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WARNING: Rooted KitKat hudl2 and you've deleted system apps? - what you should already know .....


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W A R N I N G :

Unfortunately when people root their tablet and instead of disabling things, just going that one small step further and on the lines of creating 'more space' start deleting system apps and changing stuff - there's potentially a whole load of pain just waiting round the next corner. On Tesco (and many other manufactures) devices you can't then still expect OTA (over the air) updates to still function correctly without issue. Many manufactures deploy OTA integrity checks which MUST PASS before the update will install correctly. These checks differ dependent on each update and what they have deemed needs to be checked/correct before installation - mainly deployed in an effort to only allow the upgrade from a 'known' build/running base specification.

In the case of Tesco OTA's - when they fail they'll generally exit gracefully and you can continue using your tablet, although you will probably be reminded their is a new update to install - as it's not successfully installed yet. But not under the following circumstances, this won't be the case: -

Faced with this situation, the most common next move for people is to 'factory reset' their unit - this serves no purpose real purpose - if you with root privileges deleted / adjusted a system app or config file it's going to stay deleted / adjusted - can people please take note!

Doing this last 'factory reset' step immediately up's the issue further - following any factory reset, your hudl2 will carryout the 'first time setup' routine, this is meant to configure a 'fresh' tablet with your details, wireless connection, create a Google Play account and finally check for any updates to ensure you're on the latest build - if it finds updates it'll force you to download and install them - causing a repeat update failure on reboot - creating the so-called boot loop!

There are NO FULL FACTORY images publicly available for the hudl2, just snapshot rooted system partition images as detailed in Paul's first post of his pinned thread.

E N D  O F  W A R N I N G

There is a solution to this scenario and the dreaded boot loop. But this exact method isn't set in stone or guaranteed to always work!

Firstly you have to break out of the boot loop - which means breaking out of the setup routine, you can do this via the following method (rewritten here for completeness, but has already been posted by various forum members): -

  1. Boot up and select 'Add Network' from the wifi selection screen.
  2. Hold down the microphone key on the google keyboard and select the settings icon and select the settings icon.  This will show 'Input Options'.
  3. Select 'Google Keyboard Settings'
  4. Select 'About Google Keyboard'
  5. Select 'Open-source licences'
  6. Highlight some text with a long press then select 'WEB SEARCH' from the top right
  7. This will take you to the Google Now search page and show a not connected error.
  8. Type 'Settings' into the search box and select the settings page from the drop down.
  9. From here you can enable developer mode, enable adb and fix any changes to the system partition that you might have made.

Right so if you have not got to this point, start doing some searching on this forum - the above method or a slight alteration of the above method does work and will enable you to get to position 9.

As you've reset your tablet step 9 just re-enables adb USB access via developer mode - this is a requirement for the next stage - without this you can't really continue.

Going back to what I stated before - there are no magic bullet FULL FACTORY images that we can re-flash to make everything better again, but with the limited number of pre-rooted system images we can try to recreate an OTA integrity check 'passable' running system partition.

The following procedure which you do at your own risk after reading it through completely - isn't a guaranteed solution as I don't know what you've already done to your hudl2 for it to fail OTA integrity checks ...........

STARTING FROM THE MOST RECENT pre-rooted system image, follow Paul's first post instructions to flash that image onto your hudl2 - when you reboot your tablet and complete the setup routine, the available update will download and attempt to install - it'll either install OK in which case success and move on allowing you to do something else now or it'll fail due to an as yet 'unfixed' OTA integrity check issue. By the way, on the update screen it does give you a clue as to why it's failing.

  • If the latest available pre-rooted system image hasn't passed the integrity check, but your tablet is still bootable, then your next course of action would be to flash the 2nd most recent pre-rooted system image and see if that will allow your build to pass the latest update integrity check, etc.
  • If your tablet is now unbootable, you'd have to perform a factory reset vi the recovery menu and go through the above cycle again, but this time with the 2nd most recent pre-rooted system image, etc.

Non of the above is guaranteed to achieve a working (OTA integrity check passing system/boot image) build - but it's probably your best chance. There are other avenues to take if you have access to more than one hudl2 (copying partitions from one to the other etc) but I'm not going to detail those hear as it'll only complicate a process that for people faced in this situation could create more harm than good.

I've used the above methods to overcome OTA integrity check failures after always rooting my KitKat hudl2 builds and adjusting the dpi settings via changing system files - a guaranteed no-no for trouble free future updates.

(.... you can do extra sneaky and dirty things like changing the OTA update install scripts to disable integrity checks - but in the end, this is only masking the fact that you're system isn't in the correct state for that particular update to install - it's not fixing your system and isn't guaranteed further down the line not to trip you up again...)

 

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Guest paulie74

Dear CaptainMidnight,

                                   please could you help me root my Hudl2. It has recieved the OTA update from KitKat to Lollipop and i just can't seem to do anything with it now

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Unfortunately as you're probably aware there is no current root method for our tablets yet. 

I have/had a cunning plan of how to obtain root, but involves opening up and "adjusting" the Lollipop system partition found within the 2nd large recent update. For this to work requires working on a Linux machine to adjust the package contents and then adjusting all the scripts and file crc's etc to ensure it'll be good to apply via the default Tesco recovery mode, potentially over the top of an already updated unit, possibly complicated now by added encryption.....

All the above, if my thinking is sound, requires a lot of spare timetime and testing which unfortunately at the moment I'm really short of.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a simpler answer and an immediate solution.

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Guest paulie74

i have been following posts closely and yes as frustrating as it is, i am fully aware of the problems 'hudlers' are experiencing.

i'm not competent enough to try to achieve what you have suggested but i'm sure with a little guidance, i can have a 'crack' at it.

What is the first thing i need to do ?

Unfortunately as you're probably aware there is no current root method for our tablets yet. 

I have/had a cunning plan of how to obtain root, but involves opening up and "adjusting" the Lollipop system partition found within the 2nd large recent update. For this to work requires working on a Linux machine to adjust the package contents and then adjusting all the scripts and file crc's etc to ensure it'll be good to apply via the default Tesco recovery mode, potentially over the top of an already updated unit, possibly complicated now by added encryption.....

All the above, if my thinking is sound, requires a lot of spare timetime and testing which unfortunately at the moment I'm really short of.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a simpler answer and an immediate solution.

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Guest andy40uk

Hi.

I am looking for help before I throw this bloody hudl out the window.

I rooted it just before the Lollipop upgrade came out and deleted several system apps to free up space. I'm sure you can guess where this is going.

I have tried to flash the bloody thing but no matter what I do it won't work. On two windows machines win7 and win 8.1 I can boot to droidboot ok but when I try to flash it I always get 'cannot load system.img'.

I have tried this about 40 times using different cables and have downloaded the image several time but the same thing always happens.

In desperation I even load Linux mint onto an old network to try it that way but yet again I cannot flash it.

Help please. I have completely run out of ideas now

 

Andy

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Guest popoyaya

Hi.

I am looking for help before I throw this bloody hudl out the window.

I rooted it just before the Lollipop upgrade came out and deleted several system apps to free up space. I'm sure you can guess where this is going.

I have tried to flash the bloody thing but no matter what I do it won't work. On two windows machines win7 and win 8.1 I can boot to droidboot ok but when I try to flash it I always get 'cannot load system.img'.

I have tried this about 40 times using different cables and have downloaded the image several time but the same thing always happens.

In desperation I even load Linux mint onto an old network to try it that way but yet again I cannot flash it.

Help please. I have completely run out of ideas now

 

Andy

Haven't you read a word of the OP?

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Guest speakeasy

When I was stuck in the bootloop, I contacted Tesco support.  I just said that I was stuck in a bootloop after applying an OTA update and that factory reset hadn't helped (all of which was quite true).  They dealt with it under warranty & I now have a fully functional tablet albeit with unrooted Lollipop.

Kudos to Tesco tech support!

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When I was stuck in the bootloop, I contacted Tesco support.  I just said that I was stuck in a bootloop after applying an OTA update and that factory reset hadn't helped (all of which was quite true).  They dealt with it under warranty & I now have a fully functional tablet albeit with unrooted Lollipop.

Kudos to Tesco tech support!

Yes in a similar situation a while back now, I've had to call on the services of a 7-day turn around Tesco tech support reflash of my unit due to what was possibly a dodgy flash leaving it belly-up with no workable solution without a full factory image restore.

If Tesco ever released a bootloader full factory image and the associated flashing tool things would be so much easier - I live in hope .....

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Guest CPN200

Perhaps we should all start bombarding their inbox with polite requests for this (as I have already done) before they EOL the product? It might help?

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Sorry people, I've had to scale back my involvement with this hudl2 forum as many people who come here asking for help, seem to want immediate specific assistance but fail to want to do any of the ground work in helping themselves with all the information already available within this forum, all it's threads and general background info available to them via Google.

It's been great and I'll look in from time to time, but other projects have more pressing needs ..........

:ninja:

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