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Hi there, i was trying to run Debian on my pro, but i cant install it! i try two methods, the Linux installer Beta 1.7 (say kernel dosnt have ext and loop support) and the SU terminal emulator way (cant chmod to 4755 any file, even using the su command - from here: http://www.talkandroid.com/android-forums/android-development/1091-install-debian-android.html )...
My pro is ROOTED with latest z4root, i even do a factory repair with pc companion...
Any advice???
Regards!
I tried this as well... no loop is no loop ( required for chroot type runs )
works on a Samsung i5700 I have at work tho...
thnx for the reply, so i can add loop and the ext thing? or we need a custom kernel? , what rom have the samsung?, in other hand i dont know why i cant chmod the files, even using root explorer! regards...
needs a new kernel yes.
i5700 is running samdroid cooked ( forget which version, but added multitouch )
damn :/
now why i cant chmod the files using su terminal emulator or root explorer? maybe is because my sdcard is formated in fat32, regards!
fat32 knows nothing about *nix style permissions, in a way though... all files on a fat32 are set 0777, but not really... heh
For what it's worth, I've just had Debian running in a chroot on my X10 Mini Pro, using the instructions at talkandroid.com, as mentioned by the original poster. Sorry, but as a new poster, I'm not allowed to link directly to those directions. This is with stock ROM, upgraded to Android 2.1, rooted with SuperOneClick.
A few modifications are necessary to make it work. I'm going to try to describe what I've done, but I am working backwards, so it's entirely possible that I'll leave something out and you could suffer disastrous consequences. So please be sure you back up all crucial data before proceeding, and be prepared to accept the possibility that your phone could be destroyed in the process.
First of all, the instructions tell you to run scripts from your SD card, which isn't going to work unless the card has a partition with a Linux-compatible file system. I suggest following the directions as far as step 4. Then replace the "bootdeb" file in the "debian" directory with the modified version attached to this post. Rename it "bootdeb". Then you will have to run the following commands manually, preferably using adb shell, but it can be done in a terminal on the phone. Either way, using the ash shell helps by providing command completion and history.
As root (su):
Code:
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock0 /system
mkdir /data/local/mnt
cd /sdcard/debian
cp bootdeb /data/local/bin #note: you may need to mkdir /data/local/bin first
cd /data/local/bin/
chmod 4777 bootdeb
You should now be able to run the bootdeb script to start up Debian.
The installation file says, "Be sure to run /scripts/onetime.sh as root from the shell after your FIRST 'boot'." This will prompt you to set a root password.
At this point, the Debian installation is command line only and root only. The image file needs to be resized before much can be added.
The other files in the Debian directory may be useful, but they all need to be modified before they can be used.
This is only a beginning. I don't know that I'm likely to get very far with it, so anyone else who's inclined to jump in and make this work better is welcome to do so!
edit: correcting grammatical error
Just in case anyone else shares my obsession -- I mean interest in getting Debian to run on an X10 Mini Pro, I thought I should report my progress. Or lack thereof.
Actually, as I said in the previous post, command line Debian works, and that's a lot of power to have available. But it would be nice to get X working, despite the lack of video drivers.
There's a lot of information out there about setting up X with a VNC server on an Android phone, then running a VNC client to access the graphic environment. The source of most accounts seems to be a thread at the androidfanatic forums, with the title "Gnome, KDE, IceWM or LXDE Desktop on your Android!"
(Sorry, I'm still too new at this to be allowed to post links, so this is the only way I can indicate where to find the information.)
I've tried lots of variations on those directions, trying to adapt them to the X10 Mini Pro. And I've had a little success. I can get to the Icewm or LXDE desktop and run the terminal program, but I can't start any programs that use X. Invariably, I get this error:
Error: Can't open display: :1.0
I've run out of ideas, so I'm taking a break from the project. If anyone else is interested enough to try, good luck to you!
For what it's worth, the most recent and comprehensive account of running Debian with X on Android phones appears to be at lanrat.com, in the "android" directory, filename "debian".
@RobbH
Very interesting! I'm waiting a new 8gb card so that I try it! Should you come up with any new progress please report here
This is a very short guide for all of you looking to dual boot android from the sd card now that you have windows phone 7 taking up the nand space. It's originally posted by letama and I added a bit to it.
It's actually quite simple. All you have to do is add nand_init to one line in the init.rc file. For most builds, you will need to use a linux distro and mount the rootfs.img file, then edit the init rc file, add nand_init to this line:
Code:
service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/libhtc_ril_wrapper.so -- -d /dev/smd0
so it looks like this
Code:
service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/libhtc_ril_wrapper.so -- -d /dev/smd0 nand_init
For builds that uses the cedesmith initrd method, you have to mount the system.ext2 file, everything else is the same.
Save your file. Make sure you haven't changed the permissions and unmount the image. Copy the build to your microsd, set magldr to boot from the directory you copied it to and boot ad sd, you should be good to go.
Problems: booting it this way does not read from your startup.txt, you have to wait for cotulla to add it in future magldr. I'm not sure if the old method of updating (dumping everything in a folder named root) still works.
Disclaimer: I've tried this with jdms, hd2one, superram, desire_hd2 and mdj rEVOlution 2.3 and they all work fine with my old data image, your mileage may vary. This is a very quick guide because that's all I know Anymore I'll have to search google, so you might as well do that yourself Anyone who have a better method of editing feel free to post it. I'll add it here if you post it in this thread.
Tip from aled99 to edit without linux.
Corias said:
I've managed to mount system.ext2 to Windows 7. Without VM and Linux at all.
What tools are needed:
1. Windows Ext2/Ext3 driver. You can get it from here.
2. Any software to mount image to virtual drive. I've used Gizmo Drive, but there are others also working.
Tip: Gizmo doesn't show ext2 as supportable image type, when you browse for image. So, manually type *.* filter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some files that are already edited:
CoreDroid HD 0.4 edited by ricola7
Desire_hd2 system.ext2 file
HD2ONE 0.3.5 system.ext2
JDMS 1.62
MDJ HD v4.6
MDJ rEVOlution 2.3 rootfs.img
NexusHD2-FRG83D v1.8 from nzxtneo
Superram 1.5 from letama
Builds that already work with magldr:
DL DesireZ v2.2 from dandiest
HD2 Gingerbread/CyanogenMod7 from copenhagen
Is this a method to boot a NAND Rom from SD Card without flashing?
blax123 said:
Is this a method to boot a NAND Rom from SD Card without flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it boots the sd builds from this subforum. Not the nand builds.
will this work if I have android in my nand, and want to run a different android off of sd card? Like if I wanna test drive gingerbread roms off the sd, while sticking with a froyo based rom in nand? I really want to do this.
izzy spun said:
will this work if I have android in my nand, and want to run a different android off of sd card? Like if I wanna test drive gingerbread roms off the sd, while sticking with a froyo based rom in nand? I really want to do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried copenhagen's build but it should work the same way. Try it and let us know how it worked out
Edit: Actually I got curious and checked it out. Copenhagen's build does not require editing. You can boot it from sd using magldr as it is. Nice too. I think I'll play with that for a while
Sorry but I'm stuck on the first line. What is a linux distro? How do I edit the line? I'll be able to take care of the rest. This is the part that confuses me.
buzz killington said:
This is a very short guide for all of you looking to dual boot android from the sd card now that you have windows phone 7 taking up the nand space. It's originally posted by letama and I added a bit to it.
It's actually quite simple. All you have to do is add nand_init to one line in the init.rc file. For most builds, you will need to use a linux distro and mount the rootfs.img file, then edit the init rc file, add nand_init to this line:
Code:
service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/libhtc_ril_wrapper.so -- -d /dev/smd0
so it looks like this
Code:
service ril-daemon /system/bin/rild -l /system/lib/libhtc_ril_wrapper.so -- -d /dev/smd0 nand_init
For builds that uses the cedesmith initrd method, you have to mount the system.ext2 file, everything else is the same.
Save your file. Make sure you haven't changed the permissions and unmount the image. Copy the build to your microsd, set magldr to boot from the directory you copied it to and boot ad sd, you should be good to go.
Problems: booting it this way does not read from your startup.txt, you have to wait for cotulla to add it in future magldr. I'm not sure if the old method of updating (dumping everything in a folder named root) still works.
Disclaimer: I've tried this with jdms, hd2one, superram, desire_hd2 and mdj rEVOlution 2.3 and they all work fine with my old data image, your mileage may vary. This is a very quick guide because that's all I know Anymore I'll have to search google, so you might as well do that yourself Anyone who have a better method of editing feel free to post it. I'll add it here if you post it in this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks.. so i must use linux? any tools available in win?
buzz killington said:
I haven't tried copenhagen's build but it should work the same way. Try it and let us know how it worked out
Edit: Actually I got curious and checked it out. Copenhagen's build does not require editing. You can boot it from sd using magldr as it is. Nice too. I think I'll play with that for a while
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you elaborate on this please.
can you give a step by step.
i am real interested in trying this.
thanks in advance.
Anthonayy said:
Sorry but I'm stuck on the first line. What is a linux distro? How do I edit the line? I'll be able to take care of the rest. This is the part that confuses me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just short for Linux distribution, such as ubuntu or redhat. I used ubuntu. Once you have it mounted you can use any text editor available.
vista1984 said:
thanks.. so i must use linux? any tools available in win?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't know if there are. Maybe others can chime in. Anything that'll let you mount an ext2 image and edit its contents will do. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with any windows tools.
Will this hack enable me to run Android from my SD card, with WP7 installed on the phone?
I just want to make sure, because I've been searching around, and several indidual sources have said that WP7 doesn't recognize any SD cards, including compatible SD cards.
I would really love to try WP7, but without losing my android.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
WOOZ!E said:
Will this hack enable me to run Android from my SD card, with WP7 installed on the phone?
I just want to make sure, because I've been searching around, and several indidual sources have said that WP7 doesn't recognize any SD cards, including compatible SD cards.
I would really love to try WP7, but without losing my android.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, it has nothing to do with WP7, You boot Android from MAGLDR not WP7. So you would either use a different SD card to boot into Android BEFORE booting windows or you would partition your SD card in a way that it allows you to use it for WP7 and Android at same time.
How can I mount the system.ext2 by using terminal?
Code:
[email protected]# mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
system.ext2: No such file or directory
asdfg2010 said:
How can I mount the system.ext2 by using terminal?
Code:
[email protected]# mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
system.ext2: No such file or directory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to specify where your file is and I believe you have to create a mount point, you can't just put it in /mnt. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong
Code:
cd /mnt
sudo mkdir sys
sudo mount -o loop -t ext2 /home/usr/Desktop/system.ext2 /mnt/sys
buzz killington said:
you have to specify where your file is and I believe you have to create a mount point, you can't just put it in /mnt. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong
Code:
cd /mnt
sudo mkdir sys
sudo mount -o loop -t ext2 /home/usr/Desktop/system.ext2 /mnt/sys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I try but not successful
windows ext2 editing
buzz killington said:
It's just short for Linux distribution, such as ubuntu or redhat. I used ubuntu. Once you have it mounted you can use any text editor available.
Sorry, I don't know if there are. Maybe others can chime in. Anything that'll let you mount an ext2 image and edit its contents will do. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with any windows tools.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can edit an ext2 image with windows using the method in post #4 from this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=808169
Corias said:
I've managed to mount system.ext2 to Windows 7. Without VM and Linux at all.
What tools are needed:
1. Windows Ext2/Ext3 driver. You can get it from here.
2. Any software to mount image to virtual drive. I've used Gizmo Drive, but there are others also working.
Tip: Gizmo doesn't show ext2 as supportable image type, when you browse for image. So, manually type *.* filter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried editing the file and it seemed to save the changes, but I haven't tried booting android yet.
I am trying to do this method in super ram Rom but no success. I have successfully mount system.ext2 but there wasn't any init.rc file. After a lot Google search I have managed to discover that this file is in file initrd.gz and I made the change. But the build starts and hangs in first screen.any suggestion;
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
can anyone uploade the files? i dont have linux..
Cool, thanks! I seems to be working for me with MDJ FroYo HD v4.6. Has anyone had any success getting two Android ROMs running from their microSD card? I was doing this when booting from WM6.5 by putting them in different directories and modifying rel_path in the startup.txt for one of them, but obviously this method won't work until MAGLDR supports startup.txt...
clio94 said:
I am trying to do this method in super ram Rom but no success. I have successfully mount system.ext2 but there wasn't any init.rc file. After a lot Google search I have managed to discover that this file is in file initrd.gz and I made the change. But the build starts and hangs in first screen.any suggestion;
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't do the superram built myself, but letama posted a full version later in that magldr thread. Try to see if you can find it. If not I'm sure I still have it somewhere I can post it for you.
You can change Android folder on SD using MAGLDR
Enter Magldr
Select 9. Services
then 1. BootSettings
then 3. AD SD Dir
Okay guys, so here's a weird one.
My g-tablet was working great. Was running VEGAn-Tab Build, BETA 5.1.1, no reason to update it, because it did everything I needed. I finally had it to where I wanted it, then it all kind of started falling apart. Here's how.
I power it on and notice my home screen got all messed up for some reason (using launcher pro). All of the settings defaulted to the original. I tweaked it back to more or less how I wanted it, and when I had it back to normal, thought nothing better of it. Must have glitched out some how.
Then I notice a bunch of things starting to force close, specfically android market, amazon market, titanium backup, google services framework, launcher pro, etc. Odd thing is it would do it one at a time, but otherwise my tablet would carry on as normal.
I go ahead and restart the tablet, to see if that helps at all, and what do you know, the homescreen is messed up again! I thought launcher pro might have been the culprit, so I un-installed the app and rebooted... And launcher pro is still there.
I go ahead and delete it again and start deleting other apps, restarting the tablet, and no matter what I do, everything stays the same. time for some clockwork mod action. I go into clockwork mod, and try to do the factory reset option, thinking what the hey, I'll try anything right now. Hit it, mourn the loss of my user data, and reboot the system... and again, everything is still the same.
I hook up my tablet to the computer via usb, and it looks like I'm able to at least delete misc. files that way. But when I return to good old Tabatha (my nickname for Gtab) everything is stuck just the way it is.
Needless to say, it feels like I'm stuck in the twilight zone.
I know I should have researched it by now, but I'm going to finally look it up to see if I can recover with NVFlash (I know I know, very noobish of me, using strange roms and not knowing any of the basics).... but I'm increasingly worried I've got some kind of a hardware malfunction on my hands. Could it be the memory? The internal SD card?
Oddly enough, my tablet still functions... I can browse the web, hook it up to my computer, etc etc, but no matter what I do I can't alter the data I already have on my tablet. Can't delete things, can't change settings, update apps, etc. etc. Which makes it pretty much useless for what I wanted to use it for.
I finally realized what this is like. The movie groundhog day, and I'm stuck in the same day, over and over again.
Any help or input that might get me out of this mess would be greatly appreciated.
Phil: "I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over..."
This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.
rajeevvp said:
This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the direction, at least I know it isn't an isolated incident. It's 1:45 AM where I am right now, and I have to wake up for work in about 5 hours... So I probably won't be able to get in depth with the follow up on this stuff untill after work tomorrow night (so long as the wife doesn't hog the computer )
Again thanks for the quick response, I appreciate you pointing me into some sort of direction. Can't wait to try to get this sorted out!
Currently trying to figure out how to get ADB going.... pretty intimidating, but I'm trying. I got the Java JDK installed, installing the SDK, but can't find the "SDK Setup.exe" file or even a USB driver folder in the SDK directory. Got a good resource for getting ADB set up?
Save yourself some trouble. Got to http://www.knoppix.org/ and download the latest Knoppix live CD image.
Burn it, boot it, then use the adb executable from this post. For simple things like just running adb, you don't need the entire Android SDK.
Get me a dmesg while inside ClockworkMod:
Code:
$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
ADB commands documentation
Thanks, I'll try it out sometime this weekend!
Well, I really screwed myself now. I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive. [Do I need to load the OS onto a flash drive instead?]
So I started messing with some stuff in clockwork mod. I apparently really goofed it, and I got a "Magic Value Mismatch" error everytime I tried to boot it up.
I looked up Magic Value Mismatch, and from there it pointed to using NVFlash to try to fix that problem. So tried that. After I flashed it, I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
I looked up this issue and apparently the key is to get into clockwork mod and do factory reset, reset cache, and partition the SD card to 2048 and 0, which I did... (per post #4 on this thread: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17501-helpstuck-in-bootloop/ ) but still no dice.
Not sure where to go from here, or if I can even get it to interface with ADB in its current state. Looks like I'm done for
Thanks for trying though
On second thought, I may have had a breakthrough, at least in getting ADB to see my tablet!!! Woohoo! It finally sees the device and has a serial number. Was following the device on this thread:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/viewsonic-gtablet-technical/5377-adb-g-tab-step-step.html
7. under the "[Google.NTx86]" section, paste the following:
Code:
;NVIDIA Tegra
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7000
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7100&MI_01
save the file and exit.
But I have a 64 bit machine, so I finally figured it out and plopped that into the 64 bit portion of the .inf file. DOH!
So now let me see what I can drum up through the previous commands above.... though the parameters have changed now to be sure... Due to my haste things may have taken a turn for the worse.
To recap, now my tablet is stuck in a boot loop after having done NV Flash, after having screwed up some settings in clockwork mod trying to fix a "Magic Value Mismatch" error.
Tried:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
I just run this in the cmd prompt at my platform-tools directory where the adb is correct?
All it says is, "The system cannot find the path specified."
Am I doing something wrong, or is my tablet that messed up?
Okay, this is slightly weird. So I was browsing around in clockwork mod, and lo and behold, the original zip flies for vegan tab are all STILL THERE. So I reloaded them... And My tablet zips back to exactly the way I had it before!
Only this time, so far no force closes. This looks way too good to be true after what I've been through. I'm going to try modifying some files and settings and restart my tablet to see what it does. I'm pretty sure I can't be out of the woods yet. Allthough it is 3:33 AM as this is happening... magic hour. I may be going insane.
EDIT: Nope, was definitely way too good to be true. All my data is as stuck as it was ever was. But at least now I can get into it again. But now we're back to square one. Lemme figure out this dmesg business and get back to you. X(
So I would try issuing the following exactly in the command line at the adb platform tools folder:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Is that code supposed to be copy and paste in? I don't seem to be getting anything. I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file. And you want me to do that while the g tablet is in recovery, correct?
FYI, trying to do it through Windows 7. Would that command only operate in the linux environment via knoppix?
Thanks
titobetlogs said:
I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redirect the output to a file:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
titobetlogs said:
I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggested using Knoppix just because it is so easy to use adb in Linux. Broken-down steps for future reference:
1. Download and burn the latest Knoppix Live CD iso image. Check the downloaded file size. The .iso file should be ~700MB in size. Also, test the CD by booting it and then typing at the boot prompt: knoppix testcd
2. Boot Live CD and skip the creation of any partition or file to store user data. After all, we just want to run adb.
3. After Knoppix has booted into the desktop, run a browser, right click on the adb.zip attachment in this post, then select "Save Link As..." and save the zip file into /tmp.
4. Connect the gTablet to the PC via the USB cable.
5. Open a terminal window, then type in it:
Code:
hostpc$ [B]cd /tmp[/B] [I]Change to the dir. where adb.zip was saved[/I]
hostpc$ [B]unzip adb.zip[/B] [I]Unzip zip file[/I]
hostpc$ [B]ls -l adb[/B] [I]Check if the adb program was extracted OK[/I]
-rwx------ 1 rvp rvp 159620 Dec 1 22:23 adb
hostpc$ [B]chmod 555 adb[/B] [I]Make adb executable.[/I]
hostpc$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
Note 1: do not type in the shell prompt, 'hostpc$'. It is only there to show you what the screen should (roughly) look like.
Note 2: If adb says something like "device not found", just unplug the USB cable from the PC, wait a few moments, then re-plug the cable and re-run the adb command again.
6. Go back into the browser and attach the dmesg.txt file that is there in /tmp. You will have to tell the Noscript plugin to allow scripts from xda-developers to enable attachments. Right click on the page, then select the Noscript menu item, then choose "Temporarily allow xda-developers.com".
I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not surprised. If the files on the internal SD card cannot be modified then that boot loop behaviour is to be expected. Here's why:
Android requires certain partitions to exist on the system. These partitions can be either on the flash or on SD cards. The partitions are:
/system: This is where the binaries and system apps that come with the firmware are stored. This partition is usually mounted read-only to protect it. On the gTablet, this partition is on the 512MB built-in NAND flash chip.
/cache: As the name indicates, this is the partition used to speed up the execution of the Java apps. Temporary files are also created here. This partition too is on the built-in NAND flash chip.
/data: This is where user-downloaded apps are stored by default, and also where Android stores its system configuration data. This partition, on the gTablet, is on the internal SD card.
/sdcard: This is where user content like media files, books, and the apps moved to SD card are stored. This partition too is on the internal SD card.
The first 3 partitions are critical and Android won't come up without them being present (or, if there are any errors on them). Among these 3, only /system needs to be correctly populated (When you install a ROM, new stuff is copied here). The other 2 partitions, /data and /cache can be empty and the system will boot up fine--with defaults. In fact, when you select "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM, /cache and /data are re-formatted--effectively, wiped clean.
(There are 2 other important partitions on the NAND flash chip, but, these are not mounted because they don't contain a proper filesystem. You have to use special tools to create the contents of these 2 partitions.
The first of these is the "boot" partition. This one and "system" are re-written when you install a new ROM. The "boot" partition holds the Android Linux kernel. If you install a new kernel, only the "boot" partition is rewritten.
The second is the "recovery" partition. This contains a separate, and usually different (and safe), Linux kernel and a mini filesystem image. This is a fail-safe partition. Stock recovery and ClockworkMod sit here.)
In your case, nothing on the internal SD card can be modified, so the stuff in /data will still be from your old ROM. (nvflash also cannot modify SD card contents, as I mentioned before.) When the stock firmware boots up, it will find incompatible stuff in /data. Critical apps will then die. Android will restart them, they will die again. This is your boot loop.
Get me the dmesg output and then we'll run a few tests using CWM, but, judging from your previous posts, I don't think your internal SD card can be fixed. You have 2 options:
1. Return the tablet for a replacement.
2. If you can't return it, I can switch the internal and external SD cards on your ROM so that you can boot and use the system (almost) normally. But, this is a custom solution and you will need to have an external SD card in its slot always. Read through this thread.
Wow, you really know you're stuff! I'll see what I can get you later on in the day with regard to the dmesg, I'm currently still at work.
I had suspected a hardware error... bummer. I'll definitely be interested in seeing if I can just use the external micro sd slot to sub out for the internal sd card. I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards? That would be pretty awesome, I at least wouldn't feel too limited on space.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob. I greatly appreciate your patience and taking the time to break everything down for me. I have absolutely zero background in programming or anything computer related, though I do find this stuff extremely fascinating! If I could rewind the clock and study this stuff in school, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Again, thanks so much, can't thank you enough.
titobetlogs said:
I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you should be able to run whatever ROM you want. I'll send you an installable zip file, in a few days, which should get you going again on Vegan-Tab, at least. You'll just need to remember to flash this zip file right after you've flashed the ROM (of your choice).
Right now, I don't know if I need one zip file for each kind of ROM in existence for the gTablet, or, if I can use some scripting and do the internal/external SD card switch using just a single installable zip file. I'll look into this on the weekend.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was a complete noob to Android myself back in April of this year. I've picked all of this up in just a few months. I'm pretty sure you can do it too, with a bit of poking around in the system. Of course, having a background in Unix/Linux helps a lot.
In your honor, below are some inspiring lyrics from the Karate Kid soundtrack:
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ho-how-ho-own
INSPIRING GUITAR SOLO
Dude! you're embarrassing me -- I haven't send you the zip file yet... and, you haven't sent that dmesg output I wanted.
I know I've been stuck at work and family functions every day this week so far. Hopefully I'll get to it soon
Finally got to this! Here you go! Thanks again!
titobetlogs said:
Finally got to this! Here you go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't see any problems in that dmesg output. Time for some tests on the internal SD card.
Boot into CWM, then run on PC (on Linux run: sudo ./adb shell):
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell[/B]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I] Mount internal SD card partition[/I]
~ # [B]mkdir -p /sdcard/a/b/c[/B] [I]Make a directory tree[/I]
~ # [B]echo test > /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Create a file[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Read it back again[/I]
test [I]Correct[/I]
~ # [B]echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches[/B] Flush kernel caches
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] Read it back again
test Correct
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B] [I]Unmount[/I]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I]Remount /sdcard[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Reread file[/I]
test [I]You should see "test" here[/I]
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B]
You should see "test" after the kernel flush and the remount.
Next, reboot the tablet--back into CWM, then run the cat command again. `cat' should output "test", again, if the SD card is OK.
Here's a screen of the commands I entered and what I got back. Did I do anything wrong? Looks like something's a bit off.
I was wonder how to add file system check every boot since my data partition often unclean. I had try to add line in init.rc before mount and static e2fsck binary to /sbin.
Like this one: "e2fsck -fy /dev/block/data" but I think it has no effect since my tablet failed to boot. I must go to recovery and do fsck via adb shell. It is annoying. I want to make it automatically. Please help me.
Thank you..
juliantito said:
I was wonder how to add file system check every boot since my data partition often unclean. I had try to add line in init.rc before mount and static e2fsck binary to /sbin.
Like this one: "e2fsck -fy /dev/block/data" but I think it has no effect since my tablet failed to boot. I must go to recovery and do fsck via adb shell. It is annoying. I want to make it automatically..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you know that you need to repack your boot image to change init.rc and you did that, try prefixing your command in init.rc with "exec".
I want to run E2FSCK on every boot and repair the disk if there is some problem on Odroid N2 Android. I have used the tune2fs -c 1 command to check the disks on every boot.I want to confirm whether this command will repair the problem (if detected) as well.
I think that in Android Source code they have made sure that the disk will be checked however, I don't know whether they fix the disk as well. Please confirm this as well.
In Odroid N2 Android image, the directory /etc/default/rcS is missing, so I can't make changes to it. I can't run a script on each boot because the disks are mounted by then and I can't umount them because the disk is being used.
If anyone has some solution, I will really appreciate your help.
After breaking the screen on my phone I spent the following months reading about how to extract data. It all comes down to enabling ADB debugging and having your computer authorised. Usually this can be done from recovery and you're good to go. However, if you have a broken phone that is fully stock, with ADB disabled and with no custom recovery support then your data is as good as bricked. Such was the case with me when I broke my rare Samsung G360G. However, my phone was supported by CF-AutoRoot by Chainfire, and this gave just the opening I needed to go full wide.
Prerequisites:
Your phone needs to be supported by CF-AutoRoot. Check on there and the new site linked for support of your phone. If it's not there then you will need to download a stock ROM and use the CF-AutoRoot site tool to generate a root package for you. But that is outside the scope of this tutorial. This procedure has only been tested on Samsung. Your phone should have a minimal working charge.
https://autoroot.chainfire.eu/
This tutorial is also based on Linux. It should be translatable to Windows and Cygwin. But for simplicity I'll just use the method I used on Linux. However, if using Odin like I do, you'll need Windows to finish it off.
Aside from this it assumes files in are named in a particular format with a certain file format.
Tutorial:
1. First you need to download a CF-AutoRoot package for your phone. Won't get far without it.
2. Open up a terminal in Linux. We need to download some depends so enter this command:
Code:
sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fsutils
3. We need to extract the archive contents out. Create a suitable folder inside your home folder to build the patch in and cd to it. This uses an example file named CF-AutoRoot-example.tar.md5. Substitute with your actual archive name. Like so.
Code:
mkdir cfar-adb
cd cfar-adb
tar -xf CF-AutoRoot-example.tar.md5
4. There should be a recovery.img and a cache.img.ext4 extracted out. We just need to modify the cache.img.ext4. But first we need to convert it to a workable format. From a sparse to a raw image.
Code:
simg2img cache.img.ext4 cache.raw.ext4
5. We need to mount the cache image
Code:
mkdir cache
sudo mount -t ext4 -o loop cache.raw.ext4 cache
6. The big one. Doing the mod. So now we need to modify the cfar cleanup script. We need to insert commands on the end to enable ADB and add the key to authorise the computer. The following will do just that in this fashion.
a)
You will need to load in the cfar-cleanup.sh file inside the cfroot folder from the cache point mounted. Locate the end and paste the following lines before the reboot and exit commands on the end. Don't save yet.
Code:
echo -n 'mtp,adb' > /data/property/persist.sys.usb.config
mount -o remount,rw /system
echo '' >> /system/build.prop
echo 'persist.service.adb.enable=1' >> /system/build.prop
echo 'persist.service.debuggable=1' >> /system/build.prop
echo 'persist.sys.usb.config=mtp,adb' >> /system/build.prop
chmod 644 /system/build.prop
mount -o remount,ro /system
mkdir -p /data/misc/adb/
echo '' >/data/misc/adb/adb_keys
chmod 640 /data/misc/adb/adb_keys
b)
Load up the ~/.android/adbkey.pub file in a text editor and copy the entire contents in the clipboard. Now back at the script locate that last echo command you pasted into it and set the cursor just after the first single quotation mark. Now paste the clipboard in! This will add your key in. Make sure it's only between the single quotes with no extra characters or line feeds. The lines will naturally split if they don't fit on screen. Otherwise it should be good to go.
c)
Okay now save the file. The above will enable ADB and authorise your computer on the main Android system after the rooting script has done it's work. Before it reboots normally.
7. We need to unmount the cache so it's ready for use.
Code:
sudo umount cache
8. We need to convert the raw image back into a sparse image.
Code:
img2simg cache.raw.ext4 cache.img.ext4
9. Okay were almost done. Now we repack the files into a new Odin archive. Choose a suitable new filename. Like I have done here with my example file.
Code:
tar -H ustar -c recovery.img cache.img.ext4 > cfar-adb.tar
md5sum -t cfar-adb.tar >> cfar-adb.tar
mv cfar-adb.tar cfar-adb.tar.md5
10. The final step! So now the new package is ready for use. We just to use Odin and flash it to the phone. Save the package to a USB stick if needed.
a)
Reboot into Windows. Or you can run it virtualised from Linux. But I prefer to use the real things when dealing with things of a delicate manner and working blindly. Unplug your phone from the computer if connected. Now load up Odin in admin mode.
b)
Just to make sure pull the battery from your phone. Give it a few seconds then put the battery back in and click the back cover on. Now hold down volume down, then home key, and finally hold down power. Wait for the vibration. Then release power after a few moments. Finally release the other keys. At this point press volume up briefly. You should have just put your phone blindly into download mode. I've done this numerous times.
c)
Plug your phone into your computer. After a moment you should see Odin respond with a device added. Usually the phone can vibrate also when it connects giving more positive signs. If nothing happens disconnect the phone from the computer and retry the last step again to put it into download mode. Took me a few tries before I could do it blindly. It helps if you have a working Samsung to test it out on so you can see what happens before you can only feel it.
d)
Now in Odin press the PDA (or AP) button. Select the cfar-adb.tar.md5 package you made up. If the package is fine it will pass the md5 test. Now press the Start button and watch it go! If all goes well it will upload recovery, cache, give you a pass and then the phone will reset. At this point it will be in the process of being rooted, enable ADB, then reboot. If something goes wrong then you may need to go back and check all the patched files. Then rebuild the package again. But be careful, if the ADB has been enabled in the build.prop file one time, you don't want to add it in again and create duplicates, no matter how keen. Once I had it added the only other major problem I encountered was using the correct adb key.
e)
Hopefully now your phone is rooted, has ADB enabled and is booting up normally. Give it a few minutes. You can even see signs of life in Odin with adds and removes on USB activity. Your phone should also vibrate at times. And making noises is also a good sign.
1.1. So I just cranked it up to eleven. Open a Linux terminal again and give it a test. With your phone plugged in.
Code:
adb devices
If all goes well then adb will find your phone as well as list your device as authorised. You can now open shell to the inside. USB debugging is now enabled.
Conclusion:
Well I hope this helps those who have their app data stuck under a broken screen. As long as it was to type in this tutorial It still took me less time to write this tutorial than to learn all that was needed and apply it to my phone. This ends here but for you it may be only the beginning. A next step would be a screen mirroring app which I think is a must have for visual feedback. And USB debugging opens up these possibilities. One thing to be careful of, in a related issue, is that just because you can use adb and the phone is also rooted doesn't mean it will all work at once. If you are tempted to "su" it in an adb shell and get right in there then SuperSU will ask for permission on a blank screen. As will also happen if you try to do an adb backup, it will ask for confirmation on screen. So just expect to work with USB debugging blindly unless you already have a screen mirroring app installed. If you don't have one installed that is your next step.
And on that note. Good luck!
Hi there,
Your tutorial on how to achieve this on Linux looks real neat and complete. Unfortunately, i'm on Windows and i would like to know if you would be able to rewrite this totorial for a Windows user?
I've been reading online for about a week and i've never saw such a complete guide to help newbies to ADB to be able to retrieve data on their locked broken devices.
Cheers!
Hi RaiM1986 and thanks for your kind words. Yes I wrote it so it would be useful to newbies and seasoned hackers alike. Plus I needed to write down some instructions in case I need to do it all again.
Looking at the tutorial it is a bit Linux-centric. I don't know how well it would translate to Windows. Though there would be Windows version of the tools used the main problem would be mounting the filesystem image and making modifications without corrupting it. Because of things like Linux file modes.
However the following tools may be of assistance.
ADB tools:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/adb_fastboot_guide.html
Cygwin provides Linux tools if needed:
http://www.cygwin.com
simg2img:
https://github.com/KinglyWayne/simg2img_win
For mounting the ext4 image:
https://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html
img2simg and other tools:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49235638&postcount=5
For the ADB key it should be in %USERPOFILE%\.android and other spots I've read of are C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.android
In case any of the above fails, since I haven't tested them, the easiest alternative might be to just download a Linux live CD, boot it and do the steps inside. Of course any work is lost when you shut it down. You could also boot it in VM program running on Windows.
Amazing guide, Hypexed! The amount of work you put in to figure this out is incredible.
However, I'm stuck on step 6c, where I'm supposed to save the cfar-cleanup.sh file. It's not letting me save it at all, either within the mount point or to another location, it says that I don't have permissions to save the file. I tried the 'sudo chown' to change ownership to try to edit the permissions, but that didn't work either with it still saying I can't have access to the file. Any ideas? There is probably a simple solution, but this is my first time really using Linux so I'm a noob. I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.1LTS installed, not live, dual-booted with Windows, if that's important to know
SpinningQyarks said:
Amazing guide, Hypexed! The amount of work you put in to figure this out is incredible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for noticing. It really was the culmination of months of hacking and cracking. Not to mention research. I decided I had to write a guide so I could document what I did in case I needed to do it again. And of course if it helped anyone else.
However, I'm stuck on step 6c, where I'm supposed to save the cfar-cleanup.sh file. It's not letting me save it at all, either within the mount point or to another location, it says that I don't have permissions to save the file. I tried the 'sudo chown' to change ownership to try to edit the permissions, but that didn't work either with it still saying I can't have access to the file. Any ideas? There is probably a simple solution, but this is my first time really using Linux so I'm a noob. I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.1LTS installed, not live, dual-booted with Windows, if that's important to know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry you got stuck. I can see some issues in my guide. Especially after trying to do 6c again. First I notice I didn't specify where to store all the folders. Somewhere in the home folder obviously but it looks like you sorted that out fine.
I have tested a working solution to the permissions problem. In fact two:
1. Locate cf folder in the cache mount point on the desktop and go into it. Now right click in the window to bring up the context menu and select "Open as Root". Open up the editor as before.
2.. In the terminal run the editor as root. For example:
sudo gedit cfar-cleanup.sh
I've tested this on Mint which is a "relation" of Ubuntu so should work the same.
Now the original permissions should be left intact. I checked and they didn't have the execute bit set which is unusual. It may help here to save your work on the file to a place you can save to in the meantime. So you don't get stuck again. And then unmount your cache mount point, extract the raw image again as per step 4 and remount as per step 5, if the permissions need restoring. They really should be as they are originally set in the image.
Then continue through to step 6 and beyond as you were.
Good luck!