yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 6P General] jackuphill:
Does that mean that we should not apply the Jan 2016 OTA update ?

Currently on MMB29M with systemless root
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
It's up to you, it wasn't a major update, just security patches. But honestly, a point will come when you're not really going to have a choice but go with systemless root. Traditional root isn't being maintained anymore, and nobody is making modified boot.img's either.
[Nexus 6P General] wilflare:
Is there any reason why sometimes (on a new install) the phone manages to grab my display picture from my Google account and sometimes, it does not?

I've been setting up my phone multiple times and I can't seem to find out a specific reason why
[Nexus 6P General] kidbudi:
How can I go from traditional root to systemless root? Does anyone have a guide or anything like that?
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
I have no idea, I always need to add my picture manually.

You need to flash the UnSu zip, which will remove SuperSU, then you can flash the systemless version of SuperSU. Reboot between flashing the two zips. You'll find it here:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=63615067

I'm going to add this to the FAQ.
[Nexus 6P General] datdirtyscrew:
i'm on step one, 1. How To Unlock Your Bootloader, but i cant get my pc to recognize my phone. i have my phone booted into the bootloader but at the bottom it still says to connect my usb data cable. when i run fastboot devices in CMD it does not return a serial number. any help is greatly appreciated thank you.
[Nexus 6P General] SlimSnoopOS:
If you are coming from another phone or older Nexus, make sure you have the latest SDK installed.

Edit: latest SDK and fastboot.
[Nexus 6P General] datdirtyscrew:
hi, thanks for the reply. i did install the latest based on the link provided on the OP.
[Nexus 6P General] SlimSnoopOS:
This seems like a driver issue. Did you install the Google universal driver? If so, try removing then reinstalling it again. Make sure to also uninstall any drivers or software from other Android phones.
[Nexus 6P General] datdirtyscrew:
yes it was a driver issue,. i figured as much but couldnt find what driver i needed or the steps to add it. finally got it done though. thanks again!
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
what driver was it? I'm having same exact issue as you.

I tried reinstalling Google USB Driver and fastboot still isn't working. in the bootloader it still says connect USB Data Cable, even though it is. Any help?

EDIT Again- I have tried reinstalling everythinggg again and still not working in fastboot mode. Phone still says connect USB Data Cable. I've made sure no other phone drivers are installed. This is crazy. Please help.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
Are you rebooting the PC between uninstalling and installing drivers? Do you have any other phone software/drivers on your PC?
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
Yeah I've done fresh installs. I had to cause I couldn't delete the files cause apparently they were still active. So just deleted everything from my SDK including the folder itself, and started over. Still nothing.

Nah, went to uninstall program to make sure and there is nothing phone software/driver related.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
I'm really not sure then. I do know that it will say "connect usb cable" on the phone even if you have one connected, so disregard that. I don't use Windows so I'm not the best person to troubleshoot this kind of thing.
[Nexus 6P General] Clover8680:
Its amazing to see how much people can do with a nexus.
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
"TWRP isn't able t persist without modifying system, so you'll lose it after booting into Android, you'll need to flash/boot it to access it again" Can someone clarify what this means?
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
It means that once you exit TWRP it will no longer be installed, if you choose not to let it modify system. You'd have to install it again in order to use it again.
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
Okay that's how I read it. What is the point of doing it that way then? If my device becomes unresponsive or whatever, it's ideal to be able to boot right into recovery to restore the most recent stable version. But it sounds like this method won't allow that to be possible. So what is recommended to do? I wanted to use systemless because android pay, and ideally run the nexus project rom. But I'm just confused by this recovery not staying. thanks for the help.

btw, I got fastboot working from earlier!
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
The point of doing it that way is so you can use Android Pay. If you choose to let TWRP modify system Android Pay won't work. I allow it to modify system because I don't use Android Pay, I have a wallet with debit cards lol.
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
lol yeah can't go wrong with the classic method haha. But if you do use systemless and TWRP read only, what do you do to get TWRP recovery then? Am I gonna need my computer to flash it each time? Also like nexus project uses systemless root, would I not be able to use it then if I allow TWRP to modify system?
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
Yes, you'd need to flash it each time. You don't necessarily need a PC though, you can use the Flashify app to flash it. Systemless root will still work, but TWRP modify system will kinda negate the point of it.
[Nexus 6P General] Pain-N-Panic:
[MENTION=4153349]Heisenberg[/MENTION], I have a question simply out of curiosity and was wondering if you could drop some knowledge on me. In section 12 of your guide, how to return to stock and leave internal storage intact, you advise to only wipe the data partition while in TWRP. I also see that you instruct to issue a wipe cache command via fastboot. My question is, especially if one is coming from a custom ROM and wishing to return to stock, why not do a full wipe (system, data and both caches) in TWRP before booting into the boot loader and using fastboot commands to flash the stock images? Thanks!
[Nexus 6P General] datdirtyscrew:
Hi. You may have already resolved this but I thought I'd go ahead and provide my experience. The Google USB driver I had to install via device manager on windows. I was looking for a .exe file the whole time. So that resolved my driver issue. As far as the message on the bootloader screen, connect USB data cable, that will remain there regardless.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
It's only necessary to use TWRP to wipe data because that isn't taken care of during the fastboot flashing, whereas system and the caches are wiped when you flash the images.
[Nexus 6P General] koonrat45:
[Deleted]
[Nexus 6P General] Stephen:
Updated Android SDK and cant get fastboot flashing unlock command to work. Fastboot devices work, but when I am in the bootloader and try the command, it is not recognised and just gives me list of available commands.

Ahh my bad. I had WugFresh's toolkit setup and for ease I had a path setup to point to his fastboot commands so I could use them from any folder. I updated his fastboot with the current one and worked perfectly.
[Nexus 6P General] ryan2215:
After trying for around 4 hours, I have not been able to get twrp installed without process errors. I don't have the phone in front of me right now, but it's basically the unending notification of google apps failing. Does anyone know why some people are getting that error and some aren't? I definitely used the modified boot image, the beta twrp for angler and did the format in twrp per the instructions.
[Nexus 6P General] tcat007:
I think I am planning on unlocking and recovery later today (when 6P arrives). I'll follow OP instructions. All the commands work fine on my N5 so I assume they'll work on my 6P. Just wondering as a "prerequisite", do I go through the Google set-up first? Kind of pointless to restore apps to start. As soon as I see the initial set-up screen, I hit Volume down and Power to get to bootloader? Just checking to see what people did (that actually have this working). Also be nice to have a file size to confirm downloads:

boot.img: 12,060

twrp-2.8.7.0-angler.img: 16,808
[Nexus 6P General] Kusanagi Fire:
Glad I'm not the only person struggling with this. Hopefully the awesome folks on XDA will have something figured out soon on this issue.
[Nexus 6P General] Stephen:
Ok so I have unlocked the bootloader, updated to mdb08k image, flashed recovery and then flashed Chainfire kernel. I then ran the fastboot command to erase userdata and now it looks as if I am in a boot loop, Not sure were I am going wrong.

EDIT finally I am no longer encrypted :D
[Nexus 6P General] powder_7:
Yes, it works and those are the files size. To be exactly, boot.img is 12,349,440 bytes and twrp-2.8.7.0-angler.img is 17,211,392 bytes. I went thru the Google setup to test if all the functions work before I rooted.

---------- Post added at 12:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------

You can boot into TWRP without flashing TWRP. However, you can't backup because data is encrypted. So, to do read/write to data partition with TWPR, data needs to be formatted.
[Nexus 6P General] ikarios:
I'm also having the same issue. After installing TWRP and attempting to boot back into system to install SuperSU, my gapps now constantly (every 1-3 seconds) crashes. I can't even get past the initial setup because the popups are literally incessant.
[Nexus 6P General] powder_7:
I used SuperSU 2.46 and it works fine. I haven't upgrade to the latest.
[Nexus 6P General] ikarios:
I can't even get SuperSU. Booting back into system after flashing twrp is where this error starts. I can't get past the initial setup - wifi password, etc, typing in google account creds - because the gapps crash popups stop me from typing anything into the keyboard.

I'm going to re-flash it back to stock and try again to see if this happens again.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
You can boot into TWRP (fastboot boot <filename>.img), but if you're still encrypted TWRP won't be able to perform a backup.

Are you booted into Android when attempting this command?

I'm not sure why some are receiving errors. You definitely formatted data? Not wipe?

No point in going through the full Google setup as you'll be formatting the /data partition anyway. You will need to do the bare minimum to get through it though because you still need to access Developer Options in order to enable usb debugging and OEM unlocking.

What was the problem?
[Nexus 6P General] Kusanagi Fire:
Does it matter which modified boot.img is used? I just realized that my build is MDA89D, which is the older build, and I believe the new modified boot.img is based on MDB08K.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
It's probably a good idea to update to the MDB08K build first.
[Nexus 6P General] js2shanks:
Could anyone explain to me what I am doing wrong in this process? I unlock the bootloader just fine and install twrp and the boot.img and I get into constant bootloop. I cannot get into android after the installation of twrp and the boot.img even after formatting of userdata. Can anyone help explain this? I really would like to have root on my phone. There are times it gets into android but a close.gapps.error pops up every one second and I cannot do anything. Please help
[Nexus 6P General] Kusanagi Fire:
I was just reading the root available thread and someone in there confirmed that this is the issue causing the Google process errors. I'll try to verify it tonight by downloading the MDBO8K image and then going through the exact process (phone says it's up to date or I would take an OTA), but I think this is pretty much confirmed.

For anyone having the Google process error, see what build you're on and if it's not MDBO8K, then do that before following this guide.
[Nexus 6P General] ikarios:
I suspect this may be the problem we are having with the gapps crashes. I didn't even realize there were two different builds. I reflashed my device with the MDB08K stock image found here: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images and I'm now setting up the phone again without a hitch.

Also, the first time I left TWRP, it prompted to install superSU for me before I rebooted to system. This was the only other difference between my original flash and my "do-over". I declined it, preferring to install SuperSU myself through the Play store. Regardless, after redoing the stock images, everything seems to be working fine.

[MENTION=4153349]Heisenberg[/MENTION] you may want to make a note of the two different builds; if users are installing the updated modified boot.img over the non-updated build, they may experience the problems we've been seeing.
[Nexus 6P General] Kusanagi Fire:
You're ahead of me on this! That's a double confirmation.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
See the posts following yours, you need to update to the next build first.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
Thanks for confirming this, I've added the appropriate info to section 2.
[Nexus 6P General] Born<ICs:
Probably good idea to sideload Beta 2.50+ as chainfire recommends (Not the 2.46 version on Playstore)
[Nexus 6P General] Stephen:
Status update:

Ok so finally got my phone setup and this thing simply rocks! This is what I have done so far to get my base line image setup:

Setup phone

Unlocked phone

Updated to MDB08K build using factory image

Before first boot installed modded kernel and wiped user data (saved an extra setup!)

Booted and setup phone (unencrypted!!! :) )

Updated and configured everything

Installed twrp

Installed supersu

Edited settings app and moved SuperSU from app drawer to settings :D

Removed all apps I didn't want

Installed all I did and updated existing apps

Modded build.prop to allow persistent usb and hide usb icon

Backup phone and store copy of backup on PC!

Next I'll have to start on my ROM for the phone. Tried to night, but so far I can't get Aroma installer to work properly!

Time for bed me thinks :D
[Nexus 6P General] Pain-N-Panic:
Thank you sir! I had a feeling the rest was wiped through the flashing process but wasn't sure.
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
whats more beneficial systemless or traditional ?
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
It depends on what you need from your phone. The benefit of systemless root is being able to use Android Pay, and also the it is more OTA friendly. The downfall is some root apps don't work with systemless root yet. The benefit of traditional root is that it's tried and tested and works with all root apps. The downfall is it isn't OTA friendly.
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
and just to clearify to go the systemless route, its advised to check on read-only in twrp correct?
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
That's right.
[Nexus 6P General] kristiangmez:
Hi guys ! Thanks for this tutorial, I just got my nexus 6p today and did all this. But my mistake was doing it without updating the ota. So now I m on 6.0 stock with the custom recovery only read mode, systemless root and custom kernel elememtalx 0.1 I come from the note 4 so this methods are totally new for me. How can I get 6.0.1 ? I guess Ota wont work as I have custom recovery. Can I flash Pure Nexus ROM 6.0.1 ? Sorry I m very nob with this device.Thanks for understanding!
[Nexus 6P General] ^tyrant^:
Has anyone had issues with loosing root? Its only happened to me a couple times but a full reboot solves the problem..

Also i installed the supersu pro license idk if that is causing any issues or. Ot, but i noticed now i cannot open my supersu app to see what apps have asked for root or looks at logs.
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
so i did all that, now im trying to do a backup in twrp, so i did adb reboot recovery.

I ended up with a no command screen when it was attempting to go into twrp.

Heres an attached pic for reference

*edit - im wondering if i lost twrp for some reason.
[Nexus 6P General] Badger50:
Read the OP very carefully. There are instructions about flashing the stock factory images. If you could unlock the bootloader, flash the twrp recovery, and root. You can definitely upgrade to the next build. Just takes patience and some reading is all.
[Nexus 6P General] tu3218:
That's because you lose twrp after each reboot. Guess you just have to flash it each time you want to go into it. Reason I didn't select read only when flashing twrp.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
Did you read the guide? It states that choosing not to allow TWRP to make system modifications will result in TWRP not being able to persist in the recovery partition. You need to flash it again to use it again.
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
I actually reflashed twrp but this time it did not prompt me and ask if i wanted read-only or allow modifications
[Nexus 6P General] kristiangmez:
Thanks for replying. So I should flash this version 6.0.1 (MMB29P) ? I see there s another version of 6.0.1 that's why I ask. I m currently in 6.0.0 (MDB08K)
[Nexus 6P General] Badger50:
Correct. The 29P is the latest update :)
[Nexus 6P General] kristiangmez:
Thanks mate ! [MENTION=3730810]Badger50[/MENTION]
[Nexus 6P General] AndroidPurity:
Maybe you marked the check box that said "do not ask this again." So it remembers your option every time. But I would think flashing it again would remove that saved setting, so that's weird it didn't ask again after flashing. Maybe its saved in cache or user data?

If you did select that check box before and flashing twrp again does not resolve it, try to clear all app cache maybe in Android settings in storage section click on cache to clear it. Then boot back into fastboot and flash twrp again, and see if it asks for write permission then. Does that let twrp ask for write permission now?
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
smh it didnt work, it goes straight to the list of options without a prompt. damn there has to be a way to allow modifications
[Nexus 6P General] Mesmurized:
There is a .twrp file inside TWRP in my userdata partition. Maybe delete this file and try again?!
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
where is it can you link me?
[Nexus 6P General] Mesmurized:
Use root explorer or file manager to delete it. The .twrps file is in your data storage / media /sdcard.
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
worked perfect thanks
[Nexus 6P General] Mesmurized:
Happy to help out.
[Nexus 6P General] Deathstroke1:
Is TWRP supposed to disappear after I boot back into Android?

Systemless root worked fine but I can still load into TWRP without reflashing it. Is it supposed to be that way?
[Nexus 6P General] mobile pundits:
How to unlock the Nexus 6P bootloader

One of the first things I do with any new phone is unlock the bootloader. An unlocked bootloader lets you flash custom firmware or add a custom recovery, among other changes.

---------- Post added at 08:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:53 AM ----------

How to Install TWRP on Nexus 6P [Root and Unlock Bootloader included]
[Nexus 6P General] Mesmurized:
Everything is covered nicely in post #1 :)
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
Did you guys read any of the guide or FAQ at all before posting?
[Nexus 6P General] Shaftamle:
Om also kind of confused with this. I followed OP, selected read only in twrp, flashed system less root and I still have my recovery . the confusing part of the post is where it says twrp will not persist if the system is not modified.

My understanding is twrp will disappear if you don't root(like just backup the phone). But as soon as u flash SuperSU, even for systemleas root, then twrp is here to stay. I could be wrong but I followed the post to a T and still have twrp.

Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4

"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!

149ThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!

Eclipse ROM fatness!

MyColorScreen

---------- Post added at 04:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 AM ----------

Quick question, I opened the SuperSU and disabled it to test Android pay. When I renabled it it said it needs to update binaries. When trying to do so it failed. Is this normal? Do they need to be updated when using systemleas root? Everything seems to be fine without them.

Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4

"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!

149ThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!

Eclipse ROM fatness!

MyColorScreen
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
my build for root is not listed?

its MMB29P

and another question how come you recommend going the systemless route if we have to reflash it on every reboot?
[Nexus 6P General] Shaftamle:
No modified boot image for it. Systemless is the future apparently. You don't have to reflash SuperSU on reboot. Once its there its there till you unroot. There seems to be some confusion about the whole reflashing part of the OP. I'm sure Heisenberg will clear it up when he sees these questions.

Sent from a Shaftamle Galaxy S4

"Thanks Button" is always appreciated!

149ThemedGoogleKeyboards!!!!!!

Eclipse ROM fatness!

MyColorScreen
[Nexus 6P General] TechMillz93:
regarding the systemless method, shouldnt you have to wipe before flashing supersu?
[Nexus 6P General] jytprf:
it worked! thanks a lot!
[Nexus 6P General] Deathstroke1:
This is what I was asking. OP said TWRP would disappear, it's still there. I followed all the steps in order.

I did read the FAQ.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
You don't need to reflash it, the guide doesn't say that.

I guess having root allows TWRP to persist, I'll have to edit this into the guide.

Wipe what? You don't need to wipe anything before flashing SuperSU.

Please see above.
[Nexus 6P General] Prattham:
So guys i just got my n6p today

Have been on youtube and xda reading several threads

So with my n5 it was a lot easier

Anyone patient and kind enough to tell me how to do this?

Yes i have read all the instructions but

I want to unlock bootloader

Okay that's easy

But twrp

I want to decrypt my Nexus

So i have to flash new version of that right?

Now op says systemless root is preferred but it will conflict with twrp

I want to install system less root

What should i do in the twrp then to make it work normal?

Anyone who can help me is really appreciated

Cheers ?
[Nexus 6P General] srqrob:
All of the procedures and steps are clearly listed in posts 1 & 2. If you follow instructions there exactly, it will work for you as it has for lots of others. Your questions are all answered in posts 1 & 2.
[Nexus 6P General] MoistPicklez:
[MENTION=4153349]Heisenberg[/MENTION] Out of curiosity, I noticed a flash-all.bat file in the MMB29P image, and used to use that batch file on my old Nexus 5 to restore it to stock. Why is this not included in your guide? Does it not properly flash everything?

Also I just restored my 6P this morning and noticed a few apps acting strange after I flashed Pure NeXus. I downloaded Imgur and went to sign in, but to my surprise, my account was still logged in after restoring my phone! I wiped everything in TWRP and in fastboot before flashing Stock, then reflashed my recovery and Pure NeXus. Any idea why my phone is holding onto some of this data???
[Nexus 6P General] Prattham:
Okay so i got it this time

I'll go with traditional root

But my build is 29p

And in op no link for modified image any help?

Cheers ?
[Nexus 6P General] Sim-1:
Hello everybody, thanks for this great and clear guide. I followed it until step 7 and I'm ready to root but my build is not listed there: it's MMB29P. Where can I find the proper boot.img?
[Nexus 6P General] MoistPicklez:
Use systemless root and flash a ROM with SuperSU already built in and you're good to go. I used SuperSU 2.66 systemless and haven't had any issues at all.

Read above reply.
[Nexus 6P General] Sim-1:
Thanks for the heads up I'm downloading the Pure Nexus Rom as we speak. Only thing: is it necessary for me to use systemless root at this stage? If I install the Pure Nexus Rom it's already rooted.
[Nexus 6P General] Prattham:
But if i use system less root it will conflict with twrp and i have to flash twrp again and again

I'm really confused here

Help is really appreciated

Cheers ?
[Nexus 6P General] MoistPicklez:
What?! TWRP sticks just fine. When you flash TWRP, immediately boot into Recovery from the fastboot screen, then flash SuperSU 2.66 then wipe cache/dalvik, and finally reboot. Nothing to it.
[Nexus 6P General] Heisenberg:
I don't include that for a couple of reasons; it wipes the device be default, and it doesn't always work. What did you wipe? What did you restore?