You MUST be completely, 100% stock to update. The updates are nothing more than a patch. And it checks for the stuff it's going to patch. If anything's not right, it fails the validation and won't update. So yes, bloat and all must be there.
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verizon just sent me an update to 5.9.901
- Thread starter jogutier
- Start date
You MUST be completely, 100% stock to update. The updates are nothing more than a patch. And it checks for the stuff it's going to patch. If anything's not right, it fails the validation and won't update. So yes, bloat and all must be there.
Is there any way someone can MAKE an update.zip from their stock (or updated) Bionic? Isn't that called a dump (no not THAT kind of dump!
No, no one can just make one. That's the point of a locked bootloader, unfortunately. It has to be signed by Moto.
Possibly have the same issues as those of us that flashed the 5.7.893 update...not knowing if you're still on the update path
thecaptain0220
Member
Are all the parts patched for sure? I figured the system changes would be a patch but the kernel and radio would be the whole thing. Just seems like they are small enough that it would be eaiser to just include the whole thing.
Technically, its not a leak. Its an official OTA update from moto/verizon. The only thing that will make it any more official is when they acknowledge it's existence
We really need to set some terminology straight. 
Please don't call this a "leaked update". That sets the connotation of a 5.7.893 situation as quoted above. This is an OTA update, pushed to phones by VZW, that has been captured. So call it a "captured update". That'd be better. And since it's pushed, it's official in every way and will be supported.
Please don't call this a "leaked update". That sets the connotation of a 5.7.893 situation as quoted above. This is an OTA update, pushed to phones by VZW, that has been captured. So call it a "captured update". That'd be better. And since it's pushed, it's official in every way and will be supported.I haven't seen a full install zip since they went from Eclair to Froyo. Even then it was supposed to be a Verizon zip to use if the update failed and you went into a Verizon store for them to do it.
It doesn't look like it. It looks like the boot image is patched. Not sure about the radio. CZ has looked at it fairly well in depth and from what I've seen looking into one of the updates, it seems like everything's done as a patch. I could be wrong and I'd expect CZ or someone to correct me if I am. But I'm pretty sure that's right and one of the big reasons why there's so many checks before it flashes and why we can't simply drop it on a different version even though it's signed.
thecaptain0220
Member
Definitely makes sense. There is no way you could patch a different file than intended without screwing stuff up. I guess it would also be pointless to check the bl and kernel if you were just writing over them. For some reason it just seems like it would be safer to overwrite the whole thing than patch when it comes to the bl, probably not the case though.
Right! Sorry, I just woke up so I was still a little bit out of it when typing that.
Is there any way someone can MAKE an update.zip from their stock (or updated) Bionic? Isn't that called a dump (no not THAT kind of dump!
It doesn't work like that. An update.zip package is created directly from the compiled code, not the code as it is installed on the device. And then, there are those pesky encrypted signatures that must be there for the entire thing to work.
I suspect two things. First and foremost, patching keeps the size down. Imagine all the people updating, even staged like they do in groups, pulling this stuff down. Not everyone's doing it on WiFi. Second, updating allows them to verify the integrity of the system they're installing to. The validation serves both as a "we're not going to blow up your phone with this update" check, but, also a security check to verify that the system hasn't been compromised. If only Windows did stuff like that. LOL. So it's smart on their part, but, it does cause anyone who doesn't follow the rules to be out of luck, unfortunately.
CellZealot
Member
Explaining the security on these devices in any kind of credible way would take a really long time and bore the crap out of most forum readers. The bootloader is not actually updated in this file, just the boot.img is patched along with the system files and webtop files. The radios are in fact complete images and are flashed as such. The security is layered such that the actual encrypted part of the boot chain is not necessarily incremented every time even though the signed components that depend on it maybe. I'll stop there, hopefully having shed a little light on the subject. 
Explaining the security on these devices in any kind of credible way would take a really long time and bore the crap out of most forum readers. The bootloader is not actually updated in this file, just the boot.img is patched along with the system files and webtop files. The radios are in fact complete images and are flashed as such. The security is layered such that the actual encrypted part of the boot chain is not necessarily incremented every time even though the signed components that depend on it maybe. I'll stop there, hopefully having shed a little light on the subject.
Thank you, most enlightening.
