Problem with RETEU firmwares on chinese ADDISON_RETCN (XT1635-03) - Moto Z Play Questions & Answers

I have tried to update my chinese XT1635-03 to 7.1.1 with OTA through ADB sideload and unfortunately it is not working.
I have sucessfully flashed the phone with reteu latest firmware with April security patch (ADDISON_NPNS25.137-24-1-9_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml) through fastboot.
But once I try to sideload 7.1.1 OTA (Blur_Version.26.1.22.addison.retail.en.US) the process terminates at 47% with notification that the package expects product name "addison" but actual value is "addison_retcn"
Is it possible to either change the product name or disable such check of product name? It seems to me, that at the moment there is no way to flash OTA and I need to wait for full 7.1.1 image.

Reading similar questions around, I have to ask. Why you people cannot wait couple of weeks to get OTA? Instead of risking to brick your device?
New update is not bringing revolutionary/awesome/amazing/mind blowing... new features. I understand if it's update to completely new Android version or that your device/region will not get update at all.
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

You have XT1635-03 and the update is for XT1635-02. So if you have a reteu phone you can really update over sideload without issues. And yes, I need android 7.1.1 and I wouldn't wait one day longer. I need app-shortcuts, because I had this on my old phone, too. There was android 7.1 since the first day. But if you don't have it before you can't miss it. So you can wait much easier For me it was important for other issues, too. For example Wifi problems and stability fixes and over 100 security fixes. Many reasons for the update
Edit: And one more reason for the update: To help google to get more than 0.6% for android 7.1 We should update all, otherwise android 7.1 will never get 1%
Everybody should help to get this 1% maybe next month. So update, just do it for the 1%, yes xD
:silly::good:

The reason is simple: I do not want to use chinese firmware and flashed reteu with fastboot. As OTA channel is still retcn I will not get any OTA over the air. I expected that it is possible to manually sideload OTA but I was wrong as OTA checks the name of the device.

freeman_g said:
The reason is simple: I do not want to use chinese firmware and flashed reteu with fastboot. As OTA channel is still retcn I will not get any OTA over the air. I expected that it is possible to manually sideload OTA but I was wrong as OTA checks the name of the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point is, how can you change the channel...

freeman_g said:
The reason is simple: I do not want to use chinese firmware and flashed reteu with fastboot. As OTA channel is still retcn I will not get any OTA over the air. I expected that it is possible to manually sideload OTA but I was wrong as OTA checks the name of the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, makes sense for you but for many/most others is just matter of time.
I'm not blaming anyone. Do whatever you want with your phone, just be ready if something goes wrong

The surprise was a different phone name. Different channel is usually not a problem

freeman_g said:
The surprise was a different phone name. Different channel is usually not a problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash a custom ROM, I have been warning people not to flash ota's cause eventually your going to end up hard bricked.
There's no possible way safely to change your channel.
Stock firmware that is an ota always has checks during the flashing process, which prevents bricking devices.
I always suggest if your running stock firmware on moto devices then remain on your firmware that is specifically designed for your channel.
If you want the latest that android offers, custom ROMs are your best bet.
I have had many moto devices and almost every brick was so idiot that flashed Firmware and bootloaders and accepted an ota and bam HARD BRICKED

flashallthetime said:
Flash a custom ROM, I have been warning people not to flash ota's cause eventually your going to end up hard bricked.
There's no possible way safely to change your channel.
Stock firmware that is an ota always has checks during the flashing process, which prevents bricking devices.
I always suggest if your running stock firmware on moto devices then remain on your firmware that is specifically designed for your channel.
If you want the latest that android offers, custom ROMs are your best bet.
I have had many moto devices and almost every brick was so idiot that flashed Firmware and bootloaders and accepted an ota and bam HARD BRICKED
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, can't go back. What can I do now? But all is working. Can it be that my reteu phone will be bricked after next OTA?

allrightlite said:
Oh no, can't go back. What can I do now? But all is working. Can it be that my reteu phone will be bricked after next OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea

flashallthetime said:
I have no idea
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it ever happend?
But is the US-version not always the same as the EU-version? The only difference is over which channel it comes.

allrightlite said:
Is it ever happend?
But is the US-version not always the same as the EU-version? The only difference is over which channel it comes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are not 100% bone stock and unmodified, there is always some risk when accepting an OTA carrier update. On any device. Some the risks are bigger than others. Moto seems to be fairly high risk in this regard.
If you want OTAs, and you want to be safe, don't modify anything. If you insist on mods (which I usually do, but not yet on MZP) then always update via a manual method, never accept an OTA.

dandrumheller said:
If you are not 100% bone stock and unmodified, there is always some risk when accepting an OTA carrier update. On any device. Some the risks are bigger than others. Moto seems to be fairly high risk in this regard.
If you want OTAs, and you want to be safe, don't modify anything. If you insist on mods (which I usually do, but not yet on MZP) then always update via a manual method, never accept an OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have all 100% stock. And all is working after update. Seems there is really no difference between US and EU channel. Can't find any changes. So OTA should work in future. But sure, there are channel with differences, for example the chinese version is not the same.

allrightlite said:
I have all 100% stock. And all is working after update. Seems there is really no difference between US and EU channel. Can't find any changes. So OTA should work in future. But sure, there are channel with differences, for example the chinese version is not the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you sideloaded an update, you are no longer 100% bone stock. Welcome to beta tester land.

dandrumheller said:
If you sideloaded an update, you are no longer 100% bone stock. Welcome to beta tester land.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It feels not like a beta. It's more like a big bug fix with much patches. For example my Wifi is now stable as hell and never reconnections anymore. Hope it keeps stable, but looks very very good. I think this beta will be the final release in few months, or weeks? But it's much better than 7.0. And better than LOS14.1, which is not so stable (on my other phone). And I have no app crashes anymore. Gboard was crashing with 7.0 one time and few other apps like firewall. So, 7.1.1 is pure stable as hell and must have :laugh:

Afaik, it's not beta. It'sā€‹ soak. So, if test users reported as stable, it will be pushed to all as the final build. If not, Moto has to fixed and not all users around the world will be affected.
Regular and recommend way of releasing update.
Sent from my LG-V940n using Tapatalk

Here you can see that it's not test-keys like a nightly from LOS. It's really release keys :laugh:

If you are on XT1635-03 with reteu frmware you will not receice any OTA. My experience told that you can't even sideload an update. So no worry about bricks.
Very often devices are hardbricked when you are downgrading bootloader but once I have hardbricked my Nexus 6 with OTA (sideloading it). Well, it was not full brick, but I can't load the system (only fastboot) and my bootloader was locked. Without system loaded you can't allow unlocking procedure so the first thing I do with new phone is unlocking.

allrightlite said:
Here you can see that it's not test-keys like a nightly from LOS. It's really release keys :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the build is not a beta. I'm referring to the fact that once you leave the official upgrade path, taking any update is a scenario not tested by Moto. So you are testing for them. Maybe you win, maybe you brick.

It seems that the problem with "addison_retcn" may be fixed with editing build.prop but in this case systemless root is required (AFAIK there us no systemless root for Nougat)

Related

[Q] How should I get Lollipop if latest official release is 4.4.4?

My girlfriend has the M8 as her backup phone. She took it out of the drawer today to update it before starting to use it, and she found that it would only get 4.4.4 rather than Lollipop like she was expecting.
Is it true that the official 5.1 update won't be here until August or so?
Is it advisable for her to install a custom Lollipop ROM to tide her over until the official update? She wants to keep the Sense UI around.
If so, what ROM(s) are best/most popular/easiest to install?
garrettw87 said:
My girlfriend has the M8 as her backup phone. She took it out of the drawer today to update it before starting to use it, and she found that it would only get 4.4.4 rather than Lollipop like she was expecting.
Is it true that the official 5.1 update won't be here until August or so?
Is it advisable for her to install a custom Lollipop ROM to tide her over until the official update? She wants to keep the Sense UI around.
If so, what ROM(s) are best/most popular/easiest to install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1: yes
2: 5.0.1, or 5..0.2 are both Lollipop. 5.1.0 is an update to it.
3: I suggest ViperOneM8. I flashed it right after I bout my M8, and never looked back. When I had my last phone (Galaxy S3), I was flashing a new one every week or two.
Now........... What carrier are you on? Chances are that there is a lollipop update for your girlfriends phone.
And is she S-Off? Because that would make everything super simple. Either way, you can update her firmware (you'll need to do that to run the latest ROMs) with S-On or S-Off.
Give some more information so someone can point you in the proper direction.
garrettw87 said:
My girlfriend has the M8 as her backup phone. She took it out of the drawer today to update it before starting to use it, and she found that it would only get 4.4.4 rather than Lollipop like she was expecting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to OTA update to 4.4.4 before you can update to 5.0. OTAs need to be installed in sequence, and you can't skip one.
garrettw87 said:
[*]Is it true that the official 5.1 update won't be here until August or so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but there is a 5.0 update already available for the huge majority of variants (if not all).
xunholyx said:
Now........... What carrier are you on? Chances are that there is a lollipop update for your girlfriends phone.
And is she S-Off? Because that would make everything super simple. Either way, you can update her firmware (you'll need to do that to run the latest ROMs) with S-On or S-Off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She's on AT&T, and from what little I know of S-Off, she is not that.
redpoint73 said:
You need to OTA update to 4.4.4 before you can update to 5.0. OTAs need to be installed in sequence, and you can't skip one.
Yes, but there is a 5.0 update already available for the huge majority of variants (if not all).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She did update to 4.4.4, and it wasn't offering any further OTA updates... until just now when I checked again. So she's probably able to get 5.0.2 now. Wonder why it couldn't tell her that the other day.
garrettw87 said:
She did update to 4.4.4, and it wasn't offering any further OTA updates... until just now when I checked again. So she's probably able to get 5.0.2 now. Wonder why it couldn't tell her that the other day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can only check for updates once a day. Apparently, this is true even if there is more than one update in the queue.
redpoint73 said:
You can only check for updates once a day. Apparently, this is true even if there is more than one update in the queue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but not true. Just returned mine to stock 4.4.2 then got 4.4.4 offered, then immediately got 5.0.2 after reboot
gazzacbr said:
Sorry but not true. Just returned mine to stock 4.4.2 then got 4.4.4 offered, then immediately got 5.0.2 after reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. But one thing to note, its easy to forget the fact that AT&T is a unique animal. For AT&T branded devices, updates don't roll out from HTC directly, they must go through AT&T's network and by no other means.
What you say may or may not be true for AT&T; they have their own (annoying) way of doing things. I did state "apparently" you can only download one update a day in the OP's case; just based on the fact that they stated they updated, then no other updates came up that day, but did a couple days later. You may well be correct, and maybe there was something else preventing the subsequent update from downloading that day.

Help regarding unrooting, restoring and accepting 7.1.1 OTA.

Hi. Im new here so please help me.
I have a Moto Z Play XT1635-02 on 7.0 with the 1st May Patch installed.
I unlocked the bootloader to root this device.
I rooted with this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/how-to/correct-rooting-moto-z-play-feb-17-t3560268
Now i want to go back to stock firmware to accept the OTA i just recieved for 7.1.1.
My main query is that, i have RETGB device and its on build number NPN25.137-24.3
I can't find any firmware for RETGB software channel.
I did find the OTA for this, which i have downloaded through the moto ota link generator tool by erfanoabdi.
Now, can any one guide me on how to restore stock without messing up my device?
I have downloaded two retail firmwares:
1)XT1635-02_ADDISON_7.0_NPNS25.137-24-1-9_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
2)XT1635-02_ADDISON_7.0_NPNS25.137-24-1-4_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
Is it safe to flash any of these on my May patched device or should i somehow find the may patched firmware?
Waiting for your kind replies! :')
sheri.khan said:
Hi. Im new here so please help me.
I have a Moto Z Play XT1635-02 on 7.0 with the 1st May Patch installed.
I unlocked the bootloader to root this device.
I rooted with this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/how-to/correct-rooting-moto-z-play-feb-17-t3560268
Now i want to go back to stock firmware to accept the OTA i just recieved for 7.1.1.
My main query is that, i have RETGB device and its on build number NPN25.137-24.3
I can't find any firmware for RETGB software channel.
I did find the OTA for this, which i have downloaded through the moto ota link generator tool by erfanoabdi.
Now, can any one guide me on how to restore stock without messing up my device?
I have downloaded two retail firmwares:
1)XT1635-02_ADDISON_7.0_NPNS25.137-24-1-9_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
2)XT1635-02_ADDISON_7.0_NPNS25.137-24-1-4_cid50_subsidy-DEFAULT_regulatory-DEFAULT_CFC.xml
Is it safe to flash any of these on my May patched device or should i somehow find the may patched firmware?
Waiting for your kind replies! :')
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash the below link and you will be on 7.1.1, and yes it is that simple.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/development/rom-single-dual-sim-t3620551
Jimi Mack said:
Just flash the below link and you will be on 7.1.1, and yes it is that simple.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-z-play/development/rom-single-dual-sim-t3620551
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
I should flash this through TWRP?
Also after flashing this, the future OTA updates(If any) will be installed without any problems on my retgb channel?
sheri.khan said:
Thank you!
I should flash this through TWRP?
Also after flashing this, the future OTA updates(If any) will be installed without any problems on my retgb channel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes on TWRP no on future updates.. being there is not official release for you. Plus the next major update if it happens would not be till O is released which we would not see till way after the new year.
Once you unlock bootloader and root, no going back...
Jimi Mack said:
Yes on TWRP no on future updates.. being there is not official release for you. Plus the next major update if it happens would not be till O is released which we would not see till way after the new year.
Once you unlock bootloader and root, no going back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks brother.
I don't seem to get why the RETGB firmware isn't released.
I literally can't find anyone except i guess two or just 3 people who have the same software channel.
Thanks again!
On the Verizon blackberry priv, there was a way to install the ROM with no Verizon bloatware, no rooting or anything.
Same with my T-Mobile s7 edge, is there something for the Verizon moto z play?
jzamalot said:
On the Verizon blackberry priv, there was a way to install the ROM with no Verizon bloatware, no rooting or anything.
Same with my T-Mobile s7 edge, is there something for the Verizon moto z play?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that its possible with the Verizon MZP.
There's no access for anyone to unlock its bootloader as of yet.
So there's no development for it either.
But who knows? Don't lose the hope! :'D
sheri.khan said:
I don't think that its possible with the Verizon MZP.
There's no access for anyone to unlock its bootloader as of yet.
So there's no development for it either.
But who knows? Don't lose the hope! :'D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, just wondering because the blackberry priv bootloader was also never unlocked or ever rooted

Can I get Oreo Ota with my moto rooted?

Hi. I own a moto g5 xt1670, stock nougat with some security patch I believe. I'd like to stay on nougat for a while, so I guess I must root, then freeze the updater app because it's turning pretty annoying. The question is...can I install Oreo Ota with the device rooted in case I want in the future?
I'm not planning to install roms, so I prefer to stay on locked BL.
Many thanks.
no
mortadelax said:
Hi. I own a moto g5 xt1670, stock nougat with some security patch I believe. I'd like to stay on nougat for a while, so I guess I must root, then freeze the updater app because it's turning pretty annoying. The question is...can I install Oreo Ota with the device rooted in case I want in the future?
I'm not planning to install roms, so I prefer to stay on locked BL.
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well to start with you need to unlock your bootloader if you want to root your device
And otas can only be installed on a totally unmodified device so you would need to flash stock firmware via fastboot (and lock the bootloader to make sure the images are totally unmodified) before any ota is attempted to installed
Thanks both of you for the reply!
So, let's say I'm not interested in Oreo Ota, how can I stop the upgrade spam notification? I guess I must unlock BL, then root, then freeze the updater app. Is that correct? In case I want Oreo in the future I guess I can install some rom...
Does this make sense? I've read bad reviews about oreo and battery drain. This is my mother's phone. I don't want any possible problem. Nougat is just fine, and works well.
Thanks a lot. I'll be waiting for your reply.
mortadelax said:
Thanks both of you for the reply!
So, let's say I'm not interested in Oreo Ota, how can I stop the upgrade spam notification? I guess I must unlock BL, then root, then freeze the updater app. Is that correct? In case I want Oreo in the future I guess I can install some rom...
Does this make sense? I've read bad reviews about oreo and battery drain. This is my mother's phone. I don't want any possible problem. Nougat is just fine, and works well.
Thanks a lot. I'll be waiting for your reply.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Force stopping system update app (you need to show system apps in app list) will temporarily remove the notification until restart or the app starts again
And as far as I'm aware there's nothing wrong with oreo - Always makes me laugh when people say they have read something but provide no source or context

Question related to "After updating, you will not be able to downgrade..." message

Question related to "After updating, you will not be able to downgrade..." message
Hope you guys are safe and well.
Currently my A50 on August update. I have no problems with this update but I like to update to Android 10 for additional features. I'm reluctant to update because of this message. I'm afraid that if I had problems or something wrong with the new update, I won't be able to go downgrade to August update.
So, Is it really impossible to downgrade using Odin with an official firmware?
I'm coming from iOS and hence the fear of updating. As you may know, iOS downgrade is impossible when Apple sign-out the old software.
Thanks in advance.
Most major OS updates (i.e. from Android 9 to 10) also update the 'bootloader', which is a little piece of software that initializes your device, and runs before the system can even start (when you turn your phone on).
Once the bootloader is updated, it's often impossible and certainly not recommended to downgrade the OS, since you may permanently brick your device.
If Android 10 is out for your device model (eg. A505G in my case), just go ahead and update. I don't have any issues with it whatsoever, in fact it has fixed quite a few bugs (wifi connection would frequently drop for me in Pie with February/March updates, and now it doesn't anymore).
Greetings.
pripyaat said:
Most major OS updates (i.e. from Android 9 to 10) also update the 'bootloader', which is a little piece of software that initializes your device, and runs before the system can even start (when you turn your phone on).
Once the bootloader is updated, it's often impossible and certainly not recommended to downgrade the OS, since you may permanently brick your device.
If Android 10 is out for your device model (eg. A505G in my case), just go ahead and update. I don't have any issues with it whatsoever, in fact it has fixed quite a few bugs (wifi connection would frequently drop for me in Pie with February/March updates, and now it doesn't anymore).
Greetings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But can't I backup the boot loader too? Also, I heard that the official firmware includes the boot loader and therefore I won't have problems downgrading. I'm confused.
Screen not responding after update
Hi. I updated to the new Android 10 which my phone prompt me to install. But after updating, my screen is not responding anymore. I already tried to restart and factory reset. What can i do regarding this? Thank you very much!
sheidyly said:
Hi. I updated to the new Android 10 which my phone prompt me to install. But after updating, my screen is not responding anymore. I already tried to restart and factory reset. What can i do regarding this? Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to flash the ROM manually using ODIN
redymedan said:
Try to flash the ROM manually using ODIN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry but I'm new to all of this and I seem to read some comments saying the phone was bricked after flashing.
And if I will try flashing, do I use the old firmware or the new one?
Thank you so much!
mistpsn said:
But can't I backup the boot loader too? Also, I heard that the official firmware includes the boot loader and therefore I won't have problems downgrading. I'm confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think... and I could be completely wrong, but it keeps track of the highest version of bootloader you installed. So it will not allow you to boot if you flash the older one. However, I am not sure how it behaves if the bootloader is unlocked.
If anyone have the same concerns I had. I found out that only security updates seems to have this message and risk bricking your phone in case you downgrade to lower version. Some people confirms that they were able to downgrade without any problems from android 10 to android 9 on their A50.
It also made sense that there are no problems since the warning message only included with security updates. The android 10 Update change list have no warnings related to downgrading to older versions.
March security update had the warning message. And I had to do the security upgrade before the android 10 update was available OTA.

Question Custom OTA sideload with November radio?

My P6P (on T-Mobile) was working fine for me on the November release.
I did not sideload the December release.
With the January release, I started to notice significant radio issues.
I am seeing the same issue with the February release and after taking a look, I see that the radio has NOT changed between January and February. (But is a different radio from the November update)
I would definitely like to try flashing the November radio, but my Pixel bootloader is locked and can't be unlocked since it is still carrier locked. (I am working on that.)
In the meantime, is it possible for someone to make a custom OTA sideload package with just the November radio in it for those with locked bootloaders?
The 12L radio is different. I flashed it yesterday (12L factory image) and Signal is back to normal, and switching from Wifi to LTE/5G is much better than it's ever been on my 6 Pro. but its only been 24hours, but worth a try/
Good to know, but if I don't want to go 12L... again, could someone create a custom OTA sideload package with just the radio from 12L?
If this is even possible, which I'm dubious of, you might want to think twice. With a locked bootloader, your recovery options are more limited, so if someone creates such a custom OTA zip (again, if that's even possible to work with an unlocked bootloader), and something goes seriously wrong, it might be either more difficult or impossible to recover.
I would think (and could be completely wrong), that in the event of an issue, I'd be able to flash the original full OTA sideload package to recover.
chp said:
I would think (and could be completely wrong), that in the event of an issue, I'd be able to flash the original full OTA sideload package to recover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to add, I tried flashing a different radio in December after flashing that image before it got pulled, and my phone wouldn't boot (but my bootloader was unlocked so I was able to save it but I wouldn't try it). I suggest you unlock your bootloader and flash 12L on both slots. That's what I did yesterday. Just kind of kill 2 birds with one stone by wiping, reflashing, and using a new build/radio (3 birds I guess?)
Creating a custom OTA won't work. That will break the cert chain and the phone won't validate it and install it.
chp said:
I would think (and could be completely wrong), that in the event of an issue, I'd be able to flash the original full OTA sideload package to recover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on how badly things went wrong. I would hope so, too, but would be a bigger gambler than someone who has the bootloader unlocked in the same situation. But of course, if you had an unlocked bootloader, you could flash only the radio.img without any customization needed. But as @TonikJDK indicates, the question is effectively moot, anyway.
TonikJDK said:
Creating a custom OTA won't work. That will break the cert chain and the phone won't validate it and install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I didn't realize that was in place (signing of the various components such as radio+recovery+bootloader+image), and that the checking was disabled as part of the bootloader being unlocked.
chp said:
and that the checking was disabled as part of the bootloader being unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could be wrong, but to clarify, the phone still checks the OTA to make sure it's valid even with an unlocked bootloader.
No one * bothers creating a custom OTA to install their ROMs as it would be more trouble than it's worth to do it that way.
What the unlocked bootloader gets us is the ability to install things in other ways than the normal OTA process.
* Other than possibly more fully developed custom ROMs such as GrapheneOS and such might use the normal OTA method since you can re-lock the bootloader once you're on it - I have no first-hand experience with GrapheneOS other than reading their site and what other users have said about it.ā€‹
roirraW edor ehT said:
I could be wrong, but to clarify, the phone still checks the OTA to make sure it's valid even with an unlocked bootloader.
No one * bothers creating a custom OTA to install their ROMs as it would be more trouble than it's worth to do it that way.
What the unlocked bootloader gets us is the ability to install things in other ways than the normal OTA process.
* Other than possibly more fully developed custom ROMs such as GrapheneOS and such might use the normal OTA method since you can re-lock the bootloader once you're on it - I have no first-hand experience with GrapheneOS other than reading their site and what other users have said about it.ā€‹
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Click to collapse
Ah yes, you're right. I was overthinking it. The sideload OTA does have a cert, so without the private key, we wouldn't be able to create a new cert to match the custom OTA contents.
I also use T-Mobile and was always using the November radio image whilst still updating everything else to the latest release. I was in the same boat as you with the November radio image working so much better than the others. Granted, right now I'm using the 12L beta radio image as it's (thankfully) much better than the others.
But yeah, with an unlocked bootloader you can flash whichever radio image that you want - even if it's from a different release than your current Android build. It won't cause problems if you know what you're doing and only takes a few minutes. Feel free to shoot me a message once your bootloader is unlocked if you need any help with this.
NippleSauce said:
I also use T-Mobile and was always using the November radio image whilst still updating everything else to the latest release. I was in the same boat as you with the November radio image working so much better than the others. Granted, right now I'm using the 12L beta radio image as it's (thankfully) much better than the others.
But yeah, with an unlocked bootloader you can flash whichever radio image that you want - even if it's from a different release than your current Android build. It won't cause problems if you know what you're doing and only takes a few minutes. Feel free to shoot me a message once your bootloader is unlocked if you need any help with this.
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Thanks. I've been with Android and Pixel/Nexus for a long time, and other than needing to brush up, I'm still familiar with the ins-and-outs to flashing, etc.
My Pixel 6 Pro is carrier locked, and would have to be unlocked before I could unlock the bootloader. I was just hoping to make my Pixel 6 Pro usable again without having to try to get it unlocked.
Since my radio issues started with the January update, I was hoping the February update would fix things. At first it did seem better, but then the poor behavior returned. And when I realized that the radio was unchanged in February from January, that explained things.
chp said:
My Pixel 6 Pro is carrier locked, and would have to be unlocked before I could unlock the bootloader. I was just hoping to make my Pixel 6 Pro usable again without having to try to get it unlocked.
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I feel ya. That's partially why I started buying my phones from the company that makes them (and also because my phone carrier stopped offering any interesting upgrades after being with them for a few years lol). But supposedly, a quick text chat with a T-Mo representative via the T-Mobile app can get your device carrier unlocked via the SIM card if you're polite with the whole thing and ask the right questions. I'm not sure if anything specific needs to be asked or stated, but you could always give that a shot. I just quickly skimmed through a post from someone who did that the other day but I didn't give it too much thought since my device is factory unlocked.
But I wish you the best of luck with your phone service!

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