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How to... copy/move files stored in a Smartphone ROM?

I can't copy or move files stored in device ROM.
I've tried with Resco Explorer and Total Commander, but without success.
I didn't understand if there's a registry hack that allows these operations.
I've notice (or so it seemed to me) that I was able to substitute/copy/move some files having the ROM attribute, but many others not (eg: I've tried to copy the nleddrvr_sec.dll, obviously without success, otherwise I'd post this here!).
Surfing in many forums, I read many others asking for the same thing, unfortunately I haven't seen answers to their question about this.
Hope someone explains to me how to do or why is impossible to do.
Mersì bo q.
Gubbài.

You can not copy / move / delete files in ROM. Thats the point of "Read Only Memory"
These files are not stored as individual files but are in fact packed in a special way as part of the device image which can only be written (flashed) by special tools.
If you want to extract OS files you need to use a ROM dump tool.
I suggest you look in the WiKi.
What you can do is overwrite one or more "ROM files". What will happen in reality is that a copy of the file with the same name will be placed in storage memory and the system will go there. If you hard reset your device or rename the file it will go back to the original file.

levenum said:
You can not copy / move / delete files in ROM. Thats the point of "Read Only Memory"
These files are not stored as individual files but are in fact packed in a special way as part of the device image which can only be written (flashed) by special tools.
If you want to extract OS files you need to use a ROM dump tool.
I suggest you look in the WiKi.
What you can do is overwrite one or more "ROM files". What will happen in reality is that a copy of the file with the same name will be placed in storage memory and the system will go there. If you hard reset your device or rename the file it will go back to the original file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you said here and here (Changing Files in Windows Dir )
it's impossible to move/copy ROM files, just overwrite 'em.
Doing so the system looking for these overwritten copies.
So now the question are:
- there's a registry entry that points to this substitute ROM files?
- to modify an existent file resident in ROM I MUST dump my ROM or another one same or similar?
Mersì bo q, anyway.
Gubbài.

[Q] I'm new to this world. How do I install apps from here?

Hi. I hope I'm posting this in the right section, but how would I install apps on my T-Mo MyTouch 3G Slide, that are offered on this or any other forum? Do I download them to my PC and first start the installation there, somehow? Or how would I do it??
I'm very new to this whole Android world. I just bought my phone.
Thanx for the help!!

Applications in this forum usually comes in the form of .apk's. An apk is an installer file for Android and must be run from the phone.
So you have two options when you find programs here on this forum:
1. You download the file on your PC, connect the phone to your PC and mount the SD-card, copy the file over and run it from your phone
2. Browse to the forums via your phone and download them directly and run them
It can be done via dropbox, chrome2phone, email etc as well if you want to

SBS_ said:
Applications in this forum usually comes in the form of .apk's. An apk is an installer file for Android and must be run from the phone.
So you have two options when you find programs here on this forum:
1. You download the file on your PC, connect the phone to your PC and mount the SD-card, copy the file over and run it from your phone
2. Browse to the forums via your phone and download them directly and run them
It can be done via dropbox, chrome2phone, email etc as well if you want to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU!!!!
The file that I download, copy in to any folder (Programs ect...) on to your SD card and run the file from the phone, correct? What is the format of that file needs to be? It won't be an *.exe right? What format do I make sure the correct file is? Is there any other ways? Just asking
Thank You!!

You can put it anywhere on the SD-card, just be sure you have some sort of file manager from the market and remember where you put it After that you just run it and it should install (if you get several options when you run the file, the correct one to run it with is "Package Installer").
The files will be in the format programname.apk

SBS_ said:
You can put it anywhere on the SD-card, just be sure you have some sort of file manager from the market and remember where you put it After that you just run it and it should install (if you get several options when you run the file, the correct one to run it with is "Package Installer").
The files will be in the format programname.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU!! So I look for and download only *.apk files??

That is correct.

SBS_ said:
That is correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is solved

Google Experience only

I am happy with what I have since the new update from Viewsonic.
If I only want to add Google Experience, marketplace, do I still need to go through the process of rooting, installing clockwork and a new UI?
Is there just a simple way to add GE to the Classic UI?

Gapps install
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842590

Everyone,
I have had zip luck with this method of installing zapps. Not a dev, but I've been doing this long enough.....
I moved the Recovery file to to /sdcard. Checked for command and command line inside that file All ok to my eye.
Downloaded the gapps file which my WinRAR pronounces a WinRAR/Zip file. So I tried renamein the original update.zip and didn't get any install. So I extracted using winRAR. Still no install.
I tried the permutations as well. Extracted using G-Tablet extract. Still no results.
There must be something I am missing here -- too much holiday cheer or too many crowds or whatever.
Suggestions?!
Rev

butchconner said:
Everyone,
I have had zip luck with this method of installing zapps. Not a dev, but I've been doing this long enough.....
I moved the Recovery file to to /sdcard. Checked for command and command line inside that file All ok to my eye.
Downloaded the gapps file which my WinRAR pronounces a WinRAR/Zip file. So I tried renamein the original update.zip and didn't get any install. So I extracted using winRAR. Still no install.
I tried the permutations as well. Extracted using G-Tablet extract. Still no results.
There must be something I am missing here -- too much holiday cheer or too many crowds or whatever.
Suggestions?!
Rev
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I HAD to resort to putting on Clockwork Mod 0.8 to get GApps on my G Tablet.
Putting the update.zip on the internal and sd card storage did not work for me either with the newest update installed.
Clockwork Mod is a super easy install - just follow the instructions on how to install G Apps...basically: put CWM on your SD card in it's root (meaning NOT in any directories) and rename it update.zip, put the corresponding recovery directory on the SD as well. I use Winrar as well, I drag the recovery directory right from the file itself and to the SD Card.
Will look like:
Drive: update.zip
Drive: /recovery/command
basically.
Flash it the normal stock way (power and volume +). I press Power and Volume + without even powering off the device, because if the device is powered down and then you start it and miss that first start up, the device WILL delete the recovery/command file and the update won't flash.
GL

I don't officially get to play with my GTab until after package opening tomorrow so I can't do anything today, but I'm trying to line up my to do list. I have never rooted, flashed, or modded anything but am not afraid to play around as long as I don't brick the tablet.
What do you mean when you say "put the corresponding recovery directory on the SD as well. I use Winrar as well"? What is the corresponding recovery directory? What do you use Winrar for? I Googled "winrar" and found " WinRAR is a shareware file archiver and data compression utility developed by Eugene Roshal, and first released in the fall of 1993.[1] It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary. " I cannot figure out why it would be needed to load the standard Android market.

MSU_Sparty,
When you do updates (or installs) that have to be flashed onto the internal sdcard, they usually com in pairs of files. You will have an update.zip file that has the update in it (DUH!) -- and accompanying it will be a "Recovery" directory that has a command file in it (The command file has only one line that "calls" the update.zip file.
WinRAR "Zip" utility enters the picture because most of the devs here use WinRAR to package updates. The when they tell you to decompress it, you use WiinRAR and are left with a .zip file to install.
That's the question I had about this update. The Gapp file show to be a RAR package, but when I un-RAR it I come up with no .zip file -- only regular files.
Hope this helps you understand.
Rev
P. S. -- If you are new to this business, take it slow and easy and read ahead on this site and make sure you understand what you are doing. I try to do that, but even with years of IT experience I still mess things up once in a while.

Neoprimal,
Thanks for the tip about CWM. I have two tablets and the other has CWM on it and is fairly modded.
But this tablet I am trying to keep basically stock so I can get updates, etc. and see what the "state of product" is.
As mentioned in my previous answer, I am stumped because I am not getting what looks to be an update.zip file from the Gapp download. When I use WinRAR to decompress the Gapp file, I don't get a .zip file -- only a couple of directories. On the other hand, when I rename the Gapp file update.zip and try to flash it it doesn't work.
Again, thanks for the reply.
Anyone else with suggestions!!!????
Rev

Thanks. What you've written really does clarify the previous post. I appreciate it.
But let me ask another naive question. Why don't the developers create their update programs so they can be installed by just downloading them OTA like most applications? That would sure make it easier for neophytes. I'm guessing that the reason is because we aren't really adding an application but replacing the OS.
I greatly appreciate your guidance and that of all of the folks who use this forum.
Happy Holidays!

[Q] How To Build Gapps Files using UpdatezipCreator

Hi all! Have been having a play with UpdatezipCreator for windows. Put all of the .apk files into a folder called:
“System”
As suggested in the UpdatezipCreator wiki. However, when I run the gapps file in clockwork Mod, it completely ignores what I have done. Also, for some reason, it places all files into a directory, one level down and the directory is called whatever I have named the .zip. is this normal or, am I missing some vital step. Would like to get this working as I would like to add missing accessibility components to the gapps file that I am using in order to get ICS talking out of the box with my Sony Xperia Pro. Am also interested in getting this going so that I can assist other visually impaired users with this. Finally, am open to creating gapps files with other methods in Windows. Thanks in advance for all help with this. It’s really appreciated!

Add APK - repack system.img

I was looking for a similar topic but I did not find one. Refers to problems with running applications added to "system.img".
I bought UMIDIG S for my father-in-law. It is based on a mediatec chipset. Unfortunately, soft is tragic, and there is no full translation, so I decided to bury it a bit in "system.img".
I can easily install the file in Linux and make changes in it. I can delete applications, I can make changes in configuration files and "buikd.prop".
Unfortunately, all APK files were uploaded to "system.img" even though I set permissions 755 for directories, and 644 for directories. Although the files are root: root, after uploading such "system.img" none of these applications works for the phone. The system sees them and tries to load. Unfortunately, applications hang because of errors. The system informs that the application hangs, and does not load its window. The icons of these applications and the names do not appear either (applications have green robocik as icon, and domain name, e.g. com.android.clock ....)
I am asking for advice. How to add APK files to the unzipped "system.img" so that after packing and uploading to the phone there were no errors ???

Do you have found how add app in system.img?

It's all around, but you can replace apps with others. In the linux system, unpack the img, and mount them. Then you can freely rename files as well as move files within the .img mount point
I chose the applications or other files I did not need, and moved them to the directories (which I named my applications). If the application needed libraries, you also had to get files in a similar way, and place them in arm or arm64 directories.
Then prepared files "stuffed" with data, using the command DD. That is, dd if = (source file) of = (the recipient file at the system.img mount point).

Thanks for reply, so this only on Linux? For Windows there is something?

Markosv76 said:
Thanks for reply, so this only on Linux? For Windows there is something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not know, I do not use Windows. Certainly you can in a similar way from BSD systems, probably from Android and MacOS. I read something that Microsoft can somehow support linux shell, but I do not know the details. You can always use some distribution that works with a pendrive.

Thanks, I will try again

Markosv76 said:
Thanks, I will try again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use Virtual Box to run a Linux distro inside Windows or you can try using Cygwin.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

jaroslawstrauchmann said:
I was looking for a similar topic but I did not find one. Refers to problems with running applications added to "system.img".
I bought UMIDIG S for my father-in-law. It is based on a mediatec chipset. Unfortunately, soft is tragic, and there is no full translation, so I decided to bury it a bit in "system.img".
I can easily install the file in Linux and make changes in it. I can delete applications, I can make changes in configuration files and "buikd.prop".
Unfortunately, all APK files were uploaded to "system.img" even though I set permissions 755 for directories, and 644 for directories. Although the files are root: root, after uploading such "system.img" none of these applications works for the phone. The system sees them and tries to load. Unfortunately, applications hang because of errors. The system informs that the application hangs, and does not load its window. The icons of these applications and the names do not appear either (applications have green robocik as icon, and domain name, e.g. com.android.clock ....)
I am asking for advice. How to add APK files to the unzipped "system.img" so that after packing and uploading to the phone there were no errors ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you find a solution to this? please reply if yes, I am having the same problem