Database Info

[HOW-TO] Make ANY ROM fit on Stock/Any SPL *Updated 3/28/10*

Introduction
If you are rooted and running a Hard SPL or a Stock SPL and really want to flash a ROM that claims to require Danger/Haykuro SPL, but you do not want to upgrade your SPL there are alternative ways to make these ROMs work on your phone without upgrading your SPL.
This is a very easy process, Ive done it with a few ROMs with no problems:
First off, keep in mind that on a Stock SPL
/system = about 67MB
Any ROM that has a system partition 67MB or Greater will require Danger/Haykuro SPL, UNLESS you can shrink that ROM's /system down below 67MB.
How do you do this, you ask?
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Method #1 (Easy) -Move/Delete unneeded Apps, Sounds, Files
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NOTE: This Method does NOT apply to HERO/SENSE ROMs, they are way too big! Check Method 2 if you want to fit ANY ROM on any SPL (Advanced)
Make sure you have 7-Zip! Dont have it? Google is your friend!
1) Read the first post and changelog of the ROM you wish to install on your phone. After youve made yourself familiar with what needs to be Wiped (ie: dalvik cache, ext, data) the Partition Layout the developer suggests (ie: FAT32/Ext3/Swap), then go ahead and download the ROM. Unzip it to a folder, name it something short. for example: C:\1\rom
now click on the system folder, scroll down and click on the media folder, and delete the audio folder. This will erase every sound effect and ringtone on your phone and usually will free up about 2MB in system.
To get your ringtones and sounds back download this (thanks Robot Teapot!) and unzip the folder to the root of your sdcard. (note: your ringtones might not show up the first time you boot the rom, in this case, reboot and theyll all be right there)
If removing your ringtones isnt enough to keep /system under 67MB then move on to step 2), if youre already below 67MB skip to step 3)
2) Return to the first post and changelog of the ROM you are trying to install. Look for apps the dev has added to the ROM that dont seem necessary for the ROM to function such as Twidroid.apk, Facebook.apk, NeroMedia.apk, WirelessTether.apk, WiredTether.apk, Maps.apk(takes up a lot of room, and sometimes outdated...just delete it and install the latest from the market!)etc.
You can use Android Barebones/Necessary Apps - CyanogenMod Wiki as a general guideline to determine which apps are essential to Android running properly and the functions of many system apps.
Delete those unnecessary apps or move them to your sdcard, and use ASTRO File Manager or a similar app to install them after you flash the ROM.
3) Okay, assume youve trimmed /system down below 67MB, good job! now you need to get those folders you extracted and the boot.img zipped up and signed. select the folders from the ROM you extracted and modified, the boot.img, right click, and select 7-Zip < Add to .zip
4) Download Stericson's Autosign place it in any directory and follow the instructions in the thread to sign your zip file.
5) Move the signed zip to your SD Card, making sure you have the proper partitions, wipe the necessary things, then flash your zip file and cross your fingers!
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Method #2 (Advanced) -"Cache Hack"
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NOTE: This Method will fit any ROM on any SPL but is more advanced than Method 1
lbcoder introduced the concept of moving files to the /cache partition of the phone and linking them back to /system or /data.
Firerat has come up with a way to make this concept work and explains the whole process in his thread and shows some examples of his method by providing some ports:
[HACK][ROM][BOOT.IMG][CACHE]-Stk SPL ROMs with Danger SPL size & extra 30mb! any SPL!
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There you have it folks! Congrats if youve bypassed the Danger SPL requirements! Be sure to always keep a Nandroid/BART backup!!!!
Disclaimer: Not saying these methods will brick or damage your phone, but in the rare event this occurs I am NOT responsible for bricks or or any damages to your phone!

Autosign doesnt need to be in the SDK place, I had it in my music folder and it worked fine.I accidentally formatted my PC last night and dont have the SDK installed but autosign works for me so im happy.
Note to OP-You cant brick from flashing any 32B rom, you would only get a blank screen that stays..which some seem to call soft-brick, i call it nonsense though.

Thanks for this excellent tutorial

Ace42 said:
Autosign doesnt need to be in the SDK place, I had it in my music folder and it worked fine.I accidentally formatted my PC last night and dont have the SDK installed but autosign works for me so im happy.
Note to OP-You cant brick from flashing any 32B rom, you would only get a blank screen that stays..which some seem to call soft-brick, i call it nonsense though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I had no idea that the SDK wasnt required, ill remove that.
and yeah i know its usually a soft brick, if anything, and youre right its nonsense, and can be solved using a nandroid backup and wiping the proper things, but im playing it safe with that disclaimer just like the rom devs do lol
migalito said:
Thanks for this excellent tutorial
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
Youre welcome! I hope it works out for you!

Will this work with the Super D rom?

cg87 said:
Will this work with the Super D rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes! I tried it on Super D!

speedysilwady said:
yes! I tried it on Super D!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then I'm so confused. If it's possible, why does the rom still require the Danger SPL? Why didn't bbuchacher make it so it doesn't require the Danger SPL? Doesn't make any sense to me. Can someone please enlighten me?

cg87 said:
Then I'm so confused. If it's possible, why does the rom still require the Danger SPL? Why didn't bbuchacher make it so it doesn't require the Danger SPL? Doesn't make any sense to me. Can someone please enlighten me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, to be honest, im not sure why, but im assuming some developers like to include features and apps that arent necessarily required for the rom to run properly but to make their rom more appealing to users, than other roms. keeping those apps in system prevents those apps from disappearing after you wipe your phone/ext. Plus devs always keep ringtones and sounds included in their roms for completeness's sake.
Now a Hero ROM on the other hand is loaded with system apps that cant be deleted and i dont think theyll ever fit on a Stock SPL, except maybe MicroHero, but im not sure.
But for whatever reason, a lot of regular ROMs are fat and bloated with apps and extras that dont necessarily have to be saved on the system partition,so the best thing to do is shrink those roms down till they fit, if you can't or dont want to upgrade your SPL.

How to make it work *WITHOUT TRIMMING*
Take a look at your update.zip archive.
Probably has 4 things in the root:
boot.img
system
META-INF
data
If system is greater than about 67MB (or lets say 60 just to be real safe...), then create ANOTHER directory and call it "cache".
Now MOVE /system/app into /cache/
You now have the space cleared up, but it still won't work.
So go into META-INF/com/google/android and edit the script "update-script".
just below the line where it says "format CACHE:", add these lines:
copy_dir PACKAGE:cache CACHE:
set_perm_recursive 0 0 0755 0644 CACHE:
symlink /cache/app SYSTEM:app
Wow, did we just move the extra crap into cache? Yep.
May require slight modification. Use your head.

Seems someone else is in the same boat as I am.
Can't update my radio, looks like some kind of hardware problem almost. Tried everything in any possible way.
So it looks like we're stuck with the standard or engineering SPL, which is fine but means there are some restrictions.
I'll try some of the tips you gave and flash something besides Cyanogenmod tonight.

lbcoder said:
Take a look at your update.zip archive.
Probably has 4 things in the root:
boot.img
system
META-INF
data
If system is greater than about 67MB (or lets say 60 just to be real safe...), then create ANOTHER directory and call it "cache".
Now MOVE /system/app into /cache/
You now have the space cleared up, but it still won't work.
So go into META-INF/com/google/android and edit the script "update-script".
just below the line where it says "format CACHE:", add these lines:
copy_dir PACKAGE:cache CACHE:
set_perm_recursive 0 0 0755 0644 CACHE:
symlink /cache/app SYSTEM:app
Wow, did we just move the extra crap into cache? Yep.
May require slight modification. Use your head.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought about that but I'm not 2 good @ programing unless its cars/video console. But doesn't the cache get used for something after the rom is up and running? Or is it only for ota updates?
If only for ota updates how come the danger spl doesn't give you 120mb or so since cache and system are 67mb each

That's a very good question. Just tried it and it seems to work, though. It's booting as we speak. All system/app files in the cache directory.
EDIT: Actually, all apps seem to force close on boot. So I'll just try it the regular way I guess.

try the Fix apk uid mismatches maybe idk ill try it in a lil bit
*update*
Got a boot loop on openeclair1.0.1 not sure why but dont got the time to fig. it out right now.
also why does a boot loop drain the crap out of your battery?

lbcoder said:
Take a look at your update.zip archive.
Probably has 4 things in the root:
boot.img
system
META-INF
data
If system is greater than about 67MB (or lets say 60 just to be real safe...), then create ANOTHER directory and call it "cache".
Now MOVE /system/app into /cache/
You now have the space cleared up, but it still won't work.
So go into META-INF/com/google/android and edit the script "update-script".
just below the line where it says "format CACHE:", add these lines:
copy_dir PACKAGE:cache CACHE:
set_perm_recursive 0 0 0755 0644 CACHE:
symlink /cache/app SYSTEM:app
Wow, did we just move the extra crap into cache? Yep.
May require slight modification. Use your head.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember you suggested this a while back when I asked about eclair roms on stock spl, I'm guessing if you use this method and wipe, you'll have to reflash the rom because those system apps are gone, correct?

yea anytime you wipe you would have to reflash the rom because a wipe deletes. data and cache folder

Dr-b said:
That's a very good question. Just tried it and it seems to work, though. It's booting as we speak. All system/app files in the cache directory.
EDIT: Actually, all apps seem to force close on boot. So I'll just try it the regular way I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be a minor goofup on the permissions. Just verify the permissions and it will be fine.

What programming?
There is no programming involved in this.
Mainly cache is for OTA, but also some other crap related to the download manager.
As for the deathspl allocation, it puts *some* of the /cache into /system, *some* of the /cache into /data, and the balance of /cache remains in /cache.
xile6 said:
I thought about that but I'm not 2 good @ programing unless its cars/video console. But doesn't the cache get used for something after the rom is up and running? Or is it only for ota updates?
If only for ota updates how come the danger spl doesn't give you 120mb or so since cache and system are 67mb each
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

speedysilwady said:
I remember you suggested this a while back when I asked about eclair roms on stock spl, I'm guessing if you use this method and wipe, you'll have to reflash the rom because those system apps are gone, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you want to wipe it?
Note: you could just create an update.zip with an update-script that says ONLY "format DATA:" That would wipe the data withOUT wiping the /cache. Maybe name it "betterwipe.zip" and put it on your sdcard. Boot into recovery and apply "betterwipe.zip".

lbcoder said:
Why would you want to wipe it?
Note: you could just create an update.zip with an update-script that says ONLY "format DATA:" That would wipe the data withOUT wiping the /cache. Maybe name it "betterwipe.zip" and put it on your sdcard. Boot into recovery and apply "betterwipe.zip".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true, with fix permissions, and wipe dalvik, there really isnt much use in wiping data anymore, but would fix permissions still work if the apps are in cache? i know theyre syslinked, but im not sure how that works with the fix_permissions script. sorry if im asking dumb questions, im still learning.
Ill try your idea a really big rom and see if it works.

just wanted to confirm that all Hero ROMs seem to require Danger SPL, I see no way of shrinking system anywhere close to 67 or less.
But my method should still work on any eclair or donut rom. I still havent had a chance to try lbcoder's method though it should work. if people can get lbcoders method to work ill add it to the first post!

[GT-P6200][CWMRecovery][ROOT]ClockworkMod Recovery and Root

****** USE AT YOUR OWN RISK *******
This is NOT SUPPORTED SOFTWARE. This is purely for my amusement and entertainment. I'm making it available to download for those who might like to examine my work, but if you install it, you are on your own. I can't even test this myself. (I don't have a GT-P6200.)
Seriously - this has not been tested enough for me to be happy with it, and I'm unable to test it myself. Please read the thread for the GT-P6210 for instructions, known issues, warnings, etc.
If you do decide to install this anyway, please let me know how it works out for you. If no one is using it, I WILL NOT MAINTAIN IT AND WILL DROP IT.
If people do start using it, and the reports are that everything is working okay, then it'll get merged into what I'm already doing with the other two 7 plus models (meaning it'll get updated as needed when they do.)
Again, PLEASE READ the thread for the 6210 for everything you need to know: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1379532
..and here's a link for a CWM recovery.
Link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?do5jkna3dpas1tq
Take care
Gary

Hi! I'm a placeholder.

garyd9 said:
Hi! I'm a placeholder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Placeholder. I'm a placeholder, too. Good meeting you here.

Pm'ed you. went straight in CWM, looks nice. able to make a full backup and md5. fails to restore in the middle of restoring /data
also getting UDIDs are inconsistent , fixing permission is supposed to take care of this.
and Im pretty much factory reset after reboot.
EDIT: appears as if Location cache map app by remy in market I had set to block wifi and cell caches. restoring a backup in CWM got permissions error, trestoring /data fails and Im left with pretty much a factory reset. went back to market and reinstalled suspicious app, installed and still says caches blocked removed app, rebooted, made back up and successful restore! woo hoo! Thank You Gary!
Note: should we make a note for 7+ CWM users beware blocked location caches, or re-write recovery to take care of this, and/or email the app dev?
anyways, pretty excited. Thanks so much Gary.

Anyone else want to help test the CWM Recovery for this tablet? (GT-P6200 only)
The current tester has had mixed results, but it _may_ have been the result of a third party app causing problems. I'd like to get someone else to test in addition to ensure there aren't any other issues.
In order to test, I need someone who has "adb" installed on their PC, is comfortable with linux commands, already knows how to use adb for commands such as "adb shell, adb push, and adb pull", doesn't mind using ODIN to restore their tablet to a factory state if it soft-bricks, and already knows how to use ODIN and CWM Recovery.
As a side-note; the third party app that MIGHT have been causing the problem is "Location Cache" by "remydemy." I don't use this app myself, but apparently it has some function to block the google/android location caches and it appears to do that by messing with the permissions on the files... which is somehow causing an error when the recovery tries to clean the /data directory in order to restore.
Thanks
Gary

link posted for testing.

thanks again gary loving it.

when I select wipe dalvik cache in CWM options it says dalvik cache wiped awfully fast. and after reboot and removing some bloatware.apks there are still loads of .dex files in /data/dalvik-cache including bloat that i removed.
So i just used root ecplorer to delete entire contents of folder. : )
is this not linked properly or CWM issue, or is this normal function?
thanks so much for your help.

chrisrotolo said:
when I select wipe dalvik cache in CWM options it says dalvik cache wiped awfully fast. and after reboot and removing some bloatware.apks there are still loads of .dex files in /data/dalvik-cache including bloat that i removed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll look into it. Please try this alternative to test that function: Boot your phone normally, and then reboot into recovery. Using the recovery menu, mount the /data partition. Then use 'adb shell' to shell into the device and manually look in the /data/dalvik-cache directory. Then "cd /" and from within recovery choose the advanced->wipe dalvik-cache. Then look in /data/dalvik-cache directory again to see if it did what it should have done.
It's possible, based on the ordering of your above description, that the dalvik cache rebuilt after you wiped it (during the reboot) but before you removed your bloatware.
Take care
Gary

thank you. Gary tried not to get Banned OK? we need you buddy. lol

chrisrotolo said:
thank you. Gary tried not to get Banned OK? we need you buddy. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where you able to run those tests yet?
thanks
Gary

not as of yet, sometime today though.
---------- Post added at 03:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:23 PM ----------
so yeah, you must be right. dalvik-cache was full with /data mounted. cd / then wiped dalvik from CWM, which finishes in a split second; a list (ls) shows no dalvik-cache folder after wiping, completly gone.
Answers my question.
One other issue I ran into, that you're may be aware of is somehow I disabled the power button in CWM, it said something about back button disabled. I think I had to hold power for 10 sec. to reset device.
Thanks.

chrisrotolo said:
...somehow I disabled the power button in CWM, it said something about back button disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one I'm not sure of and really can't help much with. No 'power' button means you can't select anything which would really be annoying.

it works great! instant root and cwm within 2 minutes! i highly recommend gary's method than the other one. i also don't seem to lose root access by clearing ram memory. SWEET.

Not working:
- format internal sd-card
- update CSC
- installing pre-apps
how to remove CWMRecovery and install stock recovery?

lvsw said:
Not working:
- format internal sd-card
- update CSC
- installing pre-apps
how to remove CWMRecovery and install stock recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
formatting the internal SDCard isn't going to happen with this version of CWM (that's designed for GB.) Honeycomb devices don't have a seperate /sdcard partition to format. Formatting the "internal sdcard" can be done from within the settings menu via a factory reset.
The other two items aren't broken - they simply don't exist in CWM recovery, and probably never will... Is having the pre-loaded samsgung sample video and music files repushed to your device over and over actually more important to you than the ability to do a nandroid backup? Do you even know what the CSC is that isn't being updated?
Have you bothered to seach around BEFORE installing this? Have you bothered to search around AFTER installing it to find out how to restore to factory?
I'm NOT going to answer your specific question on the basis that it's been answered already and I honestly feel that a user of XDA needs to have the ability to SEARCH before posting.
Take care
Gary

worked like a charm...backup and restore works perfectly...
thanks gary !!!

Hey Gary-
Question -
Is it possible to get ROM manager to recognize the recovery flashed here? I'd like to flash the new version of CWM, which claims to fix the internal SD card problem, but when I install ROM Manager it doesn't recognize that I have CWM flashed.
I could just flash a new recovery from ROM Manager, but I don't want to screw anything up.
Thanks!
Sent from my Galaxy Tab Plus using Tapatalk

jeffcavicchi said:
Is it possible to get ROM manager to recognize the recovery flashed here? I'd like to flash the new version of CWM, which claims to fix the internal SD card problem, but when I install ROM Manager it doesn't recognize that I have CWM flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This recovery is CWM Based - it is not an official ROM Manager supported recovery. I have no idea what "internal SD card problem" you are referring to, as I had internal sd card issues resolved with this CWM-based recovery before I posted it (there's only a single version for the P6200.)
I'd actually advise against using the "ROM Manager" program on this device. It's not a supported device, and things can go terribly wrong when messing with recovery and firmware partitions that aren't explicitly supported.
Take care
Gary

garyd9 said:
This recovery is CWM Based - it is not an official ROM Manager supported recovery. I have no idea what "internal SD card problem" you are referring to, as I had internal sd card issues resolved with this CWM-based recovery before I posted it (there's only a single version for the P6200.)
I'd actually advise against using the "ROM Manager" program on this device. It's not a supported device, and things can go terribly wrong when messing with recovery and firmware partitions that aren't explicitly supported.
Take care
Gary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it - sort of what I figured.
Am I wrong that Recovery still sees the external SD card as an internal SD card? I thought the last time I flashed a zip (boot animation) Recovery showed it as being on the internal card, even though it was actually on the external card. I could be wrong, though - and I don't have the device in front of me to check.
Not a big deal either way - thanks for the response, and your hard work!
*Edit*
Just realized I posted this in the wrong thread like an idiot - I have a P6210. guess that's what happens when you start posting things bc (before coffee).

Malata Zpad T2

After searching for ages, I stumbled upon a solution for my tablet. Although all GTab ROMS work in the Zpad, I haven't been able to use the full 1GB RAM present in my Zpad.
So Finally today I stumbled upon a solution posted in slatedroid by Micky.
Instead of flashing the Viewsonic ROM to start with, we need to flash this ROM instead.
After you download the ROM from the link above, search for the TeamDRH CWM 5.5.0.4 and download. Extract the RAR file and replace the recovery.img in the folder with the TeamDRH CWM, cuz the one in the ROM is too old and doesn't support the latest ROMs.
[Note: If you want a larger system partition, follow this.
Open the file flash.cfg and find this no. 209715200 and replace it with this no.419430400
Now when you flash this ROM, you will get a system partition of 400MB.
If you use this method, you don't need to delete any system files after install from the ROM.]
Reboot the tab to CWM and wipe data/factory reset and wipe dalvik cache. Twice.
Shutdown and reboot to APX mode and connect to PC
NV Flash the ROM, let it boot and then shutdown.
Now to flash Jelly Bean.
Download Smoother Bean by nobe1976
Then boot the tablet to CWM
Again wipe data/factory reset and wipe dalvik cache. Twice just to be sure.
Flash the Smoother Bean zip file
Do not wipe data/factory reset or wipe dalvik cache this time.
Just reboot
Let it boot and run for a few minutes.
[Optional: Now install an app from play store to delete system apps and also a keyboard, Swipe or as such.
Open the system app remover and uninstall Gmail and AOSP Keyboard.
A few more apps can also be uninstalled, such as wallpapers, DSP Manager, Music FX, but not all.
Before deleting the AOKP Keyboard, you can copy it from the system folder if you want the stock keyboard. LatinIME.apk file.
(This does not apply if you modify the flash.cfg for larger system partition)
We need to uninstall these apps cuz after flashing with the above ROM, the system partition is only 209MB, so after flashing JB, we get around 5-6 MB free in the system partition. After uninstalling the apps, we get around 34 MB free.]
Hats off to nobe1976. He is able to develop a JB ROM that can be installed in a 200 MB system partition.
Well after everything, I hope whoever tried this in their MALATA Zpad is able to see full 1GB RAM, or around 850 MB approx.
[After this succesfull experiment, I would like to request a developer to kindly help us modify the system partition of the above ROM to 350 MB or more if possible.
Its a small request from us Zpad users.
(Note: From the help of all the users, I have been able to increase the system partitiom to 400MB)]
If anyone could help, I will be gratefull, we all will be very gratefull.
This is really pushing the limit.
Edit: Now you can use 1GB RAM present in your tablet and all the space available in the flash memory.
Note: This method can be used in all variants of the Zpad which has 1GB RAM and 16GB ROM.
Note: This tablet is sold by different names all over the world. The one I use is HCL AP10-A1

kank_fraud said:
Well after everything, I hope whoever tried this in their MALATA Zpad is able to see full 1GB RAM, or around 850 MB approx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post the 3 .txt files produced by these commands (reboot the tablet first)?:
Code:
$ [B]su -c dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt[/B]
$ [B]cp /proc/meminfo /mnt/sdcard/meminfo.txt[/B]
$ [B]free > /mnt/sdcard/free.txt[/B]

After this succesfull experiment, I would like to request a developer to kindly help us modify the system partition of the above ROM to 350 MB or more if possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Though @rajeevvp is the best person on xda to give you solution that is more logical on this, I will tell you quick and dirty way to do this, which I have adopted.
1> download stock zpad rom if you don't have it already "ftp://112.5.164.225/tablePC/T2_nvflash_mp_3g(WCDMA)_20110824.rar"
2> unzip it, delete recovery.img from unzipped directory, copy part9.img from DRH nvflash which is used for prep 350M system partition to this directory, rename it to recovery.img
3> edit "android_fastboot_full_i_malata.cfg” change "size" of partition id 11 (which is a system partition)
Make sure you do not give any arbitrary size here; calculate it with the formula @rajeevvp posted here "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22138304&postcount=14"
4>now nvfalsh your tablet in apx mode with download.bat, now format /data /system /cache and flash whichever rom you want on top.
memory/partition config is supplied to kernel through CMDLINE parameter, so even if you nvflash tab with above procedure, its not necessary that default memory/partition sizes are maintained created by above prcoess, Team DRH boot.img has a blank CMDLINE. That is the reason
Above process will work on most of the ROM, which is using TeamDRH boot.img.
(more technical explaination stright from one of the posts of @rajeevvp "When the bootloader runs, it reads PT (partition 3) and constructs a command line telling the kernel what the partition layout is on the onboard NAND flash. Normally, the bootloader will pass this command line to the kernel as part of the boot-up process. However, if the bootloader sees that the boot.img already contains a default command line then that will take precedence")

I replaced the recovery image in the ROM as instructed in the first post but before flashing I edited the flash.cfg file to change the APP partition (id=11) size to 262144000 (250MB). I then followed the steps above but after flashing Smoother Bean it would always restart in recovery. I found I had to partition the internal SD to 4096/0 and then reload the rom and flash again. I now have a ZPad with a 250MB system partition and a total RAM of 871124 bytes. Thanks very much as it seems much faster now. Note I didn't have to remove any system apps in the process.

I replaced the recovery image in the ROM as instructed in the first post but before flashing I edited the flash.cfg file to change the APP partition (id=11) size to 262144000 (250MB). I then followed the steps above but after flashing Smoother Bean it would always restart in recovery. I found I had to partition the internal SD to 4096/0 and then reload the rom and flash again. I now have a ZPad with a 250MB system partition and a total RAM of 871124 bytes. Thanks very much as it seems much faster now. Note I didn't have to remove any system apps in the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad to hear that it worked, BTW you will have to change /system size to minimum 350MB if you plan to use TeamDRH rom in future (hopefully with camera working)

I'll have a try later.Thanks So much.

Thank You all for the help.
I have already replaced the stock recovery CWM to 5.5 from the first flash.
Well I have tried to modify the system partition to 512 MB(536870912) in the flash.cfg and it failed. So I tried 400MB(419430400) and it worked.
It shows 419 MB in Titanium Backup
I am happy with it.
Its way better then before.
Thanks evryone
Problem solved

If anyone has formated or resized the internal memory resently, please try the maximum possible size for the system partition.
I tried 512MB but it didn't work. Maybe 490MB might work.
According to my knowledge, Android should support atleast upto 999MB for any partition.
Is it cuz of our tab or is it cuz of the architecture.
And if anyone knows, is it possible to create a larger internal partition.
As in 8GB or if possible the whole internal memory.
CWM doesn't allow more than 4GB internal space.

kank_fraud said:
I have already replaced the stock recovery CWM to 5.5 from the first flash.
Well I have tried to modify the system partition to 512 MB(536870912) in the flash.cfg and it failed. So I tried 400MB(419430400) and it worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this was expected result, /system partion resides on NAND flash chip (with is only 512MB) and not on SDcard.
Read this "http://raywaldo.com/2011/07/format-the-gtab/" and this "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=15558724&postcount=12"
Also you need to bare in mind that other partitions also use 512MB nand flash as per explanation in above threads.
so if you take a close look at falsh.cfg file in nvflash directory you will understand that size allocation is sequential ("allocation_policy=sequential") and system partition (11) which is last to allocate the space, so you need to calculate it accordingly if you want to utilize all remaining space from NAND flash chip.

Well I cant open the page "http://raywaldo.com/2011/07/format-the-gtab/".
So according to this info I have hit the limit. I am already using 489MB of the 512MB flash. And as always, cuz of our storage manufactures, we get only 490MB in a 512MB chip.
What I wonder is why Malata and Viewsonic did not utilise the full NAND space available in the first place.
Is it used for something else.
I mean even the 350MB prep for Viewsonic GTab uses 350MB instead of 400MB.
It is so easy to to utilise and partition the NAND, then why not use the full available space.
What is the empty space used for!???
Or is it just a waste!!!

hi all,
tks for the useful informations above..but since my poor tech knowledge, its possible to produce a flashable rom for all T2 user with the max 490MB flash?
thanks in advance!
FG

fanguru said:
hi all,
tks for the useful informations above..but since my poor tech knowledge, its possible to produce a flashable rom for all T2 user with the max 490MB flash?
thanks in advance!
FG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its already there.
Goto the first post and download the ROM
Extract the RAR file and find the file flash.cfg, right click and edit
Search this no. 209715200, it should be in the last 5-6 lines.
Delete the whole no. and type this no. 419430400
Save the file and close it.
Start your tablet in APX Mode and flash your tablet using download.bat.
Now you are using the full flash memory available.
You loose a few hundred kilobytes but thats it.
You cant use the whole flash memory as system partition.
There are additional partitions for the bootloader, recovery, logo, etc. which take up 89MB approx.
So 400MB is what you will get for system partition.
I would suggest flash as less as possible. Flash memory can written only a few hundred times. If it reaches the limit, then our tablet is dead.
Flash only major updates or if your ROM gives problem

rajeevvp said:
Can you post the 3 .txt files produced by these commands (reboot the tablet first)?:
Code:
$ [B]dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt[/B]
$ [B]cp /proc/meminfo > /mnt/sdcard/meminfo.txt[/B]
$ [B]free > /mnt/sdcard/free.txt[/B]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I am very sorry for such a late reply. :angel:
I missed your post as I was out of station.
After I came back there were already solutions posted by a couple of users. :victory:
Well today while updating my original post, I noticed ur first reply. :silly:
Well thank you for your reply.
And thanks to all the ppl who provided for the solutions to our ZPad.
I guess the problems are solved for now.
:highfive: :highfive: :highfive: :good:

kank_fraud said:
Its already there.
Goto the first post and download the ROM
Extract the RAR file and find the file flash.cfg, right click and edit
Search this no. 209715200, it should be in the last 5-6 lines.
Delete the whole no. and type this no. 419430400
Save the file and close it.
Start your tablet in APX Mode and flash your tablet using download.bat.
Now you are using the full flash memory available.
You loose a few hundred kilobytes but thats it.
You cant use the whole flash memory as system partition.
There are additional partitions for the bootloader, recovery, logo, etc. which take up 89MB approx.
So 400MB is what you will get for system partition.
I would suggest flash as less as possible. Flash memory can written only a few hundred times. If it reaches the limit, then our tablet is dead.
Flash only major updates or if your ROM gives problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You kank_fraud,
i do these steps, and it works!
after, i've tried to flash "Smoother Bean " but tab continues to reboot i nrecovery mode. I've tried also to partition 4096 like suggested above, but same results.
So, the onlyu one rom working is the first?
ty again!:good:
FG

kank_fraud said:
I guess the problems are solved for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd still like the output of those commands--for my own edification.

fanguru said:
Thank You kank_fraud,
i do these steps, and it works!
after, i've tried to flash "Smoother Bean " but tab continues to reboot i nrecovery mode. I've tried also to partition 4096 like suggested above, but same results.
So, the onlyu one rom working is the first?
ty again!:good:
FG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well for Me it worked the first time itself.
Why don't u try giv it a few more couple of times. :laugh:
BTW, are you using the Malata Zpad or Viewsonic Gtab
If you are using Gtab, try TeamDRH method but modify the size of the partition.
If u are using Zpad, try again.
Clear cache and reset before installing.
Try previous older ROMs and gradually update to newer ones.
Reset and wipe before each update.
As I didn't get any problems, so I can't say whats wrong with your installation.
And very sorry for the late reply.
I have exams.
But my tablet is very stable after this.
Everything is running smooth, even HD games.
Goodluck :fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:

rajeevvp said:
I'd still like the output of those commands--for my own edification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it in terminal emulator, but it says 'Operation not permitted'

kank_fraud said:
I tried it in terminal emulator, but it says 'Operation not permitted'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here.

kank_fraud said:
I tried it in terminal emulator, but it says 'Operation not permitted'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed commands. Try them again.

I seem to have everything running and it seems really fast, the only problem I have is that the home button (hardware and soft) does not work!
I've tried installing a different home app, tried home switcher and I get asked when the tablet boots as to which home app to use, but still the buttons don't work (back and recent apps work).
Any ideas???

[Q] Need to Start over - what to wipe in TWRP

I've TWRP 2.7 and Crombi-KK. V11.0-20140402-Crombi-kk4.4.2.tf700t. All my apps are "not responding". Would like to clear everything out and reboot in a raw Crombi (don't want to reflash it if possible). Also heard that formatting to fs2f is a screamer, which WOULD mean a reflash, but THAT would be alright if the bennies out-weigh me doing it.
What do I wipe (I HAVE read many other posts, but if I don't ask, I'll **** it up - I have)?
Thanks.
I'm assuming that I factory wipe, wipe cache, then flash cm-11.0-20140921-tf700t-crombi-kk-R1_signed - which will start me over.

Your reluctance to reflash the rom doesn't really make sense to me. All your apps are not responding, you want to "clear everything out" but not reflash? Why?
You could try to just wipe cache and Dalvik and see if that clears out whatever is going on (assuming you are not that well versed in reading a logcat which would be the analytic way to go about this....). That would not touch anything of your current setup.
If that doesn't do it you would have to at least wipe data and then all your apps are gone anyway - why not reflash the rom at the same time????
But you are on a rom that is no longer supported, no further development will happen here, so I would recommend you grab this chance to give your tablet a facelift and switch to where the action is
To do that do these steps in order:
1. Copy anything worth a damn off the tablet
2. fastboot flash lj50036's Kang TWRP 2.8.6 from the Development section (or use his flashable zip in your current recovery). Reboot
3. download ZOMBi-POP and put it onto a fat32 formatted microSD
4. boot into TWRP, go to Wipe > Advanced and format data. This will take up to 90 minutes - do not interrupt it, deep cleaning is going on.
5. Under the Wipe menu find the change/repair file system option and change data (and only data) to f2fs (I have a guide on how to do it in the General section)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra.../guide-convert-data-to-f2fs-twrp-2-8-t3073471
6. Flash ZOMBI-POP
7. go through basic setup, then leave it alone for 30 minutes to settle in
8. prepare to be amazed

berndblb said:
Your reluctance to reflash the rom doesn't really make sense to me. All your apps are not responding, you want to "clear everything out" but not reflash? Why?
You could try to just wipe cache and Dalvik and see if that clears out whatever is going on (assuming you are not that well versed in reading a logcat which would be the analytic way to go about this....). That would not touch anything of your current setup.
If that doesn't do it you would have to at least wipe data and then all your apps are gone anyway - why not reflash the rom at the same time????
But you are on a rom that is no longer supported, no further development will happen here, so I would recommend you grab this chance to give your tablet a facelift and switch to where the action is
To do that do these steps in order:
1. Copy anything worth a damn off the tablet
2. fastboot flash lj50036's Kang TWRP 2.8.6 from the Development section (or use his flashable zip in your current recovery). Reboot
3. download ZOMBi-POP and put it onto a fat32 formatted microSD
4. boot into TWRP, go to Wipe > Advanced and format data. This will take up to 90 minutes - do not interrupt it, deep cleaning is going on.
5. Under the Wipe menu find the change/repair file system option and change data (and only data) to f2fs (I have a guide on how to do it in the General section)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra.../guide-convert-data-to-f2fs-twrp-2-8-t3073471
6. Flash ZOMBI-POP
7. go through basic setup, then leave it alone for 30 minutes to settle in
8. prepare to be amazed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank for your extensive reply. I had already (after re-reading what I had posted) decided to do as you have described. Am installing TWRP today, tomorrow the rest.
I'm using the TWRP Manager having informed it that this is a tf700t, and I'd like to "flash" 2.8.6, it is asking me if /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 && reboot is correct to write to. As I DO NOT profess to be anything other then a 2* newbie with android - I ask, on a T700 is this correct?
AND may I ask a few more questions should I need to? Although the rest is straight forward.

I would not use TWRP manager for anything - even if it happens to identify the correct partition in this case. p4 is the staging partition and that is ok, but still - I have seen TWRP manager do bad stuff - don't use it.
And you don't have to. lj's kang twrp comes in a flashable zip. Just download it, enter your current recovery, flash it and reboot. Bingo - you are now on TWRP 2.8.6
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra...overy-kang-twrp-tf700t-2-8-x-xarea51-t3049395
Post 2, second link
Ask as much as you like. I don't HAVE to answer, right?
Except for that itch I seem to have to keep scratching :silly:

berndblb said:
I would not use TWRP manager for anything - even if it happens to identify the correct partition in this case. p4 is the staging partition and that is ok, but still - I have seen TWRP manager do bad stuff - don't use it.
And you don't have to. lj's kang twrp comes in a flashable zip. Just download it, enter your current recovery, flash it and reboot. Bingo - you are now on TWRP 2.8.6
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tra...overy-kang-twrp-tf700t-2-8-x-xarea51-t3049395
Post 2, second link
Ask as much as you like. I don't HAVE to answer, right?
Except for that itch I seem to have to keep scratching :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more I read the more I was disinclined to use the Manager, but couldn't find - and I DID look, the blob, or flashable zip to use!?!?!
So I'm formatting extfs4, THEN changing to f2fs? I changed it to f2fs, which took 10 seconds, then realized I had reversed it. No harm no foul I assume as it is formatting now - and finished in about 30 minutes?
Is this th eversion you suggest: ZOMBi-POP-5.1_B6_omni_tf700t-KANG_signed.zip

Well, I do not have any hard data on this and my knowledge of block devices is more than rudimentary, but the background is this:
Since about TWRP 2.7.x this recovery does a "secure erase" if you format your data partition ext4. All the blocks get wiped before the new file system is created. Just changing the file system to f2fs does not do that and my thinking is: Can't hurt to really, totally wipe your data partition after a couple of years of use, so why not do it once in a while.
Here's what the master said about that:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60189650&postcount=1806
Is it necessary to format ext4, then switch to f2fs? I doubt it. Is it better? I have no idea, but that's what I did
Yes, the b6 is the latest version of ZOMBi-POP. Flash it

berndblb said:
Well, I do not have any hard data on this and my knowledge of block devices is more than rudimentary, but the background is this:
Since about TWRP 2.7.x this recovery does a "secure erase" if you format your data partition ext4. All the blocks get wiped before the new file system is created. Just changing the file system to f2fs does not do that and my thinking is: Can't hurt to really, totally wipe your data partition after a couple of years of use, so why not do it once in a while.
Here's what the master said about that:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=60189650&postcount=1806
Is it necessary to format ext4, then switch to f2fs? I doubt it. Is it better? I have no idea, but that's what I did
Yes, the b6 is the latest version of ZOMBi-POP. Flash it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, wiping -I assume the format "checks the disc" is not a bad idea. What I'm a little confused about is that everything I've read - including your thread (which started this whole thing - see what you did?) - states it's a 90 minute or so process. When I change the data partition to f2fs, it's a coupla seconds, and when I format it (which defaults to ext4) it only took 30 minutes or so for the 32 gig.
AND I don't see anywhere where I can "check" the disc for stats and condition, so I'd know what it was/is before I install - unless of course it's staring me in the face - I have problems with things that stare at me.

RBraverman said:
I agree, wiping -I assume the format "checks the disc" is not a bad idea. What I'm a little confused about is that everything I've read - including your thread (which started this whole thing - see what you did?) - states it's a 90 minute or so process. When I change the data partition to f2fs, it's a coupla seconds, and when I format it (which defaults to ext4) it only took 30 minutes or so for the 32 gig.
AND I don't see anywhere where I can "check" the disc for stats and condition, so I'd know what it was/is before I install - unless of course it's staring me in the face - I have problems with things that stare at me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I - and others - say 90 minutes so that people leave it alone, I guess. A few months back, when TWRP first implemented the secure erase, we had lots of people who thought the tablet was stuck and they interrupted the format which led to lots of "help - can't mount anything" posts...
90 minutes is on the extreme outside, but better safe than sorry....

berndblb said:
I - and others - say 90 minutes so that people leave it alone, I guess. A few months back, when TWRP first implemented the secure erase, we had lots of people who thought the tablet was stuck and they interrupted the format which led to lots of "help - can't mount anything" posts...
90 minutes is on the extreme outside, but better safe than sorry....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood. Been a week of amazement . . . . . . .
It was a WHOLE lot faster when first installed, but slowed a bit now BUT still now actually useable.
MANY MANY thanks for "walking" me through this - I've been in IT since large building, that were VERY cold, but now-a-days need to bounce stuff off someone to know I'm thinking correctly.
I've a coupla questions about the setup, but I'll run them through in the correct thread.

How to Install Gapps ? (/system and /data on sd-ext)

My mmc got fried while formatting my /system and /data partition using twrp, so I moved my /system and /data partition to sd-ext partitions which I made using 4EXT recovery using delta-roh Turbo-DATA mod.
Here is what my partitions look like
1st partition -> SD-card -> vfat
2nd partition -> sd-ext -> /system -> ext4
3rd partition -> sd-ext2 -> /data -> ext4
Currently I have cm-11 by Ivanich on my phone but cant install Gapps. I ve been editing the update-binary in the Gapps zip but it always returns me the error that
"This Gapps pkg is for android version 4.4.x ...... Your rom : 2.3.7"
But I have a kitkat installed. I am guessing that its not reading the build.prop correctly. So how do I install Gapps ?
Any help is appreciated ...
More info about my phone
S-off
Bootloader unlocked
Rooted
Recovery : 4EXT
Rom : CM-11 by Ivanich

A recovery with modified ramdisk might be necessary. Maybe @hinxnz can help you with that.

Ok. Can i use the android kitchen to unpack recovery.img and modify it ?
If yes what modifications do I need to make it work ?

Wahaj.47 said:
Ok. Can i use the android kitchen to unpack recovery.img and modify it ?
If yes what modifications do I need to make it work ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can use AIK for recovery image, you'll need to modify fstab like you did with the boot image. I have never unpacked 4ext though and it's a bit outdated now but I've always used ivanich's twrp builds when modifying recovery.
Otherwise you could just modify the updater script in the gapps package to not mount data etc but this will have to be done every time.
Edit: I just read your first post and I'm not sure how you even flashed ROM if your system partition is bad, did you modify the ROMs updater script to flash it to your new system on sd-ext or something? If so gapps could be reading your old system, then I'm thinking is it actually bad or just your data partition is...

hinxnz said:
Yes you can use AIK for recovery image, you'll need to modify fstab like you did with the boot image. I have never unpacked 4ext though and it's a bit outdated now but I've always used ivanich's twrp builds when modifying recovery.
Otherwise you could just modify the updater script in the gapps package to not mount data etc but this will have to be done every time.
Edit: I just read your first post and I'm not sure how you even flashed ROM if your system partition is bad, did you modify the ROMs updater script to flash it to your new system on sd-ext or something? If so gapps could be reading your old system, then I'm thinking is it actually bad or just your data partition is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I modified the roms updater script to mount sd-ext as /system and sd-ext2 as /data.
I cant modify the gapps updater script because its just a dummy file and all the code is in update binary and it needs some experienced programming .
I ll try modifying the recovery's fstab and post the results.
"/etc/recovery.fstab" is that the file I need to modify ?
Edit:
I also tried adding the gapps to the rom zip itself and flashed it but that made the rom useless because it kept rebooting.

Wahaj.47 said:
Yep I modified the roms updater script to mount sd-ext as /system and sd-ext2 as /data.
I cant modify the gapps updater script because its just a dummy file and all the code is in update binary and it needs some experienced programming .
I ll try modifying the recovery's fstab and post the results.
"/etc/recovery.fstab" is that the file I need to modify ?
Edit:
I also tried adding the gapps to the rom zip itself and flashed it but that made the rom useless because it kept rebooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just open update binary with a program like note++ if using windows.
I haven't modified recovery for a little while and haven't got the files in front of me but there are a couple to modify to get everything working, just have a peek round in the folders.

hinxnz said:
Just open update binary with a program like note++ if using windows.
I haven't modified recovery for a little while and haven't got the files in front of me but there are a couple to modify to get everything working, just have a peek round in the folders.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been messing around with the update binary but honestly man I ve got know idea, I am not even close to fixing the damn problem.
I haven't tried modifying the recovery fstab yet. I am gonna do it and see what happens.

Wahaj.47 said:
I have been messing around with the update binary but honestly man I ve got know idea, I am not even close to fixing the damn problem.
I haven't tried modifying the recovery fstab yet. I am gonna do it and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want, upload your recovery image and I'll modify it for you.

hinxnz said:
If you want, upload your recovery image and I'll modify it for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First I tried using the google installer to install gapps but playstore kept crashing so I ruled that out.
Then I modified the recovery.img and flashed pa-gapps-4.4 and it worked . The playstore was still crashing but updating google play service has fixed it, but I am not sure about this, gonna keep testing for a while. Atleast now I have gapps
Thank you very much

I was getting random reboots on cm-11 so I ve moved on to cm-12.1. Can this be a battery fault ?

Wahaj.47 said:
I was getting random reboots on cm-11 so I ve moved on to cm-12.1. Can this be a battery fault ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean shutdowns then yes, otherwise if rebooting then it's something else.
If a full reboot happens, it will show in /proc/last_kmsg

hinxnz said:
If you mean shutdowns then yes, otherwise if rebooting then it's something else.
If a full reboot happens, it will show in /proc/last_kmsg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not experiencing any reboots on cm-12.1, but its lagging a bit. And phone turns off when taking picture with flash on.