Please tell me if this is feasable.
I was retarded and never bothered to Root my incredible when it was possible to do on 2.1
It obviously isn't possible using revoked/simple root/ or any other methods after 2.2 (not yet anyway)
I would like to remove the stock annoying apps(amazon,cityid, etc) from my phone entirely/rename them, but I can't. I can't because without root access you cant rename/delete files from the system/app folder on the phone, and you cannot force an unintall of these programs.
I recently downloaded the update.zip file from google for the 2.2 update(since I didnt want to wait for the OTA update). Do you think it is possible to remove the apk's you dont want from the stock 2.2 google rom since they are located in the same folder system/app within the rom files. Then rezip the rom files and reflash your phone with the edited rom files which would not include all this bloat crap stuff I do not want?
I cant think of a reason why it wouldn't work / be possible??? thoughts?
strunker said:
Please tell me if this is feasable.
I was retarded and never bothered to Root my incredible when it was possible to do on 2.1
It obviously isn't possible using revoked/simple root/ or any other methods after 2.2 (not yet anyway)
I would like to remove the stock annoying apps(amazon,cityid, etc) from my phone entirely/rename them, but I can't. I can't because without root access you cant rename/delete files from the system/app folder on the phone, and you cannot force an unintall of these programs.
I recently downloaded the update.zip file from google for the 2.2 update(since I didnt want to wait for the OTA update). Do you think it is possible to remove the apk's you dont want from the stock 2.2 google rom since they are located in the same folder system/app within the rom files. Then rezip the rom files and reflash your phone with the edited rom files which would not include all this bloat crap stuff I do not want?
I cant think of a reason why it wouldn't work / be possible??? thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you are using the stock recovery to install a stock ROM/update that is signed by them with keys the that you don't have, I would say NO. You'll have to get root first and install a customer recovery in order to install custom ROMs. If you modify the stock ROM/update and resign it, it will be a custom ROM/update at that point.
gnarlyc said:
Since you are using the stock recovery to install a stock ROM/update that is signed by them with keys the that you don't have, I would say NO. You'll have to get root first and install a customer recovery in order to install custom ROMs. If you modify the stock ROM/update and resign it, it will be a custom ROM/update at that point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ty for the response.
That is exactly the issue I ran into..
I wasnt able to figure out how to get past their md5/signed file check.
I am not sure if the bootlader/recovery console checks the file size or contents. What I tried to do originally was extract all the files in the update.zip package and make my changes then rezip them. Obviously this method failed because I had to repackage it and as a result it was no longer signed.
What I then tried was to edit the actual update.zip without extracting first. I figured this way the file itself would still be signed and I would be able to use it.
It generated a different error than I had seen the first time, but ultimately failed the check again..
Made me sad. I really wanted to get rid of all that crap. VZnavigator process is a memory hog. I dont need it at all, not with google maps which comes stock on the phone.. And to add to that, you cant even kill the process because as soon as you do it just starts again... So.. GG verizon
At this point I really only have two options..
1) Wait for 2.2 stock rom to be rooted. If this ever happens, I have faith that it will.
2.) Revert back to 2.1, s-off perma root and then manually load in 2.2 over that..
Have you tried that androot.apk? I was under the assumption that it was "universal".
Sent from my HTC Hero using XDA App
ddotpatel said:
Have you tried that androot.apk? I was under the assumption that it was "universal".
Sent from my HTC Hero using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not. What I did instead was use 3.2 unrevoked which works on 2.2
I am not sure what androot.apk is I will look into it out of curiosity.
[GUIDE] Universal AndRoot - 1-click root
give it a try....
Related
I have a bunch of questions, but here is where I'm at.
I had 2.2 stock OTA. I then used bootstrapper to place dr154's Deodex OTA 2.2 onto my phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=794007
Next, I again used bootstrapper to put NexTheme on my phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=749692
Question 1: Are both the deodex OTA and NexTheme now on my phone, or did NexTheme replace the deodex OTA? If I were to load another Theme on, would all 3 coexist or would the other(s) be replaced?
Question 2: If I were to factory reset my phone, what would it revert to? Stock? dr154's deodex? Etc.
Question 3: If vzw released a system update, do I have to do anything to my phone before I receive it?
Now more questions regarding SYSTEM APPS.
Problem 1: MotoTorch was preloaded as a system app, as a part of either Deodex or NexTheme, assuming these coexist. When a new version came out in the market, I could not update to it, because it was a system app. Superuser, same thing, a newer version came out, couldnt get it, "installation unsuccessful".
Problem 2: Additionally, lots of the system apps aren't even recognized as installed by the market. So sometimes you won't even know if an update is available. This was the case with MotoTorch.
So I used the common solution that everyone uses and that I found with a little searching, I loaded adb and mounted /system/app as rw, then removed the apks. Then reinstalled them from the market. Then remounted /system/app as ro.
My question regarding system apps is this:
Question 4: What is the advantage of having an app be a system app?
Question 5: The stock system apps such as Amazon Mp3, or City ID - can I safely remove these? Which ones CANNOT be removed? When I did ls /system/app, there were a huge number.
Lastly, I am new, so I'm sorry if I missed it or could have search it or whatever, but I'm wondering....
Question 6: What is tranquility exactly? I see a lot of themes say they're based of tranquility? If I wanted it, where could i find the newest version? If I install a theme based off tranquility, and then a new version of tranquility comes out, can I reinstall tranquility on my phone, then reinstall the theme and will then the theme be using the newest tranquility?
Question 7: What are the advantages of being blur-less?
Question 8: Is xda the best place to find new themes? Or is there another more centralized site?
Thank you very much for any answers!!
just about everyone of your questions are answered somewhere on the web, but ill give it a shot anyways.
1. Themes only replace certain apks, (this is usually stated in the themers OP) so at times you are most likely going to have a merge of themes, sometimes you will notice it sometimes you wont.
for example, you load a new rom which has apks 1-20. Now you load a theme that has apks 1-6. next you decide to load theme 2 that has apks 1-4. then you load theme 3 with apks 1-2. so even though your main theme is is theme 3, you still have parts of 1 and 2.
2. I would avoid a factory reset, just keep a backup and a copy of the rom your on. And if need be boot to recovery and restore one of those.
3. Yes you would need to revert back to bone stock, best done with an sbf. Google it, that subject is beaten to death.
your using the term system app wrong.
1-2. if the apps were loaded and pushed to system/app they usually wont update. the apks should be in data/app.
when you did the mount/uninstall/install this loaded the apk to the proper data/app location.
4. again wrong terminology. consider system app an app that is either neccesary for phone to run or an apk that MUST be in system/app
5. google "remove droid x bloatware"
6. would take way to long to fully explain that. newest can be found on rom manager or TBH.
7. personal preference, plus less &%$# running in the background.
8. no centralized site, you can find different stuff on different sites. mydroidworld, droid-life, droidforums, droidxforums, etc.
thanks for your answers, but when i ls /system/app i see a lot of useless junk that I am pretty sure aren't required for the system...
the theme gave me mototorch to /system not /data
Here's the BIG question. Did you make your own nandroid back-up before you started this whole process? In other words- did you go into bootstrap recovery and create a back up of your phone first? and then do all this other stuff? Bc that is the easiest and number one way to return your phone to its factory settings. In fact- at this point it may be the only way. With 2.1 we had an SBF file which was essentially the original "rom image" (i come from windows mobile so forgive me). So if you were tinkering around or flashing roms and something happened - you could restore using the SBF to the factory state.
On 2.2 there is no complete SBF. Team Black Hat released a partial SBF they are calling a "system SBF" that can help people that have fubared their phone installing themes and what not. But i don't think it returns the phone to factory settings- I could be wrong since I am a complete newb to android.
So to make a long story even longer- that is why I asked if your remembered to make your own nandroid back up of your phone b4 you did all this stuff- so you have a way to return your phone to its original factory state. If you did not- then don't let it bother you. I have read many posts from seasoned android users that simply got excited and forgot to do it. Eventually - the SBF has to be leaked and we all can sleep a little easier.
I didn't make a nandroid backup. Thanks for letting me know about this, now I know not to try to revert until a true sbf comes out, you might have just saved me from bricking. I guess if an OTA comes out, and we still don't have an SBF, I'll just have to wait for a customized version of that OTA to be released.
Turns out the full SBF was released yesterday by the way:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=807903
DroidXChat said:
I didn't make a nandroid backup. Thanks for letting me know about this, now I know not to try to revert until a true sbf comes out, you might have just saved me from bricking. I guess if an OTA comes out, and we still don't have an SBF, I'll just have to wait for a customized version of that OTA to be released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DroidXChat said:
Turns out the full SBF was released yesterday by the way:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=807903
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes- this is confirmed lagitamate. So you are good to go. You can now restore to factory by downloading this sbf and using RSDlite (RSDLight? - can't remember).
So- didn't have to wait to long
OK, so I finally got the system update for the D2G yesterday. I'm not new to this whole game, so I removed Clockworkmod, unrooted, and installed the update. The update downloads fine, but the with the little Android guy screen, I get an "!" in a triangle and then the phone reboots.
Maybe I didn't remove clockwork all the way? Don't you delete hijack and logwrapper, and then rename the logwrapper.bin to logwrapper?
well basiclly the phone needs to be untouch in terms of the file structure, in my case, I deleted a few of the stock apk files and when I tried to do the update it would fail because the stock apps were missing and the update is a patch not a full system OS so it cant install the default apps, I had to install them back to the system/app with root explorer and then set the permissions back to what they needed to be, unforchenitly a hard reset would not install the stock apps. Also make sure anything that the root touched has been set back to default
I have the same problem too. I can't get the update to work at all after installing Fission ROM. I even restored from a nandroid from a fresh D2G. It worked fine on the untouched phone tho. I checked all the files in the /system/app and they were there. Is there any magical restore .zip perhaps?
If anyone is looking for the update: http://dump.no/files/2501381a2bd4/Blur_Version.2.4.29.A956.Verizon.en.US.zip MD5: a493e4efc9d27c8932d604806f817a85
evilp8ntballer7 said:
well basiclly the phone needs to be untouch in terms of the file structure, in my case, I deleted a few of the stock apk files and when I tried to do the update it would fail because the stock apps were missing and the update is a patch not a full system OS so it cant install the default apps, I had to install them back to the system/app with root explorer and then set the permissions back to what they needed to be, unforchenitly a hard reset would not install the stock apps. Also make sure anything that the root touched has been set back to default
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never touched anything... I stopped using Titanium Backup a long time ago when I uninstalled everything verizon and had the same OTA problem you described. I am at a loss for the problem that I have! All I ever did was root and put on clockwork, and I made sure they were gone when I updated.
Please, someone help!
did you uninstall of freeze any of the stock apps in /system/app? You need to restore them in order to successfully apply the OTA update. One file missing or modified in /system and checksums will fail/update fails.
leobg said:
did you uninstall of freeze any of the stock apps in /system/app? You need to restore them in order to successfully apply the OTA update. One file missing or modified in /system and checksums will fail/update fails.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the only time I touched anything in /system was when I removed clockwork by deleting hijack and renaming logwrapper.bin. Can anyone give me a number of files I'm supposed to have in /system, or maybe a way to go back to stock. Man, that SBF would be mighty helpful right now...
There is system dump laying around. I'll PM you the link (not sure if appropriate to post it here). You can use it to compare content and recover missing file(s).
leobg said:
There is system dump laying around. I'll PM you the link (not sure if appropriate to post it here). You can use it to compare content and recover missing file(s).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I've been trying to find an answer, and I think you could help me.
I had the same problem as this person you were helping, but I already knew that I should look through the system dump and compare. I did that, and deleted one file called dbus.conf from /system/ect. Now, my phone just does the DROID animation over and over again! Please help, I made a copy of dbus.conf on my computer and did a nandroid backup. Please, you or someone else on here, HELP!
So you are in a boot loop. If you can't get the phone to boot into clockwork recovery, today is your lucky day! SBF was finally released!!! Get the SBF and reflash /system
leobg said:
So you are in a boot loop. If you can't get the phone to boot into clockwork recovery, today is your lucky day! SBF was finally released!!! Get the SBF and reflash /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is it? Isn't it only available to those with some app called TBH (or something like that)? And now I have to wait for a public release? And, if I'm wrong, can you give me a link to thee file? I can't find it anywhere...
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!
I would recommend you to approach the team black hat members and talk to them directly about how to get the sbf while your phone is non functional.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL
But where is the system update located? I checked on the verizon website and there is nothing there. Also, do you have to be a verizon customer to get the update?
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA App
i pretty much understand what rooting is, basically giving yourself admin privileges on the phone. however, i was wondering, if after rooting, does everything else stay stock and will i still get the OTA updates. the reason i'm asking is because i want to install the honeycomb music player on my stock nexus s and i believe i need to root it to do so. if i do the install, i should still get the OTA right?
Yes you will still get the ota.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Root by itself won't stop you from getting the OTA, but if you mod your system with anything that changes the stock files in /system/app and a few other /system/ subfolders, or the kernel/boot.img file, the OTA will fail since the crc checks in the update script will abort the install once any of those files are checked.
Depending on how you install the honeycomb music player, that alone could be a reason for the update to abort. If it's pushed to your /system/app folder as a replacement (with the same name) as the stock player, the update will abort.
I ve removed some system apps like twitter n flickr. Can i update my device to the version v55.13.25 from the previous firmware without any issues ???
How did you remove the apps? Its better to freeze them and defrost before an official update. If it were me and I'd removed the apps completely and I liked where my phone was at and I didn't wanna flash the fxz I'd find those apps and re-install them. If you go that route make sure your permissions are correct when you place the apps back into the system folder.
The End.
Okay I've zipped the twitter and Flickr files and uploaded to my drop box if you want them. They're stock odex files. The two files for each app (.apk and. odex) are in folders. So after extracting their folders you can place the files in /system/app folder and change permissions once there. Let me know if you want the links to the downloads.
The End.
I just noticeD you're from India. You might want files from the India ROM yes? Are you on stock odex or a custom ROM?
The End.
KEB64 said:
How did you remove the apps? Its better to freeze them and defrost before an official update. If it were me and I'd removed the apps completely and I liked where my phone was at and I didn't wanna flash the fxz I'd find those apps and re-install them. If you go that route make sure your permissions are correct when you place the apps back into the system folder.
The End.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removed them through system app remover.Will a hard reset restore those apps?Its an ATT model with their firmware not the Indian one..
Oh I see. I don't know what I was thinking. You can do a factory reset to get those back. You will loose all of your data in the process so backup your data and only format your SD card if you have that all stuff backed up to a PC.
The End.
Wait. What's "system app remover"? Is that an app? I'm confused. I've done so much to this phone with swapping ROMs and moving system files around via Root Browser that I'm not even clear about your issue.
FWIW I've recently come full circle and currently use the stock 2.3.6 odexed ROM. I use Twitter and Flickr too. Sorry. I think I've confused myself here ha-ha. Somebody please address the OP. lol.
The End.
KEB64 said:
Wait. What's "system app remover"? Is that an app? I'm confused. I've done so much to this phone with swapping ROMs and moving system files around via Root Browser that I'm not even clear about your issue.
FWIW I've recently come full circle and currently use the stock 2.3.6 odexed ROM. I use Twitter and Flickr too. Sorry. I think I've confused myself here ha-ha. Somebody please address the OP. lol.
The End.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! it`s an app...To be clear i uninstalled those apps after rooting my A2 with the "system app remover" . Will the OTA update work even though the
i`ve removed those apps beacause the update might be for those apps as well and will i lose root if updated to the new firmware
NO, do not try the update if you have deleted any system .apk's.
This is probably the easiest way to do it:
1) Install CWM through the bootstrapper if you haven't done so yet.
2) Boot into CWM and make a backup
3) Flash the fxz (scroll down a bit)
4) Once the phone boots up, log in to your google account and do whatever else you need to do. DO NOT uninstall any applications (even if they're uninstallable) and DO NOT root.
5) Go to Settings -> About Phone -> Software update. Make sure you're connected to wifi and install the update!
6) Once your phone has updated, re-root it, install CWM, and restore the backup you made.
Hope this helps, good luck!
Yup. What cogeary said. How embarrassing. Its just been one of those days where I should just keep my mouth shut. Not in a bad way. It IS my birthday, and the moon is closer to the Earth than it will be for a good while. Ha-ha. Seriously, cogeary knows his stuff.
The End.
I'm planning on joining the soak test (I have the invite and survey already done) and it was recommended that I reset my phone before the test sense I have it rooted.
This essentially gives me 3 options
As-Is, leave the root, busybox, and my mods on the phone (apn changes and some build.prop changes but not those that mis-identify the phone, nothing major) and hope for the best.
Unroot, uninstall root needed apps like busybox and update
Factory Reset, Recommended by Motorola but it'd take some time to rebuild the settings how I like them
Which option?
Thanks!
SaratogaCx said:
I'm planning on joining the soak test (I have the invite and survey already done) and it was recommended that I reset my phone before the test sense I have it rooted.
This essentially gives me 3 options
As-Is, leave the root, busybox, and my mods on the phone (apn changes and some build.prop changes but not those that mis-identify the phone, nothing major) and hope for the best.
Unroot, uninstall root needed apps like busybox and update
Factory Reset, Recommended by Motorola but it'd take some time to rebuild the settings how I like them
Which option?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The update will check build.prop for a sha1sum of "9ff9faedeb74bd02b3fe6a912e758f55d1437538", along with 615 more files (I am saying based on previous leak, the count may change). So if you touched build.prop or default.prop the OTA will refuse to proceed. It doesn't matter if you leave it rooted, at least leak didn't check for existence of su. But it recursively reset permission of /system so you'll lose root. If you hand edited build.prop I doubt if factory reset will help you restore. Maybe you want to return to full stock to guarantee that OTA update will work.
kousik said:
The update will check build.prop for a sha1sum of "9ff9faedeb74bd02b3fe6a912e758f55d1437538", along with 615 more files (I am saying based on previous leak, the count may change). So if you touched build.prop or default.prop the OTA will refuse to proceed. It doesn't matter if you leave it rooted, at least leak didn't check for existence of su. But it recursively reset permission of /system so you'll lose root. If you hand edited build.prop I doubt if factory reset will help you restore. Maybe you want to return to full stock to guarantee that OTA update will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the kind of information I was looking for. Thanks!
Now for the dumb question.. can I do that completely from within the phone?
Returning to full stock just from the phone, I think not possible, you need a computer to flash the firmware.
If you didn't touch any file except build.prop, then maybe you can download or email yourself a stock build.prop (attached, rename to build.prop), and then use root explorer or terminal emulator to overwrite the modified one.
kousik said:
Returning to full stock just from the phone, I think not possible, you need a computer to flash the firmware.
If you didn't touch any file except build.prop, then maybe you can download or email yourself a stock build.prop (attached, rename to build.prop), and then use root explorer or terminal emulator to overwrite the modified one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I restored the file. I'll hook back into the thread when the upgrade comes down and report how it goes.
Also, if you installed the Atrix 2 Bootstrap to run Clockworkmod recovery you will need to restore the following files. You need to still be rooted in order to do this. I did it with Root Explorer.
1) Delete file /system/bin/logwrapper
2) Delete file /system/bin/hijack
3) Rename file /system/bin/logwrapper.bin to /system/bin/logwrapper
4) Delete directory /preinstall/recovery
Furthermore, if you installed it to be loaded every time you boot you also need to restore the following file.
1) Delete file /system/bin/mot_boot_mode
2) Rename file /system/bin/mot_boot_mode.bin to /system/bin/mot_boot_mode
I didn't do anything with Clockworkmod but I was able to find another version of the build.prop file I had that was the original that was on my phone.
The one that kousik gave me was the AsiaRetail.GB version. I attached my build.prop file which should be more suitable for AT&T phones (remove the .phone.txt).
jboxer said:
Also, if you installed the Atrix 2 Bootstrap to run Clockworkmod recovery you will need to restore the following files. You need to still be rooted in order to do this. I did it with Root Explorer.
1) Delete file /system/bin/logwrapper
2) Delete file /system/bin/hijack
3) Rename file /system/bin/logwrapper.bin to /system/bin/logwrapper
4) Delete directory /preinstall/recovery
Furthermore, if you installed it to be loaded every time you boot you also need to restore the following file.
1) Delete file /system/bin/mot_boot_mode
2) Rename file /system/bin/mot_boot_mode.bin to /system/bin/mot_boot_mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying the above has to be done if using fxz with RDS Lite to get back to 2.3.5 stock?
Another question...I did go back to stock 2.3.5, but when I check for update to go OTA 2.3.6, it tells me that check for updates is disabled.
How long after going back to 2.3.5 stock before it updates to 2.3.6?
troycarpenter said:
Are you saying the above has to be done if using fxz with RDS Lite to get back to 2.3.5 stock?
Another question...I did go back to stock 2.3.5, but when I check for update to go OTA 2.3.6, it tells me that check for updates is disabled.
How long after going back to 2.3.5 stock before it updates to 2.3.6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No if you flashed back to stock everything you did has been removed.
2. You should be able to download the OTA to 2.3.6 from 2.3.5 immediately, but often the production update servers are offline before a soak test or new OTA being released. I just checked my phone and for me the servers were online and told me no updates are available. I am on 2.3.6.
troycarpenter said:
Are you saying the above has to be done if using fxz with RDS Lite to get back to 2.3.5 stock?
Another question...I did go back to stock 2.3.5, but when I check for update to go OTA 2.3.6, it tells me that check for updates is disabled.
How long after going back to 2.3.5 stock before it updates to 2.3.6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you're on wifi to receive the 2.3.6 update. I don't think it works on data.
The phone finally took 2.3.6 earlier today. Quite a bit of time on 2.3.5 before it recognized the update.