Tag: nexus

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Manually installing an OTA update for the Nexus 5x

In theory, your device should automatically check for an OTA (over-the-air) update, download it in the background, and then prompt you to install the update. No matter how much I manually checked, my device kept insisting it was up to date (I know Google likes to do staggered automatic rollouts, but it's just annoying when I manually initiate a check and Google still insists on not giving me the update).

These are just slightly more detailed step-by-step instructions based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OTA Links for Sideloading. This GitHub page has a list of OTA updates for Nexus devices. Find the download for your device. I'm using my device (Nexus 5x) as an example. In theory, the instructions should be very similar for other Nexus devices.

Find your device's build number

There are two different 6.0 builds for the Nexus 5x (MDB08L and MDB08M). To find out which one was mine, I had to go to Settings > About phone > Build number to find out my build was MDB08L.

For the U.S. version of the Nexus 5x, the upgrade is MHC19J from MMB29Q.

Enable USB debugging

While you're in the About phone section, tap the Build number and keep tapping it until you get a notification that developer options are now enabled. Then go to Settings > Developer options and scroll down until you get to USB debugging and tap the toggle next to it to enable it.

Get the Android SDK

Google used to have an easy-to-find SDK download link. Now it points you to Android Studio instead, which you can use to install the SDK using SDK Manager if you go to Tools > Android > SDK Manager. You may, somewhere on the Android developer website be able to track down a standalone SDK download if you dig around enough.

It took me a while to find exactly where the SDK installed to. Eventually, I found it it was installed to /Users/username/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools (I'm using a Mac—it's probably a similar path for Windows, maybe in /Users/username/AppData?).

Do the actual flashing of the OTA

Disclaimer: Uh, these instructions worked for me, but absolutely this is at your own risk. I'm not at all responsible (nor is the person who wrote the tutorial on which this is based) for any damage you might do to your device.

Open up a terminal (again, I'm using a Mac, so it's in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app; if you're using Windows, find cmd.exe and launch that up instead).

At this point, plug your device into your computer using a USB cable. You may have to switch to PTP mode to get it to work.

Change directories to where adb is:

cd /Users/username/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools
Substitute in your actual username for username. And don't forget you can use the Tab key to autocomplete directory names instead of manually typing out the full path.

Make sure your device shows up in the list of devices:

./adb devices

Reboot to the bootloader:

./adb reboot bootloader
Use the volume down key to focus on Recovery. Once that's in focus, press the power button to select it.

You'll see what looks like an error and a dead Android lying on its back. Press the volume up key and power buttons at the same time until you get to a list of menu options.

Use the volume down key until you get Apply update from ADB into focus. Then press the power button to select it.

You should then see a message that says Now send the package you want to apply to the device with "adb sideload ."

Back on your computer, enter a command similar to this one (again, Tab completion is your friend—you don't want to manually retype the full filename of the OTA update you downloaded:

./adb sideload ~/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-bullhead-MMB29K-from-MDB08L.zip

You'll then see output similar to this in the terminal on your computer:

loading:
'/Users/username/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-serving:
'/Users/username/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-serving:
'/Users/username/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-serving:
'/Users/username/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-serving:
''/Users/username/Downloads/f67821b18f5a3bc6552039f0997fc9511f05c2c3.signed-Total xfer: 2.12x
with little progress percentages going up along the way.

Meanwhile, on your phone/Android device, you'll see output similar to this:

Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Source: google/bullhead/bullhead:6.0/MMB29Q/#######:user/release-keys
Target: google/bullhead/bullhead:6.0.1/MHC19J/#######:user/release-keys
Verifying current system...
Verified system image...
Verified vendor image...
Patching system image after verification.
Verifying the updated system image...
Verified the updated system image.
Patching vendor image after verification.
Verifying the updated vendor image...
Verified the updated vendor image.
Patching the boot image...
Writing bootloader...
Patching radio...
script succeeded: result was [1.000000]

Install from ADB complete.

When that's done, use the volume up key to highlight Reboot system now and then press the power button to select it.

After your device reboots, you should see something like Android is upgrading...
Optimising app # of 66.

That's it! Your update should now be installed.

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Nexus 5x: Second Impressions

Here's a follow-up to last week's Nexus 5x: First Impressions post.

What I've liked so far

Basically, it's all the same stuff that impressed me at first—mainly the camera and the fingerprint sensor.

What's bothered me so far

While this list may look long, it doesn't mean I'm not enjoying using the phone, but I do have some nitpicks, so here they are:

  1. Even though the double-tap on the power button launches up the camera no matter where you are (great!), you'd think (as it did on the Moto X after a double-twist) that the phone being already unlocked would return you to an unlocked state after you launch up the camera. Nope. Whether the phone was unlocked or not before you launch the camera with the power button double-tap, it will be relocked after you're done with the camera. Sure, you can unlock it again quickly using the fingerprint sensor, but in terms of usability and user expectations, there's no reason launching up the camera should change the phone from an unlocked state to a locked state.
  2. Google will prompt you to enable Google Now cards and Google Now on Tap. That's fine. That's what I expect them to do. But even after you click to enable them and then decide to disable them again, there will still be a prompt, when you hold the home button, to enable them. Advertise once, please. Once I've seen it, I don't need to see it again. I opted out. Don't bug me.
  3. If you plug your Nexus 5x in to a computer, it will always default to charging only and not to transferring files. There is no way to change this default. The behavior is even more bothersome if your main computer is a Mac, because Android File Transfer (the Mac program you have to use to transfer files to/from Android) will automatically launch up when a phone is plugged in, but since the phone isn't set to transfer files, Android File Transfer will think the phone is just locked and give you an error message, which means you have to temporarily (again, no way to permanently change this setting) set the phone to transfer files and then re-launch Android File Transfer.
  4. When you first set up the phone, it asks if you want to require a password every time the phone boots up. Two issues with this—if you select to require a password, there's no way to change it back without factory resetting your phone; and even if you select not to require the password, it will still require a password!
  5. Apps aren't all updated to work with Marshmallow yet. Not exactly the fault of the phone, but just something to keep in mind. I tried using Firefox with Adblock. and it would constantly cause the phone to reboot (Chrome and Opera operate just fine). VolumeNext doesn't work to skip forward with a regular auxiliary cable (not headphones) but can skip backwards—didn't have that issue with lollipop. Those are just two examples. There will probably be others for other users. After a while, the app developers will update their apps to be more compatible with Marshmallow.
  6. The camera aspect ratio defaults to 4:3 instead of 16:9. The phone is advertised at having a 12 megapixel camera, but if you change it to 16:9, it drops to 8 megapixels. It may be fine to have 4:3 for Instagram, but when you look at your photos in the Photos app, there will be black bars (because the phone itself has closer to a 16:9 aspect ratio). I've changed it to 16:9, and it seems to be much better. I don't believe the drop in megapixels adversely affects the quality of the photos.

Do I still recommend this phone?

Hell, yes! As I mentioned before, those are tiny nitpicks people should be aware of, but the day-to-day use of the phone is great. Still a bit too large for my tastes, but there is no 4.3-inch screen on a new Nexus phone, so it's at least smaller than the 6p.

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Nexus 5x: First Impressions

Two years ago, I posted up Moto X: First Impressions. I just got the new Nexus 5x, and I thought I'd post my first impressions of that phone as well.

The Good

  • The camera photos seem crisp and the camera focuses quickly. I haven't had a chance to thoroughly test it in low light, but I've done a few indoor shots, and they seem immensely better than what I could capture on my (albeit two-year-old) Moto X.
  • The fingerprint sensor is amazing. It is indeed fast—almost instantaneous. And I find its placement on the back of the phone to be very convenient. Even though the phone is tall, the fingerprint sensor isn't toward the top of the phone... it's more toward the middle, so I don't have to reach up that high to get it. It's close to where my index finger would naturally rest. I was also able to register two of my index fingers and also two of my spouse's, so either of us can use the phone without always having to enter a password. The other up side to this is, since I don't need the password often (not at all, so far), I can make it a fairly complex one. When you have to enter a password/pin/pattern ten or twenty times a day, it's tempting to make it short and simple.
  • The screen looks good. I don't know anything about resolution numbers and pixels per inch or types of displays, but it looks good to me. Not too much glare. Not too much color saturation (or too little). Video looks good. I also like that the display brightness can go low. The lowest brightness on my old Moto X was still too bright in a dark room (so I ended up having to download a "night mode" app for my old phone).
  • Double-tap power button camera activation is a good call. I know Google was considering implementing the double-twist to activate the camera, the feature that debuted with my old Moto X, and I'm glad they went with a double-tap of the power button instead. The double-twist was an awesome feature, but the Moto X was a nice tiny-sized phone you could easily hold in one hand and twist around without worrying about dropping. Even though the Nexus 5x is smaller than the Nexus 6p, the 5x is still enormous, and so having a double-twist action ups the risk on dropping the phone.
  • The physical build is good. I know a lot of people like to bag on plastic (vs. metal), but the plastic of the Nexus 5x feels and looks nice. The phone still has a premium feel to it. Even though visually it looks as if the rear camera bulges out the back, the phone is still able to sit flat on a table without wobbling.
  • Power and volume buttons are well placed. The phone, as I mentioned before, is tall. So it's good the power and volume buttons, although above the middle, are closer to the middle than the top of the phone, making them all easy to reach (no, I don't have giant man-hands).

The Okay

  • One front speaker is fine. I'd love two front-facing stereo speakers. Since every other phone I've had has had one rear-facing speaker, even having only one front-facing mono speaker is a huge upgrade for me. I know some audiophiles out there will be disappointed in this. The volume is adequate. If you turn the volume up, you can hear things fine, but you won't ever have to worry about turning the volume too high. Having two visual speakers even though only one is functional is a terrible idea, especially since the speaker design attracts fuzz and lint.
  • The camera app is not terrible. A lot of reviews have been down on the Google Camera app as being too simplified and barebones. I'm coming from the Moto X, which has basically nothing on the screen, and you tap anywhere on the screen to take a picture, so the controls for the Google Camera seem almost overwhelming to me. I've always felt with Android that you can get a more sophisticated camera app from the Google Play Store if that stuff matters to you. I will say the noises that the camera app emits when you switch to video or start a video or take a picture are annoying.
  • 32 GB is all right, but 64 GB would be better. One of the reasons I was tempted by the Moto X Pure is its microSD expansion. The Nexus 5x has only internal flash storage, and the max is 32 GB. To be honest, if 64 GB was an option, I don't know that I would have gotten it, but I know a lot of Android fans love to put as much crap as they can on their phones. I had 16 GB on my old Moto X, so 32 GB seems like a wonderland of space.

The Bad

  • The Google Now launcher is horrible. This is probably more of a Marshmallow thing than a Nexus 5x thing, but I hate the new Google Now launcher. The icons are enormous. There is no longer the press and move up action to launch something (which, in the past, I was able to link to Opera instead of Google Now). Not only that, but you can't have any screens to the left of the home screen. By default, there's only one home screen and any home screens you add all have to be to the right of it. So I've opted to replace the Google Now launcher with my old buddy, the Nova Launcher. Now my icons are the right size, and I can configure my screens (and the home button gestures) however I want.
  • The phone is too big. Yes, I've mentioned this several times, but it really is bad. My spouse assures me I'll get used to the size, but for now (first impressions, remember?) it's extremely annoying. I take public transit, which means I'm often standing with only one hand available. The phone is definitely too big for one-handed use (unless you have giant man-hands). Unfortunately, this is just the direction phones are going. I was debating between the Moto X Pure and the Nexus phones, and of the three (Pure, 5x, 6p), the 5x is the smallest. Nevertheless, it's a bit too big for my tastes.
  • The accessories it comes with are meager. You get a standard power adapter and USB-C-to-USB-C cable. You also get a little SIM card ejector tool. That's pretty much it. I was hoping for a USB-C-to-USB-A or USB-C-to-microUSB adapter. USB-C may be the "new thing," but it's far away from mass adoption, very far away. I also found it odd that no headphones were included. Every Android phone I've gotten in the past has come with a pair of crappy headphones. I know the audiophiles out there usually ditch the crappy headphones anyway, but I'm not an audiophile. I appreciate an included pair of headphones. Could be just me.

The Untested

  • Phone call quality. Some people on the Android Forums complained about the phone quality being terrible. I haven't had a chance to see if that's really the case.
  • Battery life. I've had the phone one day. And I've been charging it a lot and not using it very extensively, so it's really hard for me to say how the battery life is at this point.

Summary of first impressions

No real big surprises. I'd read a lot of reviews of the phone before getting it. The three big draws for me were the fingerprint sensor, the better camera, and the timely OTA updates from Google. I guess eventually I get used to using an enormous phone...

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CM Nexus Gingerbread for MyTouch 4G

If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed that my blog posts have become less frequent lately and more about my smartphone than anything of importance. Basically, I’m of the opinion that people shouldn’t write unless they have something to say. You’ll see I have some 500+ blog posts, many of substance, with perspectives not often expressed by others. Generally, though, if I feel a certain way about an issue, and I see that plenty of others have already blogged the same perspective (or if even I have in the past), I just don’t see the point in saying “Yeah, me, too” or “Let me repeat what I said before.”

So this is for the ten MyTouch 4G users out there who are reading. Maybe there are only three of you, actually.

For two years, I’ve been using Cyanogen roms. They’re solid. They’re good. I’ve even donated a very small amount to the project. I used Cyanogen on my old MyTouch 3G, and I used it for my currenty MyTouch 4G.

Just on a whim, I thought I’d try another rom, and I ended up trying [ROM] (v1.3.1) CM Nexus Gingerbread 2.3.5 – Faux123 [Aug-30-2011]. It’s a good rom with some bad defaults.

The good:

  • It’s fast and responsive.
  • It’s very close to vanilla Gingerbread (doesn’t even include ADW Launcher or a custom boot splash screen).
  • Even though the developer says Updates for this ROM will NOT be very FAST or FREQUENT due to my LACK OF TIME…, it actually appears to get updated more often than the official Cyanogen rom. It’s gone through 27 versions since the beginning of April.

The bad:

  • There are multiple download links, but whichever one I picked, the download speed was extremely slow, and the announcing post did not include an MD5 hash to verify the download integrity. In case anyone’s curious, my download appeared to be fine afterwards, and the MD5 hash was cedcfd08aba0b7717f3c9b0237089290.
  • The keyboard default is to make a loud clicking sound (much like a typewriter) with every key press. And before you log in, there’s really no way to turn this off or even adjust the volume. Fortunately, once you do log in, you can turn it off.
  • The keyboard is also an English/Asian keyboard by default, with both Chinese and Japanese input methods. I’m all for accessibility, but this is a bit confusing, since the thread announcing the rom is totally in English on an English-speaking forum, and there’s mention at all in the rom description that it’s a trilingual keyboard. I had to Google how to get rid of it and bring back the standard Gingerbread keyboard (long-press a text input box and then select Input Method).

Another nice thing—and I’m not sure it has anything to do with the rom itself, since I checked the /system/build.prop file, and the phone identifies itself as HTC Glacier, which is the original model name of the MyTouch 4G phone—is that I can natively install Netflix from the Android Market (no need to trick the Market into thinking I have another phone or no need to manually download a copy of the .apk from some random place). So either Netflix finally expanded official support to the MyTouch 4G, or the rom builder included some other workaround that isn’t modifying the build.prop file.

Overall, a nice rom (with a couple of bad defaults), and the 3in1 Angry Birds Backup app was instrumental in making the move over relatively painless.