HOW TO: Install Android Monthly Security Updates

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Here are a few easy steps to safely install the latest Android security updates on your Nexus device.  As you may know, OTA updates only work on a completely stock system.  Use this method if you are rooted or using a custom recovery or kernel such as ElementalX.  This method shouldn’t take more than ten minutes and goes very quickly once you get used to it.

With this method, you keep all your data and apps.  If you are unencrypted, you will stay unencrypted.

      1. Get the factory image for your device:
        https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
      2. Open the zip and extract boot.img and system.img.  If there is a vendor.img, extract that too.
      3. Reboot to bootloader
      4. Go to the folder where you extracted the images and flash them with the fastboot command:
        fastboot flash boot boot.img
        fastboot flash system system.img
        And if your device has a vendor.img:
        fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
      5. Reboot to recovery (this is very important if your data partition is unencrypted on newer devices)
      6. Flash the latest SuperSU (found here)
      7. Flash ElementalX
      8. Reboot to your security-patched Android!

 

 

 

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Developer of ElementalX

6 Comments on “HOW TO: Install Android Monthly Security Updates”

  1. Hi flar2, thanks for the writeup!

    After step 5 I get into a TWRP that won’t let me install anything. It asks for a password.

    • I ran into the same problem, I figured out that you can adb sideload the zips through twrp.

    • Usually with security patches, the radio and boot-loader are the same as before, so to answer your question no, you don’t need to flash the boat-loader and radio, just the things he mentioned.

  3. My patch is still from april 2. I did something wrong. Can you help me?

    Extracted files, boot, system and vendor placed in the (hidden) folder androidsdk/platformtools. 6p connected to laptop. Then adb reboot bootloader. Flash everything separately with no errors. 6p still connected laptop. Choose recovery on phone. Couldnt adb boot recovery. In TWRP first flashed SuperSu and ElementalX. No error. Disconnected from laptop and then reboot.

    USB debugging on.
    USB use for charge. Or should it be MTP?