Hey all,
Like a number of you, I've struggled with trying to get 4.3 based ROMs to install + run properly past the very first boot, and I managed to get the latest 4.3 ParanoidAndroid installed & running flawlessly, so here's how I managed this:
1) Using
I built the latest CWM, 6.0.4.4, for the XT926. To save you the effort, you can (!!! THIS IS FOR XT926 ONLY !!! You can build an appropriate CWM 6.0.4.4 your device from the first link. It's pretty straightforward.) from my dropbox here. I've flashed this on to my Razr MAXX HD and had no issues but, of course, YMMV.
2) Wiped everything (had the ROM, gapps, and SuperSU update on an external SD), /data, /data & /data/media (Through Storage and Mounts in CWM), /cache, dalvik cache, /system.
3) Installed the latest PA ROM + gapps zip
4) Wiped cache & dalvik cache again, rebooted system
5) After booting into android, run through the setup and after completing that, reboot to recovery.
6) Wiped cache & dalvik cache again
7) Flashed
through the install zip feature.
8) Reboot system. If it tells you it needs to fix root, select no and let it reboot normally.
At this point, you should have a functional install of a 4.3 ROM of your choice, plus the ability to reboot with impunity. After all is said and done, root is maintained through reboots no problem, and I've yet to run into any issues, although I'm sure some will crop up. From what I understand of the difference with 4.3-based ROMs, having the proper superuser binary installed + persistent is pretty crucial, as well as having the most recent recovery, as it appears a lot of changes on 4.3 ROM/selinux support are pretty quickly implemented between versions. Version 6.0.3.6, which was the latest CWM I was able to find looking around, is pretty far behind in terms of support of 4.3 compared to 6.0.4.4, so this have had something to do with it.
As an aside, for anyone who might still be interested in the issue, I found that even on 6.0.3.6, wiping /data and /data/media through the Storage and Mounts menu would allow me to boot into the OS again, but only once, further reboots would hang on the unlocked bootloader splash.
If you have any problems with the steps outlined here or whatever, I'd be glad to try and help. Of course, big ups to all the devs out there who do the time consuming and often thankless job of maintaining software for these phones. You're all killer people, you rock. Special mention to cj360 for maintaining the XT926 branch of AOSPA, your builds are awesome and among the most flawless ROM ports I've had the pleasure of running across a half dozen handsets.
