If you're the type who just can't wait for an update to be pushed out (erm, like some of us around here), you're in luck. You can manually apply today's update to your Nexus One, enabling multitouch and (hopefully) fixing that pesky T-Mobile 3G issue. Here's how to do it: [via Android Forums]
- Download the update from here (Google official) or here (mirror).
- Rename the file to update.zip. Note that if you're using Windows, just rename it to "update" (no quotes, of course) because it's already a zipped file.
- Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card.
- With your Nexus One off, hold down the trackball and press the power button.
- You'll be booted into a white screen with three Android robots on skateboards. Select "Bootloader."
- On the next screen, select "Recovery."
- Your phone will reboot, giving you a picture of the Android robot and an exclamation point inside a triangle.
- Now press the power button and volume up button at the same time. It could take a couple of tries.
- Now (using the trackball this time) choose "Apply sdcard:update.zip" and let things run their course.
You may have to soft reset a couple of times after this. (I got a picture of the Android guy outside of a box. But a couple resets later and all was well.) But now multitouch is enabled, and we can sit back and relax, knowing that we have zero patience and just can't help ourselves.
| Filed Under: News, How To; Tags: update, nexus one, multitouch, htc, google | 130 comments » |
Comments
Hey this is @Blayze04 from FoneFrenzy, great post guys. Awesome work with the instructions and everything. I am installing now, I do feel bad for the creators of Xscope and Dolphin. This kind of takes the excitement of having that third party browser. Anyway, keep up the great work!
Daniel
One of the things that raises one's eyebrows is the inability of the Nexus Phone to have that "pinch to zoom" capability.
For sure, this update is a godsent for users. Hopefully, this will raise the sales of the N1 phone now.
More details on how to get it without the wait: http://bit.ly/nexus-one-official-ota-details
"3.Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card" ->
When the Nexus is connected via USB to my Windows 7 PC, I can't see the microSD card under computer, where can I find it? Should I start the next steps and only then do the copying?
Thanks! - Suzan
I followed everything on how to update manual but I keep getting error. Please help me. Thanks!
Hi Suzan,
I just answered this after your 2/4/2010 09:36 post (which is now at the very bottom of this page). It has to do with mounting the sd card.
I think it will help.
after step number 9 u have to hit reboot system now ?
Hey Guys,
I agree with Daniel. I just wanted to clarify one thing on the last step. Not a big deal but I was sitting there for a good 20 seconds trying to select "Apply sdcard:update.zip" by using the Power button when you should use the trackball to select. Other than that the process went very well. Testing all the new updates now and they're awesome!!!
*#*#2432546#*#*
Dial the above to check in (give it a minute) and then go to setting and about phone and update.
This is the safest way to get the update.
I just did mine.
Tried this about 10 times, does nothing ???
Does this really work? And can someone tell me how?
after the check message ends, you have to go to settings, about phone, and look for the over the air option.. you'll see it downloading!
didn't work for me... it just gave me a notification that said "check in success"... no update
Wao! It worked! Where did you find that code? I'm downloading the update right now! Best way to go!!!
Worked flawlessly for me too. Thanks for the write up guys.
Mine seemed to stay on the android jumping out of the box for a long time too. I thought it might be bricked so I resisted the temptation to yank the battery.
Went to work and within about five minutes everything booted back up and it is working great now....
I just did this and its stuck in the android out of the box. I have done multiple battery pulls and i got nothing.
Is it bricked? please say no.
i cant even boot into bootloader
<3 another great job by a great Android site!
I noticed the zip file is named Passion, I didn't know the N1 still had any relation to that name.
Hey guys where do I install the update on the SD card ? what file am I looking for ???
Worked like a charm! Thanks!
Awesome! Had to reboot a couple of times (got the android outside the box) but after that I am up and running w/ multitouch! Thanks guys!
@weehooherod
Plug your phone in with the usb cable and make sure to mount the sd card via the notifications bar on your phone, when its recognized by your pc or mac open up the SD card and drag and drop update.zip onto the sd card then unplug the usb and turn off the phone then follow the above steps. (alternatively you could pull the sd card and, using an adapter, put into your computer then drop the file, etc)
Just installed without a hitch! Anyone else notice the "Dock" menu under "Settings"?
where do I locate the sd card when connected to the computer
it will apear as a removable drive in "my computer" on a PC or on the desktop or finder on a mac.
the robot outside a box thing is the phone unpacking data after the install. just leave the phone along. mine restarted twice automatically. just leave it along at this screen, dont turn it off!
Also; maps now has "Starred" locations!! Not as simple as pins but i'll take it!
OK I am just going to wait to weeks end before I brick the phone , no big deal, but nothing mentioned here is working for me ??
Manual update was easy peezy and loving the update, multi-touch wasn't missed since I never had the iPhone but it is a cool feature. Now onto the bad news, still getting the 3G issue where it constantly drops to Edge. Anyone else with this same issue still even after the update? Oh and I was using the *#*#4636#*#* function to force WCDMA only and always had 3G coverage at home and work so I know the signal is there. Man thought this update plus the T-Mo data update last week was supposed to fix this issue?
Thanks for the info. I actually downloaded the file with my phone and used astro to rename and move it. So I did the entire process using just the nexus. Worked great.
works flawlessly on mine!! after you perform the update it'll stay on the nexus one startup screen for a while on the first boot.. have patience.. took mine about 2 min or so before it loads up but it'll work fine if you follow the steps.. thx PHIL and android central!!
Wow. This worked great for a pretty non-geeky non-techie person like me. Just followed the steps extremely carefully, though much easier to follow than building my tv stand. lol...
WOW... They did something! My phone is SUPER FAST now... even faster! And smooth... anyone else notice this?!
Worked for me too!
WTF Bricked wont even turn on not even a charge light any ideas
One bit of clarification to make things easier at the following step
8.Now press the power button and volume up button at the same time. It could take a couple of tries.
press the power button, AND THEN the volume up button
also before step 9, it asks you to Reboot. Do this by using the trackball to select "reboot" which is the first in the menu.
Wow...this update definitely speeds up the phone! Pinch to Zoom on the browser works really smooth!!! Didn't really have to have it but now that I do, it's pretty awesome. Gallery and Maps work really sweet too!!!
Still testing the 3G connectivity issue but if I base my testing just on the browser speeds when on 3G, it's much faster than before the update.
Great Job Google, Android Central and Phil for posting clear concise instructions!!
NO! Please don't root it. I've read in several unofficial places that rooting it voids the warranty.
Oops. I'm new at this and hit the "reply" above the note instead of below. This reply goes to the question below about rooting the phone.
does my phone need to be rooted in order to manually update if anybody can tell as soon as possible i would really apreciated thanks
Does it say so in the directions?
NO! Please don't root it. I've read in several unofficial places that rooting it voids the warranty.
For those who didn't have a problem updating, Did you put all unzipped files into a folder and named it update.zip? What exactly had to be named update or update.zip? I have done this and it's not working for me. What am I doing wrong?
What do you mean all the unzipped files? There's just one you download from the link above. You rename it and place in the root folder of your sd card. It's that simple.
You don't unzip the file on the PC. If you have something set in your browser that automatically unzips files you'll need to turn it off.
Answering the last couple of questions:
No, you don't need to have root to manually update - I just performed the update without it.
The first step after downloading the zip file ("signed-passion-ERE27-from-ERD79.a487b405.zip") is to rename it to ("update.zip") and to put it on the root of the sdcard ("/sdcard"). This can all be done on the phone with an app like ASTRO.
well still nothing does anyone have another idea phone still bricked plugged in power to the phone not even a charge light :( did I just kill the best thing I ever owned :( HELP
E: No signature (208 files)
E: Verification failed....
Didn't work for me, well, this phone has been a piece of Junk since I purchased it...Throwing in the towel now. guess this phone is in trash.
Steve Jobs said it best. "GOOGLE is evil!"
You didn't place it in the root folder as instructed. I had the same problem and errors.
No, I did put the file in ' / ' ...
Tried to fastboot update also (using ./fasboot-linux in the shell). No go on my phone. Also tried Cyanogen Mod beta 4 w/ radio ERE27 update and that didn't work either.
This phone is a joke/headache.
The G1 worked as advertised and even better with Cyanogen mod.
you probably have the file named wrong, probably update.zip.zip try just update when you rename it on windows.
UH no, i did not append an extra ".zip" to the file name. I used Slackware to modify the name properly to "update.zip" and by the way I don't need to do this 'cuz i have the RA recovery rom installed.
It's the phone.
# ./fastboot-linux update UPDATE.zip
archive does not contain 'android-info.txt'
archive does not contain 'android-product.txt'
error: update package has no android-info.txt or android-product.txt
I think people may be using "root" for two different things (i.e. the real root (or "/") and the default for the sdcard (or "/sdcard"). The latter is where you should put it.
@Anonymous:
You downloaded a junk zip you doofus. Try again and check the trollish behavior at the door.
Thanks.
exactly. if it works fine for hundreds of other people, then its not the phone, its the user.
Worked great for me....thanks for this!
when a phone is bricked does the charge light not even work ? I cant get it to do anything no response
Thanks guys. Worked like a charm. God, I love having control over my phone!
Downloaded everything and went through the steps, but after a few soft resets, still not able to use multi-touch on browser or apps. Any suggestions?
Worked great. It rebooted a few times on its own after step 9, made me worry just a bit, but now the system says Firmware version: 2.1-update1. I can pinch & stretch to my hearts content on the nexus one. Really makes me enjoy browsing a lot more on the this phone.
Web browsing was one of the biggest drawbacks on the iPhone. The browser -sucked- bad. It was slow, crashed too often. Tab support was an after-thought. But on Android, it's quick. I actually do not mind browsing and reading articles on the android. I use Google Reader to follow the sites I read often. And on the iPhone i hesitated going to the actual site, because more often than not, the site would be slow, or may not load at all. But on the Nexus one, I browse to the actual article often. And open pages in new tabs all the time.
After this update, I've also noticed that the amount of ram available (after killing all running applications), has increased. I use to stay at a steady 50M of avail RAM after cleaning running apps. But now I'm at 60-74M.
The overall system seems to be a bit smoother/quicker. This may be in my head, but either way, it equals a happier user.
I don't have the robot and exclamation point thing.
After I choose recovery I get the nexus logo with the unlocked sign, and right after to the recovery screen. I choose "Flash zip from sdcard" and then "update.zip" but I get the verification failed message.
What am I doing wrong?
I don't believe you are doing anything wrong.
Same thing happened to me. It's the Nexus One.
really works! thank a lot!
PS. it is very true that "we have zero patience"
Worked great.. Say hello to 2.1-update1 and Dock is listed in the Settings now. :)
the update file is 15.2mb not 10mb
I did the update & everything went according to plan.... only thing is that when i check the version it says 2.1update-1.... but i have NO PINCH ZOOM???? I even see dock in settings now.
Is there something i need to enable for pinch zoom?
hi, are you using the default homepage google.com in your default browser for testing? if so, try another web page, because that google page cant be zoomed.
problem fixed =)
Thanks for the procedures and steps...
Worked like a charm. Thanks. (I did have to deselect "Open Safe Files" preference in Safari in order to keep the zip file from expanding on my mac before copying onto the microSD card).
Worked as instructed on first try. Multi-touch is here. Great work, folks!
Next up: copy & paste.
Worked fine with me.. but i dont know if my phone has become slower.
The UI flow seems a bit notchy. Or may be i just feel that way. I hope its not bad.
Works absolutely fine.. the lag was there for a few minutes.. (im guessing it was due to the gallery reloading) everything worked fine.
If you are patient during the process, you don't need any soft reset. Everything happens automatically
Worked for me, and loving it.
Nice easy update, no rooting required!
Seems smoother too, not that it wasn't smooth before...
Take that, Jobs!
Worked like a charm ! Thank you Phil for this great post !
Cheers !
Just followed the instructions this morning while drinking my morning coffee. I'm not a techie but this couldn't have been easier. Everything worked as described and I now have pinch to zoom. Thanks for the great info!
Funny to see these haters on here saying it made th phone slower or that the manual update doesn't work. Worked fine for me. Just follow instructions. Also just renam the update "UPDATE" cuz its already a .zip file. If you name it update.zip it won't work
Awesome! Thanks for the download link and steps!
So easy man! even for a novice like me. thanks a lot!
This works great, Thank you Androidian's
For those of you dont have a PC or MAC and want this done right away, I was also able to downlod it on my N1 and used Astro to rename the file and move it from the download folder to the /SDCARD folder and followed the rest of the instructions and it only took me 10 whole minutes.
"Dont be a Fanboy Be an Android" lol
I just followed the directions and it worked great for me. It does a couple of reboots on it's own. Once you tell it to reboot via the menu, it is less than 5 minutes of time before it is fully updated. It does seem to stay on the cool nexus one animated logo for awhile, but then it loads up just fine. Just let it do it's thing.
FYI- the 3G issue is still not fixed.. and i live in the DC area.. still only getting like 1-2 bars, and it pops in and out of edge.
Same here in Houston. :-(
Thanks for the super clear instructions! I had no problems pressing the power + volume-up buttons simultaneously. :)
As one of the posters said: DON'T TOUCH THE PHONE when you see the Android out of the box. Your N1 will definitely reset itself. It fact, it did it as I'm typing this comment.
... now I'm just waiting for it to finally load up...
... still loading ...
... and now for the test ... hmm... Gallery is taking a long time to load. I don't even have more than 50 photos in there...
Okay, no multi-touch. Time to reboot several more times.
(continued)
All I needed was one additional reboot, and now I have multi-touch! Definitely beats the multi-touch from some of the Market Apps. Theirs is very glitchy, but good attempts nevertheless.
works great...but pinching has never been that important to me. we can now say: that the gloves are off for goog and apple. i think the only reason people have left to use an iphone is just because it's an extension of their ipod/itunes...i guess?
Worked like a charm here!
I got scared about the android out of the box, but just let it sit there and it eventually loaded up in all its glory.
My Gallery app isn't working, so I'm going to try and reset again.
Other than that it's working great!
I tried downloading it from the phone in 3 different browsers, renaming with ASTRO, OI File Manager, downloading from Windows XP PC, and copying to SD card at least twice. Verified the checksum didn't change from my local copy to the one copied onto the SD card, it just won't work. I've follow the process to the letter but when it attempts to install the update.zip it says full-file signature verification failed. If it's an MD5 hash issue, can someone else post their checksum so I can verify if I'm not getting the right file or what? I am downloading the "official" zip posted on the google code site that has been linked on multiple sites (all originating here probably).
Anyone else had this issue? I am using an unlocked model but it is Not rooted or anything.
Works Great! Thanks man. I couldn't wait for a notification message. I also notice more available ram. It wasn't mentioned as a benefit of the update but I'll take it.
Manually updated mine, seems to be working well. I did run into some problems with using ASTRO. Even though I went to the Download folder and changed the name to Update.zip I found that I actually had to copy Update.zip and move it to opening page of ASTRO rather than being in a folder. Not sure why this is, but after a few roundabouts, I got it working!! :-)
Hope this is a sign that I'll never have to root my N1. Don't get me wrong, I love the work that cyanogen does but you should not have to root your phone for optimal performance.
Update was successful, but my gallery app is not working? It just sits there and loads over and over again? Anyone know why that could be?!!!!
great update but i still wonder why i could pull 6-7mbps from my last 3g phone and still only 600kbps on the n1 ... wtf
Hmm. Two hands would be a pain, but most people use the thumb and index finger on one hand. :-)
Hmm. Two hands would be a pain, but most people use the thumb and index finger on one hand. :-)
Got it to work just fine but I gotta say... this is so stupid.
I loved being able to to almost anything on my phone with one hand.... why the hell would you want to now have to use a second hand?
Just to say "hey iPhone we have pinch and zoom"?
So dumb... all I really cared about was the 3G issue.... so far so good. Chen was right... on hand is better than 2.
But on the other hand we have........ 5 fingers.
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/command
-- Install from sdcard...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
E:failed to verify whole-file signature
E:signature verification failed
Installation aborted.
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/command
-- Install from sdcard...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
E:failed to verify whole-file signature
E:signature verification failed
Installation aborted
I have this problem((((. What should i do now?
Had the same error.
Check the size of your update.zip file. Is it less than 15MB? Mine was 3MB when I got it from the mirror. I re-downloaded it from the official Google link (I ignored the Firefox warning page) which was the correct size and I no longer got that error message and it worked like a charm.
Good luck,
i think that your problem is that your nexus one is rooted!
the upgrade doesn't work for rooted phones.
shai
The update worked a treat. The instructions are nice and clear, although the suggestion to presss+hold Power just before the Volume-Up button works better.
No issues updating. Once it booted for the last time there was an initial period of Android loading stuff in the background that made it all seem a bit sluggish and jerky. But within a minute or so it has become even faster than the orginal 2.1 software on the Nexus One. 2.1-update1 is definitely the dogs nuts.
Pinch-zoom/multi-touch is as fast on the Nexus One as it is on the iPhone 3GS. The action of the browser to double-tap is now more consistent and works really well.
Overall speed of the Nexus One is improved. Also there is more free memory which is a good sign that the OS is more optimised.
All in all it is a very good effort by Google and HTC.
Hi,
Applied the manual update and successful however some issues;
1. Carrier name used to show as O2 - UK on the lock screen now it shows as O2 - UK|
2. When an app is not on the main screen and you launch it from another of the screens and press the home button on the bottom of the phone to return to the default home screen the dots are not being reset as ".." ".." it stays as it was from the previous screen with the dots like "..." ".."
Anyone got this? UK or USA? any help appreciated, other than that the device is working well.
Thanks,
Mark
in the instruction it says you may have to soft reset several times. how do you soft reset
re the stupid signature error.... turned out to be a corrupt sd card! for anyone else with the problem that for sure didn't name the zip file wrong (morons) I would say definitely try the process with another card.
Thanks guys worked great.
Having an error.....Error in /sdcard/update.zip (status 7) Installation aborted
Tried a few times....i have a 16mb zip file....what am i doing wrong?
Worked fine for me, no issues. Just follow the directions carefully and have faith.
my phone wont turn on wtf
WORKS GREAT THANKS GUYS
FINALLY !!! After about 100 tries , I got this update to work and it works GREAT !!!!!!! No idea why it would not work for so long, last attempt was no differnt than the others but for some reason it stuck this time !! All up and running just fine !! Love the update !! Made a GREAT phone even better !!!
worked great on the first try. it rebooted twice and boom! that was it! anybody that cant make this work is a retard stop bashing the phone because you are an idiot.
i have the problem with the dot. i didnt notice untill i read the post though...
"3.Copy the update.zip file onto your microSD card" ->
When the Nexus is connected via USB to my Windows 7 PC, I can't see the microSD card under computer, where can I find it? Should I start the next steps and only then do the copying?
Thanks! - Suzan
You have to "mount" the sd card on the phone (makes it look like a normal external drive to the PC).
To mount the sdcard, you have to click on the USB connection on the phone. When I plugged in the phone to the PC this connection appeared in the notifications area. Just click on it and it gives you a button to mount the drive. Then it can be opened from your PC.
One thing I learned by trial and error is that you have to copy the update.zip file to the default sdcard directory on the phone. I had copied it to a new folder on the sdcard and the phone's update process couldn't find the file there. Apparently update.zip in the home directory is where we will put all updates (overwriting the previous one).
Good luck!
Update worked, things seem OK, don't see the 3G working consistently yet.
The good news is: Bottom buttons seem more responsive; before I felt like I had to push the home button really hard. Multi-touch works well, even in maps! I had a bizarre problem where Google Maps would move in directions different from where I was dragging it; it might have been fixed. A few other things that happened randomly that were driving me crazy (like not being able to bring the keyboard up in Messages) have, so far, not occurred.
Got the notification that the update was available, cleared my notifications, went to settings>about phone> updates...
Nothing was there? Wtf?
My upgrade is coming in right now, pushed without my doing anything...
For anyone who's rooted their Nexus One, you'll have to manually update. Check the following site:
How-To] Force 2/2/2010 OTA Update
Specifically:
New update rooted and unrooted, optional radio, optional himem, Now with online kitchen!
I am having the exact experience! Were you able to roll back to the previous version yet?
My nexus one had no issues with 3g connectivity before the update. I downloaded the update from androidcentral, followed the instructions for manual update and was very happy with it in the beginning. sure the multi-touch is nice, but now i notice that my 3G connectivity keeps dropping at random times in the day. So i want to roll back to the non updated version of Android 2.1 and uninstall the update. Is there a way to do that?
hi guys, please please please help me OUT !
before choosing "apply sdcard:update.zip"
i see the message down the exclamation point that says: E:Can't open /cache/recover/command
after choosing "apply sdcard:update.zip" i get the following message:
assert failed: apply_patch_chech ("MTD:boot:2093056:1d155a5be2f8cc6d7cef733f87f3bce97be2c3bd:2101248:e7f20e513e5bd5c30e20670e992092296ee731a0")
E: Error in /sdcard/update/.zip
(state7)
Installation aborted.
PLEASE HELP ME WHAT TO DO! I WILL APPRECIATE YOUR HELP VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU,
SHAI
I have the exact same issue, but no one has helper me out yet. PLEASE SAY SO IF YOU HAVE A SOLUTION
i have the same issue and have not been able to apply any update in any matter. and nobody seem to have a way to fix it. my nexus is rooted and unlocked bootloader. i would like to go back and undo both. help please anything
Make sure you file rename to update.zip then follow the remaining steps and power cycle my phone a couple of times then it works perfectly.
Still no help? I haven't found a solution to my issue yet : /
Looks like others are having it too
It's great that now multitouch is enabled, and we can sit back and relax, knowing that we have zero patience and just can't help ourselves. Very nice blog, thanks.
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