yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 6  General] iboj007:
I wanted to go ahead and make an open thread for N6 AT&T folks so that we can talk about removing all AT&T customization from the phone. Here's what we know so far:

1. Phone is SIM locked to AT&T.

FIX: user [MENTION=2780256]jamezr[/MENTION] used http://www.cellunlocker.net/ for $25 and was able to obtain a working unlock code.

Also I requested an unlock code from http://www.swiftunlocks.com. They only charge $9.99. Code was delivered in 2 days (no weekends) and worked without issue.

2. Carrier branding on back of device-

FIX: from user [MENTION=6177814]Affliction716[/MENTION] "On another note the AT&T Deathstar on the back scrapes off without leaving a mark at all!!! Just take a knife or the edge of a credit card and lightly scrape over it. Disappears like it was never there"

3. Bloatware is installed when device is activated with AT&T sim. Can be easily removed.

FIX: Setup the phone without AT&T Sim and it will not show up.

4. On bootup there is an annoying AT&T splash screen. This cannot be removed by simply flashing the factory image.

FIX: From [MENTION=2594360]bodosom[/MENTION] Using your favorite File Manager with root permissions:

1: Open /oem/media

2: Mount r/w.

3: Remove or rename the file bootanimation.zip

4: Reboot

5. Annoying AT&T default ringtones by default

FIX: Courtesy of [MENTION=4493228]Plexicle[/MENTION] (takes care of boot splash as well)

Contents of OEM:

/oem/lost+found/

(empty)

/oem/media/

/oem/media/ringtones/

/oem/media/ringtones/ATT_Catch_Me.mp3

/oem/media/ringtones/ATT_Firefly.mp3

/oem/media/ringtones/ATT_Play_On.mp3

/oem/media/ringtones/ATT_Stargazer.mp3

/oem/media/bootanimation.zip

/oem/oem.prop

oem.prop contains one line:

"ro.config.ringtone=ATT_Firefly.mp3"

The entire oem partition looks completely useless and should be safe to nuke.

Edit:

I emptied the oem partition entirely. Going to do a quick round of testing and make sure nothing is messed up and report back.

Editx2: back!

Everything is working great. The only thing I noticed is that the call ringtone was initially set to "Unknown ringtone" after first boot. It was probably set by oem.prop and then couldn't find it after that. Just changed it to a different tone, works great.

From [MENTION=632910]DA6030[/MENTION]: So, it sounds like the single command "fastboot erase oem" should take care of most people, and can replace directions #4 and #5 in the OP. This avoids root or messing with ROMs, for the many users who don't need root, and preserves OTA compatibility from Google. One could even re-lock (fastboot oem lock) immediately afterwards, if one doesn't need the tethering fix.

6. Tethering is disabled unless you have a tethering plan.

FIX: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=56915621&postcount=48

Discuss!
[Nexus 6  General] ald9351:
I also would like to know how to change the boot animation. It's driving me crazy, both from a Nexus standpoint and just because it's loud as hell. The first strike against the N6 in general is the Motorola M on the back. I would have rather seen the Nexus X logo there.
[Nexus 6  General] jcarlm:
In my eyes, the ATT version is not a Nexus. Same thing happened with the Galaxy Nexus.
[Nexus 6  General] ald9351:
It has a couple neg points, but it is still a nexus. I would agree with you if it had a different build number and didn't receive the updates directly from Google. In all the ways that really matter it's a Nexus. Just pisses purists off, myself included.
[Nexus 6  General] Plexicle:
I would almost agree with you, but not quite.

Bootloader is still unlockable. Factory image still comes from Google. Carrier didn't touch the system partition. It's Nexus.

We can fix the animation issue.
[Nexus 6  General] mtucker:
Here is the complete link (possible fix for tethering). http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=56915621&postcount=48
[Nexus 6  General] SilkyJohnson:
Some guy in another thread here had success scraping off the AT&T logo with the edge of a credit card. Said it left no mark.

Don't blame me if you muck up your device. Lol.
[Nexus 6  General] sfidelisrp:
I just did it, but couldn't get it done with a credit card. Used a scissors and lightly took it off. There's still a very faint imprint of the logo, but you need to be in the right light. I'll upload pics in a bit.
[Nexus 6  General] jcarlm:
---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 PM ----------

T

So Google will update this phone with the AT&T boot up on it or will AT&T update the phone adding the AT&T boot

This is why I don't believe it is a true pure Nexus
[Nexus 6  General] ald9351:
Google still updates it. the AT&T boot animation is in a separate partition from the system.
[Nexus 6  General] bodosom:
Open /oem/media with your favorite tool.

Mount r/w.

Remove or rename the file bootanimation.zip and the directory ringtones.

Mount r/o or just reboot since you know you want to.
[Nexus 6  General] Claussm:
Holy nexus, that worked!! Now to scrape off that logo..
[Nexus 6  General] stevemw:
I read that the ATT boot animation was in a partition named logo. You should be able to clear it out.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...be-and-jingle-on-the-boot-screen-because-att/
[Nexus 6  General] iboj007:
This is awesome. I just updated the first post.

Anything else?
[Nexus 6  General] soulctcher:
Yeah,...go back and edit the tethering link...it's not correct.
[Nexus 6  General] iboj007:
Fixed and added the fact that it's SIM locked.
[Nexus 6  General] kashk5:
Thank you so much! I don't mind the AT&T logo on the back, but damn that boot animation was annoyingly loud! I just disabled it and I no longer dread restarting my phone for fear of destroying my ear drums.
[Nexus 6  General] PaisanNYC:
Wait, what?!? The AT&T-bought N6's are SIM-locked to AT&T only? Thank God for T-Mobile and keeping the Nexus devices pure!
[Nexus 6  General] mdandashly:
Question- will i have this issue if i purchased the phone from the GPS and then activate it with an att sim? Or is it only phones purchased from att?
[Nexus 6  General] Konikub:
I would love to see photos of what it looks like scraped off. I get mine Monday, and would be so happy if I could remove that logo on the back without scratching the heck out of it. I always knew the bootup could be removed or changed....I've been rooting and flashing for years now. So if you get a chance to upload some photos...or if anyone can, that would be greatly appreciated. :)
[Nexus 6  General] doitright:
That isn't carrier customization. That is telling you what mobile network you are currently connected to. If you are roaming, it will show a different network there, even with your att sim card in it.
[Nexus 6  General] hartv427:
Off the subject but might someone know the original permissions of the oem.prop?
[Nexus 6  General] atrix4nag:
I activated device without SIM card, still I have 3 ATT apps.
[Nexus 6  General] Sconathon:
You're using activating a Nexus 6, right? Pull out the SIM and reset to factory settings, and set up your phone completely. Don't stick the SIM in when it asks you to. Once your phone is finished setting throw the SIM in. If you're still getting the AT&T apps then your phone might have a voodoo curse.
[Nexus 6  General] atrix4nag:
I rooted my phone and installed custom ROM, so no more ATT stuff :)
[Nexus 6  General] ravage485:
Thanks so much for this, I really didn't want to root but I hate the deathstar boot animation!
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
Using Nexus Rootkit

I'm about to get my Nexus 6 from AT&T and looking to do the same. Did you basically just click on the buttons in the rootkit as

1. Unlock

2. Root - Did you install the custom recovery?

3. Setup the phone and download a root capable file explorer from google play and delete the OEM folder - or did you do this via TWRP?

4. Flash Stock + Unroot

5. OEM Lock

I'm trying to figure out all of the steps so that when I get it from AT&T I can do this before actually setting up the phone. I'm not necessarily looking to keep it rooted and want to keep OTA updates.

Would enabling tethering by modifying the build.prop break OTA updates as well?

Thanks!
[Nexus 6  General] ContinuousQ:
1&2 - On hers I had already unlocked the phone, but I did use the rootkit to root the device.

Custom recovery isn't necessary. I think I did make a TWRP recovery to have... But that's just for my use.

3 - I used a file explorer with SU and deleted the contents of the OEM folder.

Just be sure to back the contents up first in case you need to put the phone back to stock.

4&5 - flashed the stock nexus image and used the rootkit to unroot the device and lock it again.

You should note that once I did that, I had to actually do a factory reset on the device. For some reason it lost storage space. This got it back and doesn't rewrite the OEM folder. It will reinstall the AT&T apps, but you can just remove the Sim when doing the wipe or uninstall them. The Apps are nothing to complain about seeing as the device is still a proper nexus.

And fixing the the tethering issue won't (shouldn't) affect OTA updates. As long as the phone is locked OTA will work.

People keep saying you can delete the OEM folder contents via commands in fastboot. It would never work for me along with others on here.
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
Can you delete the OEM folder altogether or just delete everything in the folder?

Many thanks!
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
My Plan on DeCrapifying my AT&T Nexus 6

1. Remove SIM

2. Install Nexus Root Toolkit on Computer

* http://www.wugfresh.com/nrt/

* http://blog.laptopmag.com/root-nexus-6​

3. Boot Phone

4. Setup phone and get to home screen – Don’t worry about actual setup as you will be doing a factory restore at the end

5. Plug in Phone, Load adb drivers

* http://www.theandroidsoul.com/nexus-6-driver-adb-fastboot-mtp-windows-mac/

* http://developer.android.com/sdk/win-usb.html​

6. Enable Developer Options

* Check for USB Debugging

* Check for Enable OEM unlock

* http://www.droid-life.com/2014/11/21/how-to-unlock-the-nexus-6-bootloader/​

7. Nexus Root Toolkit – Backup

8. Nexus Root Toolkit – Unlock (bootloader)

9. Nexus Root Toolkit – Root

10. Download ES Explorer from Google play

11. Enable Root Settings in ES Explorer (Root Explorer, Mount File System)

12. Backup the OEM folder

13. Delete the contents of the OEM folder

14. Check if tethering is available in settings

* Add net.tethering.noprovisioning=true to build.prop to enable tethering​

15. Nexus Root Toolkit – Flash Stock + Unroot

16. Nexus Root Toolkit – OEM Lock

17. Factory Reset

* https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4596836?hl=en​

18. Setup phone – Do not insert SIM during setup. Get to the home screen

19. Insert SIM

20. Scrape off AT&T Deathstar logo from back of the phone

21. Unlock SIM for $10 to AT&T by going to http://www.swiftunlocks.com
[Nexus 6  General] RayEdmondson:
Thank you. Worked like a champ. :good::good::good:
[Nexus 6  General] RayEdmondson:
Worked great. Back to stock with no AT&T startup animation. Thanks.
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
I did this last night and some notes below.

Didn't need to backup the phone in the Nexus Rootkit

They started the phone at the store...but I skipped through all of the setup

Tethering was already enabled throughout so did not have to modify the build.prop

I flashed to stock at 5.0 just to see if I would get the OTA to 5.0.1 and it did.

Before I did the OTA update to 5.0.1 I performed a factory reset in order to reclaim any misreported storage space

I didn't have to relock the phone to receive the OTA update

After the OTA update I polled the device again and after that relocked the phone

At no point did any AT&T applications start to download...this was true even when the SIM was in...granted I didn't log into Google Play with my account

I decided not to scrape off the AT&T log since I have a case cover

Loving this phone so far...quick and unifies the need for having to carry both a phone and my nexus 7.
[Nexus 6  General] Darkkef:
carrier unlock

Will the bootloader unlock carrier unlock too??

if not, is there a way to carrier unlock w/out paying for a code??
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
No it won't.

Yes, contact AT&T. They will provide it for free, assuming your phone is paid for and your account it in good standing. > https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/
[Nexus 6  General] Dodam:
Sorry to revive an old-ish thread, but could someone please provide the link to a copy of the OEM folder? I forgot to back it up, and need to return the machine.
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
You can find it in this post from this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=57331037&postcount=114
[Nexus 6  General] Dodam:
Oh wow. I thought I had searched the thread - sorry for the silly question & thanks!
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
No worries! Hope you got what you needed.
[Nexus 6  General] Chochiwpg:
I don't live in the US so can't sign up with AT&T. However, I was going to purchase a Nexus 6 from a local carrier today and their service is SIM locked on the Nexus 6 the same as it is on AT&T.

If the SIM lock is included in the baseband software, wouldn't we be able to flash a new/modified baseband to have the phone SIM unlocked or it doesn't work that way?

Thanks
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
It doesn't work that way. You either have to get the unlock code from your carrier, or buy it from a 3rd party.
[Nexus 6  General] Chochiwpg:
Damn, that's what I thought the answer might be. Thanks for the prompt response.
[Nexus 6  General] pcrussell50:
It's not so bad. I got my AT&T N6 SIM unlock code for $10 USD from one of the common vendors that everyone uses. Now my N6 is SIM unlocked, tested with my wife's T-Mobile iPhone 6 SIM. Easy peasy.

-Peter
[Nexus 6  General] Chochiwpg:
I'm kind of skeptical about those vendors in all honesty. Yes I may get an unlock code for cheaper than at my carrier, but you would have to provide them with your credit card information etc and I just don't know if I would be willing to trust those vendors over going to my carrier and getting an unlock code.

Oh well, it's only an issue when I want to sell my phone, for now I won't really need it to be unlocked. Thanks.
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
In the US, carriers were forced to provide means to unlock by the government.

I don't know about Canada. Are you certain that you can get the unlock code from your carrier?
[Nexus 6  General] Chochiwpg:
Yeah it's always been legal here for the carrier to unlock your device for you. It usually costs $50, one carrier does it for $35, and they won't do it until you have activated and used the phone on their service for at least 90 days.
[Nexus 6  General] keepitreall89:
fastboot mo

I just tried "fastboot erase oem" on my AT&T Nexus 6, and got "Permission Denied" Back

Then I tried "fastboot oem unlock" and got:

"(Bootloader) Check 'Allow OEM Unlock' in Developer Options

FAILED (remote failure)"

Any one know how to fix this? I really don't want to root just to get rid of that stupid death star boot animation.

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm an idiot, I thought this was fastboot thing, its just an option in the phone settings menu

After running "fastboot oem unlock" successfully, I am still getting permission denied when I try to run "fastboot erase oem" though..... so I still need help
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
You need to be rooted first. Even then, I couldn't get this to work either. I believe it's more straight forward to use Root Explorer app (paid version, which does require root) and use that to delete the OEM folder.
[Nexus 6  General] vannlambert:
I didn't see Where anyone asked this but here we go. I rooted erased all of the AT&T customizations then unrooted.When an OTA is available will the customizations show back up ? or do I need to remove my SIM and update over WiFi? or will i have to re-root and while all the the AT&T carpwaren back out regardless?
[Nexus 6  General] pcrussell50:
when i got my nexus 6 i rooted it and i think (been so long i forgot) i renamed the oem folder using a root file explorer, so it wouldn't get looked at, but i didn't delete it. since then, i've unrooted it and got the OTA update from 5.0.0 to 5.0.1, then i rooted again. then yesterday i unrooted and flashed back to 5.0.0, and immediately got the OTA update to 5.1, so that's where i sit right now... 5.1, unrooted.... now to answer your question:

even though i am now stock, unrooted, and capable of getting OTA's, i am NOT getting the at&t sound or splash logo on bootup. does that help?

btw, i scraped the at&t logo off super easily using a dull table knife, and didn't scratch the phone back one bit.

-peter
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
You can get and install OTAs and it won't restore the OEM partition. So you are good from here on out.
[Nexus 6  General] seattleboi1982:
i am curious if the VoLTE secret sauce for ATT was stripped out.
[Nexus 6  General] vannlambert:
I'm not really sure. I never notice any settings for it but then again I never looked.
[Nexus 6  General] seattleboi1982:
''

Has anyone had any luck with VoLTE and the Nexus 6 on AT&T?
[Nexus 6  General] lonaysta:
From what I read here, the simple "fastboot erase oem" never worked for anyone THAT SIMPLY. Maybe OP should remove that piece of info and use the TWRP mount-shell commands to empty oem partition instead.
[Nexus 6  General] neopolotin75:
My understanding is that VoLTE is only in a few select markets for ATT right now and its on their end and not the phones end. I found that a few months ago in an Att forum.
[Nexus 6  General] seattleboi1982:
its more complicated than just that. I am in a VoLTE market. Its more than just on AT&T's back end. The phone connects to another apn in conjunction with nxtgenphone. it creates a dedicated bearer and also a default bearer.
[Nexus 6  General] vannlambert:
the other day I got an OTA for 5. 1. 1. the odd thing is I am AT&T and this is the building number for Sprint and USC mobile. but as I have read around the forum it seems a lot of other AT&T customers have also received the OTA with the Sprint build number even though they're on AT&T.
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
Yes, and it works fine on AT&T.
[Nexus 6  General] inneyeseakay:
fastboot erase oem returns an error... any ideas?

c:\Users\admin\Downloads>fastboot erase oem

erasing 'oem'... INFOPermission denied

FAILED (remote failure)

finished. total time: 0.002s
[Nexus 6  General] Genghis1227:
That doesn't work. Try the steps I listed here. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=58676961
[Nexus 6  General] hlxanthus:
For those interested, here is partition image OEM. Might be helpful for those who need to warranty or are selling their phone and want to go back to stock. Simply verify the md5, extract the IMG from the zip, boot into fastboot, and . .

fastboot flash oem oem.img

NOTE: unless you place the oem.img in the same directory as adb/fastboot, you will have to include the path to the file. For example; "fastboot flash oem C:\Users\hlxanthus\Desktop\oem.img"

Download - SHAMU_subsidy-ATT_OEM.zip
[Nexus 6  General] pcrussell50:
Can we make this a "sticky" in the sticky rollup thread?

Can we make this a "sticky" in the sticky rollup thread?

-Peter
[Nexus 6  General] shabuboy:
What I did was, boot into TWRP in tether mode.

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot oem unlock

fastboot boot twrp.img

I then renamed media to media.old and oem.prop to oem.prop.old as specified here on port 152

However, now on boot I get the following error:

"Your device is corrupt. It can't be trusted and may not work properly."

More details for error here : https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6185381?p=verified_boot&rd=1

Phone boots fine though but shows error in every boot.

Should I be concern?
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
[MENTION=5773984]shabuboy[/MENTION],

You either need to flash a custom kernel, or flash this .zip with your current stock kernel in TWRP recovery > http://xdaforums.com/android/software-hacking/fix-fed-patcher-v8-forceencrypt-disable-t3234422
[Nexus 6  General] shabuboy:
Thanks again [MENTION=3209971]cam30era[/MENTION]!!! Flashing the kernel for some reason was my last option, as I am about to pass the phone to the Mrs and wanted to keep OTA, so did not want to install any custom Kernel/ROM or TWRP/SuperSU. Anyhow, found somewhere the following which worked for me:

- Flashed the latest factory image from Google

- Locked the bootloader

- Booted the device ignoring the alert, ignored all initial setup settings and went to do a factory reset in settings

Alert all gone!
[Nexus 6  General] Sharpe351:
Also to note that after installing a custom ROM, etc. that I was able to remove /OEM and after clearing that folder, I plugged in my Sprint SIM and it worked without paying for someone to unlock the SIM... Keep in mind that I purchased the phone from eBay. The phone was listed as "at&t locked"... However, after flashing custom ROM and deleting the directory, I've had no issue.
[Nexus 6  General] chopperchez:
Holy Swiftunlocks. Use them. It cost six bucks, took a day and a half for the code to arrive, worked.
[Nexus 6  General] majormar:
Also, whatever you do, DON'T use cellunlocker.net. It took them about 4 days to come up with a code that didn't work. After being forced to upload several videos of me trying the unlock code and proving that my phone wasn't rooted or running a custom ROM, they still refused to issue a refund claiming my phone was modified. It's been 17 days and they still can't come up with a working code. Avoid them like the plague!
[Nexus 6  General] pcrussell50:
Yep. +1 I used them twice. Both times they were faster than advertised, and worked like a champ.

-Peter
[Nexus 6  General] Wisefire:
Wow, At&t logo does scrape off with ease. Mine left no mark, you can't see that it was there at all.
[Nexus 6  General] Konikub:
What did you use to remove it? Can you upload photos here to show us how clean it looks?
[Nexus 6  General] bodosom:
Perhaps I was unclear. The animation and ringtones are in /oem/media. The fact that Motorola makes a partition called /logo on other phones isn't really relevant.

By the way it looks like there's somewhat low level support:

/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/oem /oem ext4 ro,....

oem -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p39
[Nexus 6  General] daledenton:
What did you use? I tried multiple credit cards and none of them were successful. Before I go all the way and take a knife I would really like to see pictures.
[Nexus 6  General] iboj007:
I saw on another thread somewhere that a person used a qtip soaked in rubbing alcohol and that helped to get it off.
[Nexus 6  General] aford89:
So if you flash the factory google image and remove the boot animation will we have exactly like we ordered from google play?
[Nexus 6  General] iboj007:
Essentially except that it's SIM locked to AT&T. You don't need to flash the factory image as it's the same build that's on the AT&T version. AT&T installed their customization outside of the system/rom on a separate OEM partition.
[Nexus 6  General] aford89:
are we able to delete the /oem partition and get that space back?
[Nexus 6  General] daledenton:
YES! This worked! I took a q-tip with rubbing alcohol to it and then LIGHTLY rubbed it with my keys, completely gone, no damage!
[Nexus 6  General] bodosom:
Since it's only 60MB it's unlikely to be worth dealing with but perhaps there's a clever tool that can repartition the flash.
[Nexus 6  General] sfidelisrp:
Okay so I used a scissors and lightly scrapped it off. At first you could still sort of see the imprint of the logo but the more I use the phone the more it goes away. Here's some photos from different angles and lighting.
[Nexus 6  General] stuff:
This is so funny to me. Literally so simple to remove all these ATT annoyances.
[Nexus 6  General] Konikub:
I agree. It's awesome we can unlock the bootloader, root, remove the AT&T bootup, and scrape off the logo without a trace of it ever being there. Just pay $10 to a SIM unlock company.......and you have a Nexus as if it were ordered from GP.
[Nexus 6  General] P1 Wookie:
You don't need to flash the google factory image. They're all running the same builds. Removing the boot animation is enough.
[Nexus 6  General] Claussm:
Did the same thing to mine, looks the exact same. No damage at all, the outline faded after about 2 hours of light use. Great tips! :good: