[GUIDE] Customizing ROMs for your needs. - Eee Pad Transformer General
At the request of others, I have decided to write this guide pertaining to ROM customization. I found that in most of the current custom Jelly Bean ROMs for the TF101, that the GPS configuration has been changed, at least compared to the stock Asus ICS ROMs for the TF101 and the stock Asus Jelly Bean ROM for the TF300T, and they are using modified user / group and permissions settings. They all say that it is because those items have changed in Jelly Bean. They are also using a custom /etc/gps.conf file. The problem is that I, along with several others, aren't seeing very good GPS response and some claim not to see any. The ones that do see something, see that the first initialization takes forever and then is likely to not hold a fix, only seeing a few satellites. I made some changes in the ramdisk and /etc/gps.conf file and tested with a few of the Jelly Bean ROMs for the TF101 and found that settings matching the stock Asus settings performed quite well and was asked to share the process that I used. While it would be easier probably to just post the modded kernels for others to reflash, I'll give it a go at explaining what I've done.
1) This guide will require either a working native Linux install or can probably be used with a virtual machine Linux install. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04-x86_64 LTS as Ubuntu is usually used in most of the guides I've found. You may be able to make things work with other Linux flavors, but YMMV. I'm going to assume, at least, a basic knowledge of Linux file systems and the ability to copy and paste to a terminal and follow instructions.
2) You may need to install the Android SDK and at least one platform in order to get a working "adb" command, which will be needed. You may be able to get the "adb" binary from other sources that will work and "adb" will require some setup in udev rules to allow your normal user to access the tab with it. I'm going to assume that you have all of these things in place and working and that "adb" is in your path. If not, then Google is your friend.
3) For good measure, it would help and definitely won't hurt anything to have some build environment files in place. In a terminal, copy and paste the following:
Code:
sudo apt-get install git-core gnupg flex bison gperf build-essential zip curl libc6-dev libncurses5-dev:i386 x11proto-core-dev libx11-dev:i386 libreadline6-dev:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libgl1-mesa-dev g++-multilib mingw32 openjdk-6-jdk tofrodos python-markdown libxml2-utils xsltproc zlib1g-dev:i386
Let that install and when it is finished, copy and paste the following:
Code:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so.1 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libGL.so
4) Now we need to grab dsixda's Android Kitchen, which is where some of the magic can happen. Go here to read up on how to use it and to find the download link. While the TF101 isn't specifically supported, there are a lot of things that we can still use it for. Just don't try to build a ROM and flash it with this before you have read dsixda's thread thoroughly or you may wind up with a brick. I'm only going to describe things that I've done and tested and that I know will work. For ease of this guide, I'm going to assume that you read the instructions there and that you unzip the downloaded file to "/home/'yourname'/android/kitchen/".
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246
5) Now we need to build the blob tools used to pack and unpack the .blob files. Here we will download the source code for these tools and build them on the local machine. Go here:
https://github.com/AndroidRoot/BlobTools
6) Download the .zip file and extract to "/home/'yourname'/blob_tools/", where 'yourname' is your home directory name. Then, in a terminal, type "cd ~/blob_tools", without the quotes. Then type "make". When this is finished, type "mkdir ~/bin", if it doesn't already exist, and then type "cp ./blobpack ~/bin/;cp ./blobunpack ~/bin/". Now we need to make sure that "~/bin/" is in our PATH. Type "cat ~/.profile" and make sure that there are lines matching the below there:
Code:
# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
If not, use an editor like gedit, to add them just before the last line which should say "fi". For basic instructions on the blob tools, see here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068548
That should be all for the tools and setup. Now reboot your PC to Linux, for good measure.
I'm going to use as an example, the changes I made for the GPS permissions and settings. Anything else will be up to your own personal study and research and experimentation. I assume no responsibility if you do something mentioned here or not or if you should brick your device.
1) Download the CWM flashable custom ROM of your choice. I'm not going to deal with Asus stock ROMs here because there are extra steps to do to look into those completely. Extract the ROM to a directory under your home directory. You will have to create it, such as "Team_EOS3" or whatever. I'm going to use the graphical file manager Nautilus and the graphical text editor gedit to work with files and directories and to edit files. When using Nautilus be sure to go to the "View" menu and select "Show hidden files". Some work will also be done in a terminal. I use Gnome terminal.
2) For example, I have a folder "K900_AOKP_JB", where I extracted K900's ROM. So if I look at that in Nautilus, I see 2 folders, "META-INF' and "system" and 2 files, "boot.blob" and "boot.img". Most of the custom roms will not have the boot.img file, only the *.blob file. The blob file and the boot.img file should be the same thing. Each contains the compressed kernel image and the initial ramdisk.
3) From a terminal, type, for example, "cd ~/K900_AOKP_JB". Then type, "blobunpack ./boot.blob", substituting the appropriate names for your particular files. In Nautilus, you will see that 1 more file was created, in my case, "boot.blob.LNX". Right click and copy this file to your Kitchen WORKING_DIRECTORY which you should have created from following the kitchen instructions. For me it is "~/android/kitchen /WORKING_091312_142859/", where "~" is shorthand for "/home/'yourname'", i.e. your personal home directory. Right click and delete or move to trash the boot.img file that is there already. Right click the file you just copied, i.e. "boot.blob.LNX" and rename it to "boot.img". Upper and lower case matters, so pay attention.
4) From a terminal, type "cd ~/android/kitchen". Then type "./menu". Choose option "0", then choose option "20", then choose option "w". Follow any instructions that come up. These actions will create a new directory, "~/android/kitchen/BOOT-EXTRACTED/", which is where the kitchen just extracted your renamed blob file (boot.img). Inside, you will see a "boot.img-ramdisk" folder, which contains the ramdisk files and a "zImage" file, which is the compressed kernel.
5) Inside the ramdisk folder, we are going to edit only the "init.ventana.rc" file to change some GPS settings. Open the file with gedit and scroll down to the #GPS section. Change it to read the following:
Code:
# GPS
mkdir /data/gps
chown system system /data/gps
chmod 770 /data/gps
chown root system /dev/ttyHS1
chmod 0664 /dev/ttyHS1
Scroll down to the #GPS init section and change it to read the following:
Code:
# GPS init
write /sys/class/gpio/export 203
write /sys/class/gpio/gpio203/value 0
write /sys/class/gpio/gpio203/direction out
chown root system /sys/class/gpio/gpio203/value
chmod 0664 /sys/class/gpio/gpio203/value
Scroll down to the # Start GPS daemon section and change it to read the following:
Code:
# Start GPS daemon
on boot
service gps-daemon /system/bin/glgps -c /system/etc/gps/gpsconfig.xml
user root
group root
class late_start
Save the file. Right click and delete "init.ventana.rc~", which will only show up if you selected to "Show hidden files" in the "View" menu. In Nautilus move back to your kitchen WORKING directory.
6) In the terminal that should still be running the kitchen menu, choose option "b" to rebuild the boot.img. You can now exit out of the kitchen menu. Back in Nautilus, right click and rename the "boot.img" file to "boot.blob.LNX" or whatever your original extracted blob file was called. Right click and copy to the folder where your ROM was extracted. Choose to replace the original file if asked.
7) In a terminal, type "cd ~/K900_AOKP_JB", substituting "K900_AOKP_JB" with whatever your extracted ROM folder is called. Then type "blobpack ./boot.blob LNX ./boot.blob.LNX", substituting your file names for "boot.blob" and "boot.blob.LNX".
8) In Nautilus, in the folder where your ROM was extracted, double click the "system" folder, then double click the "etc" folder. Then double click the "gps.conf" file. It should open up in gedit, if you were using that before, if not then choose to display it. Change it's contents to read the following:
Code:
#
# IMPORTANT:
# this file is only used by NetworkTimeUpdateService.java
# DO NOT make any GPS related settings here.
#
NTP_SERVER=xtra1.gpsonextra.net
Save and close the "gps.conf" file.
9) In Nautilus, in the folder where your ROM was extracted, left click on the "META-INF", "system" folders and the *.blob and boot.img file, if present, while holding down CTRL key, to highlight all 3 or 4 items. Right click on 1 of the highlighted items and choose "Compress". Rename the file if desired, especially if you have the original zip in that folder by the same name and want to preserve it, and then click "Create". The new zip file, with your custom name, will be created in the same folder after a few seconds. In my case, I chose to name it "K900_AOKP_JB-test.zip".
10) You now have created your own customized version of someone else's ROM, modified for your needs or experimentation. Now it's time to push it to your device. You can use Dropbox, if desired to do this, but the easier way is to use adb. I'm going to assume that you have a working Custom Recovery, preferably one that can read both internal sdcard and external MicroSD and that you have adb setup and working.
11) Plug your charging cable into the computer first and then plug the other end into the TF101.
12) In a terminal, type "cd ~/K900_AOKP_JB", substituting "K900_AOKP_JB" with the folder name where you extracted your ROM and where the new zip file resides. Type "adb devices" and after a second or two, you should see something similar to the following:
Code:
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
03806245421f9417 device
If you get something looking like that, then adb is working.
13) In the same terminal, type "ls", which will list all the files and folders in your extracted ROM directory (or whatever your current directory is). If your recovery can read only the internal sdcard or both, then you can type "adb push ./K900_AOKP_JB-test.zip /sdcard/Download/", substituting "K900_AOKP_JB-test.zip" with whatever you named your zip file. After a few minutes you should get a confirmation that the transfer completed and can verify that it did with a file manager on the device.
14) If your recovery only reads from the external MicroSD card, then type "adb shell", then type "ls". You will get a list of all files and folders in the root directory of your device's file system. If you are running ICS or older, then you should see a "Removable" directory. If you are running one of the custom JB ROMs, then you may not have the "Removable" folder, but most likely a "storage" folder. For ICS or older, your external MicroSD should be located at "/Removable/MicroSD/". In the latter case, it should be located at "/storage/sdcard1/". In any case, once you have verified where the external card is mounted, then type "exit". Now type either "adb push ./K900_AOKP_JB-test.zip /Removable/MicroSD/" or "adb push ./K900_AOKP_JB-test.zip /storage/sdcard1/", depending on your results from adb shell. After a few minutes you should get a confirmation that the transfer completed and your new zip should now be on the root directory of your external MicroSD card.
15) Now you should be able to reboot to your recovery and flash the zip you created just like you would flash any ROM. Reboot and enjoy, from this example, working as intended GPS.
Related
Android img files
Okay I know this is a very noob question, how do I open android .img files And I have run a number of different search queries and still haven't found the answer.
jimmydafish said: Okay I know this is a very noob question, how do I open android .img files And I have run a number of different search queries and still haven't found the answer. Click to expand... Click to collapse what do you want to do with the img? dump it or just flash it?
if you got some kind of linux distro installed, just go (in terminal) to the dir where the image file is located, and type "file filename.img" if it returns something like ext2 filesystem, simply do: mount -o loop filename.img /mnt and the file will be mounted on /mnt, so you can access it using cd /mnt if it returns something like VMS Alpha executable, you will have to download unyaffs, and if you want to repackage it later on, mkfs.yaffs2, to get the file's content, just run unyaffs filename.img, and you will have the file content right in the folder with the img file... if you don't have a linux distro installed, you can simply get virtualbox, and download the latest ubuntu iso file... mount the file in virtualbox and install ubuntu (it's quite easy)... oh and incase you need them some basic commands: Code: ls - lists current folder content cd folder - allows you to switch to a specific folder, like if you type ls, and you get the folder android listed just type cd android... if you want to go back to your home folder, type ~/... sudo command - allows you to run specific commands as superuser (root... you can also just switch to user root by typing sudo su, so you won't need sudo every single time) rm file / rm -R folder/file - allows you to remove files and with the parameter -R also folders ;) hope this helped
emulator What if i want to use the .imgs in the emulator/AVD? Any tips? Thanks.
tdh_andy said: What if i want to use the .imgs in the emulator/AVD? Any tips? Thanks. Click to expand... Click to collapse use mkfs.yaffs2.
[Linux] Copy files to your phone via an adb GUI.
I just thought I'd throw this script up here in case any Linux users want something to play with. I use it for copying nightly ROMs to my phone for flashing. It simply gives a file selection dialog, allows the user to select files, and copies them via adb to a specified directory on the phone. There's really not much to it, but it can be edited to point to any directory (I use /sdcard/Android-updates on my phone because it shows up at the top when I want to flash.) Prerequisites: Linux distro with gtk/gnome installed. Zenity installed. Working adb with normal-user privileges. Just re-name the file, changing the extension to ".sh" and in the right-click "properties" dialog, change the permissions to make it executable.
[tutorial](under construction)rooting/flashing/recovery on linux[tutorial]
PLEASE SUGGEST IMPROVEMENTS TO INCREASE READABILITY AND CLARITY TO THIS TUTORIAL
Hi guys how are we all doing? This is my first guide so don't bite. I was seriously impressed with the level of support for Linux, I was able to completely sort my phone out in a few hours using Linux. Just a few things before we start this tutorial:
1.) This is a guide for rooting your phone, flashing a recovery and flashing EXISTENZ ROM. All in Linux. It does not include unlocking your bootloader although I'm sure you could achieve this very easily
2.) This is involve using the terminal to install FlashTool, DoomLords Root, and flashing recovery.
3.) If you can use Terminal and are familiar with file structures you're in a very good place.
4.) I use Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. It is a Ubuntu variant. You should be able to do 99% with the commands I give you... otherwise you might have to tweak it very slightly.
STEP ONE: INSTALL FLASHTOOL
To install FlashTool we will do the following:
We will download FlashTool
We will move the files to a more sensible directory (where all the other programs are)
We will create a menu shortcut that requests root access.
We will install libusb via synaptic package manager which FlashTool requires.
Step 1.) Ok, so, download FlashTool from here: http://www.flashtool.net/download.php
Step 2.) Choose the Linux download and just place it on your desktop for simplicity. Have a clean Desktop for simplicity (i.e.) Have only the folders you need for this tutorial.
Step 3.) Unzip the folder and you should get another folder called "FlashTool" on your desktop. Delete the zip file
Step 4.) It might be worthwhile just checking if FlashTool works. So fire up the good old Terminal and type in:
Step 4.1)
Code:
cd Desktop/FlashTool
This puts us in the FlashTool folder in Terminal. Here's a hint, you don't need to fill out every letter in the commands. If you type in "cd Des" and then hit [TAB] then terminal will fill out the rest of the name for you ("Desktop"). Similarly if you type in "cd Desktop/Flas" and then hit [TAB] then terminal will fill out the rest of the name for you ("FlashTool").
Step 4.2) You can check the contents of a directory if you type in
Code:
ls -l
.
This will list every file and folder in the directory you are currently in. So it should produce a list that includes FlashTool, FlashToolConsole, firmwares etc etc. If it doesn't you are in the wrong directory. In addition to listing the files and folders it should give extra information. Look for the line that has "FlashTool" on it. On the left hand side of that line it should have something similar to -rw-r--r--. These are the permissions. We need to change this so do this:
Step 4.3) Type into the terminal
Code:
chmod ugo+x FlashTool
This will change the permissions of the file. "chmod" means "change mode", "u" means user, "g" means "group" and "o" means other. "+x" means add executable file permissions to this file.
Step 4.4) Type in
Code:
ls -l
once again. You should see that now the permissions for the file "FlashTool" has changed. Now we need to run flash tool:
Step 4.5) Type this into terminal:
Code:
su
**ENTER YOUR OWN PASSWORD**
./FlashTool
You should see the FlashTool GUI up and running.
At this point it would be a good idea to put the things you need to Flash via FlashTool in the "firmwares" folder.
So download these:
C6603_10.3.1.A.2.67_Generic UK.ftf from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z/general/stock-rom-xperia-z-c6603-10-3-1-2-67-t2512422
XperiaZ_C660X_KernelOnly_10.3.A.0.423_Generic_NL.ftf from here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5TbYyrM0V0POTE3bk9RS29pV1E/edit
XperiaZ_C660X_KernelOnly_10.3.1.A.2.67.ftf from here: http://d-h.st/LVH
C6603_10.4.1.B.0.101_Stripped.ftf from here: http://nut.xperia-files.com/
Put them in the "firmwares" folder within "FlashTool"
Make sure they all end in .ftf, if they do not you probably need to unzip them
Ok so we should have everything we need for FlashTool. Now we need to move it into a more sensible folder.
Step 5.) Close the terminal down by typing in "exit" twice. Open up a new terminal. Move to the directory Desktop by typing into the terminal:
Code:
cd Desktop/
Now we need to move the folder to a part of the file system that needs root permissions:
Code:
su
**YOUR PASSWORD**
mv FlashTool /usr/lib/
This will mv (MOVE) the FlashTool folder into the /usr/lib/ directory.
If you want to check if it moved just open up your explorer and navigate to /usr/lib/ and you can see that the FlashTool folder will be there.
Now we should create a start menu icon.
Step 6.) I have the Cinnamon desktop. These steps should be ROUGHLY similar. Be creative. Try different things.
For Cinnamon to create a start menu icon I need to "RIGHT-CLICK" on the Start Menu, then go to "CONFIGURE" and then "OPEN THE MENU EDITOR" and then click "PROGRAMMING" in the LEFT COLUMN. After this click "NEW ITEM"
In "Name:" type in "FlashTool" (It doesn't actually matter what you put it)
In "Command:" type in "/usr/bin/gksudo /usr/lib/FlashTool/FlashTool"
Make sure it works. Close the menu editor and launch FlashTool from the menu to see if the GUI boots up.
I'm guessing many people don't have Linux Mint, you'll need to adapt your approach if you want a start menu entry (if you're using a different desktop environment).
Step 7.) Open up Synaptic Package Manager from your Start Menu and type into "Quick Filter": "libusb-1.0" and ensure there's a green box beside "libusb-1.0-0:i386" and "libusb-1.0-0". If they aren't just click the little box next to them, click on "Mark for installation" and hit "Apply" and away you go!
You now have FlashTool installed. Congratulations.
Now we need to flash "C6603_10.3.1.A.2.67_Generic UK" ROM so we can then root it and install a recovery.
Step 8.) Fire up FlashTool. Enter your password. If it doesn't ask for password, the program will boot but flashing will fail
Press the lightning icon. Choose Fashmode. Choose 10.3.1.A.2.67 Generic UK. It will ask you to put the device into flashmode (Turn your device off, hold down volume DOWN and insert USB) and then it'll flash that ROM and do it's thing.
At the end of all that you should have C6603_10.3.1.A.2.67_Generic UK ROM on your phone.
The next step is to ROOT this. For the rooting process your phone needs to be ON. Enable developer options (Settings->about phone-> hit "Build Number" until it says "You are now a developer" press back and then go to Developer Options and check "USB debugging". Go back one more time and go into "Security" and check "Unknown Sources" **Have these are your "default settings" i.e. make sure you have these on all the time**
Download DoomLords root method from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z/development/root-how-to-rooting-firmware-10-3-1-0-t2386405
We need to flash a different kernel temporarily. So open FlashTool again and flash XperiaZ_C660X_KernelOnly_10.3.A.0.423_Generic_NL the exact same way you flashed the Generic UK ROM. Enable Unknown sources and USB debugging if you need to.
Just place the file on your desktop and unzip it. Delete the zip file. Keep the unzipped folder. You should get a folder with:
files
runme_linux.sh
runme_mac.sh
runme_win.bat
etc, etc.
Just remove the mac and windows files. We don't need them. Keep the "files" folder.
Remember you can use [TAB] complete. If you type "DooM" and then [tab] it should fill out the rest of the folder name for you.
Open up a new Terminal and put in these commands:
Code:
cd Desktop/DooMLoRD_Easy-Rooting-Toolkit_v18_perf-event-exploit
chmod ugo+x runme_linux.sh
./runme_linux.sh
and it'll do it's thing and root your phone!
Check this by seeing if "SU" app exists on your phone.
Turn your phone off. Flash "XperiaZ_C660X_KernelOnly_10.3.1.A.2.67.ftf" via FlashTool.
Now we have a rooted firmware!
Step 9.) Install recovery
Download NUT's dual recovery from here: http://www.fun-industries.nl/xda/do...kZHVhbHJlY292ZXJ5Mi41LjEtUkVMRUFTRS53aW5kb3dz
Put it on your Desktop and unzip it. You should get a folder called "lockeddualrecovery"
Open a new terminal and cd to the directory:
Code:
cd Desktop/lockeddualrecovery/
chmod ugo+x supersu.sh
./supersu.sh
It will do it's thing and install the recovery into your phone. Once it's done make sure it exists by turning it off and repeatedly tapping VOLUME UP. It should boot into CWM.
FINAL STEP: INSTALLING EXISTENZ
DO NOT UNZIP THESE FILES
Download the black version here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z/development/rom-existenz-v5-black-edition-10-4-b-0-t2251512
Download the white version here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xperia-z/development/rom-existenz-v5-0-0-ultra-edition-10-4-t2349656
Make sure you download SuperSU fix also.
Make sure all the terminal windows are gone. All you need to do is connect your phone to your computer and copy the above files to the phone. After they have copied:
Boot into CWM (Turn the phone off, turn it back on and press VOLUME UP repeatedly)
Go to Install ZIP (or something to that effect)
Select the ROM ZIP file and flash it.
After it's finished flash SuperSU fix.zip
Almost done. The ROM won't boot until you've 10.4.1.B.0.101 kernel. So make sure the phone is off. Open FlashTool and flash C6603_10.4.1.B.0.101_Stripped.ftf the same way as before.
Once it's finished turn your phone on and YOU HAVE EXISTENZ ROM!!!
One small addendum. For me my SuperSU was broken. If this is the case for you all you need to do is boot into recovery and select SuperSU fix, CWM will do it's thing and once it's done just turn your phone on and download SuperSU from the market place.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Considerations:
1.) It's not necessary to flash "C6603_10.3.1.A.2.67_Generic UK.ftf" the aim here is to root the phone. You can use an older firmware version and root that using this method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2327472
This avoids the need to flash a different kernel and then re-flashing the "C6603_10.3.1.A.2.67_Generic UK.ftf" kernel potentially saving YOU a lot of time.
2.) When using chmod it should be enough for you to type in "chmod u+x <filename>" the reason why I have changed the permissions of "group" and "other" is just to ensure that it works.
3.) There is a way to copy folder into the restricted /usr/lib folder. In terminal if you type in "gksudo nautilus" it will bring up a file manager GUI with root permissions that will allow you do drag and drop these folders.
4.) It's not necessary to move FlashTool into this folder. The reason why I have done it was to keep an organised filesystem. You can leave it on desktop and change the file paths appropriately.
5.) After you have rooted your phone. It may not be necessary to reflash the "XperiaZ_C660X_KernelOnly_10.3.1.A.2.67.ftf" kernel since you are going to flash an entire ROM anyway.
**Please suggest ways to make this tutorial easier to understand**
[GUIDE] Extract Samsung *.tar.md5 files on Linux
Hey. While trying to port a TouchWiz ROM, I came across tar.md5 files. For some reason, every guide to open this format assumes you're using Windows. I use Linux Mint, so it was a bit of a problem. I found the solution, and thought I should post it here. Materials required: Android Kitchen Linux distro with p7zip Basic Terminal knowledge Procedure: 1. Download Android Kitchen here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246 2. Download and install p7zip (for Ubuntu-based distros): Code: sudo apt-get install p7zip p7zip-full p7zip-rar 3. Open a Terminal in the directory where you have your tar.md5. Do: Code: 7z e SomeReallyLongNameHowDoesSamsungRememberThis.tar.md5 And wait for the shell prompt to appear again. When it does, go to Android Kitchen's original_update folder and paste the boot.img and system.img that were extracted there. 4. Open a Terminal in Android Kitchen's directory. Do: Code: ./menu 1 (just press enter, type nothing before it) (type number corresponding to "system.img and boot.img" and press enter) When it asks you for your password, give it the password. It needs that for mounting the IMG file. Now your /system folder is in WORKING_whatever, and you can make a ZIP from Android Kitchen. Done.
Make ROOT Permanet / System Read and Write to all Android ROMS for Tenderloin
Extracting ramdisk image to change fstab.tenderloin to make system read and write allowing permanent root access using any ROM ever created for the HP Touchpad. I am using Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS 64-bit (All the software is open source and free, you can get the packages necessary for your distro) Create a folder in /home (root) name it hpboot ( on the PC ) all work is done on the PC. Open the custom ROM zip file and extract boot.img to the created directory hpboot Open Terminal in the hpboot directory, all the commands needs to be enter there. Text beginning with –>># are for information only. Do not paste into the Linux terminal window. –>># The following will extract images from boot.img file located in the hpboot direcory. –>># Copy and paste each individual line in the Terminal window one by one and wait until each command finish processing. dumpimage -i boot.img kernel.uImage dumpimage -i boot.img -p 1 ram dd if=ram of=ramdisk.img.gz bs=64 skip=1 gunzip ramdisk.img.gz mkdir ramdisk; cd ramdisk cpio -i < ../ramdisk.img –>>#The ramdisk files are uncompress in the hpboot/ramdisk directory –>>#Open file fstab.tenderloin using (text editor) change mnt_flags of/system ext4 from ro to rw –>>#Look like this when change from (ro ) read only to ( rw ) read and write. –>>#<src> <mnt_point> <type> <mnt_flags and options> –>>#/dev/store/cm-system /system ext4 rw,errors=panic –>># Save and close the fstab.tenderloin file –>># The next 3 steps will repack the files into the ramdisk and merge Kernel to create the finish boot image. find . | cpio --create --format=’newc’ | gzip > ../ramdiskRW.img cd ~/hpboot mkimage -A arm -O linux -T ramdisk -C none -a 0x00000000 -n “TENDERLOIN RW SYSTEM RAMDISK” -d ./ramdiskRW.img ./ramdisk.uImage mkimage -A arm -T multi -C none -n “Tenderloin RW System” -d kernel.uImage:ramdisk.uImage uImage.Android_RW –>>#Boot the touchpad into TWRP, connect to PC, copy uImage.Android_RW to the external Micro SDCard. –>>#Select MOUNT and touch Boot, go back, touch Advanced, File Manager, touch external_sd, select uImage.Android_RW, touch Copy File, touch boot, touch select Current Folder. –>>#You should have free space on your boot for both images. At the boot screen you will have the option of Android (with no permanet ROOT access) and Android_RW (RW System), you need to install SuperSu. You can use any of the two options or delete uImage.Android and then rename uImage.Android_RW to uImage.Android for one boot option. You do not need to re flash the ROM, you can add this boot file and use it with your current installed working ROM. The process works for all boot.img created for the HP Touchpad. If you have a ROM and would like to have system read and write access then you can do this. Hopefully a Linux Guru will create a script for this, which will automate the process to 3 seconds!
I like tinkering with my TP but I am running @Windows 7 on a 32 bit.. any suggestions?
Android is base on Linux OS. Install vmware player and run ubuntu as a virtual machine, both are free.
--SNIP-- Hopefully a Linux Guru will create a script for this, which will automate the process to 3 seconds! Click to expand... Click to collapse Here's a shell script that automates the process (rename the extension from .txt to .sh). Put the script and boot image file in any directory and type Code: ./rwcreate.sh If it doesn't execute, it probably needs its permissions changed.. Right click the file you created, select 'properties'. In the properties window, select "Permissions" and check "allow executing as ..." or type Code: chmod +x rwcreate.sh in a terminal window
Thanks for your help and dedicating your time to make it easier for others. I made suggestion to the script on correcting an error, on DU forum. Now is just a click to get it done, but if we were in a perfect computer world, it could be even easier as to connect the HP Touchpad to PC using USB. Then run the script and everything is complete! Using adb pull command to get (boot.uImage) from hp boot directory, to PC. Changes are done as per script. adb push command new boot.uImage to hp boot directory, all done! But making it easier, will make it more complicated and having to install more software and confusing!
HP_TOUCHPAD said: Thanks for your help and dedicating your time to make it easier for others. I made suggestion to the script on correcting an error, on DU forum. Now is just a click to get it done, but if we were in a perfect computer world, it could be even easier as to connect the HP Touchpad to PC using USB. Then run the script and everything is complete! Using adb pull command to get (boot.uImage) from hp boot directory, to PC. Changes are done as per script. adb push command new boot.uImage to hp boot directory, all done! But making it easier, will make it more complicated and having to install more software and confusing! Click to expand... Click to collapse Done. Thanks.
shumash said: Done. Thanks. Click to expand... Click to collapse The script on this forum is correct, but in the DU the file was wrong, corrected now. Thanks for the fix and help!