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[EP4D/FP1H/FP5E][MOD][ODIN] Change Boot Splash Image

This is from a whole lot of brainstorming, reading, headaches & lack of sleep. I now understand Odin & Heimdall a whole lot better; & my skills with Samsung Android phones have increased a bit more. I hope that at least one person can benefit from having a modified param.lfs for a custom boot splash.
Let me know if there are any ways that I can improve this post.
Before you begin, this is for the fearless types that know what they're doing or go all out even if they're jumping into a tornado. Your phone may soft-brick if something goes wrong.
Modified Instructions (from kmalinich's thread):
Needed:
Rooted Samsung Droid Charge
Working ADB
Latest Odin3
Hacked param.lfs (attached & mirrored)
New jpeg boot logo size 480x800 (less than 64KB - test to see if larger works)
Steps:
Copy your new splash image (logo.jpg) to your sd card however you'd like.
Remove your SIM card for safe keeping until this process is finished
Start Odin
Enter download mode (reboot to it or disconnect the phone, take out the battery, press the volume down button, plugin the USB cable, wait for the download screen to appear & place the battery back in)
Extract param_mod.tar.md5 from droid_charge_param_mod.zip
Flash hacked param_mod.tar.md5 via Odin3 in the PDA area _*ONLY*_
Reboot into CWM recovery
Mount the system partition from within CWM
Open ADB shell
Enter these commands:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl7 /mnt/.lfs
cp /sdcard/logo.jpg /mnt/.lfs/logo.jpg
Reboot and enjoy!
Notes:
I've tested multiple versions of Heimdall with just the modified param.lfs & it fails to upload 99 times out of 100. I recommend Odin3, SamsungPST Lite, or redbend_ua.
The boot splash image only appears for a short while since the Droid Charge kernels have splash images, too. If you'd like the same image for the duration of boot, utilize an app or a guide to change your favorite kernel's splash image.
Mirror:
modded param.lfs - http://db.tt/fjyx4uEf
sample boot splash - http://db.tt/Nj26hmb6
original param.lfs - http://db.tt/HcCZ6O0H
Sources:
Free Your Android - Modifying Samsung Splash Screens (Galaxy S Series + SGS2) <- how I learned to do it
[Mod][ec09] samsung boot splash/image change 7.7.11 - xda-developers <- how I learned about it with the Fascinate
Fixes & verification of FP5E by Tanno of DroidForums

Attempted and soft-bricked phone, I am sure it was my fault, but if you are not comfortable fixing your phone then do not try this mod. That being said it looks sweet and thanks for your effort!

Endless2232 said:
Attempted and soft-bricked phone, I am sure it was my fault, but if you are not comfortable fixing your phone then do not try this mod. That being said it looks sweet and thanks for your effort!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you happen to select "Re-partition"? That will soft-brick your phone if you're only flashing the param.lfs.

CrimsonKnight13 said:
Did you happen to select "Re-partition"? That will soft-brick your phone if you're only flashing the param.lfs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not a complete idiot. =) haha. I will try again later and report back.

Endless2232 said:
Nope, not a complete idiot. =) haha. I will try again later and report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping for the best. I'll do what I can to help & correct any errors that jack phones up. :fingers-crossed:

This looks great; thanks for doing this! I'll give this a try in a few days once I'm reunited with my laptop (and hence have access to Odin).
Some suggestions:
It would be good to provide the stock param.lfs for people who want to return to the original boot logo. Alternatively, you could provide a CWM zip for people who have the mod installed to revert to the original logo.
It's possible to mount filesystems and perform file operations using the Android recovery, so you could create a CWM zip and just instruct people to drop in their logo image of choice and flash it after applying the base modification through Odin. This would reduce the steps required to just flashing the Odin package and then flashing a CWM zip.
Would it be possible to flash the param.lfs file through CWM? This would simplify things even further.
Anyway, thanks again and I look forward to trying this out!

substanceD said:
This looks great; thanks for doing this! I'll give this a try in a few days once I'm reunited with my laptop (and hence have access to Odin).
Some suggestions:
It would be good to provide the stock param.lfs for people who want to return to the original boot logo. Alternatively, you could provide a CWM zip for people who have the mod installed to revert to the original logo.
It's possible to mount filesystems and perform file operations using the Android recovery, so you could create a CWM zip and just instruct people to drop in their logo image of choice and flash it after applying the base modification through Odin. This would reduce the steps required to just flashing the Odin package and then flashing a CWM zip.
Would it be possible to flash the param.lfs file through CWM? This would simplify things even further.
Anyway, thanks again and I look forward to trying this out!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Original param.lfs in tar.md5 format will be posted tonight.
I'm reading mixed news regarding /mnt/.lfs/ file flashing through CWM. Most people are saying its unflashable from CWM but I need to confirm that it can be done.
As far as I know, param.lfs can't be flashed through CWM.
Edit: It appears I can create a CWM zip but I'll need to dig into what others have made to verify that its doing what I need it to do.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1474753

CrimsonKnight13 said:
Original param.lfs in tar.md5 format will be posted tonight.
I'm reading mixed news regarding /mnt/.lfs/ file flashing through CWM. Most people are saying its unflashable from CWM but I need to confirm that it can be done.
As far as I know, param.lfs can't be flashed through CWM.
Edit: It appears I can create a CWM zip but I'll need to dig into what others have made to verify that its doing what I need it to do.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1474753
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure others will get to this before I do, but I'll tinker a bit with this as well - at least in reference to exploring what cwm recovery can do.

Works.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

dwitherell said:
I'm sure others will get to this before I do, but I'll tinker a bit with this as well - at least in reference to exploring what cwm recovery can do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any community effort to make this into a smooth working mod is fine with me. I'll do more research myself tonight.
kvswim said:
Works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great to know.

I attempted to make a usable CWM zip but it fails with a line in the updater-script.
assert(package_extract_file("param.lfs", "/tmp/param.lfs"),write_raw_image("/tmp/param.lfs", "/dev/block/stl7"),delete("/tmp/param.lfs"));
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gives the error:
assert failed: write_raw_image("/tmp/param.lfs", "/dev/block/stl7")
<snip> (Status 7)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering if /dev/block/stl7 is even writable from CWM.
I have attached both zips for anyone's perusal.

CrimsonKnight13 said:
I attempted to make a usable CWM zip but it fails with a line in the updater-script.
It gives the error:
I'm wondering if /dev/block/stl7 is even writable from CWM.
I have attached both zips for anyone's perusal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been playing around with things on my end - but it seems you are right. I've had no luck w/ this as well. Tried a few changes but to no avail. Ah well - other than that your original method worked for me

dwitherell said:
I've been playing around with things on my end - but it seems you are right. I've had no luck w/ this as well. Tried a few changes but to no avail. Ah well - other than that your original method worked for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad that the original method does work & that we both came to the same conclusion. Thanks for looking into it.
Is there a method to split the zImage, change the RLE, & rejoin it into a workable kernel? Making this thread into a boot & kernel splash image mod combo would be nice. I'm coming up empty handed with my searches through Google & XDA. Most modifications are for Sony phones.

Is step #7 something that can be done within the stock recovery or is that a separate ADB command?

nismology said:
Is step #7 something that can be done within the stock recovery or is that a separate ADB command?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't recommend EVER using stock recovery due to the possibility of complications with custom-built zips.
/system can be mounted via adb shell as well. The step assumes that you know how to do it via cwm or adb. If I need to clarify, I can.

CrimsonKnight13 said:
I don't recommend EVER using stock recovery due to the possibility of complications with custom-built zips.
/system can be mounted via adb shell as well. The step assumes that you know how to do it via cwm or adb. If I need to clarify, I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the process of attempting the ADB method of this mod and had CWM installed which was overwritten by the modded param file and step 6 says allow it to boot into recovery which turned out to be the stock one. I guess that is what threw me off.
I guess I didn't know I had to re-Odin CWM to remount the system partition. Just for posterity though, what is the command for mounting it via ADB? I have it all setup already. Thanks for your patience!
Edit: I got it to work. I had to let it boot up, enter shell, get superuser permission, then execute the mount command. This was great ADB practice for a newb like myself. Excellent work and it looks great! Thanks for the how-to!
:good:

nismology said:
I was in the process of attempting the ADB method of this mod and had CWM installed which was overwritten by the modded param file and step 6 says allow it to boot into recovery which turned out to be the stock one. I guess that is what threw me off.
I guess I didn't know I had to re-Odin CWM to remount the system partition. Just for posterity though, what is the command for mounting it via ADB? I have it all setup already. Thanks for your patience!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't & won't overwrite CWM. It is merely overwriting the /dev/block/stl7 partition of your phone.
The mount for system varies if you have rfs or ext4.
rfs
mount once: mount -t rfs -o rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
remount: mount -t rfs -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
ext4
mount once: mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
remount: mount -t ext4 -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
nismology said:
Edit: I got it to work. I had to let it boot up, enter shell, get superuser permission, then execute the mount command. This was great ADB practice for a newb like myself. Excellent work and it looks great! Thanks for the how-to!
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. I'm glad it worked out for you.
Just doing mount is another good way since it calls up fstab or whatever equivalent it might be on the system.

CrimsonKnight13 said:
It doesn't & won't overwrite CWM. It is merely overwriting the /dev/block/stl7 partition of your phone.
The mount for system varies if you have rfs or ext4.
rfs
mount once: mount -t rfs -o rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
remount: mount -t rfs -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
ext4
mount once: mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
remount: mount -t ext4 -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl10 /system
Good to know. I'm glad it worked out for you.
Just doing mount is another good way since it calls up fstab or whatever equivalent it might be on the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. I used a slightly different syntax for mounting /system but it seemed to work out anyway.
And by "just doing mount" are you referring to doing it through CWM? That might be a more straight-forward method indeed. I could use the ADB practice though.

And the original source of my confusion was that step #6 says "allow the phone to reboot into recovery". When you flash the modded param and power on the phone, it automatically boots into stock recovery. It might help other people if the step mentions the fact that you must enter into CWM to mount the system partition instead of "allowing" it to boot up normally, which will result in stock recovery after initial boot-up.

nismology said:
And the original source of my confusion was that step #6 says "allow the phone to reboot into recovery". When you flash the modded param and power on the phone, it automatically boots into stock recovery. It might help other people if the step mentions the fact that you must enter into CWM to mount the system partition instead of "allowing" it to boot up normally, which will result in stock recovery after initial boot-up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, it shouldn't be booting into stock recovery when the modded param.lfs is pushed. If you have already flashed a custom kernel, CWM recovery will stay. If you still have a stock kernel, stock recovery will constantly take over.
Additionally, whenever I did it, due to lack of logo.jpg, it would kick me straight into CWM. I'm unsure what your setup on your phone looks like though.
nismology said:
Thanks for that. I used a slightly different syntax for mounting /system but it seemed to work out anyway.
And by "just doing mount" are you referring to doing it through CWM? That might be a more straight-forward method indeed. I could use the ADB practice though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, mounting through CWM is the easiest way.

[GUIDE] Convert ASUS ZenPad 3S 10 Z500M (P027) from CN to WW

Convert your ZenPad 3s 10 from CN to WW firmware​
This guide will show you how to flash the WW firmware to your ZenPad Z500M that came preloaded with the CN (China) ROM. Up until recently, this was problematic because the CN firmware, as well as the 13.x series in general, is locked down. It does not provide flashing access via the common methods like unlocking+fastboot, recovery or SP Flash Tool. But thanks to a MediaTek temporary root tool invented by some evil genius, it's now possible to upgrade your CN ZenPad to the latest WW ROM. It's well known that this variant comes with Google apps and is fully unlockable and rootable.
DISCLAIMER
Any procedures described in this thread are done at your own risk. No one else will be responsible for any data loss, corruption or damage of your device, including that which results from software bugs.
REQUIREMENTS
An ASUS ZenPad Z500M (P027) tablet with 13.x firmware
Either:
A PC with ADB installed to interact with your device, or
A terminal emulator app
Familiarity with ADB (if using PC) and basic Linux shell commands
Familiarity with the Thanks button under XDA posts
INSTRUCTIONS
Read and understand this whole procedure before you start. This is about as dangerous as installing a full OTA update, and you would have to try hard to mess it up in a way that your device cannot be recovered. But keep in mind that it is a possibility. Make sure your battery has decent charge or plug it into the charger.
Go to Amazing Temp Root for MediaTek ARMv8 and read the directions on how to open a root shell in ADB or a terminal emulator app, and make sure you understand them. Download the latest release of mtk-su. Support the developer.
Download and unzip the recovery image to your tablet. Link below.
Open a root shell and flash the image to your recovery partition with:
Code:
dd if=recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.MSDC0/by-name/recovery bs=1048576
You may need to specify the full path of the img file.
Download the latest 14.x WW firmware from ASUS' support site. Link below.
Put the official zip package in the root of your internal storage. Rename the file by changing the letters "WW" to "CN". That is, rename UL-P027-WW-14.0210.1806.33-user.zip to UL-P027-CN-14.0210.1806.33-user.zip. This has to be done in the same boot session as the recovery flashing step.
At this point, the OS updater should detect the file, prepare the upgrade and ask you to reboot. Confirm that you want to reboot to install. Make sure that you have succeeded step 4.
Your tablet will reboot and automatically install the WW 14.x package. You may need/want to do a factory reset after this.
Alternative method to zip file autodetection: reboot to recovery and do an adb sideload install.
NOTES
Do not try to install any 13.x firmware package using this method. That's because if something goes wrong and your device fails to boot, you would not be able to get root access to repair it. It may be next to impossible to recover it. The 13.x releases are locked down, unlike the 14.x (Android 7) ones.
If for any reason you reboot your tablet after doing the dd flashing step but before successfully installing the 14.x ROM, your original recovery will get restored. You will have to flash it again before trying the upgrade.
Do not try to downgrade from a 14.x FW to 13.x via TWRP. It is a fact that this will make your tablet unbootable because the 13.x packages do not provide all the necessary images.
DOWNLOAD
WW-13.x Recovery Image
ASUS Z500M firmware downloads
CREDITS
Thanks to @lemon0o for successfully testing this method. :good:

Read-only file system error - way out?
Hi diplomatic,
Thanks a lot for sharing this beautiful method. I had two of these tablets with CN firmware and had pretty much given up on them until now.
Edit 2: I successfully used the adb sideload method to update to WW firmware. The autodetect did not work for me.
Original post:
I have had success with steps 1-4 (UID 0, selinux: permissive),
but when I am trying to paste the downloaded firmware file in root folder ( / ) I get the error Read-only file system. I pasted the renamed firmware file in /sdcard/ but the autodetection doesn't work.
I tried remounting root '/' with
Code:
mount -o rw,remount /
I was then able to paste the renamed firmware file (WW to CN) to (root) / . The autodetection still doesn't work.
Is there a guide you can point me to for adb sideload install? I have exposure to linux but haven't explored android innards much. I will keep looking.
Thanks again, really hoping I am able to make this work!

@bkmiictian, I'm glad you figured it out. (And finally have someone respond after like 8 months. ) But FWIW, the upgrade package should go into your internal shared storage to be detected. It's just following the standard installation procedure for Asus. Nothing to do with the root dir of the file system.

diplomatic said:
@bkmiictian, I'm glad you figured it out. (And finally have someone respond after like 8 months. ) But FWIW, the upgrade package should go into your internal shared storage to be detected. It's just following the standard installation procedure for Asus. Nothing to do with the root dir of the file system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had similar issues, was not clear what to do, how to make it recognized.
Here I found great detailed explanation on the asus website (can't put full link as I'm newbie support/FAQ/1011948/ )
Apart from that, great guide !! Thanks a lot!!
Spent hours before that finding a way to either root it or install Google Apps. Tried all rooting apps I could find ...

thanks for the details procedure
Please all noted the file should place under "internal shared storage" not root as seen in adb.
Details steps as provide by Asus in its FAQ:
FAQ/1011948

Hi, Thanks so much for the tutorial.
I'm also having issues with the Z500M with CN firmware.
I followed the steps until getting the selinux: permissive message on ADB.
But I'm lost on what to do with the Recovery.img & the WW 14.x firmware
I copied the files into the root directory, but I don't understand what to do next.
Edit:
Found the procedure to manually install the firmware update from Asus.
Disconnected the USB cable & it told me there was a new update.
After updating, it restarted and showed an android with the message "installing system update" but then it just gave an Error.
Then it restarted saying System update failed. Unknow error. System was restored to previous configuration.
I guess I'm doing something wrong...

I think my issue may be Step 4.
dd if=recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.MSDC0/by-name/recovery bs=1048576
You may need to specify the full path of the img file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That command does not seem to work.
ADB says "No such a file or directory"
If I try with this command I get an error too.
dd if=/root/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11>
dd: /root/recovery.img: Permission denied

danielfd said:
I think my issue may be Step 4.
That command does not seem to work.
ADB says "No such a file or directory"
If I try with this command I get an error too.
dd if=/root/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11>
dd: /root/recovery.img: Permission denied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is the main point of this procedure. Where did you extract recovery.img? If it's, say, in your internal storage, you may need to specify
dd if=/storage/emulated/0/recovery.img of=/dev/block.....
Only reboot to install the FW if you have succeeded with this step.

diplomatic said:
Yes, this is the main point of this procedure. Where did you extract recovery.img? If it's, say, in your internal storage, you may need to specify
dd if=/storage/emulated/0/recovery.img of=/dev/block.....
Only reboot to install the FW if you have succeeded with this step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Diplomatic
The new code seems to work for me.
dd if=/storage/emulated/0/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/mtk-msdc.0/11230000.MSDC0/by-name/recovery bs=1048576
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still get an Error when I try to update to the WW firmware.
Will try the whole process from the beginning.
EDIT:
It worked!
Thanks a lot Diplomatic!
I made a factory reset to the tablet & followed again the steps & the update was successful.

So if I had 14x on Android 7, can I just move to the twrp recovery part of the forum, why not just manually update to 14x from 13x if 14x can be unlocked? Am I missing something?

[Tool][TWRP][ORS]Simplified backup/restore and flashing

What this is: it's a shell script that generates commands for TWRP using its Open Recovery Script (ORS) language. See: https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html
Over the years I've found that I repeatedly did the same set of actions in TWRP, with just file names changing. Being inherently lazy I decided to automate these processes. So now I simply do the following in a Terminal session on my phone:
To backup my current rom: . bf
To backup my current rom and update my current rom (flash over the current rom) which is sort of like an OTA update: .bf -o
To NOT backup my current rom, restore a previous backup, and clean update the rom (wipe system, flash updated rom, Gapps, and Magisk): .bf -brf
To do a backup and clean install (wipe data and system) a rom: . bf -c
The script generates the ORS commands in /cache/recovery/openrecoveryscript and reboots the phone into recovery. TWRP will automatically process the file and, if there are no errors, reboot the system.
Requirements:
- the script must run as root (for access to /cache)
- flashed files must all be in a single directory (/sdcard/@install) and adhere to the following naming conventions:
File names (no spaces):
rom-*.zip
gapps-*.zip
kernel-*.zip (if flashed after Magisk)
Kernel-*.zip (if flashed before Magisk)
MyMods-*.zip (regular mod)
MyTemp-*.zip (one-off mod/fix)
su-*.zip (Magisk or other root installer)
Note: there must only be one file of each these types in the folder, if required. I normally prefix files that I'm not using with an x to avoid multiples, for example I'll have rom-lineage-17.1-20200223* and xrom-lineage-17.1-20200205* in the directory
- a system property (my.version) must be set as it's used to name new backups. I used to add the property to build.prop (using a MyMods zip) but now I use a Magisk MyMods module.
- two additional scripts (depending on the options chosen) are needed to be called in TWRP and must exist in /sdcard/Tools. They are:
rmpwd (remove the lock screen password after restoring a backup)
wipesys (wipes /system or /system_root because TWRP lost the 'wipe system' command - but not 'wipe data' - in version 3)
Limitations:
I've only used it on A-only systems. I have no idea if it works on A/B.
Design notes:
- this is not an executable script because files in /sdcard can't be. But I wanted it (and all my other scripts) in /sdcard so that it is easily accessible. That's why there are no exit statements (only returns) in it as it's run in-line using ". bf" or "source bf".
Usage notes:
- I recommend adding the directory to $PATH (export PATH=$PATH:/sdcard/Tools)
- many of the options (for example b,p,m,s,...) are toggles (on/off switches). They can easily be "flipped" by adding them to the command options. For example, -b is on by default, so specifying it again (. bf -b) turns it off (. bf -bb would leave it on).
- the -v option caters for the transition from one Android version to another. It makes it possible to have a sub-directory with the new version files (gapps, rom, mods), yet using the same su version. For example, if I'm currently on Android 9 but want to test Android 10, then I'd create a directory under /sdcard/@install called 10 (or Q or whatever). then I could switch from my current rom to a new 10 rom (clean install) on using .bf -cv 10 and the script will look in /sdcard/@install/10 for the gapps, mods, and rom. Always specify the -v option last in the list or separately (. bf -...v 10 or . bf -... -v 10).

Reserved.
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs

Thank you very much for sharing your scripts and ideas. I did not even know that there is a chance to script TWRP . My motivation to start my Android Backup and Restore Tools project were very similar to yours ... beside as I am on a Pixel 3a with A/B-system and not having TWRP available (yet(?)) I was looking for a way to do the backup and restore process without TWRP at all.
In addition I prefer transferring the data directly to a remote device. The storage on the devices is always limited and having a backup on the device itself (even if it is only for a limited time period) may cause trouble or at least limits the possible size of the backup which can be done.
Ideal for me would be a method to extract the important components of a ROM (/system, /vendor, /data, ...) off of the device and package them later in a way that they can be flashed back to the device later on e.g. using fastboot. As the new devices go into the direction of userspace fastboot (fastbootd) I am wondering if there would we the chance to "enhance" the fastbootd mode in a way that it can be used as a kind of recovery mode, too.
I am going off topic and just sharing my dreams only ... nevertheless thank you again for sharing!

AndDiSa said:
Thank you very much for sharing your scripts and ideas. I did not even know that there is a chance to script TWRP . My motivation to start my Android Backup and Restore Tools project were very similar to yours ... beside as I am on a Pixel 3a with A/B-system and not having TWRP available (yet(?)) I was looking for a way to do the backup and restore process without TWRP at all.
In addition I prefer transferring the data directly to a remote device. The storage on the devices is always limited and having a backup on the device itself (even if it is only for a limited time period) may cause trouble or at least limits the possible size of the backup which can be done.
Ideal for me would be a method to extract the important components of a ROM (/system, /vendor, /data, ...) off of the device and package them later in a way that they can be flashed back to the device later on e.g. using fastboot. As the new devices go into the direction of userspace fastboot (fastbootd) I am wondering if there would we the chance to "enhance" the fastbootd mode in a way that it can be used as a kind of recovery mode, too.
I am going off topic and just sharing my dreams only ... nevertheless thank you again for sharing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your post. I find it interesting how different requirements produce very different solutions.
One of my main drivers is to do everything on the device itself and avoid using a PC if at all possible.
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs

BillGoss said:
What this is: it's a shell script that generates commands for TWRP using its Open Recovery Script (ORS) language. See: https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting project, thanks.. TWRP on my a/b device (OP7) doesn't show options to backup system or vendor partitions, just the images. Do you happen to know if ORS supports image backup?

Tirofog said:
Interesting project, thanks.. TWRP on my a/b device (OP7) doesn't show options to backup system or vendor partitions, just the images. Do you happen to know if ORS supports image backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately ORS doesn't do images. See the documentation at https://twrp.me/faq/openrecoveryscript.html
Sent from my OnePlus 3T using XDA Labs

@BillGoss Hello, your script shows that it must be possible what I am looking for although that is quite different from what your script provides.
I have two rooted phones with LineageOS based ROMs that don't fully shutdown. If I shut them down from the system they drain the battery more than while in use. Therefore I must first reboot them to recovery and from there shut them down.
I am looking for a script that does exactly that: after being started in system mode reboot to recovery and then poweroff.
I have little knowledge in scripting and thus don't understand your script to reduce it to the requested commands.
Could you, please, help me with such a script?

bege10 said:
@BillGoss Hello, your script shows that it must be possible what I am looking for although that is quite different from what your script provides.
I have two rooted phones with LineageOS based ROMs that don't fully shutdown. If I shut them down from the system they drain the battery more than while in use. Therefore I must first reboot them to recovery and from there shut them down.
I am looking for a script that does exactly that: after being started in system mode reboot to recovery and then poweroff.
I have little knowledge in scripting and thus don't understand your script to reduce it to the requested commands.
Could you, please, help me with such a script?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried just running /system/bin/reboot -p in a Terminal session? That should shutdown your phone.
To do it through TWRP:
Create a file called openrecoveryscript containing the following command cmd reboot -p
Copy the file to /cache/recovery and reboot into recovery.
You can look at the finalize function in my script for how to create your own script to do this.

BillGoss said:
Have you tried just running /system/bin/reboot -p in a Terminal session? That should shutdown your phone.
To do it through TWRP:
Create a file called openrecoveryscript containing the following command cmd reboot -p
Copy the file to /cache/recovery and reboot into recovery.
You can look at the finalize function in my script for how to create your own script to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help.
I tried everything to solve the incomplete poweroff issue, but on one phone it is a known issue in the LineageOS ROM, on the other phone it is an unsolved issue related to Magisk.
Poweroff in TWRP with a openrecoveryscript works without cmd in your answer.
When the phone reboots to TWRP I must decrypt the data partition before the script runs. This is not necessary to just poweroff the phone and an OTA update starts running right away.
What does an OTA update do differently when it reboots to TWRP? What must I do to skip the password screen in TWRP when an openrecoveryscript is in /cache/recovery ?

An ota doesn't use a recovery script. It uses a different way of invoking TWRP. I never liked into it.
You'll need to see if a Los developer can explain to you exactly how an ota works.

BillGoss said:
An ota doesn't use a recovery script. It uses a different way of invoking TWRP. I never liked into it.
You'll need to see if a Los developer can explain to you exactly how an ota works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meanwhile I noticed that this behavior is only on my A/B device where the OTA update is not installed by a TWRP script but before rebooting already. The other, older device is no A/B device and there TWRP starts with the openrecoveryscript right away. But that device is not encrypted. So I am not sure whether it is the standard behavior or due to the fact that is not encrypted.
Do you use your script on an A/B device? Is your phone encrypted? How does TWRP behave?

bege10 said:
Meanwhile I noticed that this behavior is only on my A/B device where the OTA update is not installed by a TWRP script but before rebooting already. The other, older device is no A/B device and there TWRP starts with the openrecoveryscript right away. But that device is not encrypted. So I am not sure whether it is the standard behavior or due to the fact that is not encrypted.
Do you use your script on an A/B device? Is your phone encrypted? How does TWRP behave?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I use my script on my A/B phone. I always run my phone's encrypted. And the behaviour of TWRP is the same as on A-only.
But note that I never used the Los ota updates. I've always downloaded the updates manually then used my script to backup and install.
I don't use TWRP for ota updates on my A/B phone because they are designed to run on a running system.

BillGoss said:
Yes, I use my script on my A/B phone. I always run my phone's encrypted. And the behaviour of TWRP is the same as on A-only.
But note that I never used the Los ota updates. I've always downloaded the updates manually then used my script to backup and install.
I don't use TWRP for ota updates on my A/B phone because they are designed to run on a running system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you need to enter your password/pattern before your script runs in TWRP? Even if you e.g. only run a system backup that does not need decrypted data?

Well I suppose decryption is needed as soon as TWRP wants to mount an encrypted file system. So if e.g. the /etc/fstab of the initial ramdisk (which is used by the kernel when booting TWRP) contains a mount point with a an encypted filesystem TWRP will automatically ask for the key ...

bege10 said:
Do you need to enter your password/pattern before your script runs in TWRP? Even if you e.g. only run a system backup that does not need decrypted data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I do: the backup is written to internal storage which is encrypted. Also, /cache is actually /data/cache on my A/B phone so the storage needs to be decrypted for TWRP to read the ORS.

BillGoss said:
Yes, I do: the backup is written to internal storage which is encrypted. Also, /cache is actually /data/cache on my A/B phone so the storage needs to be decrypted for TWRP to read the ORS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, thank you, then I understand how it works and that I cannot bypass decryption for my workaround for the shutdown issues. I hoped to make it less laborious.

@BillGoss Hello, I once more need your help.
Inspired by your script I tried a simple openrecoveryscript to backup with TWRP.
When I put this line from your script (reduced)
Code:
backup BD `date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`
into openrecoveryscript I get the error
Backup name: '`date' contains invalid characters: '`date'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(translated from German)
A similar problem occurs when I try to set variables: When the script is running it uses any text after the variable name literally as a string. Backticks, quotes, using "cmd" don't change anything.
And using a variable as backup name throws
Backup name: '$name' contains invalid characters: '$name'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the TWRP terminal setting and using variables works as expected.
Does this still work for you? Do you have an idea why using the date command and variables in an ORS doesn't work here?
I use TWRP 3.6.0_9.0 on Fairphone 3, /e/OS (based on LineageOS for microG, Android 10)

bege10 said:
@BillGoss Hello, I once more need your help.
Inspired by your script I tried a simple openrecoveryscript to backup with TWRP.
When I put this line from your script (reduced)
Code:
backup BD `date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`
into openrecoveryscript I get the error
(translated from German)
A similar problem occurs when I try to set variables: When the script is running it uses any text after the variable name literally as a string. Backticks, quotes, using "cmd" don't change anything.
And using a variable as backup name throws
In the TWRP terminal setting and using variables works as expected.
Does this still work for you? Do you have an idea why using the date command and variables doesn't work here?
I use TWRP 3.6.0_9.0 on Fairphone 3, /e/OS (based on LineageOS for microG, Android 10)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you've discovered an ORS is not a Bash script and, therefore, you cannot do things like set variables or use inline commands with `...`. It is processed, I believe, by the "twrp" program inside TWRP.
You could, in the TWRP terminal, run
Code:
twrp backup BD `date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`
If you want to run a shell command in ORS you base to write cmd <shell command> where <shell command> is the actual command.
But what you should be doing is running a shell script on your phone that produces an ORS file which doesn't need to access the shell environment. That's what my bf script is.

Thank you for your quick answer.
Oh no! I didn't realize that your bf script does not write the commands in backticks and the variables into the ORS but their values.
Thank you very much.

In case other ORS noobs like me come around and only want a simple script for regular backup and shutdown I post my solution here.
The bash script ORS_backup_shutdown.sh that creates the openrecoveryscript (this script is part of a Tasker task that afterwards copies and renames the file to /cache/recovery/openrecoveryscript and reboots to recovery):
Code:
scr=/sdcard/Documents/Z/ORS/ORS_backup_shutdown
echo > $scr # initialise ors
slot=`getprop ro.boot.slot_suffix` #active slot for A/B device
dat=`date +%F`
tim=`date +%H-%M-%S`
nam=$dat"--"$tim"_e_FP3-db"$slot # adapted from the default backup name of TWRP
echo set tw_storage_path external_sd >>$scr # internal SD = sdcard
echo backup bdmo $nam >>$scr # m = skip digest, o = compress
echo reboot poweroff >>$scr
And the openrecoveryscript outcome:
Code:
set tw_storage_path external_sd
backup bdmo 2022-05-09--09-18-02_e_FP3-db_b
reboot poweroff

Incremental OTA Payload Extractor - Linux Only currently - Op8T 11.0.9.9.KB05AA Posted

FIRST OFF - THIS IS HIGHLY TECHINICAL AND NOT FOR NON-TECH INCLINED PEOPLE. YOU CAN REALLY MESS UP YOUR PHONE IF YOU DO IT WRONG. SO PAY ATTENTION OR FIND SOMEONE SMARTER THAN YOU WITH THIS ANDROID / LINUX STUFF. YOU DO THIS ON YOUR OWN - NO WARRANTIES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IT'S FOR PEOPLE THAT DON'T WANT TO WAIT FOR THEIR VENDOR TO POST A FULL ROM AND UPDATE RIGHT WHEN AN OTA COMES.
So I wanted to update my rooted Op8T OOS version, and you CAN'T (haha) do it if you're rooted. That's kind of a misconception. I knew there had to be a way... so I found a dead repo out there that used to work on Incremental OTAs. And I read the issues - did not actually work. Why? Because you need to extract the prior firmware (full ROM) first with a Payload extraction tool (most are in Python, and most are Linux-only). Well, they got stuck because the original ROM has one signature (encryption), and the OTA update has another signature, so the program would break when they didn't match. So what did I do??? Well I have to give credit to the dev I forked this from, because he mentioned - of course the signatures don't match, they are different releases! So I did something kind of... well... let's put it this way, you aren't verifying any signatures anymore. So if you screw up and put the wrong ROM base (prior full ROM) and Payload extract the payload.bin, then apply the Incremental OTA, well, you're in for trouble. BE POSITIVE YOU ARE USING THE VERSION OF THE ROM THE OTA IS INTENTED TO INCREMENTALLY UPDATE!!!!
In this case, it was quite clear. I was trying to update an A11 Op8T from OnePlus. It was on 11.0.8.3 ROM and an OTA was posted that was for 11.0.9.9. SO I used a Windows tool to extract the first set of files (the full ROM is huge BTW). The incremental update came as a 150mb file zipped up, but it modified the BIG files. Once it finished, I found that system and system_ext are not flashable (grew in size, can't resize super on active slot, not updated), the rest are. And you MUST flash from fastbootd - this is kind of a mysterious new place with modern AB devices. It can be a pain to actually get there. The standard steps if you're on stock recovery are to enable developer options, USB debugging, install the Latest ADB and Fastboot https://github.com/fawazahmed0/Latest-adb-fastboot-installer-for-windows/releases/tag/v1.7 (this script will update it for you). Ignore the God references it's a batch file you can just modify it, and I don't judge. It will pull the latest versions (Minimal ADB and Fastboot are super outdated). Next steps...
Now, getting an incremental update off a rooted phone is not easy. 1) you have to flash a stock boot.img and recovery.img. 2) you have to basically uninstall Magisk, or at least the images 3) then you MAY be able to download with Oxygen Updater or the system app. It won't install though because root is fully exposed. Once it's downloaded, it appears in some very strange location with a random character string.zip I believe. So now you have to reinstall Magisk (to get adb shell SU access). So after I confirmed it downloaded (but wouldn't flash), I had to hook my phone up to the USB cable, go to the PC and Latest ADB and Fastboot folder, adb shell, su, then cd /; find . -name *.zip > /dev/null 2>&1; to cut out some of the garbage output and scroll until I found a logical zip stored somewhere (a folder than sounded like a OnePlus update folder). Then I did a: cp [random characters.zip] /sdcard/Download/OTA_Update.zip, which I could then transfer from my phone to PC with a USB cable. Developer options / default mode USB File Transfer FYI.
Okay that was one of the hard parts. Now next to more hard parts. You need a Linux environment (I used WSL2 Debian Buster). The easiest setup (after spending hours attempting to get the correct packages loaded) was to install the personal version of Anaconda Python x64 for AMD64 processors for Linux. Then I could use conda install [package name] for missing dependencies as the program would throw errors. Yes you have to read the errors or you won't be able to figure out what is actually not installed. Anyhow, the modded forked repo of python files is here: git clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/mrslezak/update_payload_extractor.git - now if git isn't setup on your Linux box, well, you're in for some trouble.
So once it's installed, you need to actually use python3 commands for each step - so anywhere you see "python" put "python3" instead as most machines have both 2.7 and 3.X installed. I used Python 3.8 something, so ignore the 3.6 it's not required. So here I took a payload.bin extracted with a Windows.exe file (available somewhere on XDA, there are severel, one is Go based) and copied them once extracted from the original ROM to the WSL instance on my Win10 PC. Now there come issues here. They need to go into an "old" directory you must create (in update_payload_extractor directory), and copying from Windows will make them root access only, so a: sudo chown user:user old/ is required to get it writable. I believe the program will make the rest of the files on its own. They will end up in "output." You just need to extract the payload.bin and payload.properties files from the incremental update you extracted and place them in the update_payload_extractor directory.
Now there is some strange stuff going on, this was always beta, and never working. So I took the note of the issues and blocked a Google certificate validation routine (just commented it out) so it doesn't verify anything. I say it again BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL THAT YOUR PRIOR FULL ROM AND OTA UPDATE ARE MEANT TO BE USED TOGETHER. Anyhow, run what it says if your system is setup:
Incremental OTA​
Copy original images (from full OTA or dumped from devices) to old folder (with part name without file extension, ex: boot, system) - I put an .sh script here if your files are .img called remove_img_extension_old.sh - note that GitHub sometimes loses the execute permission so you may have to type: sudo chmod +x remove_img_extension_old.sh. It is meant to be run from the root of the project. ./remove_img_extension_old.sh
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./lib64/ ./extract.py --output_dir output/ --old_dir old/ payload.bin
The above line will start the extract and combine process the OTA usually does on your phone, and output the files to the output directory. Once those are generated, then you can run another helper script I wrote to add back .img to each file called add_img_extension_output.sh again meant to be run from the root folder. Now you need to copy these output files (no guarantee all are updated, it will have all of them - on Op8T system and system_ext couldn't be flashed because they grew in size, and I don't know how to expand the super partition space to enable them to flash, so they aren't in the linked file - it still updates). The files on Op8T ending in lp5 are RAM files for the newest devices that are running LPDDR5 memory, the flash.bat script will need to be modified if you have one of these (2 flashes). The way I made the file will work in 98% of devices.
Okay I run the rest from Windows, so now it gets a little tricky. You need to get into Fastbootd, which means flash boot.img (you just extracted it), flash recovery image (same), using fastboot flash boot boot.img, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img. Now getting to fastbootd can be quite perplexing. You may just have your phone on, type adb reboot bootloader, then type fastboot reboot fastboot, and be in fastbootd (it will look like stock recovery but say fastbootd on top). The other way is to boot to recovery (developer options extended boot menu makes this much easier), then select Fastboot. Sometimes you get Fastboot and sometimes Fastbootd. It seems quite random. DON'T START THE FLASH_ALL.BAT UNTIL YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FASTBOOTD!!!!
The fastboot command to tell you if you are in fastbootd (it will report yes if so: fastboot getvar is-userspace
Otherwise, those files will NOT be allowed to flash to your device, and you will end up with some random combination of prior and updated files. That could end badly. Once you DO get to Fastbootd, run the flash_all.bat, and DON'T SWITCH SLOTS. Yes, this is an OTA, but you already patched the files. Upon successful flashing, you can reboot to fastboot and flash a patched kernel with Magisk already enabled such as my forked Radioactive here: https://github.com/mrslezak/Radioactive_kernel_oneplus8/releases/tag/v2.2.5-MOD - the .img file is a Magisk patched custom kernel, you can also flash the twrp alpha (that seems to work in my experience, it's just slow, on OOS works fine despite warnings it doesn't). https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-11-alpha-teamwin-recovery-project-8t-kebab.4302449/ fastboot commands for the kernel: fastboot flash boot image_name.img; recovery fastboot flash recovery twrp_name.img.
I successfully updated while rooted from the prior ROM version. I'm sure it will work on many phones. Best of luck to you!!! I did find out how to install "the full ROM" unreleased on a rooted phone, there is some undocument fastboot stuff I had to figure out (temp system-cow and system_ext-cow files that use up all the space in the super partition) so I added them to my batch file. Now install for whatever device you have, and watch out for those weird temp files that aren't documented anywhere that I could find. Took literally hours to get it working, but it does now!!!

BTW if anyone knows how to resize the super partition, that would complete this project. I.e. you could flash the patched system and system_ext on an Op8T.
Your phone may have no issue or no super partition, then you don't care, it's not needed. I can't recall when dynamic (resizable) partitions came out but I think in Android 10 some devices started to use them. They are developer hell in my opinion.
Some TWRP versions allow you to just resize the partition on the fly, while on my phone, it's not an added feature yet. I'm also not sure if the resize does an auto-wipe either then you could also find yourself in trouble if you couldn't immediately get to Fastbootd. Some ROMs will boot to "Device is corrupt" if things like this change, just a warning, which I tried by switching A/B slots, but I had luckily installed TWRP on the other partition and was able to switch slots there and go back to booting.
UPDATE: I was able to eventually locate why the Super partition was getting full - there are temp files created as dynamic partitions when trying to install an OTA - I had to delete any logical partitions with the extension "-cow" which existed for system and system_ext (on the Op8T I was using), I was on slot A, so they were called system_a-cow and system_ext-cow, I deleted them like this:
fastboot delete-logical-partition system_a-cow
fastboot delete-logical-partition system_ext_a-cow
To see if you have any temp files present, you type:
fastboot getvar-all
And scroll through them and see if any of these mystery -cow files are present.
(bootloader) is-logical:system_a-cow:yes
(bootloader) is-logical:system_ext_a-cow:yes
Whew! That was a pain. But no more waiting for incremental updates to become full ROMs anymore on a rooted phone!
Oh, and I put the update for OOS here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...install-from-fastbootd.4316147/#post-85441161

a7y18lte: Porting on postmarketOS

Hi guys,
Here, for those who are interested, I'm maintaining the packages to use postmarketOS on bare-metal hardware.
I only tested the A750FN variant.
Check it out!
Feedbacks are welcome!
Many thanks:
@VDavid003 for kernel sources

Thanks alot for making this contribution

M0Rf30 said:
Hi guys,
Here, for those who are interested, I'm maintaining the packages to use postmarketOS on bare-metal hardware.
I only tested the A750FN variant.
Check it out!
Feedbacks are welcome!
Many thanks:
@VDavid003 for kernel sources
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After a week or 2 i can get back home and test it , so keep making these and I'll test them and tell you about my experience

Hello, can you share how you did it? I can't find any files for flashing on the postmarketos wiki page, I have TWRP installed.

Arm1nas said:
Hello, can you share how you did it? I can't find any files for flashing on the postmarketos wiki page, I have TWRP installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tested it yet , but you'll have to use the pmbootstrap tool to build a zip that you can flash through the TWRP
The wiki of postmarketOS explains how to use the pmbootstrap tool. Go check it out

animegamer4422 said:
I haven't tested it yet , but you'll have to use the pmbootstrap tool to build a zip that you can flash through the TWRP
The wiki of postmarketOS explains how to use the pmbootstrap tool. Go check it out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured it out. I created an Ubuntu VM and built it. I am not sure why but now the phone doesn't boot to pmOS, it just spits out some errors or there is only a terminal. TWRP says it can't mount /system, maybe I have to reflash the recovery.

Arm1nas said:
I figured it out. I created an Ubuntu VM and built it. I am not sure why but now the phone doesn't boot to pmOS, it just spits out some errors or there is only a terminal. TWRP says it can't mount /system, maybe I have to reflash the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's a issue with the recovery and also it's normal for TWRP to not be able to mount the system
Let's try to diagnose it by going through the error
Could you upload the log and also the screenshot of the error that it spits out
Also upload the built image to some cloud service and send the link here so that i don't have to go through and build the image again
Thanks for testing it out and I'll join you soon so keep trying and I'll try to do everything i can to help you , Have a good day.

animegamer4422 said:
I don't think it's a issue with the recovery and also it's normal for TWRP to not be able to mount the system
Let's try to diagnose it by going through the error
Could you upload the log and also the screenshot of the error that it spits out
Also upload the built image to some cloud service and send the link here so that i don't have to go through and build the image again
Thanks for testing it out and I'll join you soon so keep trying and I'll try to do everything i can to help you , Have a good day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pmos-samsung-a7y18lte.zip
drive.google.com
I think that it's trying to install itself to /system partition which is very small, and the "data" partition is like 50GB. Maybe it's a problem with PBRP (I can't install twrp, it doesn't work for me).
Can you try installing this file and testing if it works for you, or is it the same problem?

Arm1nas said:
pmos-samsung-a7y18lte.zip
drive.google.com
I think that it's trying to install itself to /system partition which is very small, and the "data" partition is like 50GB. Maybe it's a problem with PBRP (I can't install twrp, it doesn't work for me).
Can you try installing this file and testing if it works for you, or is it the same problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to test it , but currently I'm not at my home and my A7 is at home (since It's not my daily driver) but I'll test it as soon as I can get back home
Until then
Keep figuring out things
Also I think you can use the TWRP terminal to Change the size of system partition using the resize2fs command i guess
I found this when I looked into it
First to clarify, Resize Partition is different than Resize File System, TWRP provides latter option. It resizes the ext2/3/4 filesystem to the size of partition it's created on. Filesystem size can be checked with df command when mounted, and partition size with blockdev. Just like HDDs or SSDs on PC, Android's eMMC storage is divided into partitions (can be 50+). Some of them have filesystem e.g. the larger ones userdata and system. In simple cases a filesystem occupies a complete physical partition, but it's not always the case, LVM makes it possible to have single filesystem on multiple partitions. Or the opposite what happened in your case as explained here: Sometimes the zip file of: a custom ROM does not have the correct size for the system partition and if the ROM flashes a raw system image, that image will not take up the full block device. Running resize2fs can fix the size Similarly: Sometimes flashing a factory image may flash userdata with an image with a file system that does not take up the full size of the block device So TWRP can expand the filesystem to reclaim wasted space. That's what happened in your case to the /system partition. The actual size of partition was 2.5 GB, but flashed image was of 1.5 GB. Coming to your query: I realized that the system partition is too big (~1.5GB). The current ROM uses only about 40% of the partition so I want to shrink it to make space for cache and data. You want to resize partition, not filesystem. So resize2fs (which TWRP uses at back end) isn't the right choice. As your partition table suggests, you need to delete and recreate partitions 9 to 12. IT'S DANGEROUS AND NOT RECOMMENDED, you may permanently brick your device. All data on these partitions will be lost, so do backup. Also, fdisk isn't proper tool for GPT, it's for MBR partition scheme. Use parted or gdisk instead, but with great care.
So now you can just resize the system partition in case it's size is smaller than the image (not likely in my opinion)

animegamer4422 said:
I'd love to test it , but currently I'm not at my home and my A7 is at home (since It's not my daily driver) but I'll test it as soon as I can get back home
Until then
Keep figuring out things
Also I think you can use the TWRP terminal to Change the size of system partition using the resize2fs command i guess
I found this when I looked into it
First to clarify, Resize Partition is different than Resize File System, TWRP provides latter option. It resizes the ext2/3/4 filesystem to the size of partition it's created on. Filesystem size can be checked with df command when mounted, and partition size with blockdev. Just like HDDs or SSDs on PC, Android's eMMC storage is divided into partitions (can be 50+). Some of them have filesystem e.g. the larger ones userdata and system. In simple cases a filesystem occupies a complete physical partition, but it's not always the case, LVM makes it possible to have single filesystem on multiple partitions. Or the opposite what happened in your case as explained here: Sometimes the zip file of: a custom ROM does not have the correct size for the system partition and if the ROM flashes a raw system image, that image will not take up the full block device. Running resize2fs can fix the size Similarly: Sometimes flashing a factory image may flash userdata with an image with a file system that does not take up the full size of the block device So TWRP can expand the filesystem to reclaim wasted space. That's what happened in your case to the /system partition. The actual size of partition was 2.5 GB, but flashed image was of 1.5 GB. Coming to your query: I realized that the system partition is too big (~1.5GB). The current ROM uses only about 40% of the partition so I want to shrink it to make space for cache and data. You want to resize partition, not filesystem. So resize2fs (which TWRP uses at back end) isn't the right choice. As your partition table suggests, you need to delete and recreate partitions 9 to 12. IT'S DANGEROUS AND NOT RECOMMENDED, you may permanently brick your device. All data on these partitions will be lost, so do backup. Also, fdisk isn't proper tool for GPT, it's for MBR partition scheme. Use parted or gdisk instead, but with great care.
So now you can just resize the system partition in case it's size is smaller than the image (not likely in my opinion)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The /system partition is 3.9G big.
This is everything:
https://imgur.com/MOKz0uR

Arm1nas said:
The /system partition is 3.9G big.
This is everything:
https://imgur.com/MOKz0uR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry i was sick from past 2 days so couldn't reply earlier
Anyways could you like drop to a shell when you boot up postmarketOS
If yes then check the dmesg
I also think you'll have to flash a special kernel which could also be obtained from the pmbootstrap tool
Also it'd be great if you could record a video of the phone booting up into postmarketOS as that'd help us understand until how far it can reach and where it gets stuck
Thanks alot and Take care

animegamer4422 said:
Sorry i was sick from past 2 days so couldn't reply earlier
Anyways could you like drop to a shell when you boot up postmarketOS
If yes then check the dmesg
I also think you'll have to flash a special kernel which could also be obtained from the pmbootstrap tool
Also it'd be great if you could record a video of the phone booting up into postmarketOS as that'd help us understand until how far it can reach and where it gets stuck
Thanks alot and Take care
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, did you make any progress with it? I will try installing pmOS again and recording everything.

This is my installation procedure:
On a Ubuntu 20.04 VM I run:
$ pmbootstrap init
I select my device, DE, go through the setup.
Then I type:
$ pmbootstrap install --android-recovery-zip
$ pmbootstrap export
Then on the phone I unmount everything:
https://imgur.com/PlQZ1oB
Go to ADB sideload:
https://imgur.com/xf1FBzQ
https://imgur.com/H9AbkXY
I connect the phone to my computer and use this command to install pmOS:
$ adb sideload pmos.zip
I recorded the installation procedure:
As you can see it boots up the first time, the file system only has 2.6GB free, when it reboots again, it just boots into busybox terminal. When trying to boot up it gives me these errors:
https://imgur.com/qEtwRlx
I logged in and typed:
$ df -H
This is the output:
https://imgur.com/7n61Vm3
If I try to start the desktop environment with $ startx command I get these errors:
https://imgur.com/8xOA1kc
dmesg output:
https://imgur.com/eizBP3m
https://imgur.com/nP8aAaB
This is the phone's partition layout:
https://imgur.com/9xNmaAV
https://i.imgur.com/M0m3GjW.png

D
Arm1nas said:
This is my installation procedure:
On a Ubuntu 20.04 VM I run:
$ pmbootstrap init
I select my device, DE, go through the setup.
Then I type:
$ pmbootstrap install --android-recovery-zip
$ pmbootstrap export
Then on the phone I unmount everything:
https://imgur.com/PlQZ1oB
Go to ADB sideload:
https://imgur.com/xf1FBzQ
https://imgur.com/H9AbkXY
I connect the phone to my computer and use this command to install pmOS:
$ adb sideload pmos.zip
I recorded the installation procedure:
As you can see it boots up the first time, the file system only has 2.6GB free, when it reboots again, it just boots into busybox terminal. When trying to boot up it gives me these errors:
https://imgur.com/qEtwRlx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply
Anyways i just got home and have the smartphone I'm my hands
So i can too test it out
Also I think we should try switching to Wayland as X seems to be crashing
By using Wayland if it works we'll know that it's not a Xorg issue but if Wayland too fails we'll know that it's a big in the Kernel and the way it handles hardware
Also could you create a Telegram group for us to chat instantly I think that way we can help each other better and then we'll just create a general guide on fixing things ok XDA
(I cannot post links since I didn't started the thread)[/url]

Arm1nas said:
This is my installation procedure:
On a Ubuntu 20.04 VM I run:
$ pmbootstrap init
I select my device, DE, go through the setup.
Then I type:
$ pmbootstrap install --android-recovery-zip
$ pmbootstrap export
Then on the phone I unmount everything:
https://imgur.com/PlQZ1oB
Go to ADB sideload:
https://imgur.com/xf1FBzQ
https://imgur.com/H9AbkXY
I connect the phone to my computer and use this command to install pmOS:
$ adb sideload pmos.zip
I recorded the installation procedure:
As you can see it boots up the first time, the file system only has 2.6GB free, when it reboots again, it just boots into busybox terminal. When trying to boot up it gives me these errors:
https://imgur.com/qEtwRlx
I logged in and typed:
$ df -H
This is the output:
https://imgur.com/7n61Vm3
If I try to start the desktop environment with $ startx command I get these errors:
https://imgur.com/8xOA1kc
dmesg output:
https://imgur.com/eizBP3m
https://imgur.com/nP8aAaB
This is the phone's partition layout:
https://imgur.com/9xNmaAV
https://i.imgur.com/M0m3GjW.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply
Anyways ...post links since I didn't started the thread)

Arm1nas said:
This is my installation procedure:
On a Ubuntu 20.04 VM I run:
$ pmbootstrap init
I select my device, DE, go through the setup.
Then I type:
$ pmbootstrap install --android-recovery-zip
$ pmbootstrap export
Then on the phone I unmount everything:
https://imgur.com/PlQZ1oB
Go to ADB sideload:
https://imgur.com/xf1FBzQ
https://imgur.com/H9AbkXY
I connect the phone to my computer and use this command to install pmOS:
$ adb sideload pmos.zip
I recorded the installation procedure:
As you can see it boots up the first time, the file system only has 2.6GB free, when it reboots again, it just boots into busybox terminal. When trying to boot up it gives me these errors:
https://imgur.com/qEtwRlx
I logged in and typed:
$ df -H
This is the output:
https://imgur.com/7n61Vm3
If I try to start the desktop environment with $ startx command I get these errors:
https://imgur.com/8xOA1kc
dmesg output:
https://imgur.com/eizBP3m
https://imgur.com/nP8aAaB
This is the phone's partition layout:
https://imgur.com/9xNmaAV
https://i.imgur.com/M0m3GjW.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed plasma desktop and it seems to be working great though there's no on screen keyboard so i had to use a USB OTG to connect a external keyboard and unlock the device and use it And also the performance is not very great it lags alot probably due to the lack of GPU acceleration

animegamer4422 said:
I installed plasma desktop and it seems to be working great though there's no on screen keyboard so i had to use a USB OTG to connect a external keyboard and unlock the device and use it And also the performance is not very great it lags alot probably due to the lack of GPU acceleration
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What method did you use to flash pmOS? And what recovery do you have? Mind sharing the built pmOS files, so I can flash it myself?

Arm1nas said:
What method did you use to flash pmOS? And what recovery do you have? Mind sharing the built pmOS files, so I can flash it myself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created a recovery zip using Pmbootstrap and also I set the free space parameter (after running pmbootstrap init) to 2000mb (2gb)
And then i copied that zip file from the temp directory to a Pendrive and connected the pendrive to the phone in recovery mode (PBRP Recovery) and then flashed it
I'll upload the files in a bit
Also I tried using Phosh but it just gets to the Login TTY and then doesn't boots up and i think that's because the device lacks GPU acceleration

Also here's a Telegram group link which I'll delete once you join the group
~REMOVED~

M0Rf30 said:
Hi guys,
Here, for those who are interested, I'm maintaining the packages to use postmarketOS on bare-metal hardware.
I only tested the A750FN variant.
Check it out!
Feedbacks are welcome!
Many thanks:
@VDavid003 for kernel sources
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello, are this thread still active?