Related
I have mine rooted, there is something very interesting about the way Samsung did this. This phone has like 20 different partitionssee below, however I think I know how the phone is able to restore root and the recovery after boot. These 20 partitions include copies of each other. For example if you do su on terminal emulator and then you type "cat /proc/partitions" it will list all the partitions. Notice how some partitions have different labels but are the same size. These are the respective back ups(i think). The only partition that I know is "stl9" or "st9" is the system.
I tried flash_image recovery and said it wasn't a recognized partition as the BH2 also does not have mtd. cat /proc/mtd produces nothing. Hope this helps.
Oh 1 last thing it seems I may have found an exploit with the device management.apk. It has the option to run a bootloader/bootstrap test, could this be exploited to install customer recovery? Its just a thought...
Can someone with root, compile busybox for install on the Behold 2. I am sorry I only have Windows 7.
Terminal Output:
See the areas highlighted in BOLD. The G1 has half the number of partitions and mtd has output.
$ export PATH=/data/local/bin:$PATH
$ su
# cat proc/partitions
major minor #blocks name
137 0 513024 bml0/c
137 1 2048 bml1
137 2 512 bml2
137 3 512 bml3
137 4 1024 bml4
137 5 23040 bml5
137 6 6144 bml6
137 7 23040 bml7
137 8 6144 bml8
137 9 226304 bml9
137 10 8192 bml10
137 11 512 bml11
137 12 40960 bml12
137 13 1024 bml13
137 14 173568 bml14
138 9 210432 stl9
138 12 25088 stl12
138 14 157696 stl14
179 0 1982464 mmcblk0
179 1 1982338 mmcblk0p1
#
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung is doing their best to screw us here aren't they?
I have an ubuntu partition, but it will be a bit before I can compile. I'm writing up guides to overhaul the current UI.
having trouble with adb in ubuntu. I'll retry tomorrow, but this could take a while. Probably best for someone else to take this one on.
What's the output for 'mount'?
I posted this on alldroid.org today ,,, samsung seem to have used some of its bada OS and or UI in the behold 2 ,.,,.,. I was wondering if someone could download their SDK and see what they can find out ,.,,., maybe it could help us with ROOT .,.,....,.,
SDK link http://developer.bada.com/apis/docs/commonpage.do?menu=MC01040000&mtb1=&mtb2=
''Re: Important Behold 2 Discovery / 1st step to Custom Roms
They are similar but for that method you need 'new PcStudio', which does not recognize the behold 2,.,..,.,.,
BTW the galaxy (( samsung i7500 )) is almost the same as the behold 2 ,,,, same hardware but the behold 2 has a lot more memory ,.,,..
http://androidforums.com/samsung-i7500/ ... rom-s.html
one interesting thing i did find this weekend while doing some research was that (I think ) samsung has implemented some of its BADA Os on the behold 2 look at the video and let me know what you think
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_finally ... s-1311.php ''''
PS:;: (thanks to yatimameiji) this was just found and hopefully it can help you look in the right place '''''To get the recovery menu ,.,,.,. when you do vol. down+call button+power and the triangle comes up .,. then do home + power ., recovery menu,''''''' I got it up but cant select anything and there's the e:can;t open cache and some others
Finally some posts back. I thought no one was going to respond and I was going to delete this thread. So this is great news that we can now enter recovery mode. Also I know whats plauging the device with the battery issue. It seems the phone is reading the battery as 1440 mah and the battery is tagged 1500mah. This can be confirmed by using BetterCut and adding the shortcut Battery read.
dan0zone said:
I posted this on alldroid.org today ,,, samsung seem to have used some of its bada OS and or UI in the behold 2 ,.,,.,. I was wondering if someone could download their SDK and see what they can find out ,.,,., maybe it could help us with ROOT .,.,....,.,
SDK link http://developer.bada.com/apis/docs/commonpage.do?menu=MC01040000&mtb1=&mtb2=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems so close to the Android Developer Site. Did AOSP give some code to Samsung as a base?
I believe so ,I remember reading that it was going to be like the OPhone project , but samsung wants to use this like they use touchwiz on all their touch screen phones ,.,..,.,
ok so i was playing around with my samsung behold2 today, all i found was recovery mode (voldown+call+power) and fastboot (dpadleft+power). im currently installing the android sdk as we speak, after that will play around with this a bit more.
We had a good look at this over at androidforums (behold and galaxy sub forums).
It seems they are using some secure bootloader, and those other partitions (which almost corespond in size) seem to be the original partition in a security container.
I had assumed that on boot if the main partition is modified it would simply reflash it. However we have now been able to 'persistant root' the phone. (check in the behold section on androidforums). We hijack the playlogo file, and insert the shell commands to execute the exploit executable on every boot. This happens after init.rc so making custom roms is going to be a bit of a headache.
Whats strange tho is why it doesnt recognise the system partition was changed when we mod playlogo. Perhaps it just wipes the bin and xbin directories and reextracts them. That would make life alot easier.
I was going to sell my galaxy and switch to a behold, but I couldnt find one cheap enough. So i've stopped looking at all this now.
Hope that helps anyway.
well we have made some head way ..,,.,., we can now flash between builds for the behold2 via ODIN_flasher . For now we have two builds an older build and the one shipped with the phone .,.,.,. so what i think we need is a way to edit the .tar files within the flasher but keep the partition structure that samsung has in_place .,,,. What i have notice is that if you connect to ddms , and go to the system info tab or allocation tracker , you will see that samsung has renamed every thing as a kernel, even the browser .,.,., if we get our hands on sammy's build environment maybe we can make sense of their madness,.,.,..
Odin isnt actually anything new. We've been using it with the galaxy for a while now.
The phones' bootloader contains a download mode, which also forwards to the AMSS's OEMBL in download mode. Odin simply forwards the files to this bootloader without doing anything clever. This is why you can take ANY update from NPS and apply it using odin as is.
We have tried flashing galaxy partitions onto the behold, but as i said in an earlier post there is a secure bootloader and it simply rejects the images.
I havnt downloaded this H6 leaked behold image, but it probably just contains yafs images, probably in a security container. You could unyaffs them, modify and yaffs them up again. Just modifying them is trivial. I'm pretty sure that the bootloader will just reject any modified images tho. Sorry but I don't think this is going to get you anywhere.
On a security unlocked phone like the galaxy we just edit the system or recovery images and flash them back using Odin. Similarly fastboot can also do it. On the behold however i'm pretty sure it wont accept anything that isnt signed.
The only interesting thing to try would be to try to flash the galaxy bootloader onto the behold using odin. We have both the arm9 and arm11 bootloaders if you'd like to try. This is VERY VERY VERY risky and in all likelyhood will brick your phone. But if it works you should be able to manage partitions simply like with the galaxy.
The very first thing you guys should look at is to compare the system image of the galaxy and the behold. Check if there is a security container around the behold one or not. If there is, attempt to exploit it (change length fields, change offsets, create oversized image - the usual stuff).
I think there are only 2 routes to acheive what you want:
- quick route
Use a userland exploit, like the current root. Then use the persisitant root idea to run a script which modified your filesystem on boot - possibly extracting a custom rom from the sdcard onto the system partition.
- Slow route
Try to find a flaw in the secure bootloader, or some other exploit to allow you to flash a modified bootloader.
You're idea of just editing the firmware files directly is really unlikely to work.
Thanks for your input Kam ..well it just a thought , I knew the signing would of been the issue ( same as with the G1 roms and themes ) .,.,., I know someone will figure it out .,.,.. I would love to help with getting this going , but I work 14 hour days ,., I should get a second behold2 soon so I can use one for testing ,,, well till i brick it .........
I'm gonna browse some of the galaxy forums to see how they doing it ,., I """think""" the galaxy is closer to stock android than the behold2 is .,.
BTW , H6 image you talking about , is that one posted by sammydroid ? because he also has a J6 image , H6 is older .
Yeah thats the one. I have a galaxy, and not a behold so my interest in this is kinda limited. I only really got into it because i was going to switch to the behold.
Personally I think you guys are better off just using the persistant root to modify the OS after boot for now.
Samsung Source Code
Does this help at all?
http://opensource.samsungmobile.com/download/OpenSource/SGH-T939_OpenSource.zip
Appears to be the build source for the existing rom. Don't have access to a *nix box to dig into it right now...
Here's the tutorial to install busybox for behold 2.
http://www.myhangoutonline.com/2010/01/08/install-busybox-on-behold-ii/
kam187 said:
Odin isnt actually anything new. We've been using it with the galaxy for a while now.
The phones' bootloader contains a download mode, which also forwards to the AMSS's OEMBL in download mode. Odin simply forwards the files to this bootloader without doing anything clever. This is why you can take ANY update from NPS and apply it using odin as is.
We have tried flashing galaxy partitions onto the behold, but as i said in an earlier post there is a secure bootloader and it simply rejects the images.
I havnt downloaded this H6 leaked behold image, but it probably just contains yafs images, probably in a security container. You could unyaffs them, modify and yaffs them up again. Just modifying them is trivial. I'm pretty sure that the bootloader will just reject any modified images tho. Sorry but I don't think this is going to get you anywhere.
On a security unlocked phone like the galaxy we just edit the system or recovery images and flash them back using Odin. Similarly fastboot can also do it. On the behold however i'm pretty sure it wont accept anything that isnt signed.
The only interesting thing to try would be to try to flash the galaxy bootloader onto the behold using odin. We have both the arm9 and arm11 bootloaders if you'd like to try. This is VERY VERY VERY risky and in all likelyhood will brick your phone. But if it works you should be able to manage partitions simply like with the galaxy.
The very first thing you guys should look at is to compare the system image of the galaxy and the behold. Check if there is a security container around the behold one or not. If there is, attempt to exploit it (change length fields, change offsets, create oversized image - the usual stuff).
I think there are only 2 routes to acheive what you want:
- quick route
Use a userland exploit, like the current root. Then use the persisitant root idea to run a script which modified your filesystem on boot - possibly extracting a custom rom from the sdcard onto the system partition.
- Slow route
Try to find a flaw in the secure bootloader, or some other exploit to allow you to flash a modified bootloader.
You're idea of just editing the firmware files directly is really unlikely to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a second unit on hand now (for about a week) so bricking isn't a concern and can/will try these options... but need guidance. can jump on irc for assistance... anyone interested? The above seems totally possible.... but out of my league without help.
Thanks to MobileBand we had some succees Managed to get the galaxy system onto the behold. Force close problem at the moment but stay tuned.
PS. its fastttttttttttttttttttt
Let me publicly state that kam187 ROCKS! Kudos on the work last night!
Behold owners; start getting hyped... this is the break we've been looking for!
love the work
love you guys work man i have 140mb free on my behold 2 thats with out task manager its blazin fast but always wanted to do something differnent with it can you pleaseeeeeeeeeeee lol ( : ) : post a rom and turt
I will try to set up a guide to contain all of the information to get the most out of your I9000 Galaxy S. First the fineprint:
I am not responsible for any damage that any of these instructions may inflict to your phone, computer or any other device that is used in the processes described herein. I am also not responsible if you lose your warranty by flashing your phone with unsupported firmware or if any of these instructions brick your phone, if it will rape your wife or if it will eat your liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
I didn't test any of the programs specified herein for viruses/trojans/etc. I run Windows in a VirtualBox that doesn't have access to the internet and doesn't contain any private data, so I don't care for viruses, if you care for your OS though, you should check the programs for viruses before running them.
Use common sense when following such instructions, some of the things may differ because of different program versions, different operating systems or different setups.
Some of these instructions are based on a stock firmware, if your firmware is modded in any way, some of the things described herein may be inappropriate for your device.
1. NOT bricking your phone.
--Why, when, where: Everyone's afraid of bricking their phone. I see the term "bricking" is being a bit overused in these forums though. Everyone is using it, even for the case where the phone can actually be "repaired" with a few simple hacks, IMHO the term "bricking" should only be used in the case where you get your phone in a state where it is inoperable AND you can not in any way repair it yourself.
--Prerequisites: A bit of common sense.
There are a few simple steps that you can follow, to get the risk of "bricking" (as in, you can not repair it yourself and need to somehow get Samsung to either repair it for you, or give you a new device) to a minimum:
1.1. Before trying any of the other steps, make sure that you can get to both the "Recovery mode" and the "Download mode" using the 3-button-combo. If this doesn't work for your device you can try following the steps described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=810686
1.2. Try to avoid flashing stuff that contains a bootloader. The only way to permanently brick your phone so that you can not repair it yourself (at least AFAIK) is to flash a bootloader and then interrupt that flashing. If the bootloader didn't get flashed properly and it's broken, there isn't much you can do about it, and you need to somehow get Samsung to either repair it or give you a new one (if you're lucky). If the bootloader is fine, there is almost always a way to "repair" your phone yourself.
1.3. Do not interrupt the flashing processes. When using Odin or Heimdall to flash stuff to your phone, there is always the risk of bricking it if you interrupt the flashing process. If the bootloader is fine though and you can get into the "Download mode", you might be able to repair it.
If you follow these simple advices, it might save you money, nerves and also some time without your phone (the time that it takes Samsung to repair it, which can sometimes, depending on country, be even a couple of months).
2. Flashing stock firmwares.
--Why, when, where: You should usually do this if your phone doesn't work with your current firmware, if there is a new firmware out that might work better or if you just want to go to a stock firmware.
--Prerequisites: Odin, a stock firmware (from www.samfirmware.com for example).
NOTE: Apparently there are people that report that using Odin v1.3 might interrupt the flashing and leave you with a soft brick and that v1.7 doesn't have this problem. I have always used v1.3 and never had problems because of it, but if v1.3 isn't working for you, you might give v1.7 (or even heimdall) a try before giving up.
The steps to flashing a stock firmware are already described in a couple of other threads, like: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818556
Nonetheless, here a quick sum-up of what you have to do:
2.1. Open up Odin.
2.2. Put your phone in the "Download mode" with the 3-button-combo (Volume Down + Home + Power).
2.3. Connect your phone to your computer (DO NOT CONNECT THE PHONE BEFORE OPENING ODIN OR THIS WILL NOT WORK).
2.4. Odin should recognize your phone and one of the "com" boxes should light up yellow. If this isn't the case, try repeating the previous steps and eventually connect your phone to another USB port.
2.5. Select your firmware in Odin.
2.5.1. --OPTIONAL-- If you want your phone to be like new, you can select "Re-Partition" in Odin, which will make it repartition your Internal SD. In this case you also have to use a .pit file (WARNING -- you will lose all of your installed applications and settings).
2.6. Take a deep breath and click the "Start" button.
2.7. Wait for the firmware to be flashed and for the device to be restarted.
2.8. You now have a stock firmware. If you also selected "Re-Partition" in Odin, all your programs and settings will be gone and your device will be like new.
3. Rooting your phone and flashing a custom Kernel.
--Why, when, where: Rooting your phone will get you super-user permissions to Android (super-user is Linux's equivalent of "Administrator rights" in Windows). This will allow you to execute some programs that need root permissions, access partitions that you otherwise couldn't and do other cool stuff with it.
--Prerequisites: Stock firmware (as most --if not all-- of the custom ROMs or kernels have root permissions already), Odin or Heimdall.
There are many ways to get root permissions on your device, like with special apps (OCLF for example), with CWM (aka ClockWork Mod) or, my preferred method, flashing a kernel that has this built-in. For this example I will use the SpeedMod Kernel, which is my preferred one. If you have another kernel that you like and that has root built-in, you can use that one.
3.1. Download your preferred kernel (the version for Odin, not the one for CWM).
3.2. Open up Odin or Heimdall.
3.3. Put you phone into "Download mode" and connect it to your computer (DO NOT CONNECT THE PHONE BEFORE OPENING ODIN OR THIS WILL NOT WORK).
3.4.1. If you are using Heimdall, unpack your kernel until you end up with a file called zImage. Select that in Heimdall in the box for "Kernel (zImage)" and click Start.
3.4.2. If you are using Odin, select the file you downloaded in the PDA box and click Start.
3.5. After your Phone reboots, go into "Recovery mode" and go to "Advanced Speedmod ULK features" -> "ROOT / Install Superuser".
3.6. After rebooting the phone again, you should have root permissions.
4. Deodexing your apps and framework.
--Why, when, where: The system applications and the framework files on the Android OS are normally 'odex'ed. By deodexing, you will get rid of the .odex files that come with every apk and jar file and you will be able to edit the apks like any other apk. It will also save you a wee bit of space, and make your apps launch a wee bit faster.
--Prerequisites: Stock firmware (as most --if not all-- of the custom ROMs are deodexed already), xUltimate (this is what I found to be the easiest, if you know any software that is better, please let me know), root permissions.
You can download xUltimate from here: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/xeudoxus/47283-release-xultimate.html
There are more ways to deodex your apps, but I found xUltimate to be the easiest.
4.1. First of all, you need to get the files from "/system/app" into the subdirectory "origi_app" and all of the files from "/system/framework" into the subdirectory "origi_frame". Both "origi_app" and "origi_frame" should be in the folder you extracted xUltimate to. If they don't exist, create them yourself. There are actually two ways to get the files there, either with xUltimate itself (options 1 and 2) or by copying them to your SD with "Root Explorer" for example and then copying them from your SD to your computer (or with adb of course).
4.2. Deodex the apps and framework with xUltimate, options 3 and 4.
4.3. After deodexing is finished, the deodexed files will be located in the directories "done_app" and "done_frame" in your xUltimate folder. You have to get these files back to their original directories, in /system/app and /system/framework. Again, there are a couple of ways to do this, either with adb (MOST RECOMMENDED ONE), or with "Root Explorer". For the adb method, you should open a command prompt and execute following code:
Code:
adb shell
su
stop
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
rm /system/app/*.odex
rm /system/framework/*.odex
cp /sdcard/done_app/* /system/app/
cp /sdcard/done_frame/* /system/framework/
mount -o ro,remount /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
reboot
5. Optimizing and zipaligning your apps.
I wasn't yet successful at optimizing or zipaligning. Optimizing (aka Compressing) the apps gave me a lot of FCs, optimizing the framework files gave me bootloops. If anyone has any advice on this, I'd be very thankful.
Also, see post #2
6. Protecting your screen.
--Why, when, where: This is not about protecting your screen from scratches, but rather about protecting it from degradation over time. As you might already know, AMOLED screens are prone to the "burn-in" effect. To elaborate a little: AMOLED uses Organic LEDs to display the amazing graphics you see on your display. These OLEDs are very good at displaying bright, colorful pictures, they have a downside though -- they fade over time. That means, the more a specific OLED is used, the less light it emits. If the whole screen would degrade at the same pace, that wouldn't be such a BIG problem, but the very nature of the OLED screens makes them degrade unevenly. That means the OLEDs that are used more frequently (like clock, phone signal, wifi, notification bar), get dimmer faster and this leads to ugly "shadows" on fullscreen apps. To be able to keep your screen as beautiful as new, I got a couple of tips, so that the display degrades more evenly and you avoid the ugly "shadows".
!! Most users won't even notice these degradations, also they won't be noticeable in 90% of use-cases and they will only appear after longer use (6 months+), but you can still use these tricks if you want your display to be almost as good as new a couple of years from now !!
6.1. Don't set brightness to 100%. At least not all the time. You should best be using a brightness setting that fits your ambient light, or the "Automatic brightness" setting. This will ensure that the OLEDs don't wear out as fast (the brighter you use them, the faster they will degrade).
6.2. Use a grey notification bar. The notification bar is the biggest "static" element on the screen. Most apps that are not fullscreen, will also show the notification bar, and this leads to an uneven degradation in that area if it isn't a neutral color. If you use a white notification bar, the OLEDs there will get dimmer faster and you will get an ugly shadow when using fullscreen apps, if you use a black notification bar, it will not degrade as fast as the rest of the screen and that area will be "brighter" in fullscreen apps, that's why I recommend a medium grey.
6.3. Use as little static elements as possible. If you don't need the clock in the notification bar, get rid of it. Get a theme that uses grey or green icons (see next step why) and try not to leave the phone on over night displaying the same static image.
6.4. Avoid blue. As you can see here for example: http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8057/new1ls.png the blue OLEDs are degrading at a much faster pace than the green or red ones, this is why you should avoid using blue wallpapers or blue themes, they will make your display degrade faster than if you use a green theme and a green wallpaper for example.
These tips won't make your screen live forever, it will degrade too, but by using these tips, at least you can assure that you will have the most of your awesome display even in a year or two from now.
7. Theme-ing your phone.
Coming soon...
8. Unlocking your phone.
--Why, when, where: If you bought your phone with a contract, chances are that it might be locked in that specific network. If you want to also use other SIM cards in it, that are from another provider, you will have to unlock the phone (!! WARNING !! in most cases this will lead to a void warranty, please consult your contract).
--Prerequisites: Root privileges, adb.
8.1. Get the /efs/nv_data.bin file from your device to your computer. You can do this either with adb or by copying the file to your SD card with "Root Explorer" and then copying it over to your machine from the SD (Be sure to keep a backup of this file and the /efs/.nv_data.bin.md5 file.)
8.2. Open up the file in a hex editor, go to the address 0x181468, where you will see something like this:
FF 01 00 00 00 00 46 46 46...
We are interested in that first '01', that means the phone is locked. Just change it to '00' and save the file. Copy it back to your SD card and then with "Root Explorer" back to it's original location (or 'push' it directly with adb). Then remove the .nv_data.bin.md5 file and restart the device (Again, be sure to make copies of these files before modifying or deleting them!). After this, you should be able to insert any SIM card into your device and it should work without the need for any further hacks.
9. Setting up 'adb' on your machine.
--Why, when, where: adb (aka "Android Debug Bridge") is a tool that will let you execute remote commands on your android device. It is useful for debugging, accessing and copying files from/to your device and much more.
--Prerequisites: The android SDK, which you can download from here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html and the USB drivers for your phone, which you can get by either installing Kies or by downloading and installing these drivers: http://www.mediafire.com/?a6ni32dk6nn953b (password is 'ragin' -- I didn't test them, so feedback on these is welcome).
9.1. Unpack the downloaded android-sdk.
9.2. Go to the unpacked directory and launch the SDK Manager.
9.3. Go to "Available packages" -> "Third party Add-ons" -> "Google Inc. add-ons" and tick the box next to "Google Usb Driver package" and the click on the "Install Selected" button. This will download and install the Google USB Drivers.
9.4. Whenever you want to connect to your phone through adb, make sure that you have enabled "USB Debugging" under "Settings" -> "Applications" -> "Development".
9.5. You should now be able to open up a command line ("Start" -> "Run..." -> Type "cmd" and click "OK"), cd to the subfolder "platform-tools" under the folder where you unpacked android-sdk and run "adb" in there.
Take some time to get used with the commands that adb offers, as these will help you to debug problems when you encounter some.
10. Lagfixing
--Why, when, where: It is said that the default filesystem that is being used for the partitions on the SGS (RFS) is having slow read times and thus the programs launch a bit slow, sometimes perceived as "lag". This can be fixed by converting the filesystem on the most used partitions to a more modern filesystem, like the ext filesystem, which not only has a bunch of improvements over such old filesystems like RFS, but also seems to be a bit faster.
--Prerequisites: A kernel that supports lagfix.
10.1. Since every kernel has it's own way of converting your FS, you should best look into the documentation of your kernel on how you can apply a lagfix. Some even apply it automatically for you (as in, "lagfix on" is their default setting).
11. Do NOT overcharge
--Why, when, where: Almost all new batteries have an overcharging protection. This means that the protection that is built into the battery will not let it charge to 100%. This is a feature, not a bug! This will help prolong your battery life while also keeping it safe from overheating/explosion/etc. Do not try to trick it and unplug and plug again until you see 100%, just get used to the fact that you can't have 100% battery anymore and live with it, or you risk destroying your battery.
12. Call recording
--Why, when, where: Most Galaxy S firmwares don't have the ability to record both streams of a call. This is not a bug, it was designed like this because in most countries it is illegal to record someone without their permission. Yes, there are apps that will let you record a call, but without software support, it will record the other end from the microphone, which will result in low quality, but there is a workaround.
This might be illegal in your country! I'm not responsible if you get sued for recording someone without their permission.
--Prerequisites: Root permissions, adb/root explorer, a 2.2.1 firmware.
12.1 Download the attached "CallRecord.zip" and unpack it.
12.2 After unpacking you should have 3 .so files. You need to get these files into your /system/lib folder with either adb or by copying them to the phone and then using "Root Explorer" to copy them to the proper folder.
12.3 Reboot.
12.4 After the phone has rebooted, you can use most apps that are on the market to record calls properly (that means not from the microphone). I use AllCallRecorder because it is simple and does the job. There are also Phone.apk's that have call recording built in, you could also install one of those and record your calls with it.
That is all for now. I will add more information as time goes by and I hope this will become a full guide on how to make the best out of our devices. If you have constructive criticism, questions or any ideas or tips on how to improve this, please let me know. If you don't have anything constructive to add to this thread, please DO NOT post. If my troll alarm goes off, I WILL ignore you.
Thanks goes to:
ragin for the USB drivers.
I have learned most of the stuff I put here from various searches on Google and the xda forums and I may not remember the exact threads I got them from. If you feel I have copied your work without giving you credit, I am very sorry for that. Please let me know via a post or a PM and I will link you in the "Thanks".
I am sorry if my English is bad, it's my third language though. I hope that the post is understandable by most people.
This post will contain instructions for *nix based operating systems
Because I am using Linux myself and because it is much easier to do stuff in the command line on Linux than it is on Windows, I will mostly post instructions for *nix systems. If anyone wants to help out by "translating" them over for Windows machines, I can include it in the next post.
Optimizing and zipaligning
I have managed to Optimize and zipalign the apps in /system/apps with the following code.
You need to run this on a *nix distribution (I used Ubuntu) with at least the following packages installed: bash, zip, unzip, optipng. Put all the .apk files from /system/app in a folder on your machine, cd to that folder and execute this code snippet.
Also, beware that some of the apps might not work (I had for example FCs with the camera and the phone app), I'll try to figure this out and make it pretty much foolproof. Currently everything but the .9.png files are optimized (the .9.png files are some special files that can't be treated like normal png files).
Code:
for apk_file in *.apk; do
file_name=`echo $apk_file | sed -r s/.apk//`
echo -ne "Unpacking\t$file_name.apk... "
mkdir $file_name
unzip -qq $file_name.apk -d $file_name
cd $file_name
echo -ne "Done.\n"
echo -ne "Optimizing\t$file_name.apk... "
for pngfile in $(find . -name '*.png' | fgrep -v .9.png); do
optipng -quiet -o 5 $pngfile
done
echo -ne "Done.\n"
echo -ne "Repacking\t$file_name.apk... "
zip -q -0 -r ../$file_name.apk *
cd ..
rm -rf $file_name
echo -ne "Done.\n"
echo -ne "Zipaligning\t$file_name.apk... "
zipalign -fv 4 $apk_file $apk_file.za
mv $apk_file.za $apk_file
echo -ne "Done.\n"
done
EDIT: I added the -0 flag to the zip command, since you should never "compress" apk files, because this leads to the FCs I was experiencing.
Post also reserved.
Last reserved post. You can start flaming now.
shantzu said:
Last reserved post. You can start flaming now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posted in the wrong place... try reading the faq's about where this belongs.
davidf said:
Posted in the wrong place... try reading the faq's about where this belongs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the rules of the development section state: "Rom Development - only meant for very advanced technical discussion directly related to ROM development activity and the delivery of actual ROMs and ROM components ONLY."
I'd regard this as an "advanced tehnical discussion", since it also contains information on how to deodex and (to come soon) optimize/zipalign your apps, that's why I thought it would belong here. I would also like this to be a place for advanced discussions on best practices on deodexing, theme-ing, and otherwise modifing a stock ROM manually. If the moderators still think that this doesn't belong here, I'm sorry, and would like to ask them to move it to the proper Forum.
Sticky Material.
Don't you think your Title is misnamed? The thread contains much more than just a guide getting most out of our SGS.
Very good effort anyway.
ragin said:
Sticky Material.
Don't you think your Title is misnamed? The thread contains much more than just a guide getting most out of our SGS.
Very good effort anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I didn't know what else to name it, and didn't want to use a really long name. I think this title best describes what it's about...
Thank you for your reply!
very good post. It'll be extremely helpful for new users i reckon.
question
can this method be used on almost any samsung galaxy? (i have galaxy 551)
and about deodexing...is xUltimate a general app for any Android phone or only for SGS ?
Awesome stuff thanks for this cleared up a few things
waveboy2u said:
can this method be used on almost any samsung galaxy? (i have galaxy 551)
and about deodexing...is xUltimate a general app for any Android phone or only for SGS ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the program seems to be posted in the "Motorolla Droid" forum, so I don't think it was even intended for the Galaxy S. If I were to guess, I'd say it might work on any Android device. Just be sure to make a backup in case anything goes wrong.
Thanks alot! Never knew the degrades display.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Shantzu, first, thank you very much for this valuable contribution!
While I agree that it is related to "highly technical discussion", it's not directly connected to ROM cooking/development. In fact, this is the kind of thing that people should read before they start mucking about in the dev section
I've gone ahead and moved it to the general section and made it a sticky topic for now. However, those are starting to pile up in this section, so we'll likely roll up several useful threads like this one into one unified reference sticky here soon.
sirphunkee said:
Shantzu, first, thank you very much for this valuable contribution!
While I agree that it is related to "highly technical discussion", it's not directly connected to ROM cooking/development. In fact, this is the kind of thing that people should read before they start mucking about in the dev section
I've gone ahead and moved it to the general section and made it a sticky topic for now. However, those are starting to pile up in this section, so we'll likely roll up several useful threads like this one into one unified reference sticky here soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking about this guide as some kind of "cook your own ROM directly on the device", that's why I was also including tips on how to deodex the apps and I'd also like to include tips on how to set up themes (not install third party themes, but rather explain where each icon can be found and how it can be modified) and other mods. Anyway, if you think it better fits in the General section, I'm fine with that, as you can see I'm pretty new in these forums and not that experienced (for example I have also seen a guide on how to manually unlock the phone that was stickied on the Developers section).
Anyway, sorry again for the trouble and thanks for clearing it up!
Very good post. Thank you!!
Very good work. One thing i noticed though: you use ext fs for the system rw remount. This i think will only work for ext converted system partitions not the original rfs system.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
liraindon said:
Very good work. One thing i noticed though: you use ext fs for the system rw remount. This i think will only work for ext converted system partitions not the original rfs system.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it normally shouldn't work, but it actually does. I don't have any lagfix applied and it works just fine. I will try and see though if I can come up with a more general command that 100% works in all cases.
EDIT: ok, not specifying any filesystem at all works too. I will have to see if this also works with a lagfix enabled, but I guess there shouldn't be any problems.
Thanks for your comment!
whoa didnt know about degradation... thanks!
nice
very good write up.. +1
I know there is a thread about this somewhere in development (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1026669), but I'm not allowed to post there as this is my first post.
I thought it may be useful for a post about how to get this going, specifically on the galaxy s2.
All you have to do is make one edit to the build.prop
Your build.prop should have one entry:
ro.build.model=GT-I9100
You just need to change it to read ro.build.model=Nexus S , then reboot and it should work fine. I have had no problems.
The only issue I have had so far is that it stuffs up swype completely.
So, hopefully this post helps some people, but my question is (and I assume this is very simple, but im pretty new to learning android): is there a way to write a program (or zip for for flashing with clockwork mod) that will automatically switch the two build.props and reload?
*If you do not want to read the whole case,scroll down for a TL;DR*
Hello,so I have heard that android M 6.0.1 has different bunch of new features including multiwindow.That was pretty cool and I checked on my phone if it was there but it was not.Then after some researching I found out that you have to edit the build.prop and change the 'user' to 'userdebug'.Since I have average knowledge on rooting as I have done it on other phones I know that editing system files can't be done without rooting or something like that.The second way was using ADB and I learnt some things about ADB,watched some vids and tried it with no success because even after getting all the drivers working ADB either it does'nt recognise my phone or it doesn't load TWRP at all and just hangs on waiting for phone(or some message like this can't remember at the moment,may confirm later).I also heard that samsung phones use some fastboot thing which I have no clue about.So can anybody tell me a way to pull the build.prop from my J5(6) using an other way which doesn't require root or help me make the ADB method work?If you want more information or something else feel free to ask.
TL;DR:I want multiwindow to work on my J5(6).It can be done by editing the build.prop 'user' line but i do not want to root my phone as its still in warranty.I failed at ADB method so im asking you for help to either show me full ADB steps to edit the build.prop or tell me another way.Thanks in advance.
then use an app, search for them in play store, there is a lot of them
DontTouchMaPhone said:
*If you do not want to read the whole case,scroll down for a TL;DR*
Hello,so I have heard that android M 6.0.1 has different bunch of new features including multiwindow.That was pretty cool and I checked on my phone if it was there but it was not.Then after some researching I found out that you have to edit the build.prop and change the 'user' to 'userdebug'.Since I have average knowledge on rooting as I have done it on other phones I know that editing system files can't be done without rooting or something like that.The second way was using ADB and I learnt some things about ADB,watched some vids and tried it with no success because even after getting all the drivers working ADB either it does'nt recognise my phone or it doesn't load TWRP at all and just hangs on waiting for phone(or some message like this can't remember at the moment,may confirm later).I also heard that samsung phones use some fastboot thing which I have no clue about.So can anybody tell me a way to pull the build.prop from my J5(6) using an other way which doesn't require root or help me make the ADB method work?If you want more information or something else feel free to ask.
TL;DR:I want multiwindow to work on my J5(6).It can be done by editing the build.prop 'user' line but i do not want to root my phone as its still in warranty.I failed at ADB method so im asking you for help to either show me full ADB steps to edit the build.prop or tell me another way.Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just root it, in my case 24months from the store, as no Samsung Service here, they will fix my device Knox tripped or not...
Wizardlysense said:
just root it, in my case 24months from the store, as no Samsung Service here, they will fix my device Knox tripped or not...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah,looking forward to rooting but anyway thanks for your help.
Delete... Now obsolete on current OS
Hello.
I have a Fire TV Stick Lite running 7.2.2.8.
Gone through the post and applied the "Debloat the Lite of Unnecessary Sh*te", installed all the apks. I went with Wolf 0.1.7 as the launcher.
When running FTVLaunchX I had to run the below two lines first and then perform the permissions.
settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services de.codefaktor.ftvlaunchx/de.codefaktor.ftvlaunchx.HomeService
settings put secure accessibility_enabled 1
The original Amazon launcher still loads first and then Wolf kicks in. I can still access the Amazon launcher by pressing the home key. Also there doesn't seem to be that much change on the main Amazon launcher if any at all.
Am I missing something? Or was I expecting too much?
***** UPDATE
I have tried "Launcher Manager (FireOS 6 & 7)_1.0.2" instead of LaunchX and this seems to work fine for me. Boots straight into Wolf and the Home button also links to Wolf.
Thanks
Deleted Thread, Obsolete tutorial
I now have it running like a dream with Wolf 0.1.7, looks really nice just how I would want it from stock. Thanks for your help.
Delete Thread.... OBSOLETE TUTORIAL ( No good to anyone now running latest firmwares)
Hello.
After the full debloat I noticed that I wasn't able to connect to the fire stick from my phone with app like you tube and prime video. The phone was just hanging on "connecting to fire stick" when clicking on the "cast" button. After a few attempts I found out that the service "com.amazon.avod" was responsable for making the connection possible from phone. When I enabled it back it started working as normal.
OBSOLETE TUTORIAL FOR FIRESTICK SHELDON. MODS/ADMIN PLEASE DELETE THIS THREAD.. THANKS
Still running a version of 7228 but this must have been patched now, just get loads of Java exceptions when trying to do anything
brezzz said:
Still running a version of 7228 but this must have been patched now, just get loads of Java exceptions when trying to do anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should be working fine ... If you're using remote adb shell try pasting in smaller groups of the disable commands.
I noticed it tends to produce errors and crashes the remote adb app when pasting large clusters or the whole list of commands.
I just used it today on a Lite edition Firestick 2020 running 7.2.2.8 new UI.
I kanged @0815hoffi hardwork as some people I know were asking for a debloat AND Custom Launcher guide.... I just copied and pasted hoffis scripts minus the (adb shell part)
E.G "pm disable-user --user 0 *****"
Regards
Edit : OP updated...double tested again on two different models Lite and Newer FTVS-2021
Anything like this for the latest OS?
Bertonumber1 said:
Delete Thread.... OBSOLETE TUTORIAL ( No good to anyone now running latest firmwares)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well you usually don't delete something ! you can just ADD a note " with latest firmware is not working " .. by doing what you did " obsolete .. " " delete " .. you just created more confusion !
EVERYTHING become obsolete.. if you are worried about it just add a note
simika said:
well you usually don't delete something ! you can just ADD a note " with latest firmware is not working " .. by doing what you did " obsolete .. " " delete " .. you just created more confusion !
EVERYTHING become obsolete.. if you are worried about it just add a note
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that i need to explain myself however i will in this case.
Firstly, due to the amount of people notifying me this was not working on newer fota update i had no choice but to remove it and prevent error.
Secondly, i wrote the post and decided it was best to delete it for the time being because... It was my post.
And finally.. The adb commands given in the first post do not work on any newer ota past 7.2.2.8 due to amazon telemetry within the ui/ launcher... so... until i have time to add my new tutorial for debloating/launcher replacement the post remains as is to prevent user error and screwed devices.
"simply adding a note" is a dumb idea as people being people would still attempt the commands on newer fireos... And who gets the stick for that when it goes wrong? Not you... Me.
Regards
Bertonumber1 said:
Not that i need to explain myself however i will in this case.
Firstly, due to the amount of people notifying me this was not working on newer fota update i had no choice but to remove it and prevent error.
Secondly, i wrote the post and decided it was best to delete it for the time being because... It was my post.
And finally.. The adb commands given in the first post do not work on any newer ota past 7.2.2.8 due to amazon telemetry within the ui/ launcher... so... until i have time to add my new tutorial for debloating/launcher replacement the post remains as is to prevent user error and screwed devices.
"simply adding a note" is a dumb idea as people being people would still attempt the commands on newer fireos... And who gets the stick for that when it goes wrong? Not you... Me.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for sure you got your reason ( unless you would have gone out of your mind lol )
i'm just saying that is better to edit the original post and write NOT WORKIN ON LATEST FIRMWARE ( or after 7.2.2.8) than if people are not able to read the post well they should learn !