rooted phone and OTA uodates

[chuckh1958]

I recently rooted my RAZR HD and just heard that there's going to be an OTA update coming soon. If I download it will I lose root and if so how can I get it back? I'm sure one of the security holes they're closing is the one I used to get root.

 

[dezymond]

Yes you will most likely lose it. You can try an app called OTARootKeeper, but that is no guarantee that root can be recovered once the update is applied.

 

[KaChow]

So. far for those that are just Rooted> this update will destroy Root. There have been mixed responses with the use of Voodoo, some have kept and some have lost. If you have an Unlocked bootloader, then from what I have also heard is there is no need to use Voodoo, as this update does not re-lock the bootloader, it is possible to lose Root, but is easy to restore it as well. I am unable to get the update to work at the moment and I have a copy of it. The big benefit that I have collected so far and that came from Hashcode was the radio update. Looks like I am going to be working at this for a while.

 

[tech_head]

Voodoo does work but you need to make sure your "su" binary is up to date and protected.
Main reason for the update not installing on a rooted device is that the "bloatware" has been modified.

 

[JohnFH]

The update is starting to roll out.

 

[lloydsw]

The update is starting to roll out.

So should this update be avoided if you're rooted?

 

[JohnFH]

So should this update be avoided if you're rooted?

I'm going to defer to KaChow on this. Check out the thread on the update in the Droid News and Site News/Android News section. He's provided some excellent info which should help you.

 

[bweN diorD]

So should this update be avoided if you're rooted?

if your bootloader is unlocked, your fine to take it, if not, you may loose root. even with voodoo some people are loosing root.
if you dont care weather you loose root or not, then by all means take the ota.

(info gathered from post #3, and others around the forums)

 

[KaChow]

if your bootloader is unlocked, your fine to take it, if not, you may loose root. even with voodoo some people are loosing root.
if you dont care weather you loose root or not, then by all means take the ota.

(info gathered from post #3, and others around the forums)

bweN diorD is correct with an Unlocked Bootloader you are in good shape to take the update, even if Root is lost it can be recovered. However, if you have JUST Root, there is a risk of losing Root with the Update. I lost Root with the update as I was testing something out, which the Update failed (I also used a manual copy of the update that I uploaded through the Stock system Recovery.) Anyhow, what seems to occur is almost immediately after the update and the system reloads, there will be a request to update the binaries, which this will cause ClockWorkMods SU Root to fail (Chainfire's SU is outdated, use Motochopper to change to current ClockWorkMod Version.) For those with just Root, what I would recommend is installing Safestrap (if you do not have Safestrap installed already click here and install version 3.12). With Safestrap installed do a Backup of JB 4.1.2 version 9.16.6 or 9.16.9 first. I recommend this as it will keep a Backup of the current JB version with Root, if for some reason Root is lost even with using either OTA Rootkeeper or SuperSU, you should still be able to Flashback or Downgrade from the Safestrap Backup, I still recommend waiting for a proven safe version or you can simply try to restore Root and try again. To restore if Root is lost, go into Safestrap and install the backup, this most be done through reboot, the Safestrap robot icon appears between the Boot logo and the Boot Animation.

 

[bweN diorD]

bweN diorD is correct with an Unlocked Bootloader you are in good shape to take the update, even if Root is lost it can be recovered. However, if you have JUST Root, there is a risk of losing Root with the Update. I lost Root with the update as I was testing something out, which the Update failed (I also used a manual copy of the update that I uploaded through the Stock system Recovery.) Anyhow, what seems to occur is almost immediately after the update and the system reloads, there will be a request to update the binaries, which this will cause ClockWorkMods SU Root to fail (Chainfire's SU is outdated, use Motochopper to change to current ClockWorkMod Version.) For those with just Root, what I would recommend is installing Safestrap (if you do not have Safestrap installed already click here and install version 3.12). With Safestrap installed do a Backup of JB 4.1.2 version 9.16.6 or 9.16.9 first. I recommend this as it will keep a Backup of the current JB version with Root, if for some reason Root is lost even with using either OTA Rootkeeper or SuperSU, you should still be able to Flashback or Downgrade from the Safestrap Backup, I still recommend waiting for a proven safe version or you can simply try to restore Root and try again. To restore if Root is lost, go into Safestrap and install the backup, this most be done through reboot, the Safestrap robot icon appears between the Boot logo and the Boot Animation.

wouldnt they also have to remove safestrap before the update would flash?
my bionic kept failing the update until i took SS off.
just wondering..

 

[KaChow]

wouldnt they also have to remove safestrap before the update would flash?
my bionic kept failing the update until i took SS off.
just wondering..

Safestrap runs alongside with the stock System Recovery, with OTA Rootkeeper hiding the backup of SU, allowing the update to read all the system information needed during the OTA. It's interesting the same was said for those of us with Unlocked Bootloaders that we couldn't keep a custom Recovery either TWRP, CWM, or OUDHS, that we needed to restore to the stock System Recovery prior to applying the update. Some have been able to update with Custom Recovery so that theory is proven wrong. I've been looking at different ways to recover Root, if Root is lost, and without an Unlocked Bootloader there are less options available. The use of Safestrap backups to restore not only Root but even earlier versions of JB or even possibly ICS, provide those possibilities. Before we had an Unlocked Bootloader and when it was said that Downgrading from 4.1.2 to 4.1.1 was not possible, I was accomplishing this through earlier Safestrap backups. Safestrap backups are important because they can also be used with TWRP. :rockon:

 

[bweN diorD]

Safestrap runs alongside with the stock System Recovery, with OTA Rootkeeper hiding the backup of SU, allowing the update to read all the system information needed during the OTA. It's interesting the same was said for those of us with Unlocked Bootloaders that we couldn't keep a custom Recovery either TWRP, CWM, or OUDHS, that we needed to restore to the stock System Recovery prior to applying the update. Some have been able to update with Custom Recovery so that theory is proven wrong. I've been looking at different ways to recover Root, if Root is lost, and without an Unlocked Bootloader there are less options available. The use of Safestrap backups to restore not only Root but even earlier versions of JB or even possibly ICS, provide those possibilities. Before we had an Unlocked Bootloader and when it was said that Downgrading from 4.1.2 to 4.1.1 was not possible, I was accomplishing this through earlier Safestrap backups. Safestrap backups are important because they can also be used with TWRP. :rockon:

yea, when i just flashed back my rmhd earlier, i didnt remember it wasnt going to replace twrp with stock. when the update started to flash and i saw twrp there were a few cuss words flying because i thought i was going to have to start over lol luckily it worked.
curiously though, i forgot to mention this before, i still got that "error" prompt when it booted up.

 

[KaChow]

What was the error? I've heard of a few people that installed the OTA through System updates having Custom Recovery, however it is not possible to Flash a copy of the OTA through Custom Recovery. How did you downgrade? Did you use an FXZ, Recovery Backup, Utility?

Shortly, I am going to FXZ 9.16.9 and see if the update will push clean threw that way, with the 9.20.1 update. Hopefully, it works.

 

[bweN diorD]

What was the error? I've heard of a few people that installed the OTA through System updates having Custom Recovery, however it is not possible to Flash a copy of the OTA through Custom Recovery. How did you downgrade? Did you use an FXZ, Recovery Backup, Utility?

Shortly, I am going to FXZ 9.16.9 and see if the update will push clean threw that way, with the 9.20.1 update. Hopefully, it works.

it was the same error as last time, not the standard "system update failed", i dont remember what it said. just a bland "[info] an error occurred" or something like that.
it installed from system update, twrp was installed.
i used matts utility to rts.

 

[lloydsw]

I must be missing something with safestrap. After installing it, I created a rom slot, created a backup of the stock rom, restored it into the just-created rom slot, set that as active & rebooted. It hangs after starting to boot. Since I only did the latter steps as a confidence builder (that the backup was actually usable in case I trashed something), I can't say I'm pleased with the outcome. Any idea of what I did wrong? Or am I misunderstanding what safestrap does?