How can I access & write to my /data partition - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
My tablet was having some issues yesterday and wouldn't turn on, so I managed to do a factory reset, planning on restoring everything from Titanium Backup (from my TWRP backup), however, when I look at my TWRP Backup in TiBu, there doesn't seem to be anything there?
However, when I copy the data.win file to my computer and extract it, I can see all the files and I would like to try and copy some of the saves back to my data partition, however, I can't seem to find a way to find it or write to it?
Any ideas?
Stewart

There are many possibilities, on of them:
- boot Nexus 7 into recovery mode
- connect the Nexus 7 with USB to you PC
- mount /data in recovery
- adb push the files / directories you want to restore to the /data partition
- ...
There is only one problem: as you have done a factory reset / wipe the corresponding apps are no longer installed and even if you install them again,they will get a different uid so that the restored data is no longer accessible to them. Probably fix_permissions can help in that situations, but I didn't try yet.

AndDiSa said:
There are many possibilities, on of them:
- boot Nexus 7 into recovery mode
- connect the Nexus 7 with USB to you PC
- mount /data in recovery
- adb push the files / directories you want to restore to the /data partition
- ...
There is only one problem: as you have done a factory reset / wipe the corresponding apps are no longer installed and even if you install them again,they will get a different uid so that the restored data is no longer accessible to them. Probably fix_permissions can help in that situations, but I didn't try yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok, that sucks!
Is there not anyway I can use an Android based GUI tool to copy the files from my SDCard to /data.
I am not the best with adb, but I imagine the command would be "./adb push <insert file name here> /data/com.bigideas.swys/files", would that work?
Cheers
Stewart

Yes, that should work. Unfortunately I don't know any tool providing the functionality you are looking for.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Ummm... how about you restore it in TWRP like you're supposed to?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

TWRP should work, too, but if I remember well, the USB id is different, so you might get problems with adb if you do not have the correct driver installed.
To push a file to the device:
- unzip/untar data.win on your PC
- boot device to recovery
- on PC cmd-line:
- adb shell mount /data
- adb push <file_or_dir_to_push> /data/
But as I said, most likely it's not enough ...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

korockinout13 said:
Ummm... how about you restore it in TWRP like you're supposed to?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because that caused it to stop booting like it did when it first powered off!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

StuMcBill said:
Because that caused it to stop booting like it did when it first powered off!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The data.win file is just a tar archive. You can extract whatever you want, although there are a couple caveats:
- the .tar archives seem to be absolutely rooted (e.g. /foo/bar instead of ./foo/bar) so you might need to fool with -C or other tar command line options to get the result you are after.
- while you certainly could use 7-zip or similar to unpack the archive and cherry pick whatever you want on a Windoze box, you probably ought to do offline unpacking using Linux so you don't lose file permission settings. An alternative would be to unpack on the device itself to someplace such as /data/local/tmp using your preferred terminal emulator (or adb command line) and busybox combination. Then you can adjust ownership via "chmod -r" as needed and "mv" to move your cherry picks into place. Note you also need to pay attention to /data/app-lib/* in addition to /data/data/* and /data/app/* cherry picks.
- To reiterate about file ownership, probably what you should do is install only the .apks you want first, and then after rebooting, note the assigned user/group IDs chosen for each app install, and change the restored /data/data/* and /data/app-lib/* files to that uid.
Confused? Well, you asked. Look up a decent Linux administration guide for clarification.
good luck

Related

[Q] Why can I not delete my /sdcard/clockworkmod folder?

So I've installed a custom ClockworkMod recovery and ROM on my Nexus 7 tablet. Life was good. Recently, I was running out of space and decided to delete my CWM backup (after saving it to my computer). And then, I realized I couldn't.
I went into ES File Explorer to try. I couldn't do it there.
I went into the ADB shell as root to try to remove it. No luck again, just the message when I finally DID try to remove one file:
Code:
# rm boot.img
rm failed for boot.img, Operation not permitted
What am I doing wrong?
Edit: This looks like it's ClockWorkMod (5.8.??)'s fault, but besides reading that another backup won't make the current one much larger, I don't actually know how to delete the current one.
Try "rm -rf ddd" (where "ddd" is the directory name) on the directory containing the files.
Sent from my Nexus 7
BillGoss said:
Try "rm -rf ddd" (where "ddd" is the directory name) on the directory containing the files.
Sent from my Nexus 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in the development section there is a cwm flashable.zip that will delete them.. Then upgrade to latest cwm or TWRP.. its a bug from older version of cwm.. its talked about in the dev cwm thread..
good luck..
I did this in a way not mentioned here that still deserves mentioning... First I updated to the latest version of CWM available (via the Nexus 7 Toolkit) and then booted into recovery, opened the backup option, deleted the backup that was there, then cleaned the nandroids.
I could not find the aforementioned flashable zip, and because of the new CWM I had, I wanted to attempt a proper method of removal before running another rm command via the terminal. Therefore I could not verify the other methods mentioned here, my apologies.
erica_renee said:
in the development section there is a cwm flashable.zip that will delete them.. Then upgrade to latest cwm or TWRP.. its a bug from older version of cwm.. its talked about in the dev cwm thread..
good luck..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
primetechv2 said:
I could not find the aforementioned flashable zip, and because of the new CWM I had, I wanted to attempt a proper method of removal before running another rm command via the terminal. Therefore I could not verify the other methods mentioned here, my apologies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for re-opening an old thread, but I am having a problem where I have files that I cannot delete from the clockworkmods/blobs folder on my external sd card. So far, I have tried deleting them from a file explorer, deleting them as root from a file explorer, root and non-root deletes from terminal emulator, deleting through windows, adb shell deletes (with system booted).
I also wanted to try adb shell while booted into cwm, but I could not get the adb connection to work from recovery.
I also tried to find the zip file in the developer section and that's the real reason why I revived this thread...Does anyone know where the thread is with the zip file to remove these files?
I think the only way to delete them is through cwm.Boot to recovery and use the menu to delete them.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app
Kodiack99 said:
I think the only way to delete them is through cwm.Boot to recovery and use the menu to delete them.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I booted to recovery, I am able to delete each of the backups that I created. These all deleted correctly. I then went to Free unused backup files (to delete the files/folders in the blobs folder) and ran that and most of the files are gone. When I boot back into the phone, there are still some files/folders there and they seem to be taking up about 4-5 GB on the card. When I try to delete them through the file manager apps (either as root or not) they will not delete and the manager reports an error (before clicking delete, the manager displays a statistics report that says that the size of the files are over 2TB so obviously something is very messed up about them). I have also tried to delete them through the terminal (again as root and regular user) and they will not delete there either and they totally mess up the terminal window with unprintable characters (the only way to recover is to exit out of the current window and start a new one).
I finally fixed this problem last night by backing up all of my stuff (except the clockworkmod folder) to my computer. I then rebooted into recovery (latest version of CWM non-touch) and formatting the ext SD Card. When I rebooted there were still some folders there (including the clockworkmod folder). I did a format from within the OS and that cleared everything out. I copied all of my stuff back from my computer and I'm now good to go. Not sure how it got messed up to begin with, but the problem is fixed now. I think I'm going to stick with TWRP from now on.

[HOWTO] Backup and Restore the System Software

The recently posted rooting method for the KFHD has been great for owners to get started on modifying the device to suit their own tastes. However, I've been a little concerned about everybody jumping in without a safety net in place. There are numerous ways that this device can get bricked. Not to put all of you into a panic, but just getting an eventual OTA update from Amazon might put some of these rooted KFHDs in jeopardy. With no custom recovery on the horizon, I think it's important to have some backup/restore plan to get these devices booting again.
Overview
This backup plan involves making raw data clones of all critical storage partitions required to boot the device. These backup archives can then be stored somewhere off the device. In case of some critical failure that prevents the device from booting normally, these archives can be used to get the device booting normally again. The restore procedure requires the use of fastboot to write the backup archives back to their proper partitions. The use of fastboot requires a working bootloader, so the device will need to boot to the bootloader's bootlogo at a minimum. If the device has a broken bootloader, this guide will not be helpful. There's currently no working procedure for repairing a broken bootloader on the 2nd generation Kindle Fire devices.
To be clear, this guide is not a backup/restore plan for your data. This is strictly for backing up the system software while in a bootable state and recovering it if some modification bricks the device. This procedure has been tested on a KFHD with system software version 7.1.1. Although I have not tested it, I'm nearly certain it will work just fine on version 7.1.5. If the KF2 has the same partition layout as the KFHD, there's no reason why it shouldn't work for that device as well. Check the post on KFHD partitions for details.
Warning: Everything below is inherently dangerous and can potentially brick your device if they are not executed properly. I have tested various aspects to the best of my ability, but you assume all responsibility for performing any of these steps.
Backup
Attached is a small shell script written to do the following…
Make a "kindlebackups" directory in /sdcard (if necessary) and make it user read/writeable.
Create gzipped backup archives of partitions 1 through 11. This includes all partitions except /cache and /data.
Make all archive files user read/writeable.
The entire backup (stock) takes up approximately 550 MB, so be sure to have at least that much available in /sdcard. Root privileges are required for the script to run properly. The best time to use this script is after step two of the published rooting procedure. That's after the second reboot of the process when the device boots up in emulation mode and allows root access for the first time. At this point, the system partition is completely stock and has not been exposed to any modifications. Even if you are past this point, the backups will still be useful for any bootable state that allows root privileges.
Download the script, unzip and place it into your current working directory where you still have access to adb, then run the following adb commands to copy the script to the Kindle Fire and prepare it to be executed...
Code:
adb push backup.sh /data/local/backup.sh
adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/backup.sh
If the device is in the process of being rooted and it has just finished rebooting for the second time...
Code:
adb shell /data/local/backup.sh
If the device has already been rooted and the su binary is available on the system...
Code:
adb shell su -c "/data/local/backup.sh"
The entire process should take approximately 5 minutes. Once the script has completed the backup, access the Kindle Fire's storage area from your computer, then copy the contents of the "kindlebackups" folder to it. The "kindlebackups" folder may be deleted after transferring to your computer.
Restore
To begin the restore procedure, the device must be put into fastboot mode. My factory cable did the job for me, so I have not explored the possibility of changing bootmodes. I developed this guide on a borrowed KFHD and I do not intend to risk the device more than necessary. Unless someone comes forward with a procedure to change bootmodes into and out of fastboot mode, I'm going to say that a factory cable is required for the time being. Besides, based on my experience with the original Kindle Fire, a broken system almost always means there is no way to change the bootmode through it. Since this procedure will very likely be used on a device that cannot boot completely or otherwise has a bad system, a factory cable will probably be the only way into fastboot mode. If you plan to root or modify your system software, invest in a factory cable.
Use the factory cable (with the device turned off, plug into the device, then the computer) to get to fastboot mode. If successful, a "fastboot" logo will take the place of the original "kindle fire" logo.
Decompress the gzipped archive to be flashed… Linux users have gunzip, Mac OS X users also have gunzip and a built-in GUI utility, and Windows users can use 7-zip. The archive must be decompressed before flashing. Skipping this step will brick your device.
Flash the image file(s) back to the device. In most cases, the device will just have to get a working system partition flashed back to it, but the others are available if they are needed. To flash the system partition...
Code:
fastboot -i 0x1949 flash system system.img
- Optionally erase the cache and/or userdata partitions if the contents of either interfere with the operation of the system software. The system will rebuild them on reboot…
Code:
fastboot -i 0x1949 erase cache
fastboot -i 0x1949 erase userdata
Once the process is complete, long-press the power button (~20 seconds) until it powers down, unplug the factory cable, and power the device back up.
Good luck.
Thanks kinfauns. I appreciate everything you did for the original kindle fire. This should help a lot of people.
Sent from my Kindle Fire
My kindles /system directory is already screwed. Do you have a system.img file I can use?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
When i boot my kindle fire hd to fastboot (by factory cable) and connect it to pc, pc can't recognize kindle, it don't have driver for it.
Could anybody post his clean backup here? Screwed my kindle, want go back to stock. Backup is only way.
Copying kindlebackup folder
Thanks for the script - the backup procedure was smooth -
I couldnt find the kindlebackups folder while browsing through my PC and for others like me who wonder how to take these out of your KFHD, here is a simple way - I used a program called Wondershare MObilego (Manage SDcard option under more tools) Backing up was a cakewalk.
I have no affiliation to this tool maker - Just sharing a way that helped a n00b like me. (First rooting experience)
Thanks for the efforts!
BTW, will a backup from a clean device work for other devices instead of the same one which the backup was created from? Just wondering if people who have already fiddled around their root devices can get a fresh start.
vuhai6 said:
When i boot my kindle fire hd to fastboot (by factory cable) and connect it to pc, pc can't recognize kindle, it don't have driver for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if anybody has packaged the device drivers set up for this device. If nothing else, you can get the device driver installer in the "Kindle Fire Utility" for the original KF and use that. You just have to change the PID from 0006 to 0007 before installing it and should work. Refer to this post if you still have problems...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23747671&postcount=2
for device driver information. Again, written for the original KF, but the process for installing device drivers is the same. Only the PID is slightly different and that should get edited in the INF before installation.
ceebu said:
Thanks for the script - the backup procedure was smooth -
I couldnt find the kindlebackups folder while browsing through my PC and for others like me who wonder how to take these out of your KFHD, here is a simple way - I used a program called Wondershare MObilego (Manage SDcard option under more tools) Backing up was a cakewalk.
I have no affiliation to this tool maker - Just sharing a way that helped a n00b like me. (First rooting experience)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear it worked out for you. I am not familiar with that program, but the KFHD should connect automatically to a Windows device as external storage... does it not?
dreamcryer said:
Thanks for the efforts!
BTW, will a backup from a clean device work for other devices instead of the same one which the backup was created from? Just wondering if people who have already fiddled around their root devices can get a fresh start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not tested this and don't have a way to do so. I have some concerns about it, but I'm sure someone desperate enough will jump in and try it out. I know it's too late for some, but my suggestion is for everybody to make a backup if you can and not rely on someone else to give you archives after the fact. It's better to have your own backups.
Not recognized
My kindle is also not recognized when plugged in
kinfauns said:
I don't know if anybody has packaged the device drivers set up for this device. If nothing else, you can get the device driver installer in the "Kindle Fire Utility" for the original KF and use that. You just have to change the PID from 0006 to 0007 before installing it and should work. Refer to this post if you still have problems...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23747671&postcount=2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But pc don't recognize as Kindle, it as Tate-PVT-08 (sorry, i use mac cho screenshot, but windows too)
vuhai6 said:
But pc don't recognize as Kindle, it as Tate-PVT-08 (sorry, i use mac cho screenshot, but windows too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that the vendor id is correct.
Sent from my Kindle Fire
kinfauns said:
Glad to hear it worked out for you. I am not familiar with that program, but the KFHD should connect automatically to a Windows device as external storage... does it not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was only able to see the contents of /sdcard using windows...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
cesdev89 said:
My kindle is also not recognized when plugged in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you're first going to have problems getting root privileges. You need to get adb working before you attempt any part of rooting or backing up with this procedure.
vuhai6 said:
But pc don't recognize as Kindle, it as Tate-PVT-08 (sorry, i use mac cho screenshot, but windows too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the correct "product" reported by the KFHD. This and the product ID (0007) are the only differences between the KFHD and the original when it comes to installing the device drivers on Windows.
ceebu said:
I was only able to see the contents of /sdcard using windows...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/data/media and /sdcard are essentially the same thing (see the second post in this thread for an explanation of why this is the case). You should have seen kindlebackups in that directory.
kinfauns said:
You should have seen kindlebackups in that directory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason I didn't see it there, on hindsight I guess I panicked a bit (n00b) and fell back to the solution I already had.. (been using mobilego to manage my sgs2)..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
kinfauns said:
I don't know if anybody has packaged the device drivers set up for this device. If nothing else, you can get the device driver installer in the "Kindle Fire Utility" for the original KF and use that. You just have to change the PID from 0006 to 0007 before installing it and should work. Refer to this post if you still have problems...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=23747671&postcount=2
for device driver information. Again, written for the original KF, but the process for installing device drivers is the same. Only the PID is slightly different and that should get edited in the INF before installation.
Glad to hear it worked out for you. I am not familiar with that program, but the KFHD should connect automatically to a Windows device as external storage... does it not?
I have not tested this and don't have a way to do so. I have some concerns about it, but I'm sure someone desperate enough will jump in and try it out. I know it's too late for some, but my suggestion is for everybody to make a backup if you can and not rely on someone else to give you archives after the fact. It's better to have your own backups.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm ready to try
Didn't show at first
Kindlebackups showed up in root browser right away, but didn't show on PC until I rebooted KF2. So now should
I decompress and put in folder containing ADB?
Yuretz said:
Could anybody post his clean backup here? Screwed my kindle, want go back to stock. Backup is only way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the same situation, could anyone kindly help to provide a backup?
Same here ... just need the system image ... Please
I'd appreciate it if everybody would refrain from making this a "beg for a system image" thread.
strat6 said:
Kindlebackups showed up in root browser right away, but didn't show on PC until I rebooted KF2. So now should
I decompress and put in folder containing ADB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can put the the images wherever you want, but you'll need to specify the path to the file. For example, if you are using Windows and put the kindlebackups directory on C:, you just need to modify the command to...
Code:
fastboot -i 0x1949 flash system C:\kindlebackups\system.img
Thank you for posting how to do this. It opens a lot of doors with at least a little security.
I made a backup earlier without a problem, then went ahead and made myself a factory cable(easy to do and worked great- old asus usb cable, 1k resistor, soldering iron, shrink tape and voila!). I feel much better about doing any mods to this device now knowing I can just flash my backup.

Backup to computer

I have a rooted nexus 7 and I know how to do a nandroid backup and a Titanium Pro Backup for the apps. But all these would be useless if the tablet is lost or stolen. So, what does one need to copy to a separate computer to be able to restore in case of disaster?
I imagine copying the nandroid and Titanium backups should be the minimum (assuming I can find where these files are located in the nexus..... ), but what else should be copied to a different computer? Are the nandroid and Titanium backups alone enough to restore everything or do I need to copy more of the root, sdcard, other folders, etc?
Appreciate advice from the experts.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
I make regular backups of my devices by just running:
adb pull /data/media
That pulls in all nandroids, titanium backups, pictures/videos, etc
AW: Backup to computer
I would backup all apps+data using titanium and then
Code:
adb pull /sdcard/
for all your music etc
Sent from my Nexus 7 running Android 4.2.2
I had the same "problem" and so I am currently writing a Java application which enables a remote backup, i.e. you can either backup whole images of the different partitions, or backup filesystems as tar files. Some days ago I wrote a small blog entry. The sources you can find on my GitHub account, but I can also provide some binaries.
Thank you all. But I am a newbie and come from the windows world and the device I would backup to is a windows laptop. So where do I enter the adb command?
Can I manually copy the sdcard contents to a folder in the windows laptop? If so, should this manual usb file copy to the laptop include the root?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
AndDiSa said:
I had the same "problem" and so I am currently writing a Java application which enables a remote backup, i.e. you can either backup whole images of the different partitions, or backup filesystems as tar files. Some days ago I wrote a small blog entry. The sources you can find on my GitHub account, but I can also provide some binaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read your blog entry and you are talking exactly about what I need. But because I am a newbie from the windows world the rest is over my head.
I have TWRP on my Nexus, so the OTG nandroid sounds simpler for me. I have read elsewhere that nandroid backups copied manually to a windows device via usb frequently fail when used to restore. Is that why you are uncomfortable with the TWRP OTG nandroid?
Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Anderson2 said:
Thank you all. But I am a newbie and come from the windows world and the device I would backup to is a windows laptop. So where do I enter the adb command?
Can I manually copy the sdcard contents to a folder in the windows laptop? If so, should this manual usb file copy to the laptop include the root?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't manually copy over 'root'
You can use windows, you know windows has a command prompt too right?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
I have Titanium Backup upload the backups to Dropbox after they run on a scheduled basis. I occasionally copy nandroids over but those aren't as important.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
korockinout13 said:
I have Titanium Backup upload the backups to Dropbox after they run on a scheduled basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This
Then copy contents of /sdcard to your computer using any method you are comfortable with. If you have the drivers installed your device will show up as a storage device in my Computer.
Note 2 - Nexus 7 - Charge - Player 5.0 - Fascinate
Read twice, flash once
Pirateghost said:
You can't manually copy over 'root'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aha! I didn't know I could not manually copy root. That explains things. I had assumed that if I was rooted and mounted root I could manually copy and paste it. Now I understand.
Thank you.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] can i recover files on nexus 7

i moved file via mtp mode,because copy/paste is so slow while you have so many files(I move about 5 or 6 files/directory every ) But
while i Move 2 or 3 times, all files on nexus 7 disappeared. Indeed I only moved about a half files, there should be many files left on nexus 7.too weird. after this action I lost many photos. The nexus 7 has no files. Photos doesn't exist my computer too.
I know if nexus 7 could mount as USB mass storage I can recovery files through recovery software like recuva, But I didn't very familiar with this device and I didn't find a solution to mount nexus 7 as USB storage on the Web.
So I want to ask is there a method to recovery files through some file recovery software or some other method. please help me, this nexus 7 is my friend's.
You could try to do a image backup of your /sdcard and loop mount it later on your PC. Then you have something like a virtual disk where you could run some photo recovery programs. I wrote / am still writing a program which is able to back up the partitions of your device directly to the PC. You might want to have a look at http://anddisa.tk. It's still in alpha/beta state, but the backup functions are working.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
thannnk you
thannnk you very much.AndDiSa
Is it art.jar(0.2), which on your site, which can make a full image backup.
It seems can't run on windows,I will try it after I installed a linux client on virtualbox. I will rely if it works
but I wonder whether nexus7 could connected through virtual machine.
It should work in Windows, too, but I didn't check yet. Have a look at art.sh, which is a wrapper to start the java program. The Windows .cmd file should be similar. For starting the application, open a command shell and then
art.cmd ...
Be sure to have java 1.6 / 1.7 installed and a working adb environment. Good luck!
BTW. as soon as I find some time I will write the windows wrapper and test it on Windows.
Edit: I've added a windows wrapper file which can be downloaded from http://anddisa.tk
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I tried many times arguments of ART.cmd, but don't work. like:
art.jar -backup -i -bd /backups -tsf yyyy-MM-dd-hh-mm UDA or RECOVERY or CACHE or userdata...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
always show "unknown partition name for device: XXX.
if without type the last argument. like
art.jar -backup -i -bd /backups -tsf yyyy-MM-dd-hh-mm
it will show no errors, but the programe will terminated, and i can't get any image file also.
Could you try to call
art.cmd -info
it will print you some device informations and also the partitions known for the device connected.
Btw.: do you have grouper or talipa? Only grouper partitions are build in, otherwise you need to pass a pif as parameter.

Kobo Arc Development

So I was randomly flying around on Google today, and I noticed that someone had claimed to root the Kobo Arc, and gave written instructions here -- http : // www . mobileread . com / forums / showthread.php?p=2584491 (Remove the spaces, XDA won't let me post an actual link, since I don't have 10 posts yet). After running through this myself, I went on the Google Play store and used root checker. Much to my surprise, it worked, and my device now has root access. I even tested with Root Explorer, and mounted the system partition as R/W, and I can move things in and out of it. I'm currently working on trying to get a custom ROM working, but I'm worried that I will cause a brick, since Cyanogen doesn't support the Arc. (yet...)
ThunderBird2678 said:
So I was randomly flying around on Google today, and I noticed that someone had claimed to root the Kobo Arc, and gave written instructions here -- http : // www . mobileread . com / forums / showthread.php?p=2584491 (Remove the spaces, XDA won't let me post an actual link, since I don't have 10 posts yet). After running through this myself, I went on the Google Play store and used root checker. Much to my surprise, it worked, and my device now has root access. I even tested with Root Explorer, and mounted the system partition as R/W, and I can move things in and out of it. I'm currently working on trying to get a custom ROM working, but I'm worried that I will cause a brick, since Cyanogen doesn't support the Arc. (yet...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
confirmed, was just going to post this but was beaten to it.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218928
ive attached the file but please go to that website and pay homage to whoever did this work...now to the next stop, a ROM
Device now has a working custom recovery see post 15
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
dazza9075 said:
confirmed, was just going to post this but was beaten to it.
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218928
In terms of a ROM do we not need a compatible boot loader that will allow unsigned ROMs?
ive attached the file but please go to that website and pay homage to whoever did this work...now to find a man about a ROM
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have absolutely no idea what im doing but I think I have dumped 12 partitions using
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 of=/sdcard/p10.img
is there anyone around that fancies a challenge? im in a position where bricking this thing isn't really much of a problem so if someones up for a challenge and wants to help im willing to lend myself and the device to this
Warning : Block of Text Ahead.
dazza9075 said:
confirmed, was just going to post this but was beaten to it.
In terms of a ROM do we not need a compatible boot loader that will allow unsigned ROMs?
ive attached the file but please go to that website and pay homage to whoever did this work...now to find a man about a ROM
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha. As soon as I found a thread called "root the Kobo Arc" on Google, I posted it here right away. Sorry if I deprived you of the satisfaction! *troll*
Joking aside, I'm not too sure about the bootloader. I think it's pretty locked down (since I put a nexus 7's cyanogenmod onto the data partition and rebooted. It tried to updated, but said validation failed, or something of that sort). I can't install any custom recoveries either, since I have no idea how to do it in the first place, and there's none made for the Arc.
Also, I analyzed the Arc with the "Droid Examiner" App from the play store (That is a really great app, just so you know), and found that it uses a board called "zeus". The funny thing, though, is that one of Sony's Xperia phones, also has a board called "Zeus", and there's Cyanogenmod for that (albiet not the latest version). However, these two devices have nothing in common. The closest thing to an Arc that has Cyanogenmod is the Nook HD/HD+, which uses the exact same chip (OMAP TI 4470).
If someone is smart enough (not me) to analyze the Cyanogenmod files for the Nook, and see how they work, that may lead into flashing the Arc.
Anyway, I'm resetting the Arc, since I'm having weird cases where the Arc would freeze after booting it from sleep mode, and I'd have to turn it off and on again. I think that was something else I did, since it happened before the root, but neh, I might as well try this all from factory default settings.
Sorry for the block of text, guys!
P.S. Using the stock Jelly Bean boot animation on the Arc looks amazing!:laugh:
Haha, its cool, like yourself I just happened to Google kobo arc root and for once my googe fu was up to the task and the root appeared
I've been looking at starting my own recovery mod branch but its no simple task by the looks of it, if their are similar devices we can use all their data and tweak it to ours which would help a lot!
Oh I think we have fast boot, I held vol down and pushed power on, it just sat at the kobo arc screen, I used the nexus 7 driver from the universal adb/fastboot driver I found on here and it connected up http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263822
I stumbled on some to good to be true program on Xda dev that apparently can root anything and unlock any bootloader once your in fastboot mode. I have tried that part and it said it was successful but i have no idea how to test this out yet, the program does a bunch of other stuff too, the adb stuff worked as did apk sending, and the rooting options knew i was rooted, it also has flashing functions, I'll be damed if I can find it now I'm at home though , I'll have another look.
I don't mind doing leg work but if someone can read the map it would be very helpful!
Edit, found it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2399385
http://www.mediafire.com/?vwxpq62pa927s9c
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
dazza9075 said:
Haha, its cool, like yourself I just happened to Google kobo arc root and for once my googe fu was up to the task and the root appeared
I've been looking at starting my own recovery mod branch but its no simple task by the looks of it, if their are similar devices we can use all their data and tweak it to ours which would help a lot!
Oh I think we have fast boot, I held vol down and pushed power on, it just sat at the kobo arc screen, I used the nexus 7 driver from the universal adb/fastboot driver I found on here and it connected up http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263822
I stumbled on some to good to be true program on Xda dev that apparently can root anything and unlock any bootloader once your in fastboot mode. I have tried that part and it said it was successful but i have no idea how to test this out yet, the program does a bunch of other stuff too, the adb stuff worked as did apk sending, and the rooting options knew i was rooted, it also has flashing functions, I'll be damed if I can find it now I'm at home though , I'll have another look.
I don't mind doing leg work but if someone can read the map it would be very helpful!
Edit, found it
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2399385
http://www.mediafire.com/?vwxpq62pa927s9c
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um... Okay. I've installed the drivers (I think I installed them correctly), and I booted my device using "volume down + power". I have it connected to my System, but whenever I try to use one of the options in the Android Root Toolkit, it tells me it's waiting for the device. I don't know what I did wrong, but something's clearly not working.
As far as the recovery goes, I think that looking at the Nook Tablet from TWRP would work quite nicely. It runs on a similar processor ( I believe it's a OMAP TI 4430 ), and it seems to be quite similar in specs to the Arc. If only I was a bit better at programming...
ThunderBird2678 said:
Um... Okay. I've installed the drivers (I think I installed them correctly), and I booted my device using "volume down + power". I have it connected to my System, but whenever I try to use one of the options in the Android Root Toolkit, it tells me it's waiting for the device. I don't know what I did wrong, but something's clearly not working.
As far as the recovery goes, I think that looking at the Nook Tablet from TWRP would work quite nicely. It runs on a similar processor ( I believe it's a OMAP TI 4430 ), and it seems to be quite similar in specs to the Arc. If only I was a bit better at programming...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im usig the generic android adb driver and the bootloader driver for fast boot
im dumped all partitions and mapped them all out, see below for file system details
But again I'm blindly stabbing in the dark and most tutorials are a bit lacking in depth or not relevant to the kobo :/
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
127|[email protected]:/ # blkid
/dev/block/dm-2: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/dm-1: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/dm-0: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
[email protected]:/ #
Okay, so I can't even push apps to the Arc using ADB. I think you have to boot into recovery (power + volume up). I don't know how to use the terminal at all (I'm lost, I know D: ), so I don't have that installed on the Arc. I remember being able to do ADB even with my Sony Reader (First gen, PRST1), so I'm not sure why the Arc isn't quite working. I have both drivers installed, BTW.
As for the recovery, I can't even find a method to flash it. I'm still trying everything I can, though. :\
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app
ive mapped out the following partitions and any info ive found about each of them, im not in a position to help at the moment, got a big day at work tomorrow, as mentioned above ive used several tools,
SuperSU,
ROM toolbox pro
busybox
remount
Below is a list of all the available partition names and numbers
/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 xloader
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/xloader
348KB
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2 bootloader
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/bootloader
1.50MB
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 cypto
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/crypto
Completely empty
64KB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 EFS
Mounted as /FACTORY
/dev/block/mmcblk0p4:UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/efs /factory ext4 ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
20MB
/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 misc
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/misc
Completely empty
128KB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 Bootlogo
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/bootlogo
Contains kobo arc picture
4MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 Logos
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/logos
contains the battery charge logo
28MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p8 recovery
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery
data contains a GZ file, when decompressed we get a 8.5MB file of unknown type, exact same as in boot
5MB of data
16MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p9 boot
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/boot
data contains a GZ file, when decompressed we get a 8.5MB file of unknown type, exact same as n recovery
4.5MB of data
8MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10 CACHE
Mounted as /CACHE
/dev/block/mmcblk0p10: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/cache /cache ext4
rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,barrier=1,nom blk_io_submit,data=ordered 0
0
768MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11 SYSTEM
Mounted as /SYSTEM
/dev/block/mmcblk0p11: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/system /system ext4
rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0
910MB partition size
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 USERDATA
Mounted as /DATA
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12: UUID="57f8f4bc-abf4-655f-bf67-946fc0f9f25b" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/userdata /data ext4
rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,errors=panic,barrier=1,nom blk_io_submit,data=ordered 0
0
12GB partition size
Watching with interest. The root works. No frills CPU installed and working. There may be hope for this thing yet:good:
Moved to new thread and more appropriate forum - keep up the good work guys
im not sure that's going to work you know, ive had some permission errors with adb which suggests the root isn't full, terminal on the device works fine, but adb just has some problems, adb shell and the su seems to fix them.
http://www.gadgetsdna.com/android-terminal-adb-shell-command-list/1168/
http://www.addictivetips.com/android/make-nandroid-backups-on-android-without-booting-into-recovery/
im busy today but ive found these useful
i think Clockwork Recovery should be our focus at this point or if you have dumped your partitions(?) attempt to construct a rom for later use
or this should work too
Install any Custom Recovery with flash_image:
Just like the previous method, this method also requires following advanced steps and is not recommended if the first method is working for you. flash_image is a tool for Android devices that lets you rewrite your phone’s system partitions with partition image files and installing it to your device requires ADB. If you don’t already have ADB installed, check out our guide on installing ADB. Once you have ADB installed, flash the custom recovery image as follows:
WARNING: It is very important that the recovery image that you use in this method is compatible with your device. Else it will not work and flashing it could possibly brick your device.​
Download flash_image and extract it from the zip file to a location on your computer. We extracted it to the main C drive (not in any folder) and will use that in the next steps.
Copy the recovery image for your phone to a convenient location on your computer, preferably with a short path. We will be placing it on the C Drive directly (not in any folder) and using that in the next steps.
Note: The recovery image should have .img extension. If it is in a zip file, extract the .img file from it.
Enable USB debugging mode on your device from Menu > Settings > Applications > Development.
Connect your device to your computer via USB.
Open a Command Prompt window on your computer and enter the following commands: adb push c:\flash_image /sdcard/adb push c:\recovery.img /sdcard/adb shellsumount -o remount, rw /systemcp /sdcard/flash_image /system/bincd /system/binchmod 777 flash_imageflash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.imgThis will first transfer flash_image and recovery.img to your phone. Then it will copy flash_image to the /system/bin folder of your Android device and make it executable. Finally, it will flash the custom recovery image to your device using flash_image.
Note that we used c:\flash_image and c:\recovery.img in the first two lines as we had these files extracted at the root of our C drive. If you extracted the files elsewhere, use the appropriate paths and if your recovery image has a different name, use the appropriate name.
Reboot your device once the process is finished and you’re done. You may exit adb and the Command Prompt window on your computer by entering ‘exit’ thrice.
dazza9075 said:
im not sure that's going to work you know, ive had some permission errors with adb which suggests the root isn't full, terminal on the device works fine, but adb just has some problems, adb shell and the su seems to fix them.
http://www.gadgetsdna.com/android-terminal-adb-shell-command-list/1168/
http://www.addictivetips.com/android/make-nandroid-backups-on-android-without-booting-into-recovery/
im busy today but ive found these useful
i think Clockwork Recovery should be our focus at this point or if you have dumped your partitions(?) attempt to construct a rom for later use
or this should work too
Install any Custom Recovery with flash_image:
Just like the previous method, this method also requires following advanced steps and is not recommended if the first method is working for you. flash_image is a tool for Android devices that lets you rewrite your phone’s system partitions with partition image files and installing it to your device requires ADB. If you don’t already have ADB installed, check out our guide on installing ADB. Once you have ADB installed, flash the custom recovery image as follows:
WARNING: It is very important that the recovery image that you use in this method is compatible with your device. Else it will not work and flashing it could possibly brick your device.​
Download flash_image and extract it from the zip file to a location on your computer. We extracted it to the main C drive (not in any folder) and will use that in the next steps.
Copy the recovery image for your phone to a convenient location on your computer, preferably with a short path. We will be placing it on the C Drive directly (not in any folder) and using that in the next steps.
Note: The recovery image should have .img extension. If it is in a zip file, extract the .img file from it.
Enable USB debugging mode on your device from Menu > Settings > Applications > Development.
Connect your device to your computer via USB.
Open a Command Prompt window on your computer and enter the following commands: adb push c:\flash_image /sdcard/adb push c:\recovery.img /sdcard/adb shellsumount -o remount, rw /systemcp /sdcard/flash_image /system/bincd /system/binchmod 777 flash_imageflash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.imgThis will first transfer flash_image and recovery.img to your phone. Then it will copy flash_image to the /system/bin folder of your Android device and make it executable. Finally, it will flash the custom recovery image to your device using flash_image.
Note that we used c:\flash_image and c:\recovery.img in the first two lines as we had these files extracted at the root of our C drive. If you extracted the files elsewhere, use the appropriate paths and if your recovery image has a different name, use the appropriate name.
Reboot your device once the process is finished and you’re done. You may exit adb and the Command Prompt window on your computer by entering ‘exit’ thrice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've already tried that recovery method (I spent about two hours just googling), and it doesn't work with the Arc. The ADB won't let me push the image over.
As for Cyanogenmod, I tried something yesterday. A person on the Mobileread forums (apparently a Kobo employee) put out an update.zip file for the Kobo Arc. The file was quite old, and it's really just the 4.1.1 update that (I hope) we're all running. He said that as long as you put it on the root of the data partition, the Arc will flash it immediately. When I tried taking a Nexus 7's Cyanogenmod file and sticking it in the same place, the Arc started flashing it, but then just said there was an error with the update. So I personally think that you do require a properly signed ROM.
However, if you open up Kobo's update.zip using Winrar, a sidebar pops up that says "signed by SignApk". I don't know too much about this, but couldn't we use this "signapk" to sign our own ROMS and flash them?
Just a thought.
​
ThunderBird2678 said:
As for Cyanogenmod, I tried something yesterday. A person on the Mobileread forums (apparently a Kobo employee) put out an update.zip file for the Kobo Arc. The file was quite old, and it's really just the 4.1.1 update that (I hope) we're all running. He said that as long as you put it on the root of the data partition, the Arc will flash it immediately. When I tried taking a Nexus 7's Cyanogenmod file and sticking it in the same place, the Arc started flashing it, but then just said there was an error with the update. So I personally think that you do require a properly signed ROM.
However, if you open up Kobo's update.zip using Winrar, a sidebar pops up that says "signed by SignApk". I don't know too much about this, but couldn't we use this "signapk" to sign our own ROMS and flash them?
Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there is a problem with the setup, I just flashed a CW recovery image and it worked, or didn't rather! but the concept did, transferred, flashed using adb, I had to replace it though as it was totally borked and kept restarting, apparently the touch based recovery methods can be like that, ill have some good time tomorrow night (UK time) if your about, and ill keep at it tonight if I get a chance!
copy recovery to adb location
adb push recovery.img /sdcard/
adb shell
su
cat /sdcard/recovery.img > /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery
exit adb shell and type
adb reboot recovery
fixed it by holding power button and vol down to boot to fastboot recovery
then ran
fastboot flash recovery inputrecovery.img
inputrecovery being my original recovery file taken from partition 8!
ive updated the partition map on the post above with my progress, but it looks like we can flash to them my name so its probably less relevant now
oh ive ditched the drivers I was using and reinstalled the drivers from the official SDK, generic android adb for within android and android bootloader for fastboot
EDIT
Yaaas!! recovery replaced
ok, deleting or renaming /etc/install-recover.sh appears to have stopped custom recovery being changed back to stock after reboot, I used the recovery builder to make a build from partition 8, which it did without error, flashed using the above commands.​
Still don't know what im doing though, but progress is progress ​
ill post a link to the custom recovery ive made soon, we need to make up some fstab file listing all the mounts etc, i tried one but it must be borked as recovery couldnt see anything​
​
ok i have a working recovery http://jenkins.cyanogenmod.com/job/recovery/35325/artifact/
its not quite done, i need to mount the sdcard, its physical location is mounted, ie /data, but its virtual mount isn't /storage/sdcard
I have asked for some help so hopefully someone can help be on this, I think it needs to be symlinked
im going to need some help soon, so if your reading this with a kobo arc, I need you! im needing a hand folks! if your stuck getting this far let me know and we can PM to get it working
oh and recovery is also now persistant by deleting or renaming /etc/install-recover.sh"
Sorted folks!
I have made a stable and thus far, a working custom recovery.
its mounting everything and backing up / restoring works as it should, unless anyone can find any issues I consider this step in building a complete ROM completed,
you must have root, download arctic.apk and install on your tablet, you will need to enable unknown sources In dev options first
you must have android and java sdk also installed, you will need to add the google usb drivers in the android sdk, you will find them in the "extras"
Enable usb debug on the arc and install the generic google adb usb drivers
Delete or rename /etc/install-recover.sh this will make the custom recovery persistent
Copy the recovery.img to the SDCard, either by using drag and drop in windows ( to root of "internal storage") or by adb push, if you use adb push then remember to copy recovery.img to the same folder as adb
adb push recovery.img /sdcard/
The next job is to open up a command window and navigate to adb folder, type the following exactly, even better copy and paste them!
adb shell
su
cat /sdcard/recovery.img > /dev/block/platform/omap/omap_hsmmc.1/by-name/recovery
exit adb shell (ctrl+C) and type
adb reboot recovery
and bobs your uncle, one happy new recovery
Thanks for your hard work. Everything works quite well.
Sent from my Arc using Tapatalk 4
cancuck said:
Thanks for your hard work. Everything works quite well.
Sent from my Arc using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's the easy bit, I have a feeling I need to make a couple of changes to the recovery.img but noting major, just a couple of other mounts I may have missed
I probably would like some help with the next bit however.
im just trying to build a development platform, I have a loathing for Linux as a desktop so will need to re educate myself without throwing my laptop out of the window, after that "challenge" the ROM should be easy
Well, I've just done it, and it works. Everything seems to be in order for the time being. I'm going to muck around with the new capabilities, and see what I can do.

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