i want to save a file to the / directory of my phone.
when using adb in recovery mode with $su and mount -a, it seems as if i'm able to us cp to move a file to it, ls shows the file afterwards.
but after booting, the file is gone.
i tried it with a update.zip, same result.
anybody has an idea why this is so and if there is a solution to my problem?
thanks
use root explorer from the market....you can simply copy the file you need to the "/" directory with this app!
I think / is in RAM. There are system and data partitions on internal flash, but there isn't / one, right?
@androgiallo i don't know about root explorer, bur SU File Manager & Terminal couldn't do the trick ...
@Brut.all to be honest, i don't know what you're talking about ... does your reply mean it's futile or rather that there might be a solution?
btw, thanks for maps[brut] and even more for apktool.
der_bert said:
@Brut.all to be honest, i don't know what you're talking about ... does your reply mean it's futile or rather that there might be a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean "/" isn't persistent - I think it is created in the RAM when you turn on your device, then you could change its contents, but after rebooting it's gone.
For sure there is a way to install something there. If I'm right about that RAM, then there should be somewhere some image of initial contents of "/" partition (they are copied to RAM at boot) - probably in boot.img . So it's possible, but not that easy as just copying a file to "/".
These are just my guesses, maybe I'm wrong.
Ahh and why do you want to place some file to "/"? Why not to e.g. /data/?
i use a keyfile for my password manager and i have to enter the path to it manually every time i open the database, so i want to keep the path as short as possible ...
Related
I wonder why nobody has noticed this but the default user-agent is actually stored in a simple XML file under /data/data/com.android.browser/shared_prefs/
So if you unzip the attached file and push it to your phone, you will be using the new ua next time you start the browser
Code:
adb push com.android.browser_preferences.xml /data/data/com.android.browser/shared_prefs/com.android.browser_preferences.xml
This is tested to survive a reboot.
billc.cn said:
I wonder why nobody has noticed this but the default user-agent is actually stored in a simple XML file under /data/data/com.android.browser/shared_prefs/
So if you unzip the attached file and push it to your phone, you will be using the new ua next time you start the browser
Code:
adb push com.android.browser_preferences.xml /data/data/com.android.browser/shared_prefs/com.android.browser_preferences.xml
This is tested to survive a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice Job. Worked great.
Sorry
I'm a little new on this is there any way to do this on Os X ?
Thanks!
If you're semi-lazy and don't do adb (I've never really tried to get it working under Linux) you can do those copies under the root terminal emulator. It's the same process (cp) as copying the mountd and init files when you originally rooted the phone. The only difference is, /data is mounted read/write to begin with so you don't have to re-mount it.
you can extract the zip to the root of your sdcard and type the following in terminal
Code:
su
cp /sdcard/com.android.browser_preferences.xml /data/data/com.android.browser/shared_prefs/
Hi,
This is a working broswer for the H builds.
Bookmarks saved and deleted.
Sites display correctly.
Zoom function works.
Rename Browser.zip to Browser.apk and push to phone.
Hi,
I tried to copy an API to /system/app, but when I did that, the screen just blinks, and the file is not pasted into the directory.
I had temp root, and had remounted R/W.
I eventually was able to do the copy by using ES Explorer, but not with RE itself.
Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong?
Thanks,
Jim
Don't know if this helps but... I recently tried to do some copying of files using AndRootFile, and RootExplorer. And like you they did not "take". I finally figured out that after I selected a file to copy, I would use the back arrow button to move to the target folder. This was the problem. When I used the Parent folder icon instead to move back out of the folder, and move to the destination folder without using the back arrow button. the file copied just fine. Hope this helps.
Reggie,
Thanks for the suggestion, but, no, I wasn't using the "back" to get to the /system/app directory. I was clicking on the parent dir, etc.
Jim
I also am having that problem. I tried both the back buttons and the parent directory. Ive tried factor data reset as well. I wander if it has anything to do with the update yesterday?
Until we/someone figures why, you can use root explorer to mount, then the built in es explorer to do the copy...
Jim
I've been doing some stuff w/command line, and I noticed that my stock Gtab doesn't have a native 'cp' command, so you have to use 'busybox cp' instead. I wonder if that's why the RE copy/paste doesn't work?
Jim
SOLVED - it was no native 'cp'
jimcpl said:
I've been doing some stuff w/command line, and I noticed that my stock Gtab doesn't have a native Cp command, so you have to use 'busybox cop's instead. I wonder if that's why the RE copynpasre doesn't work?
Jim
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I just tried a test, where I created a softlink for 'busybox cp':
ln -s /system/bin/busybox /sbin/cp
I then was able to use RE to copy/paste into /system/app !
CAVEAT: I don't know if busybox is on Gtab by default...
Jim
At the command line us cp vs Cp. If you want to copy an entire directory, use cp -R /indirectory /outdirectory .
NMCBR600 said:
At the command line us cp vs Cp. If you want to copy an entire directory, use cp -R /indirectory /outdirectory .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
That was a typo on my part. The 'cp' command (lowercase c) was really missing in my Gtab .
I've been experimenting w/alternate keyboards, and keep making typos ...
Jim
P.S. I fixed the typos ...
jimcpl,
I was just working on putting Market onto my stock machine and I am having the exact same problem. So far as I can see I have set it up right and followed procedure -- but files just won't move.
Now that I have read y'all's comments, I will try again a time or two.
Rev
butchconner said:
jimcpl,
I was just working on putting Market onto my stock machine and I am having the exact same problem. So far as I can see I have set it up right and followed procedure -- but files just won't move.
Now that I have read y'all's comments, I will try again a time or two.
Rev
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
BTW, to create the softlink (using ln), you'll need to use adb shell. Or, you could use a terminal, if one's installed (kind of catch 22, since you'd need market to get a terminal).
Otherwise, what might work is:
- z4root to get root
- root explorer to make /system R/W
- kill then restart es file explorer and use that to copy the apks to /system/app
Jim
SIGH ... softlink doesn't survive a reboot
It looks like the softlink that I created disappears after a reboot... then RE can't copy again.
Sorry...
Jim
Well I browsed through all the forums and I could not find anything that I am going to explain. There are some tits-bits here and there, but I hope this proves to be useful.
I will also explain if you have a xrecovery backup, then how to extract your games and progress from there.
Many of you might be switching ROMs very frequently or upgrading/downgrading their Android. While doing this, we lose all our apps and games and more importanly the game's PROGRESS, if we do not save them.
There are apps available to save apps/games and progress but there is a way to do all these thing MANUALLY. This for those who want the control in their hands , like me.
PART A:
Here's how you do:
1) Create a backup folder on the sdcard with a name that you like. eg. mybackup
1) from your filemanager or from the shell, browse to the directory /data/app and do ls -l. You will get a list of apps which you have installed.
2) Select the app that you want to save/backup and move it to sdcard folder that you have created. The names here would be long but it will be almost similar to the name you see in the UI.
For eg.
Code:
cp uk.co.aifactory.moveitfree.apk /sdcard/mybackup
. would be the command to backup Move It game.
3) Now go to the the directory /data/data and do a ls -l. browse through the list and find a directory which matches the name of the apk without the .apk extension.
for Eg. for the 'move it' game, you will find a directory uk.co.aifactory.moveitfree
Move this directory to the backup folder
Code:
cp -r uk.co.aifactory.moveitfree /sdcard/mybackup
.
For those working on shell, remember to do cp "-r" as you are copying a directory.
You are done!!. You have backed up your app and all the progress related to that app.
Now you can copy mybackup folder to your PC or keep it in the sdcard if you have enough space. Its your choice...
PART B:
How to get the progress and games back after flashing the ROM or after wipeout.
Its easy. Just reverse the steps mentioned above.
1) copy the .apk file from your backup folder to /data/app through filemanager or shell.
Eg.
Code:
cp /sdcard/mybackup/uk.co.aifactory.moveitfree.apk /data/app
2) copy the data directory to the location /data/data.
Eg.
Code:
cp -r /sdcard/mybackup/uk.co.aifactory.moveitfree /data/data
You are back to business, just browse through your apps and enjoy the games from where you left.
UPDATE :
For Angry Birds, when you are done with the above steps, delete the file
/data/data/com.rovio.angrybirdsrio/files/settings.lua
It app will not open up if you dont do it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those who have already backedup their ROMs and not saved their apps as mentioned above, dont worry, I have a solution for that too. I am specifically going to explain the method to get it from xrecovery backup.
When you backup your ROM or system using xRecovery, it stores all the data inside /sdcard/xrecovery/backup/<date>.
Inside that folder, there are 3 img files.
cache.img
system.img
data.img
data.img contains all the data/app/games that you had installed, while system.img contains everything that came bundled with ROM. It might differ a bit per devices, but mostly its data.img
I tried to open this file ".img" with a lot of extraction tools but none could help. Atlast, i got help from our great <zdzihu>, and he said, he saves the archive with yaffs2 compression.
There is an app "unyaffs2" which you can use to extract the contents of the archive. Get it from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=910255
This app will extract the contents to the folder where you ask it to. Once you have your data, repeat the above mentioned steps to get your apps and games running!!
Thank you for the how to
it not change owner
this is very big problem
Hi dateno1, can you be more specific?
What app are you trying on
What method u used to copy
What error r u getting exactly
Which device and on which step
Sent from my X10mini using XDA App
ronaksv said:
PART B:
How to get the progress and games back after flashing the ROM or after wipeout.
Its easy. Just reverse the steps mentioned above.
1) copy the .apk file from your backup folder to /data/app through filemanager or shell.
2) copy the data directory to the location /data/data.
You are back to business, just browse through your apps and enjoy the games from where you left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have question on the process of getting it back.
on step 1 you said copy.
is it also ok if you are going to reinstall it then proceed to step 2.
thanks.
I don't know if ADB is even the best tool to do this, but I want to be able to copy the entire file system off the EEE pad onto a pc. I want everything, starting from the "/" root directory. I want the entire file system and all files copied over so I can work with them on the pc.
I have root (verified by # when entering adb shell and various root apps successfully running.)
My thought was to do "adb pull /" from a dos shell (running windows 7), but not everything copies over. I get lots of messages about "skipping special file", I dont get the /data/data directory, etc etc.
Is there a tool or some way to copy over the entire file system starting from "/" ?
Thank you.
Nvflash will let you download the APP partition which is the system folder. It's an ext4 filesystem that you can mount and poke around.
USP is the data partition.
Be careful not to format your TF!
Clockwork mod will backup the system.img and you can either mount or unyaffs this. I forget which one. Same for data.img
sent from my cyanogen(mod) vision
Is the data.img same as the USP partition? Is the system.img same as the APP partition?
which I can then mount and explore?
I don't want to edit anything, I only want to examine.
In particular, I want to take a snapshot of all the files and filesystem (directory structures, files, etc) before an app is run. After the app is run and exited, I want to take another snapshot and look at what has changed. If there are new files created, existing files edited, etc. I want to search for strings (grep), etc.
I was hoping I could copy all the files to do this, but perhaps there is another way like one of those you suggested (nvlash, clockwordmod, ??)
Thank you.
Nvflash and clockworkmod wouldn't be used on a running system. You might want to look in the /proc and caches, but I'm not an expert on this.
sent from my cyanogen(mod) vision
gee one said:
Nvflash and clockworkmod wouldn't be used on a running system. You might want to look in the /proc and caches, but I'm not an expert on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expert or not, I really appreciate your advice.
I took your initial suggestion to be to use NVflash and/or clockworkmod to make backups of the device. It seems from some other threads I've read that the tablet drive consists of up to 15 or 16 partitions, two of which are USP and APP.
So conceivably I could back those up "before", and mount the backup images somewhere to look at, preferably on a pc.
Then, I could install and run the app in question, and use NvFlash and/or CWM again to make backup images, and look at them for comparison.
On another note, I tried installing busybox and running cp to move, for example, /data to the external SD card, but I think I need a bigger SD card.
I wonder if
busybox cp / /Removable/MicroSD/targetdirectory
would work to copy everything?
The danger with that is that some directories and files are virtual- /proc and I think /var are virtual directories. Files like dev/null dev/zero would be problematic!
You might want to do specific parts, such as /data, or even /data/data/your.app's.java.name.here
You could use "find ." and write a script to pull everything with adb, but it would take forever, so it might not be a true snapshot.
Have you looked at the ddms or some of the other tools in the android SDK?
Sorry to confuse. By snapshot I did not mean screenshot. I meant just a record of the state of the device at that point in time. Meaning, all the files before the app was run. Then all the files (any new ones, changes to existing ones, any deleted) AFTER the app was run. I want to look at what has changed.
Still, thanks for the ddms idea. I have to look at any other tools in the adb environment that could be useful.
***MUNKY-TOOL***
IS AN ONBOARD ANDROID UTILITY
FEATURES
[*]Copy system.img
[*]Copy boot.img
[*]Backup efs
[*]Logcat
[*]Backup and Restore Contacts
[*]Out For A Rip
Munky-tool will locate and copy most partitions without you having to track down paths. This is convenient if you use a ROM kitchen, or just want to make a backup of your system without using custom recovery. Some devices do have weird partition names, and munky-tool will not find them. If this happens to you, run the following command in terminal emulator
Code:
ls /dev/block/platform/*/by-name
Paste the output and your device name in the comments, and I will work your device in if possible.
INSTRUCTIONS
Download zip or clone git
Place extracted munky-tool folder in system partition (must be able to set permissions)
Set permissions of munky-tool script (not the directory) to at least 775 (rwx rwx rw)
Open terminal emulator and key in 'su' for root permissions
cd to the munky-tool directory
Type ./munky-tool to execute the script and start the utility
DOWNLOAD
github
Dude once again you're creativity and hard work is paying off. Great job man
Style point for the rip bud!
Sounds very helpfull and as markbencze already replyed I gues it's working on the O+O too. Have to try it in the next days.
thx markbencze for sharing.
SaschaKH said:
Sounds very helpfull and as markbencze already replyed I gues it's working on the O+O too. Have to try it in the next days.
thx markbencze for sharing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I tested it on my OPO. It went out for a rip. It will run on any device, and it will find the partitions on most.
Where's the download link dude, i'm not find download link from github ?
itsnie said:
Where's the download link dude, i'm not find download link from github ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the right side of page near the clone url, there should be a button that says download as zip.
Just realized you have to be in desktop view to see the download as zip button. I will post an additional link a little later.
Just added backup and restore contacts.
N-i-c-e!
Thank you.
I've been working on the same sort of thing, and trying to figure out how to get adb connected to the phone with debugging off, for those people (I won't use the word I'm thinking of) who don't make backups, then break the screen, or bootloop the phone. Your script makes finding the data partition trivial, but I'm still working on the "force debugging on from outside" part.
But munky is going to be part of my phone from now on.
Rukbat said:
N-i-c-e!
Thank you.
I've been working on the same sort of thing, and trying to figure out how to get adb connected to the phone with debugging off, for those people (I won't use the word I'm thinking of) who don't make backups, then break the screen, or bootloop the phone. Your script makes finding the data partition trivial, but I'm still working on the "force debugging on from outside" part.
But munky is going to be part of my phone from now on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, man. Glad to hear you like it.
mike the inkman said:
***MUNKY-TOOL***
IS AN ONBOARD ANDROID UTILITY
FEATURES
[*]Copy system.img
[*]Copy boot.img
[*]Backup efs
[*]Logcat
[*]Backup and Restore Contacts
[*]Out For A Rip
Munky-tool will locate and copy most partitions without you having to track down paths. This is convenient if you use a ROM kitchen, or just want to make a backup of your system without using custom recovery. Some devices do have weird partition names, and munky-tool will not find them. If this happens to you, run the following command in terminal emulator
Code:
ls /dev/block/platform/*/by-name
Paste the output and your device name in the comments, and I will work your device in if possible.
INSTRUCTIONS
Download zip or clone git
Place extracted munky-tool folder in system partition (must be able to set permissions)
Set permissions of munky-tool script (not the directory) to at least 775 (rwx rwx rw)
Open terminal emulator and key in 'su' for root permissions
cd to the munky-tool directory
Type ./munky-tool to execute the script and start the utility
DOWNLOAD
github
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Tool, do you already plan to support restore EFS? which make a full loop of running time change the EFS setting without a PC,
this can help to me to control the modem band preset selections for network testing purpose.
Azlun said:
Good Tool, do you already plan to support restore EFS? which make a full loop of running time change the EFS setting without a PC,
this can help to me to control the modem band preset selections for network testing purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is usually done in bootloader, but I am pretty sure I can make it work. Just need to test it before I release it. I am also going to release this as an apk soon. (Don't know how soon, but I probably won't have time for a few weeks)
An app that we can point new users to that will back up their userdata partition? Fantastic!
Rukbat said:
An app that we can point new users to that will back up their userdata partition? Fantastic!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think it will fill a need. I am going to do an APK to do the things from this script, and a corresponding GUI Linux package for APK modding, and maybe do something for Windows as I get time. In the process of moving somewhat unexpectedly, so it is taking longer than I would have liked.