How to Capture OTA Update URL For Android

Google or the device manufacturers roll out OTA updates regionally and it may take long before the update hits your device. It may take weeks or even months in some cases. The logcat file consists of the update URL once the OTA is available and yo can take advantage of it. Once you get the OTA link, you can download the update from your browser and apply it manually.

To be clear, if you don’t see any software update popup or notification, then this process may not work for you. If you have access to a device that already received the notification for their device, then go through this tutorial to get the OTA URL to download it manually; provided you have the exact same device and variant as the former or the OTA may not work for you. So if you are the first to receive an update notification for your device then don’t just download and install the update. First get the logcat file using this tutorial and share the OTA URL/link with others.

Requirements:

1. You will need a device running on the latest stock Android firmware. You will need an unmodified system. Any modifications like root/SuperSU, custom recovery, unlocked bootloader may fail the installation of the OTA. However, it won’t affect the OTA notification.

2. Enable USB Debugging on your device. To do so, go to Settings>About Phone> Tap on the Build Number several times until you get a new Developer Options in theSettings. Open Developer Options and enable USB Debugging from there. Trust the connection by allowing it when you connect it to your PC for the first time.

3. Make sure you have latest device drivers setup on your PC for a better connection. Get it from the official page of your device manufacturer.

4. Setup ADB and Fastboot environment on your PC. For that, download the quick ADB and Fastboot Installer below. You may also like the minimal ADB and Fastboot from here.

Method 1: How to Capture OTA Update URL For Your Android Device Using Logcat File

Step 1: When you get the OTA update notification, do not download the update. Also, and do not reboot your phone.

Step 2: Setup ADB and Fastboot environment on your PC and enable USB debugging on your Android device. (settings>development>enable USB debugging)

Step 3: Now plug in your device to the PC using a USB cable. (not a front port)

Step 4: Now open the command prompt or terminal by holding the shift key on your PC and press the right mouse button. Alternatively, go to start>accessories>cmd or type cmd in the search under the start menu.

Step 5: Now issue the following command in the cmd window:

adb logcat

Step 6: Once done, it should display a whole bunch of text below the command. It may take some time to get the full logcat as it will be a long text. If it takes long, you can disconnect the device from PC. The

Step 7: Once you get the full logcat, copy and paste everything from the terminal into a notebook text document.

Step 8: You will certainly find the OTA URL for your device. Check out the image below to see how the URL looks like.

Step 9: Now that you have the OTA URL, you can start with downloading the OTA.

Step 10: Now you can reboot your phone and install the update.

Note: You may need to do this twice. Once for the incremental OTA and once for the full OTA. Between downloads, you will have to “clear update data” to clear the first OTA you downloaded. Both “Clear update data” and “Check full update” can be found in the options menu on the system update application.

Now the image shown above is for a Nexus device and comes from Google’s server. However, not all updates come from Google. Other manufacturers like Samsung or LG may have their own servers and the URL may not look like that. If you are confused, you can verify it from someone and get the OTA URL for your device before you share it.

Method 2: How to capture OTA update without PC?

Check for OTA update and do not install it. Once the OTA arrives, you and start download.
No go to Settings > Developer options > tap on Take bug report option.
You may choose to take an immersive or full report.
Once done, save the logcat file to to /sdcard via any file manager. You can simply upload it to Google Drive.
Open the logcat text file in Notepad++ on you PC or on your Android device. You can also use any text editor.
Now find the OTA link by searching. For instance, the search or the codename like this in case of Mi A1 device. “xiaomi_tissotsprout_tissot” (without quotes).
Copy the link and download OTA.
Post the link in the comment section and mention the device and software version.

Alternatively, you can download the Terminal Emulator app from the Play Store and get the Logcat.

Download Terminal Emulator for Android

Launch the Terminal Emulator for Android app and type:

logcat > /sdcard/log.txt

Open a file manager and look for the log file. Open it and search for the OTA download link.

Like and share us on social media. For any help or queries, comment down below. Get in touch with us if you want to know more about the installation procedure or the device. If you come across any errors let us know.#

How to easily Install/Setup ADB and Fastboot on Windows, Mac OS, Linux?

There are multiple ways to install

Download and install a 15 Second ADB and Fastboot Installer: (Exclusively for Windows)

In order to setup ADB and Fastboot on Windows PC quickly, the all you need to do is download the 15 seconds ADB Installer listed below, run the EXE file on your PC. The setup will progress and ADB and Fastboot environment will be enabled across the Windows installation. So you can open a Command Prompt (cmd) anywhere and start using ADB commands ad well as Fastboot commands anywhere. USB debugging your Android device

Download 15 seconds ADB Installer for Windows

You can download the latest ADB and Fastboot binaries using these links. These download links will remain static, but Google will periodically update the referenced file with the latest binaries as they go live.

How to Install ADB and Fastboot on Linux, Mac OS and Chrome OS Using NexusTool

Nexus Tools is an installer for the Android debug/development command-line tools ADB (Android Device Bridge) and Fastboot for Mac OS X and Linux. The script does not need to be downloaded, simply copy and paste this command into the terminal and run it to install ADB/Fastboot:

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/master/install.sh)

and this command to uninstall Nexus Tools:

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/master/uninstall.sh)

Alternative Commands:

Alternatively, if you have errors with the above install command, you can try this one:

cd ~ && curl -s -o ./install.sh "https://github.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/raw/master/install.sh" -LOk && chmod +x ./install.sh && ./install.sh && rm ./install.sh

and to un-install:

cd ~ && curl -s -o ./uninstall.sh "https://github.com/corbindavenport/nexus-tools/raw/master/uninstall.sh" -LOk && chmod +x ./uninstall.sh && ./uninstall.sh && rm ./uninstall.sh

If you have an are have problems entering the command then download this zip archive, then extract and run install.sh. Nexus Tools requires sudo privileges to install/uninstall the adb and fastboot tools to /usr/local/bin, so they can be run without typing the full directory. Nexus Tools is licensed under the GPLv3 license, and the source code is at the GitHub project below.

Method 2: How to Setup ADB and Fastboot on Linux and Mac OS Quickly [iMac & MacBook]

Downloads:

Android4.zip | File: Android4.zip / Android.zip (214.14KB)
Mirror | File: Android.zip (214 KB)

Installation Instructions:

Download the latest version of Android.zip file from above. This contains ADB and Fastboot files. Now place it on your desktop screen (location).
Now extract (unzip) the android.zip file by double clicking it and you will get a folder named “android” that contains multiple files. Files for both Mac OS and Linux.
You can simply run the ADB-Install-Linux.sh on Linux and ADB-Install-Mac.sh on Mac OS and the operation will automatically install it.
If you want to manually input commands, then open a new Terminal window on your Mac or Linux system. For Mac, you can search for it from Spotlight with ⌘-Space or find it in your Applications > Utility folder. For Linux, just type terminal in search.
In the terminal, type in the following command

cd Desktop/Android

To install ADB and Fastboot in Mac type in the following command

./ADB-Install-Mac.sh

On Linux type

sudo ADB-Install-Mac.sh

Note: You can also drag and drop the “ADB-Install-Mac.sh” file onto your terminal screen.

That’s it. ADB and Fastboot are now successfully installed on your Mac. You can open Terminal anytime and enter ADB or Fastboot commands.

BOLDTECHINFO

Tech News Blog