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[Q] Deleting APKs from /data/app

Thinking like Linux, the APKs being stored in /data/app (in Adroid) that I could delete these installer files. Then everything started crashing, so I figured I would force a reboot. Now my Nexus 5 is stuck in an animated bootup. I cannot force it OFF to do a factory reset, as I cannot pull a battery. I will have to let the battery drain.
Factory reset as I understand is VOL UP & DOWN and POWER buttons
Any comments?

What name file are you deleted
Sent from my PICOpadGCE

fresti said:
What name file are you deleted
Sent from my PICOpadGCE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all the APKs similar to deleting the DEB/RPM installer files in Linux ROOT
However, I resolved this issue with:
Nexus ROOT Toolkit v1.8.0 to reset to factory
I am now back to factory
BTW, do NOT delete APKs from /data/app unless you do not want that app anymore.

I think your deleting apk is system app... so u always go to boot loop cause your system cant load data system after you delete that...
Sent from my PICOpadGCE

Galaxy S7 SM-G930F (6.0.1) - System Partition Size

Hi All
I am hoping someone can help... I have the Galaxy S7 (SM-G930F / 6.0.1 / UK / EE) and have come up with an issue.
I use Cerberus Apps in case my phone is lost - you are able to install this into the system to avoid someone wiping the phone and removing the software. To do this the phone must be rooted and then I usually use Link2SD to transfer the app to make it a system app. This has always worked on my old phones - but alas not this time.
The problem is that the system partition (4Gb) is full!! I have deleted all the language packs to try and clear some space - but it is still full! Strangely enough I also uninstalled an "Amazon" app which was listed as being a system app and quite large (from memory I think it was just under 100Mb)... but when I removed it and rebooted the system partition free space remained unchanged! It's possible that Amazon was a user app and I mis-read it... but anyway - I thought that the only way to clear some space was to resize the system partition - so I installed TWRP (3.0.2), have done a complete backup (system/efs/etc) apart from \data as this showed 0Mb and "failed to mount" when I tried to back it up originally.
So, my question is - can anyone help me to free some space from the system partition to allow Cerberus App to be stored there? I did think about uninstalling the VR Gear files as I dont have a VR device and assumed I could re-load these from Google Play if needed - but I do have the Galaxy Gear watch - so decided not to remove these files in case it screwed this up. Not sure which Google Apps I can remove and re-install if needed... so if anyone knows this, then that would be a help too
I thought you could resize the partition in TWRP but cant find any clear details on how to do this, so thought I'd ask here before I screw the phone up :silly:
Any ideas/help greatly received.

TWRP doesn't support encryption so that's likely why /data won't mount. Resizing partitions is typically done via Odin with PIT files, but it's very dangerous, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Luxembourg ROMs have around 130mb free system space, so there must be a ton of carrier bloat in yours. This doesn't sound right though, it's required that there is some space for expansion. Could you run the following command in a root terminal and post the results please?
df -k | grep system

CurtisMJ said:
df -k | grep system
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Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I left my phone at home today, so will try this tonight and post results. After deleting all the unwanted language files I have about 40Mb space free, but this still doesnt seem to be enough as when I run Link2SD and reboot the phone, Cerberus has vanished and has to be re-installed... although when it re-installs it shows it as an "update" which would indicate that it is installed already - just 'lost' ???
Will update tonight when I get a moment.
Thanks

That's interesting actually. It seems to be indicative of permission issues. The app was successfully moved to the system, but the permissions on its files were wrong and the system refuses to load it(Link2SD's fault, essentially) . It's still acknowledged by the app manager though, which is why it can be "updated". Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.

CurtisMJ said:
Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.
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Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I have Titanium Backup (free version) installed already so can give it a go - I have only used it for backups (a long while ago) and have never used it to relocate an app... is it fairly self explanatory how to do it?
Will look tonight when I get in
Thanks

Just tried with titanium myself and it fails in a similar manner. Seems Marshmallow is a little fiddly and Link2SD puts out a generic message when it has issues. Titanium just freezes. You'll have to do it manually
First you'll need to clear the system of failed attempts. Look in the /system/app and /system/priv-app with a root Explorer for Cerberus apks or folders. Next, look in the /data/app folder and find the Cerberus folder. Take note of this path.
Next, fire up a root terminal and enter the following commands. In my case I was moving Greenify.
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp - a /data/app/com.oasisfeng.greenify-1 /system/app/Greenify
Replace the data folder with your noted path. The system path can be anything.
Then reboot and the app should be system.

Hi Curtis
Thanks for spending so much time on this.
OK, I skipped straight to the manual relocation method that you said. Whilst the app is Cerberus the APK etc is called System Framework as I have installed the 'hidden' version rather than the one which shows as Cerberus on the phone. However using OI File Manager, when I look in /system/app and /system/priv-app folders there is nothing called Cerberus or System Framework... so I am assuming that there are no orphaned APKs or other files.
But, this is where the strange thing starts, when I look in the /data/app folder, it is empty... so I am guessing I am looking in the wrong place as there are loads of apps! I am looking from home then selecting data, etc... any thoughts?
Oh, I have checked that hidden files are shown too!
Thanks again

i used to install the same app on my S7
please follow this guide & let me know the result.
1- uninstall Cerberus App, Link2SD, TTb, etc. and reboot
2- install SystemCleanup.
3- from the app SystemCleanup swip to tab apps and remove some bloatware like Google books, music, games, google TTS.
4- Reboot & install Cerberus App, do not run it.
5- from the app SystemCleanup go to apps tab and move Cerberus App to system/app & reboot again.
6- That's all.
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Click to collapse

Hi Abuzar
Thanks for the help... I tried using System Cleanup and initially it didn't work... it didn't show System Framework after cleaning up which made me think it was uninstalled properly. But when I tried to re-install it I got a message asking if I wanted to update the the built in application... so I said yes and re-checked in System Cleanup and it was visible, so I tried uninstalling it and after a couple of attempts it succeeded.
Then I re-installed and it installed it as a new app and it was visible in System Cleanup as installed in /data. So, I moved it to /system and configured it. It now lists in System Cleanup as being installed @auto system+data... so I am assuming it has installed properly... but not 100% sure as it lists some of it in data - so not sure if after a reset it will wipe the user profile from Cerberus or not.
I took a backup in TWRP and thought I would do a factory reset and test it... but on the S7 using factory reset in O/S it asks for my samsung password etc so looks like it may delete my Samsung/Google account's so didn't proceed as I didn't want to delete any online info. So... I tried factory wipe in TWRP but it just said failed "could not mount /data and unable to find crypto footer" and a few more "failed to mount /data" errors... so I gave up and will have to assume its installed properly as a system app
Thanks for all your help.

Just as a final note, the system+data combo sounds normal. Under regular conditions, the system partition is read only, so in order to install any updates to system apps, Android actually installs them as data apps, but cross-references them to system apps and gives them the relevant permissions. You can remove the data part by selecting "Uninstall Updates" in the app info page.

Moving user apps to system apps.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post.
I rooted my Samsung j7 sm700t, I'm trying to move a user app to system app and nothing is working. I've tried we es eplorere and changed permisions, tried lucky patcher, tried system/app/mover same thing.
When I more the app it disappears from user interface but is still in system/app folder.
I've searched a long time on the web but no answers, from what I can tell allot of other people have the same problem.
I'd be super grateful if you can help me out.

Have you installed custom recovery? Try compressing it in .zip & flash it from recovery.

funkysloth said:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post.
I rooted my Samsung j7 sm700t, I'm trying to move a user app to system app and nothing is working. I've tried we es eplorere and changed permisions, tried lucky patcher, tried system/app/mover same thing.
When I more the app it disappears from user interface but is still in system/app folder.
I've searched a long time on the web but no answers, from what I can tell allot of other people have the same problem.
I'd be super grateful if you can help me out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you doing? Moving user apps to system? Or moving system apps to user?
After moving the apps, did you immediately reboot to recovery and wipe cache and or Dalvik/ART cache if you have custom recovery? Of you didn't do this then that's probably why you're having issues.
Any time you move apps "to" or "from" /system/app or /system/priv-app, you have to boot to recovery and wipe ONLY the cache partition and Dalvik/ART cache then reboot.
It has to do this because before you make the move, the app is already loaded and has cached data that was created when it was in its original location, after making the move, if that cached data is still in cache then the device thinks and acts as if the app is still wherever you moved it from. This causes a conflict and it doesn't know what to "do" or "not do". Wiping cache and rebooting let's the system load and create new cached data for the apps new location.
Also, did you enable root explorer in ES File Explorer, did you also set mount r/w permissions in ES File Explorer.
Are you using the most up to date SuperSU and updated su binaries?
On a side note I suggest you read the Forum Rules here. Don't ever mention or use any kind of warez(Lucky Patcher is an example of warez) while you are a member of XDA. This website is created by developers for developers, it's not a good idea to use or discuss software designed to steal their work(warez) in their own kingdom.
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Titanium backup??

LG Sunset (LG33L) deleted wrong app question

I know this is probably a shot in the dark, but the phone was rooted with kingroot and working great, I decided to be an idiot and factory reset. I must've deleted a system app that made the phone function properly. The lock screen doesn't work. The recent apps button does nothing either. Also, when I restart the phone it starts the whole factory reset process over. Does anyone have any idea what LG app may govern these things? The phone works besides this, but that is pretty major stuff. I know it's a cheap phone but I thought it was worth asking.

CaptainPatterson said:
I know this is probably a shot in the dark, but the phone was rooted with kingroot and working great, I decided to be an idiot and factory reset. I must've deleted a system app that made the phone function properly. The lock screen doesn't work. The recent apps button does nothing either. Also, when I restart the phone it starts the whole factory reset process over. Does anyone have any idea what LG app may govern these things? The phone works besides this, but that is pretty major stuff. I know it's a cheap phone but I thought it was worth asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can find a copy of your stock firmware, you can:
1) extract the system apps from the firmware(they'll be in the /system/app and /system/priv-app folder, extract the ones that you don't currently have on the device), then push those apps to the corresponding folder on the device using adb push or by using an app that has a root browser.
2) extract the /system/app folder and the /system/priv-app folder, then use adb push to push them back to /system on the device.
3) extract the entire system.img from the firmware then use adb shell and a dd command to dd the system.img on the device to replace the corrupted system with a complete system.
Or you can get copies of what you don't have from another member here with the same device and firmware then use those to replace the deleted apps
After getting them back to where they go, boot to recovery and wipe cache but don't factory reset.
It's always best to disable or hibernate system apps first to determine whether they are needed, if disabling/hibernating them cause issues then you know they can't be deleted, in this case, re-enable/unhibernate the app. If disabling/hibernating an app doesn't cause an issue, then it's safe to remove/uninstall that app. Do this process one app at a time and you'll figure out what you have to keep and what can be gotten rid of. And remember, after removing or adding system apps, you have to boot to recovery and wipe cache partition (and/or dalvik/ART cache if you have custom recovery). Failing to do the wipe will definitely cause issues.
@CaptainPatterson, I added more info.
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Google dialer phone number lookup

Good day,
I currently have the Google dialer app version 19 running on my OP6 Pie AOSP ROM. This built-in dialer does not have the phone number lookup option but I do have another Dialer.apk which does have the option. When I install the second APK, it installs fine but crashes when I open the phone number lookup.
Is there a way to fix the crash? Is another APK to install or some other mod?
Thanks for your time and help.

nickelnine said:
Good day,
I currently have the Google dialer app version 19 running on my OP6 Pie AOSP ROM. This built-in dialer does not have the phone number lookup option but I do have another Dialer.apk which does have the option. When I install the second APK, it installs fine but crashes when I open the phone number lookup.
Is there a way to fix the crash? Is another APK to install or some other mod?
Thanks for your time and help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It requires root, but, you can replace the stock dialer in your system partition with the other dialer, then boot into recovery and wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache(DO NOT FACTORY RESET), then reboot the device and see if the dialer works.
Anytime(and I mean ANY time) you add, remove or modify system apps or system files, you have to boot into recovery then wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache then reboot. Failure to do so will cause issues because the device can't use cached data from before you made your changes with the new setup, that cached data from before must be removed so that the system can rebuild the cache the way the setup needs it.
If it doesn't work after doing this, then the new dialer probably won't work with your device.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

Droidriven said:
It requires root, but, you can replace the stock dialer in your system partition with the other dialer, then boot into recovery and wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache(DO NOT FACTORY RESET), then reboot the device and see if the dialer works.
Anytime(and I mean ANY time) you add, remove or modify system apps or system files, you have to boot into recovery then wipe cache and wipe dalvik cache then reboot. Failure to do so will cause issues because the device can't use cached data from before you made your changes with the new setup, that cached data from before must be removed so that the system can rebuild the cache the way the setup needs it.
If it doesn't work after doing this, then the new dialer probably won't work with your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer but unfortunately it did not work. No new dialer for me.

nickelnine said:
Thanks for your answer but unfortunately it did not work. No new dialer for me.
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Click to collapse
Ok, you might have to port the new dialer to work on your device. I don't know what you would need to modify to make it work. You will have to research that for yourself. It would require copying the old dialer then using the APKtool or APKeditor on PC to decompile each apk and between the two of them, you would take the required files from one and put them in the other then recompile the apk then install the modified dialer apk that you created.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk