How to get Android N on rooted (Lollipop) Nexus 6?

[quietlybrilliant]

I still have Android 5.1 on my Nexus 6. I never got around to updating it to Android 6, because I wanted it to be rooted but find the online tutorials incredibly confusing -- honestly don't recall how I was able to do it in the first place when I got the phone.

Now that I've given up on having a rooted phone, I'd like to be able to put Android N on it, but the system updater doesn't work because it's rooted. What's the easiest way for me to get Android N on my phone?

Thanks!

 

[hallux]

I would start here: https://developer.android.com/preview/index.html

Using the flashing tools on a computer, it shouldn't matter that your device is rooted but it will most likely wipe your data.

 

[quietlybrilliant]

What do you mean by using the flashing tools? I have all the dev tools installed, but need specific directions.

 

[hallux]

Found this through the site I linked above: https://developer.android.com/preview/download.html

It has the flashing instructions and the system images... There is a note on that page indicating that manually flashed devices will not get OTA updates to later versions of the preview (may not apply to the beta).

You could also flash to a non-rooted factory image of Marshmallow then opt in to the OTA beta upgrade.

Factory image instructions: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#angler
Beta OTA enrollment: https://www.google.com/android/beta?u=0

 

[quietlybrilliant]

Thanks a lot! I'm trying to figure out if I should flash to a non-rooted Android 6 or go straight to N. It's not clear whether I can't get the OTA to later devices for the N version.

If I decide to go for 6 and then upgrade to N OTA, which version of shamu would you recommend? There are so many on that site...

 

[jj14x]

The OTAs posted on the site are different than regular OTAs that are pushed out to our devices. The N Preview OTAs are basically full images, that can be sideloaded using ADB (stock recovery)

Or you can try this - Android N Preview 3 beta npd35k (flashable &… | Nexus 6

 

[quietlybrilliant]

I did it! Thanks so much for chiming in here -- my Nexus 6 now runs Android N. I'm not sure this will receive OTA updates, but I'll worry about that later. Have a good weekend!

 

[jj14x]

If you enrolled in the Android Beta program on their site (https://www.google.com/android/beta?u=0), you should get OTA updates.