Database Users

should i unroot etc?

i received my replacement n4 and now I'm supposed to return my scratched n4. should i flash back stock ROM stock recovery and unroot before i ship it?

yes flash stock image, unroot and oem lock it. its better to be sure rather than sorry later. use the nexus root toolkit as it has all the functionalists.

Yes. Try to revert as much modifications as possible since you don't want Google to find out.
Sent from my Nexus 4, powered by CyanogenMod via XDA Developers app.

Root and OTA's

I'm getting a Nexus 4. My question is if I root but keep stock, will I still receive updates?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

Yes
Note that you want to keep your device as close to stock as possible if you want to install the OTAs. Rooting is no issue but you will encounter errors if you flash custom radios for example.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

briand.mooreg said:
I'm getting a Nexus 4. My question is if I root but keep stock, will I still receive updates?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and no if you're like me, I flash custom kernel, digs out nearly 50% of the system app replacing them with something to greenify them.

briand.mooreg said:
I'm getting a Nexus 4. My question is if I root but keep stock, will I still receive updates?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Not sure if this is your first android phone but its generally the same with all of them. If you root and alter files that the update checks for it will not update. Although there is not a big deal to update then flash the updated rom. Not sure why so many people worry about updates when a custom rom update will show up.
You also can get an app call otarootkeeper and lastly google is full of methods to achieve your goal its always good to google prior to posting a question... Never know what you may find

playya said:
Not sure if this is your first android phone but its generally the same with all of them. If you root and alter files that the update checks for it will not update. Although there is not a big deal to update then flash the updated rom. Not sure why so many people worry about updates when a custom rom update will show up.
You also can get an app call otarootkeeper and lastly google is full of methods to achieve your goal its always good to google prior to posting a question... Never know what you may find
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA RootKeeper no longer works as of 4.3. The way to get root back now is by installing SuperSU through recovery.

Acuity said:
OTA RootKeeper no longer works as of 4.3. The way to get root back now is by installing SuperSU through recovery.
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Yea but flashing Su would mean installing a custom recovery. He is trying to stay stock
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

playya said:
Yea but flashing Su would mean installing a custom recovery. He is trying to stay stock
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can revert back to stock recovery by downloading the factory image and flashing recovery.img buried deep within it:
fastboot flash recovery C:/recovery.img
OTA RootKeeper has served its purpose, and had done so for a long time; however, it is currently no longer functional.

Acuity said:
You can revert back to stock recovery by downloading the factory image and flashing recovery.img buried deep within it:
fastboot flash recovery C:/recovery.img
OTA RootKeeper has served its purpose, and had done so for a long time; however, it is currently no longer functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you but saying a person that wants stock normally is trying to do as little as possible to their phone. Flashing a recovery via fastboot may not be an option. If thats the case you can simply just flash the stock recovery via zipfile and use SuperSu and it has an uninstall root function

briand.mooreg said:
I'm getting a Nexus 4. My question is if I root but keep stock, will I still receive updates?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did just that.. When I bought my phone it had 4.2.2. Flashed a custom recovery, then rooted it as well.. When 4.3 OTA was out, mine also downloaded it.. I unrooted my phone using the unroot option in SuperSu and flashed stock recovery back and installed OTA just like a layman would, and , well, 4.3..
Later I read in this forum that few ppl who had custom recovery also were able to update normally to 4.3 through OTA.. But I didn't do that , so I can't give my word on that.
In case you don't get the ota or if it is unsuccessful, you can always do this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2010312
Happy rooting !
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

Any reason to unlock the bootloader?

My Nexus 7 (2013) will be arriving today. I unlocked the bootloader on my Galaxy Nexus to flash TAKJU, since the Canadian version of Android was updated by Samsung (a dumb situation that delayed updates), so it made sense to unlock.
I don't flash ROMs or tinker in any way - I only want the device to have the latest version of stock Android. Is there any compelling reason to unlock the bootloader of the Nexus 7, before I start loading my apps and configure my Google accounts?
I suppose if I leave it locked the device will have greater security.

I think the best reason is so you can flash custom recovery and make backups. You could also root and do all the good things that come with that.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

Reasons for me:
+ Titanium Backup
+ Browser replacement (to stock browser, not chrome)
+ Custom Recovery (for backup and restoring)
I have the LTE version, so therefore there is no custom rom yet.
I just unlocked the bootloader to temporary boot TWRP and create a Nandroid backup.

nex86 said:
Reasons for me:
+ Titanium Backup
+ Browser replacement (to stock browser, not chrome)
+ Custom Recovery (for backup and restoring)
I have the LTE version, so therefore there is no custom rom yet.
I just unlocked the bootloader to temporary boot TWRP and create a Nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you have a LTE version its not sold yet?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Andrew149 said:
How can you have a LTE version its not sold yet?
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Click to collapse
Available in Europe.

Most unlock to install/try different ROMs. Also, recall that when you do unlock at a later time, it does wipe your device; so may be worthwhile to unlock right now while you're still setting it up so you don't have to go through that again.

ChrisAG said:
My Nexus 7 (2013) will be arriving today. I unlocked the bootloader on my Galaxy Nexus to flash TAKJU, since the Canadian version of Android was updated by Samsung (a dumb situation that delayed updates), so it made sense to unlock.
I don't flash ROMs or tinker in any way - I only want the device to have the latest version of stock Android. Is there any compelling reason to unlock the bootloader of the Nexus 7, before I start loading my apps and configure my Google accounts?
I suppose if I leave it locked the device will have greater security.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) unlocking process will trigger factory reset for security, so best to do it before you install everything, if you will ever need it in the future
2) even if you never root or make any changes, one day you will probably need to restore factory images, in which case you'll need to be unlocked

I think the main reason is the erase that unlocking causes. If you unlock right away, you don't lose anything or need to back and restore sdcard, etc.

Good answers so far, plus I also unlock in order to flash OTA updates as soon as they are linked to in this forum.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4

Well there aren't any reasons on not to do it?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Someone can bypass your lockscreen.

sfhub said:
Someone can bypass your lockscreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a problem: I have the lock screen turned off too .

Best reason to unlock your bootloader asap:
So you don't have to lose all your data later if you decide to root.
Unlocking your bootloader will wipe all your data but effectively doesn't do anything so you still get OTA updates and 100% stock.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Enables you to use apps such as adaway and LMT...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

nex86 said:
Reasons for me:
+ Titanium Backup
+ Browser replacement (to stock browser, not chrome)
+ Custom Recovery (for backup and restoring)
I have the LTE version, so therefore there is no custom rom yet.
I just unlocked the bootloader to temporary boot TWRP and create a Nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Done need to unlock to get the stock browser anymore heres the thread about http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2385928
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

nex86 said:
Reasons for me:
+ Titanium Backup
+ Browser replacement (to stock browser, not chrome)
+ Custom Recovery (for backup and restoring)
I have the LTE version, so therefore there is no custom rom yet.
I just unlocked the bootloader to temporary boot TWRP and create a Nandroid backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is unlocking bootloader necessary to root Nexus 7? Can I just root the N7 without unlock?
Sent from my ST25i using xda app-developers app

Kumczak said:
Is unlocking bootloader necessary to root Nexus 7? Can I just root the N7 without unlock?
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Click to collapse
Yes, must unlock bootloader or the system partition is write protected and any root you tried to install would be lost at next reboot.

How to avoid google knowing i rooted/custom rom?

Hi, im in need to send my nexus 4 back, ive restored, unrooted, and flashed stock, and locked the bootloader, is there any steps i should take before sending back? many thanks

Whelan189 said:
Hi, im in need to send my nexus 4 back, ive restored, unrooted, and flashed stock, and locked the bootloader, is there any steps i should take before sending back? many thanks
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Click to collapse
Google knows everything... U cant escape.
Lol just joking. Its ready to be sent
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

You can't stop them, they will check everything you have googled (assuming you signed into google) and if there is lots of thing such as "how to root nexus 4" or "good ROMs for nexus 4" or "root toolkit" then Google will get suspicious and check to see what apps you have installed from the playstore and if they find ones that require root they will know you have rooted. . Nah I'm just kidding you're ready to send it in
Sent from my Mako using xda app-developers app

I'm sure they know and just don't care.
I wouldn't recommend it, but I've heard of people who sent their phone back to Google with a custom ROM on it and still got it replaced for a hardware defect.

every device that ive ever sent back to google for a hardware issue replacement has had a custom recovery, root, and a custom rom/kernel. and have recieved the replacements without any issue.

Hesitant rooting my g2

Hi guys.
Confession: I'm really hesitatant about rooting my g2. I have a couple of reasons for doing so, like xposed and bigfaus split view mod along with greenify but I am afraid of not being able to return to stock in case anything should happen to my phone. I prefer a stock, working phone over a brick any day.
Any advice or recommendations are really appreciated and I won't hesitate pressing the thanks button
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

same..root is easy but why we cant just uninstall root?why we need all that diffecult restore to stock proccess?
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app

The benefits out weigh the drawbacks by quite a bit. There are more than several threads how to return to stock and unroot. The root process was by far the easiest I've done of the 8 devices I've done. I'd say if there is a legitimate reason to return for warranty work it'd pop up within a week or two.
Sent from my VS980 4G using xda app-developers app

If you only root, then it's a simple process to get back to stock. Installing a custom recovery is where you run into a more complicated process for restoring to stock. Fortunately, you only need to install a custom recovery if you plan on installing custom ROMs. It's not necessary if you only want to install apps that require root.
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

ffejy462 said:
The benefits out weigh the drawbacks by quite a bit. There are more than several threads how to return to stock and unroot. The root process was by far the easiest I've done of the 8 devices I've done. I'd say if there is a legitimate reason to return for warranty work it'd pop up within a week or two.
Sent from my VS980 4G using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
I've now had it for three weeks and there has been no bugs whatsoever. In fact, defect phones are really rare in Denmark as they undergo an even stricter control than in the US and the warranty is 2 years as opposed to one year elsewhere. That only covers defects that shows up over time though. I am well aware of the Go back to stock thread, but people seem to be getting it wrong despite the fact that they follow the guidelines.
kashk5 said:
If you only root, then it's a simple process to get back to stock. Installing a custom recovery is where you run into a more complicated process for restoring to stock. Fortunately, you only need to install a custom recovery if you plan on installing custom ROMs. It's not necessary if you only want to install apps that require root.
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
I am familiar with rooting on a chinese tablet and using TWRP, but that is the only experience I have. I soft-bricked my tablet the second day I got it because i messed around with firmware and so on.
I will be needing a custom recovery for adding the split view mod from bigfau