Database Users

[Q] question about system.ext2

is there a simple way to open up the file and modify the contents?
i was able to use explore2fs but it only let me explore it and copy files.
i would like to replace some files but i dont know how to get write access.
i tried searching for help but i only see stuff about partitioning my SD card.

install linux either in a vm or on the hardware itself ... use mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
modify as you like ..

Cass67 said:
install linux either in a vm or on the hardware itself ... use mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
modify as you like ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for some reason that doesnt work for me...
im using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

mr_billionaire said:
for some reason that doesnt work for me...
im using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try using sudo
what error are you getting

veda_sticks said:
try using sudo
what error are you getting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am using sudo.
this is what i get:
HTML:
[email protected]:/home/home# mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
system.ext2: No such file or directory

nevermind... thanks for your help but i finally figured out what happened, i wasnt putting in the directory right.

Cass67 said:
install linux either in a vm or on the hardware itself ... use mount -o loop system.ext2 /mnt
modify as you like ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i was able to mount the system.ext2.
Question? does the file has to be mounted on /mnt ??
i want to mount two system.ext2, so when i mount the first one, the second one replaces the first one, how can i mount two files with the same name but to a diferent directory??
Edit: never mind figure it out, just had to create another directory duh,

thanks
just found this very usefull
thank you.

Lag Fix for Galaxy S "Showcase"

I'm sorry to post this in the Fascinate forum, but as you all know Cellular South's version the "Showcase" is identical in hardware as is the Mesmerize, but there isn't a forum for either of them..
I see there's plenty of kernels and etc.. But is there just a simple lag fix that I can do to my Showcase that will make every day use better and less laggy?
A simple yes or no is fine with me.
if there is a way a link post or explanation would be VERY appreciated.
Thanks,
Elijahblake
(PS)Sort of on the same subject, but I read that gingerbread is going to support ext4 file system. I know the Galaxy S uses the RFS file system which I believe is where we get the lag in the first place.. Will it be possible to switch file system formats?
I'm not real familiar with all these Linux formats. Would it be similar to reformatting like from FAT32 to NTFS?

If you can provide some additional information and files, I can port some things such as Voodoo lagfix to your device.
Needed:
stock kernel
stock mbr
mount output
All of the following can be done through adb on a rooted device.
To dump the kernel do:
cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
To dump original mbr do:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
To get mount output do:
mount
then paste the output of that command as well as upload the showcase.mbr and zImage files here.

jt1134 said:
If you can provide some additional information and files, I can port some things such as Voodoo lagfix to your device.
Needed:
stock kernel
stock mbr
mount output
All of the following can be done through adb on a rooted device.
To dump the kernel do:
cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
To dump original mbr do:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
To get mount output do:
mount
then paste the output of that command as well as upload the showcase.mbr and zImage files here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok will do, what's the best, easiest root method
Sent from my sch-i500 Showcase using XDA app

elijahblake said:
Ok will do, what's the best, easiest root method
Sent from my sch-i500 Showcase using XDA app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
look for the thread in the fascinate forum simply titled "root"
also you will need to locate the thread explaining how to get clockworkmod recovery on the showcase in the same forum

jt1134 said:
look for the thread in the fascinate forum simply titled "root"
also you will need to locate the thread explaining how to get clockworkmod recovery on the showcase in the same forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do.. May take me some while to get all this info gathered..
quick question? I've read of some people not being able to see certain apps in the market after rooting.. Is this still the case?
If my phone is rooted and 2.2 finally does come out (officially) will have to un root and remove any lag fix to upgrade? How hard will this be?

elijahblake said:
If my phone is rooted and 2.2 finally does come out (officially) will have to un root and remove any lag fix to upgrade? How hard will this be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get the upgrade, you shouldn't have to un-root, but you should probably disable voodoo first as the update will almost certainly have a new kernel, and applying the update without disabling voodoo could cause quite a headache.
If you do apply the update right away, you could quite possibly loose root, so you may want to wait until the devs re-root the update. This could make things easier for you as the rooted update will also likely be cleaned up some.
To disable voodoo, you'd just need to create a file called "disable_lagfix" in /sdcard/voodoo and then reboot your phone. See the thread in the dev forum about removing voodoo for more details if you want.

ok well it looks like I'm rooted.. Now I tried to open the ADB that came in the fascinate root zip but it's not opening for more than a split second... you have a download link?
Also can uninstall all this bloatware now??
edit.. thought I had Android SDK on this laptop.. Downloading it now

jt1134 said:
If you can provide some additional information and files, I can port some things such as Voodoo lagfix to your device.
Needed:
stock kernel
stock mbr
mount output
All of the following can be done through adb on a rooted device.
To dump the kernel do:
cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
To dump original mbr do:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
To get mount output do:
mount
then paste the output of that command as well as upload the showcase.mbr and zImage files here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, so i'm rooted now and got ADB set up.. And this is the first time I've done any of this. So can you please tell me the exact commands to enter. I really don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks,
elijahblake

elijahblake said:
Alright, so i'm rooted now and got ADB set up.. And this is the first time I've done any of this. So can you please tell me the exact commands to enter. I really don't want to mess anything up.
Thanks,
elijahblake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have c:\androidsdk
I put ADB inside tools and it sees my device when I run ADB devices
But on the commands you listed nothing happens, I'm not sure if that's the entire commands or if I'm supposed to add something to them..

Try to run the following
Code:
adb shell cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
adb shell dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
adb shell mount
or just typing "adb shell" and entering the commands at the new prompt, and typing "exit" to get back to the normal command prompt.

here's what happened..
the first two commands didn't work. DO i need to create a folder name zImages?
The second command said access denied..
You tell me if the mount worked haha..

jt will have to comment on whether that is what he needs from the mount command. Can you try the following to see if it works?
Code:
adb shell
su
shell cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
shell dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
exit

well, it granted me SU rights.. but still a no go...

i figured since i was in shell i shouldn't type that.. still got no directory found...

imnuts said:
jt will have to comment on whether that is what he needs from the mount command. Can you try the following to see if it works?
Code:
adb shell
su
shell cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
shell dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
exit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would root explorer make this any easier?

I just tested out all of the commands on my Fascinate and they all worked, so I'm guessing that the Showcase is putting stuff in a different place. jt will have to help you out further as I'm not sure of where else to look for the info he needs.

elijahblake said:
i figured since i was in shell i shouldn't type that.. still got no directory found...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the cat command it should bml as in lowercase L, not 1. And it looks like you added a space between the of and = on the dd command.

GeekMouse said:
for the cat command it should bml as in lowercase L, not 1. And it looks like you added a space between the of and = on the dd command.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I typed it exactly the way you said.. still got this..
Can you take a shot at it?

elijahblake said:
I typed it exactly the way you said.. still got this..
Can you take a shot at it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't need shell at the beginning.

elijahblake said:
I typed it exactly the way you said.. still got this..
Can you take a shot at it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how it should be typed
Code:
adb shell
su
cat /dev/block/bml7 > /sdcard/zImage
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/showcase.mbr bs=512 count=1
exit

[How To]Making an ODIN Tar

This is useful for repacking, or making a backup of how you like you phone and restoring through odin.. or whatever you want it for..
beware, if you dump data and cache partitions your files will start to get very large. most odin packages have empty data and cache partitions.
need root and adb.. i suppose you could do this all on terminal if you wanted to.
First obtain root
Code:
su
then data dump the bare minimum required paritions
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/stl9 of=/sdcard/factoryfs.rfs bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/stl11 of=/sdcard/cache.rfs bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/bml7 of=/sdcard/zImage bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/bml12 of=/sdcard/modem.bin bs=4096
And if you insist on data
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/stl10 of=/sdcard/datafs.rfs bs=4096
you can also dump these if you want, some packages have them some don't.. mostly only samsprint packages..
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/bml1 of=/sdcard/boot.bin bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/bml4 of=/sdcard/sbl.bin bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/bml8 of=/sdcard/recovery.bin bs=4096
dd if=/dev/block/bml6 of=/sdcard/param.lfs bs=4096
then if you want, you can make your own PIT file.. it shouldn't differ much from victory, but I'll show you anyway..
Code:
dd if=/dev/block/bml2 of=/sdcard/partitions.pit bs=4096
now in linux, or cygwin, or however you want.. tar it
if you include datafs.rfs, you need to add datafs.rfs before the > in the following command
Code:
tar -H ustar -c factoryfs.rfs cache.rfs modem.bin zImage boot.bin recovery.bin param.lfs sbl.bin > myOdin.tar
again, i suggest linux or cygwin, but however you want.. it needs to be md5ed
Code:
md5sum –t myOdin.tar >> myOdin.tar
mv myOdin.tar myOdin.tar.md5
There you go.. new md5 Odin tarball...

Always wanted the ability to do this. Thanks mate.
Now it says use linux or cygwin to odin and md5 it? Can that be done in the terminal?

darkierawr said:
Always wanted the ability to do this. Thanks mate.
Now it says use linux or cygwin to odin and md5 it? Can that be done in the terminal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my phone has both md5sum and tar.. but its been modified heavily so ymmv.. just try it out and see...

Thank you much for this very useful information. I've been trying to figure this out but I haven't had much luck with my attempts. I will give this a shot and see how it goes.

Would be nice is people created tars to help installation of roms like they have over in the fascinate forums.

burgerpimp07 said:
Would be nice is people created tars to help installation of roms like they have over in the fascinate forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
much larger downloads.. and not as much flexibility.. you get more backup and config options when you can run sh scripts in cwm...

one quick question. will this work with ext4?

Very nice information and thank you!
Am I thinking that it's possible to adjust the partition sizes with a new .pit? Seems like a lot of wasted space in the /system partition.
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.1.1

all of these commands save the files to the sdcard on the phone, correct ?
Also, the command "... > myodin.tar " creates the .tar file from the files 'on' the sd card (from the dumps) and saves them back onto the sdcard ?
Just checking before I proceed w/ my project..
Thanks for the help.

jarcher1971 said:
one quick question. will this work with ext4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but I.think fladhing the tar will revert to rfs.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

all the dd commands worked (used terminal).. however, I'm having a problem w/ the tar..
Can anyone help ?? I have cygwin installed. anyone ?? bueller.. bueller ? LOL

well i tried it and the results i got are in this thread here ----> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1089570 One thing i did not do was the md5 step. might that have caused the problem i now have?

daddymikey1975 said:
all the dd commands worked (used terminal).. however, I'm having a problem w/ the tar..
Can anyone help ?? I have cygwin installed. anyone ?? bueller.. bueller ? LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't know if this will help, but in the terminal did you cd to /sdcard before running tar. when i tried it without doing that it would error out.

jarcher1971 said:
don't know if this will help, but in the terminal did you cd to /sdcard before running tar. when i tried it without doing that it would error out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not try that but I will.. and for me terminal = terminal emulator on the phone not on my pc.. heh..
the response I got was something about tar and unrecognized command but I'll try it again..
brb

the result i got is "tar: not found"

daddymikey1975 said:
I did not try that but I will.. and for me terminal = terminal emulator on the phone not on my pc.. heh..
the response I got was something about tar and unrecognized command but I'll try it again..
brb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like you may not have it on your phone then. for me it was though. think it was in /system/bin or /system/xbin.

jarcher1971 said:
sounds like you may not have it on your phone then. for me it was though. think it was in /system/bin or /system/xbin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, after talking to chris on fossnet, the tar command wasn't 'usable' for me in the terminal window on the phone so I tried to use cygwin on my PC.. had to copy/paste the files from the phone's SDcard to the folder that cygwin uses on my computer.
Then the tar command worked perfectly.. then I did the md5 stuff.. my tar is uploading rt. now..
I'll post a link to it once it's done uploading and I flash it to make sure it works XD

this all worked like a champ
Thanks chris41g for the useful thread.. and for helping in IRC

marcusant said:
Yes but I.think fladhing the tar will revert to rfs.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can keep ext4 if you dump the pit as well and use it...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Awesome Chris. Thank u for this. I always wanted to be able to make my own flashable tar files.
Sent From My Evo Killer!

How do I convert rfs to ext2 or ext4 MANUALLY?

How do I convert partitions manually? What are the commands or procedures without using software?

If you have fugumod or g3mod kernel you can put a fs.convert in their respective folders.
Just make a file with notepad and write for example:
stl6 ext4
And save it without .txt extension and put in /sdcard/Android/data/fugumod (if you use fugumod) or sdcard/Android/g3mod (if you use fugumod)
Remember:
stl6 is system
stl7 is data
stl8 is cache
ale_bot from xda app

I said I wanted to know the manual method But thanks for you willing to help!
Because I have another Android phone as well and I want to make a universal file system conversion application... To make life easier for every Android owner.
I was hoping someone could tell me everything I needed...

djjonastybe said:
I said I wanted to know the manual method But thanks for you willing to help!
Because I have another Android phone as well and I want to make a universal file system conversion application... To make life easier for every Android owner.
I was hoping someone could tell me everything I needed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For that u'll need the kernel to support the fs so it cant be universal
also the manual way is different in different devices
P.S. : This ain't development, ask your questions in general or q/a

Please notice that even if you do convert manually, kernel is still supposed to support ext2/4 file system. Stock kernel does not support it, so in some way you have always to take in consideration which kernel you are running.

My kernel supports ext2
All I need is now some scripts...
for example /dev/stl12 is /system

djjonastybe said:
My kernel supports ext2
All I need is now some scripts...
for example /dev/stl12 is /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think "universal" is not so easy possible as you would like. Every device has another hardware and so the OS (although it's android) is not the same...
On Galaxy 3 the /system parition is /dev/stl6... not stl12
There is the app G3mod by Dympy / Dharam.
The "manual" way is advised here for you (convert.fs - file)
both ways only work on G3 with fugmod or G3mod-kernel...
If you wanna make your own "universal" app you need to do it the linux-way with mkfs -t ext?? /dev/stl??
with manual commands or within a script (maybe with cases --> "universal") in adb shell during CWM or script at booting, as the filesystems must not be mounted while converting!
However you won't be coming around learning to handle linux!

So I can do this?
su
mount -o remount,rw /dev/stl12 /system
busybox cp /system/* /sdcard/system_backup/
reboot recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
# Now we are in CWM and we unmount /system manually (unless someone gives me the command I can replace this with the command to unmount /system???)
mkfs -t ext2 /dev/stl12
mount -o remount,rw /dev/stl12 /system
busybox cp /sdcard/system_backup/* /system/*
chmod 644 /system/*
sync
reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think this process would work??? OR do I need to do something more? I believe ALL my commands are correct. Can I proceed or do I have to declare something somewhere so Android knows it's ext2 or is this fine ?

I hope this is ok ? I am going to try it out in two hours...

I tried it to convert it to ext2...
The conversion went succesfull
But after reboot it detects any partition I convert to ext2 as ext4... But ext4 is not supported :/ WTF?
Should I try mke2fs instead?

Could someone make an unbrick image for me? Original link for it is down.

Well, I'm sure getting good at killing this thing.
There used to be an unbrick image up on androidfilehost.com, but the user deleted his account and it is no more. Thus, I'm up the creek ...
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23578570567721355
As you can see, all it does is dump the first 200MB of it to a file, so you don't have to download that if you can give me the image. I really don't want to have to ship this thing back and wait.
You can just cut and paste this into a terminal if that's easier:
mkdir -p /sdcard/Unbrick_Files/;
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/Unbrick_Files/200MB.img bs=4096 count=50000;
busybox gzip /sdcard/Unbrick_Files/*;
mv /sdcard/Unbrick_Files/200MB.img.gz /sdcard/Unbrick_Files/Unbrick_IMG.gz;
chmod -R 777 /sdcard/Unbrick_Files
This time I'll put it on my google drive and androidfilehost.
Much appreciated. This thing really should be available for everyone.

Is the unbrick image posted somewhere?