Related
Hi tereg,
[SIZE=-1](If you are not tereg, you can stop reading this. I didn't PM because I needed to ship an attachment)[/SIZE]
Have a look at the attached (custom) recovery (pick it apart and diff it against the leak-V3/RUU recovery.img) using split_bootimg.pl and the gunzip | cpio pipeline.
You can flash it to your recovery partition and run it if you like, it doesn't do anything dangerous. Basically, it is the same thing as the Leak-V3(=RUU = OTA-2.1) recovery, with two major changes:
- /sbin/recovery service is turned off so this doesn't run automatically (and as a result you won't see the splash screen change from the 3 skating droids). You can run it manually, though, from the adb shell - just wait 8-10 seconds and adbd will come up.
- I added the shell (sh) and a few of the diagnostic tools (dmesg, dumpstate, logcat... and supporting dynamic link libraries, the linker, etc), and dropped in there both /system/bin/toolbox (HTC) and /system/xbin/busybox and created some of the symlinks so that an adb shell has a useful set of tools available. (Oh yeah, I added an /etc/fstab as a convenience for /system/xbin/mount. Note the system mtd partition mounts at /os-system so it won't cover up all the installed tools underneath /system in the boot image)
- I altered the init.rc (and default.prop) so that adbd will always come alive - not just when a race is won.
The base of this image (kernel, bootscripts, /sbin), is the leak-V3 recovery.img; everything else such as dynamicly linked executables and supporting dynamic libraries comes from Jcase's Plain Jane, which in turn comes from Leak-V3/OTA/RUU, so, essentially everything in this bootable recovery comes from HTC except the version of busybox in /system/xbin and mods to the init scripts and default.prop
Note that the NAND flash partition in the mtd device for the recovery is only something like 5.2 MB - I would have added more, but was starting to get tight on space.
If you want it to run as close as possible to the timing of the HTC leak-V3 recovery.img, what I would do would be the following:
- defer all the symlinking in init.rc (except for the "sh" and "ln", of course) and package that up into a shell script that you can run after the recovery has booted
- uncomment (re-enable) the "recovery" service (/sbin/recovery)
- maybe experiment and see if you can get the complete kernel boot sequence from dmesg without starting logcat as the first service (that's not done in the normal recovery).
The only other useful piece of info that I can think of at the moment is that you need to use the ---base option with mkbootimg with an address that starts with something like 0x11208000..... (I can't recall and my machine is down - crap.) You can discover the value of the kernel base address load offset for the Eris by snooping through a hexdump of the beginning of any valid Eris bootable image
cheers
bftb0
MD5s
5801babcdf4e6e5d51e5f775aad0a09e ErisNoRecovery-recovery-v0.9.0.img.zip
4d280b367be75e7e75563a6357575ea7 ErisNoRecovery-recovery-v0.9.0.img
Sent via my nearly dead crap Pentium II booted from a 2003 version of Knoppix - 256 megs of EDO RAM - woot!
Sorry, here's the attachment
I read it anyway.
Suck it.
Hungry Man said:
I read it anyway.
Suck it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same Here Brosidon,
Well, actually i attempted to read it. Then I got confused and went and got some beef jerkey.
mmm beef jerky. i read it to maybe there will be a fresh recovery menu for the eris.
i read somones got beef jerkey and not sharing *waves fist* four messin up kid
j/k
it would be nice if we got an updated recovery. especially now learning that we won't need/be able to format our sdcards using FroYo.
Actually, I don't mind if anybody reads or uses that - it just gets me off the hook when somone asks
"But what is this for?"
Now someone will ask, LOL
bftb0
bftb0 said:
Actually, I don't mind if anybody reads or uses that - it just gets me off the hook when somone asks
"But what is this for?"
Now someone will ask, LOL
bftb0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but what is this for??? can i root my eris 2.1 v3 leak??? can it make pizza out of code? jk jk lol,
Thank you, I got it now.
I will definitely be experimenting with this. I'll let you know if I have further questions.
Tereg, I'll be online tonight and can help with testing.
This tutorial is made to help those getting an Iconia for the first time as well as those who lost/didn't backup before going to custom ROMs.
We will try to help you using more than one variant #1, #2 etc to backup and restore your tablet. If you're new stick to the #1s in the first post. If you know a little Android and a little Linux, head to the second post.
Acer does not provide any full-restore ROMs at the moment so your best option is to create your own backup in case something goes wrong.
The ultimate goal is to help users restore their OTA (over the air) update function, aka. get the OS as fresh and clean as it was the day it came out of the factory.
Help us help you! The parts of the tutorial that aren't ready or require your attention are marked in RED. If you got:
A new tablet, never flashed with a custom rom, share your original backup with US, you will need it anyway once you decide to experiment!
A new tablet, never updated, share your Firmware and "Operated Countries" (on the back of the box) so we know what stock ROM belongs to which countries or continent.
Knowledge and the will to share it!
Before you start!
Don't be afraid of rooting, it will not break your OTA (un-rooting is a piece of cake) updates and it is essential to do a proper backup!
Back up your user files from music to documents and save games or you might lose them!
When everything fails > Privacy > data reset is a good way to start fresh. Best to use it when trying something new.
Always unfreeze/restore system APKs like telephony etc before formatting/soft resetting (not to be confused with turning on and off again) your tablet.
Any .zip on the micro-sd card will be automatically flashed on POWER & VOL-
Save Acer Recovery Installer, Root, your favorite file explorer on your desktop
Droid Explorer (PC app) can be a great tool to install apps from your PC
Before attempting to OTA update: un-root, make sure all system apps are in place, remove micro-sd, factory reset (some have reported success after these)
Unbricking
Get the right firmware (Full Package, thanks Vache), for your tablet, decrypt it and extract the update.zip
Put it on your micro-sd card. Shut down. Boot with power and VOL - pressed and it will automatically get flashed.
What firmware is right for my country?
Full Package Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.016.01_COM_GEN1
CWM Backup Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.016.05_COM_GEN1 - Provided by flyinghighaero
Update zip Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.105.01_EMEA_GEN3 - Provided by bpivk
EU: AT, BE, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IE, IT, LV, LT, LY, MT, NL, PL, PT, SK, SI, ES, SE, GB, IS, LI, NO, CH, BG, RO, TR.
Full Package Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.104.02_COM_GEN1:
USA
Full Package Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.104.05_COM_GEN1
Canada
Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.112.01_EMEA_CUS7 - Not available
Germany
Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.016.04_COM_GEN1 - Not available
Thailand - Probably Asia, needs confirmation
Full Package Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.104.03_COM_GEN1
Taiwan - Probably Asia, needs confirmation
Acer_A500_1.105.01_EMEA_GEN3 - Not available
reports of Netherlands and Mexico - hard to tell what EMEA means to Acer
Acer_A501_1.309.02_COM_GEN1 - Warning, this is an European ROM for A501 !!! - thanks captainpaella
Did your tablet come with one of the following firmwares or maybe another one? (Settings > About tablet), tell us what countries/continent it is for by checking the back of the box for the "Operated Countries" label and posting it below:
Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.013.01_EMEA_GEN1
Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.104.04_COM_GEN1
Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.016.02_COM_GEN1
Creating a backup with Acer Recovery Installer #1
Root
Acer Recovery Installer
Install clockwork mod:
select "ClockworkMod Recovery rev1.3.4 by thor2002ro"
click "Install Recovery Image"
click "Yes" when asked to backup the current image!!!
Reboot into CW recovery from the app or with VOL- & POWER
Create a full backup: "backup and restore" -> "Full Backup"
If your backup is a fresh stock-only (no previous custom roms flashed) one, please share it. It's located on your micro SD in clockworkmod/backup/[current date] <= This is the CWM folder we need!
Don't forget to restore the original recovery image to be able to install futher updates. Unrooting might be necesary depending on Acer.
Restoring to defaults via CWM #1
Full restore in CWM: "backup and restore" -> "Full Backup"
Enter Acer Recovery Installer and restore recovery.img!
Aditional restoring info
Remember: un-root, remove micro-sd, factory reset if it doesn't work.
Also don't have modified, removed or frozen system apps, wi-fi module, build.prop or any other OS file!
"dd" method in the second post is practical if you'll want to downgrade from a FW that has no root yet - still needs testing (eg. if you update to a future 3.2 you won't be able to go back to 3.1 or 3.0.1 until 3.2 is rooted, because CWM needs root, here's where ADB and "dd" can really come in handy!)
Available backups:
Updates of original Acer_A500_1.016.01_COM_GEN1
CWM backup successfully used by me, containing: Stock 1.016.01_COM_GEN1 OTA updated to 1.139.02. 1.139.02 is a "dud" - a FW update taken down by ACER that breaks updates; to solve this issue flash the update.zip(1.139.05) with the default acer bootloader (restore the original recovery.img from Acer Recovery Installer to get the default acer bootloader)
1.141.05 provided by Thor - Restore with "dd", see post 2!
Please provide your own CWM folder or flexrom, boot, recovery and system.img, full dumps (p1, p2, p3... description for this method below)
Do not provide
system.zip containing system/app files
3.1 ROMs - the purpose here is to know if OTA is working
What worked for me:
Done with CWM!
Un-root, restore to stock, remove micro-sd - probably not all necesary but it worked for me.
First of all I flashed to my default rom: Acer_A500_0.000.00_1.016.01_COM_GEN1 from Acer's server, didn't have a backup.
I installed acer recovery installer, rooted and then CWM restored 1.139.02. This firmware is probably Acer's mistake as it is not available anymore, nor can you OTA update from it.
Then I entered Acer Recovery Installer, restored the original recovery.img, un-rooted and restored to factory defaults.
Placed Acer_A500_1.016.01_1.139.05_COM_GEN1 on my micro SD and rebooted into Acer's recovery (PWR&VOL-) installed with no issues.
After the reboot 4.010.22 was available! Started the download, removed the micro-sd(probably wasn't necessary) and the tablet rebooted and installed the update properly!
Voila, 3.1 (4.010.22, kernel 2.6.36.3) with the help of CWM!
This is all the Info I was able to gather about a full restore. Put it to good use and be productive - tell us your results!
Additional backup and recovery methods
Creating a backup via ADB #2
If you're uncomfortable with ADB, this should work with Terminal Emulator +/- Busybox too. Just skip to step 4.
Or you can try the automatic backup tool, just fire it up and follow the instructions. Root and 1GB on the external SD required.
Get ADB + Java both for x32 even if you have windows on 64 bit!
Get the Iconia A500 USB drivers
Run SDK Manager from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk" and let it download it's junk. I've no idea how much of it you'll need.
Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools"
Create a text file that will contain "cmd" and save it.
Rename your text file ADB.bat and create a shortcut on the desktop for convenience
Root then go to Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging
Open your adb shortcut, connect the tablet and type "adb shell"
"$" will show up, meaning that you are logged in as an User
type "su", accept the superuser request on your tab
"#" you're now Admin and can issue backup commands.
Backup the first 0x680000 bytes of mmcblk0 and all partitions (except cache + data) with dd:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 bs=512 count=13312 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/mmcblk0_start
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p1
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p2
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p3
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p5
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p6
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 of=/mnt/external_sd/dumps/p7
Thanks sc2k!
Restoring to factory defaults via Terminal #2
Root
Install Terminal Emulator, Busybox installer and Acer Recovery Installer
Copy system.img, flexrom.img, boot.img, recovery.img in /mnt/sdcard
Run (flash system.img last, it will lock down your tablet and you won't be able to flash the other .img files):
/data/data/com.interphaze.AcerRecoveryInstaller/files/itsmagic
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/flexrom.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/system.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3
Restoring to factory defaults via ADB #3
Get ADB + Java both for x32 even if you have windows on 64 bit!
Get the Iconia A500 USB drivers
Run SDK Manager from "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk" and let it download it's junk. I've no idea how much of it you'll need.
Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools"
Create a text file that will contain "cmd" and save it.
Rename your text file ADB.bat and create a shortcut on the desktop for convenience
Root then go to Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging
Open your adb shortcut, connect the tablet and type "adb shell"
"$" will show up, meaning that you are logged in as an User
type "su", accept the superuser request on your tab
"#" you're now Admin and can issue flashing commands.
Install Acer Recovery Installer
Copy system.img, flexrom.img, boot.img, recovery.img in /mnt/sdcard
Run (flash system.img last, it will lock down your tablet and you won't be able to flash the other .img files):
/data/data/com.interphaze.AcerRecoveryInstaller/files/itsmagic
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/flexrom.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/boot.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/system.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3
I hope many people who just bought their tablet will come here and post the recovery files asap they got it...
I need to return with 01.139.04
If you use the Acer Recovery Tool from the market, would that do the same thing to take you back to stock?
link
Please, always run itsmagic BEFORE any dd operation.
@Bec07: Please swap the commands in your guide.
Restoring to factory defaults via ADB #2
In Step 7 where are the files located that I'm supposed to be copying? Can't find them?
They're supposed to be in /clockwork mod on your micro-sd car, provided you've don a backup. Or you can download them.
@haakuturi
No, I've tried even if you can download the update, it will fail installing. Tried with pre 3.1 updates.
@sc2k
Thanks, fixed. But don't the checksums change after we flash the partitions?
sanaell said:
I hope many people who just bought their tablet will come here and post the recovery files asap they got it...
I need to return with 01.139.04
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you remember your initial firmware?
Could you check it when close to an iconia stocking shop?
Great tutorial... Thanks
So, a question... If the Restore function in CWM doesn't restore properly, does it backup properly? That is, if I manually restore the files that CWM made when it backed up, will it restore properly or did the backup miss something?
I don't think it backs up properly either. At least not by all checksum standards.
My backup is CWM and I can't restore it with "dd" no matter what. Thor's works but I suspect it's not CWM.
Scrap that! CWM works just fine!
Bec07 said:
I don't think it backs up properly either. At least not by all checksum standards.
My backup is CWM and I can't restore it with "dd" no matter what. Thor's works but I suspect it's not CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that's bloody annoying... :/
If I'd known that, I'd have manually backed up my stock ROM...
Tell me about it...
I think I flashed 15-20 times in the past 3 days. Haven't managed to make OTA work for 3.0.1 and now they're all down and I can't see 3.1 either...
can i do the "proper" backup from within the tablet with something like connectbot that has sdcard writing permissions without rooting?
Probably with terminal emulator and busybox too
Bec07 said:
Don't you remember your initial firmware?
Could you check it when close to an iconia stocking shop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that was 1.016.01 but I do remember the first update I got was 1.139.04 pushed by OTA
THailand
I'm not aware of any problem with the backup/restore with CWM. I'll try to do some testing to see. The boot, recovery images from CWM should work with the dd command, but the system and data are compacted in a YAFFS2 format and cannot be used with the dd command.
I know the initial version did not run itsmagic automatically, so the checksum of boot would be off after a restore, but that was fixed.
Not sure if this helps but my a500 came with Acer_A500_1.105.01_EMEA_GEN3.
I live in the Netherlands and i have a backup which contains flexrom system and boot.img as well as the update.zip to get it to version Acer_A500_1.141.01_EMEA_GEN3
Download here.
Iconia Build Number
Mine is Acer_A500_1.141.01_EMA_GEN3, I bought the tablet on México.
sanaell said:
I think that was 1.016.01 but I do remember the first update I got was 1.139.04 pushed by OTA
THailand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure, it was 01 because I know mine was 01 and I'm from EU. Wasn't it 02?
spaanplaat said:
Not sure if this helps but my a500 came with Acer_A500_1.105.01_EMEA_GEN3.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you guys look on the back of your box, there should be a sticker "Operated Countries" that should list in what other countries the same firmware version is for.
I suspect EMEA should cover EU, Middle east and Asia, but I've got no idea why there are also separate versions
Thanks!
Ok, after messing around with 3.2 I decided to fix the rooting issues without downgrading. The problem with downgrading is it requires a SDCard and requires you to install a couple of programs and then to install an update.zip from the sdcard. I could not get half my ACER's to read and mount a sdcard, and some ACER's I have located in a remote office and trying to walk someone through the process was too painful. I tweaked the the downgrade tool's images to install 3.2 with root instead of downgrading it and jumping through hoops. All I did to the stock image is to copy the ash shell over to /system/xbin/su and set the sticky bit. Everything else is stock.
Update posted here, read thead http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20654298&postcount=129
New version V4
-- The instructions are in a PDF document inside the download --
== Version V4 ==
-- Added /system/subin/su which is a backup (backdoor) root in case an OTA deletes the /system/xbin/su
-- Set permissons on the su root(#) tool so OTA's shouldn't be able to break it.
-- Added drivers for XP
Summary:
Version V4 is the same as V3 with the only difference being that there is a NEW backdoor script which has some additional features to protect root(#) from getting broken when you do an OTA. I also applied these to this flash image so you wouldn't have to add the additional protection yourself. V4 also has the drivers for XP included. However, when taking an OTA you should also install the backdoor for additional protection. However, you cannot leave the backdoor installed as it turns off sound. So having a little more protection just might save your root in case you take an OTA and forget to install the backdoor.
Download it here: http://www.multiupload.com/NS0X5TK4D1
Alternative download location:
http://depositfiles.com/files/c6pr69ri6
http://www.fileserve.com/file/s2wCQpN/root-3.2.1-V4.7z
http://www.filesonic.com/file/jTA7AMN
http://www.filejungle.com/f/vRnfK5/root-3.2.1-V4.7z
Which 3.2 update is it ? Fully working, no issues ? Good job. Is it power + volume down or volume up to go into recovery ? And is it possible to flash a custom kernel like Honeyvillain on this stock ROM ?
Thx
Has anybody ( including OP) tried this method?
It is the 3.2 OTA for WiFi that my Tablet picked up. It is total stock other than making a SU from the ash shell and putting it into /system/xbin.
Fully works, no issues, have used it on 8 ACER 500's with no issues.
To enter recover it is the left side of the volume button which is volume (-) oopps NOT (+) as I indicated.
Hah, saying Vol +/- is not intuitive on this device since when in landscape, Vol + is the "right" side, but in portrait mode Vol + is the "top" side.
no go
Hi, i can see my iconia uid from adb ( already installed in my pc) but
not from test.cmd, in the extracted package. Any ideas?
REPEATED STEPS 1-4 ( PER INSTRUCTIONS) ON 2 PC'S RUNNING W XP. SO FAR "NO GO" TEST.CMD CANNOT FIND PATH.... AND DOTNETDETECTER, THEREFORE, DOES NOT WORK.
will this wipe all the data on the tablet?
---------- Post added at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------
JUGOMAN said:
Hi, i can see my iconia uid from adb ( already installed in my pc) but
not from test.cmd, in the extracted package. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here i run the setup file and it installs but after i run test.cmd and it cant find it
Sorry about the test.cmd not working. The script just calls adb.exe to make sure it is working and I have it installed in another directory that I did not include. I posted, to the original message an attachment, it is called fix-Test.7z that fixes the test.cmd. You should be able to just unzip it into the directory you created and run the test. The archive includes the adb.exe and dll's so the test.cmd should work. If you have adb.exe working you really don't the test.cmd, but I found out when talking someone through it (over the phone) this made sure that adb.exe was installed and they had the tablet USB Debugging turned on.
And it is a quick and easy way to get the serial number which you need to flash it.
Thanks,
Let me know if you have any more issues.
does anyone know if flashing it this way will delete all your data on the tablet?
NO GO2
The attchment does fix the test.cmd "problem" but the next step, Dotnetdetecter, does not work. It re-installs the driver (?) then error "adb is old" or something like that. All packages in my computer's ADB are up to date. I think that the "target" directory in the DONETDETECTER IS NOT CORRECT. ANY IDEAS? btw GOOD WORK!!!!!
Many thanks for this. It is really easy like this. Keep up the great work.
UPDATE
Installed, booted, but no root. Previous rom( acer update) was3.2 Gen 2, now 3.2 Gen 1. was worth a try.. Thank you... tablet is working just fine, just no root
jimmkd84 said:
does anyone know if flashing it this way will delete all your data on the tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea. I've never done this before so I'm wondering the same thing.
Also
Idk about this test thing but if u type 'adb devices' it'll show you which devices (if any) are connected. I always use that as a test when i use the adb to install apks.
bad adb
NO GO2 WROTE
The attchment does fix the test.cmd "problem" but the next step, Dotnetdetecter, does not work. It re-installs the driver (?) then error "adb is old" or something like that. All packages in my computer's ADB are up to date. I think that the "target" directory in the DONETDETECTER IS NOT CORRECT. ANY IDEAS? btw GOOD WORK!!!!!
Not sure what that would be. I just use the adb.exe and dlls that are in the fix.zip. Maybe you have a different version loaded?
ROOT IS NOT in the apps. It is in the adb shell.
What this does is allows you to connect to the device using adb.exe shell and you will get the $ prompt.
at the $ prompt type su and press enter. You will get # and be in su mode.
Now you can do whatever you would like. What would that be, you might ask? Well you could do the following:
1. mount system as rw
2. Push your favorite su tools to the device so they are listed in the apps (busybox etc).
Again this gets you to 3.2 with the ability to have a SU when connected via the adb shell. I left the building of the tools and custom CW to you guys to do as you wish. Here's something else you could do.
1. Shell to it, and issue the SU
2. Mount system as rw
3. Push your favorite tools to where you want (busybox etc)
4. Take the recovery.img (in the zip) and dd dump it to the recovery partition. This will put clockwork on the device (1.5).
a. You should probably run itsmagic too.
5. Get everything the way you want it.
6. Reboot to recovery and CW will load.
7. Now with CW 1.5 loaded, you can build and make copies of your ACER and make them available to anyone you like. CW 1.5 does NOT require an external SDCARD.
Sorry, if I did not make it clear that this is just a SU that you have to use from the command line. If someone wants to give me the links to a SU apk, busybox, etc they'd like included I'd do it. It would only take a few minutes as I got hundreds of these ACER's to flash for our company. I just wanted to get SU, but what the heck, I could build it out if someone would like it that way. ACER really pee'd me off with this, and guess what? They left the ability to gain root in the 3.2 100. Why the 'Sam Heck' did they change the 500 3.2 so you cannot get root?
So, anything I can do to help let me know. Also, If you never want ACER to send you another update I can tell you how to fix that too. All you have to do is the following:
1. Get to the adb shell $
2. type su to get the # prompt
3. Now mount system as rw by doing the following:
a. mount -t rfs -o remount,rw system /system
4. Now rename the update tool by doing the following:
a. mv /system/app/FDUpdater.apk /system/app/FDUpdater.apk.old
mv /system/app/FWupdateService.apk /system/app/FWupdateService.apk.old
5. To get OTA then just reverse the process if you ever want ACER and their OTA to break your fleet of ACER Tablets by pushing silly updates that they think you want then you can undo it. The last I knew, I owned these ACER Tablets and I don't take kindly to them changing something that I do NOT WANT CHANGED. They should be sued, matter of fact, I think they are violating federal laws by destroying data on MY tablets. Anyway, off my soapbox.
i have re run the new test.cmd and is working now, and have successfully run dotnetdetector but i dont want to proceed until someone can confirm if doing this will wipe all data on the tablet
appreciate it, great work btw dev!
---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
did this wipe the data on it?
Hello, may i use this procedure on my A501?
Thanks
I did NOT test on the 501 so I do not know. If it was me, I would take the 501 stock images and put them in the kitchen and root them and then replace the ones in my zip with those or better yet, use CW to flash it in.
I think the ACER 501 has cell phone data connection doesn't it? I don't think the stock for WiFi only would be a good idea.
What ACER did on the 3.2 update (my opinion) was removed the Gingerbreak exploit and they removed the adb root exploit (they left the adb root exploit in on the 100). This is what many OEM's did, however many allow you to flash your own easier than ACER seems to want to let us. So if you got 3.2 NON-ROOTED loaded then there is no way to 'hack' out a root (just yet).
So how do you root it? You have to make a custom ROM and flash it. Now ASUS/Motorola/Samsung/Toshiba all allow you to flash your own ROM if you know what you are doing.
ACER seems to hide how to put the tablet into flash mode (if someone knows please let me know). Even if you did flash it they do want those ROMS running so they take each partition and calculate the MD5Sum and write it to, I think, partition #7. Therefore, if you do figure out how to flash in a new boot image or system image the tablet will not boot because the MD5Sums will not match (if you brick your tablet this way you are fubar). Fortunately, someone wrote a tool called itsmagic which you can run to tell the tablet to rebuild these. But if you fubar brick it before you get itsmagic run, I don't know how you get into flash mode using the keys so you'd be up a creek.
So, the 411 skinny on rooting an ACER with 3.2 is to get 3.2 off the device. Fortunately, they made an earlier flashing tool to flash in 3.0. I would guess this leaked out as a way for people to reflash to stock when they have issues.
Once you are on 3.0, you now can use Gingerbreak or the adb root exploit to root it. Once rooted, you can get CW loaded. CW allows you to install your own ROM's. Without CW you can only install ROM's signed by ACER and without ROOT you cannot install CW.
So, if you flash to the 3.0 now you are 'back to the future' in 3.0, you can root and install CW so you can now install a custom ROM from your SDCard.
What I would do is go get the STOCK ROM from ACER for your 501 device.
Once you have the stock ROM, you can use the kitchen tools to unzip the ACER ROM and root it to your liking. Now, re-zip it, but you cannot sign it with an ACER certificate so it will only install using CW. No, big deal because you got 3.0 loaded with CW. You boot to recovery CW and then run the update from your SDCard that you built in your kitchen.
This isn't really that hard to do if you're willing to read some documentation.
I have no idea if it wipes it clean totally. It does walk you through the setup again (like it was new out of the box) so I would assume most things would be wiped. I would back it up and not take the chance because it is best to be backed up.
Just a note here. It says fully stock execpt root? i don't think that's entirely accurate. I believe that it's still downgrading the bootloader, otherwise you'd never be able to get CWM to run, as itsmagic doesn't work with the new bootloader. So your left with stock 3.2 ROM with adb/su abilities and pre 3.2 bootloader.
On another note, I believe step 17 is not needed. CWM run's itsmagic automatically on every boot. So just booting CWM and then rebooting to android should suffice.
Hello, I think I have did a big mistake.
I was trying to install CWM via Terminal Emulator with this command:
dd if=/sdcard/cwm.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7
Then I know what mmcblk0p7 was not the recovery partition, but it is a PER partition.
Until now, my device is still on because I didn't reboot/turn-off it. I'm afraid if I reboot it, then it will die because mmcblk0p7 was flashed with wrong image.
Does anybody know how to fix it, or is it safe if I reboot my device? It has been 4 days of no reboot until I'm sure it's ok for reboot.
Thanks in advance!
What exactly lies in the mmcblk0p7 partition?
MOVZX said:
Hello, I think I have did a big mistake.
I was trying to install CWM via Terminal Emulator with this command:
dd if=/sdcard/cwm.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7
Then I know what mmcblk0p7 was not the recovery partition, but it is a PER partition.
Until now, my device is still on because I didn't reboot/turn-off it. I'm afraid if I reboot it, then it will die because mmcblk0p7 was flashed with wrong image.
Does anybody know how to fix it, or is it safe if I reboot my device? It has been 4 days of no reboot until I'm sure it's ok for reboot.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PER - Per device provisioned data or per device calibration.
A cursory scout around XDA suggests this contains sensor calibration and such like.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739119
(edit: checkout the last posts by osm0sis - this guy knows his stuff when it comes to partitions).
I'm pretty sure it isn't the BOOTLOADER partition...
I would tentatively suggest you're OK for a reboot. I can't think of what else you can do, to be honest.
-----------
If you must flash a recovery using the dd command use the by-name syntax...
su
dd if=/sdcard/recovery.img of=/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/SOS
Rgrds,
Ged.
@GedBlake
Thanks for the info. I was asking, because if it didn't vary from device to device I could probably dd up a backup of the partition and upload it here for the user to dd into his partition in his tablet.
That being said, I'll keep an eye on this thread for further consequences or the like.
@MOVZX
Please state whether you have a Grouper or Tilapia device, and the approximate manufacturing date, if known.
The PER partition is formatted as a FAT filesystem**. It seems to contain measurement data created during factory testing procedures. See here.
Note that there seem to be differences from device to device (compare the two posts in the above link). Here are the two critical questions:
1) What is the exact FAT format? (There are a couple of different FAT variants)
2) Does the bootloader read this partition during hardware initialization?
I seem to remember a thread here in the Nexus 7 forums where someone was claiming to adjust the ambient light sensor by altering a file in the PER partition. If that is correct, then indeed this partition *could* be critical to correct operation of the device.
I think you are being prudent about not rebooting. I also think that you should find someone to volunteer to give you a raw image dump (dd) from a device that is as close to yours as possible. Note that like many other devices, the N7 has hardware variants, and the PER partition seems to reflect that.
The calibration data for your device is now permanently lost, and you are the unfortunate experimenter who will find out the consequences of that.
**If you can not get someone to help you, the issue of the filesystem formatting can be solved by one of us by:
- raw dumping our PER partition, loopback mounting it, removing all files, unmounting it, and then giving that to you.
At least you would then have the correct filesystem formatting, but empty.
Also, please do a
dd bs=1024 of=/dev/null if=/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/PER
to let us know what size your partition is.
@MOVZX
I did a little more poking around. What I had recalled about the lightsensor thing was users reporting mods to a setting in
/data/lightsensor/AL3010_Config.ini
not the file of the same name in the PER partition.
The file in PER (of this same name) appears to have the same value (1382) on my tablet in both the above location as well as the file in PER. I don't know if that really means anything though.
I looked through the ASCII strings in the bootloader image (v 4.18) to see if there was any evidence of the bootloader using the file names in the (intact) PER partition. There was no evidence of this happening whatsoever. Does that mean that the bootloader does not read the PER partition? No, but at least there is no direct evidence of that nature that it does. That is certainly hopeful for you.
I dumped my own PER partition to have a look at it. It is definitely FAT32, but probably was not created with a variant of 'mkdosfs' - more likely a BSD tool, as it has a "BSD 4.4" OEM name. I tried to erase/remove files from a copy of my PER image; unfortunately the linux "shred" utility doesn't really do it's job correctly. I failed trying to create an identical (blank) image using 'mkfs.vfat' - I couldn't get the FAT header data identical to the FAT32 headers in the from-the-factory image in the PER partition on my device.
None of this might be important, though. It is possible that the only reason that there is manufacturing data on the tablet is if Asus wanted to look at aging effects for units returned for RMA (or subjected to shake-n-bake testing).
good luck with your tablet - let us know how everything turns out.
bftb0 said:
@MOVZX
I did a little more poking around. What I had recalled about the lightsensor thing was users reporting mods to a setting in
/data/lightsensor/AL3010_Config.ini
not the file of the same name in the PER partition.
The file in PER (of this same name) appears to have the same value (1382) on my tablet in both the above location as well as the file in PER. I don't know if that really means anything though.
I looked through the ASCII strings in the bootloader image (v 4.18) to see if there was any evidence of the bootloader using the file names in the (intact) PER partition. There was no evidence of this happening whatsoever. Does that mean that the bootloader does not read the PER partition? No, but at least there is no direct evidence of that nature that it does. That is certainly hopeful for you.
I dumped my own PER partition to have a look at it. It is definitely FAT32, but probably was not created with a variant of 'mkdosfs' - more likely a BSD tool, as it has a "BSD 4.4" OEM name. I tried to erase/remove files from a copy of my PER image; unfortunately the linux "shred" utility doesn't really do it's job correctly. I failed trying to create an identical (blank) image using 'mkfs.vfat' - I couldn't get the FAT header data identical to the FAT32 headers in the from-the-factory image in the PER partition on my device.
None of this might be important, though. It is possible that the only reason that there is manufacturing data on the tablet is if Asus wanted to look at aging effects for units returned for RMA (or subjected to shake-n-bake testing).
good luck with your tablet - let us know how everything turns out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting stuff, bftb0, as always...
So what, in your opinion, is the worst case scenario?
If the bootloader is still accessible, couldn't the OP just fastboot flash back to stock?
(Assuming a simple reboot doesn't fix it).
Or does this not touch the PER partition? I would have thought that running the flash-all.* script would reset all partitions back to their default values.
I'm probably missing something here, so apologies - just a suggestion.
Rgrds,
Ged.
@GedBlake
The factory install procedure doesn't touch anything but the "usual suspects".
We sort of already know what the worst case is. As to whether to bootloader "needs" the PER partition or not, I don't really know. At this point my bet is that it does not, but that is purely an educated guess.
@MOVZX
I am attaching a "PER-empty.zip" file to this post. It is tiny because it is an almost empty FAT32 filesystem image (PER.img), so it compressed by nearly 100%. (When you unzip it, the "PER.img" image file should be 5,242,880 bytes, or 5120 kB) If you want to, feel free to un-zip it, and then flash the extracted "PER.img" file to the PER partition on your device.
Assuming you are using adb from your PC with the custom recovery still running:
Unzip PER-empty.zip, then
Code:
adb push PER.img /sdcard/PER.img
adb shell dd if=/sdcard/PER.img bs=1024 of=/dev/block/platform/sdhci-tegra.3/by-name/PER
What this will do is install an almost empty FAT32 filesystem which was created with the exact parameters used on my device. (I assume that your device also has a 5120 kB PER partition, but you have not replied.) The almost part is that I truncated every file in my image to zero length.
That's not much, but at least you will have a valid filesystem and most files of the correct name, even if they are zero length.
Note that once you have a filesystem in the PER partition, you are free to mount it using the custom recovery, and do whatever you please, e.g.:
Code:
adb shell mkdir /data/local/tmp/permount
adb shell mount -t vfat /dev/block/mmcblk0p7 /data/local/tmp/permount
adb shell
$ cd /data/local/tmp/permount
... do whatever you want in here...
$ sync
$ exit
adb shell umount /data/local/tmp/permount
adb shell rmdir /data/local/tmp/permount
good luck with your tablet - let us know how everything turns out.
.
I'm using Nexus 7 WiFi 16GB.
I almost have all the required files. The sensors and lightsensor directories were found mounted at /data/sensors and /data/lightsensor, so I copied it.
Here is the content of my sensors & lightsensore files:
lightsensor/AL3010_Config.ini
1476
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sensors/AMI304_Config.ini
921368
2048 2048 2048
0 0 0
600 600 600
210 42 -256
0 0 0
0 0 0
103 100 101
0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sensors/KXTF9_Calibration.ini
1071 -1035 1034 -1030 -1097 1213
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The FAT partitions is now Ok.
Now, I'm missing these files:
adc-rawdata.csv
ISN
KXTF9_Calibration.ini
prom-filter-rawdata.txt
rawdata.csv
rek-prom-rawdata.txt
SSN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having no confidence to reboot this device yet
Hello good peoples of Xda ,
I just purchased a Note 3 verizon I believe 900v on swappa It will arive in the next few day's and I want to get all my ducks in a row by that I mean aquire all the root and unlocking tools nessary for a best practices root and if nessary unlocking of my boot loader.
Goals for root are mostly to debloat the phone and hotspot mod's for no hassle teathering.
I may dip my toes into custom rom for this phone but mostly I am just looking for a clean lean experiance for my note 3. I have been pouring over the many many pages of the various rooting guids and I am just not sure witch method to use is the safest / most reliable .
thank you for your time and helpful suggestions.
This is what I have found so far.
ArabicToolApp : Root for lolipop
Odin3 v3.12.3 : flash tool is this latest ? best to use ?
Samsung usb drivers v1.5.45.0 : are these the proper drivers to install ?
You should start by figuring out which firmware release it has on it.
If it has PL1 (the newest security release, circa 2017/01/15), there will be no rooting for you... unless you manage to create a new exploit.
OB6 and OF1 - (one of) the yemen tool(s)**
NK1 - no root available ( and can't be rolled backwards w/ Odin, only NK1 or higher )
NJ6 - no root available? ( Try towelroot, or you can downgrade to NC4 using Odin )
MI9/MJ7/MJE/NC2(leak)/NC4 - Towelroot v3
For which bootloader unlock binary to use, see here.
Can't help you out with USB drivers, I don't remember what I used. afaik, they will either work 100% or not work at all, so you just need to get something working.
I've never used anything but Odin 3.0.9. Can't tell you if the version you mention is "better".
good luck
** i've never rooted OB6 or OF1, so can't give you any advice about which to use. Feel free to read the related threads. In my (casual) reading of those threads, it is nearly impossible to intuit out why some people have problems and others do not. Mostly because the reporting is not sufficiently detailed.
bftb0 said:
You should start by figuring out which firmware release it has on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, after thinking about my post I realized there were 2 many variables that I need to know before I ask for help. So once I recieve the phone and if it's fully functional I will find out what firmware it has and what the cid it has and will post a follow up if I need help.
P.S thank you for the concise jist of what is and is not possible with the various firmware's.
Recieved my phone.
I got my note 3 and boy is it just a wonderful device. SM-900v running OF1 firmware, and My Cid is 15 so is all good.
procedurs completed.
I got root from useing the yemem tool.
and have tryed some debloating removed the NFL apk as a test with Tit.backup.
dissabled ota updates, I made a copy of the update.zip (that was downloaded with out me asking it too. I assume that this update.zip is the new PL4 firmware )and deleted it. renamed the fota.apk's with a .bak
not really sure if I should unlock the the bootloader I would love to have twerp.
Could anyone point me at a good debloating script ?
LOVE LOVE LOVE my note 3.
I also have a zero lemon battery/case combo on the way.
PL1 not PL4
See here. Might be dated - stuff tends to move around from release to release.
You should probably also freeze SDM.* and SysScope.* (in addition to LocalFOTA)**
There is a small permanent downside to unlocking - the blowing of the Knox Warranty Flag means that you will never be able to use Knox Secure containers, even if you did a full stock flash with Odin. Not sure how important this is to folks using the phone as a personal device (as opposed to a corporate device).
Operating with a rooted-stock device with a locked bootloader usually progresses through a customary arc - especially with new rooters, but also with experienced folks - where the user one day does some incremental mod that boot-loops the Android UI. At that point there is no means to reverse the small change. (You can't get in via "adb" as it's daemon isn't started yet, and even if it were, the fact that it is in secure mode means that you would have to have a stable UI in order to confirm the connection.) As there is no rooted secondary boot available (i.e., a custom recovery), there is no way to perform repairs, and a trip back to Odin is in store for the owner. Worse yet, a backup has never been made... so all customizations are all lost and must be re-created completely from scratch.
** this is a good idea if you unlock and install a custom recovery: (although TWRP may detect it and emasculate it automatically)
Code:
su
chmod 0000 /system/bin/install-recovery.sh
bftb0 said:
PL1 not PL4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right PL1 ok.
Well I decided in for a penney in for a pound and have sucessfully unlocked my boot loader, had no issues.
my question now is how do I install twerp I have downloaded
twerp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4
and twerp 3.0.2-1-hlte.img.tar
I think I need to install the tar file.
but I don't know how. I have odin but not sure if that is the right program to use. I think I read where somone installed twerp with flashify or somthing like that.
What should I do ?
Truck'nfool said:
Right PL1 ok.
Well I decided in for a penney in for a pound and have sucessfully unlocked my boot loader, had no issues.
my question now is how do I install twerp I have downloaded
twerp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4
and twerp 3.0.2-1-hlte.img.tar
I think I need to install the tar file.
but I don't know how. I have odin but not sure if that is the right program to use. I think I read where somone installed twerp with flashify or somthing like that.
What should I do ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
man up and use a root prompt command line. It's a single command.
Code:
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
( assuming that you put the twrp .img file in the /sdcard folder. If it was in the download folder, then if=/sdcard/Download/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img )
Note there are absolutely, positively no spaces anywhere in "mmcblk0p15". Critically important.
The above command writes a raw binary data (the .img file) to the 15th partition of the mmcblk0 device - the flash memory chip. You can do this with boot images (such as custom recoveries) or a few other binary images, but typically not with ext4 or other filesystems.
Note this command could be extremely dangerous if you made a mistake. If you were to write data someplace else it could be a permanent disaster. So cut-n-paste to be safest (without a new-line), and then double- and triple- check the command for typos before you hit the enter key.
FYI, you can see what the partition mapping is by doing a folder listing
Code:
ls -ld /dev/block/platform/*1/by-name/*
The partitioning scheme varies from android device to android device; but on the SM-N900V the recovery partition is the 15th partition. (On other devices it might be something different).
bftb0 said:
man up and use a root prompt command line. It's a single command.
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you talking about adb ?
So somthing like
adb shell
su
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
???
Truck'nfool said:
are you talking about adb ?
So somthing like
adb shell
su
dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p15 if=/sdcard/twrp-3.0.2-0-hltevzw-4.4.img bs=2048
???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That works.
Or a terminal emulator.
All you need is to put the file on your (internal, pseudo-) /sdcard, "su", and "dd".
For extra credit, make sure to compute a file checksum (e.g. "md5sum") every time you copy the original .img file to a new location and especially prior to flashing. That safeguards against a bad copy operation, crappy flash memory, etc.
Stock ROMs might not have a "md5sum" binary in /system/bin, but since you are rooted you could install a private busybox in someplace like /data/local/bin. I prefer to use a busybox which is SELinux-cognizant, e.g. v1.23.1 here as busybox_full_selinux_1.23.1.zip Note that I don't "install" this .zip so that stuff in /system/bin or /system/xbin get overwritten, but instead just keep it in a private area all on it's own.
Steps.
0) extract the "busybox" binary from the .zip file and get a copy to your SD card. Then
Code:
su
mkdir -p /data/local/bin
chmod 755 /data/local/bin
cp /sdcard/busybox /data/local/bin/
chmod 755 /data/local/bin/busybox
cd /data/local/bin
./busybox --install -s /data/local/bin
This allows it to be used as needed in a terminal/console shell.
e.g. using ls
1) Explicitly: /data/local/bin/ls -lZ *
2) Implicitly "as a last resort":
export PATH="${PATH}"':/data/local/bin'
ls -lZ *
3) Implicitly "as preferred":
export PATH='/data/local/bin:'"${PATH}"
ls -lZ *
I am now have root, unlocked bootloader and twrp Whoot!!
Well I now have twrp installed thank you vary much for all your help and direction I sincerly appreciate your assistance.
I installed termux and after updating the packages sucessfully used dd to install twrp.
1st thing I am going to do a full system backup.
No developer love for N900V not good