Over-the-air updates do not work. How to update Xiaomi firmware via OTA update

Here's a clear demonstration of why iOS still rules.

Nowadays it has become fashionable to scold iOS, saying it’s slow, Apple has already not a cake and, in general, everything is bad in the “Apple” world, while Android furiously steers, pedals and works very quickly. There is some truth in all this, but it is only a share. In righteous anger, you shouldn’t forget about the pros of one platform and the cons of another. To support this, I'll be sharing my fun adventures with upgrading my Nexus 6, which began when I bought it two months ago and continue to this day.

Reference Googlephone, including software

Readers unfamiliar with my work can easily suspect Roman Yuryev of thoughtless fanboyism in relation to Apple and its products. Friends remember that I always tried to treat both competing platforms equally and, even if I was not burning with a wild love for Android, I perceived it adequately. Here are examples:

However, iOS has always remained the main platform due to the fact that for me personally it is simply more convenient, it is more comfortable to work in it, plus the ecosystem (iPhone + iPad + MacBook), no matter how hackneyed it may sound. Yes, I experimented, arranged for myself to move to Android, but always returned to iOS, which I described in detail earlier:

Wherein always praised the Nexus series smartphones for their long-term and high-quality software support, comparing it with that of Apple. Still promoted and supported by the Google devices, promptly receiving software updates for two or even more years. Good example- 2012, which my wife owns and which is still invigorating compared to Android smartphones of the same period, but from other manufacturers. It's no longer official, but it was updated to Android 5.1.1 and continues to receive . It works quite quickly and my wife is quite happy with it as a dialer + mini-tablet.

Having experimented with Android devices from third-party manufacturers, I decided to use it for work, for my gadget-maniacal soul and as a additional smartphone purchase a reference “Google phone” represented by Nexus 6. I really liked him when he and .

6-inch AMOLED display (I really like this technology and size) with QHD resolution, excellent design and, of course, always latest android on board. But I didn’t expect that the standard “Google Phone,” so to speak, “ Android faces"Everything can be so unstable and sad with standard features firmware updates. And, to be honest, this is my biggest disappointment in Google and its platform. But first things first.

OTA battle “iOS vs Android”

OTA is an abbreviation for " Over-The-Air", that is, an update "over the air", when the firmware is downloaded to the smartphone via Wi-Fi or cellular network, after which it is automatically installed, saving all user data. This feature appeared in Android a little earlier than in iOS, which is why fans of the “robot” have been trolling iPhone/iPad owners for a long time. Although in the end, Apple's OTA implementation turned out to be better.

So, just the other day, almost all Apple devices were updated with software. Came out, and... I have five Apple devices: , and - they were all updated within half an hour almost simultaneously. How the process happened:

• « Settings → General → Software Update → Install iOS 9.1» for iPad and iPhone.
• « Launch Watch apps on iPhone → General → Software Update → Install watchOS 2.0.1» for Apple Watch.
• « App Store → Updates → Install OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 update» for MacBook.
• 30 minutes and all gadgets are updated automatically. At the same time, I did not take any active part in the process, but simply drank tea and relaxed my brain after a hard day of work.

An OTA update came out a little later Android 6 Marshmallow for Nexus 6. How the process happened:

• The system reported that " there is an update, click to install».
• Clicked, went to the installation menu, clicked on the “ Download" and... bummer. Instantly it showed up Failed to load”, and the button changed its name to “Download again”.

I pressed the button many times, waited for several hours (suddenly there was a rush and all that, Google servers could not stand it) - no effect. I did not perform any manipulations with the system - neither root, nor an unlocked bootloader, nor even a third-party launcher. Everything is stock, clean and tidy. How did I solve the problem? I spent an hour, or even more time, installing the update via the lanyard using the “Terminal”, Android SDK, ADB and the “sideload” command, manipulating the smartphone itself to enter it into desired mode(type DFU in iPhone). In general, it was fun and a little later I will tell you how fun it was, but the adventures began much earlier. Literally right after I printed out the brand new Nexus 6 and turned it on, which happened in Moscow at one in the morning. If it weren't for that experience that cost me four hours hard work, then I would install the update to Android 6 much longer.

So what happened? I printed out the Nexus 6, turned it on, did basic setup by entering your account Google entry. Then the operating system cheerfully told me: “ There is an update to Android 5.1, let's install it?" My soul felt good from the feeling that I had an Android smartphone in my hands with the best software support from the “Good Corporation” itself! Of course I agreed. The update downloaded quickly from Google servers, the phone rebooted, the installation process began, everything was going well, but at the end I saw this sad picture:

I repeat, this is a brand new, clean flagship Nexus 6, on which the software downloaded by Google itself was installed. " Well, okay, suddenly there’s a small glitch. I'll reboot now and everything will work. As a last resort, I'll download the update again“, I thought and pressed the power button for a few seconds so that the device rebooted. How naive I was…

The system seemed to boot and began standard program optimization, which occurs every time after an OS update. Moreover, this process is very leisurely, even on flagship devices. In my case it took about 15–20 minutes. But he didn’t get to the end, on the 49th application the phone itself went into reboot and so on in a circle.

From the owners Apple smartphones Incidents also happened, I read about it, although I myself have not encountered any problems with OTA updating iOS devices, although I have been constantly updating them this way since the very moment the opportunity arose. What to do in this case iPhone user? Connect your smartphone to your computer via a USB cable, launch iTunes and press one button “ Restore iPhone" After this it will automatically load required firmware, will be established, and if before that the person was not too lazy to do backup copy data, then it will also successfully restore address book, notes, SMS and information/settings from third-party applications.

What then does Google offer? Now I will tell you this anecdote, which has been going on for many years. After all, in Android support OTA appeared earlier than in iOS, but the Good Corporation has not yet figured out the emergency system.

Naive Roma climbed into Google search engine with a request to restore the firmware in Nexus, hoping that there is some simple one-button solution similar to that of Apple. Yeah, right now!

Here's a short description of what my 3-hour adventures turned out to be like:

You need to download and install Android Studio

Then you will need to go to hidden folder « Libraries", find there " Android\SDK\platform-tools" Sorry, you polluted the system with all this rubbish just for the sake of two files: adb And fastboot, which are used to manipulate the Nexus firmware.

You need to download the required stock firmware from Google Developers - there are a lot of them out there, you will have to choose carefully.

After downloading, you will need to unpack it into a temporary folder, where you should also throw the files mentioned above.

For Nexus firmware even stock firmware you need to unlock the bootloader.

Firstly, load the Nexus in the “bootloader/fastboot” mode by holding down the “ buttons on the switched off device volume down + power».

Secondly, we check whether the computer sees the phone, for this in “ Terminal"go to the folder with the firmware and the files obtained above and enter the command " fastboot devices " If she shows serial number connected phone, then everything is ok, you can move on and enter the command “ fastboot oem unlock", then reboot the phone with the command " fastboot reboot", and then put it back into flashing mode.

Now you can reflash the previously downloaded and unpacked stock firmware. Again through the "Terminal".

And it turned out to be not as easy as I thought. You need to run the script " flash-all.sh”, who in theory will do everything himself, but he did nothing. The geniuses of Google did not add a couple of characters before the fastboot commands, if my memory serves me correctly, these are “./”. Ok, I entered everything manually, saved the script, the flashing of the modem and something else began - in total, 5 or 6 files were uploaded in turn - but on the largest one, the operating system itself, an error was displayed. The phone was not reflashed and remained a “brick”.

I searched long and tediously for the reason, which turned out to be some wrong version fastboot module. In principle, it’s my own fault, since I tried to save time and took the archive recommended in the instructions with a couple of the mentioned modules. In general, I did put it Android Studio, I think I took it correct files, but there was a blockage again. The phone was not reflashed. And all this at 3 am. After a hard and stressful day. I didn’t want to abandon the process, because in the morning all the knowledge gained would be forgotten and I would have to put my brains back together again, and there was no time for that then. You need to do everything at once and forget it.

Flashing all files one by one manually.

Yes, I finally completed the process by finding another method where each firmware file is downloaded to the phone manually in a strictly defined sequence. After that, the phone came to life, it was already working on Android 5.1.1, I set everything up, installed applications and configured them too. ( Normal system backing up data on Android? No, I haven’t heard.) It’s still about 40 minutes of work. And then I discovered that instead of 64 GB the system sees 32 GB. It turned out that after flashing it was necessary to do the so-called “Wipe” - completely reset the smartphone, all caches, etc. Although this already happens during the firmware process.

Repeated Wipe.

As you understand, I had to boot the phone in flashing mode, find in service menu the right command, reset the device, then reinstall all your applications and configure the Nexus.

In approximately the same way, I had to install the Android 6 OTA update by downloading (it’s important not to make a mistake, since there is no “foolproof” there - if you fix something wrong, you’ll get a “brick”), installing Android Studio (since everything is superfluous I took it with pleasure after the adventures described above) and after working with the “Terminal”. Yes, it was much faster, and I didn’t have to reinstall all applications again, upload media content and configure the phone. But this operation is far from being for ordinary people.

How long, Google?

Why all this large text higher? Firstly, I hope it helps some Nexus owners. Secondly, I wanted to show how BAD EVERYTHING is at Google with, it would seem, basic function- restoring the phone after a failure that occurred due to the fault of the company itself.

Okay, I'm an experienced user who knows how to work with Terminal and use Google search, and has repeatedly flashed smartphones on almost all current platforms. What should less experienced people do in this case? A person bought an expensive smartphone, the best from Google, with the best software support, and received a “brick” immediately after the first update. Let’s say he spent his time and took the device to a store/service/friend, they reflashed his Nexus, and then again it’s a bummer, since an important system update cannot be installed on the machine.

Against this background, friends, screams, they say, “ Apple is no longer the same», « everything is bad with the company», « iOS has gone downhill"and others look funny. Yes, I’m ready to pray to Apple for the fact that the company has been saving my time since 2008, when I transferred all my work to Mac and finally moved to the company’s ecosystem. How many branded laptops, operating systems, smartphones have been changed and I still have my workspace, content, applications, documents from those very days. I'm moving to new laptop With using Time Machine or update OS X without any hassle at the click of a button. I change my smartphone to a new one and within half an hour, while I drink tea or coffee, I get all my applications, data and even “saves” in toys. Yes, I spent an order of magnitude more time and effort just moving between five Android smartphones than in seven years of working with two dozen Apple devices.

We talk about the technology for updating smartphones and tablets “over the air”.

As we know, everything software products subject to regular updates. Developers of operating systems and other software strive to improve, optimize and make them more functional. operating room Android system- not an exception. Since its release (2008), it has received great amount updates. All of them related to bug fixes and functionality improvements.

Google has chosen to update its operating system exclusively via the Internet - it is called OTA or over-the-air update.

What is an OTA update?

OTA is an abbreviation for the English words “Over The Air”, which translates as “by air”. To get a new shell for Android, you do not need to connect it to your computer to install new files - just a connection to the Internet or Wi-Fi network. This is a huge plus for owners of official Android versions, since improvement and optimization of the operating system occurs automatically and does not require user involvement.

Pros and cons of over-the-air updates

After downloading a package of new files, the operating system will definitely ask the user when to install them - now, at night or later. It would seem like a complete convenience, but why do some users prefer to disable the ability to update? The point is that the owners mobile devices trying to save space system memory, and updates often take up more and more space.

But there is another danger. Downloading software when wireless update occurs unplanned, while the Android device can be connected to the Internet via a channel mobile network, and via Wi-Fi. In the second case, the process of background downloading is welcome, since the speeds are high and the cost of tariffs is low. As for the first option, receiving an update brings with it a lot of inconvenience, since there is a sudden depletion of the mobile traffic limit allocated under the tariff plan.

In this case, the speed of web surfing may drop significantly or video viewing may slow down, since the downloaded update “pulls” all the speed onto itself. In this regard, in the device settings, you can select the option “download updates only when connected to Wi-Fi networks».

Sometimes it happens that a user heard an announcement about the release of a new version for Android and wanted to get it. But when I try to check the update through the device settings, I find that it is empty. There is a lot of information on the Internet about how to speed up the process of receiving an OTA update. standard means. For example, this is a data reset in the system Google app Services Framework or sending USSD codes from a certain combination numbers and signs.

But it is important to understand: developer reviews indicate that such actions are unlikely to have a good effect on stable work devices in the future. In most cases, the update will result in only minor changes: appearance application shortcuts, improved energy saving and performance. Due to such minor changes, it is better to wait for the new firmware to be downloaded automatically in a timely manner rather than jeopardize the correct operation of the operating system.

How to update Android?

Despite the fact that Google's Android operating system appeared in the mobile device segment relatively recently, it has managed to take a leading position in the smartphone market. About half of all activated smart phones worldwide run on this OS.

It is worth noting that Google quite often releases various software updates that make it possible to maximally protect Android users from detected software glitches. But often these updates do not reach end consumers, since many smartphone manufacturers stop supporting their devices almost immediately after their release. To solve this problem, many install it on their gadgets third party firmware, released by enthusiasts. Often, you can update Android only with their help.

How to update Android on a smartphone or tablet?

First, it is necessary to provide some clarity about how the update process occurs and in what cases it can be done. Despite the fact that a new version of the OS is released once a year, not everyone will be able to use their device. Stable update to the latest latest versions The OS is guaranteed for 2 years only for users of the Nexus and GPE line of devices ( Google Play Edition, which is served in the Google online store).

Also, in most cases, all smartphone manufacturers update the firmware for their flagship models, but updates come out with a long delay.

Updating Android using a proprietary utility

To update operating system your smartphone to the current state, you can use the software developed by the device manufacturer. For smartphones Samsung you need to use the KIES utility, users of LG devices need LG PC Suite or HTC Sync Manager for HTC devices.

Android update process via PC:

1. First you need to download the branded software from the official website of the manufacturer of your smartphone. The address of this Internet resource can be found in the instructions for the device.
2. After this, you need to install the software on your computer, as well as, if necessary, an additional set of drivers.
3. Next, you need to connect your smartphone or tablet to personal computer using a USB cable.
4. Now you should run the installed software and give it some time to detect the connected device.
5. When the model of your device is identified, you should find it in the program interface and click the “Software Update” button.
6. Next, you need to follow the prompts given by the program.
7. During the software update, it is strictly forbidden to disconnect the USB cable or remove the battery from the device. In addition, a smartphone is best on a laptop or computer with a source uninterruptible power supply so that in the event of a power outage the update process will not be disrupted.
8. After the update is completed, the smartphone or tablet will restart and its settings will be reset to factory settings.

The process of updating an Android device over the air:

1. First, connect your device to the charger and wait fully charged battery In addition, if your smartphone or tablet is guaranteed to be charged more than 80%, you can safely try to update.
2. Now connect the gadget to the Wi-Fi network, since using mobile internet, even unlimited, will make the process of downloading the update very long (it may take from several hours to a day). In addition, when using a mobile network, the download process may be interrupted due to low speed.
3. After that, open the software update utility on your smartphone:
   • For various devices Chinese manufacturers, as well as companies FLY, Explay, etc. you will need to go to system menu settings, then go to the “Software Update” section;
   • For Samsung or HTC devices, you need to go to the settings section, select the “About device” menu item, then go to the “System updates” section and click the “Check for updates” button;
   • Smartphones from LG are equipped separate program to update Android, it is located in the main menu and has the appropriate name “Software Update”. You just need to open it and start the update process.
4. During the update process, the smartphone may reboot several times. If the system update was minor, user data may be retained. Otherwise, you will have to restart or restore the settings from the backup.

Android firmware update based on CyanogenMod

1. Download the firmware image for your device to a memory card or place it there using a computer.
2. Turn off your smartphone and boot it into “Recovery” mode by simultaneously pressing the volume button and the power button (the key combination depends on the device model).
3. Select “Update” and open the previously saved firmware image;
4. The device will be updated and rebooted.

For modern smartphones New versions of the OS are constantly being released, but not all users receive them. If the firmware on your Android is not updated over the air or via cable, then the reasons can be very different: from lack of memory to the termination of support for the phone by the manufacturer. Let's figure it out.

This article is suitable for all brands that produce phones on Android 9/8/7/6: Samsung, HTC, Lenovo, LG, Sony, ZTE, Huawei, Meizu, Fly, Alcatel, Xiaomi, Nokia and others. We are not responsible for your actions.

Why is there no update on Android?

The most common reason why Android is no longer updated is the cessation of support from the manufacturer and the obsolescence of the device itself. Android developers are forced to work on compatibility with a large number of devices and create additional drivers. Therefore, updates are usually only received latest models smartphones, series flagships.

Other reasons for missing system updates on your phone include:

• Insufficient memory on the device. There is no place for the update to install. A corresponding message should appear.
• Failure in work Google Services.
• Using unofficial software - installing custom firmware and recovery, installing applications from unverified sources.
• Hardware faults that lead to failure of individual components.

In addition, you need to understand that new firmware is distributed among users gradually, from the region where the phone is linked to the region. Even if your friends have already updated their Android, this is not a reason to look for problems - perhaps you need to wait a little longer.

Increase

Only the latest Nexus models in the line-up of various brands are updated regularly and in a timely manner. Owners of other devices are forced to wait for information about whether the new version will work on their phones at all, and when the update will arrive - in a week or a couple of months.

Automatic and manual system updates

Typically, a notification about the availability of an update comes when you connect to the Internet. You can download and install it via Wi-Fi or mobile traffic. But if other users have already installed the new firmware, but you haven’t received anything yet, try to force a request for an update.

1. Open settings.
2. Go to the “About device” section.
3. Go to "System Update".
4. Click Check for Updates.

If there are updates available for your device, click Download. It is preferable to use a Wi-Fi Internet connection. It is important that your phone does not run out of power during the reinstallation, so connect it to Charger when the battery charge is low.

Increase

If the update does not arrive, but you are sure that your model supports new version, then force the update:

1. Open settings.
2. Go to the "Applications" section.
3. On the All tab, open Google Service Framework.
4. Erase data and clear cache.
5. Force check for updates.

Increase

If the manufacturer supplies a proprietary management utility with the device, then use it to obtain a system update. In the example below Samsung Kies, and for other brands their own programs.

Increase

When you connect your phone, a list will appear in the utility window available updates that can be installed.

Installing firmware updates via Recovery Menu

If all else fails, install the update manually by downloading the file from the smartphone manufacturer’s website.

1. Download a new one to your computer official firmware. You can find it on the manufacturer’s website on the support page for your phone/tablet model.
2. Move the update file to the root of the memory card or internal memory devices.
3. Turn off the device and go to the Recovery Menu. Typically, to enter Recovery, the combination “Volume up” - “Power button” is used. What to do if the combination didn't work? View combination for specific manufacturer and models.

Navigation by Recovery menu done using the volume keys and power button. To install the firmware.