Root Got a nexus, now have a quick question

noahdr · Nov 8, 2013

I'm wanting to root my nexus so I can get titanium backup, greenify, etc on it (just like my rooted galaxy nexus) but this tablet came with 4.3 out of the box so I have no desire to put a whole new ROM on it. Can I just unlock it, root it and leave the stock ROM on there? I'm assuming I would then be able to install my rooted apps???? Would I still be notified of new OTA updates even if they break root? Thanks in advance

colchiro · Nov 8, 2013

Rooted w/o a custom rom, works fine for many people.

I assume you have the older, 2012 model? (O/W you're in the wrong forum.)

I've always used this: http://androidforums.com/nexus-7-gen1-2012-all-things-root/581205-nexus-root-toolkit.html

noahdr · Nov 8, 2013

Thanks colchiro, I remember you from the galaxy nexus forum ;-)
I'll probably just do the root and leave as is. Never knew how much I'd miss my rooted apps

John Bean · Nov 9, 2013

Rooted stock works for me. The only reason I root is to use allow things like a modified hosts file and to run apps like Titanium Backup; I have no problems at all on the Nexus 7 or 4.

OTA's work normally without unrooting but so far have always broken root in the process. This is no big deal given how easy it is to re-root afterwards.

colchiro · Nov 9, 2013

Thanks John... (Sorry, forgot to mention OTA's.)

There is an apk you can freeze to disable updates, but that's usually needed more on other devices. It's best to not take the update and see how it goes for others.

Installing a Root Saver app might help too and often preserves root after an OTA, but reportedly does not work after you're on 4.3.

noahdr · Nov 9, 2013

Thanks guys, so just making sure.... If I root and leave stock I'll still get ota notifications??? They will install ok with worse case being they'll potentially break root again? If so I can live with that....
Thanks again!

Edit..... Would having custom recoveries like twrp affect the ota update? I always get nervous flashing recoveries so I'd prefer not to do it every update lol

palmtree5 · Nov 9, 2013

noahdr said:
Thanks guys, so just making sure.... If I root and leave stock I'll still get ota notifications??? They will install ok with worse case being they'll potentially break root again? If so I can live with that....
Thanks again!

Edit..... Would having custom recoveries like twrp affect the ota update? I always get nervous flashing recoveries so I'd prefer not to do it every update lol

You actually don't have to flash a custom recovery in order to use it, you can just use the following from whatever directory you have fastboot in:

Code:

fastboot boot recovery.img

where recovery.img is the recovery you want to boot

colchiro · Nov 10, 2013

Often a custom recovery will break an OTA update, so not having it could be a plus.

John Bean · Nov 10, 2013

I have a custom recovery (TWRP) on my Nexus 7 (I'd forgotten about it) but stock on my Nexus 4. Both received OTAs and installed without issue, but I have read of users having problems with non-stock recovery and OTAs. It probably depends on the exact version.

One important thing is not to modify the stock image in any way at all as changes in an app or build configuration can result in the OTA failing when it does its checks on the existing system prior to installation. Even just disabling (freezing) a system app can prevent the OTA from working, as I discovered the first time I tried to do a OTA on my Nexus 4. The Nexus 7 came later so I made sure it was truly stock - apart from forgetting about TWRP - and it worked first time.

In all cases it broke root, despite my use of "rootkeeper" mechanisms which I have now abandoned. It's just as easy(and more reliable) to let the OTA break root then re-root afterwards than it is to attempt to prevent it from breaking root in the first place.

colchiro · Nov 10, 2013

Hi John, Rootkeeper doesn't work if you're on 4.3.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.projectvoodoo.otarootkeeper

John Bean · Nov 10, 2013

I know that, and hindsight is a wonderful thing. Now we know it doesn't work.... but only after finding out the hard way when 4.3 arrived. Before 4.3 it claimed to work, but sometimes didn't. At least after 4.3 it stopped working altogether.

Waste of time on a Nexus even when it "worked"; it wasn't worth the uncertainty given the simplicity of the re-rooting process.

noahdr · Nov 11, 2013

John Bean said:
I have a custom recovery (TWRP) on my Nexus 7 (I'd forgotten about it) but stock on my Nexus 4. Both received OTAs and installed without issue, but I have read of users having problems with non-stock recovery and OTAs. It probably depends on the exact version.

One important thing is not to modify the stock image in any way at all as changes in an app or build configuration can result in the OTA failing when it does its checks on the existing system prior to installation. Even just disabling (freezing) a system app can prevent the OTA from working, as I discovered the first time I tried to do a OTA on my Nexus 4. The Nexus 7 came later so I made sure it was truly stock - apart from forgetting about TWRP - and it worked first time.

In all cases it broke root, despite my use of "rootkeeper" mechanisms which I have now abandoned. It's just as easy(and more reliable) to let the OTA break root then re-root afterwards than it is to attempt to prevent it from breaking root in the first place.

Dang, freezing system apps in titanium backup (google music etc..) was one of my main reasons I wanted to root. I wonder if I can still freeze all the apps I want and then when I get the OTA update message just unfreeze all my apps prior to installing it.

If the OTA update fails, what are your options? Can you just try to get your system back to stock and try again?

Thanks again.

jhawkkw · Nov 11, 2013

noahdr said:
Dang, freezing system apps in titanium backup (google music etc..) was one of my main reasons I wanted to root. I wonder if I can still freeze all the apps I want and then when I get the OTA update message just unfreeze all my apps prior to installing it.

If the OTA update fails, what are your options? Can you just try to get your system back to stock and try again?

Thanks again.

Doing that should work, but if the ota fails then you can always manually install the update using the factory image. Since you're unlocked due to rooting, it should be no problem.

John Bean · Nov 12, 2013

Dang, freezing system apps in titanium backup (google music etc..) was one of my main reasons I wanted to root.

noahdr said:
I wonder if I can still freeze all the apps I want and then when I get the OTA update message just unfreeze all my apps prior to installing it.

You can. That's exactly what I did second time around. Worked perfectly.

If the OTA update fails, what are your options? Can you just try to get your system back to stock and try again?

After my failed OTA the system was completely untouched and still working, so all I did was investigate the possible problems (Google and this forum are your friends) and corrected them - in my case by unfreezing the apps - and "encouraged" the phone to offer the OTA again by resetting the Google Services data.

Second time around it worked perfectly but of course broke root which I fixed afterwards.

Incidentally you may not need root to freeze an app; I don't have an unrooted device to check whether root is needed or not, but the system certainly offers a button to disable (freeze) apps on the "App Info" page and a tab listing the disabled/frozen apps.

I use this method interchangeably with Titanium Backup's "freeze app" with similar results, and both TB and the system show the same list of apps no matter which did the disable/freeze.

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