Android Update Error 7 -How to Fix the Issue

Are you trying to install a new OS on your phone through customs ROMs? Do you see the Android Update Error 7 status despite trying multiple times? Don’t worry this article will help you in providing more information regarding the issue and how to solve it?

The Open-source and Flexible nature of android provide multiple advantages. Android offers more freedom in trying out tricks compared to other operating systems and sometimes this might not be easy and can give out errors and even cause hard-bricking or other problems in your phone. One such trick includes the installation of a custom recovery like TWRP (Twin Win Recovery Project) or installing new OS through custom ROMs. However, while installing it you can encounter some errors, one of them being Update error 7. In this article, I will be explaining about the Android Update Error 7. What does it mean? Why is it caused? And how we can fix it?

What is Error 7

Error 7 is a status error that you can encounter while trying to install some custom ROMs on your Android smartphones or Tablets with CWM (Clock Work Mode) Recovery or TWRP. Error 7 is the same issue as ‘Error: 7’ or ‘ZIP signature verification failed error’. These issues can occur due to multiple reasons such as problems in ROM’s script file or mismatch between the updater’s script’s and phone model or version. We can keep in mind that the error is a script safety mechanism, called asserts, by which the ROM’s updater script tries to warn us and save our phone from installing a wrong ROM and causing malfunction.

Reasons for the Error 7

There are multiple reasons due to which you might be seeing this error. Firstly, it can be because the ROM you are trying to install has a different version than the one compatible with your phone model and is not meant to be flashed in your phone model. For example, you have a Galaxy S2 but you tried to install the Galaxy S3 ROM, then it will cause problems for your phone. However, there are times when you are installing the correct ROM for your phone and still encounter these errors. This can be probably due to the developer’s error where the phone model and version are presented accordingly but the script is meant for another phone model. But this kind of situation is very rare.

 This error can also occur if your bootloader is not updated before you tried to install the ROM and you might also see a ‘Trust zone error’ in TWRP.

You might also get this error if you are not flashing your ROM properly while migrating from a different one.

How to Fix Android Update Error 7

Let’s through several methods by which we can solve this problem.

Tip1: CWM/TWRP is outdated

A lot of the time, this error can occur because your CWM/TWRP is outdated. As the android versions get updated, so do the recovery tools so make sure they are updated and if not, try to update them using ROM manager. Also, keep visiting the TRP website to check for the latest recovery tool versions.

Also check if your Android’s bootloader is updated because that can also generate the error 7 in TWRP. So make sure your Android’s bootloader is updated to latest version.

• One of the easiest and initial methods to try to solve this problem is to format and remove the cache of your device, along with formatting the Dalvik cache and data partition as well. The following steps will show you the process.
• Your system needs to restart in Recovery mode, which is either TWRP or CWM.
• In recovery mode, you’ll see a list of options, from there select ‘Advanced Wipe’. From there, select ‘Cache’, ‘Dalvik Cache’ and ‘Date’.
• Wipe the selected partitions.
• In TWRP, you might be prompted a text, you can type ‘yes’ in it.

The mentioned steps will format the cache. After carrying out the above steps and finishing process, you can try again to install custom ROM.

Tip2: Factory reset through the settings app

You can also try to do Factory reset through the settings app. These are also called ‘hard resets’.

• Go to Settings.
• Under General Management > Reset > Turn Factory Data Reset > Click Reset > Click Delete All.

Note: Factory Reset will delete all the data from your phone so make you have backed up all the important ones.

Tip3: Edit and modify the updater-script

• If you still keep getting Error 7 after trying our above-mentioned methods, you can try this method. It is a little bit complex than the first two ones. In this one, we will try to edit and modify the updater-script and remove the assets to get rid of them. As I described before, the updater script, known as “asserts”. Asserts are basically a safety mechanism that keeps checking if the ROM being installed is compatible with the device or not.

For this method, it is more convenient if you can move the ROM zip file from your phone into your PC or laptop. However, if that is not possible for you, do not worry, we will explain the method to do this through phone too.

Note: For this method, make sure your ROM file you are flashing is compatible with your version and made for your phone otherwise it can result in hard-bricking your phone or other malfunctions.

Editing Updater Script File though Pc.

Make sure your Pc or laptop has an unzipping software (for example WinZip, WinRAR etc.), if not make sure to download and install it. Now, let’s start.

1. Move the ROM zip file into your pc and unzip it.
2. Once it is unzipped, in the folder find the META-INF folder.
3. In the folder, navigate to the META-INF/com/google/android line. In this directory, you will find a file named “update-script”.
4. Now, open the file “update-script” with the help of a text editor (For example, Notepad or Notepad ++).  If it doesn’t open or you are facing some issues regarding this, try changing the format by renaming the file as “updater-script.txt”, it should open without a problem.
5. Now that the file has been opened in the text editor, delete the lines starting from “assert” to where the next semi-colon is. It can be the first few lines at the starting of the file or sometimes even paragraphs.
6.  After deleting these lines, save the edited file.
7. If you had renamed the file to open it. Now rename it back to its original name, i.e., “updater-script”.
8. Now, re-zip or compress all the files again and transfer them into your phone and try to install the ROMs again. Hopefully, it will solve the error 7 problems.

Editing Update script through Phone.

If it is not possible for you to perform the above method on your pc or laptop, you can try to do the same on your phone. Although, it might be a little bit longer than the above method. Let’s start.

For you method, you only need your Android mobile device and two apps which are ZArchiver and ES File Explorer. You can download and install other apps which perform the same functions as these two.

1. Once the said apps have been downloaded and installed, transfer your ROM zip file to an unused and empty folder in your phone.
2. Launch Archiver app.
3. Go to the folder where your Zip file is located and click on the zip file.
4. Click the extract here option. (This process is same as the unzipping the file in our pc).
5. After the extraction process is complete, you will multiple folders. Go to the META_INF folder.
6. In the META-INF folder > com folder > google folder > android folder.
7.  In Android, you will find the file named “updater-script.”
8. Try to open the “Updater-script” file to edit this. If you cannot open this, try to rename the file to “updater-script.txt” and open it in ES Note Editor or any other Editor app that you might prefer.
9. Now that the file is open, remove the lines starting with assert and until the semi-colon before the mount command lines begin. Now you will see that the first line is starting with mount and not assert.
10. Save your modified file.
11. After you have saved your file, again click on it and rename it to its original name “updater-script” by removing the txt extension.
12. Go back to your folder where you extracted the zip file. Select all the extracted folders and compress them again.
13. Now install this zip file with the help of recovery.

Conclusion

Android has made it easier for us to use the platform more flexibly according to our needs.  We can use different kinds of tricks and tips in this system. However, while doing that we can encounter multiple problems and errors which if left unsolved can be dangerous to our phone’s system and internal interface. One of these problems is the android update error 7. We have tried our best to provide multiple alternatives and fixes to this problem. And hopefully one these solutions will help you fix the issue.

To sum up, it is very common to get the update error 7. Make sure everything that is important and required the ROM installed is updated. Try to figure out what might be the reason for the error message and try to use a solution according to the cause. We hope it will work for you.