Monday, January 27, 2014

How to Return to Stock 4.4 on Nexus 4

After many searches and trying to follow multiple guides I was unable to find a working guide on how to return my custom rom'ed Nexus 4 back to stock.  But, I finally came across an extremely easy way to return to stock 4.4 on my Nexus 4 with very little effort.

*As of writing this stock 4.4 does not include the latest updates.

There is a nice toolkit which basically does everything for you.  All you have to do is place the phone in fastboot mode and follow the onscreen instructions.  FYI, it will erase all your data. 

Nexus 4 Toolkit:
Mac / Windows

I accomplished my restore on a Mac but the method is probably very similar on Windows.  The toolkit includes everything including the stock 4.4 rom.  I was able to install 4.4 and restore the bootloader to a locked state with this toolkit, but restoring the bootloader is not necessary and you can opt out after the initial restore.

Again, all you have to do is the following:

1. Download the toolkit, extract it, and then run the tool (green android icon).

2. Unplug your Nexus 4 from your computer (if it is plugged in), power it off (if it is on), and then power it back on while holding the Volume down and Power buttons at the same time.  If successful you will see the following screen:
3. Plug in your phone and continue with the toolkit instructions.

If you are receiving the "waiting for device" message, try plugging the usb cable into a 2.0 port rather than a 3.0 port.  This was the fix for me.

4. Once it is done with the initial restore you can choose to lock the bootloader by following the additional onscreen toolkit instructions.  If not, you can unplug your phone which should now be on stock 4.4.

Hope this helps.

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