yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
I won't say it takes time to learn how to use a toolkit. Most of them are designed with an easy-to-use GUI. And that is the basic problem...

I really don't understand what the problem is in using fastboot to flash system stuff or adb to flash apps and grab things from the device.

Maybe it has something to do with this black-grayish console window where people have to actually type what they want and think a bit about what they want to do.

In a toolkit you could easily missclick a function and do something completely different as intended. Additionally to that: Who guarantees me that the developer did no mistake in implementing the functions?

Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that toolkits destroy phones (a statistic would not help because of reasons mentioned earlier...). I say that unexperienced people who are using a toolkit do not know what is actually going on. If something goes wrong (maybe because a function is implemented the wrong way or some checks are not correct) then those people are screwed. They won't have much idea about what happened and why their phone won't start.

If I use fastboot to flash certain parts of the system, I need to make sure that I type the correct command + type the correct file. I will always know what I did (wrong) and can do things to revert it.

Toolkits might be useful for certain people but they are the complete opposite of that for newbies.

My opinion:

If someone wants to achieve root or some modifications without wanting to use console applications like fastboot or adb they should get their hands of this stuff.

(Attention! Car analogy!)

Nobody is allowed to drive without a licence. They maybe can drive but if things go wrong, they are screwed.

Ok... that's a harsh analogy but it is just to prove a point. Most people posting here "toolkits are great" have experience in flashing stuff the manual way. That is totally fine with me. But these people should also suggest to use the manual way first before using toolkits. But that's just my personal opinion.

I, for myself, really like to flash things with fastboot. It makes me feel kinda "special"... Like a hacker if you want to say. ;)

I can't wait for another OTA to go ahead and flash that with fastboot. And I just learned using fastboot since the last OTA and the problem I had because of SuperSU... At first I thought it is kinda complicated but it turned out that it couldn't be easier. Other people just need to understand that and try it out.

Disclaimer:

If I repeated a couple of things, I am sorry. I got interrupted a couple of times while typing.
[Nexus 4 General] DecypherT:
Just want to say a small thing about toolkits.

I'm a root noob and the N4 is the first phone I rooted.

I looked into rooting and understand what it does and what the "dangers" are.

For me it was actually manual rooting (OEM unlock) that caused a bootloop.

I know i forgot something in the process, but still.

The moral of my story. If you are new to rooting, manually rooting can give you more problems then a Toolkit.

For me the wugfresh Toolkit fixed my bootloop. Because of my noobness I wasn't able to fix a bootloop manually.

I know I should have looked more into manually rooting, but if you have one phone you want it to go right.

I'm not agreeing on the statement that root noobs shouldn't root. I want to enjoy root on my phone because I want my Android in a specific way and want to disable certain apps. I just want to be secure that root completes without me screwing up in the process. Because of that I use the "save" way of using a Toolkit. Causing a bootloop on your only phone is very annoying.

It's like saying, you shouldn't buy a car if you have to take it to a garage for maintenance. Just because you don't know how to do it yourself.

I'm planning on buying a second N4 or simular android phone to experiment with rooting. Just so I won't lose data or cause bootloop on my only phone.

Send from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] spicediablo:
If you can root manually, it is best as you can use almost similar method on all android phones. If you follow efrant instructions, chances are, you will succeed. :)

Sent from Mako⁴
[Nexus 4 General] efrant:
A few questions to ask:

1) When you buy a new item (stereo, car, appliance, whatever), do you (a) set it up right away, or do you (b) first pull out the instructions and read them thoroughly before setting it up?

2) When you take your car to the mechanic when something is wrong, and the mechanic tells you what needs to be done, do you (a) just tell the mechanic to fix it, or do you (b) ask the mechanic to describe why the problem came about, and what he is actually going to do to repair it?

3) When you first started learning how to drive a manual transmission car, did you (a) jump right into the driver's seat and have a go, or did you (b) read up on what the differences are between a manual transmission and what the clutch pedal does to the clutch plates and what the friction point is and what gear ratios mean, all before attempting to drive it for the first time?

There a two types of people: those who want to know how and why things work (people who answered "b" in the questions above), and those who don't care and just want things to work (those who answered "a"). Given that this forum is geared towards developers (and not end-users), if you are here, you should be either a developer, or be a person who cares about learning the how and the why.

In your post above, you say that "manual rooting" caused a bootloop. Then you go on to say: "I know i forgot something in the process, but still." Seriously? You messed up, and you are blaming the process? And you are making it sound like getting root is an arduous process -- when it is actually trivial on a Nexus device. It's not like you are writing code for the su binary or anything like that. You are just using basic tools (like a screwdriver or a wrench, not some MIG welding equipment). Is it just because you have to type things into a command prompt that it becomes daunting? In Windows, to launch a program, you double-click on it. But you can also run it from the command prompt. Does that make it more complicated just because you had to type it in instead of clicking?

To address your point about equating it to "you shouldn't buy a car if you have to take it to a garage for maintenance. Just because you don't know how to do it yourself.", I would say it's more like: you shouldn't buy a car with a manual transmission if you don't already know how a manual transmission works and are able to drive it." If you don't know how to drive it, you cannot expect to enjoy the benefits of having a manual transmission until you do.

There's a reason why there is the big disclaimer that your warranty will be void, etc. if you unlock your bootloader. It's to prevent those who don't know what they are doing from messing around with their device until they know what they are doing and are ready. Toolkits eliminate the requirement to be ready, and hence the reason there are so many "PULEASE HALP, I bricked my fone!" threads.
[Nexus 4 General] DecypherT:
1. sometimes but not always. Depends on the product.

2. a. I bring it to a mechanic because I don't know whats wrong.

b. I ask what he did when it's fixed.

3. a. yes

b. no

I never blamed the process. As said I blame myself and my noobness.

As you see I'm in the middle and I'm willing to learn.

Just not with my only phone. A whole explanation was not needed for that.

I'm not a developer and on XDA. This to learn and figure out my own and others their mistakes.

Don't forget that this is easy for you guys, but not for people who are just starting.

It isn't rocket science, but still people have to get used to it.

Send from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] sordna:
what apps aren't you able to disable without root? AFAIK as of android 4.0 you can disable any system app you want from the preferences.
[Nexus 4 General] DecypherT:
There are more reasons to want and have root. I just gave a brief example.

Send from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
cannot install JWR66Y update

Hi, when I try to install this update I always get the same error message:

warning no file contexts

warning: no file_contextsverifying current system...

assert failed

e: error in /temp/update.zip

(status 7)

installation aborted

I have tried side loading with adb, installing from zip in recovery and the normal ota update from google and i have tried these both before and after unrooting with superSU yet I always get the same error.

I have a rooted stock rom with clockworkmod recovery.

Thanks for any help you can give me!
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
Normally CWM gives a more accurate error message. Did you miss something after "assert failed"?

Looks like some stock app is modified/not there or a permission issue.

If you are already on 4.3 you can go ahead and flash the system.img from the factory image via fastboot.

If you come from 4.2.2 you need to flash boot.img and radio.img from factory image, too.
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
crap

Hi yeah there was some very long string of seemingly meaningless characters I did not note down.

So I need to flash the system.image again from the stock 4.3 downloaded from Google. This is strange as I had to do this to upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3 a few months ago and now I have the same problem again!

I don't want to loose all my apps again and have to set everything up so I'll prob not bother for such a small update.

I do wonder what's up with my phone that I can't install updates and have to flash a new system.image

Maybe its cwmod messing things up?

Next time I reflash I'll try and get rid of it if I can work out how.
[Nexus 4 General] efrant:
1) The string of characters is not meaningless -- they will tell us what you modified in your system, which is preventing the update from installing.

2) It likely happened this time, like it happened last time, because you (or one of your root apps) modified system files. You cannot have modified system files and expect an OTA update to work.

3) You will not lose your settings or apps if you flash only the system and boot images.
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
Unfortunately I need the beginning of the very long string.

The factory image on the Google website is based on JWR66Y so by flashing system.img from that image you will install the latest system on your device based on JWR66Y.

Note: By just extracting system.img from the factory image and flashing it via fastboot you should keep all your settings and data. It is not required to flash the whole factory image (in your case!).

Your apps and settings are stored in the userdata partition. This partition is purged by flashing the complete(!) factory image. If you only flash system.img it should be fine.

Note 2: This is all based on the assumption that you are really running stock 4.3 only. If you do, just go ahead. That should be fine. :)

Edit:

Thanks [MENTION=1566190]efrant[/MENTION]. Was a few seconds too slow. ;)
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
thanks

Really? You can prob tell my android understanding is not so great - I thought the system.IMG was the main one that wiped everything.

I'll post the error code later when I try it again but the only non standard thing I have running is the full screen toggle.apk which permanently removes the soft buttons / nav bar though I never thought this could create the error message I get.

Thanks a lot for your help I'll post the code in an hour or two and maybe you will know what it means!
[Nexus 4 General] efrant:
If you have installed something that removes your soft buttons, then OTA updates will not install.

Best way, as was mentioned, to get the latest version is just flash the JWR66Y system image using fastboot. You won't lose anything (assuming your bootloader is already unlocked of course).
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
thanks, i've flashed the system.img from 4.3 and then the update installed fine.

i thought the fullscreentoggle app was pretty superficial and would not interfere with anything - clearly not.

my only problem now is that I can't get fullscreen toggle to work anymore so back to large soft keys stealing my screenspace!

your help is much appreciated

EDIT

actually fullscreen toggle never worked before i now remember i added "qemu.hw.mainkeys=1" at the end of /system/build prop file to get my fullscreen which does still work. And i imagine that if i need updates in future i just delete that off the file again
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
I dont know about that app but i would be suprised if it wont work on jwr66y if it used to work on jwr66v. There must be more on it.

Just on a sidenode: downloading the latest factory image from google website and flashing the system.img from that would worked, too. The factory images are updated every time there is a new official build, too. So no need to flash the ota after system.img flash. :)
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
your right fullscreen toggle has not worked for a while i had done this but totally forgotten!

Originally Posted by Natakranta View Post

Try the trick with adding "qemu.hw.mainkeys=1" at the end of /system/build prop file.

who knows how long (if ever) it would have taken me to work this out- your help is much appreciated
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
And cwm pretty sure mentioned the build.prop because it was changed and the checksum failed.

Basically the app did nothing to break ota but you did. ;)

So we solved the whole thing from the start.

You are welcome.

Reg the edit of an earlier post of you:

Deleting the line from build.prop would not work. Checksum will be wrong. You better take a backup first.
[Nexus 4 General] stevelav:
- too late for that, but now i can see installing the system.img file is quick and painless ill do that in future.

Amazing really i add one line to a file and the installer can immediately tell somethings changed and permanently refuse updates.

Its easy to mess with things on android without knowing the seemingly unconnected consequences. Guess its good to always have backups and stock images on hand.
[Nexus 4 General] efrant:
FTFY! ;)
[Nexus 4 General] Blockberd:
But you see... at least someone else has the same opinion about (manually) flashing something is a very easy task. :D

But i think it will be easy to mess things up with android even without root. ;)
[Nexus 4 General] wideasleep1:
Market has an app called...wait for it....fullscreen, which works fine after a bit of configuration. I ended up using PIE Control app (also in Market) to get the home/back/list buttons back on a quick side touch. I feel like I already have a N5 with a 5 inch screen. :P
[Nexus 4 General] magnifisa:
You're doing it perfect! Thanks!
[Nexus 4 General] n2d551:
This is probably a carrier update in response to the black hat security conference to prevent malware from turning your phone into a spy phone
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
Another guess with no proof? This update is going out to Galaxy Nexus users which never were sold on T-Mobile. And it appears to be going out to the Nexus 10 as well. Plus, the Nexus 4 doesn't do carrier updates. How about we hold off on wild guesses and just wait until we hear from Google?
[Nexus 4 General] kenshinta:
You're no fun.

Let the kids play!

Freedom!
[Nexus 4 General] segv11:
Or wait until someone who gets it opens the update.zip, figures out what parts of the system were patched, and decompiles the relevant bits to see the changes...

Sent from my stock 4.3 manta.
[Nexus 4 General] tma24:
Interesting.

https://android.googlesource.com/pl...gs/+/ca1b7458244191214172009d21eae2d04b6992f9
[Nexus 4 General] skyline159:
It's rare for google to release an update that's not bumping the android version on the nexus devices
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
They've done it many times before and even this year. There have been devices shipped with newer builds than were available with no OTA update to that version.
[Nexus 4 General] jcgtreize:
I received this update this morning at around 6AM, France time. It is very small (1.8MB). The version now reads JWR66Y. It is Android 4.3 . No other noticeable changes.

Nexus 4 - 16GB Black, Stock 4.3, from Google Play
[Nexus 4 General] spaceman860:
Why you no get link :rolleyes: :thumbdown: LOL

BLACKED OUT LTE N4
[Nexus 4 General] VivaErBetis:
Do not despair, not all people here have the knowledge or time to look for the link.

It's just a matter of waiting ;)
[Nexus 4 General] p.pavljasevic:
Can someone who received the update download a permission manager from the play store and see if it still works. Hippie they didn't kill that feature.

Thanks
[Nexus 4 General] meangreenie:
Been checking for this in settings/about-phone/updates.

But there is never any need to press the check-for-updates button because I find a check was already made only a few minutes prior..... Auto update check sure checks often; it's a compete waste of battery, the clowns at Google never cease to amaze me.
[Nexus 4 General] Ace42:
That sounds pretty cool, I wouldn't mind being a black hat agent with a tactical nexus.
[Nexus 4 General] singlebyte:
Most likely a patch for this issue. (Random number flaw)
[Nexus 4 General] DirgeExtinction:
And yet your battery life most likely hasn't been affected.
[Nexus 4 General] aleks_:
I'm still waiting for the OTA update. I wonder if this fixes the security flaw with the keys. There was an article about hackers being able to control devices without them knowing it on 4.3. Perhaps this fixes that security issue. I'm hoping somebody will post an IMG zip in the development forums soon so I can update manually as I'm rooted.
[Nexus 4 General] alexp999:
The phone is almost constantly checking back to Google's servers just to keep your account synced, emails, contacts, etc.

It's not impossible to expect that being a Nexus phone, the response the Google server is sending back includes the latest build available.
[Nexus 4 General] tailsthecat3:
Mmhmm. That would be nice.
[Nexus 4 General] fredmanwalking:
I had the prompt for the 4.3 update, but I've been hanging on 4.2.2 due to issues that I heard with apps and 4.3 It sounds like a lot of that has been resolved recently from what I read about many apps. I don't know specifically when it disappeared, but I no longer have the update prompt on my device. When it reappears, I'll capture the URL.
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
That OTA may not be posted for a while for the path you are on. Since most people are on 4.3 already, the OTA most people are looking for are for the current 4.3 build to the new one.
[Nexus 4 General] fredmanwalking:
Sheesh, hopefully I won't have to wait too long. I've had my Nexus 4 for about a month and it shipped with 4.2.2. It offered the 4.3 update right away, but I was hesitant since it was a brand new release at that time.
[Nexus 4 General] VanquishUK:
Im hoping that this update fixes all the stupid problems that 4.3 brought with it.

For example the constant restarts you get with skype and how the battery drains like crazy.
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
I doubt you are going to see too many issues fixed in a update less than 2MB.
[Nexus 4 General] VanquishUK:
Yeah i was thinking that but what else could the update be for ?

Guess will have to some testing once i have it.
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
So far it is just a security update. I wouldn't expect much more when it gets taken apart.
[Nexus 4 General] wind784:
Strangely when I try check for update in settings it is failing on both my n4 and n10, date of last check is Aug 21 on both devices. When I try and force it on my n4 using the phone dialer commands I get the "checkin failed" message.
[Nexus 4 General] SGS_elko:
Some guys got an OTA update to the Nexus 7 (2013) with the build number JSS15Q.

See here: http://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/mobile/W0Hfkq8hf-c[526-550-false]
[Nexus 4 General] Rod3:
That is because the Nexus 7 2013 was already on JSS15J and the update to JSS15Q was to help fix the multi-touch problems some people were having.
[Nexus 4 General] OneDream:
I got a message saying there was a System Update available. It kind of shocked me, cause I didn't think you could get OTA updates with a rooted phone.

I allowed it to download the file(s) and reboot into recovery. However, the installation apparently failed, so the update wasn't successful(I'm still on JWR66V). Now, when I manually try to check whether an update is available, I don't get anything.

Not sure what to do here. Any tips?

I'm running JWR66V by the way.
[Nexus 4 General] bozzykid:
Seriously? Why would you not use logcat and get the url? Then everyone including you could of manually applied the OTA.
[Nexus 4 General] SonicYan:
I've been having the same issues too after 4.3. I just got the notification for the newest OTA. I'll see how it turns out, although like what was mentioned, the size is too small for a noticeable update.
[Nexus 4 General] OneDream:
Maybe because I'm not familiar with logcat (and its purpose).
[Nexus 4 General] CrazyPeter:
Same here for the update failed on reboot.. Not offering it now..
[Nexus 4 General] ChrisHoppyBot:
Hey, I've judged received a small OTA update. I think the file size was only 1.8mb.

Any one know what this is for?
[Nexus 4 General] kingofcomedy:
How could I do this?
[Nexus 4 General] slajeune:
This is the url for the update that I just received:

http://android.clients.google.com/p....signed-occam-JWR66Y-from-JWR66V.6136cbe0.zip
[Nexus 4 General] danfalcas:
Great... Downloading right now. Hopefully I can update my JWR66V rooted and with CWM without any issues.
[Nexus 4 General] brilldoctor:
Got it now - UK, REV 11
[Nexus 4 General] randomchaos26:
I'll just leave this here...

Also, for people having problems flashing it: full unroot, then flash the zip, then re-root.
[Nexus 4 General] Paradoxx_:
Just received it aswell, from JWR66V to JWR66Y.
[Nexus 4 General] r1c:
Has someone a rooted update?
[Nexus 4 General] sderomedis:
Got it!
[Nexus 4 General] HigherSensation:
Like fredmanwalking I was on 4.2.2 and holding out on updating to 4.3 until today when i received the update prompt for 4.3. After installing i checked my version number and it revealed JWR66Y
[Nexus 4 General] failly:
Just recieved it!
[Nexus 4 General] danfalcas:
Thanks... On my way!
[Nexus 4 General] dsbrohan:
Just received my update as well a few minutes ago. Atlanta, GA.
[Nexus 4 General] VivaErBetis:
OTA installation failed in my rooted phone:

Symlinks and permissions...
set_perm: chown of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh to 0 0 failed: Operation not permitted
set_perm: chmod of /system/etc/install-recovery.sh to 544 failed: Operation not permitted
script aborted: set_perm: some changes failed
set_perm: some changes failed
E:Error executing updater binary in zip '/sdcard/Download/6136cbe0fb21994b8bd463d137ac75b953ba8e9b.signed-occam-JWR66Y-from-JWR66V.6136cbe0.zip'
Error flashing zip '/sdcard/Download/6136cbe0fb21994b8bd463d137ac75b953ba8e9b.signed-occam-JWR66Y-from-JWR66V.6136cbe0.zip'

It's because of SuperSU New way of launching daemon using a chattred "install-recovery.sh" to prevent its change.

If you get this error just un-chattr it (command chattr -i) before applying the OTA...
[Nexus 4 General] tiber:
How do we force it to reapply if the OTA failed? I tried to OTA my phone, it just switched itself off. I was lazy and left the boot loader unlocked after the 4.3 update and I suspect that was the issue. I relocked the boot loader and now have no OTA icon.
[Nexus 4 General] rasengan82:
No need to relock bootloader. Just sideload the ota zip with adb sideload <filename> under the stock recovery.
[Nexus 4 General] danfalcas:
Where should I run this command? In /system/bin/sh ?
[Nexus 4 General] tiber:
Maybe I missed it in the thread but is there a download link from google?
[Nexus 4 General] Rusty!:
Holy crap I actually got the update OTA.

I'm rooted (ClockworkMod Superuser) with CWM and it installed just fine (not that I expected it to fail, but it's worth mentioning as so many think that you can't do it). CWM then offered to re-root afterwards.

Edit: Although it failed to keep root and removed CWM. Still, not exactly a major thing.
[Nexus 4 General] rasengan82:
http://android.clients.google.com/p....signed-occam-JWR66Y-from-JWR66V.6136cbe0.zip
[Nexus 4 General] tiber:
Thanks!