The quest for stock - Moto Z Questions & Answers

Hello,
I have searched a lot on xda and google and didn't find any answer thus far. Maybe somebody knows this.
I have Griffin model 1650-03 I believe. It was running 7.1 stock RETEU. I have unlocked the bootloader, and proceeded to install the 8.0 a whole ago RETUS (I believe it was the december one). Worked fine, installed magisk and it bootlooped. No problem, I'll just install a custom 8.0 ROM (currently RRO), working fin for months, but now, for reasons and mods, I got to install stock. I usually don't use this device, my main is a Google, so I have read countless posts about how dangerous it is to install stock back, devices bricking left and right. I came across an unbricking solution just in case, but sadly that is for nougat faults, oreo is no-go. And all the guides I've found here and on Google are for 7.1 and I'm on 8.1 with feb security patch. I believe I still have the bootloader from that RETUS update.
TLDR, what is a safe way to return to stock from Custom 8.1 rom?
Thanks

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I think since the stock rom is 8.0 it might brick your device... Not sure though.

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snsone said:
Hello,
I have searched a lot on xda and google and didn't find any answer thus far. Maybe somebody knows this.
I have Griffin model 1650-03 I believe. It was running 7.1 stock RETEU. I have unlocked the bootloader, and proceeded to install the 8.0 a whole ago RETUS (I believe it was the december one). Worked fine, installed magisk and it bootlooped. No problem, I'll just install a custom 8.0 ROM (currently RRO), working fin for months, but now, for reasons and mods, I got to install stock. I usually don't use this device, my main is a Google, so I have read countless posts about how dangerous it is to install stock back, devices bricking left and right. I came across an unbricking solution just in case, but sadly that is for nougat faults, oreo is no-go. And all the guides I've found here and on Google are for 7.1 and I'm on 8.1 with feb security patch. I believe I still have the bootloader from that RETUS update.
TLDR, what is a safe way to return to stock from Custom 8.1 rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restore the TWRP backup you did for the stock rom, if you didn't do a TWRP backup you should be fine flashing stock rom the same version you had before installing custom ROMs. Remember if you get a brick it means you are most likely downgrading or upgrading (upgrade should be done with OTA and incrementally to stay safe)

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Vcek said:
Restore the TWRP backup you did for the stock rom, if you didn't do a TWRP backup you should be fine flashing stock rom the same version you had before installing custom ROMs. Remember if you get a brick it means you are most likely downgrading or upgrading (upgrade should be done with OTA and incrementally to stay safe)
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Click to collapse
Hello, thank for replying,
So I should be fine if I install via fastboot the same stock RETUS I did before going custom. Should I ota over motorola's software or fastboot? Also, can I be able to OTA RETEU over RETUS?
Thank you

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snsone said:
Hello, thank for replying,
So I should be fine if I install via fastboot the same stock RETUS I did before going custom. Should I ota over motorola's software or fastboot? Also, can I be able to OTA RETEU over RETUS?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend OTA through the device but it's not reversible (once you flash it you can't downgrade because of bootloader upgrade)
Flashing reteu over retus should be fine as long as you are doing it manually and are aware which partitions you are flashing and which you are omitting. I don't recommend this because sometimes it can break certain things like wifi or data signal (especially if you are on stock rom) and doing OTA later through the device can cause errors
Tldr;
If you want to stay on stock rom, flash back to stock then update everything through rom
If you need root or play around with custom ROMs then don't flash anything just reinstall a stock-like custom ROM

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https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z/how-to/guide-how-to-install-official-oreo-t3768712 this is the guide i've used to update to oreo (which is RETUS and my device is RETEU), then installed RRO. My guess is I have to install all oreo partitions again (I installed all as stated in that guide) and let it do its OTAs. I had no problems with IMEI and signal on RRO.