Android 8.1 is broken here ...

[hstroph]

On a usually reliable Nexus 6P, I flashed the factory image angler-opm5.171019.015 and have come to regret it, as several important items no longer function properly.

0) GMail no longer works, although I can read past-downloaded emails

1) I can't return to the home screen by pressing the center round soft button, nor can I minimize any app by pressing the right square soft button. It's necessary to use the left "back" soft button to kill an app before the home screen shows so that I can start another app, which then has the same problem.

2) main residential router wifi from before the flash work,s but no other wifi choices are listed.

3) cellular data is unavailable, making Google Assistant inoperative and wasting my prepaid data plan.

4) The notification bar only has one row of icons, so I can't access the phone's settings to turn on the data, so Maps, aprsDroid, Cerberus and many, many other apps are non-functional.

5) Android 8.0 had a home screen right-swipe help center that could connect with Google Support for quick resolution of problems. It's not there in Android 8.1, so this forum is the only place I can to find assistance.

6) Attempting a flash revert to Android 8.0 breaks the boot process with "phone app broken" or some such error.

7) I've already started a thread about inability to root using trusted techniques with TWRP and SuperSU, which worked flawlessly on several Nexus Android phones after many factory image flashes since 2013.

If any of you have any suggestions, I thank you.

I probably haven't yet discovered all the problems though.

 

[hstroph]

Well, a reset to factory defaults was necessary, thanks anyway..

 

[codesplice]

Did you wipe/flash the userdata partition as a part of the factory image flash or did you try to skip that?

 

[hstroph]

Did you wipe/flash the userdata partition as a part of the factory image flash or did you try to skip that?

"Wipe" is apparently is what cured the problem, as the original 8.0 -> 8.1 flash wasn't wiped.

Wiping really causes problems of its own, as although my contacts, photos and apps are maintained, all my app configurations must manually be restored. Is there an easy-to-use backup app that I can use? I have Titanium Backup, but have to regain root to use it.

TWRP install of SuperSU isn't successful yet in Android 8.1.

 

[Hadron]

Many (but not all) apps' settings will restore when you reinstall them if you have the option to back up app data to Google switched on.

Helium can do a reasonable job of backing up without root. You need to use an ADB command it give it the necessary privileges if the device isn't rooted, but I've used it to transfer data between devices when the manufacturer's "migration" app wasn't working.

Nothing as comprehensive as Titanium, but between them you'll get most stuff.

I get the impression that more people are using Magisk these days, but I'm not familiar with the 6P.

 

[hstroph]

Many (but not all) apps' settings will restore when you reinstall them if you have the option to back up app data to Google switched on.

I did and do have that option enabled, along with "Automatic restore", but some of the installed apps still haven''t backed up their configuration data such as "EchoLink". Is there a special option in Android 8.1 to force it to do so?
...

Nothing as comprehensive as Titanium, but between them you'll get most stuff

I need to solve the TeamWIN inability to install SuperSU before I can restore my Titanium backups, and several other necessary apps such as Cerberus, Root Call Blocker Pro, TWRP Manager and "su" in adb shell..

I get the impression that more people are using Magisk these days, but I'm not familiar with the 6P.

The Google store has very negative feedback on every search result for "Magisk" that I found, so I'm disinclined to install them.

Is there a particular "Magisk" rooting app that so many people are fond of, please?

 

[codesplice]

It's up to each app's developer to implement the automatic backup and restore capability. If they haven't enabled it nothing you can do will make it work.

That said, you should be able to use adb backup commands. Some googling should find the documentation on how to use them.

And the only official place to get Magisk is here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445

 

[Hadron]

I don't know of any option to force Google backup of a particular app's settings.

In the Pixel 2 forums at XDA no rooting method other than Magisk is even discussed (and it had clearly been growing in popularity in some other devices for a while). And as I see @codesplice has posted while I was typing this, all of the guides point to the XDA thread rather than to the Play Store.

 

[hstroph]

It's up to each app's developer to implement the automatic backup and restore capability. If they haven't enabled it nothing you can do will make it work.

That said, you should be able to use adb backup commands. ...

Very good, haven't used such a backup methodology since Nexus 4, as I assumed the Google Cloud was capable of backing up every app's data, but obviously it's not.

And the only official place to get Magisk is here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445

Well by golly, thank you for that link. Following the instructions made rooting easy again. It looks like Chainfire is now history.

 

[hstroph]

... And the only official place to get Magisk is here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445

One last problem, please. The phone is now rooted, Busybox is successfully installed and root privileges have been successfully granted to the apps that need it, and they're operational. The remaining problem concerns "su" within "adb shell":

angler:/ $ su
Permission denied
1|angler:/ $ which su
/sbin/su
angler:/ $ ls -l /sbin/su
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 1970-06-29 22:33 /sbin/su -> /root/3vyvBaeeR
angler:/ $ ls -l /root/3vyvBaeeR
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 109600 1970-06-29 22:32 /root/3vyvBaeeR

It looks like "su" is executable for user, group and others, so I'm confused as to why "Permission denied" happens?

 

[codesplice]

It's actually been ages since I rooted last. There may be SELinux policies getting in the way of directly elevating from from shell.

Alternatively, look in the Magisk Manager app. There may be an option to restrict su from the terminal.

 

[hstroph]

It's actually been ages since I rooted last. There may be SELinux policies getting in the way of directly elevating from from shell.

Alternatively, look in the Magisk Manager app. There may be an option to restrict su from the terminal.

In "Magisk Manager" options, there is a slide switch "Shell".

Thank you.

 

[Deleted User]

Have you installed all the files this includes:

• vendor.img

• system.img

• boot.img

• recovery.img

Then in cmd put fastboot format userdata

Typicically it happend to me when i forgot the vedor.img but ensure your flashing the correct firmware

 

[doniago]

Just an FYI that you replied to a thread that was over a year old, so they're probably all set by now, one way or another.