how to flash roms? Little Confused - Motorola Photon 4G

I got Motorola Photon 4G with Android 2.3.4. Already rooted it and install Bootstrap.apk. I want to flash roms but I don't want to unlock bootloader so I can keep my 4G. So i dont need to flash SBF files thingy? And do i need to do Nandroid too? Also what are the some stable roms with working 4G? I heard about Rocko Locked and MOF 2.3.5ish Locked? Is both roms good? If you have any tips, please do tell me

silverhawknike said:
I got Motorola Photon 4G with Android 2.3.4. Already rooted it and install Bootstrap.apk. I want to flash roms but I don't want to unlock bootloader so I can keep my 4G. So i dont need to flash SBF files thingy? And do i need to do Nandroid too? Also what are the some stable roms with working 4G? I heard about Rocko Locked and MOF 2.3.5ish Locked? Is both roms good? If you have any tips, please do tell me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is no SBFing required if you don't want to unlock. If youve got bootstrap recovery installed (it doesnt come in an apk so im not sure what you mean) and can boot into it you can start flashing locked roms. The only one that you can flash that is still in development is Mof's rom, though. But it is a good upgrade from stock and everything works swimmingly. To flash it, just download the zip, throw it on your SD card, boot up into bootstrap recovery and flash the zip. No need to wipe anything, the installation will do it automatically.

Acvice said:
No, there is no SBFing required if you don't want to unlock. If youve got bootstrap recovery installed (it doesnt come in an apk so im not sure what you mean) and can boot into it you can start flashing locked roms. The only one that you can flash that is still in development is Mof's rom, though. But it is a good upgrade from stock and everything works swimmingly. To flash it, just download the zip, throw it on your SD card, boot up into bootstrap recovery and flash the zip. No need to wipe anything, the installation will do it automatically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great news ,
Acvice , could u plz educate me also where i can find the bootstrap recovery and how i can flash it
regards

Bootstrap Recovery is an .apk file needs to be side loaded like any app not installed from the Play Store. It can be located by searching the term Bootstrap Recovery Motorola Photon in the search bar.

It never hurts to ask for help, Ill try to help
Hey there mate. Once i had first purchased my photon, cm9 wasnt out as far as i remember, or maybe it was, but it was in really unstable alpha's, but anyways, off topic. Have you read around the developers section yet? As you go through and get farther into the pages, you'll see less of cm10, cm9, and you will see stuff like homebase rom, alien rom, yada yada. As for all of the older roms that dont require you have an unlocked bootloader, i recommend you use rocko. It offers great speed, stability, and it doesnt look half bad. I dont really know where to start as far as helping you in terms of explaining all of the flashing process, but i will point you in the right direction.
When i first began flashing roms these 2 threads became my best friend;
This one covers about it all
This one is even quite educational
For visual aid, qbking helped me just to assure i followed steps correctly with his line of tutorial videos (he also reviewed some roms if you are curious)
I hope those links at least get you pointed in the right direction. It seems like an aweful lot to take in, but, its organised allowing for quick navigation and in reality, you only really have to skim through it.
If you have any questions, feel free to reply and il get back to you when im available, best of luck flashing, and enjoy your photon! :good:

silverhawknike said:
I got Motorola Photon 4G with Android 2.3.4. Already rooted it and install Bootstrap.apk. I want to flash roms but I don't want to unlock bootloader so I can keep my 4G. So i dont need to flash SBF files thingy? And do i need to do Nandroid too? Also what are the some stable roms with working 4G? I heard about Rocko Locked and MOF 2.3.5ish Locked? Is both roms good? If you have any tips, please do tell me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unlock the bootloader and use a custom recovery. bootstrap isn't a true recovery and should only be used if you can't unlock the bootloader.
so i'd go with the custom recovery that way you'll never have to flash an sbf to repair the phone if it gets messed up from flashing locked roms.

na7q said:
unlock the bootloader and use a custom recovery. bootstrap isn't a true recovery and should only be used if you can't unlock the bootloader.
so i'd go with the custom recovery that way you'll never have to flash an sbf to repair the phone if it gets messed up from flashing locked roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the OP states he wants to keep 4g unlocking the bootloader will kill the 4g.

mof9336 said:
Bootstrap Recovery is an .apk file needs to be side loaded like any app not installed from the Play Store. It can be located by searching the term Bootstrap Recovery Motorola Photon in the search bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Woops, my bad on the false info about the bootstrap file Silver. Its been like a year since I had to install bootstrap. Just had a brain fart.

Acvice said:
Woops, my bad on the false info about the bootstrap file Silver. Its been like a year since I had to install bootstrap. Just had a brain fart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries bro.
Sent from my MB855 using xda app-developers app

Related

[Q] Atrix: Bootloader unlocked? What can I do with that?

So I've had my Atrix for a few months now, and it's mostly awesome. I'm coming from having owned an iPhone before, and it's just fantastic. I've stayed away from modding it too much however, since I knew the bootloader was locked and not a lot could really be done. But, according to several posts I see here, the bootloader seems to have been unlocked recently. Yay?
So, I ask that you forgive my ignorance. What does this mean? Does a given ROM need to be modified to work with every model of phone? If so, which ones presently work with the Atrix? Any? (It looks like the unlock was found very recently.) How does that process work exactly? Is there any way to ensure a recovery path if something were to go wrong, so that I don't brick my phone?
I'm just curious here. Presently, my phone is on the stock firmware without any upgrades at all, and I've simply rooted it and installed the webtop mod so I could play games on my TV. Other than that, it's been lots of Android Market for me. I'd like to branch out, and I don't even know where to begin.
There aren't any custom rom's for this yet, there's work being done, so it's just a matter of time. However, there is a developer build from Asia that can be flashed. There are a few issues with it, so if you are averse to troubleshooting or dealing with issues then just wait a few days.
One of the good things you can do right now though is to Unlock it, and then install the Clockwork Mod recovery port in the developer's section. You can use that to make full system backup that you can flash.
Can I flash the UK Firmware on a unlocked ATT Atrix now?
Pretty sure you can at least fastboot flash the CG from the SBF (need system and boot) not sure about flashing the whole SBF. You can try though.
schlupp88 said:
Can I flash the UK Firmware on a unlocked ATT Atrix now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
_Dennis_ said:
Pretty sure you can at least fastboot flash the CG from the SBF (need system and boot) not sure about flashing the whole SBF. You can try though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
_Dennis_ is right. You should sbf_flash -x to extract the UK firmware and use fastboot to flash just boot.img (CG56 in Froyo) and system.img (CG57 in Froyo). If you want to flash the radio, use a custom .sbf (for AT&T) with only the radio. We don't yet know whether you can replace your bootloader with a UK bootloader. We still flashed a signed bootloader to our phone. In the worst case, if you flash a UK signed bootloader and your boot ROM is looking to find an AT&T signature in your bootloader: BAD! It is fairly unclear that the unlock ALSO tells boot ROM not to care about signatures, it may very well still care. And the order of RSD: erase,write,verify is a little dangerous...
I as well, don't know much about this... but as far as I know, this will mean that developers will be able to create real operating systems for the phone and not have to wait for att/moto to do that...
in the past it was an OS from att/moto, and all the "roms" in xda were actually the same OS but with some skins and mods added to them...
Yes, if you look at the development forums for just about any other android phone, you will see full customized ROMs that can be installed. That's where we are headed.
_Dennis_ said:
Pretty sure you can at least fastboot flash the CG from the SBF (need system and boot) not sure about flashing the whole SBF. You can try though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a test with this.
I flashed 1.8.3 SBF over my unlocked bootloader to see if I could use moto-fastboot to flash over a 'stock' bootloader. It works to flash system (since it is still technically unlocked) but fails to flash boot.
So DO NOT TRY TO SBF FLASH A INTERNATIONAL VERSION unless you want to be stuck on the version with no way to get your phone back off.
I also would not flash the boot.img of a international version for the same reason.
beatphreek said:
One of the good things you can do right now though is to Unlock it, and then install the Clockwork Mod recovery port in the developer's section. You can use that to make full system backup that you can flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just finished unlocking and installed the new CWM recovery, just waiting for some roms! About the full system backup with CWM, does is deposit a folder to the SD card I can remove for safe keeping like TIBu? I never used CWM to backup or restore.
climo said:
I just finished unlocking and installed the new CWM recovery, just waiting for some roms! About the full system backup with CWM, does is deposit a folder to the SD card I can remove for safe keeping like TIBu? I never used CWM to backup or restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the backup will be found in a Clockwork folder on your sd card. I also think that when you do the backup you will get to choose the destination. Either sd or external sd.
I haven't used the bl unlock or the new ClockworkMod (Just waiting on a nice rom). But that is how it went for me on the previous CWM that didn't require the unlocked bootloader.
Maybe someone who has this newer stuff can shed a little more light on it.
beatphreek said:
One of the good things you can do right now though is to Unlock it, and then install the Clockwork Mod recovery port in the developer's section. You can use that to make full system backup that you can flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this essentially create an image of your device? Or does it just back up the firmware?
When CWM backs up ur files it creates a image file of
Boot.img
Cache.img
Data.img
recovery.img
system.img
so yes it does use a image.
Y'all talking about custom ROM's and such, no one seems to care about overcloking.. no one seems to realize what a beast a 1.4ghz Atrix would be.
Viamonte said:
Y'all talking about custom ROM's and such, no one seems to care about overcloking.. no one seems to realize what a beast a 1.4ghz Atrix would be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1.
ROMs will sometimes require you to have the custom kernel associated with them. CM7 for the Captivate comes to mind. With custom kernels, the Captivate was a beast. We had the VooDoo lagfix, which actually made the device usable on bootup. We were able to convert all partitions to ext4, and kind-of make the GPS work.
Overclocking is a possibility too. There's so much that is able to be done. It's a bit difficult coming from an iPhone where customization was limited, even with jailbreaking. But you'll soon get the hang of it.
GPS. Nice point too, but Moto itself promisses improvements on the 2.3.4 OTA. This is the most sorely needed fix for me, since my gps SUCKS. It can take anywhere up to 30 minutos to find my locations. Yes, you read that right.
Viamonte said:
GPS. Nice point too, but Moto itself promisses improvements on the 2.3.4 OTA. This is the most sorely needed fix for me, since my gps SUCKS. It can take anywhere up to 30 minutos to find my locations. Yes, you read that right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine works great. You may have a hardware issue?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
JayRolla said:
Mine works great. You may have a hardware issue?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2
It shouldn't take that long to lock on. Mine locks on instantly.

So I need help deciding on a rom/other questions

So for the longest time I had a jailbroken iphone so everything I'm used to is about iOS. I've had my Atrix for about 4 months now and I've been fairly happy with gingerblur, but I heard there was some new updates or other things going on. I dunno if I want an unlocked bootloader, I seriously dont know what to do because I want to start over and just start from scratch.
Suggestions or do I need to provide info? I just want to update my phone
what features do you use currently?
what new features do you want?
To be honest I dunno what features I use
I just want to be able to download apps and not worry about them being locked or not from a "trustworthy" source.
I dont know what's different between gingerblur and stock
I have had the atrix for a while now and right after i got it i rooted and installed gingerblur and was happy with that but being curious i just recently did the update unlocked the BL rooted and am now running the alien rom and am very happy with it. Updating is rarely a bad thing. just takes time Hope this helps
Gloeckner09 said:
I have had the atrix for a while now and right after i got it i rooted and installed gingerblur and was happy with that but being curious i just recently did the update unlocked the BL rooted and am now running the alien rom and am very happy with it. Updating is rarely a bad thing. just takes time Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you post what you did exactly?
what update did you do to unlock the bl? There's so many things I just dont understand no matter what I do
or just links to w/e I dont mind
One bump before I head out for the evening
ok i used a couple different places but ill try to explain
first of all i had titanium backup to restore most of my apps and everything because you will lose everything. just a heads up.
1. I used this to rsd flash the "Full 2.3.4 sbf..."
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138204
2. I then put the phone in fastboot and used this from #13 on
http://briefmobile.com/how-to-unlock-the-atrix-4g-bootloader
3. so now you are on 2.3.4. unlocked you can stay on just that if you want a stock rom. but i recommend rooting haha..
4. I could not get the root from #1 to work so i sorta worked my way around it.
5. I used this to get cwm recovery on my phone
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138541
6. then I flashed this file to obtain root
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1140110
7. Then flashed the alien rom from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1186537
8. thats it i hope you can make sense of it since its kinda screwed up lol but everything is working great for me and im defiantly glad i updated. if you have any questions just ask
also if you do do this make sure you check for updates under development for the rom its already updated a few things in the week that ive had it.
Ok I lied I found what I want
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1186537
I want that on my phone. Now my question is does this come with an "Unlocked bootloader"
Or do I have to do something to get an unlocked bootloader?
What does an unlocked bootloader even mean
what i posted will get you that exactly.
What you have right now is a locked bootloader, rooted with gingerblur from what i understand. with a locked bootloader you cannot have a true rom gingerblur is more of a theme that gets rid of the apps that slow your phone from the factory.
with an unlocked bootloader you can flash true roms and kernels etc..
Do people even try looking...
explanations
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1154600
BL unlock thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1136261
Guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1202883
lol so I'm doing this
http://briefmobile.com/how-to-unlock-the-atrix-4g-bootloader
and when I go to type in oem fastbook unlock this is the result
...
OKAY [0.008s]
finished. total time: 0.008 s
then it's back to C:/users/taylor/desktop/fastboot
lol. the hell
iamblue337 said:
To be honest I dunno what features I use
I just want to be able to download apps and not worry about them being locked or not from a "trustworthy" source.
I dont know what's different between gingerblur and stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can load non market apps using the latest stock software.
You can download this "over the air".

[Q] Custom ROM and Overclock

I have just rooted my Photon. Pretty happy with it. Wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be. Now to overclock it am I gonna have to flash a custom ROM? And if I indeed have to flash a custom ROM, do I have to unlock my bootloader? Or is there a way around that? Thanks for all the info.
There's a few threads floating around about unlocking your bootloader; id be careful though you could possibly break 4G. As far as kernels go, the source was released a week ago so you cant overclock until a dev releases a kernel. You'd need to flash a custom kernel in order to flash roms...
I rooted my phone and left it stock just for a few root apps at least until a new bootloader unlocking method is found and a kernel is ready!
Bootloader thread. Fyi there are ways to retain 4G just check development section.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1216097
As soon as android.git.kernel.org comes back up I'm going to pull in some source code and see if I can cook up a CyanogenMod kernel.
Cool appreciate all the info guys. And as for the 4G. I don't use it and it's not in my area. So I'm not very worried about that to be quite honest. I'm having trouble tryin' to flash a custom ROM on my phone as of now. I don't seem to be doing it right.
Okay. As you two seem to know what's going on. I just flashed the Laser ROM onto my phone. And the su binary is outdated. But when I update, the superuser force closes. Is this common with custom ROM's? I tried to ask in the development page, but as I don't have enough posts, it wouldn't let me post there. Thanks! Also, as a side note. I didn't seem to have to unlock my bootloader to do the laser ROM but the Alien one says I do? Is this true? Again, I know this isn't the right area. but it's the only place I can post. Thanks again guys.
xTMFxOffshore said:
Okay. As you two seem to know what's going on. I just flashed the Laser ROM onto my phone. And the su binary is outdated. But when I update, the superuser force closes. Is this common with custom ROM's? I tried to ask in the development page, but as I don't have enough posts, it wouldn't let me post there. Thanks! Also, as a side note. I didn't seem to have to unlock my bootloader to do the laser ROM but the Alien one says I do? Is this true? Again, I know this isn't the right area. but it's the only place I can post. Thanks again guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you flashed the latest custom recovery right? Also there's an app in the market that helps with the updating of superuser if it fails. Its called "superuser update fixer"; maybe that will help as i didnt have that issue. Yes with alien rom you do but there's a guide that lets you retain 4G with the alien rom.
Bootloader unlock instructions with alien link.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1227867
Thanks Kenny. I appreciate the info. I got that first issue with the su fixed. And I flashed the Laser P-Rom with cwm or whatever it's called. As for 4G, not too concerned with that. But I will see about unlocking the bootloader today. I appreciate all the info.
xTMFxOffshore said:
Thanks Kenny. I appreciate the info. I got that first issue with the su fixed. And I flashed the Laser P-Rom with cwm or whatever it's called. As for 4G, not too concerned with that. But I will see about unlocking the bootloader today. I appreciate all the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't need 4G then flash away and unlock bootloader dude you should have no issues
Yeah. I'm gonna run out and do some stuff, come home then unlock my bootloader and flash that Alien ROM. How difficult is it to unlock the bootloader?
xTMFxOffshore said:
Yeah. I'm gonna run out and do some stuff, come home then unlock my bootloader and flash that Alien ROM. How difficult is it to unlock the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not difficult at all if you managed to root your phone lol
Overclock photon pleaseee
I want to know who's gonna be the first to post a overclock kernel for the photon
Cool Thanks again Man. I'm gonna try to do this tonight. But I keep getting caught up working on someones car or doing something of that nature. ha. But tonight hopefully! I'll post back once I do it and get the Alien ROM flashed.
No such luck, I can't flash the SDF file or something like that. and I'm not really all that intune with what I'm doing. So I don't know what's wrong and I keep getting a failed when I try to flash it. So I think I'm just kinda stuck not having an unlocked bootloader.
Okay. As I wanted to throw my phone at the wall but though better of it. And I really don't understand the Pudding thread. As I read through it. I used this http://briefmobile.com/motorola-photon-4g-bootloader-unlocked to no avail. I got a fail to flash on RSD Lite when attempting to flash the derpun.spf So now that I've come to a point of impass. Any ideas?
xTMFxOffshore said:
Okay. As I wanted to throw my phone at the wall but though better of it. And I really don't understand the Pudding thread. As I read through it. I used this http://briefmobile.com/motorola-photon-4g-bootloader-unlocked to no avail. I got a fail to flash on RSD Lite when attempting to flash the derpun.spf So now that I've come to a point of impass. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was your phone at least 50% charged when you attempted it? If it wasn't you will get errors! Maybe you skipped out on a command? You should try posting the error you're getting in the bootloader thread so a few devs can see it. I would imagine many of them hang around their section and not general lol.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1216097
It's the same error that photon pudding thread spoke of, Tried to use that fix. Didn't work. And the rest of it I can't make any sense of. I don't follow it, and the stupid site I used didn't work. So unless there is an easier way that is more clear to unlock it. I think I'm SOL.
xTMFxOffshore said:
It's the same error that photon pudding thread spoke of, Tried to use that fix. Didn't work. And the rest of it I can't make any sense of. I don't follow it, and the stupid site I used didn't work. So unless there is an easier way that is more clear to unlock it. I think I'm SOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im waiting for an easier method myself that doesn't break 4G. Lol.
Yeah, someone was saying that his flash failed, but to run the fastboot. now I'm stuck at that. How the hell do I run the fastboot? haha.
Got it done. :]
xTMFxOffshore said:
Got it done. :]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice!!!! Im sure you're ready to flash away lol. Congrats dude!

[Q] Flash ROM in Canada (Rogers)?

Hello,
I am getting a bit confused with all the threads and I really don't want to mess up my phone. I have rooted it and my background is the Xperia X10, on Rogers too. I would like to test out some different ROMs or maybe even the ICS Rom that just came out from the EternityProject team. However, if I understood, there is no way to revert back to stock since we have a locked bootloader. Can anyone could just guide me to threads step by step? I read the tutorial to flash the Arctic Rom, but I am not sure what to do. Is the bootstrap recovery this? If so I guess I can go from there... I was a bit scared since it was saying unofficial. Would it work for Rogers Canada? Most of the things I see are for US or Europe.. Please help me out, would be much appreciated!
I just reread the bootstrap thread.. Having a question regarding this. There is a note stating that you can only access it through Android.. I am guessing I need to reinstall the bootstrap everytime I flash a ROM.. right? Sorry, pretty lost. Thanks for any help! I just feel like it was wayyy easier with my X10..
I came from the X10 on rogers too!, I seems the X10 was way easier to understand and mod. I am so lost with all this motorola stuff too!
Advise
Hey there guys, well I would advise not to flash anything unless you have at least a ClockWork backup of your phone after you rooted and installed the bootstrap recovery. The bootstrap recovery is an .apk file which you install and run from the phone itself not in recovery mode like most other unlocked bootloaders.
I'm holding off myself because there is no full flash file from Rogers as of yet, the closest one is the Brazil Xt910 flash using RDSlite. Still if you flash that if something goes wrong with your tweaking you won't get the CSC files from the Rogers Rom unless I guess you back them up. I'm not quite sure if you can actually pull the csc files from the rogers and port it over but it's worth a try if your daring.
At the moment I'm content with root and backing up the system folders and other partitions just in case something goes wrong, remember to backup your efs as well.
Thx for ur input gdmuscle, makes more sense now. I might risk it once there is a stable Ice Cream Sandwich ROM. I admit for now it is kind of useless to risk that much with the lack of ROM choices. Much appreciated!
And Chriskwan, yea, was much easier with the X10 lol. Good to see some canadians feeling the same way! Btw I am in contact with Moto to see when the update should arrive at Rogers.. Will make a thread if i get an update
After playing around with a Rogers Droid Razr the past 3-4 days trying to figure out ROMs and such, I can safely say I will never actually BUY this device.
There is WAY more community support for the Galaxy S2, and it is a lot easier to manage. Flashing via odin, is MUCH simpler. The stupid fastboot crap is annoying.
well for the razr its much easier than using odin i can assure u that...
1. get the root package and root your phone ... its a simple script u run and it does the rest...
2. get bootstrap.apk and cwm-on-boot.zip ... put the cwm zip in the root of your sd card (external sd)... install the bootstrap ... reboot into your recovery using the app... and then install the cwm on boot zip...
3. make nandroid backup (mad slow)
4. get the deodexed rom needed for arctic... wipe, install that
5. install Arctic...
thats the condensed guide ofcourse... just a few setup steps u need to follow...
As opposed to what? Running SuperOneClick? Because that is all I did and it worked perfectly for my Galaxy S Captivate.
I should mention that just gives me root, but from there installing CWM was relatively easy, and there is nothing more complicated.
The Razr is a great device, but it is to me a PITA compared to the Galaxy S series in terms of Android Development.
gdmuscle said:
Hey there guys, well I would advise not to flash anything unless you have at least a ClockWork backup of your phone after you rooted and installed the bootstrap recovery. The bootstrap recovery is an .apk file which you install and run from the phone itself not in recovery mode like most other unlocked bootloaders.
I'm holding off myself because there is no full flash file from Rogers as of yet, the closest one is the Brazil Xt910 flash using RDSlite. Still if you flash that if something goes wrong with your tweaking you won't get the CSC files from the Rogers Rom unless I guess you back them up. I'm not quite sure if you can actually pull the csc files from the rogers and port it over but it's worth a try if your daring.
At the moment I'm content with root and backing up the system folders and other partitions just in case something goes wrong, remember to backup your efs as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish i read that before i started to mess with my phone. I used a tutorial to try to add a custom rom to my phone and read people with rogers with success but i guess i was one of those who messed up. Now my phone just turns on and stays at the motorola screen
can either of you post the backup file of your rogers ROM
Yes that would be very useful to try
where is the efs folder?

[Q] Why do I need fastboot?

Hi All -
New to this phone obviously (RAZR MAXX). Trying to get a grasp on it, as it's way more complicated than HTC and Samsung phones. I've rooted and installed 100s of custom ROMs with those brands before. This is my 1st Motorola since the Motorola V120c if anyone is old enough to remember that dinosaur. On nTelos' network nonetheless.
I have some questions that I would like answered and I hope someone will do me the honor as the content is really sporadic.
What is Fastboot for this device, what does it do?
Safestrap & Bootstrap? What's the difference? Which is better?
Can I flash ROMS through CWM like I have in the past?
What purpose does RSD Lite serve other than to flash Fasboot files?
Why would I want to flash fastboot? (Redundant question I think)
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to help me out.
I rooted and flash the crap out of my last phone which was Samsung. This phone seems really complex. I'm really on my toes, don't want to brick my phone. But I do want to root to get rid of the bloatware and test out some roms. The stock OS is laggy at times.
Honestly I really like the Stock OS as is. It does seem laggy at times, but nothing worse than I've run into on HTC or Samsung phones.
HTC Sense UI was/is terrible since it's so bloated and Samsung couldn't make a GPS radio capable of locating a mall let alone provide directions to anywhere. Terrible phones.
So far this phone is awesome, really bought it for the battery life honestly.
I too would like to DELETE the garbage that Verizon has installed on this thing. In terms of bloat, Verizon takes it to a whole new level. Just wow.
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
midas69 said:
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted mine 5 mins after activating it haha. As far a bloat, just use titanium pro and freeze it. Very simple. I froze around 35 apps and haven't had any issues associated w it. Should an ota come I should be prompted still. Just unfreeze all apps. Accept ota, reroot. If it breaks root completly then eventually it will get root again. I actually Ind, e system to run very well but honestly have no idea how just stock runs as I froze these apps instantly. I did not safe strap or bootstrap but I had previous knowledge of things I should be able to freeze and not and I figured it out myself
I find this phone so easy. There YouTube videos on everything.
To Get bootstrap, all you need to do is press one button, this phone has to be the easiest I've been on. The only people that struggle are the desperate ones that cba to search the forums And YouTube
Ask us any Android Related Question @FeraLabsDevs on Twitter
IdowhatIwant said:
Hi All -
What is Fastboot for this device, what does it do?
Safestrap & Bootstrap? What's the difference? Which is better?
Can I flash ROMS through CWM like I have in the past?
What purpose does RSD Lite serve other than to flash Fasboot files?
Why would I want to flash fastboot? (Redundant question I think)
Thanks to anyone that takes the time to help me out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Fastboot: its just the stock bootloader, can flash moto updates/factory reset/wipe cache. it also lets you into AP fastboot, which is where u recover stock with rsd.
- Safestrap/bootstrap: bootstrap is currently our only way of CWM on the gsm phones, i understand safestrap is pretty much like dualbooting except its not(only its not completely compatible with gsm)
- can you flash with cwm: YES!
- another purpose for rsd: i have only used it for recovering after ics, so idk.
- why flash a fastboot image?: if you mess up badly or get a bootloop you can recover back to stock
midas69 said:
I'm in the same boat. Only had the phone for 2 days so far. I've already rooted it, but haven't gone any farther. But in some of my reading, I thought I saw that removing the bloatware can cause OTA updates to not happen. Hopefully someone can shed some more light on that issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
removing bloatware will cause you to be unable to get ota's (freezing and then unfreezing with TiB before ota update works fine, as long as you don't uninstall).
but i think its enough to just flash a fastboot with rsd (fully return to stock), then you can get the ota
Look here:
aashrey99razr.wordpress.com
Helped me out a lot!
Gesendet von meinem XT910 mit Tapatalk
Addictd said:
removing bloatware will cause you to be unable to get ota's (freezing and then unfreezing with TiB before ota update works fine, as long as you don't uninstall).
but i think its enough to just flash a fastboot with rsd (fully return to stock), then you can get the ota
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid I deleted one app before I was aware of this. TiB shows that I made a backup of it, but doesn't give me the option to restore it. Guess I'm screwed.
hehe, probably not
did you make a cwm backup prior to uninstalling the app(s)?
then you could just restore that
if not the titanium backup file should be on your internal sdcard in /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup as a gzipped .apk with a kinda cryptic filename
you could try ungzipping it and installing with a file explorer.
or you could just backup with cwm and flash the correct fastbootimage for your phone from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362956
usind rsd lite
and that should do it
but why not just flash a fastboot and isntall arctic 3.0.5?
Addictd said:
hehe, probably not
did you make a cwm backup prior to uninstalling the app(s)?
then you could just restore that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course not, that would be too easy
if not the titanium backup file should be on your internal sdcard in /mnt/sdcard/TitaniumBackup as a gzipped .apk with a kinda cryptic filename
you could try ungzipping it and installing with a file explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a file there, but it doesn't have an .apk. There's a gzip file, inside that is a tar file. In there are imbedded data directories, but no actual files.
or you could just backup with cwm and flash the correct fastbootimage for your phone from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362956
usind rsd lite
and that should do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might take that route when the next update is ready.
But why not just flash a fastboot and isntall arctic 3.0.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as I said, I only got the phone Saturday, and I work weekends.
But I've got an issue hooking up to my work email account. I was unable to get it working on my Touchpad using CM7 or CM9. I originally bought a Galaxy Nexus and had no luck with that either, thus I bought the Razr. I still can't get the native apps to work, but at least Touchdown semi-works (no Activesync). So I'm actually a little gun shy about trying new things.
Addictd said:
- Safestrap/bootstrap: bootstrap is currently our only way of CWM on the gsm phones, i understand safestrap is pretty much like dualbooting except its not(only its not completely compatible with gsm)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that mean that we can't use ROM Manager or do we just need to use Bootstrap to install CWM and than use ROM Manager like we otherwise would? I got used to that app on my old phone.
I got a GSM RAZR and I have just rooted, the root script pushed in my phone some app called Bionic Bootstrapper, which gives me options Bootstrap Recovery and Reboot Recovery, what does each of them do? I don't plan on changing ROMs for now, but I definitely need to be able to recover the system.
It appears there isn't any real root on this device since the bootloader is locked. Samsung and HTC devices have their BLs unlocked so it's easier to make a permanent Recovery that will persist on reboot. I'm speculating of course, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Reboot recovery should reboot the phone to a ClockworkMod style "DOS" menu that allows you to preform functions like Back up, install zip files or even a new ROM.
When I did it, it rebooted a triangle and exclamation point, with an android guy on it. I was worried at that point. I hit the power button and the Recovery loaded instantly. Not sure if that's normal, but it's quite shakey compared to other devices out there.
I love this phone, so don't me wrong. It's just going to take some getting used to.
i dont think all of rom managers functions will work :/
bootstrap recovery: installs recovery (you only have to do this once)
reboot recovery: reboots your phone into cwm
the thing is the bootloader is locked, so we cant put cwm into the stock fastboot.
there is however a little workaround made by J.Y.Daddy that starts cwm everytime you boot, but this is installed in your rom, not in the stock fastboot, so you have to reinstall it when you flash a new rom :/
onboot cwm link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385283
Addictd said:
i dont think all of rom managers functions will work :/
bootstrap recovery: installs recovery (you only have to do this once)
reboot recovery: reboots your phone into cwm
the thing is the bootloader is locked, so we cant put cwm into the stock fastboot.
there is however a little workaround made by J.Y.Daddy that starts cwm everytime you boot, but this is installed in your rom, not in the stock fastboot, so you have to reinstall it when you flash a new rom :/
onboot cwm link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385283
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there some way to otherwise boot into CWM enviroment, some combination of keys or something like on other phones? Not much use for CWM if you brick your phone and can't boot into it. Also, is installed CWM not going to cause a problem for regular OTA updates and do we need to reinstall it afterwards?
From what I understood, Motorola has put some sort of recovery environment on this phone already, but I don't know what it can be used for.
And I have GSM version, bootloader is not locked, so I don't have to worry about that.
laserburn said:
Is there some way to otherwise boot into CWM enviroment, some combination of keys or something like on other phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's a workaround by J.Y.Darry that makes it boot into cwm on every boot.
there is no keycombo for cwm booting. but you can boot into fastboot with both volumekeys + power
where you can go into stock "recovery" and AP fastboot
you will use AP fastboot in combination with RSD lite to flash back to stock if u mess up, there are also more options in fastboot, but i have never used them.
laserburn said:
Not much use for CWM if you brick your phone and can't boot into it. Also, is installed CWM not going to cause a problem for regular OTA updates and do we need to reinstall it afterwards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you will use cwm to flash custom roms and make backups
then if you mess up and want to recover a backup you have to
- set phone in ap fastboot mode
- connect razr to computer
- use rsd lite(or an alternative flashtool) to flash the fastbootfile for your phone
- root and install bootstrapper
- reboot into cwm and restore backup
i dont think cwm in itself will cause any problems for OTA's. but if you install a custom rom its a different story
as long as you have the bootstrapper app installed on your phone, you should be able to bootstrap recovery and boot into cwm
laserburn said:
From what I understood, Motorola has put some sort of recovery environment on this phone already, but I don't know what it can be used for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes they have put a rudimentary recovery in it. but you can only use it to apply updates from sdcard (to manually download ota and install), wipe and factory reset. (someone correct me if i'm wrong here)
laserburn said:
And I have GSM version, bootloader is not locked, so I don't have to worry about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry to be the bringer of bad news. but i have gsm too. mine is locked, so i'm pretty solid your bl is too
troollolotorola -.-
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
laserburn said:
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I agree with you. Rooting, flashing, CWM all 100 times easier on HTC and Samsung phones.
Don't get wrong though, I Love my RAZR Maxx, and the default OS is actually OK. Which is good because it seems that there is little to zero developement for the CDMA version of the droid RAZR/MAXX at the moment, if at all.
they're all over on the HTC/Sammy forums =D
laserburn said:
Damn, how I miss my old phone where rooting was 1 click on the app and you could swap ROMs as easy as swapping socks.
How could I check if the bootloader is locked and what consequences does it have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if/when we get the BL unlocked this phone will be a dream
there is this utility made by mattlgrof u can use to check bl lock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1486718
IdowhatIwant said:
Yeah I agree with you. Rooting, flashing, CWM all 100 times easier on HTC and Samsung phones.
Don't get wrong though, I Love my RAZR Maxx, and the default OS is actually OK. Which is good because it seems that there is little to zero developement for the CDMA version of the droid RAZR/MAXX at the moment, if at all.
they're all over on the HTC/Sammy forums =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ain't no agruing with that, but they don't make as sweet looking and solid phones i hope motorola pull their head out of their ass soon...
Development for the cdma version is found mostly on droidrzr.com (plenty of beta/alpha ICS and some GB roms) but they are missing some parts, so we have to wait till motorola release ics be4 they will be complete.
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/index
for all you non-cdma users out there, u should check out the cdma to gsm patch
http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/1233-cdma-port-cm9aokp-givesomelovetogsm/

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