off top of my head are now located in something something and your carriers folder...The can be changed
Is it actually not rooted or is su just not responding
I have had it where the prompt never comes up and granting all just never works either normally a few reboots later it starts....
the custom rom thing is most def cause of locked boot-loader....
Up til boot-loader revision 2 is all we have root for and cannot be downgraded 3 and up....
I have myself tried flashing stock system img and then su and busy box from safe strap and up til now even this has been a no go...
Safe-strap is cool but basically No better than flashfire.IMO.
I am working with the possible bluetooth fix right now and have bricked and flashed 20 times over in the last 12 hours...
It actually is not rooted anymore after I flashed what claimed to be a boot animation for the G950U. If I open the SuperSU app it points me to a non-working site that has directions on "How to root". Plus all of the apps I have downloaded that require root all tell me I'm not rooted. Oddly enough though I was able to flash Xposed and had a green light once I opened it, (remember I still had SafeStrap recovery) it could only be accessed manually. I was shocked and yet even more confused, lol. I only tried out 2 modules before I reflashed Partcyborgs files again. Again, I was very confused as to why the modules actually worked but root only apps would start , only Xposed modules. I did only try 2 though AdBlocker Reborn and SpeedUp, both acted as if everything was normal . I wonder if it had something to do with making SuperSU a system app, which it no longer is since I reflashed with Odin.
Thanks for the info on the Bootanimation, but still I can't even delete the one I have now, for educational purposes only, Haha. It is a pretty freaking sweat bootanimtion Partcyborg included. I can't find it though T-Mobile (G950U) btw

Categories

Resources