Help to prevent update. - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshootin

I have a 4.4.4 ROM and I'm getting a 5.0 OTA upgrade notification today after I factory reset. I don't see the same things on Titanium Backup I used to freeze to prevent the OTA, they must be different on 4.4.4. I can't find anything on Google. Can anyone tell me what to freeze? I don't want this update to ruin everything.

No one knows? I think I have the Google Edition 4.4.4 rom that was posted on the rom section. I had to freeze google play services which is not ideal. I believe I also lost some power menu options such as hot reboot (something like that, not sure), I know there were more there. That's not as important thougg, the phone is fine, still rooted, still on that rom, I just don't want it to update. I had MDL (if that's what the less locked down version was called).

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[Q] Did I f* up my Play?

Hey guys. I hate making my first post a really noobie question but here it goes.
I just updated my rooted Xperia Play to 2.3.3 and it erased and/or re-wrote all of my system apps. I stupidly converted some of my downloaded apps into system apps using Titanium (because system apps turn red on the list. It helped me quickly figure out what was external and what was internal. Stupid, yes, and more trouble then it was actually worth.) so those apps were lost. Didn't matter, I had backups but I lost my root so I couldn't access them.
Forgetting what I used to root my phone originally I decided to use z4root after reading about it somewhere. The site I got it from is usually trust worthy but when I downloaded the file my OfficeScan (its a school bought computer) warned me of a potential virus threat. I wrote it off as just the pop-up ad and un-zipped and transferred the file to my phone. I still am not sure if it was a virus or not... Running z4root it got up to "acquiring shell root..." or something like that before kicking me back to the home screen with no change. I, again, stupidly, re-ran it several times without rebooting between each attempt. Giving up I then realized to reboot. Strangely rebooting was A LOT faster then it was usually is and I don't know if that was z4 or 2.3.3.
Anyway I remembered that I used Gingerbreak last time and re-installed that. I made several attempts with that with no change either. Too many to count, but at least more than 8. Several attempts I got a call or a text and, checking them, ended the process. 2 attempts I left running for about half an hour (I know that the instructions say it will never take more then 10 minutes) and some I ended with a battery pull after more then 10mins(as per instruction).
So I guess I have several questions:
1. How bad did I f* up, If I did so?
2. Any suggestions on how to re-root/fix it?
3. Will switching to an empty SD card, successfully rooting it, and switching back to the full card still keep the root?
4. Does an in phone factory reset work the same as flashing the same rom or will I need to actually flash that new rom?
5. If I do need to flash, where can I find a regular Play rom? Or do you have suggestions about a better rom?
6. Is the fast reboot the work of the half done, possibly a virus, z4root process or just the 2.3.3 update?
7.Lastly Was this tl and you ;dr?
Normally, I wouldn't care if there was no fix; My phone boots much faster, I didn't lose all my apps and only some apps launch a little slower then before. But I made tons of progress on Zenonia 2 and I want my back ups for that... lol.
Any help appreciated. Also thanks for putting up with a noob that's writing way to formally
1. Messing with the system apps, and not backing them up probably caused you to not have an OTA update. I'm guessing you flashed it? Not restoring anything and not doing an OTA was mistake number one. Trying to use z4root was mistake number 2.
2. Get the generic UK firmware from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097591
-Flash that with Bin4ry and Androxhyde's flashtool
-Put in your carrier's APN settings, configure your google account, wifi etc. etc.
-Get Gingerbreak 1.2, run it(I used Astro to open the apk, and you need uunknown sources enabled).
Gingerbreak only worked for me when I formatted an SD card right before running it. I used a spare that was lying around, not the usual one with all my data, and I suggest you do the same if you kept your titanium backups. Hopefully you'll get rooted after about 3-5 minutes. Do not mess with any apps/bloatware after you have the root.
-After you have root, go into the settings menu and start an OTA update.
You should now have 2.3.3 WITH root.
-Once the phone is updated, install Titanium Backup and start backing up your old apps from before you messed up the phone and lost root.
-At this point feel free to remove the bloatware, but make sure you back it up in titanium for later.
3. Switching SD cards won't affect root at all.
4. A factory reset will reset whatever ROM was installed last. In other words, you can't revert back to 2.3.2 with a reset, it'll just reset 2.3.3 - It's really just for wiping data and settings.
5.The regular play ROM is the UK generic I posted above. The only "better" roms are customs that you need an unlocked bootloader to install. Currently they're still buggy and in development and not worth getting unless you like incomplete ROMs with bugs, and wanna lose the ability to update normally. Both OTA updates and the Sony Ericsson Update Service will brick your phone once the bootloader's unlocked.
6. My phone was booting a bit faster after updating to 2.3.3, and became even faster after removing some bloatware.
-Root doesn't speed up the boot process.
-I highly doubt an Android phone would have a virus that makes it boot faster, it's probably just from the update.
7. No, it wasn't. No, I didn't.
Thanks for the (semi-)quick response. Been browsing around the web with this tab open, constantly refreshing like a creep. I'll try your advice soon but its like 3am, just wanted to say thanks and love your Stocking pic.
Btw is there a difference between A US, UK or CAN rom or do those even exist?
The only real differences are carrier specific apps, and some versions have different games installed.
Sent from my R800
Seems like I was to late to flash and the link to the rom you gave me may have been updated to 2.3.3 as well. I was looking for a Canada/Rodgers rom anyway but the forum search isn't turning up anything and google seems to hate me...
Help anyone?
The link was for 2.3.2 in the generic.
The only rogers rom available is for 2.3.3 so you won't be getting root without an unlocked bootloader with that one.
Just follow the directions and it should be fine.
The rogers apps are available in the android market separately.
Sent from my R800

[Q] Can't install latest OTA update after unroot

Hey guys,
So I've googled around for this issue but I still have a question that no other thread I've found seems to answer.
A few weeks ago I rooted my Razr M. I froze a couple of the verizon apps (like the google chrome bookmarks) and backed up and deleted the amazon apps, IMDB, and Audible apps with titanium. When the new OTA was released this week I restored and thawed all of those apps, but the OTA wouldn't install. It reached about 1/4 through the bar of Andy and then he would be on his side with the caution sign. The phone would reboot and say that the installation failed. I decided to unroot, thinking that may have been the cause, but I still got the same error. From there I did a factory reset, and I'm still getting the same error.
Here's my question: I saw on a couple threads that a factory reset doesn't restore everything in /system, which is where I'm worried there's a discrepancy that isn't allowing the update. Is there a way to do a harder reset that will completely bring the phone back to stock?
I'm currently on System version 98.12.4.XT907.Verizon.en.US if that helps. Android 4.1.1. Baseband version is SM_BP_1139.000.32.62P.
JadedRescue said:
Hey guys,
So I've googled around for this issue but I still have a question that no other thread I've found seems to answer.
A few weeks ago I rooted my Razr M. I froze a couple of the verizon apps (like the google chrome bookmarks) and backed up and deleted the amazon apps, IMDB, and Audible apps with titanium. When the new OTA was released this week I restored and thawed all of those apps, but the OTA wouldn't install. It reached about 1/4 through the bar of Andy and then he would be on his side with the caution sign. The phone would reboot and say that the installation failed. I decided to unroot, thinking that may have been the cause, but I still got the same error. From there I did a factory reset, and I'm still getting the same error.
Here's my question: I saw on a couple threads that a factory reset doesn't restore everything in /system, which is where I'm worried there's a discrepancy that isn't allowing the update. Is there a way to do a harder reset that will completely bring the phone back to stock?
I'm currently on System version 98.12.4.XT907.Verizon.en.US if that helps. Android 4.1.1. Baseband version is SM_BP_1139.000.32.62P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you did not defrost those system apps using titanium backup before you factory reset. I would restore from your stock backup and unfreeze those apps with titanium and try the ota again. The OTA checks for certain bloatware apps before it will allow it to install the update.
slogar25 said:
Sounds like you did not defrost those system apps using titanium backup before you factory reset. I would restore from your stock backup and unfreeze those apps with titanium and try the ota again. The OTA checks for certain bloatware apps before it will allow it to install the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely did defrost those apps.
I'm having the same issue. Stops at about 1/4 of the way and then restarts. I'm gonna try it again without my Rogers(non-verizon) sim card and see if it works. Maybe it checks which sim card is being used.
EDIT: Didn't work, sim card irrelevant.
If you really want the ota then why don't you try mattlgroff's utility here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=39576818
It will return you back to completely stock with one click and then you should be able to take the ota and reroot unlock if desired
Sent from my XT907 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
RSD
vLegend said:
I'm having the same issue. Stops at about 1/4 of the way and then restarts. I'm gonna try it again without my Rogers(non-verizon) sim card and see if it works. Maybe it checks which sim card is being used.
EDIT: Didn't work, sim card irrelevant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried using Mattlgroff's method (which i'm sure is fine for most) but seems to be geared towards linux users mostly, and I ran into some issues. I have always used RSD to get back to stock and never had an issue. Check it out How To Restore Stock Firmware on Razr M. This will hard restore your phone to the factory image, as well as unroot it, no need to unfreeze or reinstall bloat. It will also obviously erase the internal SD card contents so make sure you back those up.
Yeah looks like slogar25 and cliMAKtic are right. I tried a few more things and its not working. I'll do an rsd in the next couple days and try the ota again.
I'm going to try rsd sometime tonight, I'll let everyone know how it goes. Thanks for all the help!!
I like rsd too. The point is to return too stock.
Sent from my XT907 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2
Same issue, stops 1/4 of the way through.
Flashing back to stock with the RAZR M utility 1.10 once my phone hits 100% battery (at 93% now). Will let you know if I can take the update after.
Keep in mind
RSD is great to get back to clean stock, but keep in mind that it will remove your root. After taking the OTA update, you will be running firmware v4.1.2. If you used MotoFail2Go exploit to root your phone originally you should note that the exploit apparently does not work for the updated firmware. Instead you should use motochopper, an updated exploit that works on 4.1.2 to root your phone, developed by Drjbliss over at Droidrzr.
I honestly don't care too much about being unrooted at this point anyway, having root wasn't doing too much for me. I managed to get back to the original stock ICS using RSD and everything worked out! Downloaded one update to 4.1.1, then the second update to 4.1.2, and everything went swimmingly.
Thank you so much for all your help everyone!

Verizon G3 VS985 update not asking to download

I didnt see a thread already but my G3 started downloading an update this morning without me accepting or saying anything at all. Obviously with Root and TWRP(Bump) I did not want this. I pulled down the notification bar long pressed on the update download, hit app info, then force stopped the app. I went into Titanium backup, made a backup of System Updates 1_13_10_0 then uninstalled it. I don't know if the download will come back but I don't think so. Also the update was 220ish MB and I have no issues with the phone after uninstalling this. Sorry I didnt get a chance to take a picture of the update since it was almost done lol.
System Updates Frozen
I have the System Updates App frozen in Ti BU. Haven't gotten any hint of an update and I hope it stays that way.
Same thing happened to me it tried installing the update all on its own luckily it said waiting for wifi network to update so I froze the system updates app with titanium back up.
RyanEJ25, I experienced the same thing as you. I have a Verizon LG G3 (vs985), rooted.
Trying to get more info on this system update and what it contains. I don't think it's Android 5.0 lollipop update, but more like a Verizon bug update/improvements.
I tried to run the system update that was downloaded via WIFI, but it failed due to my LG g3 being rooted.
Before I go down the path of backing everything, unrooting and upgrading and then re-rooting, just wanted to make sure the update is worthwhile.
-Kevin
RyanEJ25 said:
I didnt see a thread already but my G3 started downloading an update this morning without me accepting or saying anything at all. Obviously with Root and TWRP(Bump) I did not want this. I pulled down the notification bar long pressed on the update download, hit app info, then force stopped the app. I went into Titanium backup, made a backup of System Updates 1_13_10_0 then uninstalled it. I don't know if the download will come back but I don't think so. Also the update was 220ish MB and I have no issues with the phone after uninstalling this. Sorry I didnt get a chance to take a picture of the update since it was almost done lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
trailrunner76 said:
RyanEJ25, I experienced the same thing as you. I have a Verizon LG G3 (vs985), rooted.
Trying to get more info on this system update and what it contains. I don't think it's Android 5.0 lollipop update, but more like a Verizon bug update/improvements.
I tried to run the system update that was downloaded via WIFI, but it failed due to my LG g3 being rooted.
Before I go down the path of backing everything, unrooting and upgrading and then re-rooting, just wanted to make sure the update is worthwhile.
-Kevin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main thing that threw me off was that USB charge modes have changed. Charge and internet connection are removed from PC connections other than that its general improvements to the keyboard and docs and stuff.
You can temp unroot, take the update, then reroot assuming Verizon didn't load a bullet that kills root.
Voodoo OTA Root Keeper
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
I'd tend to avoid the update, at least for now, if you want to keep root and twrp. Seems to be a number of people mentioning issues, including trouble reverting to 10b.
I also froze "System updates" with TiBU, going to stay on 10b until things clear up. Freezing that app seems to do the trick.
Why are you posting here, instead of the Verizon forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-lg-g3/general
If you take the update, you can't re-root and you can't roll back.
Some people have maintained root after updating.

[Q] Got Lollipop, don't got WiFi

I installed Lollipop 5.0 with Odin and had no problems with the process. However, WiFi no longer starts up. That is, I can't turn WiFi on from Settings or anywhere else. What's really strange, though, is I can create a FoxFi hotspot and it works as expected, supporting a Nexus 7 WiFi-only tablet.
How do I revive WiFi support?
Did you factory reset after updating to LP ?
Always a good idea
I'd really rather not. The recovery process from an FDR is never fun.
What puzzles me is that FoxFi works. Thinking it might be a backdoor, I started FoxFi then tried to start WiFi. I got the expected "you can't have FoxFi and WiFi" message. I said OK, FoxFi shut down and... no WiFi. V. Weird.
I know it's a PITA to reset, but upgrading from KK to LP leaves rubbish files behind that cause all sorts of weird bugs, I had to reset when I upgraded thanks to battery drain, after the reset, battery drain was cured, and all LP updates since then have not needed a reset, it is purely moving from an older Android version > Newer Android
Sigh... I soooooooo hate doing this. And, yes, I want crackers and cheese with that whine.
Stupid n00b question: Before I blow everything away with the FDR, what's the best way to preserve all of my photos, and other app data? FWIW, before I started this project, I used Titanium to back up everything it knows about, but IIRC it doesn't anything photos, music, etc., etc.
I suppose I can just do a drag and drop of the phone legacy "SD" and stuff it all back in again after the FDR. Or doesn't that fly?
RBEmerson said:
Sigh... I soooooooo hate doing this. And, yes, I want crackers and cheese with that whine.
Stupid n00b question: Before I blow everything away with the FDR, what's the best way to preserve all of my photos, and other app data? FWIW, before I started this project, I used Titanium to back up everything it knows about, but IIRC it doesn't anything photos, music, etc., etc.
I suppose I can just do a drag and drop of the phone legacy "SD" and stuff it all back in again after the FDR. Or doesn't that fly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were rooted, and had a custom recovery, you could use that to backup your DATA partition, and restore it later, but yea, definitely backup your photos and vids to PC before doing anything, apps and stuff can be reinstalled, not great losing photos
Titanium backup is great for apps and data, not sure about photos and other user files that I know of, it's been years since I used it last
This gets worse and worse. In hopes of reviving WiFi and root, I went back to 4.4.4. And soft-bricked the phone.
Reverting to 5.0 undid the soft bricking but now I'm back to no WiFi.
At the moment, since I now have access to the data, photos, etc., I'm moving all of them out of harm's way. From there I guess I'm condemned to doing a FDR, installing 4.4.4, rooting, and trying to retain root as I go into 5.0. Damn VZW for making this so hard. [/Snarl]
Mostly out of desperation, I tried going back to 4.4.2 (NCG, not NE9), where the phone was when I started. Once again the phone is soft-bricked. What is going on here??? I'm using the files from Sammobile (forked over €7.50 to get things done somewhat faster...).
Under 5.0, at least I can read much of what I need to save, but things like wpa_supplicant.conf are closed to me because of I can't root the S5 under 5.0. Or can I?? If so, I'd be home free. D/l all the files I want to preserve, do an FDR, use Ti or Helium (I'm trying both) to restore much of the stuff lost in an FDR, and move forward from there.
Yea you can root lollipop with CF Auto Root, but it will trip KNOX
This project is driving me insane!
KitKat soft-bricks the phone, making any backup impossible, making rooting impossible, all under 4.n.n. 5.0 almost works except for the Settings flavor of WiFI (FoxFi works as expected, trying to revert to "normal" WiFi from FoxFi doesn't work).
Rooting under 5.0 will trip Knox. Maybe I'm being silly about that, but I'd like avoid that. I've had the phone about a year, so maybe I should just build a bridge, etc.
Meanwhile, in trying to set up to FDR, I went to Helium (Carbon as was) Pro to put the backup in Google Drive. Why? Because any internal backup ground to a halt at Titanium (37 of 87 backed up by Helium's accounting). Thinking I was hitting a space issue (not enough room for a full internally stored backup), I moved to Pro to store the backup off the machine (whyinhell doesn't Helium let you use the PC needed to enable Helium in the first place???). And that backup also ground to a halt at Ti. ARGH!!!!
OK, I fixed the Helium issue. For some reason, Helium refuses to backup Titanium. Is this hating because clockmod doesn't like Ti or is this one of life's very weird coincidences? Either way, I have 85 of 87 possible apps covered. The rest I can revive some other way without too much pain.
So I guess an FDR is coming soon...
I spoke too soon. Since I tinkered around a bit with trying to see if Helium keeps multiple date and time stamped backups (it doesn't! what's up with that??) I decided to do another full backup (less Ti, of course). and the backup ground to a halt at item 37 of 85 items. Yes, item 37, whatever it is, is a toxic item. What a crock! Worse, I'm out of the refund period for Pro. Dis sux.
OK, the FDR woke up WiFi and left me in 5.0. Now to try to regress to NCG...
I think this ends the thread. I got 5.0 running with WiFi but no root - FDR did the trick. I used Odin to put in 4.4.2 NCG and seemed to be soft-bricked. I used the bootloader(?) to do an FDR on the 4.4.2 install and that cleared up the soft-brick. 4.4.2 is now rooted with towelroot. If I have things right, I can get from a rooted 4.4.n to 5.0 and keep root without changing 0x0. We'll see if that's true... Meanwhile, for this thread, I'm out.

Hosed my phone (TiBa move apps to ROM)- G services down- looking for next steps

All-
Verizon Galaxy S5, rooted stock NI2 (KTU84P.G900VVRU1ANI2), stock recovery. Did this sometime last year (back when NI2 was the newest), don't necessarily remember the steps, but it involved downgrading+towelroot+upgrading. Everything's been fine, until I decided to try and free up some internal memory by using TitaniumBackup (pro) to move apps to ROM. Got about 1/3 of the way through, started getting all sorts of G service/app bombs (specifically around Google Play Services plus a few others), and the process never completed. Had almost constant popups about Google+, Google Maps, and Play Services. Searched for quite a while on fixes for this- didn't seem like there were any I could use.
Here's what I've tried:
- clear cache from recovery, no change (figured I'd give it a shot)
- reloaded NI2 stock kernel md5 via ODIN, no change (guessing since I've got a broader ROM issue)
- attempted loading GAPPS via sd card via recovery- no dice since stock recovery fails on signature/verification
- backed up apps/data with Titanium, and factory refresh from recovery- still same issue ("error occurred during installation of Google+... uninstall and install again")
At this point, I can't get to Play Store to do any installations from there. I'm not too interested in getting on Lollipop, and would be happy getting back to where I was before (NI2+root). Since I'm already rooted, I searched and couldn't find something like a "NI2 rooted ROM", and think my only option at this point is to ODIN a full stock NCG retail tar, and follow http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784880, which I'm still reading through, but which will basically be a towelroot of NCG and upgrade from there.
Is this my only option, or is there a way to blast the ROM to the extent that I keep root but my system issues are fixed?
Thanks!
Flashed NI2_retail_firmware.tar.md5, no change (but still have root for reference).
I have a question. Are we allowed to downgrade our phones with firmware without voiding our warranty? No root... I need to call verizon and they may ask me what firmware im running...lol
Case closed... followed thread posted above and now I'm rooted NCG with a blank slate
Diana- can't help you on that one!

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