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Root [Guide] How to block upgrades and updates on Motorola Bionic

Satires

Android Expert
Jan 28, 2012
772
123
Nowhere land..
Warning: Anything you choose to do with your phone is your choice and at your own risk. This is merely of my own experience with the Droid x and the Droid Bionic. I'm not responsible if you fork your phone up. Follow this guide at your own risk!

So you're thinking that you do not want to upgrade your Bionic/Motorola device? Sick of the nag screens? Worried about the update slipping past and going through on it's own and not on your terms?

(See "Edit 10-27-2012" at the bottom of this post before continuing)

My method is to first root the phone and install busybox, there is no other way for this method.

Once successfully rooted you can grab esfile explorer which is free or if you want to support a developer, you can buy root explorer. Both will get the job done. Which ever file explorer you choose, you will have to allow it superuser privileges and you have to give the file explorer permission to read and write.

Now, go to the root of the phone which is "/", then go to "System/app and find BlurUpdater_VZW.apk and Upgrader.apk.

Rename the file extension to ".Bak" at the end of both files. They should now look like this. BlurUpdater_VZW.bak and Upgrader.bak.

I do it this way because when I set up a rooted phone, I set it up how I like, sign into all of my accounts and set all of my application settings to my desires, then I do a full back up with bionic bootstrap (Made only for bionics).

If you find this guide, I imagine it should work on all Motorolas the same way. But keep in mind, each Motorola device may have it's own nandroid and bootstrap app and this guide was designed for Verizon in mind, I don't know if the files are different for other carriers. I do it this way because if I have to restore a backup, I already know those files will remain named they way I chose in case I forget.

Or, I believe you can simply just freeze them. I personally don't care for apps that freeze, I like to rename files, but that's my personal preference. I'm not a professional at hacking phones. If you have tips and different methods, please share them.
I'm writing this guide because when I wanted to know how, I spent hours looking. So I deliberately titled this post to show up on the search engines.

Edit 10-27-2012:

A special thanks to doogald for helping on this particular issue. :)

If you by chance downloaded the ICS upgrade and do not want to upgrade to ICS. Before rooting or renaming files you should clear the cache folder (Where the download is believed to be).

1.) Shut the phone down.

2.) Hold down both volume buttons at the same time (Vol-up/Vol-down). Then press and hold the power button. This will get you into stock recovery.

3.) Press the volume down button one time to highlight recovery then press the volume up key one time. (Pressing on the volume up key is how recovery is selected to execute)

4.) Wait a moment till you see either a triangle (Gingerbread) or an android figure with his middle section opened (Ice cream sandwich).

5.) Once a again, press both the volume up and the volume down keys at the same time. This will bring you into the desired recovery area.

6.) Use the volume down button to highlight "Wipe cache partition".

7.) Press the power button and the cache will be erased/formatted.

8.) After format is completed, use the volume up button to highlight "Reboot system" and press the power button.

9.) Follow above section to then rename the files.

I would guess to say it would be better to wipe the cache first so the update doesn't start accidentally on a reboot while rooting. I don't know that it would, I felt this would be this best option to format that cache first and rid the system of the update files first. :)
 
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Now, go to the root of the phone which is "/", then go to "System/app and find BlurUpdater_VZW.apk and Upgrader.apk.

Rename the file extension to ".Bak" at the end of both files. They should now look like this. BlurUpdater_VZW.bak and Upgrader.bak.

Just a quick note that you should also do the same thing for these two files in /system/app:

rename BlurUpdater_VZW.odex to BlurUpdater_VZW.odex.bak
rename Upgrader.odex to Upgrader.odex.bak
 
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Just a quick note that you should also do the same thing for these two files in /system/app:

rename BlurUpdater_VZW.odex to BlurUpdater_VZW.odex.bak
rename Upgrader.odex to Upgrader.odex.bak

I appreciate the feed back to help members. :)

So please don't think I mean to sound like a smart @as asking this...

Why? I never did. It appears to be redundant. I mean, it wouldn't hurt anything to do as you suggest. I never messed with odex files on my Droid x or Bionics. And have never been pestered to update.

Is there a benefit? :)
 
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I appreciate the feed back to help members. :)

So please don't think I mean to sound like a smart @as asking this...

Why? I never did. It appears to be redundant. I mean, it wouldn't hurt anything to do as you suggest. I never messed with odex files on my Droid x or Bionics. And have never been pestered to update.

Is there a benefit? :)

Actually, just an old habit from the old days when people removed these apps.
 
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Actually, just an old habit from the old days when people removed these apps.

Oh, okay. :) I can see if one physically removed an system app instead renaming.

I asked because I thought maybe there was something I didn't know that would bring some benefit. But it sure wouldn't hurt either. :)

I hope you didn't take it the wrong way. :)
 
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Gosh, no. It was a great question and made me do some Googling. I wondered of maybe having the odex file meant that the app just may run if called; it won't. Removing the .apk file from view will be sufficient.

(Relieved), Thank you. :)

I have a question. I was trying to help a guy out who already downloaded the update, but doesn't want to update. He wants to know where it downloaded to.

Will a stock recovery cache wipe be sufficient to delete the pending ota zip file for him once he blocks the update?

Either way I would like to know how users can delete it so I can update the guide for people in that situation where they have already downloaded the ota for what ever reason but do not want to upgrade.
 
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As far as I know, all ota downloads are saved to /cache. So, I would think that blocking the updated, restarting the phone to stock recovery and wiping the cache partition should stop the prompting. Wiping cache will not hurt, though I should increase the boot time the next time the phone is restarted (one time.)

That said, I do not know for sure, but /cache was always where ota updates have been downloaded in the past.
 
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That guy here... Satires, Thank you for the write-up. doogald, Thank you for the additional information. The instructions look straightforward and easy to understand.

Based on your conversation, it looks like I may be able to clear the cache and remove the update file without rooting the phone. I am wondering if this will take me back a step to where we are prompted to download the file again. Then again, it already thinks it has the file so the results may be unpredictable. Hard to say, but may be acceptable for now as it would prevent installation on reboot.

This prompts another question - if I clear the cache, what else am I going to get rid of? temp files? other stuff that would normally be reconstructed as the software executes...

It is my wifes' phone and she doesn't want to root it. She is not that technical and doesn't want me doing something to hose the phone. I can't blame her and am trying to be careful.

Thanks again for putting this together. I had started researching rooting the phone, etc. but had to pause due to prep for Sandy - we're in a lull now waiting for the back side of the storm to hit. They currently estimate there are 1.3 mil people without power in Phila / Central and Southern NJ / Del. area with many more to come. It may take me a while to return. I'm not ignoring you. Surfing the internet by candlelight is painfully slow.
 
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That guy here... Satires, Thank you for the write-up. doogald, Thank you for the additional information. The instructions look straightforward and easy to understand.

Based on your conversation, it looks like I may be able to clear the cache and remove the update file without rooting the phone. I am wondering if this will take me back a step to where we are prompted to download the file again. Then again, it already thinks it has the file so the results may be unpredictable. Hard to say, but may be acceptable for now as it would prevent installation on reboot.

This prompts another question - if I clear the cache, what else am I going to get rid of? temp files? other stuff that would normally be reconstructed as the software executes...

It is my wifes' phone and she doesn't want to root it. She is not that technical and doesn't want me doing something to hose the phone. I can't blame her and am trying to be careful.

Thanks again for putting this together. I had started researching rooting the phone, etc. but had to pause due to prep for Sandy - we're in a lull now waiting for the back side of the storm to hit. They currently estimate there are 1.3 mil people without power in Phila / Central and Southern NJ / Del. area with many more to come. It may take me a while to return. I'm not ignoring you. Surfing the internet by candlelight is painfully slow.

I don't know that it would redownload on it's own or not to be honest with you. There's always ways to save a bricked phone.

As long as you follow the instructions you shouldn't have a problem. But I understand if you wish not to. I P.M.d another guy over on the other forum and he said his phone updated on it's own.

Clearing the cache never hurts anything. :)

You could do a manual check to see if it prompts you to download again. If it does, than you have successfully got rid of the original download. :) Just don't redownload. :)
 
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Thank you, Thank you , Thank you.

I followed steps 1 through 8 above and cleared the cache successfully. BTW - on step 4 both the triangle and android figure were displayed. Upon reboot a message box appeared - 'An unknown error occurred' with an ok button. I selected the ok button and the system continued to boot.

Once everything was up, I checked for updates and was presented with the message - 'update will download in' with a countdown timer. I selected cancel.

This is great! It takes us back a step in the update / upgrade process and allows us to avoid installing the update on a reboot, without rooting the phone. I am sure there is a task that will check for updates periodically, so I expect to see the download or install messages again. With this procedure we can prevent the automatic installation.

Thank you again!
 
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Update - overnight the phone checked for updates and downloaded the update file. I was prompted with the 'Install Update' window and selected 'Later'. A few moments later the cache was cleared and we're good, again. I am very happy with this process to hold off ICS until I am ready, and they issue the first update...
 
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Im having the same issue and am going to attempt the same fix. My question is "does the fact that he saw the triangle symbol and the ics symbol change the process at all?" Thanks in advance for your assistance.

I apologize for keeping you waiting, I needed a break from the forum.

I'm not sure what you mean? What's your goal? To block the update all together or just delete the downloaded update from your cache?
 
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