Ok, here is a new version of OTA2 for US tablets that should be flashable in CWR and should keep CWR and root without requiring the use of OTA rootkeeper. I would still protect root with OTA Rootkeeper and temp unroot before updating (you can try it without temp unroot but it has caused some problems for other users). This update will still scan all your system apps so you need to restore or unfreeze any system apps that you deleted or froze using Ti Backup.
Instructions:
This update is for owners of US tablets with root and ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure your battery is well charged before flashing this, a dead battery mid update can create major problems!
1. Install OTA Rootkeeper and protect root. You should now temp unroot. Users who did not temp un-root have had issues with su access after updating.
2. Download the update below and put it on your external sdcard
3. Restore any system apps that you have removed
4. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (Shutdown Thinkpad, turn on and press vol+ repeatedly until you see booting recovery image)
5. I would also highly recommend making a nandroid backup if you have not previously done so.
6. Select install zip from sdcard>choose zip from sdcard then browse to and select the update you downloaded here
7. update.zip will run, it will check your system apps during the update and may fail if you have changed something, if so the error message should explain why
8. Reboot tablet; it will be a very long reboot. This is normal; it seems to take forever but just let it boot.
9. Use OTA Rootkeeper to restore root.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
ThinkPadTablet_A310_02_0039_0086_US_CWR.zip
-----------------------------------------
Original Message
So I would like to modify the new OTA so I get the updates without losing root and my current recovery. It is my understanding that the file: \META-INF\com\google\android\updater-script contains the instructions for how the update should run. Can I simply modify this script so that it won't delete root or overwrite my recovery or boot and then flash it in CWR? It looks like it would be pretty straight forward but it would be nice to get some information from someone more knowledgeable so that I don't mess something up and brick my TpT. One obvious line to remove would be where it deletes superuser.apk and su. There is also a section where it patches the boot image, I'm not sure what this patch does but I am worried that maybe somehow they might lock the bootloader. EDIT: I updated, and still have CWR so the bootloader didn't get locked. The other lines I would remove are the ones that reference recovery. If someone with knowledge of android would be willing to help me with this then I will upload my modified update.zip (assuming it works) so that others can avoid the hassle.
So I think that the process would be to delete the current \META-INF\ folder, then put in my modified updater script in \META-INF\com\google\android\updater-script and sign the update with SignApk.jar? Is this the correct process? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
I attached the original updater-script below for anyone interested in taking a look.
I appreciate you posting the file. I've never worked with Android code and this was a great intro.
I'm not sure this will work. Although I'm not super knowledgeable in this.
I did find these two threads.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1185881
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=21351145&postcount=101
Of course, the latter is in respect to the Galaxy Nexus, and I am sure most of those people have unlocked bootloaders, etc. So again, not sure if those shed any more light on it, but am also curious on a process like this.
The update popped up on my tablet last night and I clicked "more info" and from what it lists, does not seem to be very many fixes
So I successfully updated in ClockworkMod Recovery without losing CWR and without deleting my Superuser.apk and su files by modifying the updater-script in the update.zip. Unfortunately it still messed up my superuser permissions somehow and I ended up having to use ADB while booted into CWR to push and symlink the proper files to get su working again (OTA Rootkeeper wasn't functioning properly because the files were there but the permissions were messed up). I have modified the update.zip so that now it deletes the superuser.apk and su files but keeps clockworkmod recovery. With this and OTA Rootkeeper I think you should be able to update while keeping CWR and restoring root. I will also provide directions here for those seeking to make their own modifications and possibly improve upon my efforts, but proceed with caution.
So what I did was open the zip in winrar and extracted the updater-script. I then edited some lines of code using Notepad++, deleting the ones that referred to deleting recovery or installing a new recovery as well as the lines to delete superuser.apk and /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su. I also commented out a couple lines at the beginning (assert(getprop("ro.product.device") == "Indigo") because I was getting an error code status 7 when it was trying to perform this check while using clockwork mod. I checked my build.prop and it does say Indigo so I don't know why the check failed but just removing the check was easier for me than figuring out the problem (generally it is not good to remove such checks but I was sure I had the right file). In Notepad++ you must select save as and choose type all files then just save it with the same name. Then replace the updater-script in your zip file with the modified one, I used winrar and chose the compression to just be store (ie no compression). Then you need to delete the CERT.RSA, CERT.SF, and MANIFEST.MF files in the META-INF folder of your update.zip and you sign the update.zip using testsign.jar. Then your new modified update.zip is ready to go.
I think that the reason things did not work out for me is that there are a bunch of lines in the updater script about symlinking and setting permissions for stuff in /system and I think /system/bin/su was originally symlinked to /system/xbin/su which is the real file so things got messed up and I had the files still but the symlink and or permissions were messed up. I eventually fixed this by booting into CWR mounting system and using adb to repush /system/xbin/su and setting permissions and making the new symlinked su file in /system/bin just like the last lines of Dan's Thinkpad root bat file did.
Here is a modified update.zip that should delete your Superuser files but keep your ClockworkMod Recovery. I think that with this file you can use OTA Rootkeeper to make a root backup, temp unroot, then boot into CWR and update to the new OTA then you should be able to reboot and use OTA Rootkeeper to restore root and download Superuser from the market, while keeping CWR through the entire process.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
That being said I think it will work. I followed this guide to sign my update.
Original updater-script
Modified updater-script in the update.zip linked above (this one deletes Superuser /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su but keeps CWR)
Modified updater-script that I flashed on my tablet (this one messed up my su but doesn't delete the files)
If you need a good online file locker join Dropbox here and we'll both get an extra 250mb of space.
Unfortunately that update.zip didn't work for me, game me an error in CWR.
Is the other method, replacing the update scrip in the OTA and trying it ?
freezepop said:
Unfortunately that update.zip didn't work for me, game me an error in CWR.
Is the other method, replacing the update scrip in the OTA and trying it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on the error you can likely edit the updater-script yourself and successfully installed. Most errors are due to changes in system apps causing them to fail checks. If you remove an app check you should probably remove the corresponding patch for that app in the updater script. What error did you have?
Ok, here is a new version of OTA2 for US tablets that should be flashable in CWR and should keep CWR and root without requiring the use of OTA rootkeeper. I would still protect root with OTA Rootkeeper and temp unroot before updating (you can try it without temp unroot but it has caused some problems for other users). This update will still scan all your system apps so you need to restore or unfreeze any system apps that you deleted or froze using Ti Backup.
Instructions:
This update is for owners of US tablets with root and ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure your battery is well charged before flashing this, a dead battery mid update can create major problems!
1. Install OTA Rootkeeper and protect root. You should now temp unroot. Users who did not temp un-root have had issues with su access after updating.
2. Download the update below and put it on your external sdcard
3. Restore any system apps that you have removed
4. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (Shutdown Thinkpad, turn on and press vol+ repeatedly until you see booting recovery image)
5. I would also highly recommend making a nandroid backup if you have not previously done so.
6. Select install zip from sdcard>choose zip from sdcard then browse to and select the update you downloaded here
7. update.zip will run, it will check your system apps during the update and may fail if you have changed something, if so the error message should explain why
8. Reboot tablet; it will be a very long reboot. This is normal; it seems to take forever but just let it boot.
9. Use OTA Rootkeeper to restore root.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
ThinkPadTablet_A310_02_0039_0086_US_CWR.zip
jhankinson said:
Ok, here is a new version of OTA2 for US tablets that should be flashable in CWR and should keep CWR and root without requiring the use of OTA rootkeeper. I would still protect root with OTA Rootkeeper just in case something goes wrong but don't temp unroot before updating and see if root still works after the update. This update will still scan all your system apps so you need to restore or unfreeze any system apps that you deleted or froze using Ti Backup.
Instructions:
This update is for owners of US tablets with root and ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure your battery is well charged before flashing this, a dead battery mid update can create major problems!
1. Install OTA Rootkeeper and protect root (just in case), you shouldn't need to temp unroot though with this update.
2. Download the update below and put it on your external sdcard
3. Restore any system apps that you have removed
4. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (Shutdown Thinkpad, turn on and press vol+ repeatedly until you see booting recovery image)
5. I would also highly recommend making a nandroid backup if you have not previously done so.
6. Select install zip from sdcard>choose zip from sdcard then browse to and select the update you downloaded here
7. update.zip will run, it will check your system apps during the update and may fail if you have changed something, if so the error message should explain why
8. Reboot tablet; it will be a very long reboot. This is normal; it seems to take forever but just let it boot.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
ThinkPadTablet_A310_02_0039_0086_US_CWR.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your work. I have ROW version and waiting OTA2 for that, but still now I know how to modify update-script. I have a question, why not to remove any unneeded software from update and remove check for installed software which are already removed?
redbaron said:
Thank you for your work. I have ROW version and waiting OTA2 for that, but still now I know how to modify update-script. I have a question, why not to remove any unneeded software from update and remove check for installed software which are already removed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different people have removed different apps so one person may want the patch while another might want it skipped. I was just posting a generic version here that works for stock system apps. If others want to further customize their script then they are welcome improve upon it or customize it for their own system.
jhankinson said:
Ok, here is a new version of OTA2 for US tablets that should be flashable in CWR and should keep CWR and root without requiring the use of OTA rootkeeper. I would still protect root with OTA Rootkeeper just in case something goes wrong but don't temp unroot before updating and see if root still works after the update. This update will still scan all your system apps so you need to restore or unfreeze any system apps that you deleted or froze using Ti Backup.
Instructions:
This update is for owners of US tablets with root and ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure your battery is well charged before flashing this, a dead battery mid update can create major problems!
1. Install OTA Rootkeeper and protect root (just in case), you shouldn't need to temp unroot though with this update.
2. Download the update below and put it on your external sdcard
3. Restore any system apps that you have removed
4. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (Shutdown Thinkpad, turn on and press vol+ repeatedly until you see booting recovery image)
5. I would also highly recommend making a nandroid backup if you have not previously done so.
6. Select install zip from sdcard>choose zip from sdcard then browse to and select the update you downloaded here
7. update.zip will run, it will check your system apps during the update and may fail if you have changed something, if so the error message should explain why
8. Reboot tablet; it will be a very long reboot. This is normal; it seems to take forever but just let it boot.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
ThinkPadTablet_A310_02_0039_0086_US_CWR.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed this zip. It didn't delete su or Superuser.apk, yet apps cannot get root access afterward. any suggestions?
mandrsn1 said:
I flashed this zip. It didn't delete su or Superuser.apk, yet apps cannot get root access afterward. any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is what happened to me originally, it can be fixed though. Did you make a backup with OTA Rootkeeper? If so open Android Terminal emulator and type:
/system/su-backup
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
ln -s /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
chown root /system/xbin/su
chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
Then reboot your tablet. I believe this should fix your root access. If you don't have a backup I think you can also fix it by running adb while booted into CWR. I can give you those instructions if this doesn't work.
Apparently you should temp un-root before installing my update then restore your su backup with OTA Rootkeeper after updating.
You wear the crown
Thanks for posting the fix, too. Waiting for reboot to finish.
Really appreciate all your hard work. The instructions you posted for me in thinkpad forums worked perfectly and I learned a lot in the process.
toenail_flicker said:
Thanks for posting the fix, too. Waiting for reboot to finish.
Really appreciate all your hard work. The instructions you posted for me in thinkpad forums worked perfectly and I learned a lot in the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the fix work for you?
Still waiting for reboot. I waited about 20 minutes and rebooted manually. So far it still hasn't made it in for me to try the fix.
---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ----------
jhankinson said:
Did the fix work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fix not yet working. Got this far
/system/su-backup
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
error message
cp: applet not found
Any ideas?
toenail_flicker said:
Still waiting for reboot. I waited about 20 minutes and rebooted manually. So far it still hasn't made it in for me to try the fix.
---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ----------
Fix not yet working. Got this far
/system/su-backup
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
error message
cp: applet not found
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try
busybox cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
may have to type busybox before some of the other commands too if they give an error.
So my line would be
busybox cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
cp: applet not found
Just a quick note of thanks for getting me through this. Root is wonderful!
If
cp -f /system/su-backup /system/xbin/su
fails, use
dd if=/system/su-backup of=/system/xbin/su
instead.
jhankinson said:
Ok, here is a new version of OTA2 for US tablets that should be flashable in CWR and should keep CWR and root without requiring the use of OTA rootkeeper. I would still protect root with OTA Rootkeeper just in case something goes wrong but don't temp unroot before updating and see if root still works after the update. This update will still scan all your system apps so you need to restore or unfreeze any system apps that you deleted or froze using Ti Backup.
Instructions:
This update is for owners of US tablets with root and ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure your battery is well charged before flashing this, a dead battery mid update can create major problems!
1. Install OTA Rootkeeper and protect root. You should now temp unroot. Users who did not temp un-root have had issues with su access after updating.
2. Download the update below and put it on your external sdcard
3. Restore any system apps that you have removed
4. Reboot into ClockworkMod Recovery (Shutdown Thinkpad, turn on and press vol+ repeatedly until you see booting recovery image)
5. I would also highly recommend making a nandroid backup if you have not previously done so.
6. Select install zip from sdcard>choose zip from sdcard then browse to and select the update you downloaded here
7. update.zip will run, it will check your system apps during the update and may fail if you have changed something, if so the error message should explain why
8. Reboot tablet; it will be a very long reboot. This is normal; it seems to take forever but just let it boot.
9. Use OTA Rootkeeper to restore root.
Flash at your own risk! I am not responsible if this totally bricks your tablet! This is the US update, do not flash if you are using a tablet from another region! Seriously this stuff could cause problems.
ThinkPadTablet_A310_02_0039_0086_US_CWR.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx jhankinson, this work for me. my TPT 1838 US.
When apps that ask for root permissions are launched, it doesnt work, example: TI backup says that the device isnt rooted and i might have to check the SU binaries. My N7 was rooted before a update for Superuser was available, now something happen after i updated it. But i dont know what...
That's weird. After you updated your SU, did you go to SU to update its binaries?
i did that twice, and it did say to update binaries...so...
you might need SuperSu instead
What Android version are you running?
Droid_Boi86 said:
i did that twice, and it did say to update binaries...so...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had similar problems with "lightly rooted" stock (4.2.1/JOP40D) using a slightly older version of Superuser. Some apps could get root and others could not. But things have been in flux recently; read on...
I poked around a little bit and it appeared that the 4.2 multi-user stuff was interfering with the way that older versions of (ChainsDD's) Superuser worked, and at that time (only a couple weeks ago) ChainsDD had not released a newer update - things were still in flux.
I switched over to SuperSU, and no problems since... but....
...for me, installation of SuperSU didn't go swimmingly. As I recall the SuperSU install instructions say something like "you need to already have root to install the SuperSU `su' binary". Makes sense as it needs to write it's 'su' binary into /system, which in turn means it needs to get root privilege from a pre-existing su/Superuser installation.
So it poses a chicken-and-egg problem if you have lost root completely which I somehow managed to do... wait, I remember now! I had left the old 'su' binary in place, but had manually uninstalled "Superuser" from /system before I attempted the SuperSU install. Doh!
If you have lost root... you can manually install SuperSU offline inside the recovery via adb & the command line, which means getting both the SuperSU.apk and the 'su' binary ahead of time.
You can get the .apk from the market. You can attempt an install - it will download the 'su' binary and (no kidding) place a copy of it in /data/data/eu.chainfire.supersu/files/superuser.png
If you haven't lost root completely inside the booted OS, I suggest mounting /system in "rw" mode prior to running the SuperSU install and startup.
It looks like I am back a version or two - I have superSU v 0.99
4d7abc0eb5898cdb81bc233dcd16e052 /system/app/SuperSU.apk
0034ec008416b1c3fa7010deb8a3a758 /system/xbin/su
-rwsr-sr-x 1 root root 91992 Jan 10 16:40 /system/xbin/su
note the setuid,setgid bits on /system/xbin/su. Also - no symlink from /system/bin/su to xbin/su.
OK, sorry for the long post. There have been new releases from both chainfire (SuperSU) and chainsDD (Superuser) quite recently. Since I haven't had any troubles since 10 January, I haven't been following it closely - YMMV.
cheers
So I did the "temp un-root" in Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper before updating to the new OTA build. The update was successful. I then went back to Voodoo and restored root access. It confirmed that I had root. I then went to SuperSU and it seemed to be working fine as well. TiBu also seemed to be working fine.
I then went to ES File Explorer, which I confirmed had been granted root access, and tried to rename the PowerOn.ogg file in order to stop the AT&T bootup sound. The rename did not work, but no error message. Out of curiosity I then tried to cut and paste that file up one directory and it told me it failed due to insufficient privileges. Does this mean something is wrong with my root?
It reminds me of a time on my Galaxy S3 when I did the exact same process with Voodoo and an OTA update...and everything seemed to be working fine...but when I was testing out the then newly released Carbon backup app, it failed to get proper root access every time until I finally just re-rooted the device.
I can't understand why I am having issues, but everything is reporting that I have proper root access. I even downloaded Root Checker and it confirmed my root access.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
The new es is a pain...you have to go to menu then tools then root explorer then mount r/w then check the rw side next to /system in order to write to anything in /system
Have to do it every time you start es
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
My girlfriend has an S4 that I rooted and bootloader unlocked when she got it. This is her first Android phone - finally got her off the iPhone!! I want to block the OTA so I can still have my own fun with it. I know I could use an app, e.g., titanium backup or some other app, to freeze the OTA. But she just switched banks and doesn't have a card yet in order to purchase apps through the play store and I havent found an app that will do it for free.
Wondering if I can just rename the apks responsible for pushing the OTA with a root level access file manager without screwing anything up??
Saw somewhere to freezeI, I think: AT&Tupdate, FWupdate, and LocalFOTA.apk's.
Also saw on ScottsROMS site to rename: wssyncmldm.apk
Can I just rename all of these to '.......apk.bak' without any problem? What ones do I actually need to do something to??
Just run a custom ROM. I'm sure they all have the OTA update disabled.
How to Block OTA
Prerequisites
Must be rooted!
Must have a root level file manager. I prefer ES File Explorer
Instuctions
Start root explorer app
Mount /system as read/write
Navigate to /system/app/
Rename wssyncmldm.apk -> wssyncmldm.apk.bak
Reboot
[CREDIT: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2268946 and scrosler]
Hello,
I am currently running the H918 model with twrp and full root. Root was successful and the phone is running well. Thanks to all those who put in their time and effort and providing such a quick root capability. Makes the phone even more amazing than it already is.
Unfortunately, I am having an issue with be able to modify system files as I am unable to edit them whatsoever. I have tried using adb and using mount and remount commands but nothing has worked. I was hoping if anybody would be able to assist me with my issue. Thank you.
I've tried reflashing super su and I have busy box installed. Adaway is working properly (only through system less root) and I have been able to hibernate apps through tibu. I still cannot edit any files under /system. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
use root explorer
Thanks for your response. I've tried many root managers (including root explorer), enabled root permissions, had them successfully granted through supersu and still a no go. I just ran recowvery again and flashed twrp (this time without formatting data) and I am still unable to edit any system files.