Factory defaults

[csbc]

My Moto G is barely functioning, the only way out everyone agrees is a complete reset. However it is in such a bad way that I can't make it do so.

At http://www.hardreset.info/devices/motorola/motorola-xt1064-moto-g-2nd-gen/ two methods are given with the easy one at the bottom, so I assume it often does not work. I did all my back-ups and found that the button remained greyed out, even after several restarts/retries.

So I tried the long way round and though I could get to the appropriate menu it just did a normal restart.

It's not just me that tried multiple times, so did my wife and the manager of the shop who sold it to me [who said he had done it before and it was easy!].

Is there any way to do it by USB [from a Mac]?

Cheers, Colin

 

[Thom]

First ... before doing anything ... did you Wipe Cache Partition deleting all temporary data and not touching anything else? This will solve many (close to all?) performance problems without the need for a Factory Data Reset.

... Thom

 

[csbc]

Thanks Thom, and yes I did.

After trying safe mode it was my next step. I got to the menu and chose recovery [as did the guy in the Google store in London] and it did a normal restart to no effect [just as it did from the same menu when I tried a factory reset].

It truly is a sick phone!

Cheers, Colin

 

[Thom]

So ... you have tried to do a Wipe Cache Partition but have not succeeded.

You are using a Moto G (2015) AKA Moto G 3rd Generation and not a Moto G (2014) AKA Moto G 2nd Generation.

Here are the Moto G (2015) instructions form Verizon ...

1. With the phone powered off, press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button at the same time until the device turns on.(and release them both)
   
2. Press the Volume Down button to highlight "Recovery mode" (and release it)
   
3. Press the Power button(and release it) to restart into Recovery mode.
   You'll see an image of an Android robot with a red exclamation mark.
   
4. Holding the Power button, tap Volume Up once and then release the Power button.
   
5. Use the volume buttons to scroll to "wipe cache partition" (and release them both) and tap the Power button to select it.
   
6. "Reboot system now" will be highlighted, tap the Power button to select it.

... at what point did it just reboot? Did you get it started and then let it run for 5 to 20 minutes?

(The red text were my augmentations.)

... Thom

 

[csbc]

Thanks, but nothing changes Thom.

1 and 2 are fine, but when I press the power button it just goes off. I've tried waiting to see if anything happens, but it does not. When I next press the power button it gives a normal restart.

It's sick!

Cheers, Colin

 

[Thom]

Here's a guess ... different phone/version ...

When you get the menu ... tap the Volume Down to select Recovery (if you hit the bottom tap again and it will wrap to the top)
Tap Volume Up to select it
When the Android on its back appears ...
Hold the Volume Up ... tap the Power ... release Volume Up.

... Thom

 

[csbc]

Thanks yet again Thom.

One difference I have is that stage 1 I only get the DOS-like prompts after I release the two buttons [it seems no matter how long I hold them down].

This time the vol up in your last post works, but the Android has 'No command' written under it which I've seen before.

With your last point it then restarted and I waited in suspense, but no luck, just a normal restart.

I suspect that the 'No command' is quite a clue. Quite a bit about it here http://forums.androidcentral.com/as...-fix-phone-says-no-command-recovery-mode.html but no solution. Do you think

might be the answer, it is even for Moto G [but it seems very skimpy by way of instruction, and if removing the battery is important I can't do that with a Moto G]. However, as I got my phone sim-free I assume I can install TWPP, but I am down to 0.49Gb of storage.

I also feel there may be the answer here http://androidforums.com/threads/no-command-error.853836/ but my head hurts ;-) and I can't see the little differences between all the solutions there.

It does seem to be more common to have this problem on the Moto G than other phones.

There was also a v bad YouTube video about doing it from a PC, but this is a Mac household ...

Cheers, Colin

 

[Thom]

This is only a problem the first time. After you do it once it will trivial to reproduce.

The Android on its back with explanation pointy and No Command is a standard part of the process.

When you are at that point the next step varies from one model/version to another ... it is either ...
Hold power and tap volume up and release power
or
Hold volume up tap power and release volume up

When successful another menu will appear.

If you do nothing when you see him it will eventually do a normal reboot.

... Thom

 

[csbc]

Thank you yet again, Thom.

I did some combo of the additions you suggested and went for a factory reset to be sure: a bit of a white-knuckle ride as the re-boot took a good 30 mins and I’d not seen reference to anything more that 20 ...

It had previously offered to save personal data to Google servers, but it seems not to have done so, no matter as I think that everything important was in one cloud or other that I use. To my surprise it offered me the option not to install several apps that I considered to be part of the core set, so I turned them off only to find they were then all installed anyway. Also it said 14 apps needed authorisation to update, so I did nothing and as usual they updated anyway! Even so I now have a lot more space than before, though offline maps may gobble that up soon.

Is there any way to stop apps updating and using my scarce memory [I’d not realised that the G 2nd gen had half the RAM of the 1st]?

I’d like to squeeze a launcher in, any ideas about the most compact and least feature-rich?

Thanks again, Colin

PS The top one-liners from the Edinburgh Fringe have just been announced, I feel that ‘Leave voters were obsessed with taking back control. What we did not know was they would also take back alt and delete and return the country to factory settings’ was a good try. No prizes for guessing where I live.

 

[Thom]

The Wipe Cache Partition was part of the Factory Data Reset. It is unfortunate you didn't try that first ... it could have saved you a lot of time.

So you are apparently using a Moto G (2014) and not a Moto G (2015)?

I use three apps that really make management easy around a Factory Data Reset because they each have a backup/restpre capability ...

Nova Launcher Prime
Pixel Phone Pro
Tasker

I got real tired of having to learn a new phone app every time I changed a phone. Pixel Phone Pro solved that.

For a launcher I would recommend Nova Launcher Prime

I don't know about any memory requirements.

... Thom

 

[csbc]

Sorry for the delay in thanking you, Thom, not ingratitude!

I like Nova more than my last launcher and don't even need the paid version.

I've been tied up as something else has gone wrong so I now have a very small Android tablet as my main SIM won't work in slot 1 any more and my overseas one which is 4G only so never worked in lot 2 does work in slot 1 and my main SIM works in slot 2. In other words both SIMs only work in the 'wrong' slot now.

A problem for my carrier as they have merged with another and now say I need a new and very much more expensive contract to get a replacement SIM as they no longer make the old ones!

Also, despite it not working it has given me a huge data bill.

I can see some interesting negotiations ahead!

Colin

 

[XEROKNIGHTHOPE]

Here's a guess ... different phone/version ...

When you get the menu ... tap the Volume Down to select Recovery (if you hit the bottom tap again and it will wrap to the top)
Tap Volume Up to select it
When the Android on its back appears ...
Hold the Volume Up ... tap the Power ... release Volume Up.

... Thom

i have my android device and i was doing a system update but then it went into "no command" afterwards it was doing a firmware update.. it took to long so i unplugged my USB connection and now non of your options to do aren't working