[GUIDE] How to receive your OTA update ahead of schedule

DECEiFER

How to receive your OTA update ahead of schedule

Level of difficulty: Easy
Time: 3-4 minutes
Device(s): Phones running Android 4.0 or above (I cannot be sure about older versions of Android at this point) [Note 1]

Tablet users:
If you don't have a dialer, this guide may or may not work for you. By all means try it, it won't break anything as long as you follow the steps, but generally this guide pertains to phones. You can try with a tablet and skip the step that requires a dialer and see how it works for you.

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You're in a situation where an OTA update has been rolled out for your phone and because they're rolled out in phases, you could be unlucky in being selected to receive it quickly. If you're sick of waiting and want to attempt getting it ahead of schedule, then this is the guide for you. To flash a factory image instead, head over to this other guide that I wrote.

There are some caveats, however, there is nothing dangerous or detrimental about this procedure. It's very important to read through this thread entirely, so please don't skim or cut and run for your own sake, and this includes tablet users without a dialer who are trying this. I'll explain the caveats in more detail below, but if anyone says that doing this is inadvisable, they are simply regurgitating advice they received that doesn't come from a place of logic, but rather a place of ass covering, as Google themselves have advised against this, probably because they don't want people doing it without all the facts and since they cannot control what facts people have access to, they advise against it to attempt to cut down on tech support issues. However, this guide has all the facts that you need that cover everything you need to know to avoid any problems. If at this point you're skeptical, read ahead with an open mind or continue to wait for your OTA update to come organically. Please, though, don't post links to articles or posts saying that this is a bad idea or that it doesn't work and that anyone who tries this is wasting their time or should burn in hell!

Let's get started. There are no prerequisites or any preparation to be done.

OTA Checking Instructions

1. Go to Settings > Apps > All and search for Google Services Framework. Click into it.
   
   
2. Hit Clear Data without force closing it.
   
   
3. Go straight for the dialer app and dial *#*#CHECKIN#*#* (*#*#2432546#*#*). Remember it's *# twice in the beginning and #* twice at the end. There is no way or need to hit the call button.
   
   
4. You should get a notification saying "checkin succeeded." Then wait and see if you get a notification that the update is downloading. It should happen within a minute. If not, it probably hasn't worked, but you can always check in Settings > About phone > System update to confirm.
   
   
5. If the OTA update has arrived, proceed to installing it once it has downloaded. Else, try steps 1-4 again. If it doesn't work after a second try, wait until the next day (or a full 24 hours) and try again if by then it still hasn't arrived organically. [Note 2]

I mentioned some caveats before. I'm going to deal with them now, so please read this part with care and follow the instructions to the letter, or you could end up having some minor but inconvenient issues with Google Play in particular. The problem that arises from clearing Google Services Framework is that the device and its ID as known to Google's servers is wiped, like after a factory reset. But unlike after a factory reset, you don't think to do the procedure that gets the device sync'd with Google during the initial setup of your phone. So follow these simple steps to sync back up with a new device ID.

Google Resyncing Instructions

1. Go to Settings > Location and put the settings how you'd like them.
   
   
2. Remove and re-add your Google Account from within Settings.
   
   
3. Clear the Play Store app data and then launch the app thereafter, accepting the terms.

That's about it. If you find that your device is not listed when you browse the Google Play website, wait a few hours at least, as the process is not instant. It will happen, though, if you followed the steps correctly. So this is why Google have advised against it, because not many people explain the caveats involved and how to restore the phone to proper order. Here the concerns have been addressed so there really is nothing to worry about.

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Notes

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1. This may only work with devices that receive updates directly from from Google. I cannot guarantee any results for receiving updates non-Nexus and non-Google Edition phones (Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One) as I am not aware of their manufacturers' process or procedure for phasing updates out. I'd appreciate if anyone expecting an OTA on other phones to try the procedure and to report back.
   

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2. Trying this on day one of the rollout and it not working wouldn't be a surprise as with Google updating its Nexus line, at least (I can't speak for Samsung's or anyone else's rollout process), the first day only 1% of devices are in the pool of selection to get the OTA update but after the first day the pool does increase and your device has more of a chance of being able to jump the queue. I'd try on the second day or more of the rollout for this procedure to have any great chance of success. So bear that in mind. But you can do this whole procedure from top to bottom as often as you like, so if you have the time and the will, go for it, but any more than two attempts in the one day (or within a full 24 hours) is probably a waste of time because if you're not selected by the pool after doing this, you weren't in the pool in the first place and were likely going to be added in a later phase.

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coldfire1x

Just be careful....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=87629824&postcount=622

DECEiFER

coldfire1x wrote: »

Just be careful....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=87629824&postcount=622

Ah Jesus. I asked in the guide for people to not refer to any of that crap that it's dangerous as I wrote this guide with that in mind and attempted to dispel the myth that it's detrimental with reference to Google's ramblings about it.

DECEiFER wrote: »

There are some caveats, however, there is nothing dangerous or detrimental about this procedure. It's very important to read through this thread entirely, so please don't skim or cut and run for your own sake, and this includes tablet users without a dialer who are trying this. I'll explain the caveats in more detail below, but if anyone says that doing this is inadvisable, they are simply regurgitating advice they received that doesn't come from a place of logic, but rather a place of ass covering, as Google themselves have advised against this, probably because they don't want people doing it without all the facts and since they cannot control what facts people have access to, they advise against it to attempt to cut down on tech support issues. However, this guide has all the facts that you need that cover everything you need to know to avoid any problems. If at this point you're skeptical, read ahead with an open mind or continue to wait for your OTA update to come organically. Please, though, don't post links saying that this is a bad idea or that it doesn't work and that anyone who tries this is wasting their time or should burn in hell!

Thank you but it's not relevant once you read my guide from top to bottom, which you either didn't do or you ignored the part where I brought this up.

waynegalway

Is this just for impatient nexus owners, or will it work on any handset?

DECEiFER

waynegalway wrote: »

Is this just for impatient nexus owners, or will it work on any handset?

If you look at Note 1, I'm not sure. There's no harm in trying but just remember to follow the Resyncing instructions after any attempt on any handset or tablet. That will make sure that there's no cost in an attempt.

coldfire1x

My point was just to be careful. If someone is following your guide they should do everything carefully and not miss any step.

I did that on my last years Nexus 7 when 4.3 was released but didn't do the resyncing. After that it was a nightmare finding all my apps. Had to remove quite a few of them and reinstall them back again.

Its a good guide. Resynicing may solve that issue that I had. As for me I will wait till the update is pushed out OTA automatically. To be honest, got the update on my Nexus 7 yesterday, havent noticed any exiting feature that I was missing before the update.

I will probably try this guide again if there's some really exciting update is pushed out and I cant wait for it. Thanks

GIMP

Tried this on an S4 with operator ROM, didn't get any update to 4.3.

Kavrocks

GIMP wrote: »

Tried this on an S4 with operator ROM, didn't get any update to 4.3.

The OTA has to be released for your phone by your carrier and/or your OEM. You also need to be randomly chosen to receive the OTA so could have to do this several times before receiving the OTA.

Personally if somebody with a Nexus device doesn't want to wait until the full roll out why don't they just flash the factory image? Seems to me like a guide for that would be a lot easier and it would on average be less time consuming for the owner too.

DECEiFER

coldfire1x wrote: »

My point was just to be careful. If someone is following your guide they should do everything carefully and not miss any step.

I did that on my last years Nexus 7 when 4.3 was released but didn't do the resyncing. After that it was a nightmare finding all my apps. Had to remove quite a few of them and reinstall them back again.

Its a good guide. Resynicing may solve that issue that I had. As for me I will wait till the update is pushed out OTA automatically. To be honest, got the update on my Nexus 7 yesterday, havent noticed any exiting feature that I was missing before the update.

I will probably try this guide again if there's some really exciting update is pushed out and I cant wait for it. Thanks

No worries, perhaps I jumped the gun also. Resyncing would have certainly solved your Nexus 7 4.3 woes. I've done this numerous times, on 4.2, 4.3, and even on 4.4 because there was a minor bugfix update that came through since upgrading. I've seen the problems caused by doing this before attempting to resync, etc., and I can tell you that the three measures listed do get things back up and running as normal. Like I said, Google just don't want a bunch of tech support issues cropping up and plus it gives them a bad name when their OS breaks even if it's not their fault, so they would urge caution more than anyone else in case people doing this aren't aware of how to fix it up, just like how you weren't at first (and nor was I).

GIMP wrote: »

Tried this on an S4 with operator ROM, didn't get any update to 4.3.

Is there currently an OTA due and are you sure it's being rolled out at this time?

Kavrocks wrote: »

Personally if somebody with a Nexus device doesn't want to wait until the full roll out why don't they just flash the factory image? Seems to me like a guide for that would be a lot easier and it would on average be less time consuming for the owner too.

That's exactly what I did this time around. I plan on writing a guide about it as it's another topic that comes up frequently. But not everyone will be comfortable with flashing, whereas this isn't so far out. Also, as for time-consuming, I wouldn't say that flashing is quicker. You have to install everything again as it's like a factory reset, so backing up the SD card is also paramount if you have stuff on there that you cannot lose. Once it's flashed, it's gone. Data recovery will fail (trust me on this one ). So all that takes time, whereas 3-4 minutes each 24 hours until you get the OTA update isn't so bad, and you'll get to keep all your stuff after the OTA update is installed. However, it's up to each individual to decide what's best for them, so writing a guide on flashing in a similar format to this one seems like the way to go. Thanks for your feedback.

Kavrocks

DECEiFER wrote: »

Also, as for time-consuming, I wouldn't say that flashing is quicker. You have to install everything again as it's like a factory reset, so backing up the SD card is also paramount if you have stuff on there that you cannot lose. Once it's flashed, it's gone. Data recovery will fail (trust me on this one ). So all that takes time, whereas 3-4 minutes each 24 hours until you get the OTA update isn't so bad, and you'll get to keep all your stuff after the OTA update is installed. However, it's up to each individual to decide what's best for them, so writing a guide on flashing in a similar format to this one seems like the way to go. Thanks for your feedback.

This is wrong.

You can flash the factory images without wiping data exactly as the OTA would install. All that needs to be reinstalled is anything you've manually installed to the /system partition which is the case for the OTA too.

DECEiFER

Kavrocks wrote: »

This is wrong.

You can flash the factory images without wiping data exactly as the OTA would install. All that needs to be reinstalled is anything you've manually installed to the /system partition which is the case for the OTA too.

That's true about flashing the factory image. But the OTA won't wipe anything you've put on the /system partition. I have transferred a few apps like GEL and a couple of anti-theft apps over and the OTA didn't seem to affect them at all, they're still in there according to ES File Explorer.

These guides are written for people who might not be technically inclined and while anyone can make use of them, say if they're sketchy on just one or two aspects, they're not aimed at people with seasoned computing skills or the like. I'm actually stuck into writing the factory image flashing guide now. I might include a mention of leaving out userdata.img so the SD card and apps (and their data) installed to the data partition can be kept. But it's an alternative is all. There's no reason why this guide needs to disappear as again, some people will want to do it the easy and least scary way. It's alright for us seasoned flashers...that sounded wrong but you get the idea.

Fluffy88

Just to let you know, I have used this trick to get the OTA on my Nexus 4 including the re-synching.
Since then I have noticed that Appgratis has stopped sending notifications.

It's not a big deal, I can just re-install it since there is no settings but it proves that the Android developer warning against this is right! Most of the stock Android apps handle the ID change okay if you delete and re-add your account but we don't know what effect this could have on any other apps.

DECEiFER

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Just to let you know, I have used this trick to get the OTA on my Nexus 4 including the re-synching.
Since then I have noticed that Appgratis has stopped sending notifications.

It's not a big deal, I can just re-install it since there is no settings but it proves that the Android developer warning against this is right! Most of the stock Android apps handle the ID change okay if you delete and re-add your account but we don't know what effect this could have on any other apps.

I honestly have not noticed any lack of push notifications from third-party apps as a result of this. WhatsApp, eBuddy XMS, Skype, Steam, Facebook, and even SongPop, they all continued to function as before. I didn't pull that "ass covering" stuff out of my ass, I promise you that. But sure, it's something to keep in mind. I haven't used AppGratis before but reading through its description, it sends one push notification a day, so I'll test this out to see how it fares out here. I'll wait for it to send one notification and before the next day, I'll do every step in this guide again and see if I get the next notification. If not, we'll take it from there, I'll likely re-word a few things and put in a clear warning as of course I don't want to be responsible for misinforming anyone, so thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'll report back with the result in two or three days.

Basq

Followed the guide from top to bottom..

.. so fingers crossed!

Cheers DECEiFER.

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

Followed the guide from top to bottom..

.. so fingers crossed!

Cheers DECEiFER.

No problem, let us know how you get on. You should see a result quickly if it's going to work.

Basq

DECEiFER wrote: »

No problem, let us know how you get on. You should see a result quickly if it's going to work.

No luck an hour on anyways!

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

No luck an hour on anyways!

What phone is it again? Did you give it a second try? If so, you might as well resync back up and let it slide until tomorrow.

Basq

DECEiFER wrote: »

What phone is it again? Did you give it a second try? If so, you might as well resync back up and let it slide until tomorrow.

Nexus 4.. only tried it the once.

Will try again tomorrow.

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

Nexus 4.. only tried it the once.

Will try again tomorrow.

The first time I did this when I was on 4.2 I did it once and it didn't work and on the immediate second try, I got the notification, that's why I say to try twice before calling it a day. But sure, tomorrow, if you can hang on until then, give it another go.

Basq

Just tried again a short time ago.. and BOOM!



Cheers again DECEiFER!

DECEiFER

Never doubted it, man! Well done. Enjoy the update and if you want the Google Experience Launcher (GEL) that's featured on the Nexus 5, you'll have to install the APK. No need for root and there's download links for it all over the place.

Basq

When it finished and rebooted to install 4.4, I got the error screen..



The phone rebooted fine but is now saying up-to-date at 4.3.

Might try again tomorrow!

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

When it finished and rebooted to install 4.4, I got the error screen..



The phone rebooted fine but is now saying up-to-date at 4.3.

Might try again tomorrow!

Unfortunately if the OTA fails you need to get it again. If you tried the procedure again now you'd probably get the download started, but it'd probably work tomorrow also.

Are you rooted? Do you know why it failed?

Basq

DECEiFER wrote: »

Unfortunately if the OTA fails you need to get it again. If you tried the procedure again now you'd probably get the download started, but it'd probably work tomorrow also.

OK, will give it a shot since phone is charging anyways.

DECEiFER wrote: »

Are you rooted? Do you know why it failed?

I'm rooted alright.. but unsure why it failed.

WiFi has been dodgy lately so possibly that.

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

OK, will give it a shot since phone is charging anyways.


I'm rooted alright.. but unsure why it failed.

WiFi has been dodgy lately so possibly that.

The Wi-Fi wouldn't have anything to do with the install process in recovery, which is where you got the error. It looks like that's the stock recovery so that's not going to be an issue. If you had a custom recovery then you'd need to flash it back before installing the OTA update. Is that picture even yours? If not, check to make sure your phone has the stock recovery flashed. If not, it's very easy to do so and it takes only a moment.

Do you have mods installed? Even something simple like a battery icon mod. That's what got me. If any system file has been changed by you directly or by a mod that you have installed (the battery icon mod replaced SystemUI.apk), then the OTA will fail as it does do CRC checks on some system files to make sure everything is good to go. Being rooted on its own isn't enough to cause an error.

If you think it's going to be too difficult to track down the problem, you might want to consider flashing the factory image. You'd lose anything in the system partition that you put in there but you can keep your data partition and SD card (assuming that your Bootloader is still unlocked) so the inconvenience would be minimal enough. If you're likely to go down that route, you're in luck because I happened to write a guide about doing this earlier on today.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057089954

Basq

Cheers mate.

I do actually had AnTutu Battery Saver installed.

Tried twice to get the update again there but no luck. Might try flashing the factory image later in the week alright. Thanks for your help though, and guide is very useful.

DECEiFER

Basq wrote: »

Cheers mate.

I do actually had AnTutu Battery Saver installed.

Tried twice to get the update again there but no luck. Might try flashing the factory image later in the week alright. Thanks for your help though, and guide is very useful.

No problem but some advice for the future. If you root again and flash any mods, make any changes to files on the /system partition, make a note of what file(s) have been changed and take backups of the originals. Next time an OTA update is due, you'll know the score. I started making notes and backups recently of anything I change and it really is less messy when the OTA updates fly out. The recent OTA update installed without a hitch and I didn't even unroot for it (but of course you need to re-root afterward as the su binary gets wiped).

Fluffy88

Looks like I've found another app doesn't agree with clearing the Google Services Framework data, Avocado.

Again since I've done this trick I no longer was receiving any notifications from the app. Last night I cleared the data and force stopped the app and all was working fine again.

I'll updated later with more on AppGratis.

Fluffy88

Update on AppGratis.

Since I cleared the data for Google Services Framework I haven't received any notifications from AppGratis, including yesterday.

Last night I cleared the data and force stopped AppGratis.
Now this morning I got my daily notification.


Looks like the Google engineer was right, we really don't know how this might affect apps. The stock Google apps handle the change fine if we delete and re-add our accounts it seems but it doesn't work for all apps.

DECEiFER

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Update on AppGratis.

Since I cleared the data for Google Services Framework I haven't received any notifications from AppGratis, including yesterday.

Last night I cleared the data and force stopped AppGratis.
Now this morning I got my daily notification.


Looks like the Google engineer was right, we really don't know how this might affect apps. The stock Google apps handle the change fine if we delete and re-add our accounts it seems but it doesn't work for all apps.

Sorry about not replying sooner. I've been balls deep in PC problems as I built a new rig. But as planned I did the test and I had the same problem with AppGratis as you. I will make an amendment to my post to reflect the potential issues of apps not pushing notifications out and advise that clearing the data should suffice. It's best that everyone knows the risks so they can make an informed decision.

I suspect it has something to do with the ID again and when the app tries to push the notification out via Google Services, it's being rejected because the device is not found. That's just a guess, but it's not a serious problem. It only becomes serious when clearing the data is not an option, say if there's an app that has data that is irreplaceable to you. I'll mention all this as soon as possible in the first post.

Thanks for the heads-up. Valid concerns are always welcome and my post did not explain that very well. My concern was that people would post links to problems that I already covered because they neglected to read my post properly (people do that!).

I'll have to revise my post externally (I keep them all saved in text documents with UBBC, etc.) and have a mod make the edit. I'll try and do so this evening but the mod might not get it done for at least a few days (as has been the case with some other guides I've posted in the past).