What's the best way to upgrade from ICS_ALPHA_IML74K?

[thomasghenry]

Hi Folks,

I don't know where I am or where I'm going, so I'm looking for a little advice on both. I have a Droid 4 and moved up to ICS with safestrap a while ago. Now, I hear the official ics upgrade is available and I figure I should move up, either to the official ICS release or at least to a newer unofficial rom. I see a lot of discussion about moving from .206 to .208, or .213, .219...etc. I'm not really sure what applies to me. Attached is an image of my "About phone" info. Should ICS_ALPHA_IML74K map to one of these .2xx builds?

View attachment 52000

So, that's the "I don't know where I am" part. Can someone help me clarify my starting point so I can figure out the best way to get where I'm going?

Ok, and where am I going? I think ideally I'd like to get back to the absolute bone stock and move through the official upgrade path, but the prevailing sentiment seems to be that this isn't possible. I've seen many posts discussing how moving from a "leaked" ICS build back to GB will (soft) brick you. (Side note... how explicit is the term "leaked"? I assume this refers to any unofficial ICS installation, but just in case this refers to a subset that might not apply to me, I'm curious.) So, I'd prefer to take the blue pill (revert to stock GB .219 or so), but if that isn't an option, what's the latest and greatest available ICS rom right now? ICS .219 seems the highest number I've seen mentioned, but there seems to be more conversation around the earlier ones. Which one should I go for in terms of balancing being current and being stable?

Many Thanks!
Tom

 

[GigaJake]

Hi Tom!

So from what you describe your phone as, I take it you're still running Gingerbread at it's core but are using safestrap to run an ICS rom. Upgrading to an ICS leak is very doable.

Some info about the leaks:
These leaks are straight from Motorola's servers, they are upgrades and not roms to be run through safestrap. Motorola's ICS based Motoblur looks very nice in my opinion, but CM9 is also available for leak users. The phone runs very smoothly and there's no downside to the "stock experience" in my opinion. I'm using CM9 and aside from some established bugs, everything is great. Installing a leak correctly will upgrade your kernel meaning you will not be able to sbf using GB files, or you will brick guaranteed. There are tutorials on how to upgrade from leak to leak so there is little concern getting on the official release will be an issue. Safestrap 2.0 works fine and as long as you use roms designed for the ICS leak, flashing will be as familiar as ever.

If you wish to keep the option of sbf'ing to GB .219 then CM9 or AOKP are your two best ICS roms at this point, but I recommend going ahead and installing the latest ICS leak. .219 is the latest GB release and you won't find anything past that.

Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk 2

 

[thomasghenry]

Quick and thorough reply! Thx! Just to be sure, what part of this indicates I'm still on the GB kernel?

 

[GigaJake]

Always eager to help! You're still on Gingerbread because the way you described your current phone set up sounded like your non-safe system was Motoblur .219 which is Gingerbread. Also it didn't sound like you had made the leap to ICS which is not something so casual you forget, and most importantly...

Your kernel from the screenshot is 2.x.x
The new kernel is 3.x.x (I've attached mine, the weird cropping is a cm9 bug

Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dave Lister]

Look closer at the screenshot. That's a CyanogemMod 9 alpha build, which I believe is still GB based.

 

[orangechoochoo]

He said he used safestrap and loaded a GB ICS rom on the safe system. All he has to do is toggle safe system off and he is back to GB.

I'm surprised you've been using this rom for so long, it is buggy since it's not pure ICS based. You can stay with stock GB and it will be fine. You mentioned that an official ICS upgrade is available. It is not, only the leaks which are development versions which aren't supposed to be used. However, the leaks have been very stable but you will have to jump through some hoops to install it and when the official ICS comes out you will have to jump through some more hoops. I'm not trying to discourage you but even for those of us who are experienced in doing this it can be a little troublesome but we're here to help.

The latest leak, 213, has been excellent. Absolutely no problems. If you choose to take the leap to the leak please be sure you read the complete thread at least two times. I'm not kidding.If you follow the instructions EXACTLY you will almost certainly be successful. There are a couple people who it hasn't worked for but at least the did not brick their phone in the process and are still using their phones on GB.

 

[kenji91]

Always eager to help! You're still on Gingerbread because the way you described your current phone set up sounded like your non-safe system was Motoblur .219 which is Gingerbread. Also it didn't sound like you had made the leap to ICS which is not something so casual you forget, and most importantly...

Your kernel from the screenshot is 2.x.x
The new kernel is 3.x.x (I've attached mine, the weird cropping is a cm9 bug

Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk 2

The kernel is the dead giveaway that the OP was on the GB-based CM9, along with the build date. I don't believe ICS leak-based nightlies came out until around June 20th or so (not exactly sure, I think it was shortly thereafter).

Kernel 3.0.8-g29cf5e7 was the kernel for .211, .212, and .213 I believe.

 

[thomasghenry]

I decided to go back to GB for now and undoing safestrap did the trick. Thanks again, folks!

 

[kenji91]

I decided to go back to GB for now and undoing safestrap did the trick. Thanks again, folks!

You went to ICS and then switched back to GB? Or you tried the GB based CM9 and went back to stock GB?

Because as far as anyone knows, there's no way to go to any form of ICS and then going back to any form of GB.

 

[orangechoochoo]

He had an ICS rom based on GB loaded via safestrap.