[Sprint] Quick question about root and OTA

[mbw]

It has been awhile since I messed with this stuff. Coming from HTC EVO 4g and going to Sprint Nexus tomorrow. It's currently got ICS on it from the store, If I root it (Still need to track down how that is done these days) and then wait, will the 4.1 (or 4.1.1 or whatever) OTA give me any trouble? (Will it un-root me?)

I am guessing ill change the recovery to something else and then run something to root?

I'd prefer to be lazy and just get 4.1 from OTA, I know that I can put it on myself, but I remember it being a pain to mess with all of this on the HTC. Ill keep reading so feel free to call me a newb. Thanks! Everyone who contributes on these forums is awesome. Thanks for all the work you do!

Mike

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

If you root, you will no longer be able to accept OTAs, however this is not a bad thing. When you root you can often get updates before unrooted people get them because you can flash a ROM built from source. I have 4.1.1 on my phone and it isn't even out for our phones yet. The best way to root a Galaxy Nexus is through recovery, you can find a guide on how to do that here. Rooting this phone is a lot easier than rooting an Evo, trust me. That guide is what a lot of people on this forum have used and it has worked for all of them.

 

[mbw]

Ok, That makes sense. I guess part of the motivation for wanting to stick with the OTA is the stability. It is just a lot of work to track all the news here and figure out what is working and what is not. From what I understand it will be better on Nexus.

Do you guys maintain a site somewhere that makes it simple to know what is working and what is being worked on? Is part of the issue the sprint specific radio? The rest would seem to be the same as the GSM nexus correct? (I have a GSM nexus from Google I/O, 4.1.1 is amazing. Not sure exactly why I am sticking with Sprint to be honest. Wife is on a sprint iphone 4 starting tomorrow).

 

[mbw]

Can I do the following?

1. new phone
2. put CWM recovery on it
3. create nandroid backup (correct terminology?)
4. root phone, flash 4.1.1
5. hear that OTA 4.1 is out
6. restore nandoid, get OTA
7. make another nandroid (unrooted)
8. root again on 4.1
does that work?

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

There is a way to do that (just not the way you have listed) but there isn't really a point to, because you can flash a rooted version of the OTA normally before the OTA is even out. You could also install CM10 which is a stock android ROM with a lot of awesome added features that should be in stock Android.

 

[AARONONE]

You "could" do that, but keep in mind that by the time we get an ota, rooted 4.1 ROMs will already be WAY more refined and polished. By accepting an ota, you would likely be taking a step back and losing customizations. I will bet that CM 10 today is already better than the ota we will eventually get. Most 4.1 ROMs are fully functional and don't have issues. Also, when you accept an ota, the root process becomes harder because the exploit is usually closed.

I also had the og and there were lots of "glitches" when rooted. None of which are present on the nexus. I have been rooted since 20 minutes after my purchase and have had no root specific problems. In fact, everything about this phone is better and easier than the og. Urge wrote a foolproof rooting process and it takes maybe 10 minutes. Its your phone and you should do what you feel comfortable with, but I would root and not look back. Plus if you don't like it, you can always revert back.

 

[9to5cynic]

Because like a lot of us you are coming from an evo, I feel like saying this might be helpful.

With my evo, I flashed a lot of roms. At one point I think I flashed three a week or something like that. Not even enough time to let them settle in and get a decent feel for them.

With the nexus, after messing up with my first rom (bad DL), I put on CM10. I also downloaded a correct version of my first rom. Haven't even tried to flash it yet. There's no need to. As of now, I am perfectly content with CM10.

On the evo, several of the AOSP roms feel like you were running aftermarket software. With the nexus, it feels like you're running software that was made for the phone. It's great. Unless sprint decides that by having their official 4.1 means that I get a $5 add on to my google wallet (which I don't use - just an example ) I don't see myself ever doing that....


---

But yeah, you *could* do something like that. And, welcome to the party! epsi:

 

[mbw]

Ok guys. Got my sprint gnex and its got clockwork recovery, rooted, sitting on stock 4.0.4.

now im just going through threads, reading, trying to figure out what rom to go to.

Changing roms is fun, and I can easily reset almost everything on my phone. I don't mind doing that, but I have one issue that I want to ask.

I use the Verisign "VIP Access" app for work to do two factor authentication. It has a credential ID in it and gives me a new pin every 30 seconds. I have tried to back it up with titanium backup pro and restore it to another device and it gives me errors. I can't find a way to backup and restore it with the same id. So, that makes it a huge pain to flash roms and loose my data, because I have to go through our IT department each time to tell them my new pin..... any ideas on how to solve that?

 

[mbw]

Ok, so I think the issue is it is somehow signed per machine (phone).. so if I back it up on the new phone it should restore ok on the same phone. So ill just reset my credential id with our IT department once and it should stick.

I will confirm that though since someone else might come across this thread later.

 

[mbw]

This is my newb thread, ill just keep it going...


lets say I go with the unofficial AOKP JB rom. Will that not come with a newer kernel in it? I guess what I am asking is, why do people run another kernel, lean for example?

Where is the main place to go and read about lean and how to install it, etc?

What does "180 underclock" mean?

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

We run different kernels because we can lol and because normally a different kernel runs better. Lean for example has insane battery life for me and I can't tell a difference in performance (and I'm underclocked), your results may vary though. Underclocking is when you clock the processor slower than stock which helps save battery, 180 is probably the amount lowered. Our stock clock speed is 1200, I personally keep mine at about 920 on lean.

 

[mbw]

Again, Thanks for the help. I think I will try the Trinity kernel on the JB AOKP rom first.

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

Again, Thanks for the help. I think I will try the Trinity kernel on the JB AOKP rom first.

No problem, here to help.

 

[scary alien]

Let me clarify a few points and offer some other alternatives to the above discussion:

1. Simply rooting will not keep you from accepting or installing an OTA

2. There are a couple of reasons for an OTA installation to fail:

• you have a non-stock (custom) recovery installed
• you have moved/deleted/renamed a system file

An OTA is installed by a stock recovery and the things that it checks (presence and digest comparisons) for must match, otherwise the OTA will fail to install.

3. If, by rooting, you mean installing the root binaries, su and Superuser.apk, then when an OTA installs, the su binary will be stripped of its suid rights/permissions and you will lose root

4. You can, however, save/protect/preserve root on your GNex with an app like OTA RootKeeper or my Android Root Toolkit app (see the link in my signature); after your OTA has been installed, you simply run the restore root function to re-obtain your root capabilities

5. If you want to root without installing a custom recovery, you need only softboot the custom recovery to flash your su.zip to install the root binaries. Softbooting simply temporarily runs the custom recovery "in memory" (that sounds funny because its all "memory") but does not flash it. The steps would be like this:

• assume you've already unlocked the bootloader
• reboot into fastboot/bootloader mode
• fastboot boot my-recovery-image-name.img
• flash your su.zip file using the custom recovery
• reboot and enjoy root

6. Also, you CAN flash a custom recovery temporarily and let the system re-flash the stock recovery by making sure you don't remove the mechanism that allows / controls the re-flashing of the stock recovery (i.e., removing or renaming the /system/recovery-from-boot.p file).

Hope that helps!

Cheers

 

[AARONONE]

Again, Thanks for the help. I think I will try the Trinity kernel on the JB AOKP rom first.

Good choice. I know most are fans of lean, but Trinity has been the best for me. I am running 1344- 384.

That codename Android 3.0 (jellybean) looks good too.

 

[mbw]

I am now already looking at some of the other AOKP unofficial roms on XDA, this one seems to lack the sprint update/prl stuff in about phone which seems strange. It also allows me to do a few things I don't think it should, like the notification bar pulls down on the lock screen... maybe that is correct.

Its a pretty nice rom though in general. Trinitiy and tkt is nice.

 

[AARONONE]

I am now already looking at some of the other AOKP unofficial roms on XDA, this one seems to lack the sprint update/prl stuff in about phone which seems strange. It also allows me to do a few things I don't think it should, like the notification bar pulls down on the lock screen... maybe that is correct.

Its a pretty nice rom though in general. Trinitiy and tkt is nice.

IMO, Skank is the most polished and stable JB rom out right now. I REALLY like that trinity kernel you're running but Lean is starting to win me over. Might want to give it a go with the color adjustments and see how it functions with your phone.

 

[sik00]

6. Also, you CAN flash a custom recovery temporarily and let the system re-flash the stock recovery by making sure you don't remove the mechanism that allows / controls the re-flashing of the stock recovery (i.e., removing or renaming the /system/recovery-from-boot.p file).

Hope that helps!

Cheers

Hey SA..for some reason my stock recovery won't reflash over cwm on the stock rom, and I haven't changed the recovery-from-boot file. Not that I want my recovery overwritten but it would be an easy way to get the stock recovery back on in case I ever have to take the phone in. I've purposely rebooted several times with the stock OS and the recovery from boot file in-tact, but cwm still remains. Any ideas why its not affecting anything?

 

[scary alien]

Hey SA..for some reason my stock recovery won't reflash over cwm on the stock rom, and I haven't changed the recovery-from-boot file. Not that I want my recovery overwritten but it would be an easy way to get the stock recovery back on in case I ever have to take the phone in. I've purposely rebooted several times with the stock OS and the recovery from boot file in-tact, but cwm still remains. Any ideas why its not affecting anything?

Well, in addition to the /system/recovery-from-boot.p file, there's a script called /system/etc/install-recovery.sh that actually does the installation that would also be necessary for the stock recovery to be re-flashed. I don't really know the details of how that script works (i.e., the "applypatch" invocations), but it does appear to be doing a checksum validation.

Unfortunately, I don't believe there's been a factory image published by Google for the toroplus Sprint version of the GNex, so I haven't supported re-flashing of the stock recovery in my app.