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Android Tutorials, Tips and Tricks

Manually Update Moto X Force to Marshmallow

Manually Update Moto X Force to Marshmallow

Android Marshmallow has finally set its foot on Moto’s latest rock solid flagship. And yes, we are going to help you update Moto X Force to Marshmallow, by manually flashing the firmware.

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Manually Update Moto X Force to Marshmallow

The update for the X Force started rolling out during the last 24 hours. While many users have already started to receive the OTA, there are others who haven’t. So if you don’t like to wait, go on and follow this tutorial. The advantage? You will go complete stock with a fresh installation, so much fewer chances of any persisting bugs. Manually flashing the firmware involves flashing the complete firmware image files using fastboot commands. You do not need to have any kind of expertise, but a little knowledge about your PC and Android device.

Of course, the update includes the new Doze mode, Standby settings, Do Not Disturb, Now On-Tap, and many other improvements. You can view the complete release notes at Motorola’s website.

For now, stock Marshmallow firmware images are available for the listed models only:

Once you have grabbed the firmware, you can move ahead.

Disclaimer

Installing the firmware manually could be risky if done wrong. Do this, only if you’re aware of the risks. We shall not be held liable for any damage to your device. However, if anything like such happens, we will always be there to help you.

Before You Begin

Instructions to update Moto X Force

  1. Start off, by downloading the firmware file for your X Force model. Make sure that you do not mix up the files, it may lead to bricking your phone.
  2. Extract the downloaded firmware file (e.g. – XT1580_KINZIE_RETEU_6.0_MPK24.78-8_cid7_subsidy-DEFAULT_CFC.xml.zip) to a suitable location on your PC. The resultant will look something as shown in the image below.
    Manually Update Moto X Force to Marshmallow Files
  3. Open the folder where the files have been extracted, press SHIFT key and right-click on a space inside this folder. Select Open command window here from the menu that pops-up.
  4. Boot your Moto X Force into fastboot mode – Completely power off your phone. Press and hold Volume Down and Power keys until your phone’s screen lights up. Your phone should now be in fastboot mode.
    Moto G Bootloader Mode
  5. Once your device is in fastboot mode, connect it to the PC via USB cable.
  6. Now, start by entering the following command, to confirm that the device has been detected successfully.
    fastboot devices

    The command should return a device ID. In case it doesn’t, make sure that you have extracted the files properly and have installed USB drivers.

  7. Flash the factory image, by entering the following commands, one after-the-other.
    fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
    fastboot flash boot boot.img
    fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.0
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.1
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.2
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.3
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.4
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.5
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.6
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.7
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.8
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.9
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.10
    fastboot flash system system.img_sparsechunk.11
    fastboot flash modem NON-HLOS.bin
    fastboot erase modemst1
    fastboot erase modemst2
    fastboot flash bluetooth BTFM.bin
    fastboot flash fsg fsg.mbn
    fastboot erase cache
    fastboot erase userdata
    fastboot erase customize
    fastboot oem fb_mode_clear
  8. Once everything is done, reboot your Moto X Force into updated Marshmallow firmware:
    fastboot reboot

NOTE: If your firmware has more or less number of ‘system.img_sparsechunk’ files, adjust the commands accordingly.

So you have just done it! Updated your Moto X Force to the latest Android firmware. Go ahead, let us know how the update and its new features are treating your device, via the comments.

About the Author

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Dhananjay has more than 11 years of experience in Android software customization and development, and has spent the past 10 years writing about it. He spends most of his prime time reading, learning and writing about Android and other open-source projects. He is also a community-taught web developer. Apart from that, he loves mountain biking and playing video games on his PlayStation.

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