Hi all, I'm pretty new here. I've been a longtime iPhone/jailbreak user, switched to Android last month and really happy with the freedom of customization this device has afforded me. I've been reading and learning a lot, and I have some questions. I hope you'll be able to help.
I now have a Verizon Galaxy S4. I followed these excellent instructions, and am now rooted on 4.3 (MJ7) and am liking it quite a bit.
But as of yesterday I've started to see alerts about a "Software Update Ready to install."
I asked a friend who has the same phone and he said he updated, and went from 4.3... to 4.3. He couldn't tell what had changed (if anything.)
So here are my questions:
1) What is this new update all about? It seems like it's not 4.4 KitKat, it's just a small revision to 4.3 Jelly Bean. Is there any info out there about what it contains?
2) I know I shouldn't accept the update, as it would make me lose root. And I don't want to lose root, I need it for too many things. So, using Root Browser, I went into /cache/fota and moved "update.zip" to my SD card, thinking it would help. Then I rebooted. After a few minutes, the "Software update available" notification returned. How can I remove this? If I'm not supposed to accept this OTA update, I don't want to be nagged about it. I don't want to accidentally tap it.
3) Is there a way yet to accept this update, without losing root or bricking my device? If so, how?
Thanks for any answers, I appreciate it and am happy to be here.
Use Titanium Backup to freeze the "sdm.apk" and "fwupdate.apk" applications. Or rename those two apps with .bak.
People are reporting taking the update and not losing root here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565430
Place SuperSU in "survival mode" before you update and you should still have root afterwards.
Excellent, thanks for then pointers! I will give it a go.
It took a few tries... and a few reboots... but finally, I got it to work. I just got the notification that the update was successful. Sweet! (And, more importantly, I checked with RootChecker and I still have root.) For anyone else following along, the paid version of SuperSU is required in order to be able to invoke "Survival Mode."
I am now running JSS15J.I545VRUEMK2 and I Googled to see these are the changes:
KEY DEVICE ENHANCEMENTS
• Email connectivity has been improved
• Consistent Data roaming in Canada and Mexico
• Device will ‘Power On’ after software update is completed
• Non-Samsung chargers will work correctly with the phone
• Improved data connections while using (enterprise) proxy servers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, in order to prevent future updates from interrupting me, I went into Titanium Backup and I froze "sdm.apk."
But I can't seem to find the "fwupdate.apk" application. Is there some other name for this?
Thanks very much!
Related
Back story: I recently rooted my Droid Razr (it was my first time rooting an Android phone) and completed it without a hitch. However, the update that was released after I rooted downloaded automatically and I became annoyed with the prompt to install now or later. So I unrooted and installed the update. No problems occurred. Fast forward to this morning. A new update is available (it's been available for about a week now, I'd say) and I go to install it. The phone turns back on and says, "Software update has failed!". I am not currently rooted, I've been too busy to re-root the phone. Now I'd like to install this update. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I'd go about doing this?
Thank you for any replies.
Edit: I apologize in advance if this isn't the appropriate section.
Edit 2: I have another question. Is it possible to update a phone's firmware when they are no longer associated with a carrier. I have an older Android phone I'd like to use as a Wifi only phone for apps and such. Am I able to install updates? It seems like the answer would be no, because the phone wouldn't know where to search for the updates. Perhaps a manual install is available?
Questions belong in Q&A
I just received my Galaxy s4 and activated the phone. I still have the old MDK build and not the new VRUAME7. The phone is trying to download the update and about 1/2 way there. I put the phone in airplane mode to stop the update.
I'd like to do the following:
1. root the phone
2. download ota rootkeeper
3. backup root
4. let the update proceed.
How can I stop the update from progressing. I'd like to turn the network back on after rooting to get a few programs that I use that require root access (that's my main reason for rooting. Not as much the ROMS etc).
Thanks.
UNCMo96 said:
I just received my Galaxy s4 and activated the phone. I still have the old MDK build and not the new VRUAME7. The phone is trying to download the update and about 1/2 way there. I put the phone in airplane mode to stop the update.
I'd like to do the following:
1. root the phone
2. download ota rootkeeper
3. backup root
4. let the update proceed.
How can I stop the update from progressing. I'd like to turn the network back on after rooting to get a few programs that I use that require root access (that's my main reason for rooting. Not as much the ROMS etc).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This question has been asked AND ANSWERED multiple times.
When it completes the download, you will be asked to approve the install. Tell it to defer the install for several hours, and use that time to root it and install OTA Rootkeeper. Then you can let the installation proceed.
k1mu said:
This question has been asked AND ANSWERED multiple times.
When it completes the download, you will be asked to approve the install. Tell it to defer the install for several hours, and use that time to root it and install OTA Rootkeeper. Then you can let the installation proceed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My apologies. After posting I did some digging and found the answer. What can I say, I was happy when I saw my phone was pre-update and then panicked when I saw the update ongoing with no way to stop it.
Just got my phone today, it immediately starts to download update, so I'm just keeping all data networks disabled till I get things taken care of.
I apologize in advance if this has been answered or if I have inadvertently offended. I did watch the video and have developed OSes for 30 years. I also have searched all over this site and the web for resolution and am making no progress, so I'm asking the 'oracle'
Got an ATT S4 (I337) a week ago - it was running UCUAMDL. I rooted it using Motochopper and was happily using Titanium Pro etc. I get notified of OTA update. OTA update downloads (357MB) yet fails during install at 30% consistsently.
I figure it is unhappy with my root - I unrooted and cannot remember which way I did it - I seem to recall SuperSU I was using did not have the built-in 'unroot' support so I grabbed the stock image and used ODIN to flash it.I also may have manually uninstalled the 'normal' way the SU app - I suspect this may be my real problem.
After flashing stock ROM for UCUAMDL phone was no longer rooted, did not say custom etc, and took the OTA upgrade just fine. This was for UCUAMF3 which did add App 2 SD support - BTW this update used another 1G of storage compared to UCUAMDL, and I could not recover the 1G by moving apps either, making it virtually worthless as far as adding support for apps in SD, lol.
The problem is now I cannot seem to get the device rooted again. Motochopper fails when installing su.apk. I suspect I have screwed the pooch - what do I need to do to get this thing rooted again?
Is it typical for an OTA update to fail 'because' the device is rooted?
Any advice is much appreciated.
TheKog said:
I apologize in advance if this has been answered or if I have inadvertently offended. I did watch the video and have developed OSes for 30 years. I also have searched all over this site and the web for resolution and am making no progress, so I'm asking the 'oracle'
Got an ATT S4 (I337) a week ago - it was running UCUAMDL. I rooted it using Motochopper and was happily using Titanium Pro etc. I get notified of OTA update. OTA update downloads (357MB) yet fails during install at 30% consistsently.
I figure it is unhappy with my root - I unrooted and cannot remember which way I did it - I seem to recall SuperSU I was using did not have the built-in 'unroot' support so I grabbed the stock image and used ODIN to flash it.I also may have manually uninstalled the 'normal' way the SU app - I suspect this may be my real problem.
After flashing stock ROM for UCUAMDL phone was no longer rooted, did not say custom etc, and took the OTA upgrade just fine. This was for UCUAMF3 which did add App 2 SD support - BTW this update used another 1G of storage compared to UCUAMDL, and I could not recover the 1G by moving apps either, making it virtually worthless as far as adding support for apps in SD, lol.
The problem is now I cannot seem to get the device rooted again. Motochopper fails when installing su.apk. I suspect I have screwed the pooch - what do I need to do to get this thing rooted again?
Is it typical for an OTA update to fail 'because' the device is rooted?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do believe it's because of the latest OTA update. I know the OTA for Verizon patched our bootloader hack that we previously had and I think the same may have happened for AT&T. You might want to check through the AT&T forums section as you have an AT&T S4 and this is the Verizon section. Hope you find what your looking for!
TheKog said:
Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd begin with posting in the forum applicable to your device. That being said, in about sure at&t's update was on par with ours
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
I just downloaded a OTA update on my S4, which I hoped was 4.4.4, but it looks like it is still Android 4.4.2. During the update, it says it was also updating KNOX, does anyone know what this update is, I was hoping it was the 4.4.4 upgrade. It did update KNOX to 2.0, so hopefully I can move my work stuff into KNOX now, and not have my basic phone subject to my work's locking policy.
The build number is KOT49H.I545VRUFNG6.
reckert said:
I just downloaded a OTA update on my S4, which I hoped was 4.4.4, but it looks like it is still Android 4.4.2. During the update, it says it was also updating KNOX, does anyone know what this update is, I was hoping it was the 4.4.4 upgrade. It did update KNOX to 2.0, so hopefully I can move my work stuff into KNOX now, and not have my basic phone subject to my work's locking policy.
The build number is KOT49H.I545VRUFNG6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just small bug fixes for bluetooth connectivity and updates for KNOX 2.0.
Oh noze! Search is borken again.
How do you stop the ota updates
siouxhockey11 said:
How do you stop the ota updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Titanium Backup and try to freeze SDM, you might have to purchase Titanium Backup Pro to freeze apps.
When it asks just click , No Thanks.. Update won't show again till you manually look for an update in settings.
I see the method for rooting the G6 involves the roll back to G5 and flashing G6. I've already towel rooted G5, will accepting the G6 OTA remove root for me because of the knox update? IOW if I want the LAG, is it better to flash G6 via odin, or can I just accept the OTA?
Thanks for your time!
BrianLayman said:
I see the method for rooting the G6 involves the roll back to G5 and flashing G6. I've already towel rooted G5, will accepting the G6 OTA remove root for me because of the knox update? IOW if I want the LAG, is it better to flash G6 via odin, or can I just accept the OTA?
Thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will lose root if you flash NG6 on Odin or Accept the OTA update. The only way to keep root is to follow that flash back method if you want the update and keep root. My advice is not to updated at all. The NG6 update has issues with random reboots.
Fadtydawg said:
You will lose root if you flash NG6 on Odin or Accept the OTA update. The only way to keep root is to follow that flash back method if you want the update and keep root. My advice is not to updated at all. The NG6 update has issues with random reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also advise not taking the NG6 update. I did and I went back to NC5. The random reboots seem to be unfixable and there really wasn't anything new and exciting with NG6, unless you need Knox 2.0 for some crazy reason! STAY WITH NC5!!!
michaely123 said:
Download Titanium Backup and try to freeze SDM, you might have to purchase Titanium Backup Pro to freeze apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disabled SDM with 'No Bloat". Annoying notification for update is gone.
wulto said:
I disabled SDM with 'No Bloat". Annoying notification for update is gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this work for non-rooted phones?
dwmartin6341 said:
Will this work for non-rooted phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No u need a rooted phone.
Fadtydawg said:
When it asks just click , No Thanks.. Update won't show again till you manually look for an update in settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say what? Mine is prompting me to install the update. It only gives me 2 choices "Install now" and "Install later", and if I choose later, it prompts me to pick a time for it to install. There is also a checkbox that says "Install automatically", which I am leaving unchecked. So, I think it's going to prompt me every day from now on, unless I root and then freeze something.
stuartv said:
Say what? Mine is prompting me to install the update. It only gives me 2 choices "Install now" and "Install later", and if I choose later, it prompts me to pick a time for it to install. There is also a checkbox that says "Install automatically", which I am leaving unchecked. So, I think it's going to prompt me every day from now on, unless I root and then freeze something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will just keep bugging you with the prompt everyday unless you root and freeze the apps.
With my wife's phone I went in to settings, application manager scrolled over to all & found SDM app & forced stopped it. Notification is now gone.
She IS NOT rooted.
I also have it auto hibernate using greenify so it does not come back.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
So is this update buggy for those who were unrooted? Or just for those who were rooted and took the update?
I wonder if we were to unroot, take the update, then follow the root instructions if many of the problems go away?
Sent from my SCH-I545 using XDA Free mobile app
My wife's S4 is totally stock and she's had zero problems with the update. Took it earlier today.
After playing around with the update for a while, it looks like we have finally lost write access to the SD card like we were supposed to since the first Kit Kat update. I cannot write to the SD card (unrooted) with any file explorer, and my SMS backup app fails at writing to the SD card.
Zelmo88 said:
I would also advise not taking the NG6 update. I did and I went back to NC5. The random reboots seem to be unfixable and there really wasn't anything new and exciting with NG6, unless you need Knox 2.0 for some crazy reason! STAY WITH NC5!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read your post..updated for the heck of it..FDR'd it...random rebooted after a a few minutes.
Its been 2 days so far, and the thing reboots 3-4 times a day.
I noticed that sometimes before it reboots, I'll unlock it, and it wont even register my security swipe..Then it reboots..Sometimes, if it does let me in, tapping on an icon does nothing...then it reboots...Other times, like this morning, it was just sitting on the end table, and it rebooted. Boy, you weren't kidding about the reboots.
BTW..All stock.
Here's what I did, worked.
I used the towel root method posted here (and other places I'm sure):
Ok...Forum won't let me post a link because I'm new. So Google "Root Verizon Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 on I545VRUFNG6 Firmware" and it will be the top choice from droid views.
Read the comments section too I posted the issue I was having then reinstalled super SU, flashed the NG6 Kernal and I've been good to go.
Hope it works out for you, I'm on NG6 with root, no errors, no reboots.
I just received an extended refurbished warranty replacement for a dead VZW Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 NC5. My old model was rooted, safestrapped, custom rommed, and had ota apps disabled. This new phone is also an NC5 (build date before June, so no problem rooting with TowelRoot). However, when I activated it and rooted it, the upgrade for NG6 was downloaded but not installed. I've rooted the phone and frozen the OTA apps, but I get an annoying popup every few minutes asking if I want to install the new upgrade now or later (clicking later produces a clock to set the time for an automatic upgrade). There is no option for not upgrading. I DON'T want the NG6 build, but the constant popup, which I have to clear with the Back key each time is a roaring PITA.
Anybody know how to disable the popup? The upgrade is already downloaded and I'd like to delete this as well as it is no doubt taking up #*%@^ unnecessary storage, but haven't found the right directory yet.
Any help will be appreciated.
Yout best bet would probably be to do a full wipe, such as an Odin, and restore the phone that way, then immediately root and freeze OTA updates before the phone has the chance to downloaf them.
Beartooth01 said:
I just received an extended refurbished warranty replacement for a dead VZW Galaxy S4 SCH-I545 NC5. My old model was rooted, safestrapped, custom rommed, and had ota apps disabled. This new phone is also an NC5 (build date before June, so no problem rooting with TowelRoot). However, when I activated it and rooted it, the upgrade for NG6 was downloaded but not installed. I've rooted the phone and frozen the OTA apps, but I get an annoying popup every few minutes asking if I want to install the new upgrade now or later (clicking later produces a clock to set the time for an automatic upgrade). There is no option for not upgrading. I DON'T want the NG6 build, but the constant popup, which I have to clear with the Back key each time is a roaring PITA.
Anybody know how to disable the popup? The upgrade is already downloaded and I'd like to delete this as well as it is no doubt taking up #*%@^ unnecessary storage, but haven't found the right directory yet.
Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856632
you'll still get the pop up so go ahead and hit update, it wont be able to find the update so it will bomb out, and not bother you again.
Thanks - worked for a while - then popup returned
XRSTOY1 said:
Try this,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856632
you'll still get the pop up so go ahead and hit update, it wont be able to find the update so it will bomb out, and not bother you again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did try that. The popup went away for several days and then came back. There must be at least one root-level app I haven't disabled.
Thanks for the help, but I'm afraid I still need a bit more.
Still having popups...
socal87 said:
Yout best bet would probably be to do a full wipe, such as an Odin, and restore the phone that way, then immediately root and freeze OTA updates before the phone has the chance to downloaf them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first got the phone, I disabled OTA, I ran the update - which failed, of course. It got rid of the popup, but I did not wipe the phone as I am a longtime Motorola Droid user and am not totally comfortable using Odin (This is my first Samsung and it's like going from Droid expert to Odin newbie). I have since restored nandroid and Titanium backups from the previous phone (this is a warranty refurb). The backups also included disabled OTA apps from my previous S4. Apparently, I missed one somewhere, as the behavior just recently returned. I'm going fishing on the root level again [sigh].
If anybody would be so kind as to list the exact .apks and their directories involved in OTA, I can make sure they are still disabled and run another failed update. This may be different from my Droids, since it is being referred to as a Samsung build update, and not an Android version update.
If anybody knows where the downloaded update is hiding, I can remove that as well.
Thanks in advance.
Im pretty sure the app u need to freeze is listed as SDM.. That should stop the update and popup.
Thanks also.
fxwrangler said:
Im pretty sure the app u need to freeze is listed as SDM.. That should stop the update and popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always rename SDM.apk and FWUpgrade.apk, but, with Samsung (with the OTA already pushed, but not installed), I had to jump through several other hoops. To see what else you can do to solve the problem, check out:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1856632
i just made a post about the same problem. I renamed them. so we will see what happens
To delete the OTA zip use a file explorer with root privileges like "ES File Explorer" navigate to /data/fota and delete update.zip
Beartooth01 said:
I always rename SDM.apk and FWUpgrade.apk, but, with Samsung (with the OTA already pushed, but not installed), I had to jump through several other hoops. To see what else you can do to solve the problem, check out:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1856632
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That link is dead. Can you please direct me to a good link for that? Thank you
re-rooting after MJ7 kernal pushed by google?
swolh said:
That link is dead. Can you please direct me to a good link for that? Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well - renaming SDM.apk and FWUpgrade.akp stopped the totally annoying push notification for google's new MJ7 build for the S4. But by renaming SDM.apk, my Verizon app visual voice mail stopped working. When I returned the SDM.apk file to it's original name, the visual voice mail works, but I get the annoying notification from google over and over.
I'm trying YouMail app for visual software and am waiting to hear from them about whether their app uses SDM.apk. If YouMail is like Verizon's visual voice mail and uses SDM.apk, then my next thought is to unroot the phone, let Google do their update to MJ7, then re-root. I'm wondering if anyone has done this.
My phone came with NG6. To root, I had to flash the NG5 stock kernal, then root using towelroot. Once rooted, I flashed the NG6 kernal. If I unroot and let google flash their new MJ7 kernal, will I be able to repeat the root process (flash NG5, the root, then flash MJ7)? If that route were possible, would I need to find a separate place to download the MJ7?
Is there any other way to stop google's annoying notificaton and pushing MJ7 at me? All help greatly appreciated.
---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 PM ----------
XRSTOY1 said:
Try this,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1856632
you'll still get the pop up so go ahead and hit update, it wont be able to find the update so it will bomb out, and not bother you again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My apology. I missed this link first time thru this thread. That link to a thread titled "[HOW TO] Disable OTA Update Notifications!!!!!!!!!!!!!" is pretty helpful. We'll see in a day or two if the notification and push attempt continues, but I'm pretty optimistic following the instructions in that thread will stop it.