Database Users

Step by Step for Rooting Rogers Captivate (I896)

Hey Guys
So one of the biggest questions I have seen in the last couple weeks since the Rogers captivate was released is how to root. I figured I would write a nice tutorial for everyone to make it easier!
Method 1: SuperOneClick
This is the easiest way, however most people have not been able to achieve root using this. Try this first if no luck move to method 2. Instructions on how to root using SuperOneClick can be found here
Method 2: Manual Root using ADB and Terminal
This one takes more time and not as easy to do as you have to do everything manually. But haven't heard of any problems with it yet
Step 1: Install <PDANet> Drivers. Just download the file and install. Select Samsung drivers. No need to actually install PDAnet on the Captivate you just need the drivers from the install. Follow the instructions with the installer to properly install the drivers.
Step 2: Download <Andriod SDK>.
- Extract the Android SDK .Zip file to C:\AndroidSDK (this should name the new folder created AndroidSDK in the C directory.
- Go to your start menu and search cmd or click run and type in cmd to open command prompt
- Type the following into command prompt, hitting enter at the end of each line
cd C:\AndroidSKD\Tools
adb devices
- You should see a serial number pop up. This is the serial number of your phone. This means ADB is set up
Step 3: Download <RageagainsttheCage Rooting Files>
- Extract them to the c:\AndroidSDK\tools\ folder. HAS TO BE IN THIS FOLDER FOR THE FOLLOWING COMMANDS TO WORK
Step 4: Unplug phone if it is plugged in. Then, on the phone, go to Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is Checked ON.
Step 5: Plug phone back in to computer. Make sure SD are not mounted
Step 6: Reopen Command prompt if not open. In the command prompt enter the following, pressing enter at the end of each line
cd c:\androidsdk\tools\
adb devices
adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/
adb push su /sdcard/
adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/
adb shell chmod 0755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
Step 7: On the phone, go to Marketplace and download Terminal Emulator
Step 8: Leaving the phone plugged in, open the Terminal Emulator on the phone. Type the following, pressing enter at the end of each line
cd /data/local/tmp
./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
Step 9: WAIT. It will take a full minutes for the rage root to install. When finished you will see "Forked Childs". DO NOT DO ANYTHING TILL YOU SEE THIS. Terminal will allow you to type as it goes back to $ while it is installing BUUT DO NOT DO ANYTHING JUST WAIT(Cannot stress this enough)
Step 10: once "Forked Childs" appears, exit the Terminal App, and then reopen it. Instead of $ you should now see #. If not redo Step 7. Otherwise continue.
Step 11: Type the following hitting enter at the end
cat /proc/mounts
This should bring up a list (Easiest to view in landscape mode. Look for the following
/dev/block/XXXXXXXXXX /system YYYY ro 0 0 (the XXXXXXXXX part should be different depending on which device you have. The YYYY part will either be; ext2, ext3 or yaffs2 or something similar. )
My YYYY was rtf , not sure if it will be the same for everyone (though i assume it is)
Step 12: Now in the terminal window, using the info from above, enter the following, hitting enter at the end of each line (Be sure to enter spaces where needed as below)
mount -o rw,remount -t YYYY /dev/block/XXXXXXXXXX /system
cat /sdcard/Superuser.apk > /system/app/Superuser.apk
cat /sdcard/su > /system/bin/su
chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
mount -o ro,remount -t YYYY /dev/block/XXXXXXXXXX /system
exit
Step 13: Close terminal window if still open. Check your app drawer and, assuming everything was completed properly, you should see Superuser. If not redo Step 12, again watching for spaces and using the correct info from Step 11.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I, in no way shape or form, came up with the above method or tools. This method was modified from and composed from the method decribed over at Theunlockr.com for ease of use and to root the Captivate specifically. I big thanks go out to those guys!
ORINGAL LINK CAN BE FOUND HERE
WARNING
I am not responsible for any damage doone to the phone or its file system as a result of this tutorial. It is for educational purposes only. You have been warned!

THANK YOU!
No other method was working for me (not SuperOneClick, not these ADB instructions). Sure enough, using Terminal Emulator, I was able to get #. I wasn't able get this through adb, nor was I through SuperOneClick (infinite loop @ "mount" command).
I noticed a few things:
-When I compared filesizes from your provided Rage Root files, to the ones that were included in this thread (which also come with SuperOneClick—and which I was unable to get working), I noticed major differences. This gave me hope!, as I'd tried everything else that I knew how to prior to this point.
-My "XXXXXXXXXX" was actually only 4 characters: "stl6".
-My "YYYY" was only 3 characters ("rfs").
-SuperUser showed up on my applist without even requiring a reboot.
THANKS AGAIN
I shall now attempt to apply a lagfix; I will report back with results.
--Bah: no luck. RyanZA's OCLF V2.2+ returns error:
Could not mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 onto /dbdata/rfsdata: mount: No such file or directory
--OCLF V1+ returns error:
Could not create /data/linux.ex2 - dd: can't open '/data/linux.ex2': Permission denied
Uh-oh.

PhrProfess said:
THANK YOU!
No other method was working for me (not SuperOneClick, not ). Sure enough, using Terminal Emulator, I was able to get #. I wasn't able get this through adb, nor was I through SuperOneClick (infinite loop @ "mount" command).
I noticed a few things:
-When I compared filesizes from your provided Rage Root files, to the ones that were included in this thread[/url] (which also come with SuperOneClick—and which I was unable to get working), I noticed major differences. This gave me hope!, as I'd tried everything else that I knew how to prior to this point.
-My "XXXXXXXXXX" was actually only 4 characters: "stl6".
-My "YYYY" was only 3 characters ("rfs").
-SuperUser showed up on my applist without even requiring a reboot.
THANKS AGAIN
I shall now attempt to apply a lagfix; I will report back with results.
--Bah: no luck. RyanZA's OCLF V2.2+ returns error:
Could not mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 onto /dbdata/rfsdata: mount: No such file or directory
--OCLF V1+ returns error:
Could not create /data/linux.ex2 - dd: can't open '/data/linux.ex2': Permission denied
Uh-oh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup same problem here. I was able to root it manually a few days ago, but have as of yet been unable to lag fix it.

Strange. After I rooted I had no problem using RyanZa's Lagfix. Your still using the stock rom after rooted correct?

deacfire said:
Strange. After I rooted I had no problem using RyanZa's Lagfix. Your still using the stock rom after rooted correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. I've tested out quite a few apps from the market, though.
When I mount my device, I notice that there are some files on my internal SDCard:
-su
-Superuser.apk
-nv_data.bin
-busybox (why is this there, I uninstalled that)
-update.zip
...and some folders:
-layar
-twc-cache
-Android -» data -» com.cooliris.media
-Android -» data -» com.google.android.apps.maps
-svox
...These all have subdirectories.
Not knowing what a default internal SD directory ought to look like, I wonder: Could any of these be causing a conflict? I read that some said not to have any apps installed on the SDCard while trying to mess around (with ROMs, I think), so I tried removing what I could, and then rebooting (and some folders respawned), and reapplying the fix—no dice. I've since replaced all of the folders and the files.

Stock rom here as well.

Hrmm not quite sure why lag fix isn't working for you guys. Just a quick question, in RyanZa One Click, is "Un-Root Device" green?
I still have no problems applying RyanZa Lag Fix to my Captivate as I had to redo it last night after i switched back to the Rogers stock rom after testing Cog 2.2. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that the root never applied properly. Have you tried rerooting the device?

deacfire said:
Hrmm not quite sure why lag fix isn't working for you guys. Just a quick question, in RyanZa One Click, is "Un-Root Device" green?
I still have no problems applying RyanZa Lag Fix to my Captivate as I had to redo it last night after i switched back to the Rogers stock rom after testing Cog 2.2. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that the root never applied properly. Have you tried rerooting the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thought I might give you some info as well since i've been messing with mine for about a week now. I was able to root the device, oneclick did not work originally for this and I used ADB method similar to what you had here. After this I went for the lag fix, everything was green like it was supposed to be, installed the ext2 tools no problem and then get the same error about unable to mount when applying lag fix.
At this point I used OCLF to unroot the device and it did, I then used the oneclick to re-root which it did this time, in terminal I can su properly and again all the tools are green in OCLF. Tried to lagfix and failed again so I started making some changes manually based on the error messages that were out put. Created the folder it was trying to mount to for instance and then set the permission to this to 777 that would allow world write access, this allowed it to create the new partition in ext2 but when mounting the loopback device it fails saying it doesn't exist (which it doesn't I looked) so while I did get a bit further the lag fix still fails. I would gladly apply the lag fix manually through the terminal if I knew everything that was being done to re-format the partitions for ext3 but I can't seem to find that info anywhere.
Next best thing I would guess is to install a stock rom from rogers from someone else and see if there are any differences, I'm guessing based on the devices in the /dev folder that there are more then one image on the devices some set up more similar to AT&T that the lag fix will work on.

mrprefect said:
Thought I might give you some info as well since i've been messing with mine for about a week now. I was able to root the device, oneclick did not work originally for this and I used ADB method similar to what you had here. After this I went for the lag fix, everything was green like it was supposed to be, installed the ext2 tools no problem and then get the same error about unable to mount when applying lag fix.
At this point I used OCLF to unroot the device and it did, I then used the oneclick to re-root which it did this time, in terminal I can su properly and again all the tools are green in OCLF. Tried to lagfix and failed again so I started making some changes manually based on the error messages that were out put. Created the folder it was trying to mount to for instance and then set the permission to this to 777 that would allow world write access, this allowed it to create the new partition in ext2 but when mounting the loopback device it fails saying it doesn't exist (which it doesn't I looked) so while I did get a bit further the lag fix still fails. I would gladly apply the lag fix manually through the terminal if I knew everything that was being done to re-format the partitions for ext3 but I can't seem to find that info anywhere.
Next best thing I would guess is to install a stock rom from rogers from someone else and see if there are any differences, I'm guessing based on the devices in the /dev folder that there are more then one image on the devices some set up more similar to AT&T that the lag fix will work on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the stock rom in the main Rogers Captivate forum. It is one i used to go from Cog 2.2 back to stock and it applied the root and lag fix without a hitch. Give it a try and let us know!

deacfire said:
Try the stock rom in the main Rogers Captivate forum. It is one i used to go from Cog 2.2 back to stock and it applied the root and lag fix without a hitch. Give it a try and let us know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Happen to have a link right to the forum? so many threads to search through...
I'm new to the whole android thing though I've been working with linux for years but its a bit of a learning curve coming from a blackberry.
also what are you using to flash your device?

I'm having the same problem. Let me know if you somehow fix it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App

I was finally able to get my last night.
Turns out my first root attempt was a failure. I had to unroot via an update.zip method as i did not have the permissions to remove the files from terminal.
Once unrooted i then did the update.zip method for the I897, and modified the script to look for I896 instead. It worked flawlessley. I am now getting the pop-up asking for root permissions. I had never seen it work previously.
I was then able to install OCLF without any problems. (and it popped up asking for root)
I am now rooted and lag fixed. Previous quadrant score was at 860's and i pulled a 2285 last night after the OCLF.

Can you please tell us how to modify script and how to flash back to stock..I need to return my phone and superuse app wont go away after unrooting and factory reset

inningsdefeat500 said:
Can you please tell us how to modify script and how to flash back to stock..I need to return my phone and superuser app wont go away after unrooting and factory reset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i cannot help you flash back to stock as i don't quite know how to do that yet myself. But i can help you unroot, re-root, and lag fix.
I have found the files again and uploaded them to rapid share with the necessary modifications.
Download THIS FILE and once downloaded, rename it to update.zip Be careful not to name it update.zip.zip by accident.
Place the file into the root of your sdcard.
Shutdown the phone with the power button, or pull the battery out and put it back in.
Enter recovery mode:
While holding the volume up and volume down buttons press and hold the power button until you see the white text that says SGH-I896, then release the power button only.
When in recovery mode use the volume down key to highlight reinstall packages, then press the power button. It should say completed and reboot the phone.
Once the phone has rebooted, do the exact same thing again, only use THIS FILE instead. Dont forget to rename the file again!
Then install the OCLF from market. Install the EXT2 tools first. Then run the lag fix installer.
I assume you already know how to enter recovery mode, but this way someone else searching for a fix will have all the info at their disposal here.
EDIT!!!
Some mirrors for the files
For the UN-Root files go HERE
For the ROOT files go HERE

Hi all i am very lost here....i have tried for hours the last few days on how to root this i896 with the super one click method with no luck....anyways i was speaking to my brother earlier and he has done it with his bell vibrant no problem....anyways what i want to know is what is the purpose of rootindg the phone? I thought it was for downloading 3rd party apps or whats the purpose for superuser? The reason why i am asking is that i can download 3rd party apps already...i allow them on my application settings and download a app downloader and works fine? Im lost someone please help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App

dandroid123 said:
Hi all i am very lost here....i have tried for hours the last few days on how to root this i896 with the super one click method with no luck....anyways i was speaking to my brother earlier and he has done it with his bell vibrant no problem....anyways what i want to know is what is the purpose of rootindg the phone? I thought it was for downloading 3rd party apps or whats the purpose for superuser? The reason why i am asking is that i can download 3rd party apps already...i allow them on my application settings and download a app downloader and works fine? Im lost someone please help.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look here. It answered alot of my questions.
http://www.androidcentral.com/rooting-it-me-some-qa
Also, if you only follow the second half of my post above you should be able to root it as well.

Thanks deacfire! The one click wouldn't work for me but the second method did.
I am having a really annoying problem though. The superuser.apk that you included just gave me a black screen. So I updated it to this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=682828&highlight=no+apps+in+list
Which is newer. But now it just says "no apps in list". Tried installing it from the zip, tried from the market no different.
I do have apps that require superuser: ROM Manager, Root Explorer, Adfree. They all work, also have titanium backup but its is telling me it needs root access.
How can I fix this, it is a major issue.
EDIT:Thanks impulser91!! That work and was SUPER easy! Should probably get posted in the original post.

when i copy update.zip into the /sdcard and then try hitting reinstall packages, it results in an error and aborts. any suggestions?
Nevermind....it worked MUAHAHAHAHAHAH LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Sweet, 2 users. Not bad for under 10 posts
I'm glad its working for others. I had one heck of a time finding the right combination of files and process's for the I896. I am an IT professional and it took me a few days of fumbling around all the I896 and I897 posts.
Anyways, glad to hear it worked, and i hope other people find it useful as well. I will keep the originals, so if the links go down someone just PM me and i will load them somewhere else.

impulser91 said:
Well i cannot help you flash back to stock as i don't quite know how to do that yet myself. But i can help you unroot, re-root, and lag fix.
I have found the files again and uploaded them to rapid share with the necessary modifications.
Download and once downloaded, rename it to update.zip Be careful not to name it update.zip.zip by accident.
Place the file into the root of your sdcard.
Shutdown the phone with the power button, or pull the battery out and put it back in.
Enter recovery mode:
While holding the volume up and volume down buttons press and hold the power button until you see the white text that says SGH-I896, then release the power button only.
When in recovery mode use the volume down key to highlight reinstall packages, then press the power button. It should say completed and reboot the phone.
Once the phone has rebooted, do the exact same thing again, only use THIS FILE instead. Dont forget to rename the file again!
Then install the OCLF from market. Install the EXT2 tools first. Then run the lag fix installer.
I assume you already know how to enter recovery mode, but this way someone else searching for a fix will have all the info at their disposal here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could just about kiss you.... but I won't
Thanks for the update files they worked like a charm. I had a similar issue where the device didn't seem to be properly rooted, though it didn't give me any issues with most things when applying the lagfix it would die.
applied both your unroot and then root and it worked flawlessly the first time, lagfix then ran with no issues and my quadrant scores are 2250 now.
Not sure what you did exactly, I've tried rooting from update.zip from oneclick and neither worked I ended up rooting with the ADB and though it seemed to work it apparently did not.
Thanks again

Help Needed... Think I Bricked my Nexus S

Greetings,
Okay, so I endeavoured to root my phone last night and was successful. I ran into trouble when the clockwork recovery and superuser permissions kept getting removed each time I rebooted the phone. This morning, I tried to restore the superuser permissions by following the steps I found here on xda but after running the terminal script I rebooted my phone and when my phone wouldn't boot beyond the Google screen.
Now, I'm at the Google splash screen with no way to move forward. I'm a mac user and I don't really get the adb thing. Got adb to work with mac from a youtube video, but still not sure what commands to run.
I can't access clockwork recovery from the bootloader.
What I've done so far:
- wiped cache
- wiped/factory data reset
- retraced my steps by using terminal to setup superuser permission from this post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=927838)
What I think:
- maybe in all of my clicks I removed the ROM, so the phone doesn't have a ROM to work with.
This maybe a really infantile conclusion, but I know there's a solution (had a rooted G1 that I flashed all the time and thought I bricked once but was able to get it back to stock).
Eagerly waiting for a reply... no cell phone if this can't be fixed.
Tamaratee
__________________
Phone: Nexus
Rooted with problems

This post might help:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=9866675
It has the adb commands on how to replace the existing boot loader with cwm and all.
Hope it helps.
EDIT: If all else fails, you can try flashing a nandroid backup (2.3.3). This post would guide you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=979851

Greetings Cygnum,
Thanks for the suggestion. I have a question: will these commands work on a Mac?

Thank you to AllGamer for suggesting that I post this question here and for the following suggestion:
AllGamer said:
please post the same question in QA or General, then we can all help you
PM is not the best place to ask for help.
The first thing to do is to download the full set of Android SDK 2.3+ for MAC
then we'll continue from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I proceed AllGamer? I downloaded the mac SDK from here (http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html).

Follow steps 1-7 from here to get back Clockwork Recovery.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878446
If your bootloader is already unlocked, you can skip those steps.
Do steps 8-9 to copy this file over to your USB drive.
http://devsforandroid.com/ip.board/index.php?/files/file/94-stock-deodexed-233-voodoo-rooted/
This rom is Master's Stock 2.3.3 ROM that is already rooted which should get you up and running.
Unmount, go back. Wipe system data, wipe cache. Go to advanced, Wipe Dalvik-cache.
Go back, choose to install zip from SD card. Locate Master's stock ROM. Flash that.
In the end, you'll have a stock deodexed rom that is rooted. Keep in mind that you will lose all your data, but that at least puts you back on track.

Also wanted to mention if you didn't already know, mac scripts are run with a "./" in front of them. So to use the adb command you would do something like, "./adb reboot bootloader" after you have changed your directory to the folder that contains the sdk files.

peeturr said:
Also wanted to mention if you didn't already know, mac scripts are run with a "./" in front of them. So to use the adb command you would do something like, "./adb reboot bootloader" after you have changed your directory to the folder that contains the sdk files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel bad for being a stickler here, but this is only true if he has not added the location of the binaries to the PATH. ./ just specifies to start in the local directory rather than look to the PATH to search for the file, it's not a requirement for running a script.

krohnjw said:
I feel bad for being a stickler here, but this is only true if he has not added the location of the binaries to the PATH. ./ just specifies to start in the local directory rather than look to the PATH to search for the file, it's not a requirement for running a script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my bad. Just whatever had worked for me. Pretty new to mac myself.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

krohnjw said:
I feel bad for being a stickler here, but this is only true if he has not added the location of the binaries to the PATH. ./ just specifies to start in the local directory rather than look to the PATH to search for the file, it's not a requirement for running a script.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't ~/ do the same as well?
Sent from my MattedBlues CM7 Nexus S from the XDA Premium app.

kenvan19 said:
Doesn't ~/ do the same as well?
Sent from my MattedBlues CM7 Nexus S from the XDA Premium app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. ~/ specifies your home directory

Thanks Everyone
Thanks for all the suggestions and help I received. I PM'd KenVan and he provided me with the script and my Nexus S is up and running.

I just had this problem on the weekend I could not get past the lockscreen so I flashed cyanogen nightly and bam booted fine
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Problem Solved Over the Weekend
Thanks for the help everyone. I posted this in a couple places, so I forgot to update this thread.
I fixed the problem with detailed steps from KenVan. Thanks again though to all of you for your suggestions.

How to root stock 3.2

Ok, after messing around with 3.2 I decided to fix the rooting issues without downgrading. The problem with downgrading is it requires a SDCard and requires you to install a couple of programs and then to install an update.zip from the sdcard. I could not get half my ACER's to read and mount a sdcard, and some ACER's I have located in a remote office and trying to walk someone through the process was too painful. I tweaked the the downgrade tool's images to install 3.2 with root instead of downgrading it and jumping through hoops. All I did to the stock image is to copy the ash shell over to /system/xbin/su and set the sticky bit. Everything else is stock.
Update posted here, read thead http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20654298&postcount=129
New version V4
-- The instructions are in a PDF document inside the download --
== Version V4 ==
-- Added /system/subin/su which is a backup (backdoor) root in case an OTA deletes the /system/xbin/su
-- Set permissons on the su root(#) tool so OTA's shouldn't be able to break it.
-- Added drivers for XP
Summary:
Version V4 is the same as V3 with the only difference being that there is a NEW backdoor script which has some additional features to protect root(#) from getting broken when you do an OTA. I also applied these to this flash image so you wouldn't have to add the additional protection yourself. V4 also has the drivers for XP included. However, when taking an OTA you should also install the backdoor for additional protection. However, you cannot leave the backdoor installed as it turns off sound. So having a little more protection just might save your root in case you take an OTA and forget to install the backdoor.
Download it here: http://www.multiupload.com/NS0X5TK4D1
Alternative download location:
http://depositfiles.com/files/c6pr69ri6
http://www.fileserve.com/file/s2wCQpN/root-3.2.1-V4.7z
http://www.filesonic.com/file/jTA7AMN
http://www.filejungle.com/f/vRnfK5/root-3.2.1-V4.7z

Which 3.2 update is it ? Fully working, no issues ? Good job. Is it power + volume down or volume up to go into recovery ? And is it possible to flash a custom kernel like Honeyvillain on this stock ROM ?
Thx

Has anybody ( including OP) tried this method?

It is the 3.2 OTA for WiFi that my Tablet picked up. It is total stock other than making a SU from the ash shell and putting it into /system/xbin.
Fully works, no issues, have used it on 8 ACER 500's with no issues.
To enter recover it is the left side of the volume button which is volume (-) oopps NOT (+) as I indicated.

Hah, saying Vol +/- is not intuitive on this device since when in landscape, Vol + is the "right" side, but in portrait mode Vol + is the "top" side.

no go
Hi, i can see my iconia uid from adb ( already installed in my pc) but
not from test.cmd, in the extracted package. Any ideas?
REPEATED STEPS 1-4 ( PER INSTRUCTIONS) ON 2 PC'S RUNNING W XP. SO FAR "NO GO" TEST.CMD CANNOT FIND PATH.... AND DOTNETDETECTER, THEREFORE, DOES NOT WORK.

will this wipe all the data on the tablet?
---------- Post added at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------
JUGOMAN said:
Hi, i can see my iconia uid from adb ( already installed in my pc) but
not from test.cmd, in the extracted package. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here i run the setup file and it installs but after i run test.cmd and it cant find it

Sorry about the test.cmd not working. The script just calls adb.exe to make sure it is working and I have it installed in another directory that I did not include. I posted, to the original message an attachment, it is called fix-Test.7z that fixes the test.cmd. You should be able to just unzip it into the directory you created and run the test. The archive includes the adb.exe and dll's so the test.cmd should work. If you have adb.exe working you really don't the test.cmd, but I found out when talking someone through it (over the phone) this made sure that adb.exe was installed and they had the tablet USB Debugging turned on.
And it is a quick and easy way to get the serial number which you need to flash it.
Thanks,
Let me know if you have any more issues.

does anyone know if flashing it this way will delete all your data on the tablet?

NO GO2
The attchment does fix the test.cmd "problem" but the next step, Dotnetdetecter, does not work. It re-installs the driver (?) then error "adb is old" or something like that. All packages in my computer's ADB are up to date. I think that the "target" directory in the DONETDETECTER IS NOT CORRECT. ANY IDEAS? btw GOOD WORK!!!!!

Many thanks for this. It is really easy like this. Keep up the great work.

UPDATE
Installed, booted, but no root. Previous rom( acer update) was3.2 Gen 2, now 3.2 Gen 1. was worth a try.. Thank you... tablet is working just fine, just no root

jimmkd84 said:
does anyone know if flashing it this way will delete all your data on the tablet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea. I've never done this before so I'm wondering the same thing.
Also
Idk about this test thing but if u type 'adb devices' it'll show you which devices (if any) are connected. I always use that as a test when i use the adb to install apks.

bad adb
NO GO2 WROTE
The attchment does fix the test.cmd "problem" but the next step, Dotnetdetecter, does not work. It re-installs the driver (?) then error "adb is old" or something like that. All packages in my computer's ADB are up to date. I think that the "target" directory in the DONETDETECTER IS NOT CORRECT. ANY IDEAS? btw GOOD WORK!!!!!
Not sure what that would be. I just use the adb.exe and dlls that are in the fix.zip. Maybe you have a different version loaded?

ROOT IS NOT in the apps. It is in the adb shell.
What this does is allows you to connect to the device using adb.exe shell and you will get the $ prompt.
at the $ prompt type su and press enter. You will get # and be in su mode.
Now you can do whatever you would like. What would that be, you might ask? Well you could do the following:
1. mount system as rw
2. Push your favorite su tools to the device so they are listed in the apps (busybox etc).
Again this gets you to 3.2 with the ability to have a SU when connected via the adb shell. I left the building of the tools and custom CW to you guys to do as you wish. Here's something else you could do.
1. Shell to it, and issue the SU
2. Mount system as rw
3. Push your favorite tools to where you want (busybox etc)
4. Take the recovery.img (in the zip) and dd dump it to the recovery partition. This will put clockwork on the device (1.5).
a. You should probably run itsmagic too.
5. Get everything the way you want it.
6. Reboot to recovery and CW will load.
7. Now with CW 1.5 loaded, you can build and make copies of your ACER and make them available to anyone you like. CW 1.5 does NOT require an external SDCARD.
Sorry, if I did not make it clear that this is just a SU that you have to use from the command line. If someone wants to give me the links to a SU apk, busybox, etc they'd like included I'd do it. It would only take a few minutes as I got hundreds of these ACER's to flash for our company. I just wanted to get SU, but what the heck, I could build it out if someone would like it that way. ACER really pee'd me off with this, and guess what? They left the ability to gain root in the 3.2 100. Why the 'Sam Heck' did they change the 500 3.2 so you cannot get root?
So, anything I can do to help let me know. Also, If you never want ACER to send you another update I can tell you how to fix that too. All you have to do is the following:
1. Get to the adb shell $
2. type su to get the # prompt
3. Now mount system as rw by doing the following:
a. mount -t rfs -o remount,rw system /system
4. Now rename the update tool by doing the following:
a. mv /system/app/FDUpdater.apk /system/app/FDUpdater.apk.old
mv /system/app/FWupdateService.apk /system/app/FWupdateService.apk.old
5. To get OTA then just reverse the process if you ever want ACER and their OTA to break your fleet of ACER Tablets by pushing silly updates that they think you want then you can undo it. The last I knew, I owned these ACER Tablets and I don't take kindly to them changing something that I do NOT WANT CHANGED. They should be sued, matter of fact, I think they are violating federal laws by destroying data on MY tablets. Anyway, off my soapbox.

i have re run the new test.cmd and is working now, and have successfully run dotnetdetector but i dont want to proceed until someone can confirm if doing this will wipe all data on the tablet
appreciate it, great work btw dev!
---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
did this wipe the data on it?

Hello, may i use this procedure on my A501?
Thanks

I did NOT test on the 501 so I do not know. If it was me, I would take the 501 stock images and put them in the kitchen and root them and then replace the ones in my zip with those or better yet, use CW to flash it in.
I think the ACER 501 has cell phone data connection doesn't it? I don't think the stock for WiFi only would be a good idea.
What ACER did on the 3.2 update (my opinion) was removed the Gingerbreak exploit and they removed the adb root exploit (they left the adb root exploit in on the 100). This is what many OEM's did, however many allow you to flash your own easier than ACER seems to want to let us. So if you got 3.2 NON-ROOTED loaded then there is no way to 'hack' out a root (just yet).
So how do you root it? You have to make a custom ROM and flash it. Now ASUS/Motorola/Samsung/Toshiba all allow you to flash your own ROM if you know what you are doing.
ACER seems to hide how to put the tablet into flash mode (if someone knows please let me know). Even if you did flash it they do want those ROMS running so they take each partition and calculate the MD5Sum and write it to, I think, partition #7. Therefore, if you do figure out how to flash in a new boot image or system image the tablet will not boot because the MD5Sums will not match (if you brick your tablet this way you are fubar). Fortunately, someone wrote a tool called itsmagic which you can run to tell the tablet to rebuild these. But if you fubar brick it before you get itsmagic run, I don't know how you get into flash mode using the keys so you'd be up a creek.
So, the 411 skinny on rooting an ACER with 3.2 is to get 3.2 off the device. Fortunately, they made an earlier flashing tool to flash in 3.0. I would guess this leaked out as a way for people to reflash to stock when they have issues.
Once you are on 3.0, you now can use Gingerbreak or the adb root exploit to root it. Once rooted, you can get CW loaded. CW allows you to install your own ROM's. Without CW you can only install ROM's signed by ACER and without ROOT you cannot install CW.
So, if you flash to the 3.0 now you are 'back to the future' in 3.0, you can root and install CW so you can now install a custom ROM from your SDCard.
What I would do is go get the STOCK ROM from ACER for your 501 device.
Once you have the stock ROM, you can use the kitchen tools to unzip the ACER ROM and root it to your liking. Now, re-zip it, but you cannot sign it with an ACER certificate so it will only install using CW. No, big deal because you got 3.0 loaded with CW. You boot to recovery CW and then run the update from your SDCard that you built in your kitchen.
This isn't really that hard to do if you're willing to read some documentation.

I have no idea if it wipes it clean totally. It does walk you through the setup again (like it was new out of the box) so I would assume most things would be wiped. I would back it up and not take the chance because it is best to be backed up.

Just a note here. It says fully stock execpt root? i don't think that's entirely accurate. I believe that it's still downgrading the bootloader, otherwise you'd never be able to get CWM to run, as itsmagic doesn't work with the new bootloader. So your left with stock 3.2 ROM with adb/su abilities and pre 3.2 bootloader.
On another note, I believe step 17 is not needed. CWM run's itsmagic automatically on every boot. So just booting CWM and then rebooting to android should suffice.

Asus programs on modded tablet, and some CM9 questions

Hi All,
I set out to flash my tablet back to stock with the goal of copying some of the awesome asus-specific widgets and applications and installing them back on my tablet after I re-rooted/modded it. I accomplished part of this goal by finding some of the .apk's I wanted, like the Asus weather & battery widgets, the Supernote.apk, anda few others (I still wasn't able to find the Swype Keyboard.apk file)
Anywho, I tried to install the .apk's on my tablet after re-installing cm9 and rooting it but it just says "Application not installed". Anyone have any ideas? And can anyone elaborate on how to copy that swype keyboard APK that I desperately want? I found the other .apk's in the /system/app folder but swype wasn't there.
My other questions relate to CM9:
1) is there any way to decrease the boot time for CM9, or at least customize the boot screen?
2) I'm currently running an older version of cm9 (rc0 unofficial) and I have the stable rc1 of cm9 but when i tried to flash it, it didn't work (i can get the exact error message if needed). Did I do something wrong in updating or is RC1 not compatible with the device? Should I just wait till CM10 comes out?
3) When I initially rooted/flashed cm9, I was able to connect my tablet to my computer and the root of the / directory, but after flashing stock and trying again, I don't have the same luck. Is there some step I missed?
I appreciate any responses, thanks.
- Opethfan89

3 days, 300 views, no responses. BUMP anyone?

opethfan89 said:
Hi All,
I set out to flash my tablet back to stock with the goal of copying some of the awesome asus-specific widgets and applications and installing them back on my tablet after I re-rooted/modded it. I accomplished part of this goal by finding some of the .apk's I wanted, like the Asus weather & battery widgets, the Supernote.apk, anda few others (I still wasn't able to find the Swype Keyboard.apk file)
Anywho, I tried to install the .apk's on my tablet after re-installing cm9 and rooting it but it just says "Application not installed". Anyone have any ideas? And can anyone elaborate on how to copy that swype keyboard APK that I desperately want? I found the other .apk's in the /system/app folder but swype wasn't there.
My other questions relate to CM9:
1) is there any way to decrease the boot time for CM9, or at least customize the boot screen?
2) I'm currently running an older version of cm9 (rc0 unofficial) and I have the stable rc1 of cm9 but when i tried to flash it, it didn't work (i can get the exact error message if needed). Did I do something wrong in updating or is RC1 not compatible with the device? Should I just wait till CM10 comes out?
3) When I initially rooted/flashed cm9, I was able to connect my tablet to my computer and the root of the / directory, but after flashing stock and trying again, I don't have the same luck. Is there some step I missed?
I appreciate any responses, thanks.
- Opethfan89
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried this, but it may work. If you have ADB on your computer, try doing an adb push [name of file].apk /system/app/
If you can't do that, try copy/pasting them there using a root explorer on your device itself. Make sure the permissions are set properly (I don't remember what they are off the top of my head).
After doing that, reboot. See if it works.
As for your CM Questions:
1) I'm not sure if you can reduce the time. For customizing the animation, look at something like Rom Toolbox Pro (which also includes a root explorer like I mentioned above).
2) All CM9 TF300T downloads are located here: http://get.cm/?device=tf300t RC1 is listed there so I'm assuming you did something wrong (what's the error you get?)
3) Did you re-root? I'm not sure I understand.

Link9228 said:
I haven't tried this, but it may work. If you have ADB on your computer, try doing an adb push [name of file].apk /system/app/
If you can't do that, try copy/pasting them there using a root explorer on your device itself. Make sure the permissions are set properly (I don't remember what they are off the top of my head).
After doing that, reboot. See if it works.
As for your CM Questions:
1) I'm not sure if you can reduce the time. For customizing the animation, look at something like Rom Toolbox Pro (which also includes a root explorer like I mentioned above).
2) All CM9 TF300T downloads are located here: http://get.cm/?device=tf300t RC1 is listed there so I'm assuming you did something wrong (what's the error you get?)
3) Did you re-root? I'm not sure I understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize for the vagueness of my original post. I made this thread in anticipation of flashing everything back to stock, trying to copy over those Asus-specific .apk's (which I managed to do), and then re-rooting/re-flashing CM9.
I flashed the .30 firmware to get back to stock and found the Asus widgets & apk's I was looking for in the /system/app directory. After some bootloops and other fun, I was able to flash back to CM9 and when I tried to install the .apk's I immediately get the message "The Application was not installed"
Of the asus items I wanted, Supernote and Polaris Office were my top two picks, and I was able to acquire Supernote through 3-rd party means and install it. So I'm stoked to have Supernote on a CM9-flashed tablet. I wasn't able to find Polaris Office so I hope to at least be able to find a work-around to install that.
In response to #3 - yes I re-rooted my tablet (lost root with the .30 firmware) and previously I was able to browse the root directory of my tablet while it was connected to my computer. Now, I can only browse the SD card. I still haven't figured out a solution to this, but I just transfer files to my memory card and then to my tablet from there. I'm looking into how to do OTA file transfers via bluetooth or wi-fi, if at all possible.

opethfan89 said:
I apologize for the vagueness of my original post. I made this thread in anticipation of flashing everything back to stock, trying to copy over those Asus-specific .apk's (which I managed to do), and then re-rooting/re-flashing CM9.
I flashed the .30 firmware to get back to stock and found the Asus widgets & apk's I was looking for in the /system/app directory. After some bootloops and other fun, I was able to flash back to CM9 and when I tried to install the .apk's I immediately get the message "The Application was not installed"
Of the asus items I wanted, Supernote and Polaris Office were my top two picks, and I was able to acquire Supernote through 3-rd party means and install it. So I'm stoked to have Supernote on a CM9-flashed tablet. I wasn't able to find Polaris Office so I hope to at least be able to find a work-around to install that.
In response to #3 - yes I re-rooted my tablet (lost root with the .30 firmware) and previously I was able to browse the root directory of my tablet while it was connected to my computer. Now, I can only browse the SD card. I still haven't figured out a solution to this, but I just transfer files to my memory card and then to my tablet from there. I'm looking into how to do OTA file transfers via bluetooth or wi-fi, if at all possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did you try what I suggested in my post (pushing the files to /system/app on your tablet, rather than trying to install them through File Browser or whatever)?
I'm not sure if they rely on any custom Asus framework stuffs, like with many other OEMs. I personally doubt it because Asus barely changes anything. I think it *should* work, but can't guarantee it.
The easiest way to get the files to /system/app (if you're not very ADB or tech. savvy) is to download a root explorer (like Rom Toolbox Pro has, for example) and copy all the .apks that you want from your sdcard to /system/app.

Link9228 said:
So did you try what I suggested in my post (pushing the files to /system/app on your tablet, rather than trying to install them through File Browser or whatever)?
I'm not sure if they rely on any custom Asus framework stuffs, like with many other OEMs. I personally doubt it because Asus barely changes anything. I think it *should* work, but can't guarantee it.
The easiest way to get the files to /system/app (if you're not very ADB or tech. savvy) is to download a root explorer (like Rom Toolbox Pro has, for example) and copy all the .apks that you want from your sdcard to /system/app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't tried pushing the files via ADB yet. I just wiped out my computer so I need to re-install the drivers to get the tablet recognized and/or the the Android SDK.
In the 3rd point of your point, do you mean my external SD card or the internal memory?

the Transformer Pad has a good portion of internal memory partitioned as an sdcard and mounts it at /sdcard/. I haven't used an external SD card with my tablet yet. Either one should work.
I also found out that Polaris Office has some library files that you probably should grab as well. You can find them at:
/system/lib/libpolarisoffice_tablet.so
/system/lib/libpolarisofficedump.so
/system/lib/libtfapps-polaris.so
/system/lib/libtflua-polaris.so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There might be some library files for the other apps. You might want to look around in the /system/lib folder for other libraries as well.

Link9228 said:
the Transformer Pad has a good portion of internal memory partitioned as an sdcard and mounts it at /sdcard/. I haven't used an external SD card with my tablet yet. Either one should work.
I also found out that Polaris Office has some library files that you probably should grab as well. You can find them at:
There might be some library files for the other apps. You might want to look around in the /system/lib folder for other libraries as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome, thanks. If I'm able to get this working I will post a guide for others to follow. I ended up just signing up for the swype beta (which I think is stupid since I paid for that app when I bought my tablet, shouldn't have to get a reduced version)
I was able to find a working supernote.apk app on a 3rd-party website and it installed and worked perfectly.
My other issue I'm having is I try to push the files with ADB and it tells me my tablet is read-only? it gives that same message no matter which directory I try to push to. I have the superuser app and have root, but superusers' log shows the 'adb shell' is consistently being denied root permission (if i try to do su or something similar). Any thoughts?

opethfan89 said:
That's awesome, thanks. If I'm able to get this working I will post a guide for others to follow. I ended up just signing up for the swype beta (which I think is stupid since I paid for that app when I bought my tablet, shouldn't have to get a reduced version)
I was able to find a working supernote.apk app on a 3rd-party website and it installed and worked perfectly.
My other issue I'm having is I try to push the files with ADB and it tells me my tablet is read-only? it gives that same message no matter which directory I try to push to. I have the superuser app and have root, but superusers' log shows the 'adb shell' is consistently being denied root permission (if i try to do su or something similar). Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to remount your system as read-write. Trying doing an adb remount. If that doesn't work, try typing the following into a terminal emulator:
su
busybox mount -o remount,rw /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try ADB pushing again after that.

if you are able to install the apps by adb push. then maybe a .zip file can be created and use CWM to install all the stock apps.

Link9228 said:
You need to remount your system as read-write. Trying doing an adb remount. If that doesn't work, try typing the following into a terminal emulator:
Try ADB pushing again after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well part of the issue is that I can't "su" while in adb shell. It says permission denied. When I type ADB devices normally, it'll list my device. But when I'm in "adb shell" it doesn't show anything. "adb remount" gives me the message "error: device not found".
Any other suggestions?

opethfan89 said:
Well part of the issue is that I can't "su" while in adb shell. It says permission denied. When I type ADB devices normally, it'll list my device. But when I'm in "adb shell" it doesn't show anything. "adb remount" gives me the message "error: device not found".
Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's weird. I've never seen that before. Are you certain that your adb drivers are installed properly? You can always use a terminal emulator on your device itself to remount the system as read/write and then use adb afterwards.

Link9228 said:
That's weird. I've never seen that before. Are you certain that your adb drivers are installed properly? You can always use a terminal emulator on your device itself to remount the system as read/write and then use adb afterwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure my drivers are installed correctly. Everything shows up in device manager, "adb devices" lists my device, fastboot flashes files just fine, so yea.
And yea I have the terminal emulator on my tablet and I've used it before for some stuff (installing Ubuntu) so I will try the steps you guys have mentioned. I'm in the process of trying out some other ROM's right now (Hydro atm, and then probably CleanROM) so once I go back to stock and have access to the appropriate files I'll try these steps.

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.