Dealing with the ntrw 'incorrect parameter' error - JAM, MDA Compact, S100 General

When I first tried writing a bigstorage ROM to SD using "ntrw write", like many other people here I got the "incorrect parameter" message and was quite nervous about attempting to flash my magician having seen this message.
So, I've come up with the following method to verify that the ROM has written correctly to the SD card, despite the error above.
To perform this procedure, in addition to the usual tools, you will need to install GNU32 diff tools from here:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gnuwin32/diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe?download
1. Let's presume that the image you want to write is called hackedimage.nb1.
2. In Windows explorer, right click on the file hackedimage.nb1 and choose Properties, from this window you will be able to read the size of this file in bytes (it will be something like 66847136) write this down somewhere. This is the magic number. [NOTE, write down the "Size" NOT "Size on disk"].
3. Now write the file to your SD card with the command "ntrw write hackedimage.nb1 X:"
4. Next, we'll read the image straight back to another file that we'll call "readimage.nb1". The command is "ntrw read readimage.nb1"
5. You now have two files, which we'll compare to make sure the content is identical (ignoring the fact that they are completely different sizes).
6. In the directory \Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\ you will find a file called "cmp.exe".
7. Run the command "cmp -b -n XXXXX hackedimage1.nb1 readimage.nb1" replacing XXXXX with the magic number you wrote down earlier. This command will do whats known as a "binary diff" to compare the contents of the files.
8. If the command gives no output whatsoever, then you should have a good image, great! Go flash it! (If the command does give output, then the images don't match, time to try again).
Hope that helps, it certainly worked for me.

Related

Error after sign Zip Files. "Can't find update script"

I followed each one of your steps. I get an error when trying to install the signed zip. "Can't find update script" Can anyone please help me with this.
thank you
I'm doing option 2. I get it signed just get an error "Can't find update script"
This quick guide will teach you how to sign ROMs!
WARNING : YOU WILL NEED AT LEAST A BASE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO USE COMMAND PROMPT.
The knowledge of signing ROMs can prove useful to anyone! By knowing how to sign ROMs, you can modify your favorite ROM to add or delete APKs, so when you flash the ROM your favorite apps will be present! Or you can delete apps you don't use so they will not be installed when flashing the ROM!
Before starting, you need a couple of things. First you will need Java SE Development Kit and Java SE Runtime Environment . You can download them HERE.
After you have downloaded and installed both, you will need a very useful tool made by someone at XDA-Developers (if you know who it is please let me know).
Download this tool (attached) and unzip everything inside of it into one common folder. I personally unzipped everything into my Android SDK folder.
Signing
Now run the autosign.bat. You will have to go through commands 1(Set PATH variable for SDK) ,2 (Set CLASSPATH variable for signing tool) and 3 (Install registry entries). They are very easy to use and just follow the instructions. If you are asked to confirm and/or replace a file, always select yes!
Now you are finally ready to sign! There are two options to sign the .zip
1)Find the ROM (.zip) and right click and select "Resign Zip". If you use this option a command prompt box should quickly appear and disappear.
OR
2) Using the Autosign.bat, select option 4, and then write the directory and file name of the ROM. For example,
D:\Android\ROMs\YourROMHere.zip
It will hang for a bit at the part where it says "signing", and then it should say something along the lines of "Successfully completed if no errors above"
If this helped you, comment below!
http://androidforums.com/developer-101/8665-how-signing-roms.html
Anyone...... I know someone knows
You have to zip the contents of the rom, not the rom itself. i.e. if you sign the rom folder, it will be ROM_Signed.zip->ROM->system/data/metainf... you get the picture. Go into the folder you want to zip and then sign, select the contents, and zip them. It will then be ROM_Signed.zip->/system/data/metainf. Then just sign it.
update-script is a script that tells the flash utility what to do. It is located in the zip as part of the following directory structure:
META-INF/com/google/android
The contents can vary. For Darktremor A2SD 2.6.1, here's the contents:
show_progress 0.1 0
copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:
show_progress 0.1 10
PACKAGE is used by android to reference the actual zip file, or package file.
SYSTEM is used to represent /system
DATA is used to represent /data
CACHE is used to represent /cache
BOOT is used to represent the boot partition (which is where you flash boot.img)
RECOVERY is used to represent the recovery partition. Never actually seen this used. I guess it used for an update.zip that you would flash via fastboot.
The zip file has to be structured in the same way as the file system on your phone. If you want to install something to, say, /system/bin, you must have a system folder, which in turn has a bin folder.
What I would do is take one of the available ROMs and unzip it. Then look for their update-script. Usually ROM packages are more detailed in the update-script.
If you don't have update-script in your zip file, the flash utility in recovery won't know what to do.
networx2002 said:
I followed each one of your steps. I get an error when trying to install the signed zip. "Can't find update script" Can anyone please help me with this.
thank you
I'm doing option 2. I get it signed just get an error "Can't find update script"
This quick guide will teach you how to sign ROMs!
WARNING : YOU WILL NEED AT LEAST A BASE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO USE COMMAND PROMPT.
The knowledge of signing ROMs can prove useful to anyone! By knowing how to sign ROMs, you can modify your favorite ROM to add or delete APKs, so when you flash the ROM your favorite apps will be present! Or you can delete apps you don't use so they will not be installed when flashing the ROM!
Before starting, you need a couple of things. First you will need Java SE Development Kit and Java SE Runtime Environment . You can download them HERE.
After you have downloaded and installed both, you will need a very useful tool made by someone at XDA-Developers (if you know who it is please let me know).
Download this tool (attached) and unzip everything inside of it into one common folder. I personally unzipped everything into my Android SDK folder.
Signing
Now run the autosign.bat. You will have to go through commands 1(Set PATH variable for SDK) ,2 (Set CLASSPATH variable for signing tool) and 3 (Install registry entries). They are very easy to use and just follow the instructions. If you are asked to confirm and/or replace a file, always select yes!
Now you are finally ready to sign! There are two options to sign the .zip
1)Find the ROM (.zip) and right click and select "Resign Zip". If you use this option a command prompt box should quickly appear and disappear.
OR
2) Using the Autosign.bat, select option 4, and then write the directory and file name of the ROM. For example,
D:\Android\ROMs\YourROMHere.zip
It will hang for a bit at the part where it says "signing", and then it should say something along the lines of "Successfully completed if no errors above"
If this helped you, comment below!
http://androidforums.com/developer-101/8665-how-signing-roms.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HeroMeng said:
You have to zip the contents of the rom, not the rom itself. i.e. if you sign the rom folder, it will be ROM_Signed.zip->ROM->system/data/metainf... you get the picture. Go into the folder you want to zip and then sign, select the contents, and zip them. It will then be ROM_Signed.zip->/system/data/metainf. Then just sign it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It took my brain a min, but i got it.
Thanks

[Q] Help needed to dump the original rom

Hi everybody! I bought some weeks ago a Shift and my first priority is to change the language from Italian to English. But before going ahead in flashing a new rom I thought it is wise to make a back-up of the original rom.
So in my attempt to dump the original italian rom of my Shift I've come to an error status I don't know how to overcome, therefore any help would be very much appreciated:
Following pof's How to dump HTC Shift ROM at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=382609
I downloaded itsutils, unzipped on the pc and placed all the itsutils files in the c:\users\HTC User folder, (as I just did not know how to change the path in cmd to go to the c root with the itsutil folder).
Further on, with the WinMob connected to Vista with USB Tool, I introduced the first command line for pdocread
pdocread.exe -w -d FLASHDR -b 0x800 -p Part00 0 0x31f000 Part00.raw
and I got the answer
Copying c:\users\HTC User\itsutils.dll to WCE:\Windows\itsutils.dll (which I think it's OK) and then
rapi reinitializing (is it normal?)
and then
ERROR: CeProcessConfig – r=002349d0 ce=00000002 le=00000000 hr=80070005
– Access is denied
I have no idea on what the cause of the error could be, probably I must have done something wrong and I am stuck at this first dump step.
Can somebody please help me further to get unstuck?
Thank you very much!
Are you connected using activesync?
Also, try this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=427507
and use pdocread -l first.
thaihugo said:
Are you connected using activesync?
Also, try this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=427507
and use pdocread -l first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU THAIHUGO for taking the glove of answering me on this dead forum, I really need help! I find it fantastic that you are still so active, maybe in time some other senior members will take again the challenge to support the newcomers.
Yes, WM was connected to Vista side using the USB Tool and the Windows Mobile Device Center.
Looking back, I think I opened cmd as user and not as admin (now I know how to do it), this might have been the mistake, I will try again this afternoon.
1. So far I understood that the main reading process is running under Vista using the command lines and the itsutils, which is ok.
Does it matter where the unzipped folder <itsutilsbin-20100324> is placed? I mean should it be placed obligatory in the root of the c:\ drive?
If YES, how do I do that in the cmd line, I mean change the directory? Normally the cmd screen opens to the folder c:\users\HTC User when starting as user and to c:\Windows\system32 when doing it as administrator. Is it wise to copy all the itsutils files to system 32?
Of all those itsutils files, which are the absolutely necessary files to do the dump? Are these pdocread.exe and itsutils.dll only? This is because I'd like to handle as less files as possible to the system 32 folder.
2. If I got this right, the link that you pointed to shows for the Raphael ROM how to do the dump entirely on the WM side and should be applicable to the Shift WM as well if not managing it from Vista side, is that what you were trying to say?
3. Is this way of dumping the rom covering also the radio part and the bootloader, I mean all the 4 raw files contain the whole initial memory of the WM?
Sorry to raise such beginners question, but I did not find these things explained in any of the Shift threads and without answers I cannot progress with this dump job and furtehr proceed with flashing a custom rom in English. I did search in the Shift forums and googles for answers, but maybe I did not use the right keywords.
Looking forward to receive the enlighting answers, thanks in advance!
Admin cmd mode should help yes.
1) it doesn't matter where your zip is. Just uncompress the files somewhere in a folder (c:\itsutils if you want), open you command line in admin mode, navigate from system32 folder to the itsutils folder and try again with the pdocread -l then the command from POF post.
2) do not use raphael numbers. I linked to the post for the general procedure. Proper numbers are in the POF post.
3) you will not have the radio, nor the bootloader. But you have to jump if you want to use custom roms. Bootloader is available somwhere, and radio also I think.
Still getting errors
thaihugo said:
Admin cmd mode should help yes.
1) it doesn't matter where your zip is. Just uncompress the files somewhere in a folder (c:\itsutils if you want), open you command line in admin mode, navigate from system32 folder to the itsutils folder and try again with the pdocread -l then the command from POF post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you again Thaihugo!
I gave it another try to pof's commands as you recommended this time first with pdocread -l and it doens't work, BUT I'm getting the similar error messages. While accessing cmd as administrator and running the cmd line from c:\itsutils:
pdocread.exe -l
rapi reinitializing
and then after about 35 sec
ERROR: CeProcessConfig – r=002349d0 ce=00000002 le=00000000 hr=80070005 – Access is denied
At different runs I got different addresses for r and ce, but the same for le and hr (no idea what those mean).
It doesn't change if launching as administrator or user.
I even downloaded a previous version of itsutils directly on the Vista computer and unzipped it with Total Commander and the result is the same.
Have also tried another command from pof with the same error result:
pmemdump.exe 0x8c000000 262144 SPL.nb
Of course the WM side was connected to Vista via USB Tool and I also checked if from the Vista side the WM folders were accessible.
I'm completely stuck, don't know what to do further, please help!!!
Thank you!
P.S. Have copied the itsutils.dll to the Windows folder in WM via e-mail, just like in the liberalization process in order to avoid copying it via Active sync (as recommended for Raphael). This time at the first run of the pdocread.exe I was asked to accept installing itsutils.dll on the WM side, which I did.
But I'm still getting the error messages when launching pdocread.exe -l, this time running very fast in a few seconds and after 4 turns it stops with the final message
ERROR loading itsutil.dll - probably denied by policy restrictions
Does it ring any bell to you?
My guess is that I have to relax the security policy on the WM side, but I don't know how.
I am amaized that nobody raised all these before.
I've finally done it! HowTo......
OK, I finally managed to dump the ROM thanks to the support of Thaihugo and the info in various threads on this forum (with credit to the authors), I have now the ROM and bootloader dump files, but not the radio rom.
There were several detailed steps important for beginners that were not included in POF's thread "How to dump HTC Shift ROM" at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=382609 that prevented me to do the dump from the first go.
In order to spare other newcomers time, here they are:
-On the WinMob side change the Security Policies setting by installing a registry editor like PHM Registry Editor, TotalCommander, etc. (I used the cab files downloaded in Vista and moved to WinMob via the Windows Mobile Device Center);
Go to HKLM\Security\Policies\Policies and change the valuename '00001001' from dword:2 to dword:1. Save the change and soft reset your WM device.
If in doubt check this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=427507
Note: After finishing the dump operation do not forget to revert back to the initial dword:2 value
-Download itsutils from POF's site to Vista and unzip the package to a new folder "c:\itsutils".
-To be on the safe side disconnect all network connections (3G modem, wifi, BT, LAN) and all USB external devices.
-Connect the WinMob side of the liberated Shift to Vista using the USB Tool and check in the Windows Mobile Device Center that the folders and files of WinMob are indeed accessible from Vista
-Open the command line screen and go to the folder where you unzipped the itsutils tool by typing "cd c:\itsutils" (without the quotes).
-From within the folder itutils type the command "pdocread -l" (without the quotes).
At this point, with pdocread.exe started, go to the WinMob side and
you will find a message asking you to accept installing the itsutils.dll on the WM side, say Yes to it and wait until it is instelled.
Then go back to Vista side and carry on as described in POF's thread mentioned above by:
- using "pdocread.exe -l" to list the NAND PARTITIONS (which have to do also with the radio side as I understood from one of cmonex posts)
- using "pdocread.exe -w -d FLASHDR -b 0x800 -p Part00 0 0x31f000 Part00.raw" and the other 3 commnads to generate the 4 raw files in the same folder c:\itsutils; keep them for reconstructing the original ROM
- using "pmemdump.exe 0x8c000000 262144 SPL.nb" to dump the bootloader file to the same folder c:\itsutils; keep that too.
That's it for now.
I have to deal further with dumping the radio rom, but I don't know how to do it, I must search the forums.
A big THANK YOU to all who helped me!
I never dumped a Radio. I think the experts keep this as secret because it's quite dangerous. Isuggest you have a look at your radio version and try and fin the same radioin the forum already dumped.
Otherwise, there are roms for each radio, so you could just simply apply the one that works wth your radio. No phone call though if you don't use the right one.
thaihugo said:
I never dumped a Radio. I think the experts keep this as secret because it's quite dangerous. Isuggest you have a look at your radio version and try and fin the same radioin the forum already dumped.
Otherwise, there are roms for each radio, so you could just simply apply the one that works wth your radio. No phone call though if you don't use the right one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you again Thaihugo, it seems that you are the only senior left on duty on this dead forum....yet the counter shows 238 views of this thread. Hm, strange....Anyway, thank you for all the good hints given one way or another during the past days, I wouldn't have made it without it.
I got the message, I will not bother with dumping the Radio. I know that a particular Rom is matched with a certain radio. I will flash one of your roms, most probably Age of Reasons and the associated radio. I am not looking for tens of programs on the WM side, it is enough to have the basic things in English and instant-on. I will let you know!

DHD root help

Hey, I got a DHD on TELUS network in Canada. I was hoping a one click root method would cone up somewhere in my searching. But no go. Would anyone have noob instructions to root this thing. I love the phone but compared to my original desire which I got rooted, this is not doing it for me. Thanks
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Just did this today. Follow the steps in the sticky
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905003
I had to create a gold card to make it work. Wasn't too difficult.
tried it...nothing but errors....thanks anyways..cant figure it out
Cwest1 said:
tried it...nothing but errors....thanks anyways..cant figure it out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guide explains how to create a GoldCard. A GoldCard is a special SD card which, when inserted into your device, allows you to flash RUU files with a different CID to your own device. For example, if you own a T-Mobile branded device, this will allow you to flash a generic ROM.
Please note, I am not responsible if you damage your phone in anyway because of this, this is a guide written by someone else that I have extracted to share with you. This has worked for me and I have succesfuly used this method to de-brand over 5 Desire HDs
Requirements
•Spare microSD card
•Windows PC (recommended)
•ADB (part of the tools folder of the SDK, available for download here
•HxD Hex Editor, available for download here http://mh-nexus.de/en/downloads.php?product=HxD
Step by step instructions
•Format the microSD card to FAT32 format.
•Put the microSD card in your device and boot it.
•Ensure you have unzipped the SDK (you can Google this to find the link to download it), then open a command prompt to the extract location (where you extracted the SDK Files). Change to the 'tools directory.
•Enter 'adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc2/mmc2:*/cid' and press enter. You should get a very long number which looks like this: 532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402.
•Visit this http://hexrev.soaa.me/ , paste in your number and reverse it. In our example the result would be 00544d5107943247039c7d22bd002653.
•Visit this http://psas.revskills.de/?q=goldcard , enter your reversed number and create your goldcard image, which will be e-mailed to you.
•Open the HxD hex editor. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must run the application as administrator.
•Go to the 'Extra' menu and select 'Open Disk'. Under physical disk, select Removable Disk (your microSD card), uncheck 'Open as Readonly' and click OK. Note that you should select physical disk NOT the logical disk. This is important!
•Go to the 'Extra' menu again and select 'Open Disk Image'. Open the goldcard image that you received by email.
•You should now have two tabs - one is your removable disk, the other is your goldcard image. Press OK when prompted for 'Sector Size' (selecting 512 (Hard disks/Floppy disks)) and click OK.
•Click on the goldcard image tab. Go to the 'Edit' menu, choose 'Select All' then select the 'Edit' menu again and select 'Copy'.
•Click on the 'Removable Disk' tab. Highlight offset (line) 00000000 to offset (line) 00000170 (including the 00000170 line), then click on the 'Edit' menu and select 'Paste Write'.
•Click on the 'File' menu and select 'Save', accepting the warning.
If you have troubles installing the SKD because it requires something to work hit next, back and then next again and it should install.
GOOD LUCK!
If you should experience problems considering the gold card and that it might not be accepted: I had such a problem and it finally worked when I reversed the id of the card by hand and not the page that provided automatic conversion.
Sent from my Desire HD
On a sidenote to the steps above.
Check twice that you have chosen your SD-Card else you will damage your HD's boot sector (which can be fixed easily, but still you don't have to go through that trouble)
917 said:
On a sidenote to the steps above.
Check twice that you have chosen your SD-Card else you will damage your HD's boot sector (which can be fixed easily, but still you don't have to go through that trouble)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe I've done that when trying the first time. Luckily live CDs have already been invented so I could fix the MBR with a simple command.
Sent from my Desire HD

How to dump your own image

First, to clarify, the last time I rooted anything was a Galaxy S3 back in the day. I'm by no means an expert, I just figured I'd help out folks like me that haven't touched all these new tools, well, ever.
Just did this myself earlier today attempted to get Magisk root, but alas, I got stuck in a boot loop. Luckily I had muddled through getting the image first, otherwise I'd still be stuck in said boot loop. I figured I'd post this for anyone else trying to root these things just to make sure you have a backup you can trust (I generally don't trust rando images that folks post online). All of the instructions below are assuming you're on Windows 10 and using PowerShell just because that's the default these days. Without further adieu.
Download ADB/fastboot (on your Windows machine)
I downloaded adb/fastboot from google directly: https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools
Just extract and browse to the platform-tools directory in Windows Explorer until you can see adb.exe and a bunch of other tools
Download the latest SP Flash Tool
I just grabbed it from here: https://spflashtools.com/
Please let me know if there's an "official" place to find SP Flash Tool, cause everything surrounding all the download sites seems a bit sus...
Enable USB Debugging (on the tablet)
Go to settings -> About tablet
Tap the Build number 10 times (until debugging mode unlocks)
Hit back and go to System
Click Advanced and then Developer Options
Enable USB Debugger
I also enabled OEM unlocking because the whole point of this is for me to run either AOSP or Lineage someday. I honestly don't know if unlocking the bootloader is needed for dumping your own images, but I highly suspect it's not.
Plug the tablet into your computer
You'll likely see a prompt on your tablet about allowing your computer to debug your tablet. I just checked the box and hit accept so I wouldn't see it again.
Get your scatter file (on your Windows machine)
I tried several things to get the scatter file (I guess this is like a partition table based on the contents I saw) but in the end, by far the easiest way was to just download the scatter file from the file system.
In the Windows Explorer window from before (platform-tools), hold down shift while left clicking and click on Open PowerShell window here
Now type the following to get a shell on your:
.\adb.exe shell
This will get you into the shell environment. Now type the following to verify your scatter file is there:
ls -al /system/data/misc/
In here you should see something like:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 13893 2008-12-31 19:00 MT8168_Android_scatter.txt
Now that we have the name, just type exit to get out of the shell
Download the scatter file
.\adb.exe pull /system/data/misc/MT8168_Android_scatter.txt
Open up the scatter file in your favorite text editor (for me, Notepad++)
Now you can see the partition layout, offsets, etc, etc
Dump your image(s) (on your Windows machine)
Now open SP Flash Tool (flash_tool.exe)
On the Download tab, make sure the Download-Agent is MTK_AllInOne_DA.bin
Now click Choose for the Scatter-loading file and browse to the scatter file you just downloaded
This should be in your platform-tools folder unless you moved it
Once the scatter file is loaded, the partition table should fill up with a bunch of partitions
Click on the Readback tab
Click Add
Double-click on the new entry
Navigate to where you want to save your image, and give it a name (in this case I'm starting with boot.img)
Remember how you opened the scatter file in a text editor? Search in the scatter file for boot.img
Make sure the region matches (should be EMMC_USER) between the scatter file and SP Flash Tool
Copy/paste the value for start_addr in the scatter file to Start Address in SP Flash Tool
Copy/paste the value for partition_size in the scatter file to Length in SP Flash Tool
Now do the same thing for recovery.img and any other images you'd like
If you want a full ROM backup, name the file something like ROM_0, then use Start Address of 0x0 and length as the start_addr for the second-to-last entry in the scatter file (in my case, it was 0xc1a80000, just make sure it doesn't start with f's)
Note: I don't know for sure if this is accurate or not, I'm still playing with it, but so far it appears to be. Probably?
Poking around in WwR MTK 2.51, it looks like for this particular device (100011885) I wanted a total dump of 0x73A000000. It looks like this number is derived from the first 8Mb of the EMMC_USER dump, so I'm not sure of an easier way than throwing WwR MTK at it for the moment.
Once you've got all the entries for what you'd like to dump, make sure to disconnect the tablet from your computer and power it off
Now click on Download in SP Flash tool
Once things grey out, then plug the tablet in. After a few seconds, you'll see the images start dumping.
Congrats, you have a boot.img (and whatever other images you wanted). Like I said, from here I tried using Magisk to patch the boot file, but when I flashed it in fastboot, after enabling OEM unlocking in Developer Options, it just kept popping up the initial Onn graphic along with the Orange State warning without getting to the "fancy" Onn graphic and the rest of the boot process. I was able to flash the original boot.img back and it once again booted properly again.
Also, for anyone interested, I've posted my dumped files for the 100011885 in my google drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17LtLtjKg4JJU9EJdIXPsyNjen0H-ilMX?usp=sharing
Maybe someone will have pity on me and figure out why Magisk isn't working?
Whenever I get a moment, I'll dump my 100003562 as well.
First, thanks a ton for this. I have been trying to pull a full system dump since I bought the tablet and had resorted to single pulls by name(very long and involved) I don't know if this will work for you, but on both of my 7 inch Gen 2 tablets, I just sideloaded Magisk Manager and then opened it (this was after unlocking the tablet) When I first opened MM it just said it needed to download some additional files for my environment. I clicked okay, it downloaded and installed the additional files. Once it rebooted, I open MM again and clicked install Magisk. On the next screen, I clicked direct install and let it do it's thing. After rebooting, root checker showed I had root, but I still can't get it to pass safetyNet. Root access does work as I have installed a few modules and busy box.

ME176C/CX detailed guide on dual-booting linux

Greetings,
i did go through dual-booting linux on our device kind of process and spend a bit of time, trying to figure out the correct steps.
Was not easy, for a newbie like me, i dont know much about linux itself, most of the inscrutions are written in "foreing language" for me, so here is more of a detailed guide.
This guide is only for installation on the SDCARD, i did not try out internal storage
!!! Im not responsible for anything that happens during/using these steps, you and only you are responsible to what happens, use with caution !!!
Requirements:
Unlocked bootloader: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...6c-boot-for-asus-memo-pad-7-me176c-x.3780225/
Installed TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...p-3-3-1-for-asus-memo-pad-7-me176c-x.3745190/
Both of these guides are made step by step, so there should be no questions about this
First of all, go to https://images.postmarketos.org/bpo/v22.12/asus-me176c/ , there are 3 different types of UI, the kernel itself should be the same, but i dont know for sure myself
Phosh - very well working on our device, missing a bit of RAM to launch firefox stable for example
Plasma-mobile - i found this one was very hardware heavy, it takes quite alot of more storage aswell, i do not recommend this for our device
Sxmo - this one did boot up just fine, but i wasnt able to get more testing as my hardware inputs were not recognized by the software, i do not recommend this one
There are multiple software version, i did try only the latest one
Possible to try out the lower (outdated) versions yourself
After downloading these files, you should have 2 of the .xz archives, unpack them somewhere, i did put them into the same folder, but thats just my own preference
After unpacking them, you should have
XXX-asus-me176c-bootpart.img
XXX-asus-me176c.img
XXX are reference to date of the build
To have ourself things easier, we will rename both of these build and leave only the "asus-me176c.img/asus-me176c-bootpart.img", you can leave them named as theyre, but it will take you a bit more time in the terminal
After that, we will move one of our images (the non-bootpart one) to the internal storage of the device.
Make sure, to have enough space available. I have the 8GB version and it was kind of struggle for me to install the plasma-mobile version.
I did also try moving that file to USB-OTG and SDCARD, but i had some problems with USB-OTG in TWRP and SDCARD gets wiped when you install the OS.
So, please, use internal storage for the file, the OS IS NOT GOING TO GET INSTALLED ON YOUR INTERNAL STORAGE IN THIS WAY, WE ARE GOING TO INSTALL IT ON A SDCARD.
After moving our file to the internal memory, we will go and reboot our tablet to fastboot mode
when powered off, press volume down + power on, release power when screen lights up
in the custom bootloader menu, using volume keys (power one does not work), we select Fastboot (power down to move and power up to select)
Our phone should boot into fastboot mode, we go and connect our phone to the computer
after connecting the phone, we go to the folder where our xxx asus-bootpart.img is located, go ahead and SHIFT+RIGHTCLICK on empy space in the folder, select Open a terminal/powershell window here
in the terminal/powershell we type in command " fastboot flash APD asus-me176c.img "
let the command process, after its done, go and type in " fastboot reboot-bootloader "
our phone gets rebooted into the bootloader, with volume keys once again, select RECOVERY
when our device gets booted to TWRP, go to Mount -> Tick ESP
anywhere on your PC, open up the default text editor, paste in:
title postmarketOS
volume 80868086-8086-8086-8086-000000000007
linux /vmlinuz-edge
initrd /intel-ucode.img
initrd /initramfs
# Comment this out to get more output on screen while booting
options console=null
this text is only used for the latest version of the OS, for lower versions, please follow https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/ASUS_MeMO_Pad_7_(asus-me176c)
select the file type as "every files" instead of text document
name it pmos.conf and save it anywhere you like
at your computer, download MiniDiskPartition tool, or other partition tool
partition your sdcard using the selected tool
i have 32GB sdcard, i did partition my sdcard roughly 8GB with FAT32 for file sharing between android/linux/windows and the rest with EXT4 for the Linux itself
i believe the partition size for Linux doesnt matter aslong as its over 4GB, the installation itself should resize the partition on sdcard itself, depending on how it needs, BUT im still not 100% how this works
connect your phone to the computer
in TWRP go to MOUNT and tick ESP
in the folder where you saved the pmos.conf, open up a terminal (once again SHIFT+RIGHTLICK and open terminal/powershell here)
type in " adb push pmos.conf /esp/loader/entries/ " , press enter
in TWRP go to Advanced and go to Terminal
type in " df "
then you should see your partitions, we are looking for one that belongs to /external_sd/ , usually dev/block/mmcblkX0Y (X and Y are not specified), it should have it written at the end
mine was " /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 " YOURS CAN BE DIFFERENT! in the original guide, they specify, it can be also SDXY (XY belongs to any number)
after we find our partition that belongs to /external_sd/ , we go into the terminal in TWRP and type in:
dd if=/PATHTOYOURIMGFILE/ of=/PATHTOYOUREXTERNALSDCARDPARTITION/ bs=4m
i did have the IMG file in my internal storage, therefore my command was:
dd if=/sdcard/asus-me176c.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 bs=4m
make sure to use the bs=4m instead of bs=4M (as specified in the original guide), otherwise you will get "illegal number" error
after this, you should wait! The file is 1,6 - 2,4 GB, it takes time
your result should appear in the terminal
if your installation was succesfull, you can go in TWRP to REBOOT and select BOOTLOADER
you should have postmarketOS option available in the bootloader boot options, select it
you should boot your postmarketOS now
if you didnt, you probably didnt follow the guide correctly, read the steps once again
if you couldnt install the postmarketOS and youre sure you did follow the steps correctly, contact me on XDA (preferably make a comment under this thread)
Original thread:
ASUS MeMO Pad 7 (asus-me176c) - postmarketOS
wiki.postmarketos.org

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