[Help Thread][Moto E4] Ask Any Question, Noob Friendly (2017)

[takkun324]

Verizon Moto E4 to PagePlus?

I am very confused. I've purchased a Prepaid Verizon Moto E4 ( XT1767 ) and am trying to use it with PagePlus prepaid.

I think I've unlocked it but I didn't actually input the code. Taking the verizon sim-card out before booting it. Since I didn't have a spare SIM card, I eventually (after a day) found where to input the code (Settings -> More -> Cellular Networks -> Change Network) so I then purchased an unlock code. When I went to enter it, the "Change Network" menu option was missing! I heard putting another SIM would bring up the menu so I purchased a 1-dollar Total-Wireless BYOD sim-card. After booting with the new sim-card, the cellular-network icon was lit and said "4G"? The Verizon sim still attempts to activate.

Between purchasing and receiving the code, I was customizing the phone on Nov25 2017 and wasn't thinking: I installed a system-update (NDQS26.69-23-2-3) which might have either removed the lock or took away the ability to unlock it -- I don't know.

Currently, without a SIM-Card, the phone:

1. Has the "No SIM card" notification.
2. Missing a cellular-network icon but instead has a gray SIM-card icon with a slash through it.
3. In the settings under Cellular Networks: "Data Enabled", "Data Roaming", and "Preferred network type" is grayed out.
4. The preferred network type shows: "LTE / CDMA" (in gray, of course)

PagePlus AND Verizon show my IMEI as "not compatable"?!?

• verizonwireless.com/bring-your-own-device/#checkDevice
• pagepluscellular.com/activate/new-activation/

Note: I can not locate a non-4G nano-sim for PagePlus -- otherwise I would try that. The $10 and $12 plans can't be used with 4G phones.

 

[aadvandersteeg]

So we don't getting new (up to date) rom's anymore?

 

[ewokmojo]

The night mode feature has disappeared. I had it working for awhile, the setup wizards when first using this phone allowed me to activate it. It disappeared! I liked it! I've tried the gear long press and it does not work on this phone. I've held the gear down 10 seconds, I've held it two minutes... The system UI tuner has never activated. What gives?!

 

[madbat99]

The night mode feature has disappeared. I had it working for awhile, the setup wizards when first using this phone allowed me to activate it. It disappeared! I liked it! I've tried the gear long press and it does not work on this phone. I've held the gear down 10 seconds, I've held it two minutes... The system UI tuner has never activated. What gives?!

Night mode is in the moto app. And system ui tuner works fine.

 

[madbat99]

In the moto app

 

[ewokmojo]

Night display works great. I had the moto application disabled. Still no
UI tuner...

 

[mn1968]

@takkun324
The Verizon prepaid XT1767 can be unlocked for GSM (AT&T/TMo) use. If you want to use it on Verizon/Verizon MVNO, you must use an already activated sim. There is much more info about it here. Scroll down to the community wiki, and/or do a search of that thread.

 

[SashaNT86]

Stupid question, but...

Hello all,

So I'm part way through rooting my e4 and could use a little help. Bootloader is unlocked, twrp is installed and fully functional. I've tried flashing supersu several times with different versions, magisk, and phh's superuser and I still don't have true root. No verify has been flashed and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Magisk wants a virgin bootloader, which I don't have, and the system variant of supersu sends my e4 into a bootloop.

I would like to avoid reinstating twrp, as it took two days and many tears.

Specs:
Software channel: retus
Sku: xt1768
Purchased carrier unlocked

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[madbat99]

Hello all,

So I'm part way through rooting my e4 and could use a little help. Bootloader is unlocked, twrp is installed and fully functional. I've tried flashing supersu several times with different versions, magisk, and phh's superuser and I still don't have true root. No verify has been flashed and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Magisk wants a virgin bootloader, which I don't have, and the system variant of supersu sends my e4 into a bootloop.

I would like to avoid reinstating twrp, as it took two days and many tears.

Specs:
Software channel: retus
Sku: xt1768
Purchased carrier unlocked

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Magisk does not want a locked bootloader. It will give root. Modules will not work though unless you flash the patched boot.img posted in the forum, or use the f2fs loopback bug workaround. Did you format data after the noverity.zip? To decrypt

 

[SashaNT86]

Magisk does not want a locked bootloader. It will give root. Modules will not work though unless you flash the patched boot.img posted in the forum, or use the f2fs loopback bug workaround. Did you format data after the noverity.zip? To decrypt

No, I haven't formatted yet. Is that what's preventing magisk from rooting? And please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by modules?

 

[madbat99]

No, I haven't formatted yet. Is that what's preventing magisk from rooting? And please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by modules?

Yes, you have to decrypt your phone. And I mean magisk modules. Magisk is systemless root, and has a bunch of systemless mods called modules. It's all in the magisk manager app.

 

[DB126]

No, I haven't formatted yet. Is that what's preventing magisk from rooting? And please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by modules?

Should really spend some time in this thread. Yes, it's a "wall of text" but very helpful to new Magisk users.

 

[Punktilious]

No, I haven't formatted yet. Is that what's preventing magisk from rooting? And please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by modules?

I can't post external links, but If you flash the no-verity-force-encrypt zip, that's floating around in recovery before Magisk and you'll be able to keep encryption, and use Magisk. There is a setting in Magisk to "preserve force encryption". You will see it checked. I have been able to get everything working without formatting data. It's not guaranteed to work without formatting though.

 

[calinb7]

I just got a Verizon Prepaid Moto E4 from Walmart ( XT1767) for my wife. Yeah, I expected the carrier lock and bloatware but In all my pre-purchase research, I never suspected that it would not support adding users, like my Lenovo purchased Moto G4 Plus and even my cheap Android Nook can do. We really need multi-user, because we will swap phones from time to time. Sadly, I guess we are SOL with this E4, because it is unrootable and its build.prop file cannot be edited.

Am I correct or is there some kind of workaround I've not discovered with search?

I really hate all the significant and irreversible feature and behavioral variations in Android. In this respect, Android really sucks when compared to GNU/Linux (or even Windows, for that matter)!

 

[DB126]

I just got a Verizon Prepaid Moto E4 from Walmart ( XT1767) for my wife. Yeah, I expected the carrier lock and bloatware but In all my pre-purchase research, I never suspected that it would not support adding users, like my Lenovo purchased Moto G4 Plus and even my cheap Android Nook can do. We really need multi-user, because we will swap phones from time to time. Sadly, I guess we are SOL with this E4, because it is unrootable and its build.prop file cannot be edited.

Am I correct or is there some kind of workaround I've not discovered with search?

I really hate all the significant and irreversible feature and behavioral variations in Android. In this respect, Android really sucks when compared to GNU/Linux (or even Windows, for that matter)!

From a carrier perspective multiuser devices are bad. I can understand why Verizon disables that functionality on a heavily subsidized, post pay device as it encourages sharing which reduces revenue. Unfortunately, no way to enable without root or the ability to modify/replace build.prop (which requires root).

 

[calinb7]

From a carrier perspective multiuser devices are bad. I can understand why Verizon disables that functionality on a heavily subsidized, post pay device as it encourages sharing which reduces revenue. Unfortunately, no way to enable without root or the ability to modify/replace build.prop (which requires root).

Thanks for your reply, Davey126! That's what I figured. :crying: The problem with all these cell carriers is they lie like rugs (just take a look at coverage maps in the rural western U.S. and then drive around with your phone and several SIM cards and you'll find that about half of the "covered" areas are not actually usable for even voice or text) and then the carriers obfuscate the available features of their products and services too.

Microsoft does the same thing with Windows, but at least they are consistent with the feature sets of "Home," "Office," "Enterprise," or whatever version so you know what features you'll get. Sadly, as with cellular companies, the computer companies then add bloatware, but at least it's an (often somewhat undesirable) "add" rather than a "subtract," and it can almost always be uninstalled.

Verizon will unlock this phone WRT carrier after I've spent only $75 on prepaid plans, but I'm stuck with an un-rootable device forever. Next time I'll just buy a phone from Lenovo as I did with my G4 Plus and get a bootloader unlock code with the deal so I will actually own the phone instead of Verizon!

 

[DB126]

Verizon will unlock this phone WRT carrier after I've spent only $75 on prepaid plans, but I'm stuck with an un-rootable device forever. Next time I'll just buy a phone from Lenovo as I did with my G4 Plus and get a bootloader unlock code with the deal so I will actually own the phone instead of Verizon!

Yep - my strategy for most Android devices. While comfortable rooting/tweaking/unlocking/etc. I really don't care for the practice and rarely make modifications beyond those needed for core functionality and respectable battery life. Done the custom ROM thing a gazillion times (yawn) and spent countless hours 'optimizing' only to wish I could have that time back for IRL where it really matters.

In your situation a XT1768 ($100-125 retail) probably would have made more sense including multi-user support right of of the box without rooting. Note you can purchase a carrier unlock code on eBay for $2-3 USD. Having done that I can can now use my XT1767 with any GSM carrier and *most* CDMA based carriers (with some restrictions). I never activated the device with Verzion...and don't plan to.

As an aside, I own a pair of E4s (XT1767/XT1768) along with a G4P (XT1607). Decent gizmo provided you don't push them beyond what they were intended to be.

 

[calinb7]

Yep - my strategy for most Android devices. While comfortable rooting/tweaking/unlocking/etc. I really don't care for the practice and rarely make modifications beyond those needed for core functionality and respectable battery life. Done the custom ROM thing a gazillion times (yawn) and spent countless hours 'optimizing' only to wish I could have that time back for IRL where it really matters.

Spent time? Yes--I think I am slowly acquiring that same wisdom! :highfive:

In your situation a XT1768 ($100-125 retail) probably would have made more sense including multi-user support right of of the box without rooting. Note you can purchase a carrier unlock code on eBay for $2-3 USD. Having done that I can can now use my XT1767 with any GSM carrier and *most* CDMA based carriers (with some restrictions). I never activated the device with Verzion...and don't plan to.

I did not anticipate the single user restriction in build.prop. My wife is temporarily living in the mountains of rural Idaho. Verizon perpaid is actually the most economical phone there, for when we have a need to contact each other immediately, because it roams on the Inland cellular network (for 20 cents per minute on prepaid and no extra charges on postpaid). No MVNO works there, AFAIK. I wanted multi-user so we can swap phones back and forth when we visit each other. That way I can use her surplus data (she doesn't need much data and can't even use it there in the mountains). She uses VoIP at the local library wifi for lengthy calls but she was not generally contactable before I got the Moto E4 for her. In a few months, we will not need the Verizon prepaid plan on the E4 and I'll probably put an H20 sim in it and turn it into an even cheaper-to-keep "backup" phone. By that time, Verizon should remove the E4's carrier lock at no charge (and if Verizon balks or refuses, it's probably cheaper, time-wise, to spend the couple bucks on Ebay for a code rather than attempt to argue and fight with them). It might be best to just make the Ebay purchase from the onset, rather than try to deal with the nearly un-contactable Verizon customer support!

Except for my oversight about multi-user, I hope my strategy and usage model is valid!

As an aside, I own a pair of E4s (XT1767/XT1768) along with a G4P (XT1607). Decent gizmo provided you don't push them beyond what they were intended to be.

Yes--I'm impressed with the E4. It would've still been only about 1/2 the cost of my G4 Plus, had I bought it from Lenovo and it certainly has more than half the G4 Plus capabilities (assuming multi-user for the E4 when purchased directly from Lenovo).

 

[woahOppO999]

So i know this is a stupid question. But ive never dealt with Motorola androids before & I would just like some help finding out what I need to do for root/TWRP capabilities, left screenshots of my system specs, im on Verizon but don't use data. This phone is a steal for $80

 

[madbat99]

So i know this is a stupid question. But ive never dealt with Motorola androids before & I would just like some help finding out what I need to do for root/TWRP capabilities, left screenshots of my system specs, im on Verizon but don't use data. This phone is a steal for $80

If you got it from Verizon (Verizon branded device), there is nothing you can do for root. Bootloader is not unlockable. No root, no twrp. Sorry dude, but that's the case with many Verizon devices.