Database Users

[Q] Downgrade from 4.2 to 4.1.2

Some apps not working after updated to 4.2, so I'm considering back to 4.1.2.
Though I never done this before since the day I get Nexus 7,
I think use Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit should get it done.
But just for sure:
1. Do I need to unlock/root to flash factory 4.1.2 image? (I think it is not but not so sure)
2. Directory structure seems different from 4.1.2, is it OK just using Toolkit to backup/restore settings?
(Sorry for my English if anything looks impolite)

1) unlock bootloader yes; root no, as you're going to overwrite the system anyways.
Also I'd suggest not using a toolkit, just download the factory image off google's page and run the "flash-all.bat"
2) Use Titanium Backup to backup all app data, wipe after flashing 4.1.2 and then restore apps + data with Titanium again

I just downgraded this morning. All your data will be wiped .. ALL YOUR DATA ... meaning, after I got back to 4.1.2 I was having 13GB of free space on the tablet (out of 13 possible) .
So, if you HAVE a nandroid from the 4.1.2 days, save it to your computer (along with all your files).
If you don't have a 4.1.2 nandroid, at least create now a backup repository with whatever tool you prefer and then save the respective files to PC.
Then, flash the factory image for 4.1.2.
Then copy all your files back to the internal memory, install the backup tool and restore your apps.
The reason behind this is that the update from 4.1.2 to 4.2 has some scripts that are porting the original /data and /sdcard mounts to the new structure used in 4.2
When downgrading, you no longer have scripts to do that for you so the newly installed 4.1.2 will not recognize anything so it will bootloop like crazy (I tried first to restore just the /system ... but all the other data was already affected by the update so was no longer usable).

My thoughts:
If you got the ota, and things messed up, try flashing the 4.2 factory image. That seemed to help me. If you're not rooted already, I would recommend becoming familiar with the adb backup command to backup apps before doing anything else. You have to unlock the boot loader to downgrade or flash the factory 4.2 image, and this will wipe the device.
Once you update either way, definitely take the time to root. You can then use adb restore or titanium backup to restore from the adb backup you made before unlocking.
Just be aware that adb backup doesn't seem to backup all apps, and that titanium backup isn't exactly fast parsing through a big adb backup file.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

step by step?
srry, very nooby questions:
how do i flash my nexus?
where do i find the factory image?
what is the backup tool?
ro_explorer said:
I just downgraded this morning. All your data will be wiped .. ALL YOUR DATA ... meaning, after I got back to 4.1.2 I was having 13GB of free space on the tablet (out of 13 possible) .
So, if you HAVE a nandroid from the 4.1.2 days, save it to your computer (along with all your files).
If you don't have a 4.1.2 nandroid, at least create now a backup repository with whatever tool you prefer and then save the respective files to PC.
Then, flash the factory image for 4.1.2.
Then copy all your files back to the internal memory, install the backup tool and restore your apps.
The reason behind this is that the update from 4.1.2 to 4.2 has some scripts that are porting the original /data and /sdcard mounts to the new structure used in 4.2
When downgrading, you no longer have scripts to do that for you so the newly installed 4.1.2 will not recognize anything so it will bootloop like crazy (I tried first to restore just the /system ... but all the other data was already affected by the update so was no longer usable).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

HellcatDroid said:
1) unlock bootloader yes; root no, as you're going to overwrite the system anyways.
Also I'd suggest not using a toolkit, just download the factory image off google's page and run the "flash-all.bat"
2) Use Titanium Backup to backup all app data, wipe after flashing 4.1.2 and then restore apps + data with Titanium again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
restoring my apps with Titanium Backup is unsuccessful , when i first tried a full app+data restore it freezes at 0 percent
and when i tried backuping app the missing apps , it worked but after i rebooted it . It went into a bootloop

Youssef Hossam said:
restoring my apps with Titanium Backup is unsuccessful , when i first tried a full app+data restore it freezes at 0 percent and when i tried backuping app the missing apps , it worked but after i rebooted it . It went into a bootloop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assumed you are referring to downgrade from 4.2.1 to 4.1.2 and rooted to run TB, so the basic stock rom is up & running otherwise, correct?
Let's try Plan B instead - go into (Custom) Recovery and wipe dalvik cache first, then reboot. Give it a few minutes to settle and try to do your TB restore WITHOUT data, and see if it works. The /SD and/or /SD/0 directory structures are setup differently on the N7 and trying to retore with your custom settings will just make it more difficult & complicated. If this works, you can then try to selectively restore one or more with data and hopefully without going into endless bootloop again.
Plan C - go to Play Store, then Settings and "All" - you should see all of your Apps and what's installed, etc. - and install from there, it's semi-manual but it works for me 99.8% of the time when it would otherwise freeze within TB, especially true when switching custom Rom & kernels.
I usually manually copy & move back items such as documents, pictures & mp3's, etc. from standalone/usb backup drives or cloud storage back into the device once everything else are up & running properly.
Let us know if this helps & working for you or not.

Thankss !
Letitride said:
Assumed you are referring to downgrade from 4.2.1 to 4.1.2 and rooted to run TB, so the basic stock rom is up & running otherwise, correct?
Let's try Plan B instead - go into (Custom) Recovery and wipe dalvik cache first, then reboot. Give it a few minutes to settle and try to do your TB restore WITHOUT data, and see if it works. The /SD and/or /SD/0 directory structures are setup differently on the N7 and trying to retore with your custom settings will just make it more difficult & complicated. If this works, you can then try to selectively restore one or more with data and hopefully without going into endless bootloop again.
Plan C - go to Play Store, then Settings and "All" - you should see all of your Apps and what's installed, etc. - and install from there, it's semi-manual but it works for me 99.8% of the time when it would otherwise freeze within TB, especially true when switching custom Rom & kernels.
I usually manually copy & move back items such as documents, pictures & mp3's, etc. from standalone/usb backup drives or cloud storage back into the device once everything else are up & running properly.
Let us know if this helps & working for you or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help , but I think the problem was that there were apps in the backup only compatible with the custom ROM I had and android 4.2.1 xD
I restored the apps one by one , but I think if I deleted the extra custom rom apps , the process would have finished without any problems

Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754

mleung754 said:
Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont have to root but you need to UNLOCK the bootloader which will obviously erase all your data(and VOID your warranty). you can find the factory image here https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images . just flash the appropriate image and you should be as good to go.

mleung754 said:
Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mleung754,
You are posting in the wrong forum.
Asus Nexus 7 is not the same thing as a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Ignore mmystere68's remarks.

[Q] Clean out Nexus 7

Here is my situation. I acidentally installed a custom rom over my stock JB 4.2.1 installation and I want to know if there is a way to restore my original JB rom without loosing my root and recovery. My current plan is to use TWRP recovery to wipe all caches and internal memory. I have a stock JB rom and after clearing everything I will reflash the stock rom.
I know I should have made proper backups, but I guess this is how I will learn. My goal is to make my nexus 7 the same as when I bought it, but I want it to still be rooted. Will my plan work?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

I'd say use mskip's Google Nexus 7 Toolkit (found here) or Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit (found here) and be done with it. I use mskip's toolkit (personally) and have no issues with it. Use it to restore the N7 to factory shape (4.2.1 is the JOP40D build, the latest, if that's your intention), then boot it up, enable the USB debugging, get back into fastboot mode then use the toolkit to root it, you're done.
If it takes more than a few minutes to do this (which I've done several times in the past week) then you're doing it wrong.
A clean wipe is going to kill the root which must be redone and only takes about a minute itself.

OR, another alternative:
1) Flash full factory ROM
2) Unlock bootloader if not already in that state
3) soft-boot any custom recovery you want to use with fastboot:
fastboot boot recovery-image-file.img
4) Overflash a minimal root package (Superuser.apk + su OR SupserSU + su)
Moral of the story is that even if you flash a completely stock ROM with no root, because you have an unlocked bootloader you can install whatever you want right over the top of it without ever having booted it once.
I suppose that a toolkit might also be able to assist you with such things, but doing things from the command line tends to be better for learning how things work under the hood.

Wug's toolkit will help you do just that. You can even put back a stock rom and root it again

Thank you. It worked perfectly and now I have a brand new clean installation.
I have one last question though. After I logged in with my g-mail, my device started to download all my applications automatically. I had a titanium backup that contained about 70% of my apps and so cancelled the downloads so that I could restore the backup. (I have capped internet so downloading apps that I had backed up seemed like a waste). So now I want to know if it is possibile to download the other 30% of my apps from the store automatically because would prefer to avoid pressing the install button multiple times. I've been looking for some kind of option but I was unable to find it.
Thank you for replying so quickly, it is great to have an operating nexus 7 again.

Fallen9900 said:
Thank you. It worked perfectly and now I have a brand new clean installation.
I have one last question though. After I logged in with my g-mail, my device started to download all my applications automatically. I had a titanium backup that contained about 70% of my apps and so cancelled the downloads so that I could restore the backup. (I have capped internet so downloading apps that I had backed up seemed like a waste). So now I want to know if it is possibile to download the other 30% of my apps from the store automatically because would prefer to avoid pressing the install button multiple times. I've been looking for some kind of option but I was unable to find it.
Thank you for replying so quickly, it is great to have an operating nexus 7 again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mixed results with the auto restore. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. Can't say that I blame it though, what with flashing different ROMs, restoring old backups of different ROMs, having the backup feature turned on sometimes & sometimes not...
At this point, the Play Store app on the N7 seems to show me (in the My Apps section, "ALL" listing) every app I have ever installed on any of my devices linked to the same account (including a Google TV device). Not quite what you are asking, but it's certainly better than a few generations ago where - if the auto-reinstall failed - you would have to try to do the same task from nothing but your memory. (Or restore an old backup and have a look-see what was in there)
good luck and enjoy your tab

Best way to upgrade nexus10

Hi.
I have multiple user profiles on my Nexus 10, and as you know the is no good way to backup/restore multiple accounts.
I'm currently running stock 4.2.2, and is wondering what the best way to upgrade to 4.3 is? Should I just use the system update and reroot the device afterwards? Will this keep qll my profile data etc?
How did you do it?
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

No one have any suggestions?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

ChosSimbaOne said:
No one have any suggestions?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering the same thing

Upgrading to 4.3
I also would like to know what to do. I am currently on 4.22 rooted and running twrp as a custom recovery. Should I use the OTA upgrade to 4.3 and then root or flash the pre rooted AOSP 4.3. I don't want to lose my data or settings

rocky3 said:
I also would like to know what to do. I am currently on 4.22 rooted and running twrp as a custom recovery. Should I use the OTA upgrade to 4.3 and then root or flash the pre rooted AOSP 4.3. I don't want to lose my data or settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay so what I finally did was this: I don't know if you rooted+unlocked it with the wugfresh tool but I had done that a few months ago.
So I opened the nexus tool rootkit from wugfresh --> it updated to the latest version
After that I made a full back up of my data and my system
Then I pressed Flash Stock +Unroot after that it asked if I wanted to install the 4.3 after unrooting
I selected that and followed the orders etc etc
It all went pretty smoothly and now I have an unlocked + unrooted 4.3 nexus 10
You should first check whether fastboot is configured well and update some stuff in de Android SDK manager (I don't know which stuff and I'm not sure if that updating is something that you must do, I'm guessing it won't be necessary ) But the fastboot thing is really important I guess.
Also maybe you better wait till somebody with more computer knowledge answers your questions, because I don't know what I'm doing
I like to screw around with my devices and it hasn't had a bad consequence yet. Just try to google everything if your not totally sure about it.

Tangonaf said:
Okay so what I finally did was this: I don't know if you rooted+unlocked it with the wugfresh tool but I had done that a few months ago.
So I opened the nexus tool rootkit from wugfresh --> it updated to the latest version
After that I made a full back up of my data and my system
Then I pressed Flash Stock +Unroot after that it asked if I wanted to install the 4.3 after unrooting
I selected that and followed the orders etc etc
It all went pretty smoothly and now I have an unlocked + unrooted 4.3 nexus 10
You should first check whether fastboot is configured well and update some stuff in de Android SDK manager (I don't know which stuff and I'm not sure if that updating is something that you must do, I'm guessing it won't be necessary ) But the fastboot thing is really important I guess.
Also maybe you better wait till somebody with more computer knowledge answers your questions, because I don't know what I'm doing
I like to screw around with my devices and it hasn't had a bad consequence yet. Just try to google everything if your not totally sure about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this method made you loose your data/settings? Think this is what i will try. Nandroid backup device, flash stock recovery run ota upgrade, and install custom recovery and root afterwards. Hope this woill work

Yes I lost all my data nut I also had backed up al my data with backup data+media of the wugfresh tool. Both backing up the data and retrieving it afterwards took a long time but I had patience and now I have almy data back again
Verstuurd vanaf mijn Nexus 10 met Tapatalk 4

I'm not sure restoring the data will be stable, since the directories structure has been slightly changed between 4.2 and 4.3.
I also has multiple accounts. I've tried to backup the users apps with Titanium backup. I thought I would be able to create myself the user profiles, then restore the apps with Titanium. However, this didn't work since Titanium is unable to correctly backup and restore apps for multiple user accounts.
I ended up installing manually the apps for the other user.
Also note that even for your main profile, restoring the apps may require restoring the device uid. Titanium is able to do that if you backup its settings.

So far my atempt left me with a nexus that wont boot, dont know if it is the updated bootloader, but it vibrates a lot at boot, and then goes to bootloader. Think i better just flash the 4.3 stock image and reroot and restore what i can :-/

Nexus 4 update problems 4.3 - 4.4

Hey guys, I'm having some trouble updating and its been about a year since I rooted and forgot most of this stuff. Could someone make it very easy for me to update I have super Su and titanium backup also CWM recovery, I would like to not lose my data on phone and could re root if needed. Also have the ABD on the computer. I know I need to flash the stock information but I'm having a hard time finding that information on the forums.

Look here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2698139
Unleashed by my Nexus 4

Going back to stock: restoring apps without root

Hello there!
I rooted my Nexus 6P, as I've done with every Android I've owned since my Nexus One, as soon as it arrived.
However, I really like NFC payments (we don't have Google Pay in Spain, but there are several banks that offer that option) and when the January security update came out, I un-rooted flashing everything.
After that, two of the bank apps worked, but one of them still refuses to do so.
In addition, I've been suffering from very, very, disappointing battery life: no more than 2 hours SOT and having to recharge twice a day.
So, I've decided to start from scratch, using the latest image that came out today.
But I have several questions and I'd be very grateful if somebody could answer them:
- First, and most important. I've been using Titanium Backup since the dawn of times in order to preserve my settings. I've a couple hundreds apps installed and making each of them behave as I like is a nightmare. Is there any rootless backup solution? I know Google backs up everything, but I don't know if every setting will be restored as I want.
- Second... actually there are no more questions, I can look for how-tos on how to flash the image, go back to default recovery...
Thanks in advance.

reycat said:
Hello there!
I rooted my Nexus 6P, as I've done with every Android I've owned since my Nexus One, as soon as it arrived.
However, I really like NFC payments (we don't have Google Pay in Spain, but there are several banks that offer that option) and when the January security update came out, I un-rooted flashing everything.
After that, two of the bank apps worked, but one of them still refuses to do so.
In addition, I've been suffering from very, very, disappointing battery life: no more than 2 hours SOT and having to recharge twice a day.
So, I've decided to start from scratch, using the latest image that came out today.
But I have several questions and I'd be very grateful if somebody could answer them:
- First, and most important. I've been using Titanium Backup since the dawn of times in order to preserve my settings. I've a couple hundreds apps installed and making each of them behave as I like is a nightmare. Is there any rootless backup solution? I know Google backs up everything, but I don't know if every setting will be restored as I want.
- Second... actually there are no more questions, I can look for how-tos on how to flash the image, go back to default recovery...
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In titanium backup you can have it export your backup to an update.zip that you can install via twrp. Having twrp as your recovery does not break Android Pay, as does root, xposed, etc..
edit: yes this applies to now, after google made changes to the server side that broke the root work-around

reycat said:
- First, and most important. I've been using Titanium Backup since the dawn of times in order to preserve my settings. I've a couple hundreds apps installed and making each of them behave as I like is a nightmare. Is there any rootless backup solution? I know Google backs up everything, but I don't know if every setting will be restored as I want.
- Second... actually there are no more questions, I can look for how-tos on how to flash the image, go back to default recovery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been restoring what I can from my Google account for three phones now and, while it's best it's been on a Nexus, you still won't get app settings and full data restored, so Titanium is needed for that. I've never tested the zip export the first reply suggested, but that's an interesting idea. As for getting back to a stock install, there's a very handy guide at http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928 and it covers all scenarios thoroughly. The command line is really the fastest and easiest, as the guide includes code you can just copy and paste. I don't think it's been updated regarding root, because systemless as a way to preserve AP was just stopped by Google.

Barsky said:
In titanium backup you can have it export your backup to an update.zip that you can install via twrp. Having twrp as your recovery does not break Android Pay, as does root, xposed, etc..
edit: yes this applies to now, after google made changes to the server side that broke the root work-around
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have once tested the update option but what I got is only apps and not data. I'm pretty sure I chose app+data while doing the update zip.. Beware of such things happening.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Thanks a lot for your answers.
I've been reading and it seems that, without root, TiBa's update.zip file won't restore app data.
There seems to be another app, Helium, that does a neat trick. You have to connect your phone to your PC, and Helium talks to the PC so that it uses adb to create or restore the backup. No root needed. I think I'm going to take my chances with that.
ultyrunner, that's the guide I was planning on using in order to go back to stock... thanks again, you saved me the search