Related
NOTE: This is a work in progress. While I have completed this guide myself SEVERAL times to ensure accuracy, It is possible that typos or errors in understanding exist. Please use at your own risk, and expect NOTHING from me. I will do my best to update this guide and improve the formatting as I find time. Feel free to leave feedback!
I cannot stress this enough: always have backups of any important information. While we may not be able to do full image-based backups until after root, you can still make sure we aren't deleting needed data. While yes, Google should hold your most important data and allow you to sync at any time, what would you do if Google went down? And I've even had trouble using the "Offline" function for some of the Apps. Therefore, Make a copy of everything on your SD card and read this excellent guide from Lifehacker about how to backup Google Apps data: Lifehacker
You will need an SD card. I recommend AT LEAST an 8GB Class 4. Most actually recommend a Class 6 for use with apps2sd, but I just wanted to let you know that it would still work with a Class 4. For those unaware, apps2sd allows you to save internal phone memory by placing after-market applications onto your SD card. Most users notice a speed benefit from this.
If you would like to purchase a Class 6 SD card, you can get a one here with three sizes available (4GB, 8GB, 16GB):
A-DATA MicroSDHC Class 6 Turbo With SD Adapter
To ensure the best possible load, perform a factory reset, and WIPE your SD card!
Code:
Menu > Settings > Security > Factory data reset > Reset phone > Erase everything
TRUE FACTORY RESET (UN-ROOT)
If you, like me, have already rooted and are trying to perform this process over again, you will unfortunately have to download the original ROM and flash it in Windows.
Download: RUU_Hero_C_Sprint_1.29.651.1_signed_release.exe
Run in Windows (I used XP through VMWare Fusion), and this will return the phone to the TRULY factory loaded state. Any other Factory data reset will simply reload the last ROM image saved, which, if you rooted and loaded MoDaCo, would be MoDaCo. I am encouraging you to follow this process to avoid any problems that may exist while the phone is rooted or loaded with the unofficial ROM. And even if you perform this process as a first-time rooter, it certainly wont hurt!
ROOT HERO [MAC]
(This is the process that allows modifications to occur on your phone):
The guide I follow and can verify is this:
Rooting CDMA Hero [Mac]
I do not use Windows as a primary platform, so I would recommend following this guide if you are on Windows:
How to root the CDMA Hero (DETAILED Windows guide)
You should be able to return to this guide after you have successfully completed the root process on Windows. Continue from the section "NANDROID BACKUP" below.
Per the purpose of this guide, I will detail my exact steps from the "Rooting CDMA Hero [Mac]" post. Thanks ajones7279!
Plug in your phone
Download Android SDK: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Unpack, Rename the extracted folder to "AndroidSDK" (This is case sensitive!), and Move it to "Applications" (I consider the Android SDK a set of applications.)
Open TextEdit, Click Format>Make Plain Text, then copy and paste the following:
Code:
export PATH=${PATH}:/Applications/AndroidSDK/tools
Save as: ".bash_profile"
On Phone: Go to Settings > Applications > Development>USB Debugging and make sure the option is checked.
On your Mac: Download asroot2: http://zenthought.org/tmp/asroot2
Save this file into: /Applications/AndroidSDK/tools
Open Terminal and run the following commands (You can copy and paste):
Code:
cd /Applications/AndroidSDK/tools
adb push asroot 2 /data/local
adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/asroot2
adb shell
/data/local/asroot2 /system/bin/sh
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cd /system/bin
cat sh > su
chmod 4775 su
exit
exit
At this point, the phone has root access.
Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/303797523/recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img
Save this file into: /Applications/AndroidSDK/tools
Go back to your terminal and type:
Code:
adb push recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img /sdcard/
adb shell
su
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img
exit
exit
adb shell reboot recovery
Now, the phone will reboot into recovery mode. To preserve our freshly rooted state, we will make a Nandroid backup.
NANDROID BACKUP
*NOTE: These steps assume that you have already entered Recovery Mode on the phone through Terminal "adb shell reboot recovery" or the "Quick Boot" app.*
On phone: Using the trackball, scroll down and select "Nandroid v2.2 backup". This will create a backup of the phone in its freshly rooted state to your SD card, under the nandroid directory.
After it completes the backup, we want to make sure that we have the backup "backed up" by copying it to our Mac (Just in case anything happens to the SD card!).
Select "USB Mass storage on"
After your SD Card appears, copy the contents of the "nandroid" folder to anywhere you wish on your Mac (You are using Time Machine right?)
Once the copy is complete, eject the sdcard in mac and select "USB Mass storage off" on the phone.
NOTE: Nandroid does not backup the contents of your SD card. If you don't want to lose what's on your SD card, MAKE A BACKUP COPY!
From this point forward, if you do something that seems to really mess with the phones functionality, you can simply go back to your Nandroid backup!
RESTORE NANDROID BACKUPS
Select "Nandroid v2.2 restore" *THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE*
Your phone will be returned to the condition it was in as of the last Nandroid backup. You can control which backup is restored by deleting the unwanted, time-stamped folders within the "nandroid" directory on your SD card. If you leave only one time-stamped backup folder, that is the backup that will be restored.
Note that this will leave the custom Recovery ROM we loaded (recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img) in place.
I actually perform a Restore after every Backup. While this takes extra time, you know your Backup is intact and not corrupted in any way!
If you are looking for a complete factory reset, you will need to scroll up to "TRUE FACTORY RESET (UN-ROOT)"
PREPARE SD CARD FOR APPS2SD (A2SD)
For those unaware, apps2sd allows you to save internal phone memory by placing after-market applications onto your SD card. Most users notice a speed benefit from this.
Select "Wipe SD: fat32+ext2+swap" *THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR SDCARD*
Select "USB Mass storage on"
The mounted drive should now be empty. Double-check that it was partitioned correctly by opening Disk Utility and verifying 3 partitions on the sdcard: NONAME, disk1s2, and disk1s3. Close Disk Utility.
LOAD Unofficial MoDaCo 1.2c Core ROM
Forum Post: Unofficial MoDaCo 1.2
Download: Unofficial MoDaCo 1.2c Core
Save this file into: your SD card. (the root of your SD card, probably named "NONAME" if you didn't change it. You can change it to whatever you want though.)
Save the file as: "update.zip" (Or rename it)
Eject your sdcard and Select "USB Mass storage off"
Select "Apply sdcard:update.zip"
Select "Reboot system now"
If it successfully loaded, you now have a fresh load of the Unofficial MoDaCo 1.2c ROM! Congrats!
I would recommend that you create another Nandroid backup. Scroll back up to "NANDROID BACKUP" and follow the steps over again and come back to this point.
Now you are ready for the workarounds!
Guide: Workaround Issues (Unofficial MoDaCo 1.2c)
Why'd you make another guide?
nice guide man, no need to respond why you made another guide, the more the merry, nicely detailed as well
Shhhhhh.
I was just curious because there are like six...
I made another guide because while many of the forum posts acomplish bits and pieces, my guide provides the overall picture. Root, ROM, and Backup. And my upcoming "Workarond Issues" guide will collect scattered information in a similar fashion.
I find it ironic that I thanked you for your contribution and you find this guide excessive. Would you prefer that I removed the guide?
No not at all. Yours is nice and concise. There's just a lot, that's all. That's why I said it would be nice if a moderator could have merged all the ones that were already written at the end of mine. Didn't mean any harm.
Ah, I see what you mean. To be honest, I am also making this guide for self reference. If most all of the information I need is together its easier to help myself as well as my friends and the community. Thanks again for all your contributions.
Just to raise awareness, Nandroid does NOT back up your apps if you are using AppsToSD as in MoDaCo. You must back up your apps separately.
True, thanks for the heads up. I'll work on a separate guide that details how to backup your other apps. I believe that anything after-market can be backed up and restored through ASTRO though, and this is much easier for most than adb and Terminal commands (push/pull).
The whole 1.56.651.2 Firmware update is also making me wait to post any further guides, as some of my worksarounds may prove useless. It looks like we still have the Apps Renaming and Reverting issue though, and I didn't see the Sprint admin adress such issues specfically.
?
ok i did the update to the hero. and now found out about rooting(im new to all this) do i run that program you put in the beginning with windows? and then does that rom resolve the issue with battery with sms and other things the OTA update fixed? or should i get another rom or .img idk what to call it really and what does RUU stand for?
Alright,
A couple things to add to this guide, for the complete noob, as I can try to explain it a little more clear.
This should be done prior to doing anything within the guide.
First, connect your phone to your computer and mount your sd card. This can be done by connecting the usb cable, then on your phone, drop down the menu and chose, connect to p.c., Mount SD card. Make a folder and backup your entire sd card to this folder. Once done, delete everything off the card. if you don't, you will run into format and partitions errors later in the guide.
Eject the sd card on the computer, and end usb sharing on the phone. remove the USB cable from the computer.
Next, on the phone Go to Settings > Applications > Development>USB Debugging
Make sure that USB debugging is NOT CHECKED. If its checked later in the guide you will run into errors pushing the files onto the phone.
At this point you can start the guide from the beginning, under the main heading Root Hero [MAC]
I am running OSX 10.6.2 so i ran into a couple of issues.
Next. Under the part where you have to create the .bash file. This file should be saved in your user folder.
/Users/USERNAME where USERNAME is the name of your user account.
For instance my User account is Hamspiced so my user folder is:
/Users/Hamspiced/
when saving the file, uncheck "if no extension is provided, use .txt".
Next, I couldn't copy paste the code because it wasn't parsed properly. This is what i had to do.
And this should be a direct copy paste into terminal. If you don't know how to access terminal click the spyglass in the upper right hand of the screen, and type in terminal. then you should be able to directly copy paste this text.
Code:
cd /Applications/AndroidSDK/tools
./adb push asroot2 /data/local
./adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/asroot2
./adb shell
/data/local/asroot2 /system/bin/sh
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cd /system/bin
cat sh > su
chmod 4775 su
exit
exit
As stated you should have root access on the phone. you can verify this by downloading Terminal emulator from the Market, then running the app. Once inside the app if you hold Menu, you should bring up the onscreen keyboard. if you type in "su" (stands for super user) it will change the prompt from $ to #. If yours does not change, start over, something went wrong. If it did change then you can proceed to the next part of this guide.
Next the guide is trying to put the recovery Image to your phone. This doesnt restore your phone, it just puts the recovery portion to it, and it allows you to do all the cool things to your phone, like allow you to create backups, restore backups, and load customs roms.
again i ran into issues with parsing the correct format so these are copy pastes from terminal.
Code:
./adb push recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img /sdcard/
./adb shell
su
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-heroc-v1.2.3.img
exit
exit
adb shell reboot recovery
If you get an access denied error pushing the recovery image, its because you had debugging turned on prior to connecting your phone to the computer. it must be off, then turned on once the phone is connected.
This will result in headaches, and endless google searching with no results.
Follow the rest of the guide regarding the Nandroid backup this backs up the entire phone settings. you want to save the raw phone backup as well as the backup after you load the rom. both are incredibly important!
Prepare SD Card for Apps2sd….
If when you checked Disk Utility and your SD card didnt partition properly follow these steps.
You must erase everything on your sd card for these steps to work. I ran into errors creating the partition. What i had to do was in the recovery mode chose factory recovery. when the phone restarted i had to go to Settings>Security>Factory Data Reset.
This restored EVERYTHING. THe phone, Sd Card, Etc. Everything was lost, however since in the begining, we made a backup of the SD card, and then we made a backup of our phone, we are fine.
Restart the phone in recovery mode once this finishes and restarts. (Hold Home and Power to turn on)
Next chose Part SD: fat32+ext2+swap this will partition the card properly. Then choose restart phone.
Once the phone restarts, we have to go through the normal steps that we did once we first received the phone for its first bootup. connect it to the computer, transfer over the Nandroid backup that should be saved from the first time you saved it on your phone. then restart the phone again in recovery mode.
Now you need to restore the nandroid backup. since you transferred it over, its the only nandroid backup there is, it will restore the phones origional settings. from here you can load the official MoDaCO rom fine on the SD card that is now formatted properly.
These are about all the issues and resolutions i ran into. Hopefully it helps someone else.
Guess it's subjective. I think I haven't turned off USB Debugging since shortly after I got the phone and didn't run into any problems. It's always on before I plug it in and I haven't ran into any errors while pushing a file to my sd card. Also didn't erase my sd card before I formatted (did back it up though of course) and everything went smooth. Dunno. It's always good to hear from diff people though. Also just edited my thread, thanks for the heads up.
need help rooting htc hero from sprint
i have 1.5 firmware bb version is 1.04.01.09.21 kernel version 2.6.27-533ce29dhtc [email protected] build number1.56.651.2 cl85027software 1.56 cant get root on this device can someone please help me
quis5550 said:
i have 1.5 firmware bb version is 1.04.01.09.21 kernel version 2.6.27-533ce29dhtc [email protected] build number1.56.651.2 cl85027software 1.56 cant get root on this device can someone please help me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581686&highlight=root+mac
First, excellent guide! Personally, I used Universal Androot (snipurl.com/uaroot) to root my Hero, but this was a huge help in getting the SDK installed!
I'm running into a problem while trying to do the Nandroid backup. When I try to flash the recovery image, I get the following error message....
AJBlue98$ ./adb shell
$ cd /sdcard/
$ su
# flash_image recovery recovery-RA-herocv1.6.2.img
flash_image: not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even try the command with the leading "./" and I get essentially the same thing...
# ./flash_image recovery recovery-RA-herocv1.6.2.img
./flash_image: not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running the latest official Sprint 2.1 ROM on my Hero and Terminal on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4 on a late-2009, 17 in. MacBook Pro. Oh, and I installed the Android SDK into another directory (had it installed before I found this tutorial), so here's my $PATH...
-bash: type: /opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/Users/AJBlue98/soylatte/bin:/Users/AJBlue98/android-sdk-mac_86:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin:/usr/X11/bin: not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am I missing something? I'll really appreciate the help!
—Adam
ajblue98 said:
First, excellent guide! Personally, I used Universal Androot (snipurl.com/uaroot) to root my Hero, but this was a huge help in getting the SDK installed!
I'm running into a problem while trying to do the Nandroid backup. When I try to flash the recovery image, I get the following error message....
I even try the command with the leading "./" and I get essentially the same thing...
I'm running the latest official Sprint 2.1 ROM on my Hero and Terminal on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.4 on a late-2009, 17 in. MacBook Pro. Oh, and I installed the Android SDK into another directory (had it installed before I found this tutorial), so here's my $PATH...
Am I missing something? I'll really appreciate the help!
—Adam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, you're missing the "flash_image" binary on your phone lol search xda for it and push it to /system/bin, then try the command again.
regaw_leinad said:
yeah, you're missing the "flash_image" binary on your phone lol search xda for it and push it to /system/bin, then try the command again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, regaw_leinad, for the lead! I found a copy of the flash_image file and copied it to my Android SDK folder, but when I try to push it to my phone, I get this:
AJBlue98$ ./adb push flash_image /system/bin
failed to copy 'flash_image' to '/system/bin/flash_image': Permission denied
failed to copy 'flash_image' to '/system/bin/flash_image': Read-only file system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(I rebooted the phone and tried again after my original post. The error message changed. BTW I'm connected via USB with debugging turned on and "Charge only" selected as my connection type.)
I've tried running adb as root, but I get this:
AJBlue98$ ./adb root
adbd cannot run as root in production builds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, any help will be greatly appreciated!
—AJBlue98
ajblue98 said:
Thanks, regaw_leinad, for the lead! I found a copy of the flash_image file and copied it to my Android SDK folder, but when I try to push it to my phone, I get this:
(I rebooted the phone and tried again after my original post. The error message changed. BTW I'm connected via USB with debugging turned on and "Charge only" selected as my connection type.)
I've tried running adb as root, but I get this:
Again, any help will be greatly appreciated!
—AJBlue98
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok type
adb shell
then
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
to mount it as r/w
then try the flash image command again.
Adb root or adb remount won't work, because your boot.img isn't patched yet.
regaw_leinad said:
ok type
adb shell
then
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
to mount it as r/w
then try the flash image command again.
Adb root or adb remount won't work, because your boot.img isn't patched yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I did that. I'm still charge-only and debugging turned on, and here's what happened.
(N.B.: I'm on a Mac, so I have to include "./" before running an application in the current directory. Also, I'm including "AJBlue98" in front of my "$" prompts to differentiate my Mac's local prompts from the adb shell prompts.)
AJBlue98$ ./adb shell
$ mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
mount: Operation not permitted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I tried these few things...
$ su
# mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
# cd /sdcard/
# mv flash_image /system/bin
failed on 'flash_image' - Cross-device link
# exit
$ exit
AJBlue98$ ./adb shell su mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
Permission denied
AJBlue98$ ./adb push flash_image /system/bin
failed to copy 'flash_image' to '/system/bin/flash_image': Permission denied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I'm completely flummoxed. As always, please help and thanks in advance!
Update: I got frisky, so I tried this, just for the heck of it...
AJBlue98$ ./adb shell
$ su
# cd /sdcard
# ./flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-heroc_v1.2.3.img
./flash_image: permission denied
# chmod 755 ./flash_image
# ./flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-heroc_v1.2.3.img
./flash_image: permission denied
# su ./flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-heroc_v1.2.3.img
Permission denied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update 2:
I got some help at irc.twit.tv from a good soul in the #twitlive channel, who pointed me to ROM Manager (downloadable from the Market). That just did the whole backup, hey-presto, no flash_image BS required.
Thanks for the help anyway, all!
ajblue98 said:
Okay, I did that. I'm still charge-only and debugging turned on, and here's what happened.
(N.B.: I'm on a Mac, so I have to include "./" before running an application in the current directory. Also, I'm including "AJBlue98" in front of my "$" prompts to differentiate my Mac's local prompts from the adb shell prompts.)
So I tried these few things...
Now I'm completely flummoxed. As always, please help and thanks in advance!
Update: I got frisky, so I tried this, just for the heck of it...
Update 2:
I got some help at irc.twit.tv from a good soul in the #twitlive channel, who pointed me to ROM Manager (downloadable from the Market). That just did the whole backup, hey-presto, no flash_image BS required.
Thanks for the help anyway, all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sweet, glad you got it worked out
there were a few errors in what you did above, but looks like you got everything working without it, so that's good
Hi, i just rooted my hero yesterday.
I have some small capacities on linux, and i wnated to know if there is ( and where it is ) an equivalent to the /etc/init.d and different rc.x.d config. file for the process launched at boot. I wouldl ike to edit or delete some programs launching at startup which i don't need really to launch at startup Is it possible and simple ?
Ciao
Fred
Edit : stupid question... there is no vi on the system so no way to edit the file ..
I am even new than you to android rooting (just rooted my Sprint Hero 2.1 today!).
I loaded Fresh ROM 2.1.2 on my Hero today and there's an app called "ES File Explorer". It allows me to browse the unix-like filesystem, right to the directory you mentioned above.
I can click on the files and open them as Text, Executable, etc. Opening as Text even gives me two different text editors.
Unfortuantly, the file(s) you talk about are for readonly. You have to be logged in as a Superuser to edit them (as I found out today). The easiest way I found is to do it via a command-line prompt.
When you "root" your android phone, that means you are able to login remotely as another user. Such as the "superuser" account from the Android SDK. On Windows, after you have rooted your phone, you can do:
Code:
C:\android\tools\> adb remount
C:\android\tools\> adb shell
#
When you see that "#" prompt, you are now logged into your phone running the default shell (not sure which shell it is). So, now you can copy/open that file:
Code:
# cd \
# type init.rc | more
Of course u can't do squat from here. So, you have two options:
1) Change the permissions to allow you to modify it from the Android device itself (possible security issue if u download a broken app that wants to modify your phone).
Code:
# chmod 755 init.rc
Now you are able to modify the file locally, right on your device. No PC needed any longer. But again, it's a possible seucrity issue.
2) just pull the file from your device to your desktop pc, edit it, and push it back. Exit out of the # shell by typing "exit" and pressing enter. At the C prompt, pull the file:
Code:
C:\android\tools\> adb pull /init.rc C:\init.rc
That pulls the file from your android device and places it at C:\init.rc. You can obmit the C:\ part, which would place the file in your android Tools folder u are running adb from (mine is getting messy though).
Once you edit it to your liking, push it back to your device:
Code:
C:\android\tools\> adb push C:\init.rc /init.rc
And that's it.
most custom roms contain nano, which is also a possible way to edit files.
I updated my post to reflect actual directions on how to modify a system file like that.
DISCLAIMER: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU BRICK / RUIN YOUR PHONE IN ANY WAY.
Hi Everyone,
I have some good news for the owners of Samsung Galaxy 5 (i5500) Smartphones.
Doing some research on Google and reading about efforts from other people who could install applications on SD card on other android phones, I was able to develop a method to install application into SD card for the Galaxy 5. Better yet, you won't even need a custom Rom.
Before I get into the specifcs let me state that the following steps are manual and no application is provided to automate the process, so advanced computer skill is required and some knowledge of unix/linux is a plus.
Here we go: PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING BEFORE YOU START. I MAY HAVE OMMITED SOME COMMANDS OUT OF LACK OF ATTENTION.
1) You'll need to root your phone. There is a lot of guides about this available, just google for it. I've used the SuperOneClick Root to do this.
2) Partition your sd card like this: 1 - FAT, 2 - Linux ext2. Again, there is a lot of guides about this on the net, just google again. I've used Paragon Partition Manager 2010 to lower the size of my FAT partition, leaving a 550MB unallocated space at the end of the card. Then I formatted this space as ext2 in linux, using ubuntu live CD. Most guides around there recommends that you keep this partition between 500~750MB, so I didn’t try with greater sizes. Also, i kept my partition 1 as FAT 16, but FAT 32 might actually work too, try that if you want and post me a reply.
3) Download Titanium Backup (or another app backup tool) from market and backup your applications. You may need to restore your applications to correct some permission problems that may occur after completing this guide.
4) Install busybox. BusyBox is a software application that provides many standard Unix tools, which are not available on stock android. You can get a copy of busybox by clicking on “problems?” button on Titanium Backup main window. It will get installed on /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/files.
5) If you still don’t have Android SDK installed on your PC, download and install it from Google. You’ll need ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which is included in the SDK, to proceed. Now open a shell connection with your device by typing:
Code:
adb shell
Just keep in mind that you MUST be logged as root. Root command prompt is recognized by the # character. If you don’t have root type the ‘su’ command. If even with ‘su’ you couldn’t get root, please review step 1.
6) Create ‘sd’ folder int /system:
Code:
cd /system
mkdir sd
7) Mount ext2 partition into /system/sd
Code:
mount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
8) Create a folder to store the applications into ext2 partition:
Code:
cd /system/sd
mkdir app
9) Copy busybox to /system/bin
Code:
cat /data/data/com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup/files/busybox > /system/bin/busybox
chmod 755 /system/bin/busybox
10) Copy your applications to ext2 partition:
Code:
busybox cp /data/app/* /system/sd/app/
11) Change permissions of copied applications:
Code:
cd /system/sd/app
chown system.system *
chmod 644 *
12) Now comes the tricky part: making Android mount your new partition at boot time. All the hard work would be useless if Android discarded the mount points every time we restarted our phones. To do this we’ll need to create 2 scripts and store then into /system/etc. Obviously the scripts should be started by init.rc and need to run as root. Fortunately Android’s init.rc have a gap that makes this possible. The scripts are named install-recovery.sh and init-sd2.sh.
install-recovery.sh content:
Code:
#!/system/bin/sh
/system/etc/init-sd2.sh&
init-sd2.sh content:
Code:
#!/system/bin/sh
MYLOG=/data/install-recovery.log
echo "$(date) Starting install-recovery.sh" > $MYLOG
echo "$(date) Waiting SD to become ready..." >> $MYLOG
sleep 10
mount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd 1>>$MYLOG 2>>$MYLOG
mount -o bind /system/sd/app /data/app 1>>$MYLOG 2>>$MYLOG
mount >> $MYLOG
echo "$(date) Finishing install-recovery.sh" >> $MYLOG
If you plan to edit this files on windows I recommend a tool that is capable of keeping UNIX file format, just like notepad++ free tool.
13) After placing the scripts, change their permissions:
Code:
cd /system/etc
chmod 555 install-recovery.sh
chmod 555 init-sd2.sh
14) Rename the default application folder. If everything works fine you can remove this later to save space:
Code:
cd /data
mv app app_old
mkdir app
chown system.system app
chmod 755 app
15) Restart your phone and cross your fingers
16) If you have problems with your widgets don’t worry. You just need to remove then from your homescreen and add again.
17) Check if your applications are running as they should. Restore backups you’ve made with Titanium Backup for the applications showing problems.
18) If your partition didn’t mount at boot, check log file at /data/install-recovery.log
19) From now on your new applications will be installed on your SD Card. You can modify the scripts to store other folders from /data into the ext2 partition as needed. I’ve been running my applications from SD Card for a week now without any problems or bugs.
20) If you can’t make it work, post your question here and I will try to help you out.
21) Donations are welcomed, just drop some money into my paypal account. Just kidding
Good luck and cya!
can this script use for moving /data/data to EXT2?
if can, from where i should start type the script?
i'm still newbie on this
so i'm alittle bit confused, i hope you can help me and sorry for my bad english
i'm already succes from step 1 to step 11
but i'm little confused at step 12
can you explain how to make the script?
should i make those 2 script via notepad++ and then copy it to /system/sd and then continue to step 13?
or should i just type everything on step 12 after step 11 in cmd prompt?
the problem is, if i make the script from notepad++ the android system will just discard my mount point when i restart my phone
and if i just type everything on the step 12 in comand prompt, when i'm type chmod 555 install-recovery.sh and chmod 555 init-sd2.sh like in the step 13, it always say that install-recovery.sh and init-sd2.sh file is not found?
so what should i do?
i'm stuck on step 12
step 12, type it on notepad++ and then you have to change the extension of the file with .sh, after that copied the 2 files to /system/etc
andikasuhendar said:
step 12, type it on notepad++ and then you have to change the extension of the file with .sh, after that copied the 2 files to /system/etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've already done that
but when i make the script via notepad ++, i'm already make the save type become .sh, so isn't it just the same?
but when i reboot the phone it's still not working
But how to copy this two script files to system/etc??? it's saying permision denied..
But how to copy this two script files to system/etc??? it's saying permision denied..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm use root explorer to move it to system/etc
The script can be moved but it still doesn't work at all :-(
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
And i can't move them even with root explorer.. i don't get what i'm doing wrong (
@agus
about the scripts, u can check with root explorer, try to view the script and make sure it was the exact same from the script above, coz i experience the same problem for the first time i try this. if u sure that the script are same then try to execute it using root explorer and then go to titanium backup and see if there is there is another storage (usually there is internal and SD card only).
@stasic
use the root explorer to copy the script to /system/etc, don't forget to change the root explorer option from R/O to R/W, this option should be on top of the page, just touch it to change from R/O to R/W.
andikasuhendar said:
@agus
about the scripts, u can check with root explorer, try to view the script and make sure it was the exact same from the script above, coz i experience the same problem for the first time i try this. if u sure that the script are same then try to execute it using root explorer and then go to titanium backup and see if there is there is another storage (usually there is internal and SD card only).
@stasic
use the root explorer to copy the script to /system/etc, don't forget to change the root explorer option from R/O to R/W, this option should be on top of the page, just touch it to change from R/O to R/W.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
veeeerrrryyyyyyyyy biiiiiiigggggggggggg thaaaaaaannnnnkkkkkssssss brrroooo
you was right, after i check the script via root explorer, the script was not the same, after i fix it, everything works like a charm
in a step 2... how to change linux ext2???
any software can change from FAT to ext2???
I've changed root explorer option to R/W and still no luck..
@agus
sama2 bro AKA ur welcome bro, have fun with the app2sd hehehe
@nima
search on google, how to format EXT2, if i correct u can use paragon partition for windows user, but if u use macintosh u can just go to disk utility and make partition with EXT2 format
@stasic
go to the /system/etc and see if it already R/W or still R/O
It's written that R/W but when I copy and paste still nothing happens..
thx guy.... i must try it
andikasuhendar said:
@stasic
go to the /system/etc and see if it already R/W or still R/O
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've rooted my g5 using superoneclick
but i still have R/O in /system/etc
when i tap R/O on the screen, i wont changed to R/W
what should i do?
maaf inggris nya acak2an
@siap
siapakahaku said:
i've rooted my g5 using superoneclick
but i still have R/O in /system/etc
when i tap R/O on the screen, i wont changed to R/W
what should i do?
maaf inggris nya acak2an
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your PC command prompt execute:
Code:
adb shell
Make sure you are loged in as root and in ADB SHELL try this:
Code:
mount -o rw,remount /dev/stl12 /system
Then execute:
Code:
mount
If your mount result has a line like the one bellow, with the rw set, you'll be able to copy the files.
Code:
/dev/stl12 /system rfs rw,vfat,llw,check=no,gid/uid/rwx,iocharset=utf8 0 0
@stasic
stas1c said:
It's written that R/W but when I copy and paste still nothing happens..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the same thing I posted above. I don't have Root Explorer installed here, so you should be able to finish this guide without it.
stuck in step 2
cant mkdir....
Hi, nice guide!
I succeded with this the first time I tried but now I have changed to a larger sd card and I can't get it to work.
The log file says that it failed to mount the mmcblk0p2 folder, and now when I check it doesn't even exist. What should I do?
Hope I can get help.. thankful for response. /Mattefacit
I've been trying for a couple of days now to try and modify the /system folder because I want to edit the host file and delete standard .apk's. However I just can't get it to work and I don't understand why.
I got a rooted 2.2 legend with modaco stock htc sense rom.
Things I tried:
Root explorer: For some reason I can't write files to the folder. It always says there is not enough free space while there is something like 6mb available. Also, deleting files doesn't actually seem to work. Root exploreres says the files are deleted but after a reboot they are there again!
Also root explorer makes my phone reboot.
ADB: Basically the same thing. Also I don't get adb to work when i'm in recovery mode (red traingle screen, I used to have clockwork but even after trying to reflash the clockwork recovery that just doesn't show up anymore and gone fubar out of the blue....) and want to enter the /system folder.
Terminal app: Same thing as above.
All 3 make my phone reboot.
What am I doing wrong?
I don't use the same phone as you, but I think that /system is usually mounted as read only (ro). Some file managers can mount /system as read/write (rw). Or I think you can chmod /system to 777 in your terminal as su with the command chmod 777 /system. Also I think CWM has an option to mount /system as rw, but I may be wrong. If you chmod, remember to set it back. You'll need to know shell commands and how to read permissions from an ls -a -l command and reset them. Hope this helps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Problem:
I've worked with every available distribution of Linux, trying to get the damn thing working on my phone. Troubleshooting the ***t out of it, and no deal. Constant errors/files not found etc. So, rather than post my logs and ask for help troubleshooting them (as I've obviously been unable to do), I thought I'd just ask:
Does anybody have a Linux build (besides android!) working on their phone that's running Gingerbread or ICS? If yes, can you post your software specs?
Here are mine currently:
Busybox- v1.19.3-Stericson in /system/xbin
Firmware Version- 2.3.5
Baseband Version- T959VUVKG6
Kernel- 2.6.35.7-T959VUVKI3-CL611444
Build Number- Gingerbread.VUVKI3
Mod Version- Octaine Team Acid
Thanks, this has been a pain in my **s for too long now!
S
I had both Fedora and Ubuntu working on Froyo at one point through lots of modifying and editing of the scripts.
What do you need them for anyway? I think it's more of a hassle to set them up than it's worth.
Well, I am working quite a bit now with linux for servers and such, and it's good to have a system (even minimal) that I can use/reference, plus it helps me get better at it.
Get this: I was so frustrated that I went back to BlackIce (keeping my gb bootloaders) and the damn thing loads right up, ubuntu 11.04, no problem. So, I then loaded up Valhalla's GB build and, sure enough, that works too. So, going with my luck I load octane 2.x GB which i've been digging of late and no deal, ubuntu just won't load.
Now, trying the same trick I cannot get it to work. It just won't load now when I SH it. Here's the instructions that worked before (and I've tried them all!):
http://www.nerd65536.com/2011/07/installing-ubuntu-in-android-version-2.html
Also, I hard bricked again (corrupted bootloaders from a Parallels Windows stallout) but did Adam's UnBrickable Mod and that's all better. Everybody needs to check it out, it's awesome:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1333424
So FBI, any idea why linux is so temperamental? Once it SH's properly, it always works.
(Thanks to all the developers for their great roms!)
Yeah I noticed that slight changes from different ROMs based on the same kernel base had that effect too. I'm thinking it had to do something with the busybox installations since I had to edit the script sometimes. For some reason on some installs running mount won't work unless you use it as busybox mount. It was very iffy like that. I haven't even tried it again because of how frustrating it is to get even a boot. The other thing is that if you try to do a shutdown from ubutu/fedora it doesn't even kill the processes all the way so the only way you can clear some ram up with with a reboot.
Yeah man, I was figuring Busybox myself. I've tried old installs, new installs, xbin only, bin only, xbin & bin, etc. It's so frustrating because I can't figure it out. When it was working it was great, pretty stable.
So the first problem always lists as:
Remounting /system rw...
Mount: no such file or directory
Usage: mount [-r] [-w] etc, etc
So does this tell us that the system is not mounted rw? I used the Mount/system r/w application, but I cannot verify it's doing it's job. Everything is rooted properly, CWM also.
In Terminal on the phone I ran:
"mount | grep system"
which gave me
"/dev/block/st19 on /system type ext4 (rw,relatime,barrier=0,data=writeback)"
which leads me to believe the system is r/w.
I'm converting the system back from ext4 using CWM Voodoo to disable Lagfix and system Lagfix to see if this has any effect. Will report.
No deal. Didn't do a damn thing. I'm going to crack this if it's the last thing I do....
I'm using Better Terminal Pro, Bash shell, and under command line in options it lists the Shell as: /system/bin/sh-
The sh install.sh also tells me:
"Mounting: Loopback mount
mknod: /dev/block/loop254: File exists"
Does this mean that all (255) of my loops are used? Do I need to remove programs?
The available loop device thing never got resolved. Nameless originally fixed it by making it use 254 so that there was a low chance of the loop device being available, but the phone's OS is very iffy about letting a new loop device get assigned to a system image file. Can't really help you out since I never got it to consistently mount with different roms.
Linux on SGS4G Working! Done and Done!
Figured it out.
I can get Ubuntu 11.04, 11.10 & Debian 6 to mount repeatedly in all sorts of ui updatable configurations using this information:
http://www.nerd65536.com/2011/07/installing-ubuntu-in-android-version-2.html
It's a friggin Christmas Miracle! Can't tell you how much time I've wasted working this out, and it all boils down to the sh and run scripts.
So, without further ado, here goes.
!!Make sure you're rooted!!
!!The quotes just tell you what to type. Don't type them!!
1.
Download one of the three builds on the website listed above (or build your own, it should work fine). Extract it from tar.bz2, they should all extract to a linux file, this includes the necessary scripts. Put it on the sd-card on your phone.
2.
Download the new scripts that (Nerd) listed found here: http://ohm.nerd65536.com/android-linux/scripts-latest.tar.bz2
And extract them. You'll have another file that says linux. Open it, take the three files inside (install.sh, root-scripts & scripts) and paste them in the linux folder you moved to your sd-card. They will overwrite the ones currently there. These scripts work for sgs4g, the originals did not.
3.
Install the latest BusyBox in xbin if it's not already installed (must be rooted). Latest is 1.19.3
4.
Download a terminal client, like Better Terminal Emulator or Android Terminal Emulator. I use the first. The terminal needs to run the commands as root, especially the linux vnc command as it didn't want to work for me no matter if I started by typing su. Better Terminal Emulator has a check box to always start in root.
5.
Open up your terminal emulator and type su if you are not rooted there. Then change directory to the linux file on the sd-card. run the sh file there.
Like this:
"su"
"cd /sdcard/linux"
"sh install.sh"
If it works, the resulting dialog in terminal won't throw up any problems.
6.
Get back to / on sd by typing in terminal:
"cd /"
You should then have a: / # prompt, which means you are still rooted.
Enter:
"linux"
Which should result in a: [email protected]:/#
This means Linux is running. Congratulations. It should continue to run unless you shut down your phone.
7.
Download a VNC client, like Android VNC Viewer (free) or Remote VNC Pro, which I use. Add a new entry in it, with the following settings:
Host: localhost
Port: 5901
Password: cheesecake
Color: 24-bit
Name: Linux
When that's done save if you can or back out if you can't, and go back to your terminal emulator.
8.
It should still say: [email protected]:/#
If it doesn't, fine, if it does, just go back to root prompt by typing:
"exit"
Which should get you: / #. Then type:
"linux vnc"
Which should run itself and mount the chroot environment. It should tell you your new 'X' desktop is localhost:1, and have a: / # prompt again.
It might also ask you for a password, if so then put whatever password you'll remember in that's longer than 6 characters and verify it. This only happens once.
9.
Go back to your VNC client and if you entered a password in step 8. then edit your listing to your password instead of cheesecake, if not then don't.
Click on the Linux link and BAM! (shameless Emerilism), you're at your Linux desktop which should be running a iceWM desktop interface, which is fast. The LXDE desktop is nicer and if you want that then go into you're terminal and get into the linux shell by typing:
"linux"
And then switch to LXDE by typing:
"apt-get autoremove icewm- lxde+"
Which will run through the removal/ installation, and verify you want to download the <400mb files. Type:
"y"
And give it time to finish. When finished, just go back to your VNC client and hit Linux again, and you will have a nice looking functional desktop, with a cpu load graph on the bottom. I tried using Gnome desktop and Unity 2d, but both of these would install and not fully run with all options. They are heavier and slower, but cool non-the-less. Let me know if anyone has luck with these on Android.
Notes-
You only have to type "linux vnc" once in terminal to start linux every time you boot your phone. Otherwise, just open your VNC client and click on Linux to use it. Easy!
You will want to update and upgrade your linux after install, do so by typing in terminal:
"apt-get update"
"apt-get upgrade"
Also, you might run across a problem if you try to add-apt-repository, that's because that python command is not present. To use it, enable by typing:
"apt-get install python-software-properties"
Also of note, the downloadable linux builds are sized to about 2.15gig on your sd, which is big enough for most. There is a way to resize them which I tried but it gave me trouble in loading. I will try again and see if I can get it to work.
Here's the link from Dangermouse:
http://www.androidfanatic.com/community-forums.html?func=view&catid=9&id=1610
Thanks to Nerd65536 for the info, write-up and files. He fixed my problem.
sconsylman said:
Also of note, the downloadable linux builds are sized to about 2.15gig on your sd, which is big enough for most. There is a way to resize them which I tried but it gave me trouble in loading. I will try again and see if I can get it to work.
Here's the link from Dangermouse:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome.
It's actually a lot easier than that to make the image larger. Just pop the SD card into a Linux machine and:
(Assuming the original file is: /media/phone/linux/linux.img)
Code:
resize2fs /media/phone/linux/linux.img 4095M
And you're done. resize2fs is made of magic!
Note: Most SD cards are FAT32, which has a filesize limit of 4GiB. The above instructions will make the file a megabyte less than that.
nerd65536:
Thanks! Worked like a charm. Had to e2fsck -f /media/SDCARD/linux/linux.img (phone plugged in to Mint) before i did it to check over the file system, but then it ran immediately. Much appreciated.
Have you had any luck on native boot? I've been working a little on this, as I can't run BackTrack arm well virtually, it gets buggy. Granted the telephony systems won't work during, but the functionality should be pretty good if we could run it standard.
Also, while I'm thinking of it, is it possible to run the img from an ext4 partition on the card? I have an existing one being used for link2sd files and would much prefer using it as it's a far superior file system to fat32, without the 4G limits. Vnc should have no problem graphically, but would the linux.img chroot properly?
It would probably work but you would have to alter the script to mount the other partition if it doesn't do it automatically and change the path. Shouldn't be too hard.
I'm getting an error when I try running sh install.sh:
Code:
# sh install.sh
readlink: applet not found
Remounting /system rw ...
sh: Can't open /linux/scripts/fsrw
Installing scripts in /system/bin ...
cd: can't cd to /linux/scripts
cp: write error: No space left on device
cp: omitting directory 'root-scripts'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/root-scripts: No such file or directory
cp: omitting directory 'scripts'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/scripts: No such file or directory
cp: omitting directory 'tmp'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/tmp: No such file or directory
Mounting the Linux image ...
install.sh: /system/bin/linux: not found
Customizing the image ...
install.sh: cannot create /data/local/mnt/etc/resolv.conf: directory nonexistent
install.sh: cannot create /data/local/mnt/etc/resolv.conf: directory nonexistent
Installing root-scripts ...
mkdir failed for /data/local/mnt/root/scripts, No such file or directory
Unable to chmod /data/local/mnt/root/scripts: No such file or directory
cp: can't stat '/linux/root-scripts/*': No such file or directory
Unable to chmod /data/local/mnt/root/scripts/*: No such file or directory
Install finished
# linux
linux: not found
NuVanDibe said:
I'm getting an error when I try running sh install.sh:
Code:
# sh install.sh
readlink: applet not found
Remounting /system rw ...
sh: Can't open /linux/scripts/fsrw
Installing scripts in /system/bin ...
cd: can't cd to /linux/scripts
cp: write error: No space left on device
cp: omitting directory 'root-scripts'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/root-scripts: No such file or directory
cp: omitting directory 'scripts'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/scripts: No such file or directory
cp: omitting directory 'tmp'
Unable to chmod /system/bin/tmp: No such file or directory
Mounting the Linux image ...
install.sh: /system/bin/linux: not found
Customizing the image ...
install.sh: cannot create /data/local/mnt/etc/resolv.conf: directory nonexistent
install.sh: cannot create /data/local/mnt/etc/resolv.conf: directory nonexistent
Installing root-scripts ...
mkdir failed for /data/local/mnt/root/scripts, No such file or directory
Unable to chmod /data/local/mnt/root/scripts: No such file or directory
cp: can't stat '/linux/root-scripts/*': No such file or directory
Unable to chmod /data/local/mnt/root/scripts/*: No such file or directory
Install finished
# linux
linux: not found
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cp: write-error.. no space left on device? You need more space dude