Moto G5 Plus custom ROM advice - Moto G5 Plus Questions & Answers

Hello everyone!
I have a Moto G5 plus which still works quite well as my only phone, but I'm curious to experiment.
Seeing as official support and security updates have ended, I don't think I'm missing out on anything by leaving stock.
I'm looking for recommendations on which ROM to use, as well as any tips or advice you can give.
Top priorities:
Security and stability (as much as possible)
Connectivity (4G LTE, Wifi without any hiccups)
Bluetooth (support for as many audio codecs as possible, especially Aptx)
Camera should be fully functional
I can't think of any other priorities right now, but maybe narrows the field of options a bit.
I have never installed a ROM nor rooted a device, but I am a quick learner.
Also a quick question, is rooting the phone required? And even if it's not required, do I get any benefit from doing so?
Any input will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!!

Spektater said:
Hello everyone!
I have a Moto G5 plus which still works quite well as my only phone, but I'm curious to experiment.
Seeing as official support and security updates have ended, I don't think I'm missing out on anything by leaving stock.
I'm looking for recommendations on which ROM to use, as well as any tips or advice you can give.
Top priorities:
Security and stability (as much as possible)
Connectivity (4G LTE, Wifi without any hiccups)
Bluetooth (support for as many audio codecs as possible, especially Aptx)
Camera should be fully functional
I can't think of any other priorities right now, but maybe narrows the field of options a bit.
I have never installed a ROM nor rooted a device, but I am a quick learner.
Also a quick question, is rooting the phone required? And even if it's not required, do I get any benefit from doing so?
Any input will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. I can only speak to LineageOS. I have tried others and had bugs that I could not live with. Most new ROMs may have them until they get some exposure and support. Motorola quit supporting the G5 Plus in the early part of 2019, I think. Seems like a lot of support for software in a lot of devices disappears in 2 years or so. GothicIV has been applying android security patches for this year, every month as google releases them.
I have never had any 4G LTE or wireless problems. I use a Verizon virtual mobile carrier.
Can't tell you about Bluetooth codecs, other than I use a plantronics bluetooth set and it works fine.
LineageOS has a built in no frills movie/still camera that works. But if you have google support, you can download the original motorola camera and it works fine. I also use the FV-5 still and FV-5 Cinema camera's out of the play store (paid app) and they work fine.
Rooting is not required, but it allows you to get to the operating system. In Linux (which android is based on) You have ordinary user privileges to install and remove apps. A super user can add/remove/delete files to the OS and change configuration files. When you root a phone, you are being elevated to super user (SU). A bunch of folks and google warn against this, its because they want you to use the system as they provided, like "look - but - dont touch", The concerns are valid, but if you are a linux user, you can make up your own mind. I feel their warnings are over rated, personally. Magisk , a common rooting program will only allow super user to programs you authorize to have super user access.
Basically, you have to unlock the boatloader - and that voids your warranty, but your probably out of that. I think motorola will only allow you to unlock the bootloader if you bought it retail. After unlocking the bootloader, install TWRP a program for backup and restore, which most everybody uses to install ROMs. A lot of ROMs require the memory to be un-encrypted to work, sometimes TWRP can do this, sometimes you need a SU and de-crypter helper program to do this.
Also, I cannot stress this more, after you install TWRP, back up the phone. The Persist and EFS files are individualized files for you phone. Basically radio calibrations and every phone is different.
I wrote a procedure for this, a PDF, its at http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=30022986655137330218 . Its my documentation for future reference if something goes wrong. I have three Moto G5+ and all are on LineageOS.
Hope that helps.

Nivead said:
Hello. I can only speak to LineageOS. I have tried others and had bugs that I could not live with. Most new ROMs may have them until they get some exposure and support. Motorola quit supporting the G5 Plus in the early part of 2019, I think. Seems like a lot of support for software in a lot of devices disappears in 2 years or so. GothicIV has been applying android security patches for this year, every month as google releases them.
I have never had any 4G LTE or wireless problems. I use a Verizon virtual mobile carrier.
Can't tell you about Bluetooth codecs, other than I use a plantronics bluetooth set and it works fine.
LineageOS has a built in no frills movie/still camera that works. But if you have google support, you can download the original motorola camera and it works fine. I also use the FV-5 still and FV-5 Cinema camera's out of the play store (paid app) and they work fine.
Rooting is not required, but it allows you to get to the operating system. In Linux (which android is based on) You have ordinary user privileges to install and remove apps. A super user can add/remove/delete files to the OS and change configuration files. When you root a phone, you are being elevated to super user (SU). A bunch of folks and google warn against this, its because they want you to use the system as they provided, like "look - but - dont touch", The concerns are valid, but if you are a linux user, you can make up your own mind. I feel their warnings are over rated, personally. Magisk , a common rooting program will only allow super user to programs you authorize to have super user access.
Basically, you have to unlock the boatloader - and that voids your warranty, but your probably out of that. I think motorola will only allow you to unlock the bootloader if you bought it retail. After unlocking the bootloader, install TWRP a program for backup and restore, which most everybody uses to install ROMs. A lot of ROMs require the memory to be un-encrypted to work, sometimes TWRP can do this, sometimes you need a SU and de-crypter helper program to do this.
Also, I cannot stress this more, after you install TWRP, back up the phone. The Persist and EFS files are individualized files for you phone. Basically radio calibrations and every phone is different.
I wrote a procedure for this, a PDF, its at *link* . Its my documentation for future reference if something goes wrong. I have three Moto G5+ and all are on LineageOS.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Nivead!
I could not have hoped for a more detailed answer!!
Once I make up my mind, I will most definitely use your guide! The PDF was crystal clear! I thank you deeply for all the effort that you clearly put into helping others
I'm still in doubt due to an important difference; you used a 4gb RAM version, but mine is only 2gb RAM (XT1681)
I've heard that with only 2gb RAM, I should give up on Custom ROMs, and that I won't get better performance than Stock.
I was hoping that a custom rom, with optimizations taken from Android 9, 10 and 11, or even with user designed tweaks, could improve performance, even by a small margin, over the stock Android 8.1.
But I do understand 2gb is VERY low by today's standards, and that most custom roms are designed with double that RAM in mind.
Knowing that my device has only 2gb RAM total, would you still recommend LineageOS in my quest for a slight performance boost, or should I just do a clean install of regular old stock 8.1?
Thank you very much in advance for your time and kindness!

Spektater said:
Hello Nivead!
I could not have hoped for a more detailed answer!!
Once I make up my mind, I will most definitely use your guide! The PDF was crystal clear! I thank you deeply for all the effort that you clearly put into helping others
I'm still in doubt due to an important difference; you used a 4gb RAM version, but mine is only 2gb RAM (XT1681)
I've heard that with only 2gb RAM, I should give up on Custom ROMs, and that I won't get better performance than Stock.
I was hoping that a custom rom, with optimizations taken from Android 9, 10 and 11, or even with user designed tweaks, could improve performance, even by a small margin, over the stock Android 8.1.
But I do understand 2gb is VERY low by today's standards, and that most custom roms are designed with double that RAM in mind.
Knowing that my device has only 2gb RAM total, would you still recommend LineageOS in my quest for a slight performance boost, or should I just do a clean install of regular old stock 8.1?
Thank you very much in advance for your time and kindness!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I wrote the procedure, I was taking a phone back to LineageOS 15.1 . One should be able to substitute any ROM in place of the LineageOS and the procedure should still work. I have used LineageOS 14 (Vache), also LineageOS 16 (Coldhans) and LineageOS 17.1 (thread by Riyan65) and Pixel Experience AOSP (thread by ZjRDroid).
I do not know about the 2/4 GB performance issues/differences. I would research the forum threads on the ROM and see if problems were reported, and if the ROM requires a 4 GB memory. Also, bear in mind that memory works different in android/linux compared to windows.
I do not know if LineageOS would give you a performance boost. You would have to try it and see, I will say, that the google play store and its related apps put a performance drain on android. They are constantly checking in with google when you use the apps, and constantly looking for updates. That means battery is being used by the radio modems in the background. If you do not need playstore access, its a boost. Or you could use the nano gapps to have just play store access without all the other google apps the were installed by default in android 7/8.1.
I would not re-install stock moto 8.1 as a performance issue. I would do a factory erase, it should return the phone back to the state of when the phone was upgraded to stock 8.1. Bear in mind that all data, photos and apps you added will be erased. I would only re-install moto stock 8.1 if I was coming back from a ROM and going to a different ROM. Most ROMs start with stock moto 8.1 and just lay their code on top of it. So parts of the stock firmware gets over written and parts of it remain stock.
If you can afford to purchase a new phone - and do without your G5 plus, because you bricked it - I would try a ROM. If you can not do without your phone, I would leave it alone. I trashed one of my phones and it took me a day to recover it back to stock. That is one of the main reasons I wrote the procedure.
Sorry, I could not help some more...

Nivead said:
When I wrote the procedure, I was taking a phone back to LineageOS 15.1 . One should be able to substitute any ROM in place of the LineageOS and the procedure should still work. I have used LineageOS 14 (Vache), also LineageOS 16 (Coldhans) and LineageOS 17.1 (thread by Riyan65) and Pixel Experience AOSP (thread by ZjRDroid).
I do not know about the 2/4 GB performance issues/differences. I would research the forum threads on the ROM and see if problems were reported, and if the ROM requires a 4 GB memory. Also, bear in mind that memory works different in android/linux compared to windows.
I do not know if LineageOS would give you a performance boost. You would have to try it and see, I will say, that the google play store and its related apps put a performance drain on android. They are constantly checking in with google when you use the apps, and constantly looking for updates. That means battery is being used by the radio modems in the background. If you do not need playstore access, its a boost. Or you could use the nano gapps to have just play store access without all the other google apps the were installed by default in android 7/8.1.
I would not re-install stock moto 8.1 as a performance issue. I would do a factory erase, it should return the phone back to the state of when the phone was upgraded to stock 8.1. Bear in mind that all data, photos and apps you added will be erased. I would only re-install moto stock 8.1 if I was coming back from a ROM and going to a different ROM. Most ROMs start with stock moto 8.1 and just lay their code on top of it. So parts of the stock firmware gets over written and parts of it remain stock.
If you can afford to purchase a new phone - and do without your G5 plus, because you bricked it - I would try a ROM. If you can not do without your phone, I would leave it alone. I trashed one of my phones and it took me a day to recover it back to stock. That is one of the main reasons I wrote the procedure.
Sorry, I could not help some more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all! You have been incredibly helpful and informative!
I could probably afford a new phone if it came to that, but I was hoping to improve the performance of the G5 Plus so that it could get me by for 1 or 2 more years, until 5G becomes more widespread and good cheap 5G phones become available.
Maybe I could try Lineage and see how it goes. I've heard that even if I brick it, it is usually reversible with some effort... how true do you feel this is?
If bricking is irreversible, maybe it is not worth the risk, as the phone still works quite well, and would be a nice gift for a friend when I decide to buy a new one.
And a final question, if I decide to try out a ROM, I can always go back to stock by doing a factory reset right?
Thank you very very much for all your patience!

Spektater said:
Not at all! You have been incredibly helpful and informative!
I could probably afford a new phone if it came to that, but I was hoping to improve the performance of the G5 Plus so that it could get me by for 1 or 2 more years, until 5G becomes more widespread and good cheap 5G phones become available.
Maybe I could try Lineage and see how it goes. I've heard that even if I brick it, it is usually reversible with some effort... how true do you feel this is?
If bricking is irreversible, maybe it is not worth the risk, as the phone still works quite well, and would be a nice gift for a friend when I decide to buy a new one.
And a final question, if I decide to try out a ROM, I can always go back to stock by doing a factory reset right?
Thank you very very much for all your patience!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also hanging on to my G5+'s as long as I can. 5G implementation has started, but its ways off for full coverage.
I asked about bricking, as it can happen if one does not follow procedures, or have a hardware failure. . Usually when a phone is bricked, its unrecoverable. Sometimes a professional may be able to recover the phone, they do this by opening the phone and making direct connections to the NAND memory. If they are able to communicate with the memory and the hardware is OK, they can reinstall an image of the operating system. If it boots, you have a operating phone. I just wanted to be clear, there is a risk.
If you put a ROM on the phone, its a new operating system. If it has problems, or does not boot, etc - you usually can "fastboot" the original moto 8.1 firmware and the phone should be OK.
If you put a new operating system on the phone and do a factory reset, you are still inside the new operating system - your just wiping it clean. In order to get back to the moto 8.1 stock firmware, you will either have to install backup image via TWRP - which does not always work - or - fastboot the original moto 8.1 firmware, which usually works.
Fastboot is a command in the Android Device Bridge terminal program. ADB is a command line terminal program that runs on your computer and is used to move firmware from the computer to the phone. Fastboot also has some maintenance and housekeeping commands.
My advice, is to read up on all the required tasks, so you know how things react. Also keep a log of what you did, so if something goes wrong, you can attempt to back track to the problem. XDA forums has a lot of info available on all the task required. Also if something goes wrong, you can stop and ask for help on the forum.

Nivead said:
I am also hanging on to my G5+'s as long as I can. 5G implementation has started, but its ways off for full coverage.
I asked about bricking, as it can happen if one does not follow procedures, or have a hardware failure. . Usually when a phone is bricked, its unrecoverable. Sometimes a professional may be able to recover the phone, they do this by opening the phone and making direct connections to the NAND memory. If they are able to communicate with the memory and the hardware is OK, they can reinstall an image of the operating system. If it boots, you have a operating phone. I just wanted to be clear, there is a risk.
If you put a ROM on the phone, its a new operating system. If it has problems, or does not boot, etc - you usually can "fastboot" the original moto 8.1 firmware and the phone should be OK.
If you put a new operating system on the phone and do a factory reset, you are still inside the new operating system - your just wiping it clean. In order to get back to the moto 8.1 stock firmware, you will either have to install backup image via TWRP - which does not always work - or - fastboot the original moto 8.1 firmware, which usually works.
Fastboot is a command in the Android Device Bridge terminal program. ADB is a command line terminal program that runs on your computer and is used to move firmware from the computer to the phone. Fastboot also has some maintenance and housekeeping commands.
My advice, is to read up on all the required tasks, so you know how things react. Also keep a log of what you did, so if something goes wrong, you can attempt to back track to the problem. XDA forums has a lot of info available on all the task required. Also if something goes wrong, you can stop and ask for help on the forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I will definitely keep that in mind.
To say the truth, I'm still on the fence on whether to use a Custom Rom or not, as many people have told me I won't get better performance with any custom than I would with Stock. This appears to be especially true given the low RAM of my device (just 2 GB).
Regardless of what I end up doing, I would like to deeply thank you for all the time and dedication you put into your replies.
If everyone was as willing and helpful as you, the world would be a better place!

I too recommend LineageOS. I'm still running 15.1 (Oreo) on my 2GB G5. @gothicVI has a bunch of versions, with security updates, available here.

Zojak said:
I too recommend LineageOS. I'm still running 15.1 (Oreo) on my 2GB G5. @gothicVI has a bunch of versions, with security updates, available here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, two different opinions both recommending LineageOS definitely sounds appealing. I've heard ArrowOS is quite good as well. So many options!! I was hoping to get a ROM with Android 11 features, but maybe I'm aiming too high, considering its only a 2gb device

I tried PixelExperience and ArrowOS. Mainly to see if I could get gcam's nightsight to work with 2GB. Despite my attempts, with roms and tweaking system memory settings, I couldn't get nightsight working. So I went back to LOS 15.1 for the Xposed support. In 2019 I picked up a Moto G7+ (running LOS 17.1) and haven't touched my G5 much. Just flashing @gothicVI's security updates on it every so often.

Zojak said:
I tried PixelExperience and ArrowOS. Mainly to see if I could get gcam's nightsight to work with 2GB. Despite my attempts, with roms and tweaking system memory settings, I couldn't get nightsight working. So I went back to LOS 15.1 for the Xposed support. In 2019 I picked up a Moto G7+ (running LOS 17.1) and haven't touched my G5 much. Just flashing @gothicVI's security updates on it every so often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see... I was really hoping to get a working GCam on a 2GB device, but I guess I'll have to give up on that. So you would recommend LOS over ArrowOS or DirtyUnicorns?
I'm sorry if I ask too many questions, there are so many options that a beginner like myself gets confused!
Thank you very much for all your help!

Well I haven't tried DirtyUnicorns. My time with ArrowOS was brief. I'd say try them all and see which you like best.
Google released GCam Go for low end devices. I haven't tried it but maybe it'll run better on our device.

Zojak said:
I tried PixelExperience and ArrowOS. Mainly to see if I could get gcam's nightsight to work with 2GB. Despite my attempts, with roms and tweaking system memory settings, I couldn't get nightsight working. So I went back to LOS 15.1 for the Xposed support. In 2019 I picked up a Moto G7+ (running LOS 17.1) and haven't touched my G5 much. Just flashing @gothicVI's security updates on it every so often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. Maybe a GCam Go port could give good results, it would be interesting to see some tests on that on this device.
I'll see which ROMs I end up trying, IF I gather the courage to try custom roms jaja.
Thank you very very much for all your help!

https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/changelog1447/
Neat. This version seems to work on my G5. Night mode too in the settings.

Zojak said:
https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/f/changelog1447/
Neat. This version seems to work on my G5. Night mode too in the settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will definitely keep that one in mind. Thank you!

Related

OP2 kernel problems, considering H2OS?

Hi all, I am new here. I was referred by a friend who knows more about this than I do. I think I understand how to get fastboot and TWRP, so that is taken care of already. Now the problem with my OP2 running OxygenOS latest version, everything stock, is that it freezes up after unlocking, and the whole phone is just terribly throttled at this slow speed for a long time. All inputs are extremely delayed, and touchscreen is nearly unusable after the lag begins. There are so far two temporary fixes I found: 1) reboot phone 2)wait it out/keep unlocking until it doesn't lag. I also have been unable to make a copy of my internal storage via USB, as it gives unspecified error during copying. And lastly, the screen dims on its own sometimes at random while anything related to auto-brightness should be off. Fortunately, I was able to make a hard copy of my internal storage thru some wifi file manager apps. Now my friend pointed out that my phone's issues could be related to a bad kernel. To remedy this, he told me it would be good to flash a new kernel onto my phone. I considered changing roms to CM, but apparently a lot of functionality is lost when doing this. He told me that I could retain Oxygen OS while flashing a new kernel, but I am not sure how to do this. I came across a post in the android dev section regarding hydrogen os, and I read that it performs better than Oxygen OS, but has minor issues of its own. I am interested in flashing this rom/kernel (I am not sure which is which). Here is the link in that section of the forum I found http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-2/development/rom-h2os-hydrogen-os-ota-clean-stable-t3195636. I see it says that it is working on Indian OP2, and running stock rom and stock kernel. Does this mean that my north american OP2 won't be able to get this rom? Also if it is the stock kernel, does that mean it is the same kernel as the one currently installed on my phone? Anyways, if anyone knows about my phone's problems, or has a way to fix it let me hear it please. Thank you!
Tzheng456 said:
Hi all, I am new here. I was referred by a friend who knows more about this than I do. I think I understand how to get fastboot and TWRP, so that is taken care of already. Now the problem with my OP2 running OxygenOS latest version, everything stock, is that it freezes up after unlocking, and the whole phone is just terribly throttled at this slow speed for a long time. All inputs are extremely delayed, and touchscreen is nearly unusable after the lag begins. There are so far two temporary fixes I found: 1) reboot phone 2)wait it out/keep unlocking until it doesn't lag. I also have been unable to make a copy of my internal storage via USB, as it gives unspecified error during copying. And lastly, the screen dims on its own sometimes at random while anything related to auto-brightness should be off. Fortunately, I was able to make a hard copy of my internal storage thru some wifi file manager apps. Now my friend pointed out that my phone's issues could be related to a bad kernel. To remedy this, he told me it would be good to flash a new kernel onto my phone. I considered changing roms to CM, but apparently a lot of functionality is lost when doing this. He told me that I could retain Oxygen OS while flashing a new kernel, but I am not sure how to do this. I came across a post in the android dev section regarding hydrogen os, and I read that it performs better than Oxygen OS, but has minor issues of its own. I am interested in flashing this rom/kernel (I am not sure which is which). Here is the link in that section of the forum I found http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-2/development/rom-h2os-hydrogen-os-ota-clean-stable-t3195636. I see it says that it is working on Indian OP2, and running stock rom and stock kernel. Does this mean that my north american OP2 won't be able to get this rom? Also if it is the stock kernel, does that mean it is the same kernel as the one currently installed on my phone? Anyways, if anyone knows about my phone's problems, or has a way to fix it let me hear it please. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue with O2. I changed kernels and the problems persisted. A also word the device and started from scratch through fastboot and the issues persisted. I ended up on hydrogen and I've never looked back. There is a flashable zip in that thread for the newest full version .11. Follow the steps wipe everything besides internal storage, flash the full v11 zip and boot the phone. After this reboot to recovery (power and volume down). Flash the gapps and super su zip if you want root. After this you should be able to add your Google account and be good to go. One thing I did was remove all Chinese apps and the stock launcher. I use trebuchet launcher from cm 12.1. Phone runs incredibly smooth now. I recently started running AK kernel as well. The oxygen version works with hydrogen. I have been averaging between 5 and 7 hours of SOT for battery with up to 8 if I'm just watching videos. Hope this helps. The ROM is a little simpler and the notifications settings are different. But you can set apps to have priority notifications and they function similar to oxygens notifications at that point. Everything is in the thread if you have any questions I'll try to help you.

Workaround for stock ROM

I've been using Stock ROM since now and it lags way too much for me, my friends on Stock facing same issues, idk which custom ROM to go to as there's just so many ROMs with different bugs in them. Athene is my daily driver i don't wanna lose it by installing a crappy ROM. Please help.
P.S. I'm just a noob in flashing. Please someone send a link for first time installing of custom ROM. Thanks.
mayank.bhola1 said:
I've been using Stock ROM since now and it lags way too much for me, my friends on Stock facing same issues, idk which custom ROM to go to as there's just so many ROMs with different bugs in them. Athene is my daily driver i don't wanna lose it by installing a crappy ROM. Please help.
P.S. I'm just a noob in flashing. Please someone send a link for first time installing of custom ROM. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LineageOS is a very stable and well-supported ROM with OTA updates as well.
As for installing a custom ROM maybe try reading the forum.
Try lineage or resurrection remix. They are the most stable. Till early this month I was using rr now shifted to lineage os
mayank.bhola1 said:
I've been using Stock ROM since now and it lags way too much for me, my friends on Stock facing same issues, idk which custom ROM to go to as there's just so many ROMs with different bugs in them. Athene is my daily driver i don't wanna lose it by installing a crappy ROM. Please help.
P.S. I'm just a noob in flashing. Please someone send a link for first time installing of custom ROM. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before flashing anything, have you tried the usual troubleshooting steps of wipe your cache and Dalvik in your recovery? Or if that didn't work, a factory reset (which may wipe your apps and app data)? You could also look into reflashing the stock ROM (e.g https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4-plus/how-to/moto-g4-plus-xt1640-43-athene-npj25-93-t3549369) but before trying any of this, make sure your data is backed up.
I'm using InvictaOS (unofficial lineage based ROM) https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4-plus/development/xt16xx-cyanogenmod-14-1-alpha-t3492274 as my daily driver and it's been very stable, of course my usage will be different to yours, so your experience may vary. However, I get good battery life, watch YouTube at 1080p, calls are of good quality and the patched Moto camera works, as well as the system being smooth and responsive.
As with flashing any custom ROM, be aware that you'll have to unlock your bootloader from Motorola, which will void your warranty and also erase your data. Relocking your bootloader will not restore your warranty if you need to visit a service centre. Also, switching to a custom ROM will also result in device wipes so ensure you have a good backup before starting.
echo92 said:
Before flashing anything, have you tried the usual troubleshooting steps of wipe your cache and Dalvik in your recovery? Or if that didn't work, a factory reset (which may wipe your apps and app data)? You could also look into reflashing the stock ROM (e.g https://forum.xda-developers.com/mo...o-g4-plus-xt1640-43-athene-npj25-93-t3549369) but before trying any of this, make sure your data is backed up.
I'm using InvictaOS (unofficial lineage based ROM) https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4-plus/development/xt16xx-cyanogenmod-14-1-alpha-t3492274 as my daily driver and it's been very stable, of course my usage will be different to yours, so your experience may vary. However, I get good battery life, watch YouTube at 1080p, calls are of good quality and the patched Moto camera works, as well as the system being smooth and responsive.
As with flashing any custom ROM, be aware that you'll have to unlock your bootloader from Motorola, which will void your warranty and also erase your data. Relocking your bootloader will not restore your warranty if you need to visit a service centre. Also, switching to a custom ROM will also result in device wipes so ensure you have a good backup before starting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes i wipe cache like once a week and have tried factory reset, but no luck . Stock Nougat still lags, my usage is mostly same as yours, calls and YouTube and texting. The only thing that bothers me is warranty. Thanks for replying.
mayank.bhola1 said:
Yes i wipe cache like once a week and have tried factory reset, but no luck . Stock Nougat still lags, my usage is mostly same as yours, calls and YouTube and texting. The only thing that bothers me is warranty. Thanks for replying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's fair enough, losing warranty is definitely a consideration. Re flashing the stock ROM as mentioned above shouldn't affect your warranty and may resolve issues with your system (which is possible if your problems are persisting after a factory wipe). What build of nougat are you on (under settings>about phone)?
Invicta os
mayank.bhola1 said:
I've been using Stock ROM since now and it lags way too much for me, my friends on Stock facing same issues, idk which custom ROM to go to as there's just so many ROMs with different bugs in them. Athene is my daily driver i don't wanna lose it by installing a crappy ROM. Please help.
P.S. I'm just a noob in flashing. Please someone send a link for first time installing of custom ROM. Thanks.
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If you are searching for best custom rom try invictaos rom.
I am using invictaos from past 3 months and only one word I can say for this rom, it is just awesome rom,everything working superb in this rom,better battery 5 hours SOT,very smooth and finally no bug so go and try it.
echo92 said:
That's fair enough, losing warranty is definitely a consideration. Re flashing the stock ROM as mentioned above shouldn't affect your warranty and may resolve issues with your system (which is possible if your problems are persisting after a factory wipe). What build of nougat are you on (under settings>about phone)?
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It's NPJ25.93-14, I'm waiting for the March Security Patch update, as other people are claiming better battery backup and to see if lag problem sorts out, if it won't hit my phone in 1 week or so then I'll move to one of your mentioned ROMs
I tried Unlocking Bootloader, entered the hex code in Motorola's website and it says my Bootloader can't be unlocked. I bought it from Amazon India (Retail package, no contract of any kind). Help me please.
mayank.bhola1 said:
I tried Unlocking Bootloader, entered the hex code in Motorola's website and it says my Bootloader can't be unlocked. I bought it from Amazon India (Retail package, no contract of any kind). Help me please.
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Well, maybe that is for the best of your luck! I advise you to go to a service center and complain to them. Why? Because Motorola is BI*** and you are better off keeping your warranty stuck up their faces before trying anything else.
One more thing: when you are a noob, flashing a stock rom is not as safe as it sounds, you might end up without a sim slot or lose some other functionality.
Stick to your warranty and fight back the tedious way.
MK+2017 said:
Well, maybe that is for the best of your luck! I advise you to go to a service center and complain to them. Why? Because Motorola is BI*** and you are better off keeping your warranty stuck up their faces before trying anything else.
One more thing: when you are a noob, flashing a stock rom is not as safe as it sounds, you might end up without a sim slot or lose some other functionality.
Stick to your warranty and fight back the tedious way.
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Ok I found that the hex code i was writing on, I cut off a string (low key my mistake) i unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP and now on lineage OS 14.1. It's working great, just a little worried for battery life but it's smooth af.
mayank.bhola1 said:
Ok I found that the hex code i was writing on, I cut off a string (low key my mistake) i unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP and now on lineage OS 14.1. It's working great, just a little worried for battery life but it's smooth af.
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Great, I'm on Lineage OS, too
A generic battery saver: disable adaptive brightness and lower brightness only to the level you need. A full charge that way - with me using both WiFi and LTE - lasts a little more than 48 hours.
One last thing: please do a full backup from TWRP. Select all partitions you see available. Copy the resulting backup folder from SDCard to PC in a safe location. Do not modify further unless you really really can't breathe without it.
echo92 said:
Before flashing anything, have you tried the usual troubleshooting steps of wipe your cache and Dalvik in your recovery? Or if that didn't work, a factory reset (which may wipe your apps and app data)? You could also look into reflashing the stock ROM (e.g https://forum.xda-developers.com/mo...o-g4-plus-xt1640-43-athene-npj25-93-t3549369) but before trying any of this, make sure your data is backed up.
I'm using InvictaOS (unofficial lineage based ROM) https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g4-plus/development/xt16xx-cyanogenmod-14-1-alpha-t3492274 as my daily driver and it's been very stable, of course my usage will be different to yours, so your experience may vary. However, I get good battery life, watch YouTube at 1080p, calls are of good quality and the patched Moto camera works, as well as the system being smooth and responsive.
As with flashing any custom ROM, be aware that you'll have to unlock your bootloader from Motorola, which will void your warranty and also erase your data. Relocking your bootloader will not restore your warranty if you need to visit a service centre. Also, switching to a custom ROM will also result in device wipes so ensure you have a good backup before starting.
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How much screen on time you get?? I am using Resurrection Remix. It gives me about 3-3.5 hours of sreen on time.
sanjaybaidya said:
How much screen on time you get?? I am using Resurrection Remix. It gives me about 3-3.5 hours of sreen on time.
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With my usage pattern, I get typically 4-4.5 hours.
This includes:
Calls, texts, and brief Whatsapp usage
Browsing XDA, reddit, instagram
Youtube over 4G/LTE at 1080p (with a slightly weak mobile signal), which is my main usage.
This is with ambient display set to 100 ms wakeup, and 2 sec on time. General brightness at about 25 %. EX Kernel manager used to set maximum number of big cores to 2, I/O manager set to zen with 256 kB readahead buffer.
Of course, your experience may vary, though I've always had good battery life with Invicta.
echo92 said:
With my usage pattern, I get typically 4-4.5 hours.
This includes:
Calls, texts, and brief Whatsapp usage
Browsing XDA, reddit, instagram
Youtube over 4G/LTE at 1080p (with a slightly weak mobile signal), which is my main usage.
This is with ambient display set to 100 ms wakeup, and 2 sec on time. General brightness at about 25 %. EX Kernel manager used to set maximum number of big cores to 2, I/O manager set to zen with 256 kB readahead buffer.
Of course, your experience may vary, though I've always had good battery life with Invicta.
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Did you underclock your processor??
sanjaybaidya said:
Did you underclock your processor??
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Nope, stock core speeds (think the big cores run up to 1651 Mhz, little cores at 1200 Mhz), just capped the maximum number of big cores to 2. Besides, the interactive governor will likely pick the speeds appropriate for the task, I imagine. In fact, I recall having good battery life even with the stock kernel settings and all cores available, just with these settings my device runs cooler in my experience. Again, the beauty of EX Kernel Manager and the Invicta kernel (alongside many other kernels and managers) is that you can try and tweak a lot of options, many of which will be subjective and vary depending on your usage
echo92 said:
With my usage pattern, I get typically 4-4.5 hours.
This includes:
Calls, texts, and brief Whatsapp usage
Browsing XDA, reddit, instagram
Youtube over 4G/LTE at 1080p (with a slightly weak mobile signal), which is my main usage.
This is with ambient display set to 100 ms wakeup, and 2 sec on time. General brightness at about 25 %. EX Kernel manager used to set maximum number of big cores to 2, I/O manager set to zen with 256 kB readahead buffer.
Of course, your experience may vary, though I've always had good battery life with Invicta.
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Click to collapse
Wow... my usage is nearly the same and on nearly every ROM I get about 5.5-6.5 hours of SoT. Whether it be LOS, Invicta, GZR Tipsy (slim based), AOSP-CAF, or even MM ROMs (which are even friendlier on battery).
I disable any memory killers, location, bluetooth, set zen/512kb, disable all big cores, default adaptive brightness, and my usage is reddit/Instagram/Chrome/Telegram. This is over a 2 day period too.

Moto G5 Plus Camera "Busy" After Unlocking Bootloader

Recently, I purchased this phone & like all previous Android devices, I usually look to root them for more control & better performance.
The program I used: Moto G5+ Toolkit (TWRP & root). Phone is running Android version 7.0 Baseband version: M8953_13.20.07.21R POTTER_NA_CUST Kernel version: 3.18.31-perf-gb921c2f-dirty [email protected] #1
After the phone flashed, everything was working except the camera & the flashlight.
I've tried everything I know from clearing the caches to uninstalling the camera, reinstalling, updating, different camera apps & safe mode to no avail. The camera worked great prior to unlocking the bootloader/root.
Some further research from around the web shows this has been a major issue yet there appears to be no solutions (possibly reflashing a different OS).
I've backed up the original phone files but I'm not able to reflash it as when I reconnect the Moto G5+ toolkit, I'm given the message "ADB Unauthorized."
Anyone know if there are any solutions/possible patches?
Thank you.
I have the same issue. I'm going to flash the stock rom again and be unrooted for the present, just clean install, with unlocked bootloader. I don't want to risk bricking my device!
OK redid everything, rooted, followed all steps, I"M ROOTED but camera still doesn't work, closes everytime I try to open it, I tried wiping cache thru TWRP recovery but that did nothing.
Same here
With the time I'm spending on this, I am thinking about shooting this phone, literally, and just getting something else. I thought it was just me that can't figure it out as a novice, but it's even looking like the super smart tech people can't figure this one out either. I think I'm going to try one of these custom roms and pray....If you hear a loud shot, it's just me killin my g5.
Greeneyedblackpanther said:
I think I'm going to try one of these custom roms and pray
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Did it work after installing any custom ROM? I am facing the same issue here.
Greeneyedblackpanther said:
With the time I'm spending on this, I am thinking about shooting this phone, literally, and just getting something else. I thought it was just me that can't figure it out as a novice, but it's even looking like the super smart tech people can't figure this one out either. I think I'm going to try one of these custom roms and pray....If you hear a loud shot, it's just me killin my g5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fixed this problem for my Moto G5 Plus. If your device is indian version (XT1686), install stock ROM. I was facing same issue. Installed below stock rom.
https://firmware.center/firmware/Motorola/Moto G5 Plus/Stock/
File Name - POTTER_NPN25.137-92_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
Folllow steps given in this video -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FszZOx2pWU

Advice on TW, TW Roms, Preferred Setups, and so on.

I'm an AOSPLOS Junkie who runs Resurrection Remix most of the time and CrDroidures the rest. I enjoy the speed, features more, tweaks most, and the fact that I can easilly run MicroG instead of google play services and other google crap if I choose not to easily.
I have never ran TW more than 3-5 hours when I bought the phone before I spent a night installing a custom AOSP/LOS based rom.
I did use The Phoenix 15.0 build for a couple weeks, and liked it, but it had too many features that I simply didn't have a need for. That still ran in the BG even though I didn't use them. There are also many features I don't use in my preferred roms but even though I don't enable most they don't run in the background. I still loved the rom and used TIBU to disable a lot of crap I didn't use.
I've seen a bunch of stock updated roms for my unlocked bootloaderd phone, but those would require tweaking, and with xposed available it wouln't be hard to lock it down. Can I use the theme store with MM stock roms, Samsung theme store that is, or even substratum?
So what do you guys and gals suggest I do.. I'm wanted to try TW again, because of the better camera, and a few other things, and to see how long I can make my aging battery last , I'm ordering a new one soon but haven't decided on original sized sammy brand name stock battery, or one of the extendeds that I've read about, the better ones being around 30 plus dollars.
One more question, My entire device is encrypted, with encrypt to boot setup, to install Phoenix for example, I'd have to go back to 3.0.0.0 or so TWRP to use the aroma installer, and I don't know how all this would affect encryption, I don't want to reformat anything. I guess that's why nandroids and so on are a good idea but I don't feel like backing up my 64GB SD card again, I just did that before encrypting.
I can disable the Pin to boot andn keep the lockscreen pin, and probably have no issue downgrading TWRP but I hope I don't have to reformat internal and external encrypted SD's to go back to TW.
Thanks a bunch about any and all recommendations.. THANKS
Griz
Still at the top and no replies.. Maybe I should post in the general android section since it mostly pertains to encryption.

Rooting Galaxy S7 SM-G930T Oreo Help

I'm having trouble finding a root that works, unless I'm just doing something wrong. I have dev mode enabled with OEM unlocked and USB Debugging but it just keeps failing. I don't really want any custom features or roms at the moment, I'm fine with stock oreo. I just want to be able to move my apps onto the SD card and to use titanium backup to be able to properly back everything up. Though, I wouldn't be opposed to a custom rom as long as there's no major features that are missing like wifi calling n' such. I mainly want the phone to run smoother until I can replace it and using stock oreo feels pretty sluggish at times for no real reason and battery life sucks pretty bad, though that could just be a problem with the battery.
Baseband Version: G930TUVSBCTA2
Android Security Patch: December 1, 2019
Carrier: T-Mobile
Troika_Tigsky said:
I'm having trouble finding a root that works, unless I'm just doing something wrong. I have dev mode enabled with OEM unlocked and USB Debugging but it just keeps failing. I don't really want any custom features or roms at the moment, I'm fine with stock oreo. I just want to be able to move my apps onto the SD card and to use titanium backup to be able to properly back everything up. Though, I wouldn't be opposed to a custom rom as long as there's no major features that are missing like wifi calling n' such. I mainly want the phone to run smoother until I can replace it and using stock oreo feels pretty sluggish at times for no real reason and battery life sucks pretty bad, though that could just be a problem with the battery.
Baseband Version: G930TUVSBCTA2
Android Security Patch: December 1, 2019
Carrier: T-Mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same, I got this crappy update.
This might not be much help If you already known about this option since I'm in the same boat searching for the root solution on my device, but you could use Samsung's Smart Switch app to do the job somewhat.
Basically creates a manual backup on your phone to restore whatever you need it from it. Then you can just move to a newer phone & keep what was saved.
I'm unsure about deep drive of files being saved since I'm trying to do a recovery on my own.
As for the SD card you should be able to put them on It; if you selected the merge with internal memory card, but you have to keep the SD in for It to function right.
As for the battery & sluggish you could have less apps opened up, reduce screen brightness & reducing live notifications etc.
Replacing the battery will remove NFC function as well because it's attached to It.
Best of luck working with what is available.
Hey
You got a B Rev firmware, I think it's not possible to root from what I've read on other threads...
Did you manage to root it?? If so I'm interested in how

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