I have written this tutorial a long time ago, but it was never
published. I do not even use a Moto G anymore. This tutorial
is here now for historical reasons, but it should work on newer
versions of CyanogenMod and maybe (with correct firmware,
recovery etc.) with newer versions of Moto G.
I have installed CyanogenMod 11 on a Motorola Moto G XT1033
device. I have followed the instructions of the
CyanogenMod page for Moto G.
Everything was fine. But, later, I have tried to install Google Apps,
with partial success (partial because it was installed, but the phone
was unusable). The problem was that, after each reboot, the message
Unfortunately the process com.android.systemui has stopped
(or something like that) appeared. Then the GUI would stop, come back
then the same message would show up again and again.
The problem turned out to be on CyanogenMod, not on Google Apps
as I suspected. I wrote this tutorial because I could install
Google Apps and the problem did not appear until I rebooted the
device (to write this tutorial) and the problem showed up again.
So, I have installed the nightly build for CyanogenMod 12 (from
January 27, 2014) and everything is OK (until now).
WARNING: this will void your warranty according to the device manufacturer.
This guide will show the steps I took to install CyanogenMod and
Google Apps on a Moto G. Following the "official" tutorial will
work. I am publishing my own tutorial because I thought the
official was missing some steps. But, when I realized the problem
was with the CyanogenMod build, the tutorial was almost done.
Setting Up the Computer
Android SDK must be installed on a computer.
fastboot and adb will be used.
The system used was Slackware. The compressed tarball for
standalone SDK tools was downloaded, uncompressed it and set the PATH
variable of the system for the tools Android SDK.
Backing Up
Backing up data before doing anything that is somewhat dangerous is
always a good idea. The steps of this tutorial will wipe the data
on the device. Backup the data!
Starting ADB Server
ADB must have the server running in order to communicate with
devices.
Run this command everytime the server is down, otherwise ADB
will not be able to communicate with the device.
Unlocking the Device
In order to install a new firmware, the device must be unlocked.
A code is sent to Motorola, then an unlock code is sent back by
e-mail. The process is fast.
Getting the phone code
Enable USB debugging on the phone (on developer options). If there
is not developer options, go to phone settings -> about phone.
Click like ten times or more on Build number field, until
a message shows up saying you are now a developer.
Connect the phone with a USB cable and reboot the phone on bootloader:
Then to get the phone code (maybe there is no need to run the
command as root, but it did not work as a normal user):
# fastboot oem get_unlock_data
WARNING: this will void your warranty according to the device manufacturer.
Go to Motorola Bootloader Unlock.
You must login with either a Motorola ID or with a Google+ account.
Enter the code from the last command, agree with the terms
of license agreement and the unlock code will be provided by e-mail.
The instructions on how to unlock the phone with the provided code
will be on the e-mail too. With the phone on bootloader:
$ fastboot oem unlock unlock_code
The device is now unlocked.
Flashing New Recovery
Download ClockworkMod Recovery.
Connect the USB cable and enable USB debugging.
Reboot the device into bootloader
Then flash the image:
# fastboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.img
As stated on CyanogenMod page:
Note: Some ROMs overwrite recovery at boot time so if you do not
plan to immediately boot into recovery to install CyanogenMod,
please be aware that this may overwrite your custom recovery with
the stock one.
Installing CyanogenMod and Google Apps
Download CyanogenMod zip and
Google Apps zip.
Enable the USB debugging and:
It was not possible to create a backup of the current
system. It was giving errors.
To wipe the current install, select wipe data/factory reset
on device's recovery menu.
Then send the CyanogenMod zip and Google Apps zip with the
following commands:
$ adb push cyanogen_img.zip /sdcard/
$ adb push google_apps.zip /sdcard/
Then select install zip/choose zip from sdcard. Install
Cyanogen Mod and Google Apps.
The Problem
Rebooting the equipment was causing the problem stated at the
begining. Formatting the /data and /cache partitions
solved the problem. Options to format it are under
mounts and storage at the recovery main menu.
Final Considerations
If anything is wrong, try those steps again.
If you can boot the equipment on bootloader, or the
system hangs, the situation is not irreversible.
To force device reboot, press Vol Down and Power
for ten seconds, then release.
To open the bootloader, turn off the device and power it
up pressing Vol Down and Power.
Revision History
Post built on: 2015-09-10 22:36:55
Last modified on: 2015-09-10 22:36:49
First published on: 2015-09-10
| Revision |
Date |
Description |
| 1.00 |
2015-01-27 |
Initial version. |
| 1.01 |
2015-09-10 |
Minor Corrections. Published. |
| 1.02 |
2015-09-10 |
Adding correct code tags. |