I have a Pixel and recently received the 7.1.1 OTA update. This morning my phone restarted and failed to boot properly. It does boot, and I get to the home screen where all apps seem to be functional. But there are several problems, including 1) I can't turn on cellular data, 2) the home button and the task switcher button do not work. Also, when I press the back, home or task switcher buttons, I get vibration feedback which is not how I had the phone set. Another odd thing is that when I check settings, it shows that the phone is on Android version 7.1 It is as if the phone tried to revert back to 7.1, but did not do so fully. Another anomaly is that when I got to the Play Store, all my apps appear as if they are not updated, even though I just installed available updates yesterday.
When I go to System Update, it shows a 261.9 MB update available to download. I assume that's 7.1.1 OTA update. I could try downloading and re-installing it, but before doing so, I wanted to see if anyone thinks that could cause more problems. Or, does anyone have another suggested step I could take. I would like to avoid a factory reset, if possible. Hopefully, there's another simple, quick solution.
Most likely it is easily fixable by just flashing the full stock 7.1.1 image from Google. Unfortunately it will wipe your device, but it is basically a surefire way to fix whatever went wrong.
It sounds like what happened is the OTA failed somewhere, bad download etc. As the pixel has the dual partitions if an OTA fails it will revert back to the last known working system. As @renegadeone8 mentioned, flashing the full 7.1.1 zip should cure your issues. You will have to unlock the bootloader to do so. (No a bad idea anyway imho Incase you have errors)
No harm in trying the OTA again. If it fails you won't be any further behind than you are now.
I'm having very similar issues, I also have no notifications and cannot pull down the full drop down menu or turn my data back on.
Thanks, k.s.deviate. I wish I had read your response earlier. It probably would have been good for me to at least try re-installing 7.1.1 again. However, I read from users on a different forum that they had experienced odd behavior very similar to what I experienced. In their case they didn't realize, at first, that the problem was associated with the 7.1.1 update. So, they re-installed it. Unfortunately, they had the same problems re-occur. For them the only solution was a factory reset and then not downloading 7.1.1 again.
That's what I've done. Everything is working great now. Android shows the 7.1.1 update available. Based on your assessment, I'm partially tempted to try installing it again. However, if it does end up with problems again, like it did the first time, I don't feel like I have the time to go through the whole factory re-install process again. So, I'm just going to stick with 7.1 for now and wait until either 1) I feel I have more time or 2) Google releases another update (7.1.2 ?) that might fix this problem. Thanks, again, though for your feedback.
exactly same here, so bad download could be ruled out. Also I've seen discussion on reddit and google forum, but unfortunely no solution was presented
Related
Well, I've gotten my tablet for 5 days now and have been playing with it a lot, tried all the different ROMS, anyways, upon receiving the tablet, pretty much nothing worked, e-mail app wont launch at all, a lot of the stuff in the settings crashed when I try to change them, just figured something out today after going back to stock rom, I formatted the internal storage and did a factory reset. Upon startup, I notice that it went through a TnT wizzard which I never got when I first received the tablet, and e-mail and all other apps are now working, and no more FC (still crappy, but atleast it works). I really think this is the problem viewsonic has, the devices didn't come factory reset, or atleast mine didn't anyone else's tablet didn't run the setup wizzard when you first received it, or is it just me? Because I really think they would have a lot less returns if all tablets came and started the setup wizzard on boot up as mine didn't have any problems at all after the reset/format. I tried the 3361 update and wow, its actually decent now, VS is definitely listening to the community when they added the ability to use the regular launcher.
Original Rom
Where can I get the Original Rom?
da-slicksta said:
Where can I get the Original Rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FAQs are your friend
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842899
For the latest version of the stock fw, check out the thread whose title ends with 3316. The first post has a link to it, and if you read through the thread you'll find posts with instructions on how to load it with or w/o clockwork mod.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=879534
For the original fw, check in the dev forum, there should be a thread with instructions on how to revert to stock fw.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861950
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842000
Mine did not perform setup wizard as the manual said it would on first boot. As others have reported, about 20+ FC on first boot. I will try the factory reset to see if that helps like it did for you.
UnRoot
Do we need to unroot to get OTAs
eviltuna said:
I formatted the internal storage and did a factory reset. Upon startup, I notice that it went through a TnT wizzard which I never got when I first received the tablet, and e-mail and all other apps are now working, and no more FC (still crappy, but atleast it works). I really think this is the problem viewsonic has, the devices didn't come factory reset, or atleast mine didn't anyone else's tablet didn't run the setup wizzard when you first received it, or is it just me? Because I really think they would have a lot less returns if all tablets came and started the setup wizzard on boot up as mine didn't have any problems at all after the reset/format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I returned my first GTab to Sears I did a factory reset. When the person at the store opened the the box and turned it on it didn't go to the wizard. I believe that the power button can activate during shipping and after a certain amount of time it skips the wizard and then shuts off. VS should put a piece of paper inside the box with instructions on doing a factory reset FIRST. This could solve a ton of problems for new customers
There's a new one out - just see the vanilla ROM's section in the faq, in my sig. I'm going to post a link to the new ROM, shortly.
roebeet said:
There's a new one out - just see the vanilla ROM's section in the faq, in my sig. I'm going to post a link to the new ROM, shortly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already gave them links to the FAQ, new stock fw, and two threads for flashing original stock fw...
To get the setup Wizzard you must first Format you Internal Storage (Settings -> Storage), then do a factory reset (Security -> Reset to Factory). Once you do this the gTablet will shut itself down, then when you start it up you will get the wizzard, just doing a factory reset alone will not do this, you must format the storage + factory reset. Anyways, all the FC I had prior to doing this are now gone, I really think that after doing Quality control at the factory, they never did these steps and so the tablet comes borked with bad softare which can easily be fixed with this 30 second format/reset.
Just picked up the Viewsonic G Tablet. Got it back to my office, charged it, powered it on and the first thing i see is force close...wtf!
I am new to all of this so any suggestions need to be rather detailed.
Thanks
uncledavek said:
Just picked up the Viewsonic G Tablet. Got it back to my office, charged it, powered it on and the first thing i see is force close...wtf!
I am new to all of this so any suggestions need to be rather detailed.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get to the factory reset in the settings menu that would the first thing to do. And then check for an update. Make sure you set the wifi to not turn off and I would keep the screen from shutting off while downloading the update. Check in settings "about Device". If your not 3389 or higher then you need to update
I had this problem back in November when I first got my tab. Even though nothing seemed to work right, I was able to connect it to my desktop and push across clockworkmod v .08 and a custom rom. So, I never used the original rom more than 10 minutes.
If you can't get it connected while booted in original rom, then Bekit's NVFLash full restore procedure works really well. Just follow the steps carefully and it's a quick and painless factory reset to a known working rom.
These things are virtually unbrickable (is that a word?).
uncledavek said:
Just picked up the Viewsonic G Tablet. Got it back to my office, charged it, powered it on and the first thing i see is force close...wtf!
I am new to all of this so any suggestions need to be rather detailed.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
badfrog is correct. If you factory reset the device it should be fine from there - then you set up your wifi and get the update.
Go into your app drawer and choose Settings. I don't remember if you can do it from the menu button as I'm on a different launcher.
Inside Settings go to Security and select Factory Data Reset. Do this, the unit will reboot and come back up at which point you'll be asked to set it up. It may take some time. Set your Date and Time correctly and set up your Wifi and such.
Once that's done you'll likely get a prompt to update very soon after Wifi connects. DO NOT DO IT, yet.
Within Settings, go into Display and set the Display Timeout to Never.
This ensures that the tablet doesn't sleep or turn off your wifi while it's downloading the update. It's not likely to happen but if your connection is on the slow side and the timeout is set too low, it can mess things up.
Once you've done that, proceed to let the tablet update itself. Again, it may take a bit of time.
Once it's done, make sure you take not of what you have. You'll find this information under Settings in the About section. The last version I got was 3389 - but something newer MAY be there for you. If you get anything less than 3389 then you will have to wait until you get another notification for an update. I don't remember how they work - but I THINK you should get the newest one there.
Once you've confirmed you're on the most current build, It may not be absolutely necessary to do it, but I would factory reset again just to clear the 'gunk' of the older TnT out in case there is actually any.
When I got mine and powered it on the 1st time, I got a bunch of FCs. I powered off and then on, and no more FCs, and it was fine after that. I think I posted asking about that, and someone (roebeet, I think) said it was a known problem. I don't remember the TNT version, but it was the one before 3389, or one before the one before 3389.
Jim
It is a known problem, especially with the older firmware. Sometimes the FC's are so bad that you can't even get into the settings to do a data wipe.
I've actually called CS about this, as an example of why they need an offline updater of some kind to get around issues like these. Suggestion: if you don't want to install clockworkmod, at least try to update the firmware to the latest and greatest, via one of the newer stock ROMs we're retrieved:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842000
That might get you enough access to get into the Settings menu and do the factory restore.
The 4.0.4 OTA update was waiting for me when I woke up this morning. I started the install but when it went to reboot it hung up with a picture of the Android man on his back with a red error/warning triangle.
I haven't done anything with it, hoping someone might be able to help me out.
The phone is rooted but running 4.0.2 stock rom. the battery was a little low when i started the install, but i plugged it in before starting.
Thanks in advance for help,
jvoosh
the reason is that your phone is rooted ,so ... if you want OTA ,you had better unroot you rom or ruu
so can I hard reset the phone (pull the battery) without screwing anything up and then figure out how to unroot the phone?
thanks for your help,
j
Ditto
I'm in exactly the same boat, and hope someone answers this before I try a battery pull.
EDIT: I read around and found some people describing our situation, and mentioning that they did battery pulls to no avail. So I did, and nothing broke. However, the update didn't go through, and now I'm trying to figure out why this happened.
Same issue
I'm having the same issue. Phone got the IMM76k update, and after downloaded, was prompted to restart and install. So i did, gets through part of the install, and then goes to the android man on his back with a red exclamation mark. Have tried multiple times, all to no avail. Now, when I click check for update, it says system up to date, but still on 4.0.2.
Non-rooted, bootloader unlocked...anyone have any luck fixing this?
After downloading update, get Android man on back with red exclamation point
I'm having some difficulty getting the update to install, along the lines of some of the comments posted before mine:
I was able to force download the OTA update (IMM76K) according to the instructions on this original post. (It took a few tries, but eventually worked.)
I select the "Restart & Install" option (which is the only option available to me), and it restarts.
I get the relatively familiar Android man with his blue-green glowing polyhedron wireframe guts spinning, and a progress bar beneath him. After getting through what looks like about 20%, it slows down significantly, and I get the Android man on his back with a red exclamation point above him where the polyhedron used to be. I don't recall seeing any specific error message any of the three times that I tried this. (The first time, I did a battery pull; the second and third times, I just waited, and it eventually restarted on its own.) Needless to say, I'm still on 4.0.2.
I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with different version names and so forth (e.g,. I don't know what yakju is), but this was a phone that Verizon sent me in December 2011 here in the US.
Here's the information from my "About phone" page:
Model number: Galaxy Nexus
Android version: 4.0.2
Baseband version: I515.09 V.EK05 / I515.EK02
Kernel version: 3.0.8-gaaa2611 [email protected] #1
Build number: ICL53F
When I first got the phone, I immediately unlocked the bootloader and rooted it. I did NOT install a custom recovery, nor did I install any custom ROM.
It sounds like there might be some kind of validation error, but I do not recall doing anything that would make my OS non-stock, except perhaps side-loading Google Wallet, but since that doesn't even require root, I can't imagine that it would have any effect. My Superuser app shows only the following apps to have ever used root permissions: BusyBox Free, Secure Settings, Superuser, Terminal Emulator, and Titanium Backup. I've only used BusyBox and Secure Settings with Tasker to automate certain tasks, but nothing crazy! Mostly, I just need root for Titanium Backup. (I cannot recall exactly what I restored from my stock Gingerbread Droid X, but I was very careful to only restore apps and their corresponding app data--and I avoided restoring any Google-provided apps.) Even my tethering is done through an app not requiring root (SVTP).
Any advice (not requiring that I do a factory reset or flash a custom recovery or ROM) would be greatly appreciated! I'd also like to hear about people who have similar circumstances, but didn't have problems updating (so that I can rule out various factors).
Thank you in advance!
same exact issue here.
A "solution", albeit less than ideal
The OTA update eventually came to my phone naturally, and it still didn't work. (No surprise there.)
I called up Verizon tech support, and they had me do the Google Services Framework workaround to try to force the update again. Of course, it didn't work.
They said "We're going to need you to reset your device." (i.e., to factory default).
I told them that was wholly unacceptable, since I want to make sure that all my settings are preserved. (I'm kind of obsessive compulsive about things being set the way I like them, and Titanium Backup, as great a program as it is, has sometimes caused some trouble for me when restoring system settings, and especially since I'd be doing a restore after upgrading the OS, I was nervous about that option.)
Verizon got Samsung on the phone. They had no advice except "We're going to need you to reset your device." Both the Verizon rep and I told him that wasn't acceptable.
So Verizon's "solution" was to send me a new device, allow me five days to get everything transferred over, and then have me return the old device.
Up side: In case there was something wrong with my hardware or something else got messed up, I get a new device that I can get set up with the exact same settings as the old one.
Down side: The "new device" is refurbished, so there could potentially be some kind of baggage.
The "new device" came with 4.0.2. I booted it up without the SIM card, skipped all the logging in to Google, and immediately started going through the steps to unlock the bootloader and root the device. (I used the Galaxy Nexus Root Toolkit, which worked like a charm on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine I had lying around.) After unlocking and rooting, I logged into the device with my Google credentials and let it restore my settings and apps that I had downloaded from Google Play.
Then, it notified me that the 4.0.4 (IMM76K) update was available, so I installed that, and it worked without a problem.
Then, I installed the SIM card and got the new device activated through Verizon's website for activation.
Then, with both devices side by side, I went through every phone setting and made sure it's what I wanted, I made sure every app was installed (and if it was a non-Google Play app, I restored it through Titanium Backup), and I restored data for apps that don't store their data in the cloud (e.g., various games) through Titanium Backup. (I made a backup of my old device with Titanium Backup and transferred it over to the new device after getting the new one up and running.)
Everything seems to be working just fine, and the "new device" runs a bit faster and smoother than the old device, and that's with both devices rebooting and then going through the exact same "click paths", side by side.
So it's a bit of a hassle, but everyone who has a Galaxy Nexus should still be under warranty, so if you're polite with your Verizon tech support representative, they may be willing to help you out.
Verizon can sometimes be infuriating with their update release schedule and keeping their customers informed, but they sure do a good job accommodating their customers in other ways.
I realize this isn't really a "solution" to the Android man on his back problem, but this seemed to be the path of least resistance for me, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. (It's been less than 24 hours since I got the "new device" set up!)
Other things I realized I should have tried (and still may, before I wipe my phone and send it back):
- uninstalling BusyBox (through the app itself, since it makes modifications to the system) and Secure Settings
- unrooting
Good luck!
My friend who has a nexus has his bootloader unlocked and CWM on it. He got the OTA today on his way into work and like you guys, he has a broken android when he boots up. We can get into CMW but we are unable to mount his internal SD storage onto our computer and he has no ROM zips on his phone. Any advice as to how to get his phone up and running?
Will wiping the system/data fix it? Is there a way to get a ROM like AOKP onto the device outside of CWM?
Edit: After several reboots it decided to just boot into the stock ROM. Really strange. Anyhow, flashed AOKP and all is well now.
I got a notification on my phone that there is a software update available for my phone. After reading up on it a bit, I decided it's not worth the hassle to update. I thought I had gone through steps to suppress firmware updates a while back but I guess not. What's the easiest way to suppress this warning? Let me know when you get the chance. Thanks, guys!
Well, a bit of an update, I found the original information on how to suppress OTA updates here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56693607&postcount=370
As I thought before, I had already gone through this step and disabled it (it was disabled in the hidden menu already). However, the update still seems to have popped up. t tried to auto update this morning but reported back that it suspects my system is rooted so it wasn't able to install. That's good news to a point (at least it didn't screw anything up) but I don't like that it even attempted it without me giving it permission.
Any idea what might have changed? Or is there a difference between an OTA update and a "software update"?
I don't know the answer but I am having the same problem. My phone keeps restarting and giving the error that it wasn't able to install. This actually happened before when I was on 4.X and eventually it bricked my phone and the AT&T store couldn't fix it so they gave me a refurb. It sucked because I didn't have all my photos backed up(I have since fixed that problem.) Now I am having the same issue and I don't want it to brick my phone. I also hate that it restarts automatically...I might need to use my phone for something at the moment. I also have tried the info in the link to disable OTA both phones and neither time has it worked. If anyone can help, please do. Thanks.
The only thing I have ever done and has worked every time is to root and then freeze a file called. "software update" or "update manager". Hope this helps.
I would actually like someone to put together an update.zip that will update us to the latest version without having to go through the hassle of flashing back to stock and what not.
I like the idea of LTE voice calls but not so much that I am willing to go through the work of starting over.
sent from a location using an app
In Titanium Backup (or similar app) find the app call "Software Update 2.3.3.1" and freeze it
That is what solved me receiving software updates and I no longer see the option in the About phone area.
I'm on stock rooted ROM 20H sep 2018. Last time I checked (just now) this is still the latest verion.
However my H910 keeps bugging me about new update available from AT&T.
Does that happen to you guys?
It didn't give me any info about versions and so on.
Should I proceed?
I got it too. Came here to see if it was just me. I'm on H910 Oreo stock rooted.
Warning: DO NOT try to silence the nagging by blocking the notifications. AT&T/LG will treat "quit bothering me" like "go ahead, have your way", and simply go ahead and try to install the update without even bothering to ask you next time. If you're running RootedStock, you'll end up in a slow semi-bootloop where Android boots, you'll have about 3-5 minutes, then it will forcibly install the update, reboot, you'll end up in TWRP, and when you reboot to system (or power off, then power up later), the whole cycle will repeat.
I'm not sure how robustly my solution worked, but here's how I broke out of it. So far, about 15 minutes after rebooting, it seems to have worked. Since I'm writing this AFTER seemingly fixing the problem, I'm writing it from memory, and can't say with 100% certainty which step was actually the one that fixed the problem for me. I actually began the process of installing Titanium backup about a half-dozen FOTA-reboot cycles before tripping over another post here that advised deleting /cache/FOTA. Titanium Backup might, or might not, be an essential element of my apparent success. I honestly don't know. If you own it, use it... you have nothing to lose. If you don't already own it, try just deleting /cache/FOTA first from TWRP's file manager and see whether it works (temporarily or permanently).
Anyway... here's the approximate path to slaying the FOTA beast:
1. I installed Titanium Backup from Google Play. It actually took two reboot cycles to do this... you REALLY have to be ready to unlock the phone, launch Google Play, search for Titanium, and trigger its installation while standing a few feet from your wifi AP for it to finish the download and begin installing it before the next forced-update attempt begins. When it does, swear violently. It'll make you feel a tiny bit better.
1b. When FOTA forces the reboot into TWRP, try deleting /cache/FOTA before rebooting. It might work to temporarily slay the FOTA beast, it might not. If it does, it'll save you about 30 minutes of FOTA-reboot misery for the remaining steps. Feel free to repeat this after each of the following steps. It can't hurt.
2. On the next cycle, launch Google Play the moment your phone finishes booting, and go back to Titanium Backup. Hopefully, it'll be installing. With a little luck, installation will finish before FOTA begins. Then sigh, and let FOTA waste another 5 minutes of your time.
3. On the next cycle, launch Ti backup, give it permanent root permission, and give it permission to do everything it wants. Then, try to launch Google Play, search for Titanium, scroll down, select Ti Backup pro key, and try to initiate installation before FOTA kicks in yet again.
4. On the next cycle, launch Google Play, search for Titanium, scroll down, select the pro key, and begin installation if it isn't already downloading and/or installing. 99% likely you'll end up going through another round of FOTA misery.
4b. If FOTA is still forcing reboots up to this point, repeat step 1b before step 5.
5. On the next cycle, launch Titanium Backup, give it any additional permissions it wants, then select Backup/Restore, scroll down to "FOTA Update 8.0.0", and freeze it.
5b. If FOTA kicks in again, repeat step 1b.
If, despite deleting /cache/FOTA, then freezing FOTA Update 8.0.0 using Ti backup, then deleting /cache/FOTA again, it's still happening... well, then my solution didn't work for you (and possibly not for me. I'll start breathing again normally if my phone is still working normally tomorrow).
Anyway, hopefully this will help someone. I suspect a lot of people running RootedStock Oreo are going to get stung by this. I'd guess that more than a few v20 owners actually bought theirs long after AT&T's previous forced update, and have never actually HAD to deal with blocking forced updates with their current ROM.
It's entirely possible that purchasing Ti backup (I don't think the free version can freeze apps) will be essential for the H910 going forward if you want to keep using what was, prior to yesterday, the newest rooted-stock Oreo ROM without having AT&T's FOTA harass you every few hours (or wipe your phone and reflash once someone releases a newer build based on the current update). Trust me, you can't swat it away forever. I went through this forced-update nagging bull**** years ago with my Motorola Photon. Someday, when you least expect it, the dialog will come flying at you when you're driving and trying to select a song using Amazon Music, or in the middle of a phone call, or semi-distracted, or scrolling down a web page while the phone is bogged down because it's grinding its wheels in the background preparing to harass you about updating again, and you WILL accidentally click "ok" & have your life go down the toilet for the next few hours until you're able to dig yourself out of the mess.
Bite the bullet, and freeze FOTA Update 8.0.0 now, while you can still do it without burning an hour of your life waiting for reboot after reboot.
For those finding their way here, make sure to back up in the brief period of time before you get hamstrung if you can't freeze the process. I am/was bone stock H910 and after ATT forced the update on me, my phone now won't finish starting up and functionally boot-loops now until I pull the battery.
It will start, get to the home screen, I might get 5-15 seconds of actual usable time with the phone before it freezes, goes back to the bootscreen and will get warmer and warmer and give me less and less time until it freezes in the middle of the ATT logo. Tried pulling SD card and SIM card, just in case. The sim card removal bought me enough time to get the phone to tell me it was "finished updating" but upon attempting to power down and start re-inserting cards, the phone locked up and bootlooped.
No idea what this update is for but it seems to have killed my phone rather handily, beware.
FWIW, airplane mode does not stall the update either.
bitbang3r said:
Warning: DO NOT try to silence the nagging by blocking the notifications. AT&T/LG will treat "quit bothering me" like "go ahead, have your way", and simply go ahead and try to install the update without even bothering to ask you next time. If you're running Roote
Bite the bullet, and freeze FOTA Update 8.0.0 now, while you can still do it without burning an hour of your life waiting for reboot after reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope I'm not jinxing myself, but this appears to have worked for me.
I have gotten a "update could not be installed" popup, which I'm taking to be a good sign.
Still annoying, since I have auto-updates turned off.
Ugh, it popped up again. Confirmed, FOTA is still frozen.
It initiated the update for me on its own. Luckily I noticed and plugged it in or it would have died and maybe bricked the phone.
I don't notice a difference. Same Android version (8.0) same security patch (Sept 2018). The ATT version might have gone from H to I.
Yep, it started nagging me again, too. Goddamn it, this is really starting to piss me off.
Okay, on mine I think when I delete /cache/FOTA while in TWRP, it might not actually be deleting the folder.
I deleted the folder in recovery mode, then rebooted and went straight to X-plore file manager. The FOTA folder was either still there, or it just recreated itself on boot. I deleted it again in X-plore and it's now been working since my previous post.
Fingers crossed.
I just rooted a H910 yesterday, and this morning the same "slow boot loop" with the update started. I tried different things, and what so far seems to have worked was:
1. Entered TWRP recovery (from the last "update cycle." (Not like I had a choice.)
2. Wiped everything and re-installed Oreo, and all other zip and img files back to the way I originally set it all up.
3. After phone was booted up, I DID NOT have a SIM card in it, nor did I enable WiFi.
4. Temporarily skipped all the Google sign in stuff.
5. Enabled Developer options, and turned off "automatic system updates." (Not Google Play Updates!)
6. Re-booted phone and then confirmed that the above setting still showed "off."
7. Enabled WiFi and connected.
8. Set up Google account and other misc settings.
9. Restored a backup that I had made prior to the phone doing the update reboot loop, but was careful to uncheck settings. I did not use Titanium Backup. I used the built in one.
NOTE: This is not my daily driver phone. It is meant to be used as an emergency backup phone in the event that my regular phone (Samsung Galaxy S Series) falls in a canal or gets run over by a truck. (Or City Bus)
So far so good. I will use the phone for the day and check again the following morning to see if it starts the forced update. I will check back here in a few days and let everyone know what the end result was.
My theory is that if the phone does not have a chance via cell data or WiFi to get any FOTA updates prior to me turning off the "automatic system updates" that is in the Developer Options, it will never check in with AT&T's update server.
I am not sure about this, and if someone else knows, please correct the following:
I don't think AT&T "pushes" updates out. At least the type of updates we are talking about. I believe the software in the phone periodically polls an AT&T update server, and "pulls" any update at a schedule time, or time interval. My working theory is that turning off the automatic system updates will disable this automatic check, or polling routine. If it already has an update that it downloaded prior to turning off automatic system updates, its too late.
Thanks for everyone's input on this in advance.