Related
So, i'm sure there's many posts about this, but I thought I'd drop in my 2 cents. Basically, the purpose of this post is to try and help completely new users get acquainted with the world of Android "ROMing". I know there's beginners tutorials and wiki's and such, and I'm very grateful for all the time put into them by their writers, but the fact remains that they're written by experts, and as such, their expertise shines through and can sometimes confuse new users such as my self.
Up front: I'm an AT&T customer who's using a Rogers branded HTC Magic purchased from ImportGSM. I'm using Rogers cause Rogers has the same 3G bands as AT&T. I am coming from a Sony-Ericsson dumbphone. I use Gmail for my primary email and applied for a Google Voice account a while ago (got the account before getting the phone). I'm a practicing computer engineer so if I lapse into jargon, I apologize.
READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE PERFORMING THESE ACTIONS
OK, so you got an android phone (if you're on this forum, its most likely an HTC Magic/Dream/Hero) and you want to install new ROMs onto it (for whatever reason, just to do it, to get more functionality, to remove the carrier 'branding', whatever). You've done your research. You've read through the wikis (http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Sapphire_Hacking) and you're still a little confused as to where to start, or you're worried you're gonna brick your phone.
First, relax, as long as you follow the instructions, there's little chance of bricking your phone.
Second, some vocab:
SPL: Secondary Program Loader. don't worry too much about this, you shouldn't have to mess with it. I like to think of it as your phones BIOS. There's an off chance that you'll have a "perfected" SPL (.0006 or .0010), which basically means that you have a phone that is hardened against hackers, but as long as you use the one touch root method described below, you won't even notice it. You won't be able to use the Adb/Fastboot/Android SDK method mentioned below, you'll just get a "no access" error when you try to terminal into your phone.
ROM: Catch all term for software to be loaded onto your android. Generally comes in two flavors, a Recovery ROM, and what I call an Operating System ROM. A Recovery ROM is what gives you root access. An Operating System ROM is the user experience (where Amon_Ra or Cyanogen or others mix and match features to make a better user experience). I know that Operating System ROM might be misleading, but its the closest computer analogy I could come up with.
Now, this process will completely refresh your phone, removing all of your contacts, apps, etc. So before you start, if you have stuff on your phone you want to save, best copy them somewhere off your phone now. There's free apps out there to do all of this.
Lets get started.
Now, the first thing you're gonna wanna do is get something called "root" access to your phone. This allows you to install those fancy homebrewed ROMs that people are talking about. To get root, you have to install a recovery ROM. Installing a recovery ROM is is roughly similar to flashing a new BIOS on your computer. Except in this case, its on your phone and it gives you unrestricted access to the phone (like the Root user in Linux). There's two ways of getting Root. The first way is to install the Android SDK onto your computer and image your android with one of the recovery ROMs via your computers command line. I won't get into details on this one because its not the method I chose, and instructions are all over the web on this one. NOTE that this method doesn't work with updated Rogers phones. They installed the 'Perfected' .0010 SPL effectively removing remote command line access thus making this method a non-starter. The other way is to use the "one click root" program, which is a program you install on your Android phone. To do this, go to the one click root website (http://www.ryebrye.com/blog/2009/08/16/android-rooting-in-1-click-in-progress/). Download the .apk file and drop it onto the SD card in the Android phone (you'll have to connect the phone to your computer via USB, and select "Mount SD card". then simply drag and drop the .apk onto the SD card in your computer's file browser). Then, on the android phone, open up your file browser (I suggest Astro or Linda, both free downloads from the market) and open the .apk using the default Android application launcher. It should be a dark screen with a text box and a few buttons. The textbox should have a URL in it pointing to a .img recovery image (This is the cyanogen one). You'll first want to make a backup of your current (factory) ROM by pressing the (i believe) botton button. It'll work for a few seconds. Then you're ready to flash the recovery ROM. You can either accept the default (the cyanogen, which works fine) or specify a different ROM (such as Amon_Ra's which has slightly more capabilities) by entering in a different path (URL or path to SD card if you have a recovery image stored on the SD card). Then hit the first button to begin the flash. Wait for it to finish. DO NOT DISTURB THE PHONE WHILE FLASHING.
Once its finished flashing, congrats, you've rooted your phone. Now power off the phone, and power it back on while while holding power and Home. Hold Power and Home the entire time till you see an 'old computer' style menu come up. Should have some options such as reboot, install update.zip, install other .zip, wipe data/factory reset, etc. you should be able to use the trackball to cycle through the selections. The botton should have something like <cyanogen/Amon_Ra> recovery vX.X.X. If you see this screen, then you've successfully rooted your phone. Congrats.
Now, before you do anything else, IMMEDIATELY perform a nandroid backup. This should be on of the options in the recovery ROM. What this is doing is creating a backup of your current phone configuration so if anything goes wrong with installing the hacked ROM, you can revert to the state the phone is in now.
Next, perform a data wipe. There should be a selection for "wipe data/factory reset" or something similar. Select that. Wait for it to finish wiping your data from the SD card.
Now to install other hacked ROMs, just download whatever ROM you want to install from the xda site. Check the bottom of this page for a listing of the main ones (http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Sapphire_Hacking). It should download as a .zip. Copy the .zip file (DON'T UNZIP IT) onto the root of the SD Card (you can do this while in recovery mode by mounting the SD card or by physically removing the SD card from the phone and putting it into a card reader on your computer and copying the files). Once you have the ROM .zip on the SD card, with the SD card in the phone, select "install other .zip" or something similar and select the .zip file of the ROM you want to run. Should be some combination of the creators name (Amon_Ra or CM (for CyanogenMod)), what board the .zip is for (32A, 32B), what version the ROM is (4.1.1 or something). Then select "home" to confirm that you want to do this and wait for the periods to stop appearing. Once it stops, you should be able to select "reboot".
After it reboots (you should see different splash screens than when it was factory configured, except for the very first screen which on mine is "Rogers". Mine goes from Rogers to "Android" spelled out in blue text) you should have a fully functioning phone running a hacked ROM.
If it doesn't boot fully (which mine did a few times), try a different ROM or try wiping your data again. If all else fails, go into your recovery ROM (power and Home) and restore the Nandroid recovery image you made earlier.
Once it boots, it should have a tutorial on how to use Android.
When you get to the google login, I would suggest setting up your APN settings prior to doing that. At the google login screen, hit the menu button and select "APN Settings". Select add new APN (either an on screen choice or brought up by the menu button) and add in the APN details for your provider. You can find these easily by googling "<your provider> APN settings". Log into Google and you should up and running.
I just kinda threw this semi-tutorail together, so it may be a little confusing, but I tried to explain everything as best as I could. I know that i found all of the different ways to get root and the different ROMs and such to be very confusing. Just throwing out how I went about doing it.
Disclaimer: one click root works by exploiting a vulnerability in Android, which was closed by Google on Aug 11 or so. Therefore, if you have a factory Android build from that was released after Aug 11, one click root may not work for you, and you'll have to go the SDK route. I updated my Rogers phone in mid oct 2009, and my build was still prior to Aug 11, so don't just assume cause its after Aug 11 that it won't work on your phone.
thanks alot for the tutorial! you're a saint, i've been looking all over for something exactly like this!
i will test this out and let you know!
Edit:
I was successful! Huzzah! Thanks for the guide again!
What rom did you load onto your phone?
Also,
Could you give a brief tutorial on what exactly changing the radio and spl are?
The Problem
The HTC Droid Incredible shows a "Low on space: Phone storage space is getting low" warning despite having gobs of space free because the "Application data storage" folder (also known as /data/data) that is shared by all apps on the phone is only 150mb in size. As soon as only 10% of this folder is available, the warning appears. If it gets too much lower, apps stop responding and the phone crashes.
The Story
After many months of clearing app data, uninstalling apps, resetting my phone, and generally walking on eggshells trying to keep my data storage under the limit, I was getting ready to upgrade my device. I would search every few weeks to see if anyone had solved the problem, but all I found were more people stuck in my boat, and I was ready to give up. But then I stumbled across a series of threads on xda-developers.com that gave me new hope. In the course of one night, I learned from scratch how to root my phone, and I applied a fix that increased the "Application data storage" folder to a whopping 750mb. I am now able to download as many apps as I'd like and not have to worry about clearing out app data ever again.
However, it took a bit of scouring the forums and reading various guides to figure out how to do all this. Some of the items are quite technical in nature, and some of the guides skip steps that more experienced users would know how to do already. So I joined the forum to write this guide for the "regular" users out there like myself. My goal is to explain in plain English how to fix this nagging issue once and for all and to consolidate all the relevant info and files into one place. If you find this useful, please share this with others so we can all fully enjoy our phones!
The Credits
I did not invent any of the steps, tools, or methods I am about to describe. Hats off to the following people for supplying all the info and files I needed to fix the problem and write this how-to thread. Please let me know if I've missed anyone that should be mentioned and I will add them.
vbhines for the "New to Modding/Rooting" guide
The unrevoked team for their excellent one-click rooting software and drivers
dreamersipaq for the guide to rooting an Incredible
scotty1223 for the guide to rooting a 2.3.4 Incredible
jermaine151 for the "no data limit" mod that actually fixes the problem
cmlusco and tiny4579 for all their help answering questions and troubleshooting in this thread
The Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to perform this fix:
An HTC Incredible (obviously) with an SD card
A micro USB cable (you can use the one you charge your phone with)
A computer with a USB port and internet access (PC, Mac, or Linux)
An hour of free time
The Fix
Step 1: Read the "New to Modding/Rooting" guide so you know what you're getting into and can understand the terminology: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=744807
Step 2: Back up your contacts, pictures, etc. This guide is safe for your phone and will not erase any of your data if you follow it correctly, but it never hurts to back things up just in case.
Step 3a: Make sure your phone is decently charged. (at least 50%)
Step 3b: Make sure your phone isn't currently showing the "low on space" error. Delete some apps or data until the error goes away. You don't want to go through all this effort only to have your phone crash halfway through!
Step 4: Uninstall HTC sync software from your computer. Also make sure you are not running any software that communicates to your phone using USB, such as PDANet or DoubleTwist. If you haven't had to plug your phone into your computer to do anything prior to now, you're probably OK.
Step 5: On your phone, go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Development and put a check in the "USB debugging" box.
Step 6: Plug your phone into your computer, select "Charge Only", select "remember my selection", click "Done", and then unplug your phone.
Step 7: If you are on a Windows PC, follow this user-friendly guide to install the USB drivers you'll need: http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/windows_hboot_driver_install
When I did this step, I actually found my Android entry from the first screenshot in the guide under "Android Phone" and it did not say "Android 1.0". Don't worry, you can still use this entry to continue with the next step in the guide to "Update Driver Software".
Mac and Linux users can skip this step.
Step 8: Root your phone. This step is a bit more involved, so be sure to read the directions carefully. On your phone, go to Menu -> Settings -> About phone -> Software information and look at what it says under "Android version" at the top.
If it says 2.3.4, do this:
Download Clockwork 5.0.2.0: http://dinc.does-it.net/Recoveries/CWM_5.0.2.0/PB31IMG.zip (link updated 6/22/12)
Extract the recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-inc.img from the zip file and put it somewhere you'll remember.
Download Unrevoked 3.22 (this is intentionally NOT the latest version): http://dinc.does-it.net/Unrevoked/Unrevoked_3.22.exe (link updated 6/22/12)
Run Unrevoked_3.22.exe
Inside the program, go to File -> Custom Recovery and select the .img file from above. At the bottom of the program window, it should now say "Recovery: Custom" and "Waiting for device"
Plug in your phone and wait while Unrevoked runs automatically. It will reboot your phone several times and will take some time, so be patient!
Once it's done, unplug your phone and ensure that a "Superuser Permissions" application is inside your app drawer. Don't run it. Instead, go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications -> All, scroll down to "Superuser Permissions", click it, then click "Clear data". Return back Home.
If it says anything other than 2.3.4, do this:
Download Unrevoked 3.32: http://www.unrevoked.com/recovery/
Run reflash_package.exe. It may start up right away, or it may ask you to extract the files. Put them somewhere you can find, and once the extraction is done, find and run reflash.exe.
Plug in your phone and wait while Unrevoked runs automatically. It will reboot your phone several times and will take some time, so be patient!
After the above steps, everyone should do this:
Launch the Android Market and search for "ROM Manager". The first result should be "ROM Manager" by ClockworkMod and it should have a picture of a top hat above a gear as its icon. Click it, then click "Download", then "Accept & download". If it is already installed, you can just return Home.
Once ROM Manager has finished installing, launch it and select "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" (the first option). Confirm your phone model (HTC Incredible). A window will pop up asking for root permissions - click to allow it.
Optional: After the download completes, scroll down and click "Backup Current ROM". You may need a lot of space free on your SD card to perform this backup depending on what you have on your phone. Once you create this backup, you can use ROM Manager to fully restore your phone (including all apps, data, and settings) in case anything goes wrong. This can take a significant amount of time, so again, be patient!
If all went well, your phone should be exactly the same as it was before, except you now have a couple new apps, and more importantly, root access!
Step 9: On your phone, go to Menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Development and uncheck the "USB debugging" box.
Step 10: Apply the Fix. This is the step you've been waiting for!
Go to this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1623038, click the link for the EXT4All files in the first post, download "Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik.zip", and put it somewhere you'll remember. You can also go directly to this URL to download the file: http://dinc.does-it.net/EXT4_Mods/ (links updated 6/22/12)
Plug your phone into your computer, bring down the notification bar, select the "USB connection type" item, select "Disk drive", and click Done.
On your computer, find your phone's SD card. If you're unsure which drive is your SD card, look at how big each drive is. The drive that has a size of 6.59GB is the phone's internal memory, so the other drive is the SD card. The SD card that comes with the Incredible is 1.83GB in size, but yours may be different if you bought your own SD card.
Move "Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik.zip" from your computer to the SD card. Do not put it inside any folders.
After the file has finished moving, bring down the notifications bar, select the "USB connection type" item, select "Charge only", then click done.
Unplug your phone from your computer.
Launch ROM Manager from your app drawer and click "Reboot into Recovery" (the second option). Click "OK" to proceed.
After the phone reboots, you will now see a black screen with some blue options on it. Use the volume buttons on the left to scroll down to "install zip from sdcard" and click the optical trackpad button at the bottom of the phone to select it.
Click "choose zip from sdcard" (the first option)
Scroll down to the very bottom and select "Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik.zip"
Scroll down to "Yes - Install Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik.zip" and click it. This step will take some time to complete, and the progress bar may not move at all. Be patient!
Once it is done, click the power button at the top of your phone until you're back at the main menu, then select "Reboot system" (the first option). If you hit power too many times and end up with a blank screen, just hit power one more time and you'll see the menu.
When the phone is done rebooting after this last step, verify that the fix worked by going to Menu -> Settings -> SD & phone storage and look at the "Application data storage" section. It should now say that the "Total space" is 748mb!
At this point you can run happily through an open field, shout from the highest mountaintop, or just shed a tear of joy, because you can now install tons of apps and let them accumulate all the data they want. Enjoy!
P.S. Please let me know if any of these steps are incorrect or unclear so I can fix them. Thanks!
Troubleshooting
Here are a couple of issues people have come across while doing the steps in this guide, along with the solutions. Thanks to cmlusco for these helpful answers!
The guide says my phone should have rebooted back to the main screen, but I'm on a black screen with a bunch of blue options!
If you're on this step and the guide doesn't say you need to be here yet, just use the volume buttons to scroll to the "Reboot System Now" option and click the optical trackpad. Then you can continue on with the guide!
I'm stuck on a black screen with white bars on the side!
If your phone is "s-off", reflash the recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-inc.img file from Step #8 using hboot. To get to hboot, turn your phone off, hold the "volume down" button, and turn it back on. Keep holding the "volume down" button until you get to the menu where you can flash the .img file.
If your phone is not "s-off" or you have no idea what "s-off" means, run Unrevoked again with the same .img file from Step #8.
In either case, you should be able to continue using the guide from where you left off!
My phone keeps rebooting over and over and I can't do anything!
Pull out the battery, wait for 15 seconds, and put it back in and turn the phone back on. If it still keeps rebooting, pull out/re-insert the battery again, go into hboot (see above answer) and try the following steps. You can stop as soon as one of them works!
1. Restore a backup that you made in a previous step (if you have one).
2. Reflash the .img file from Step #8.
3. Flash the .img file here: http://dinc.does-it.net/wildstang83_inc_4.08.605.2_11232011.zip (note: this one will take you back to stock, so you'll have to start the guide over).
I'm still stuck!
If all else fails, please post your issue in this thread so someone can help you out. You can also try restoring your backup (you made a backup, right??) and starting over from the top. Good luck!
Potential Alternate Solution
Soniclude that was a great very detailed write up. Here is another option that I found that seems to also solve the dreaded low disk space...
Since you clearly outlined the steps for rooting your device, I wont go into that. But, why stop at fixing one of the most annoying stock problems. Rooting is half the battle to flashing a new rom - which is precisely what I did to stop the LDS issue.
I used to use CM7 and then flashed over to MIUI but recently I flashed the best rom I have used to date - ICS-Dinc AOKP (]http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1475936) which is a full fledged ICS port for your OG Dinc.
Since then I have not received any LDS errors (although I have not been using this ROM that long) but I would assume that it would be similar to my lengthy experience with CM7, in which I never got the LDS warning.
Here is what my device displays as available space for applications
View attachment 895332
As you can see I have used 144MB with 604MB free for a total of 748MB, identified as internal storage.
Also, just so you can see that this ROM is not an ICS overlay and is truly a port, here is the device info
View attachment 895331
72ls1's (the dev for ICS-Dinc AOKP) has some really good directions and make the process very easy.
For those that are interested and need a few more additional details, here are a few things that helped me:
1. Make sure you have backup your device data, this includes your apps, contacts (you should be just setting all contacts to sync with your gmail account to begin with), messages and email settings. Use an app like Titanium Backup for apps; Backup and Restore app for messages; Call Log Restore for calling
2. Download the zip files outline in the ROM posting of your chocie to your sdcard; They should be placed at the top level of your sdcard, meaning not in another folder. The zip files for ICS-Dinc AOK include the ICS-Dinc zip, Gapps (use this one gapps-ics-20120207-signed.zip - http://goo-inside.me/gapps/gapps-ics-20120207-signed.zip), and Tiamat Kernel
3. In Recovery make a backup of your device (in case you need to flash back due to an error)
4. Within Recovery prior to flashing the rom make sure to unmount data, sdcard and cache
5. Then clear cache and dalivik-cache (this one is under the advanced options)
6. Do a factory reset
7. Install from zip in the following order: ICS-Dinc AOK V.02, Gapps, Tiamat
8. Reset your device
Now go enjoy the goodness of a fresh ice cream sandwich!
Hope this helps anyone else out there in either the low disk space issue or that is having questions about flashing a rom.
Where is Unrevoked 3.22?
I'm going to use the downgrade-and-reflash method to root my 2.3.4 Incredible and after reading the forums have spent the supper hour looking around for Unrevoked 3.22. There was a megaupload site that always says bandwidth is exceeded, and one more that I found where everything is in a language I can't decipher.
Does anybody have a working link to 3.22? All I want is to turn on my stupid wireless hotspot so my wife can use her Ipad in teh car without having to pay Verizon another $30 a month for access to data I already have. Argh!
Thanks,
Ryan
Captainjerky said:
I'm going to use the downgrade-and-reflash method to root my 2.3.4 Incredible and after reading the forums have spent the supper hour looking around for Unrevoked 3.22. There was a megaupload site that always says bandwidth is exceeded, and one more that I found where everything is in a language I can't decipher.
Does anybody have a working link to 3.22? All I want is to turn on my stupid wireless hotspot so my wife can use her Ipad in teh car without having to pay Verizon another $30 a month for access to data I already have. Argh!
Thanks,
Ryan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can actually acomplish that without rooting.
Open dial pad and type ##778# and hit call.
Select edit mode and enter six zeros (000000) as the password.
Select security and look for S.IP DUN username, it should look something like this [email protected]. Change it to be [email protected], just remove the "dun.".
Back out to the main menu and select M.IP Default Profile. Look for DUN NAI and change it to be [email protected], remove the "dun."
Hit the menu button and select commit modifications. Your phone will reboot.
Now just use the stock 3g mobile hotspot app. When you first open it it will say you have to have a subscription and pay, just procede you will not be charged, and verizion is none the wiser. I have been doing this my self for over a year now.
Compass sensor broken
Somebody has the same issue? after flashing the zip i cannot use correctly the compass sensor, for example in SkyMaps app.
This is by far the best tutorial out there to gain root and achieve s-OFF I've come across. Thank you SIR for your time and tutorial. Just EXCELLENT!!
for me the issue was my data/data folder (hint dont sync 1500 facebook friends and never do it with high res pics and with two differant apps haha) =] jsut removed all the contacts i didnt need and turned off the sync from normal facebook app and working perfect now
stuck in loop
I followed the instructions for the 2.3.4 and after I applied the Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik fix I got stuck in a loop with at the HTC Incredible boot screen, not sure what to do now.. can only get back to the recovery mode. Not sure what to do from here
scals37 said:
I followed the instructions for the 2.3.4 and after I applied the Convert2Ext4_no_data_limit_normal_dalvik fix I got stuck in a loop with at the HTC Incredible boot screen, not sure what to do now.. can only get back to the recovery mode. Not sure what to do from here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you made or have a previous roms backup. Just wipe everything in mounts and storage menu except sdcard and emmc, then restore your backup. If you dont have a backup flash a fresh rom.
You kind sir are a gentleman and a scholar. That "low space" bug has been annoying me since July 2009. I greatly appreciate you breaking down the l337 sp33k to plain English.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Captainjerky said:
Does anybody have a working link to 3.22?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
downloads.unrevoked.com/recovery/3.22/reflash_package.exe
---------- Post added at 01:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:11 PM ----------
Thank you for the spectacular write-up, soniclude!!!
Is there a particular reason that you did not suggest using the no_data_limit_dalvik_moved mod?
Does it not work?
[/COLOR]Thank you for the spectacular write-up, soniclude!!!
Is there a particular reason that you did not suggest using the no_data_limit_dalvik_moved mod?
Does it not work?[/QUOTE]
I agree that this was an excellent how to. Thanks for the effort.
I used the no_data_limit_dalvik_moved mod and for some reason, my phone became really laggy. I'm on Pons CM7. 2. Now I'm a little hesitant to use any of the ext4 mods b/c I don't understand them too well. I'm not clear on why there is a partition in the first place. Why htc devs made it so small... Homework to do.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
Thanks cmlusco I used your method to unlock the 3G Hotspot on my phone and it worked like a charm.
Issue in Step 10
Thank you very much for the easy to follow directions soniclude. I went through all the steps and when I got to step 10, I ran into an issue. After clicking on "Reboot into Recovery" the phone restarts and goes to the white htc screen. After that the screen just goes black with thin white lines down the sides and stays like that. So I never see the blue options. Has anyone come across this? If so, what do I do from there?
I get the message: failed to root. is your firmware too new? What now?
Is there anything I can do now to revert my firmware so I can gain root.
joeyz400 said:
I get the message: failed to root. is your firmware too new? What now?
Is there anything I can do now to revert my firmware so I can gain root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your on 2.3.4 you need to follow this guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1306400 to root and get s-off.
I understand I could downgrade to 2.2 to get s off but only after I gain root. It seems I can't get rooted because I am running 2.3?
---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:53 PM ----------
It looks like the only step diffrent from the link you posted and this one is to run unrevoked as admin
I think I know what is wrong. The link to Unrevoked 3.22 is not working so I googled it and 3.22 came up but it was actually 3.32 that was downloaded and I can't find 3.22 anywhere. Does anyone have a copy of 3.22?
I found the correct 3.22 and now my Incredible is Incredible!!!! Rooted and it feels so good
Thanks for such a great thread!!!!
SWEEEEEET This worked awesome.
I recently purchased a Nook Color (used) at a flea market. I could not check it out prior to purchase because the battery was dead. (Shame on me) The seller did not bother to tell me (Shame on him) that he had "rooted" (I think that is what it is called) the Nook and installed Google apps on it.
When I first power up the Nook, I get a screen that says "Cyanogenmod". The next screen simply says "Android" in small letters in the upper left hand corner. The next screen says "Google" and has two spinning, interlocking gears. Finally, a screen appears with the Android "person" in the middle, with a number of apps that the owner previously downloaded.
I have tried doing the 8 interrupted boots, but that does not seem to be working. All of this talk about ADB and Android sdk is wayyyy above my expertise level. Can someone provide me with an easy to follow/understand step by step guide to restore my Nook Color to stock? I've also tried following the video on theunlockr.com and the forums on xda.developers.com, but some of the hyperlinks to the necessary software appear to no longer be functioning.
Hi Tim you can restore. The easiest way is going to be to create a bootable ClockWork Mod Recovery (CWR) SD card and then flash whatever ROM it is you want the Nook to be (stock, CM7, CM9).
Here are a couple of threads to look at with links to files you may want:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1599646
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1576833
Basically you need a uSD card, a CWR image and the zip file for the ROM you want to restore to. Burn the CWR image to the uSD card using win32diskimager and then place the zip file for the ROM you want to use on the card (not in any folder and don't unzip it).
Power down, place the card in the Nook and power up. Then choose wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition and go to advanced and wipe the dalvik cache. This will ensure everything is cleared out to flash the new ROM. Next choose install zip from sd card and choose the zip file of the ROM you want to flash.
Once it is done flashing unmount the sd card and choose reboot or hold the power button until it powers off and remove the card and then power back on.
JP
It is also worth checking first, if you haven't already done so, whether there is a uSD card left in the Nook (under the little hinged cover).
The Nook will load of this first if it is in there and bypass the software on the main machine.
If there is a card in there, then take it out and try powering off and on again to see what it then loads. Also you could retry the 8 failed boots method.
No, there is no sd card in the nook. And I have tried the 8 failed boot method to no avail.
JP, I am downloading one of the programs that was missing. It'll be about an hour before it is done. I'll go from there.
I'll probably be asking more questions, as I am about as computer illiterate as they come. Hope you have a lot of patience and will hang with me.
Tim
It is a pretty simple process as long as you can follow directions. There are only really three main parts 1. Downloading files, 2. Burning an image to make a bootable micro SD card and 3. Flash the downloaded zip files from that card.
I'm sure we'll be able to get you through it
I downloaded the source file but I cannot get it to run. I do not understand the installation instructions in the read me file that comes with the source zip. For example, what does "QT" stand for? Is it quick time or some other program?
tim844 said:
I downloaded the source file but I cannot get it to run. I do not understand the installation instructions in the read me file that comes with the source zip. For example, what does "QT" stand for? Is it quick time or some other program?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What guide are you following? I would suggest using my guide that is linked in my sig. Go to the restoring to stock section.
Sent from space
OK. I followed your link, registered to become an androiad central member. Working on it now. But I think I am in way over my head. How about I just box it up and UPS/FEDEX it to you? I'm in Ohio. I wanted to have it fixed for mother's day but that is obviously not going to happen.
My son says that the previous owner installed the clockwork recovery mode file directly unto the nook color. According to every video we have watched, that is a big no no! Everytime we try to hard reboot the nook, we get the cwm screen with no sd card in the nook.
We finally have the correct winimager file and are going to attempt to return the nook the stock using the cwm recovery image and the nook zip file.
tim844 said:
My son says that the previous owner installed the clockwork recovery mode file directly unto the nook color. According to every video we have watched, that is a big no no! Everytime we try to hard reboot the nook, we get the cwm screen with no sd card in the nook.
We finally have the correct winimager file and are going to attempt to return the nook the stock using the cwm recovery image and the nook zip file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you use the files from my guide it will get rid of clockworkmod and you will have a completely stock NC.
If you have problems with WinImage try Win32. And always remember to run these programs as Admin.
Sent from space
Where are you in ohio? I could help ya out if you still need it.
Follow info in post 2... its really simple.
Success! Almost. We followed your instructions to the letter. Everything seems to be working. Except, I cannot register the device. I watch the introductory video and then go to the register device screen. I enter my wife's B&N e-mail address and password, but it will not accept it. It refers me to their 800 number.
On your other website I noticed people talking about wiping two different caches. I am not sure my son caught that or skipped that step. Could that be the problem? Or is there something else he/we may have overlooked?
I can't say thanks enough. Hopefully we can get over this last hurdle and I can give it to her tomorrow for mother's day.
Anxiously looking forward to your thoughts.
I'm in Akron, Ohio
tim844 said:
Success! Almost. We followed your instructions to the letter. Everything seems to be working. Except, I cannot register the device. I watch the introductory video and then go to the register device screen. I enter my wife's B&N e-mail address and password, but it will not accept it. It refers me to their 800 number.
On your other website I noticed people talking about wiping two different caches. I am not sure my son caught that or skipped that step. Could that be the problem? Or is there something else he/we may have overlooked?
I can't say thanks enough. Hopefully we can get over this last hurdle and I can give it to her tomorrow for mother's day.
Anxiously looking forward to your thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. Does making a new account work? If not try going through the steps again and reflash it, it could have been a bad flash.
Sent from space
tim844 said:
I recently purchased a Nook Color (used) at a flea market. I could not check it out prior to purchase because the battery was dead. (Shame on me) The seller did not bother to tell me (Shame on him) that he had "rooted" (I think that is what it is called) the Nook and installed Google apps on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
koopakid08 said:
Hmm. Does making a new account work? If not try going through the steps again and reflash it, it could have been a bad flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More likely it is still registered at B&N to the previous owner.
DizzyDen said:
More likely it is still registered at B&N to the previous owner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I didn't even think of that. Yeah, that is most likely the problem. Hopefully you can contact the previous owner and get him/her to deactivate it or you are basically SOL.
Sent from space
Somewhere on the XDA site, I don't recall where, I saw a thread with another 2nd owner who had the same 'previously registered' problem you probably have; he got directions on a workable fix. Do a search; maybe you'll find it...
Thanks to everyone for all their help! I contacted B&N yesterday and it is registered to the former owner. They refused to help. All I could get out of them was I would have to contact the owner myself and ask him to unregister the device. I am working on that, but I don't hold out much help.
As a last resort, I might take it back to an Android device. However, I want it done correctly. I don't need the cell phone Android sysem he installed on it.
Again, thanks! It is nice to meet such helpful people.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A
Hello fellow nook owners. My Nook is running 1.1 with TouchNooter. I just noticed there is and update for 1.2 and a alternate root method. My question is how would I go about updating to 1.2. In the NookManager thread it says, "If you've tried rooting your nook unsuccessfully with another utility, it's best to do a factory restore (from NookManager, choose the "Restore" menu and then "Restore factory.zip") and, if your nook came with older firmware, upgrade to the latest 1.2.1 firmware." Does that mean I can install NookManager with what I have now and then do the factory restore?
I apologize if this has been answered before. I am reading through all these separate threads trying to make sense of it, but want to be on the safe side. Thanks for reading.
Odp: [Q] Revert back to stock from touchnooter
NookManager is not something you install, it is an interactive utility which let's you root, backup or restore your nook to default. Restore will extract what is in your factory.zip, after wiping whole data. So I suggest that you push expected system's version, so you will no longer need to perform upgrades, just root after that.
I am on my phone so I won't post steps to do that, they are somewhere here.
Wysłane z mojego GT-I5700 za pomocą Tapatalk 2
domi.nos said:
So I suggest that you push expected system's version, so you will no longer need to perform upgrades, just root after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. I am a little unclear where you say, "push expected system version". Are you saying to install the 1.2 update like they recommend on the Barnes and Noble site?
Manual Download Instructions
1. From your computer, click here for the software update file. Select Save and select Desktop as the location. Do NOT modify or change the downloaded file's name in any way. Do NOT open the *.ZIP file.
2. Tap Settings on your NOOK's Quick Nav Bar, then tap Device Info and make sure your NOOK battery charge is at 20% or more.
3. Connect your NOOK to your computer using the USB cable that came with your NOOK. A new, removable drive should show up in My Computer (Mac users will see the NOOK drive appear on the desktop or in devices). You should also see a "USB Mode" message on your NOOK screen.
4. From your computer, drag and drop the downloaded *.ZIP file onto the main directory of the NOOK drive. Do NOT open or unzip the file. You should not create a new folder on the NOOK drive or add the file to any other existing folder.
5. Eject or Safely Remove the NOOK drive after the file transfer is complete.
6. Your NOOK will automatically recognize the file after a few minutes when it goes to sleep mode, and proceed to install the updates.
7. Please do not turn off your NOOK during the installation process.
8. Once the installation is completed, your NOOK will automatically restart.
9. The software has been successfully updated; tap on the small "n" that appears in the status bar for additional information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for reading and offering any help. It is much appreciated, Its what keeps me coming back to XDA.
toebee76 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I am a little unclear where you say, "push expected system version". Are you saying to install the 1.2 update like they recommend on the Barnes and Noble site?
Thanks again for reading and offering any help. It is much appreciated, Its what keeps me coming back to XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to upgrade FW version after using any "Nooter" you should perform 'factory reset' (this will remove all your apk's and settings obviously so back them up using for example. 'Titanium Backup'.)
As far as I remember, after rooting Nook no longer sees the update.zip in 'NOOK drive'.
- Revert back to unrooted state (factory reset, manually or using NookManager).
- reboot
- register nook once again
- put update.zip in "NOOK drive" (internal memory)
- put nook to sleep and let it upgrade itself
- let it boot into newly installed 1.2.x
- register nook once again
- turn nook off
- run NookManager again to get root access on new FW
- use 'NTGAppsAttack' to get 'Google Play' on FW 1.2.x
I guess what 'domi.nos' is trying to say is that you could replace your factory.zip (stored in Nook's internal partition) containing FW 1.x with the one containing FW 1.2.x.
After this procedure every time you perform 'factory reset' your nook should revert to FW 1.2.x instead of FW 1.1.x.
Am I right, domi.nos ?
Odp: [Q] Revert back to stock from touchnooter
Yes, i find it better because in my case it was harsh to update using BN instructions.
Wysłane z mojego GT-I5700 za pomocą Tapatalk 2
osowiecki said:
If you want to upgrade FW version after using any "Nooter" you should perform 'factory reset' (this will remove all your apk's and settings obviously so back them up using for example. 'Titanium Backup'.)
As far as I remember, after rooting Nook no longer sees the update.zip in 'NOOK drive'.
- Revert back to unrooted state (factory reset, manually or using NookManager).
- reboot
- register nook once again
- put update.zip in "NOOK drive" (internal memory)
- put nook to sleep and let it upgrade itself
- let it boot into newly installed 1.2.x
- register nook once again
- turn nook off
- run NookManager again to get root access on new FW
- use 'NTGAppsAttack' to get 'Google Play' on FW 1.2.x
I guess what 'domi.nos' is trying to say is that you could replace your factory.zip (stored in Nook's internal partition) containing FW 1.x with the one containing FW 1.2.x.
After this procedure every time you perform 'factory reset' your nook should revert to FW 1.2.x instead of FW 1.1.x.
Am I right, domi.nos ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I don't understand why the B&N firmware update process itself doesn't upgrade the internal copy used
for a factory reset. Why leave this up to the user to figure out? As a back-out stopgap if the 1.2.x firmware is found
defective?
Presumably 1.2.x has been tested a lot before being issued to the user community. Stop laughing.
After all, by definition, 1.x has been found to be defective, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered issuing 1.2.x.
So how can the possibility of a defect in 1.2.x justify keeping around the known defective 1.x in the factory
reset zip? Plus the Nooks are awesome in that it's impossible to brick them(short of taking a screwdriver blade to
the SD slot).
Does somebody know what their reasoning is for this?
Thanks guys. Updating now!
Just because a new version was released doesn't mean the old one was corrupt. If a new feature was added, that justifies the new release, but the old one was in no way broken.
Also, you have a known working firmware archive, any updates could have corruption, bricking the system if used. From a dev standpoint, best to keep a known good version as backup in case something goes wrong, even if there is a vital update.
Backup
I used a backup from another NST to restore my NST, now I noticed my NST has the same MAC address and ID as the other machine. What can I do to get it's identity back?
Unless you have some backup of your nook, you don't have a lot of options. I have to see if the serial and MAC address are on a label anywhere.
If you can some how find the info, you can mount your image, and edit the files that keep it by hand to show your info instead. This is why dd style images aren't always recommended.
In the future make a back before installing or hacking, and make a backup before attempting to restore. The process isn't always fool proof so it helps to roll back.
steveharr said:
I used a backup from another NST to restore my NST, now I noticed my NST has the same MAC address and ID as the other machine. What can I do to get it's identity back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, took a while to respond, because I forgot which forum this was on.
Anyway, if you still have the box, the serial number should still be on that.
If you no longer have the box, but you did register it with your account, you can pull it up on B&N's website. Log in, goto "My Nook", and then "Manage My Nook". Mouse over the picture of the nook, and it will show you your serial number.
In short, i deleted my photos by accident, and deeply desire to recover them.
Data Recovery programs wont work on my Google Nexus 4, for a combination of reasons. Namely, because it is not a usb mass storage device, it is internal memory, and because the phone has not ever been rooted. If it is possible to recover the photos without rooting the phone, this would be favorable. But i doubt this is possible.
Is there a way to root my phone without causing a "factory wipe/reset"? Perhaps by avoiding unlocking the bootloader?I am not even 100% sure if this can be achieved on 4.4.2. as of now. I am continuing to investigate, but if anyone has the know-how, please let me know.
this forum here, suggests something that might work, but at the end of the forum, it suggests that 4.4.2 is still impossible to root without wiping.
-There are methods of scanning the phone after it has been rooted, but i can't find the right kind of rooting i need.
-There are methods of copying the phone's hard drive -bit-by-bit- to my PC in .RAW format, and then converting this into something that can be mounted like a real drive, which could be scanned and from which photos could be recovered., but this method requires a rooted phone as well
-there is a possibility of trying to mount the phone on a linux OS, and then scan it possibly. but i don't know if this is impossible.
i am reading the basics in the meantime.
LG Google Nexus 4, 4.4.2
Build:KOT49H
kernel:
3.4.0-perf-g2cae413
[email protected] #1
wed Nov20 14:54:28 PST 2013
Desktop PC: Windows 7 Professional 64bit, service pack 1.
Laptop: mac...
you can read more about things i have tried and my other concerns, in greater detail below.
LOTS OF METHODS, LITTLE CLARITY
I just came back from visiting some dear friends in china and purchased an upgraded version of dropbox. Before I uploaded my photos, I accidentally deleted my entire album.
What is the safest and surest attempt for recovery?
1. i need to avoid installing anything on my phone as much as possible - (lest it overwrite the empty areas where the "deleted" photos reside.)
2. i need to keep my phone off as much as humanly possible (lest it overwrite the empty areas where the "deleted" photos reside.)
3. almost without saying - id like to avoid bricking my phone, (lest it destroy my "deleted" photos)
SOFTWARE RECOVERY SECTION
All known software recovery programs won't find any data on my phone because either they are made for scanning mountable drives, USB mass storage devices, or some simply cannot scan the device unless i root my phone (although I am not sure if rooting is directly correlated with successful scanning, or if rooting the phone simply allows me to carry on with other necessary steps prior to "successful scanning"- like allowing me to installing apps that allow me to mount the internal memory as a scannable drive). Enabling USB Debugging, or enabling/disabling MTP is not the same as enabling USB mass storage mode. Seeing the Nexus 4 as "portable Device" under my computer does not mean it is a mounted drive that i can scan with a recover program. No matter what, nothing seems to work with the Google Nexus 4 as it is now.
***I first tried installing the driver's through the ANDROID SDK, by unzipping the contents from the downloaded zip file and by double clicking the .exe file. Double-clicking the .exe file resulted in a cmd dos-style window popping up and immediately disappearing. Perhaps i needed to put the extracted folder on "C:\"?
REGARDLES....later, I have used WugFresh Nexus Root Toolkit v1.8.2 for ensuring proper driver installation for my phone. I have only used this software to install drivers. It walks you through bad-driver uninstallation/clean up, it retrieves the latest drivers, installs them, and then tests their workability for you and lets you know if the drivers were successfully installed.
I have not used Wug's toolkit to root or hack my phone... yet....
Below is a list of software I have used on my Windows machine and my mac. These simply will not work with the phone as it is right now.
Remo
TenorShare
Bycloud android data recovery
Android Data Recovery
Dr. Fone
Recuva
- i havent tried disk digger. but it requires a rooted phone.
SO simple methods will simply not work? Please correct me if I am wrong.
BIT BY BIT CLONE METHOD
This seems to be the most tedious (but thorough) method for actually preparing something that can be truly scanned for photo-recovery. This method seems to create a bit-by-bit copy of the phone to my computer, which can be converted and mounted and then scanned.
However, it requires rooting. Not to mention, it recommends non-destructive rooting. Which leads me to the next section ...
ROOTING section (and its problems)
In the fruitless sections listed above, it always seems to lead towards rooting as a requirement. Most people say you should root your phone when you first get it, because, i suppose rooting is "synonymous" with a wipe/reset. I believe this reset happens as a result of the bootloader being unlocked. According to MY limited understanding, this unlocking process essentially causes a "factory reset" which wipes the phone, and then catastrophically overwrites the precious space where the deleted photos currently reside. this is unacceptable. I imagine, this "reset" is for security reasons.
Most people seem to suggest that you make a back up before you root. This isn't helpful for my situation because we are talking about retrieving deleted data. I cannot make a back-up of deleted data.
Is it really possible to root without wiping the Google Nexus 4?
Is it even profitable to consider rooting a viable option? I don't imagine myself enjoying a rooted phone as much as others on this forum. I would hate to be creating a black hole for malicious software to breed. i am only concerned with data retrieval for this one time in my life. Is rooting the only viable option? If i root, won't that make the previously mentioned software-scanning section (e.g., Dr. fone), more viable than the BIT-BY-BIT section tedious and pointless by comparison?
All in all, I think it most likely that i will need to root my phone and do the bit by bit copy. If a rooting-first-step is the final conclusion, then I am looking for clear and careful advice for my specific phone on how to root it without jeopardizing the deleted photos (e.g., avoiding a "factory reset" from unlocking the bootloader, or perhaps avoiding unlocking the bootloader altogether) and how to hopefully carry on from there. I don't even know if avoiding "unlocking the bootloader" will virtually guarantee a non-destructive root method
Rooting gets crazy because it leads to necessary installations of SuperUser, busybox, kernels, roms, etc... There are so many unfamiliar vague terms for a beginner like me and it is taking tons of time to break through. I am uninterested in keeping my phone rooted, or maintaining a lifestyle with a rooted phone. if we can move expeditiously from point A to B and then back, (get in, get the photos, and get out,) that would be the most awesome plan.
LINUX METHOD?
is there another way to get to the deleted photos?.
I do not know if 'mounting' the phone is akin to 'mounting' a scannable drive. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw2MKGIgyF4
maybe this is another wild goose chase?
IN SUMMARY
1. It would be helpful if there was a root-free photo-recovery software solution that actually works (this is unlikely to be in existence) with an unrooted nexus 4
2. It would be helpful if it is possible to root without destroying my chances of recovering my deleted photos, with the goal of allowing recovery software access (deeper access) to my phone, i.e. disk digger or if necessary... a bit-by-bit copy to my PC.
3. it would be interesting if the nexus 4 can be magically mounted and scanned on the linux operating system
4. It would be MOST HELPFUL if there was a clear consensus on what direction to take, because there is a lot of misinformation out there. One wrong step and i could end up shooting myself in the foot twice (if i inadvertently reset my phone), or three times (if i brick my phone).
5. can the phone be put back to normal (i.e. unroot) after rooting? or does this require that i make a full backup of the phone in its current state? ( i tried using WUGS toolkit to backup my media, but it wont do it unless i unlock the bootloader... back to that problem again )
I'm sorry for sounding like an idiot. I have been at this for a more than a few hours. I sincerely appreciate any help and consideration towards this specific situation in advance, and the hope that this forum has already offered me.
Impossible to root 4.4.2 without unlocking the boot loader and wiping the device.
DrFredPhD said:
Impossible to root 4.4.2 without unlocking the boot loader and wiping the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem.... There isn't a solution yet? :crying:
fabrollo said:
Same problem.... There isn't a solution yet? :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you have to unlock the bootloader and that wipes the device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA Free mobile app
jd1639 said:
Nope, you have to unlock the bootloader and that wipes the device
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And after i should try to recover all the wiped files with diskdigger for example? Maybe the datas that we was searching will be found?
Thanks... if i must try this way to solve my problem i will bite the bullet...
fabrollo said:
And after i should try to recover all the wiped files with diskdigger for example? Maybe the datas that we was searching will be found?
Thanks... if i must try this way to solve my problem i will bite the bullet...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The chances of recovering anything is very small
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app