yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] agentfusion:
Let me know with a mention or quote or pm or something if you guys are successful. All of the other methods like using adb to hide com.amazon.phoenix failed for me as well as unlocking the bootloader. I made the mistake of assuming that a XT1607 is a XT1607 is a XT1607 and it didn't matter who you bought it from, so I went with the $99 option figuring if it had a locked bootloader, it would have a different model number (as is the case with LG and HTC phones) so if this method doesn't work, I'm going to contact Amazon to do an exchange for the version without ads and pay the difference.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
I'm thinking all we really need is the OEM.img from the non ad version amazon XT1607 and then run the flash as stated in the RSD Lite thread.

But I haven't found the zip for that phone. Unless it's an entirely different model number.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] parrotgeek1:
No, we are not, you can not flash any OEM IMG that does not have software channel "amz" (look in about phone to see that). So you have to trick it into erasing it
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] parrotgeek1:
Random question: do you have an option to enable battery percentage, in the battery settings? The moto z droid does.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] secfincorp:
No, mine doesn't have that option.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] mx597turbo:
GravityBox will allow this.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] carefully:
How to enable embedded battery percentage on Moto G4 Play

Yes, we have an option to enable battery percentage.

No, it does not require GravityBox.

Steps:

Enable System UI Tuner by long pressing and releasing Settings icon(gear icon)

Open System UI Tuner in Settings menu

Toggle embedded battery percentage to on

See images for help: https://imgur.com/a/HR8dr
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] secfincorp:
Wow thanks!!
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] parrotgeek1:
Please do not talk about this more in this thread, it's about ad removal
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] agentfusion:
It's not. And that's what burns me up. Every other manufacturer will at least increment the model number to differentiate between one that can unlock the bootloader and one that cannot. With the XT1607, it's the model *name* rather than the model number. The moto g4 play and the moto g4 play prime exclusive edition (that's ours).

I'm using that as my basis for an attempt to talk my way into an unlock code for my bootloader because I bought the Amazon prime version under the assumption that I'd be able to unlock the bootloader and root the device, since the model number is the same. Now I have to return my phone, be without a phone while it's shipped back, wait for the refund to clear, buy the same damn phone for $50 more, wait for it to be shipped out, and deal with Sprint to get the new one activated. All because it's the only carrier unlocked cdma phone that isn't like $400.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Thomaslm800:
no de bloat

So is there no way for de bloat and ad removal for the amazon moto g4 play XT1607?!?!?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
I got two other stock files

XT1607_HARPIA_RETUS_MPI24.241-2.35-1_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip

XT1607_HARPIA_CCAWS_MPI24.241-2.35_cid50_subsidy-CCAWS_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip

The problem I'm having is when I try to flash an oem.img from one of the other phones I get a validation check error and the phone fails.

If this actually works, I just need to know how to bypass the validation check. Maybe I'm on the wrong path and will end up bricking my phone.

But looking at the other G4 ad removal thread, this is basically what they did. They flash a stock Moto G4 oem.img file and that file doesn't contain the bloat.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Thomaslm800:
Right on. Maybe try and upload those files so people can try them out? or link them here.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
https://www.filefactory.com/folder/c6cdedc45a775d27/?sort=filename&order=ASC&show=100&page=8

They are ordered by name or date.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
I am still not having any luck.

I'm wondering if the XT1602 is the same phone and if we can flash that OEM image.

I'm missing a step or two here I think. Very frustrating.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] luggophone:
New Version?

I need New Version after Nougat upgrade, please! how much lack?

Thanks!
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
Hey. Can any of you guys that have the nougat update please try out the most recent tether attachment on the following thread? Basically it allows the tethering option in settings to be turned on without checking with your carrier. It'll say that is patching assets, then restarting. It'll do a soft reboot and then have the option patched until the next time you reboot.

Disclaimer: YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

While this file only patches items in memory so your phone should be able to be put back to normal with a simple reboot, we aren't to be held liable for any damage to your phone.

https://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3582491
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] louistheimplier:
Is there nougat update for the amazon ad version? The only update I got was the security patch from feb 1.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] sethyboy13:
G4 Play's is coming in June (or possibly later). G4 and G4 Plus, however, should already have it.

On another note, still having ads on the latest patch with no real solution. Any updates, Ledo?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
[MENTION=7838117]ledothis[/MENTION]
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] makmm:
[MENTION=7838117]ledothis[/MENTION] WE NEED HELP

I just accidently tapped on update because it poped up when writting a message, and now if I enable Wi-Fi it will update.

Any way to, atleast, prevent this from happening? h e l p p l z [MENTION=7838117]ledothis[/MENTION]
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] BellaMay95:
I'm not sure if it will help or just make it update, but maybe try restarting your phone and see if that clears the update in the queue? And then maybe disable the update system app so it doesn't ask you to update again?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] makmm:
restart doesnt change anything, disable button on motorola update is, well, disabled.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] bfridman:
You can force stop that service but you need to do that everytime you restart
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Vikpers:
Is there a possibility to return stock ROM for Moto G Play xt1607 (Amazon Prime with Ad) which will not have a security patch of Feb 2017? I've tried to factory reset (in standard Recovery) but the security patch still exists.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
I just hag an interesting thing happen this week. I had accidentally let the February update download several weeks ago. I have been postponing the install forever. Well due to an issue I've been having with the tethering app lately I decided to cut my losses and go ahead and install the update.

Weird part is : I still don't have ads. My lockscreen is clean.

I've had the update installed for 2 days now.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] luggophone:
It happened to me exactly the same! But with the difference I did not know when it was that the February patch was updated on my mobile, without my consent. The important thing is that I have no ads since January I installed the App. What will happen to Nougat? Many friends who gave them the app have already updated their mobile and they loathe the ads and we do not know what to do. Are you really working on it or did you forget this terminal? Many long to be able to have cooked roms in the future. Greetings and please wait for your reply!
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
I'm not the​ dev. [MENTION=7838117]ledothis[/MENTION] is. The bootloader on this is the problem. Motorola has said they won't unlock the bootloader, so no way to make roms.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] luggophone:
Thank you!

But what will happen with the Advertising Removal App? It does not depend on the bootloader. Will it be updated?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
Once again, that is up to the dev. I haven't seen him around in a while.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] vemacs:
It relies on the Dirty COW vulnerability which was patched in the February update. Will likely never work unless a new temporary root is discovered and the app is modified to use it.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
I'm just still waiting for the nougat update and really wishing that Motorola would allow the unlock of the bootloader on this darn thing
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] DB126:
Unlikely a bootloader unlock will become available for the Amazon variant (why would Amazon allow this). Appears June 2017 is the latest target for Nougat.

http://www.androidauthority.com/moto-g4-play-android-nougat-june-765567/
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
I know about the bootloader, just wish they would.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] vemacs:
There's a better method for ad removal that works on even the February security update (just tried it on a phone with it installed): https://www.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/6e1cc4/moto_g_amazon_edition_remove_app_that_displays/

For no external link, run this in adb shell:

pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.amazon.phoenix
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.amazon.widgets

With this method, even the clock is in the right position (unlike the noads_2.apk). You can run this even if you have removed ads previously.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
What do you mean by "in the right position"? Mine seems placed fine.

http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/592ec61bdcb8e/Screenshot_20170531-083226.png?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] vemacs:
That's actually not in the right position compared to stock Android (too high up, Amazon moves it to allow space for the ads), it's more apparent when the notifications are empty.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
Oh, didn't bother me any. Still better than not having ads. [emoji12]
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] vemacs:
Nothing stopping you from running this on top of the old method :p
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] luggophone:
Hello brother!

Will this method suit Nougat as well?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] vemacs:
According to the linked Reddit thread, it was found specifically for a phone running Nougat.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Tomsgt:
https://youtu.be/rhyZEWDrQxw

[YOUTUBE]rhyZEWDrQxw[/YOUTUBE]
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] luggophone:
Thank you! Perfect!!

Thank you!! Perfect!!
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] wrenhal:
Anybody with an Amazon play get a nougat notification yet?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
I tried it once, need to try again. It happens really fast and fail validation check before I pull the cord.

But it really doesn't feel like it's erased because when it fails validation check the oem image is still in place.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] parrotgeek1:
did you try it with the oem.img from the harpia_amazon firmware zip?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
Nope. Thanks for the input. I'll try tomorrow

The Amazon firmware is split into two OEM files. No idea how the flash treats it
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] parrotgeek1:
just flash the first
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
Pulled during sending of the first OEM file. No change

"sending 'oem' (247989 KB)...

FAILED (data transfer failure (Too many links))

finished. total time: 1.968s"

Pulled during the writing phase. Ending in no boot.

Tried booting with only loading the first oem image and not the second. No boot.

Wrote the second oem image to the device and it booted.

So that does not work. Ads are still there.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Okay I'm fairly new to this, but the whole reason we're doing this is because of the locked bootloader correct? Is there any way we can just flash the entire stock, non-amazon, firmware? This would allow us to not only take out the ads immediately but we would trick the Motorola system into giving us an unlock key, and root our devices // flash ROMs in the end.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
The bootloader is locked correct. No way to unlock it. I posted links earlier on this thread to all Motorola files.

I have tried downloading multiple variations of the XT1607 on that site. I have been able to write the bootlader image from other XT1609s. But every time I go to write the OEM image from another devices it fails.

When I install the bootloader from another file it installs fine, but when I try to get the unlock code it is the same unlock number as the stock bootloader.

I have seen the other amazon devices report what you are reporting. Flash stock XT1607 file and it should remove the ads. Is there a trick to installing a stock file? Do i not have the stock file?

Problem is I"m either doing something wrong or it's just not possible without an unlocked bootloader.

Someone else please try because I'm not even sure what file to try from the repo.

Stock File is listed on there as: (I know it works because I had to flash the phone back to stock)

XT1607_HARPIA_AMAZON_USA_MPI24.241-2.35-1_cid18_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip

I have tried:

XT1607_HARPIA_RETUS_MPI24.241-2.35-1_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml

XT1607_HARPIA_CCAWS_MPI24.241-2.35_cid50_subsidy-CCAWS_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml

XT1602_HARPIA_MPI24.241-15.3_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
I don't think the file that you're flashing is wrong, in fact I think the fact that someone found all these files is great. My build number is MPI24.241-2.35-1 and my baseband version is M8916_20250106,08,05.23R. I believe that the file atleast my phone, and probably yours too, we should be flashing is the first one "RETUS" because of this.

Maybe we should take a look how the BLU R1 guys have done this, if you look at this thread they use sp-flash-tool even on a locked bootloader, and the other thread with just the Moto G4 amazon ad removal does the same on a locked bootloader.

There is definitely a way to do this. I think we need to analyze the text/xml tools that the Blu R1 and Moto G4 have used with their oem flashing files. Doing this correctly will definitely allow us to unlock this damn bootloader.

edit::

Have y'all seen this thread for the Moto G3? "rashr" may allow us to directly flash the oem firmware for a non-amz XT1607

Also we should try using mfastboot (motorola) instead of regular, because basically right now we're restoring our phones with a signed firmware designed for the phone right? so there shouldn't be a problem. Again see another guide for moto g3 here that could help us.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
I've edited all the files accordingly to Harpia and added the retus gpt.bin and oem.img in. I don't have time to flash and **** with the files right now but it'd be great if someone could try it. It should work with RSD Lite.

https://www.mediafire.com/?ukxbsluezhcoqu9
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
Thank you but I get the same thing as every other time i have tired..

It always fails during the OEM.img flash.

failed to verify hab image oem

Invalid PIV signed oem image
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Yep same here. I'm just failing the oem.img flash. I guess it's because the image isn't AMZ, but then how in the world did the Moto G4 method work? I've sent a message to a couple people who I think can help, we'll see what they say.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
Does it have something to do with the way the AMZ OEM image is split in two? Seems like it does 2 checks for both images.

I read the other threads and it does seem like they had no difficulty getting the stock images to work on the other phones, but something is different here and I'm close to being out of my league.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Yeah that's what I am trying to figure out at the moment. Does the Moto G4 look the same? Or is this unique to the xt1607?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
The XT1625 has one OEM image for the stock amazon firmware.

This may be unique.

If I had to guess, I'd say we need an unlocked bootloader to do anything moving forward.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Motorola has had a thing for creating sparses of ~256MB for their images in the past it seems like. I would say that in this case they needed to create two sparse chunks because of the added Amazon ads; this doesn't exactly explain with the xt1625 isn't like this though. I am currently trying to use a couple different sparse converters that I have found online to turn sparsechunk 1 &2 (0/1) into one sold oem.img file. As of right now it's not working but I may have to mess with the moto header and footer parts of each file or one total. I'd love if you could try it out too.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Toro Loco:
Deleted for while
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
I haven't tried this post, but what you wrote does not work on the Amazon XT1607. You are running the same commands we have tried. They don't work

Unless their is something in the files you have modified
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Really wish you had started that post off with like "I haven't tested this on my XT6107 Amazon edition" or something. Because not only did this completely wipe my device, it didn't even work. Exact same problem we've been having, it fails on the oem.img upload because the Amz-signed oem.img is in two parts. Please delete your post to stop other users from doing this.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Toro Loco:
Sorry to hear this, the commands that i posted is to flash the phone completely, so this wipe the phone.

Flash XT1607 amazon image with rsd to get your phone back

im downloading the image of XT1607 to check xml file and figure out what happened, theres two separate files but the partition is only one

like this :

<step MD5="50fc3cb4fe688dc1092c1073bc42c6b7" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.1" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="b411e841ff3ebf63b56026710121dbd4" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.2" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="92901d92792a43a4dcd6f3eeee316d21" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.3" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="cebd659e30514298a86d52d25fca6b02" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.4" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="4b8342159bd24dc4551509c8b650520c" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.5" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="d9d2dca4e684b9a8360760751a117b23" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.6" operation="flash" partition="system"/>

<step MD5="12fcdd4d23d5ad9d32996ddc6cf984b6" filename="system.img_sparsechunk.7" operation="flash" partition="system"/>
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Yes our problem right now is that AMZ is packaging the oem.img as two files to make sure it is less than 256MB (max-sparse-size). We cannot just flash the oem.img from a non-amz XT1607 because the phone has been programmed to look for the two sparsed files; I know this because I when I convert the two sparsed images into one it is much larger than 256MB and I cannot even flash it. Right now I am trying to take the non-amz oem.img and compress it into two different chunks to see if the phone will accept it. Problem is that no matter what I am doing, I cannot make the non-amz image a multiple of 4096 bytes so the converter will accept it; I've tried removing the header and footer through a hex editor.

---------- Post added at 07:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ----------

Alright so I took the oem.img from a file that was only to remove ads but keep bloat from the original thread for the XT1625 and it luckily enough was a multiple of 4096 bytes. So I compressed it into two chunks using the link I posted earlier, kept the names, and updated the RSDLite XML. Sadly this failed, I got the error of invalid signed image. I have a feeling I'm gong to have to learn how to use the hex editor more to figure this problem out.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] umrdyldo:
Dang, you seem to be getting closer.

Can you fake the checksum by using a hex editor or is the checksum based on the file itself?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
I honestly have no clue what to do at this point so I will just lay out what I've done so far so others can give opinions or do their own work.

- I've tried just flashing the factory oem.img from RETUS, get

failed to verify hab image oem
Invalid PIV signed oem image

.

- Tried flashing the oem.img from another model (XT1625), get same error.

- Tried decompressing the SparseChunks (0&1) using SparseConverter into one solid image file. Found out that they were sparsed for a reason, image file too big for partition (>256MB).

- Tried compressing the oem.img from non-amz XT1607 into two sarsechunks, SparseConverter won't process it because the oem.img is not a multiple of 4096 bytes. Because of this I tried following this guide to remove the moto header & footer (if there even are some, I don't know how it works really) to see if I could get the file size changing; nope didn't work.

- Used the "remove amazon ads only, keep aps" file from the original thread, saw that the oem.img in that file was a multiple of 4096 bytes. Used SparseConverter to chunk that into 2 files. Tried flashing those files but came up with an "unsigned image" error, instead of all the other errors. I think this was a step in the right direction, but I don't know how to build onto it.

Overall, I think that even if I can split the non-amz XT1607 oem.img into 2 sparsechunks, the checksum is going to be different and the device won't accept it with a locked bootloader. The 2 sparsechunks that are unique to the amazon XT1607 are definitely our obstacle here. If anyone knows any methods please share. I have contacted RootJunky to see if they can help, and have taken a look at the BLU R1 method of removing ads; and because of Moto's strict bootloader policy we can't compare too much.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
Update:

I have decompressed the original xt1607-amz sparsechunks into a single oem.img, then re-compressed them into sparses again for testing-sake. It worked and flashed correctly, so atleast I know that the method of creating new-sparsechunks works.

The absolute

main problem

in my eyes at this point is how the heck do we bypass the checksum validation??? If the md5 of each sparse isn't 67cf83a97075ba438ed4c4bc31aaf3c1 and 9a24a4f19e861a445a621447d2a537d0 then I don't think it'll pass validation and won't write.

But then that brings up another question, which the answer to could remove my concern above: how does the XT1625 version of flashing a new oem.img work if they have different Md5s?
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] Toro Loco:
You are flashing with mfastboot and commands or with RSD ? in my opinion the way is delete the oem partition then flash the alternative oem with mfastboot, in one file, from the harpia, and harpia only or you can brick the phone.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] A.Fitz:
I've tried mfastboot and RSDLite. Mfastboot will flash the amazon sparsechunks and the oem.img I deccompressed from said sparses. Obviously RSDLite won't accept the decompressed oem.img but will flash the amazon sparsechunks fine. No matter if I try to flash a non-amz oem.img, non-amz homebrewed empty hex added sparsechunks (that i'm not even sure would work anyways), or anything else I've tried with either mfastboot or RSDLite nothing works. And yeah maybe it would mes up the phone a little bit, but who knows because we cannot even get to that point. Frustrating.
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] PunishedSnake:
Hopefully it gets the nougat uodate
[Moto G4 Play Questions & Answers] nigelhealy:
So none have succeeded is unlock and remove ads and bloatware yet?

There is a G4 Amazon prime discount today so I was guessing one may be soon for the G4 Play Prime version and so making it like a G4 Play non-prime would be excellent.