Database Users

Minimal UI for LUKS encryption on the Wildfire

This is a basic gui I wrote to unlock my encrypted partitions during boot.
I'm running my /data and /sdcard partitions encrypted, and the "luksunlock" binary is launched from init.rc to read the password and unlock the encrypted partitions.
I have included my somewhat modified init.rc for those interested.
For more information about LUKS on Android see this blogpost, written by shawn (Seems I'm not allowed to have urls in the post, but Google for 'android luks' , first hit)
This works good on Wildfire, altough it should work fine on other phones as well. Just remember that you need to set up your partitions as in the luksunlock.c (or change the defines).
Dont forget to backup before you start playing around!
Good luck!

Thanks! i'll give a try!

Hi,
I tried to use your cryptsetup binary from your blog, but I have some issues that you'll sure have an answer:
I run ./cryptsetup luksFormat -c aes-plain /dev/block/loop2 and after i put the luks password it says 'Command failed', no logs, no other output, even using the -v flag...
Any clue?
Thanks in advance!
PS: the module dm-crypt is necessary for cryptsetup? could be this the error? I don't have it installed on the system because I can't find it for 2.6.35.9-cyanogenmod

tusabe said:
Hi,
I tried to use your cryptsetup binary from your blog, but I have some issues that you'll sure have an answer:
I run ./cryptsetup luksFormat -c aes-plain /dev/block/loop2 and after i put the luks password it says 'Command failed', no logs, no other output, even using the -v flag...
Any clue?
Thanks in advance!
PS: the module dm-crypt is necessary for cryptsetup? could be this the error? I don't have it installed on the system because I can't find it for 2.6.35.9-cyanogenmod
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM6.1 for wildfire uses a 2.6.32 kernel (see HCDR.jacob's post about his custom kernel for more info)

tusabe said:
PS: the module dm-crypt is necessary for cryptsetup? could be this the error? I don't have it installed on the system because I can't find it for 2.6.35.9-cyanogenmod
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you really need dm-crypt support, either compiled into the kernel or as a module. You also need the AES ciphers support.

sigkill1337 said:
Yeah you really need dm-crypt support, either compiled into the kernel or as a module. You also need the AES ciphers support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! Yeah, that's what I was afraid of.... ok, but the problem is that i'm running CM6.1 with 2.6.35.9 which has no dm-crypt module neither compiled in kernel... where can i find some kernel with this modules included? Is for an HTC Desire (@Sympnotic )
Thanks in advance!

Great work and thanks for sharing @Sigkill. Working on building it here for my NexusOne with CM6.1.
BTW, I’m the lead on a project working on general secure Android distro – we’ve ported Tor, have an OTR IM app, and have supported other projects along those lines. Would love to talk more about supporting anyone working on this specific capability.

wow! awesome work!!! Very exciting news. Gonna give this a go on my MyTouch Slide

NathanFreitas said:
Great work and thanks for sharing @Sigkill. Working on building it here for my NexusOne with CM6.1.
BTW, I’m the lead on a project working on general secure Android distro – we’ve ported Tor, have an OTR IM app, and have supported other projects along those lines. Would love to talk more about supporting anyone working on this specific capability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems really nice. I like the secure phone concept.

New Makefile and wiki info up
_hc from the @guardianproject has a new build process up for Crypsetup/LUKS which includes a Makefile compatible with Android NDK r5.
We have new instructions up on our wiki, as well.
I cannot post links under this account, but you can find the info on github if you search "LUKS" or just under our guardianproject account.

How did you create the encrypted partitions? Could you give some pointers for that. I am familiar with using dmcrypt/cryptsetup on desktop linux, I guess this works similar. What are the relevant device names? Did you run into any problems?

Calavera1 said:
How did you create the encrypted partitions? Could you give some pointers for that. I am familiar with using dmcrypt/cryptsetup on desktop linux, I guess this works similar. What are the relevant device names? Did you run into any problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry for the late answer,
/dev/block/mtdblock5 is the "userdata" partition. I formatted it and mount it to /encrypted-data during init:
mount yaffs2 [email protected] /encrypted-data nosuid nodev
The only file on this partition is "data.encrypted" file, which gets created in init.rc as a loopback device:
exec /system/bin/losetup /dev/block/loop0 /encrypted-data/data.encrypted
I created the "data.encrypted" file on my computer with cryptsetup and losetup, and copied all files from my old unencrypted userdata partition to it and then copied it back as a file to the formated userdata partition.
The sdcard "/dev/block/mmcblk0p2" partition is formated with "cryptsetup luksFormat", I did this also on my computer, saves some time. And then copy everything from the old unencrypted sdcard.
I did run in to one problem recently, my phone hung during boot, about 4 months after I started encrypting my phone.
Had to copy my data.encrypted file to my computer, mount it as a loopback device and do a fsck, and then copy it back to my phone.
I suspect this has to do with the filesystem not being umounted properly. (I have had this on my to do list for a while hehe)
Probably should make a script run during shutdown to cleanly "luksClose" the encrypted partition and then umount them. Not doing this is probably very crazy
I also want to fix it so my "/dev/block/mmcblk0p2" partition gets presented to my computer when i attach my usb cable (as it should do), so i can unlock it in ubuntu and copy images and files. Right now i have to take my memorycard out and put it into the computer.
I hope this post makes sense, it was written in haste =) Good luck!

sigkill1337 said:
Hi, sorry for the late answer,
/dev/block/mtdblock5 is the "userdata" partition. I formatted it and mount it to /encrypted-data during init:
mount yaffs2 [email protected] /encrypted-data nosuid nodev
The only file on this partition is "data.encrypted" file, which gets created in init.rc as a loopback device:
exec /system/bin/losetup /dev/block/loop0 /encrypted-data/data.encrypted
I created the "data.encrypted" file on my computer with cryptsetup and losetup, and copied all files from my old unencrypted userdata partition to it and then copied it back as a file to the formated userdata partition.
The sdcard "/dev/block/mmcblk0p2" partition is formated with "cryptsetup luksFormat", I did this also on my computer, saves some time. And then copy everything from the old unencrypted sdcard.
I did run in to one problem recently, my phone hung during boot, about 4 months after I started encrypting my phone.
Had to copy my data.encrypted file to my computer, mount it as a loopback device and do a fsck, and then copy it back to my phone.
I suspect this has to do with the filesystem not being umounted properly. (I have had this on my to do list for a while hehe)
Probably should make a script run during shutdown to cleanly "luksClose" the encrypted partition and then umount them. Not doing this is probably very crazy
I also want to fix it so my "/dev/block/mmcblk0p2" partition gets presented to my computer when i attach my usb cable (as it should do), so i can unlock it in ubuntu and copy images and files. Right now i have to take my memorycard out and put it into the computer.
I hope this post makes sense, it was written in haste =) Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured most of that out without your post and tried it on my desire (I created the luks partitions with adb on the phone though, worked anyway ). Then I couldn't figure out where my regular init.rc is stored (I could only find the one used by Clockwork Recovery), and then I figured I already spent enough time, tried a reboot (which of course didn't work). Then I couldn't even get into recovery (probably because its init.rc tries to mount /data which doesn't work? I didn't investigate any further). Flashed my backup with fastboot and was stuck again with my un-encrypted pre-experiment state
Oddly enough, it was no problem to unlock my encrypted SD-card from my computer (running ubuntu) while in recovery (clockword has an option to present the sd card to a computer connected via usb). Maybe the booted system handles this differently than recovery though? I didn't get a chance to try, as I couldn't boot after my encryption attempt.
I will try again after my algorithm and data structure exam this friday and report back

Is anybody using the UI on another device than the Wildfire? Does it work?
How much is the performance drain when using an encrypted /data partition?

Amazing work!

Did anyone manage to make sigkill1337's luksunlock build from source ?
I would like to change the path of the data/sdcard partitions to match my device but I tried many ways using the NDK and I can't get it to compile properly.
Is there any way to do this ?
I have been trying for days, I am getting literaly insane !
@sigkill1337 : could you give me some pointers ? I would appreciate a lot.

mount manpage said:
The bind mounts.
Since Linux 2.4.0 it is possible to remount part of the file hierarchy somewhere else. The call is
mount --bind olddir newdir
or shortoption
mount -B olddir newdir
or fstab entry is:
/olddir /newdir none bind
After this call the same contents is accessible in two places. One can also remount a single file (on a single file).
This call attaches only (part of) a single filesystem, not possible submounts. The entire file hierarchy including submounts is attached a second place using
mount --rbind olddir newdir
or shortoption
mount -R olddir newdir
Note that the filesystem mount options will remain the same as those on the original mount point, and cannot be changed by passing the -o option along with --bind/--rbind. The mount options can be changed by a separate remount command, for example:
mount --bind olddir newdir
mount -o remount,ro newdir
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If nothing helps, you should always be able to bindmount it

I'd rather get sigkill1337's UI to compile...
Lots of nice security tweaks and settings could be done with a pre-boot GUI
Anyway, concerning encryption, I'll use the bind option for now, thanks for the tip.
But if anyone here could give me some pointers about compiling this stuff it would be great.
I managed to compile it by integrating luksunlock in Android source externals and main.mk but when I push it to my phone and modify init.rc to call it, it just does not work...
Other modifications are working (mount, mkdir, etc.) but the GUI won't show up

Sorry for the late reply.. But you could try running it from a shell when the phone is booted, just to verify that the binary starts (thats how I tested it without having to reboot my phone all the time)
My environment for building the source was setup using one of the tutorials online, nothing out of the ordinary
Im still running this on my phone, for almost 8 months now, I havent noticed that much in performance problems, the Wildfire was slow before i started using luks.
When i get a new phone (maybe SE Arc) i will be easier to see if performance is affected

There is an Issue for getting CM support for encrypted filesystems during boot:
Issue 2736: support encrypted filesystem from boot
If you want to get that feature, just "star" it, so it may get more attention.

[Q] Some help with creating an Update.zip for my A7 please

I'd appreciate it if someone could give me some assistance. Basically the situation is that I wanted to get VPN working on the A7 which required tun.ko. I cross compiled the kernel and managed to get a tun.ko file and I added it to my device. Installing the module did not work, so I left it.
At some point my A7 shut off, and now it will not boot, it hangs at the ANDROID screen, before getting to the HC animation (dexmod 1.42). I am assuming at this point that my tun.ko is the issue so I created a patch update to remove the modules I had added to see if that would work.
Note: This patch is exactly the same as the ElocityMod 1.4.2 ad-hoc patch, I just changed the script actions and re-bundled.
The script only does this:
delete_recursive SYSTEM:lib/modules
delete SYSTEM:lib/tun.ko
I created the /system/lib/modules dir, so I know it exists, as does the /system/lib/tun.ko. When I try to run the update script I get the following error:
Installing Update
close from_child
E:Error in /sdcard/update.zip
(Status 6[1536])
Installation aborted.
I am trying not to flash back to the 1.4.2 as I have some investment and stupidly did not back-up before I started this venture. Any help would be appreciated.
Brad
As a side note, according to the /proc/config.gz on the tablet (kernel config) the TUN/TAP is compiled into the kernel, but not compiled as a module. For this reason I doubt VPN will work unless the apps can recognize the TUN device instead of failing because the module does not exist.

with specifics to an update script, the script desired should be as follows
Code:
run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "-orw,remount","/system");
delete("/system/lib/tun.ko");
run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "-oro,remount","/system");
you will need to remember to sign your update.zip after creation if you're not familiar with the process. searching on xda should turn up results for 'sign update.zip'.
i'd list the specific files and not do recursive deleting. though if introducing a kernel module caused you problems, i don't think it was merely copying/removing that had an effect, but wouldn't you have had to either issue an 'insmod' command manually or you added a call to that module using insmod added to the init.rc or a bash script. you need to remove that reference too if you did.
if your 'investment' is related to your /data folder (with your stored apps and app settings), you can use my cwm fakeflash recovery to backup and restore your /data contents (installed apps, and system settings) after a factory reset and reloading dexter's rom (using factory recovery).
alternative solutions; maybe if you were doing these kind of experiments you MIGHT have left the usb device setting on (for adb connectivity). if so, try to adb shell into the device to correct your problem by hand; type adb devices from a command prompt for fun to see if the device still lists (it did for me when softbricked once).
domito said:
I'd appreciate it if someone could give me some assistance. Basically the situation is that I wanted to get VPN working on the A7 which required tun.ko. I cross compiled the kernel and managed to get a tun.ko file and I added it to my device. Installing the module did not work, so I left it.
At some point my A7 shut off, and now it will not boot, it hangs at the ANDROID screen, before getting to the HC animation (dexmod 1.42). I am assuming at this point that my tun.ko is the issue so I created a patch update to remove the modules I had added to see if that would work.
Note: This patch is exactly the same as the ElocityMod 1.4.2 ad-hoc patch, I just changed the script actions and re-bundled.
The script only does this:
delete_recursive SYSTEM:lib/modules
delete SYSTEM:lib/tun.ko
I created the /system/lib/modules dir, so I know it exists, as does the /system/lib/tun.ko. When I try to run the update script I get the following error:
Installing Update
close from_child
E:Error in /sdcard/update.zip
(Status 6[1536])
Installation aborted.
I am trying not to flash back to the 1.4.2 as I have some investment and stupidly did not back-up before I started this venture. Any help would be appreciated.
Brad
As a side note, according to the /proc/config.gz on the tablet (kernel config) the TUN/TAP is compiled into the kernel, but not compiled as a module. For this reason I doubt VPN will work unless the apps can recognize the TUN device instead of failing because the module does not exist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

..alternatively alternatively i also did a update.zip of the latest factory rom that may assist with your issue, if the above solutions do not work. assuming your 'investment' isn't in the /system folder, it can format your /system folder and reinstall the /system files from the factory firmware with all correct permissions. a little examination of my update.zip could be used as a template for creating a similar one for dexter's rom, for these particular times when you'd like to re-do your /system folder and leave the rest of your partitions and data intact.
locatable, roundabout, from my twitter. same name as here.
oh. you could just write a script to execute a bash script (file.sh) thats got simple copy commands to copy your 'investment' to sdcard (/sdcard in recovery). that might be the simplest non creative approach that would allow you to continue on with a normal factory reset and reload of dexter's rom.
using bash scripts might also aid you in doing what you want without having to know or experiment with proper scripting syntax.
..oh, AND you could just edit dexter's rom update.zip to only install the system.img, and remove the rest of the files for installation, and DON"T do a factory reset..
that could help with restoring your system filesystem while leaving the rest of your data intact. didn't occur until this morning, that might be you EASIEST of the multiple suggestions listed.

Thanks for the response!
bestialbub said:
with specifics to an update script, the script desired should be as follows
Code:
run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "-orw,remount","/system");
delete("/system/lib/tun.ko");
run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "-oro,remount","/system");
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was actually what I did for my first try, with the same result.
bestialbub said:
you will need to remember to sign your update.zip after creation if you're not familiar with the process. searching on xda should turn up results for 'sign update.zip'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not do this, I was not sure I had to.
bestialbub said:
i'd list the specific files and not do recursive deleting. though if introducing a kernel module caused you problems, i don't think it was merely copying/removing that had an effect, but wouldn't you have had to either issue an 'insmod' command manually or you added a call to that module using insmod added to the init.rc or a bash script. you need to remove that reference too if you did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did insmod it as well as modprobe, it gave me an error which was likely because (as I found later) the TUN is compiled into the kernel, which means a module could not possibly load.
bestialbub said:
if your 'investment' is related to your /data folder (with your stored apps and app settings), you can use my cwm fakeflash recovery to backup and restore your /data contents (installed apps, and system settings) after a factory reset and reloading dexter's rom (using factory recovery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to take a look at that, I was no aware it existed.
bestialbub said:
alternative solutions; maybe if you were doing these kind of experiments you MIGHT have left the usb device setting on (for adb connectivity). if so, try to adb shell into the device to correct your problem by hand; type adb devices from a command prompt for fun to see if the device still lists (it did for me when softbricked once).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue with the A7 is that it's got USB host only which means I cannot connect it to my PC and adb it. This was a known issue before I bought the A7.

bestialbub said:
..alternatively alternatively i also did a update.zip of the latest factory rom that may assist with your issue, if the above solutions do not work. assuming your 'investment' isn't in the /system folder, it can format your /system folder and reinstall the /system files from the factory firmware with all correct permissions. a little examination of my update.zip could be used as a template for creating a similar one for dexter's rom, for these particular times when you'd like to re-do your /system folder and leave the rest of your partitions and data intact.
locatable, roundabout, from my twitter. same name as here.
oh. you could just write a script to execute a bash script (file.sh) thats got simple copy commands to copy your 'investment' to sdcard (/sdcard in recovery). that might be the simplest non creative approach that would allow you to continue on with a normal factory reset and reload of dexter's rom.
using bash scripts might also aid you in doing what you want without having to know or experiment with proper scripting syntax.
..oh, AND you could just edit dexter's rom update.zip to only install the system.img, and remove the rest of the files for installation, and DON"T do a factory reset..
that could help with restoring your system filesystem while leaving the rest of your data intact. didn't occur until this morning, that might be you EASIEST of the multiple suggestions listed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the end I went more heavy handed than all that and it worked out fine. I did this before I saw your response otherwise I would have tried to finesse it some more just for the fun of it.
I re-flashed with dexmod 1.41 but I did not reset or wipe anything first. Applying this over top got me booted again with all my apps. 1 quick 1.42 update (and annoying root FB upgrade) and I am back to pre-fail conditions. I backed up my stuff too.
Thanks again for all the useful tips. This type of event has happened a few times and my gut says I am getting some corruption on the NVRAM or something. Only time will tell.

adb connectivity works fine, the solution is buried in one of 5stronginos threads, maybe the cwm recovery one. google for USB_OTG.APK i think, its posted on xda w a download link.
..i also prepackage it in my firmware repack.. findable from my twitter.
Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

bestialbub said:
adb connectivity works fine, the solution is buried in one of 5stronginos threads, maybe the cwm recovery one. google for USB_OTG.APK i think, its posted on xda w a download link.
..i also prepackage it in my firmware repack.. findable from my twitter.
Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this one, which looks right.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12813894&postcount=36
I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the info.

Thread closed.

Thread closed.

Thread closed.

Yank555 said:
Hi,
REMEMBER
FIRST OF ALL, do a Nandroid backup, as well as a backup of your sd-card content !
You're doing this at your very own risk, I'm not to be held responsible if something goes wrong
Now that said, let's get going
In case somebody wants to check it out, here is the swap activation script I wrote (attached) as well as explanations on how to make it all work :
1) Partition your sd-card (Minitool Partition Wizard, 4ext, CWM...)
2) Boot your system with the partitionned sd-card
3) If necessary customize the 99swap script (attached to this post) and then put it onto your sd-card's root folder, you'll need it while executing the commands in step 4.
4) Open a terminal and type the following
NB: Change "mkswap /dev/block/mmcblk0p3" accordingly to point to the swap partition you've created in step 1.
5) Reboot your phone, start a terminal again and type free, you'll need to see something different than 0 in your swap line, look at the attached print-screen
Swappiness will be set to 50 by the script, which is a rather conservative swap use, made sense to me since SD-swap is slower than ram, better not to use it too agressively. Feel free to experiment with the swappiness variable in the script (values between 0 and 100, 0 meaning "try not to swap", 100 meaning "try to swap all the time")
If you want to try and have a question, just let me know !
JP.
PS: You can find the thread for hard swap for the htc Sensation / XE here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JP,
This is a gem of a post! Thanks alot for the script and the detailed breakdown. Before I get into it though, I must warn you that I am more of a beginner with no coding/scripting experience (I don't know how to use adb or anything)...
Here's what I'm trying to do: I'm trying to activate hard-swap on my hd2 (currently) running the ParanoidAndroid by Xylograph. I've created 3 partitions on my 16gb class 6 sd card: first, fat32 (32k cluster), next, 1GB ext2 (default), 500MB swap.
Procedure:
1. I extracted the script and copied it directly to system/etc/init.d folder of the Rom (I looked at the terminal commands you posted and the first few lines looked like copying the file from the sd root to the init.d folder (it was just a guess though), so I figured might as well put it into the rom before I flash it)
2. Flashed the rom
3. To activate it, I typed the following into the terminal:
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
mkswap /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
mount -o remount,ro /system
exit
after the mkswap command, I did get an activation notification that a certain amount was assigned to swap. But my celebrations were cut short after I rebooted and used the free command to check. The entire swap row still read 0.
I was wondering if you can point me in the right direction... thanks!
Also, is there a way to create a cwm flashable version?

bullcrapr said:
Hi JP,
This is a gem of a post! Thanks alot for the script and the detailed breakdown. Before I get into it though, I must warn you that I am more of a beginner with no coding/scripting experience (I don't know how to use adb or anything)...
Here's what I'm trying to do: I'm trying to activate hard-swap on my hd2 (currently) running the ParanoidAndroid by Xylograph. I've created 3 partitions on my 16gb class 6 sd card: first, fat32 (32k cluster), next, 1GB ext2 (default), 500MB swap.
Procedure:
1. I extracted the script and copied it directly to system/etc/init.d folder of the Rom (I looked at the terminal commands you posted and the first few lines looked like copying the file from the sd root to the init.d folder (it was just a guess though), so I figured might as well put it into the rom before I flash it)
2. Flashed the rom
3. To activate it, I typed the following into the terminal:
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
mkswap /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
mount -o remount,ro /system
exit
after the mkswap command, I did get an activation notification that a certain amount was assigned to swap. But my celebrations were cut short after I rebooted and used the free command to check. The entire swap row still read 0.
I was wondering if you can point me in the right direction... thanks!
Also, is there a way to create a cwm flashable version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx
In fact you understood correctly that is was about copying the file to init.d.
By the way, these commands do the following :
mount -o remount,rw /system - Mount system partition in read-write
mount -o remount,ro /system - Mount system partition in read-only
So to format the swap partition "mkswap /dev/block/mmcblk0p3" there was no need for it, but it didn't harm in any way, so you're fine there
I guess what is missing is the "chmod 755 /system/etc/init.d/99swap" command which will set the correct file access to the script so it can get executed at boot.
You might do the following in a terminal :
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
chmod 755 /system/etc/init.d/99swap
mount -o remount,ro /system
exit
It should be fine then.
Alternatively you could set the rights with your file explorer (in root explorer mode), they must be "rwxr-xr-x" (which is Read-Write-Execute, Read-Execute, Read-Execute), most file-manager will allow you to do that as well.
I've been working on the script variant for htc Sensation, it is more advanced, dynamic so it can find the swap partition by itself.
I'll make a CWM flashable as soon as I get to it that will handle everything except partitioning the SD card, obviously, for both devices.
As soon as I'm done I'll post the HD2 version here as well (very little change, between both devices, just the access path to the sd-card partitons to change (=1 line in the script).
JP.
Edit ------------------------------------------------
I just reread your post, if in fact you put it into the ROM zipfile, then file access should be correct !?
Could you post the following file (if it exists) :
/data/swap.0.log ?
JP.

Yank555 said:
Thanx
In fact you understood correctly that is was about copying the file to init.d.
By the way, these commands do the following :
mount -o remount,rw /system - Mount system partition in read-write
mount -o remount,ro /system - Mount system partition in read-only
So to format the swap partition "mkswap /dev/block/mmcblk0p3" there was no need for it, but it didn't harm in any way, so you're fine there
I guess what is missing is the "chmod 755 /system/etc/init.d/99swap" command which will set the correct file access to the script so it can get executed at boot.
You might do the following in a terminal :
su
mount -o remount,rw /system
chmod 755 /system/etc/init.d/99swap
mount -o remount,ro /system
exit
It should be fine then.
Alternatively you could set the rights with your file explorer (in root explorer mode), they must be "rwxr-xr-x" (which is Read-Write-Execute, Read-Execute, Read-Execute), most file-manager will allow you to do that as well.
I've been working on the script variant for htc Sensation, it is more advanced, dynamic so it can find the swap partition by itself.
I'll make a CWM flashable as soon as I get to it that will handle everything except partitioning the SD card, obviously, for both devices.
As soon as I'm done I'll post the HD2 version here as well (very little change, between both devices, just the access path to the sd-card partitons to change (=1 line in the script).
JP.
Edit ------------------------------------------------
I just reread your post, if in fact you put it into the ROM zipfile, then file access should be correct !?
Could you post the following file (if it exists) :
/data/swap.0.log ?
JP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JP
You are incredibly helpful and I appreciate it!
I finally got some time off and tried out what you mentioned... but to no avail. I applied the necessary permissions through the terminal (chmod 755) as well as through the root browser, but it was still the same. After that I even retried the terminal commands, and included the "chown 0:2000...", but that didn't work either...
... and then I saw your post update...
About that, i just typed it into the terminal, and I got "not found".
Was that what I was supposed to do?

bullcrapr said:
Hi JP
You are incredibly helpful and I appreciate it!
I finally got some time off and tried out what you mentioned... but to no avail. I applied the necessary permissions through the terminal (chmod 755) as well as through the root browser, but it was still the same. After that I even retried the terminal commands, and included the "chown 0:2000...", but that didn't work either...
... and then I saw your post update...
About that, i just typed it into the terminal, and I got "not found".
Was that what I was supposed to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
You're welcome
The file '/data/swap.0.log' is a text-file containing info on the execution of the script...
If it's not there, then the script didn't run at all...
I should have a little time later today, will try to make the CWM flashable solution for you, should be a no fuss solution, as long as the sd-card has a swap partition
How did you partition the card ? CWM ?
JP.
Sent from my Android Revolution HD 6.6.5 XE / faux kernel 007b3 powered htc Sensation XE using xda premium

I created a 256Gb partition...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man thats a helluva sd card ya have there! hehe.

samsamuel said:
man thats a helluva sd card ya have there! hehe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha I noticed that too :') I want one of those now

Nigeldg said:
Haha I noticed that too :') I want one of those now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for pointing that out Mb of course, but in a few years that might be possible
My first hdd had 60Mb, and that's not soooo long ago
JP.
Sent from my Android Revolution HD 6.6.5 XE / faux kernel 007b3 powered htc Sensation XE using xda premium

heh, my first was a 20mb HDD mounted on a pcb card and plugged into an ISA slot, took up the full length of the PC, weighed LOADS, could have beaten burglars to death with it.

bullcrapr said:
Hi JP
You are incredibly helpful and I appreciate it!
I finally got some time off and tried out what you mentioned... but to no avail. I applied the necessary permissions through the terminal (chmod 755) as well as through the root browser, but it was still the same. After that I even retried the terminal commands, and included the "chown 0:2000...", but that didn't work either...
... and then I saw your post update...
About that, i just typed it into the terminal, and I got "not found".
Was that what I was supposed to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 with this (also on Paranoid Rom 1.1a) but I think that it's something with the ROM coz on earlier build v1 this method worked verry good I hope that Yank will find a solution coz it reallly helps wit our 576 ram

samsamuel said:
heh, my first was a 20mb HDD mounted on a pcb card and plugged into an ISA slot, took up the full length of the PC, weighed LOADS, could have beaten burglars to death with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was huge at the time, was on of the first to have such a big one, even partitioned it into 3 since it was just too big And it was an external device, the size of a pizza-box (it was en Atari Megafile 60, I still have it !!).

triggaz said:
+1 with this (also on Paranoid Rom 1.1a) but I think that it's something with the ROM coz on earlier build v1 this method worked verry good I hope that Yank will find a solution coz it reallly helps wit our 576 ram
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm working on the CWM flashable right now, should be done within 1-2 hours at most

Yank555 said:
Hi,
You're welcome
The file '/data/swap.0.log' is a text-file containing info on the execution of the script...
If it's not there, then the script didn't run at all...
I should have a little time later today, will try to make the CWM flashable solution for you, should be a no fuss solution, as long as the sd-card has a swap partition
How did you partition the card ? CWM ?
JP.
Sent from my Android Revolution HD 6.6.5 XE / faux kernel 007b3 powered htc Sensation XE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi JP, once you told me it was the address to the file, i just navigated there using my explorer and lo and behold!, there it was (attached). If you must know, in my earlier post, the idiot in me just typed it in the terminal and the terminal replied not found.
I made my partition using freeware called Minitool partition wizard. Is 500mb too big for swap in your opinion? I was thinking of compensating for zram, and hence the size... thanks for your speedy responses...
edit...
and hey! whadya know? in the meantime, this place is coming alive!!

bullcrapr said:
Hi JP, once you told me it was the address to the file, i just navigated there using my explorer and lo and behold!, there it was (attached). If you must know, in my earlier post, the idiot in me just typed it in the terminal and the terminal replied not found.
I made my partition using freeware called Minitool partition wizard. Is 500mb too big for swap in your opinion? I was thinking of compensating for zram, and hence the size... thanks for your speedy responses...
edit...
and hey! whadya know? in the meantime, this place is coming alive!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm ... strange, the content of the file looks like a logcat ?! Not what I was expecting to see
Give me a little hour, and I think I should be done with the flashable hard-swap and we'll go from there
Minitool is excellent, but did you pay attention to only create "primary" partition ? If it is a logical partition it won't work...
Can you insert your SD card into your card reader, start Minitool an post a print screen of it ?
JP.
EDIT :
About size ... I believe 256Mb is enough, even read somewhere t shouldn't be more than 256, but I think there was no specific reason given.

Yank555 said:
Hmm ... strange, the content of the file looks like a logcat ?! Not what I was expecting to see
Give me a little hour, and I think I should be done with the flashable hard-swap and we'll go from there
Minitool is excellent, but did you pay attention to only create "primary" partition ? If it is a logical partition it won't work...
Can you insert your SD card into your card reader, start Minitool an post a print screen of it ?
JP.
EDIT :
About size ... I believe 256Mb is enough, even read somewhere t shouldn't be more than 256, but I think there was no specific reason given.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here we go...
Minitool image attached... I typically pay attention to the partition type and made sure both of them were primary
About the logcat, I suspect you're right... I was trying to do one from my pc for the first time using adb and tried the only few commands I know (mkswap...), I think that's what you saw then...
Incidentally, do you feel if I reduce the swap size, the script has a better chance at surviving the boot?

bullcrapr said:
Here we go...
Minitool image attached... I typically pay attention to the partition type and made sure both of them were primary
About the logcat, I suspect you're right... I was trying to do one from my pc for the first time using adb and tried the only few commands I know (mkswap...), I think that's what you saw then...
Incidentally, do you feel if I reduce the swap size, the script has a better chance at surviving the boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't bother, I will test 500Mb and let you know if that is the issue
JP.

I have 512mb partition and it worked without problems as I mentioned earlier so I think that opposite to the "size does matter" in this case it doesn't plus I used it with zram from marc1706.

triggaz said:
I have 512mb partition and it worked without problems as I mentioned earlier so I think that opposite to the "size does matter" in this case it doesn't plus I used it with zram from marc1706.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi triggaz, are you using the built in zram on Para1.1a? Or have you applied a script from elsewhere? I enabled the built-in zram, but get a "not found" reply when i try zram_stats in the terminal. Can you tell me how you got zram working? thanks...

bullcrapr said:
Hi triggaz, are you using the built in zram on Para1.1a? Or have you applied a script from elsewhere? I enabled the built-in zram, but get a "not found" reply when i try zram_stats in the terminal. Can you tell me how you got zram working? thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xr3z102gxiw2f62/marc1706_zram_100MB.zip
all credits to Dorimanx for ZRAM mod and mark1706 for modifications
I flashed this and then used the compcashe options in Paranoid (set to 26%)

[Q] startup script *Attn ROM devs* donation if possible

How hard would it be to create a script that runs on boot that formats /system if su is detected?
And could it be made into a flashable zip to be used on any phone?
Very happy to throw a nice donation your way if it can be done.
Thank you.

iBowToAndroid said:
How hard would it be to create a script that runs on boot that formats /system if su is detected?
And could it be made into a flashable zip to be used on any phone?
Very happy to throw a nice donation your way if it can be done.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not hard at all, but why would you want to do this?

abnormalreply said:
It's not hard at all, but why would you want to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha. I spose that sounds a little suspicious. It's a long story, but basically I just want a script that I can run on a few of my devices so I can test out a few things, mainly via recovery and adb, really just making sure I can recover if something like that happens. Yeah I could wipe from recovery but I'd rather simulate the real thing, or if I have stock recovery, etc. I know a tiny bit about init but not enough to know how to write the script so I just figured it would be easier and quicker for someone to do it who actually has experience. I also realized that there's no need for a zip since I can just copy the script to any device I need. Basically "if /system/bin/su or /system/xbin/su exists, then format /system" - something like that, although I know the formatting is different. Yes I understand what I'm doing and the risks and have the restoration tools ready lol

iBowToAndroid said:
Ha. I spose that sounds a little suspicious. It's a long story, but basically I just want a script that I can run on a few of my devices so I can test out a few things, mainly via recovery and adb, really just making sure I can recover if something like that happens. Yeah I could wipe from recovery but I'd rather simulate the real thing, or if I have stock recovery, etc. I know a tiny bit about init but not enough to know how to write the script so I just figured it would be easier and quicker for someone to do it who actually has experience. I also realized that there's no need for a zip since I can just copy the script to any device I need. Basically "if /system/bin/su or /system/xbin/su exists, then format /system" - something like that, although I know the formatting is different. Yes I understand what I'm doing and the risks and have the restoration tools ready lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm surprised you're able to test recovery/ADB scripts on your devices but don't know how to write the script you're describing.

[MOD][SCRIPT] Get More Storage by Relocating Dalvik Cache!

DISCLAIMER: YOU AGREE TO TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DEVICE IF YOU PROCEED.
The original thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/general/mod-save-data-space-cache-partition-t2942765) was getting to cluttered up with development and testing so I decided to start a new thread with the "finished" product. The original thread will be renamed to Q&A/Development. We might even ask for the old thread to be closed down. (up to @Bert98, the thread's creator.)
Moto G's internal eMMC card has a ~600Mb partition called /cache, which is not used since the apps' cache is stored in /data, so the latter fills up and the first one stays empty.
Owning a 8Gb model, having 600Mb not available for storage really bugged me, because my phone's memory (/data partition) was always full because it's a 5.7Gb space shared between apps and microSD files.
Now, it may not work for you if:
a) you have A LOT of apps installed.
And by "a lot", I mean more than 90-100 apps, but if you have a 8Gb model, you probably don't
b) you're running ART (this is default in lollipop and newer)
Since ART uses a lot more space than dalvik, the space in the /cache partition probably won't be enough. When I was running ART, it used 1Gb more than dalvik.
Original post by @Bert98
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was tested on my moto g 16GB which is running RetailUS_4.4.4 kitkat with CWM recovery. The custom ROM procedure was tested on the same phone but with cm11 Nightly installed.
Prerequisites:
1. You must have "adb root" functioning. If you don't head to this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1687590 and there is a free download link at the bottom of the post.
Download and install the apk on your phone. Open up adbd insecure (the new app) and grant it superuser rights PERMANENTLY. Check the box that says "enable insecure binary" and make sure to check the box
that says "enable at boot."
2. You must have a recovery that can accept adb shell commands.
3. Root Access Duh?!
4. A windows machine capable of running batch files.
5. A decent text editor, notepad will work but notepad++ is strongly recommended. (Only needed if you are using STOCK ROM procedure)
Please, please make a nandroid backup before you continue!!!!
Stock ROM procedure:
Read the directions very carefully and then read them again, before continuing.
1. Download the cachemover_v1.3.zip from: LINK REMOVED DUE TO SCRIPT ISSUES.
2. Extract the contents.
3. Connect device to PC and navigate to the extracted folder.
4. Double click/Run the cachemover_Stock.bat
5. Follow the onscreen instructions until you get to the part where it says to edit a file.
6. About halfway through the script it will pull a file called "init.qcom.post_boot.sh" to the folder.
7. Open it with a TEXT editor and navigate to about line 487 (Might be different for 8gb model). Look here for a better understanding: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jr5lyl5s5i2jtpg/where to paste code.PNG?dl=0
8. Start a new line and paste this code in the file: (Refer to the image above for help)
Code:
chmod 655 /cache
chmod 655 /cache/dalvik-cache
chmod 655 /cache/dalvik-cache/*
9. Make sure to save the file in the same folder as the cachemover_Stock.bat
10. Press any key to continue on the script and let it do its thing.
11. It will reboot several times and land you on the home screen/lock screen.
12. If the script hangs after a reboot, you need to unlock the device to reestablish a connection with your computer.
13. There might be one or two force closes but once you close the notifications they will not come back.
Custom ROM procedure:
USE THIS FOR ROMS THAT DO NOT REMOUNT OR CHANGE PERMISSIONS OF /CACHE ON BOOT
1. Download the cachemover_v1.3.zip from: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bzj34g4q1s61ojz/cachemover_v1.3.zip?dl=0
2. Extract the contents.
3. Connect device to PC and navigate to the extracted folder.
4. Double click/Run the cachemover.bat
5. Follow the onscreen instructions.
If anything goes wrong:
Go to recovery, wipe cache, then wipe dalvik-cache and reboot. This should get your device back to how it was.
(If you used STOCK ROM procedure)
The script made a backup of the "init.qcom.post_boot.sh" file to /sdcard/init_backup
You can restore the shell script to /system/etc/ via shell commands or by using a root browser. To restore permissions:
Code:
chmod 740 /system/etc/init.qcom.post_boot.sh
chown root:root /system/etc/init.qcom.post_boot.sh
Custom ROM procedure already has a restore script!
I am currently working on an auto restore script for stock and that will be relased soon, hopefully! :good:
Changelog:
v1.0 - First stable release. Does not work on STOCK ROM.
v1.1 - Added a restore script.
v1.3 - Added support for STOCK ROM. There are still a few bugs.
How it works?!?!
Coming soon...
Huge thanks to @Bert98 and @dd043
Hit the thanks button if it worked! I went through about 50 factory resets, and reflashed the ROM about 25 times, and put about 10 hours of work into this script! Really motivates me for future projects. :laugh:

Thanks for your help man and effort.
I encountered a problem, everything works up until my device boots in CWM to fix permissions, then just sits there doing not alot I don't even see the option in my CWM.
Any ideas? cheers
Sent from my XT1032 using XDA Free mobile app

When it reboots to cwm unplug the cable and replug it, if it hangs just type these commands manually from a command window.
chmod 655 /cache
chmod 655 /cache/dalvik-cache
chmod 655 /cache/dalvik-cache/*
reboot
If this does not work you may ned to go into mounts & storage in the cwm menu and click mount /cache. Then try the commands again.

I'm having some issues on stock.
I thought 0655 fixed everything but no, I can't install any app after moving the dalvik-cache to /cache. I tried chmoding 0777 on the new cache folder, on /cache itself, to no avail.
Code:
E/dexopt cannot open '/data/dalvik-cache/[email protected]' for output
Anyone can confirm it's not only my device? And/or can help find a fix?
Also does someone knows how to execute commands on a particular init step? Real init.rc scripts can do:
Code:
on post-fs-data
mount -o bind /cache/dalvik /data/dalvik-cache
It there was a way to achieve the same from post_boot/init.d we could mount -o bind /cache/dalvik /data/dalvik-cache and all permissions issues would disappear as well as the need for symlink.

You have a typo in the threads title. Just a heads up.

Vuciz said:
You have a typo in the threads title. Just a heads up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know!

dd043 said:
I'm having some issues on stock.
I thought 0655 fixed everything but no, I can't install any app after moving the dalvik-cache to /cache. I tried chmoding 0777 on the new cache folder, on /cache itself, to no avail.
Code:
E/dexopt cannot open '/data/dalvik-cache/[email protected]' for output
Anyone can confirm it's not only my device? And/or can help find a fix?
Also does someone knows how to execute commands on a particular init step? Real init.rc scripts can do:
Code:
on post-fs-data
mount -o bind /cache/dalvik /data/dalvik-cache
It there was a way to achieve the same from post_boot/init.d we could mount -o bind /cache/dalvik /data/dalvik-cache and all permissions issues would disappear as well as the need for symlink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me try and do that right now... Ill get back to you if it does!
My script works on stock btw... But the mount way seems a bit easier and might cause less errors than my way.
Try it please.

skyguy126 said:
Let me try and do that right now... Ill get back to you if it does!
My script works on stock btw... But the mount way seems a bit easier and might cause less errors than my way.
Try it please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I've tried your script, all went well but the result is the same. The script itself works nicely btw
Applications present before moving cache work perfectly, but I can't install anything new. I suspect it might be my device but before wiping everything I'd prefer feedback from others :fingers-crossed:.

I cannot install new apps as well. The mount command you showed me has the same effect too. I honestly don't know anymore, the sym link did not allow the install of new apps nor did the mount command you sent me. Correct me if I am wrong.
Edit: Going through all the init files on my phone to see which one remounts /cache at boot.

Why does the init.rc get overwritten at boot. Is it because the kernel (boot.img) is the one that copies it over? I have found by changing the perms/locations in this file and init.target.rc you can achieve what this mod is trying to acomplish.

I don't see the mount cache command in CWM strange
I've managed to get back to normal, thanks for everyone's help though, I will keep and eye on the thread
Sent from my XT1032 using XDA Free mobile app

non-windows version?
Thanks for this tool. It's a great idea and our Motos really need it.
However, I have a problem - I do not own a windows license (os x and ubuntu user) and I would prefer not to spend $120 just to use it for this script. Pirating is out of the question for me.
I was wondering if there is any chance of having this script written for linux and/or mac. If impossible, is there a LEGAL way of running windows in a virtual machine? Something like a trial or similar?

If you know how just convert it to shell script for osx and Linux. I give you permission to do this but you may not take credit or rehost your creation.

Ok so I have the kernel extracted and we could modify and flash that, but I believe that it's not really necessary. There are a lot of risks to flashing kernels and I am not willing to take it. So is there a way we can modify dalvik so it creates it's cache in /cache instead.

skyguy126 said:
Why does the init.rc get overwritten at boot. Is it because the kernel (boot.img) is the one that copies it over? I have found by changing the perms/locations in this file and init.target.rc you can achieve what this mod is trying to acomplish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the init.rc is in the boot ramdisk. I don't think it would be worth the trouble to rebuild a boot.img. The moto g is fairly unbrickable but it's quite a lot of work to setup an environment to rebuild an image :/.
Too bad for the mount command, I was sure it was working but maybe I had changed something else and don't quite remember the steps to reproduce
We could possibly implement a shell script toggler for when we need to install new apps, but I'm afraid it'd become annoying fairly quickly: I noticed the issue initially because google play services decided to update itself, failed, and broke all google apps. As far as I know this autoupate can't be disabled.
Thanks for trying!

dd043 said:
Yes the init.rc is in the boot ramdisk. I don't think it would be worth the trouble to rebuild a boot.img. The moto g is fairly unbrickable but it's quite a lot of work to setup an environment to rebuild an image :/.
Too bad for the mount command, I was sure it was working but maybe I had changed something else and don't quite remember the steps to reproduce
We could possibly implement a shell script toggler for when we need to install new apps, but I'm afraid it'd become annoying fairly quickly: I noticed the issue initially because google play services decided to update itself, failed, and broke all google apps. As far as I know this autoupate can't be disabled.
Thanks for trying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about making a simple apk that toggles this feature. Something like when you click the icon it doesn't even open but gives a little notification of success. Something like that. I myself am not experienced with apks but I can put together a shell script for the apk.

skyguy126 said:
Ok so I have the kernel extracted and we could modify and flash that, but I believe that it's not really necessary. There are a lot of risks to flashing kernels and I am not willing to take it. So is there a way we can modify dalvik so it creates it's cache in /cache instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Patching dalvik itself sounds promising. It can probably be done with in a batch script with a command line hex editor.
The path is defined in frameworks/base/cmds/installd/installd.h
Code:
#define DALVIK_CACHE_PREFIX "/data/dalvik-cache/"
Not sure if there is another mention in the source tree.
But there's nothing to say we wouldn't face the same issue, the error message in the logcat is pretty generic

dd043 said:
Patching dalvik itself sounds promising. It can probably be done with in a batch script with a command line hex editor.
The path is defined in frameworks/base/cmds/installd/installd.h
Code:
#define DALVIK_CACHE_PREFIX "/data/dalvik-cache/"
Not sure if there is another mention in the source tree.
But there's nothing to say we wouldn't face the same issue, the error message in the logcat is pretty generic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill try it. I don't mind doing a bunch of resets because I am using my moto g as a test bench anyway. My daily driver is the OnePlus One

dd043 said:
Patching dalvik itself sounds promising. It can probably be done with in a batch script with a command line hex editor.
The path is defined in frameworks/base/cmds/installd/installd.h
Code:
#define DALVIK_CACHE_PREFIX "/data/dalvik-cache/"
Not sure if there is another mention in the source tree.
But there's nothing to say we wouldn't face the same issue, the error message in the logcat is pretty generic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: Unfortunately it didn't work. I don't know if I modified the installd file correctly. The program I used is HxD.

Is there a way we can force dalvik to start after the directories are created. And change dalvik to create it in /cache.