Database Users

Quick Idea about permanent root

I'm no expert when it comes to the topics of rooting and getting access to the emmc and all of that good stuff. I more specialize in ROMs and themes and stuff, the less complexed stuff lol
Someone has posted an idea in the general forums in relation to permanent root, I'm not sure if he posted it here or not. So here's what he wrote....and is it possible? Or does it have to be done manually first before this idea can happen?
Originally Posted by deliberate187
In order to unlock the phone, we have to figure out what the protected sectors are first and all related flags. If an Android app could be made to have direct read access to the eMMC filesystems (including write protect flags) and save a log to the SD card detailing these items, this would be ideal.
Then all that would remain is a program to undo the write protection (and re-do it if necessary to unvoid warranty)
If anyone is willing to create these programs, I would be more than happy to test them out on my own G2.
However, I think the keys to the mystery may lie in the recovery image, and/or in the bootloader itself. Has anyone disassembled these yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sorry to have to tell you but this is all old information stuff we already know just are unable to do anything about it. Its harder then just coming up with an idea of something. Now if we knew a person that programed the g2 in htc factory then all would be good but as of now we just dont have the information we need to do anything

thanks
Thanks for the idea. Some people will be mad you didn't post in the root thread though.

File under "I'm no expert but..."

Here is one observation I have noted in my exploration. The root filesystem and system partition are mounted with the flags "-o ro,relatime" but in addition the /system partition has ",errors=continue" leading me to believe that this change is in fact written to the release configuration rather than to the eMMC itself. Can anyone try to get a permanent write to the fstab and see if this can net us permanent root? Possibly take a temp root session and remount the system and / filesystems read/write to see if writes stick... just an idea.
The errors=continue flag allows the ext3 filesystem to continue working even if there was a read/write error.

I've been able to get the system to change to r/w a couple times while wandering through root explorer. I have made subtle changes to certain folders such as moving txt files but nothing has ever been permanent. I can't really tell you how I did it either seeing as I can't replicate it on demand...I'm assuming it still gets written to cache despite being in the /system
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

heyy, I'm not punchie, I've got what the doctor calls a relaxed brain

I am thinking there should be a set of adb commands to unlock the nand. I am definitely thinking a nand dump and full disassembly of the bootloader and recovery image could be absolutely crucial in discovering what needs to be done. Just a thought, has anyone done a nandroid backup of the G2 yet? I'm pretty sure TMob doesn't have HTC encrypt its bootloaders...

deliberate187 said:
I am thinking there should be a set of adb commands to unlock the nand. I am definitely thinking a nand dump and full disassembly of the bootloader and recovery image could be absolutely crucial in discovering what needs to be done. Just a thought, has anyone done a nandroid backup of the G2 yet? I'm pretty sure TMob doesn't have HTC encrypt its bootloaders...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you can figure it out, go for it and i wish you luck

deliberate187 said:
Here is one observation I have noted in my exploration. The root filesystem and system partition are mounted with the flags "-o ro,relatime" but in addition the /system partition has ",errors=continue" leading me to believe that this change is in fact written to the release configuration rather than to the eMMC itself. Can anyone try to get a permanent write to the fstab and see if this can net us permanent root? Possibly take a temp root session and remount the system and / filesystems read/write to see if writes stick... just an idea.
The errors=continue flag allows the ext3 filesystem to continue working even if there was a read/write error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it were only this easy.
Re-mounting /system as r/w is part of the rooting process. This does not result in changes written to eMMC. In fact, the controller "lies" to Linux that the change has been synced. From then on, Linux holds the changes in its cache which, when dropped or rebooted, reverts changed files to their original state (because they were never written in the first place.)
The ext3 continue on errors thing is merely a way to skip fsck in the event that the read-only system has issues in the journal (very unlikely to happen, since nothing can write to it.) Presumably, this only covers an oversight in OTA updates (where the journal of the image provided by the OEM is dirty for some odd reason.) Again, since nothing can write to /system, it's all but an impossible scenario (nothing can write to the journal either...)
As for marking "sectors" as write-protected or not, that's also easier said than done. Entire partitions are locked, and half of the space is mysteriously "missing." It's difficult to see what's really going on from userland, as the device is deceptive as to what is and is not being written, or what is even stored on the eMMC in the first place.
The real solution is to exploit either the boot-loader or eMMC (re)/initialization somehow to allow a) unsigned firmware to be loaded and/or b) allow booting without write protection, allowing us to c) flash rooted rom to the phone and/or d) disable said protection. The unlock procedure will likely be similar to Unrevoked, as that is essentially the same situation (aside from the controller issue.)
All of this is covered in the wiki and various threads - check those out, if you find a way around it everyone would be glad to hear it.

HamNCheese said:
If it were only this easy.
Re-mounting /system as r/w is part of the rooting process. This does not result in changes written to eMMC. In fact, the controller "lies" to Linux that the change has been synced. From then on, Linux holds the changes in its cache which, when dropped or rebooted, reverts changed files to their original state (because they were never written in the first place.)
The ext3 continue on errors thing is merely a way to skip fsck in the event that the read-only system has issues in the journal (very unlikely to happen, since nothing can write to it.) Presumably, this only covers an oversight in OTA updates (where the journal of the image provided by the OEM is dirty for some odd reason.) Again, since nothing can write to /system, it's all but an impossible scenario (nothing can write to the journal either...)
As for marking "sectors" as write-protected or not, that's also easier said than done. Entire partitions are locked, and half of the space is mysteriously "missing." It's difficult to see what's really going on from userland, as the device is deceptive as to what is and is not being written, or what is even stored on the eMMC in the first place.
The real solution is to exploit either the boot-loader or eMMC (re)/initialization somehow to allow a) unsigned firmware to be loaded and/or b) allow booting without write protection, allowing us to c) flash rooted rom to the phone and/or d) disable said protection. The unlock procedure will likely be similar to Unrevoked, as that is essentially the same situation (aside from the controller issue.)
All of this is covered in the wiki and various threads - check those out, if you find a way around it everyone would be glad to hear it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listen to this dude. Absolutely correct.

[General Discussion, etc.] Vision AIO Wipe tool

This is the general discussion/Q&A/"wtf is this?"/"what good does this do me?" thread. Below is a general description of The Nullifier and the Q&A for it. This being the general thread for the AIO wipe tool, general questions about it are welcome.
Link to thread: Vision AIO Wipe Tool
The Nullifier.
This uses a special command in combination with a special file to overwrite the internal partitions with 0's, hence "Null" for 0 and "-ifier" for the fact that it does the action of the root word to something else. It also formats all the partitions afterward and checks for, and repairs any errors on them, as it can.
Q&A Section
Nullifier Q and A:
Q: Why not just format everything?
A: Because a format isn't intended to erase data, though, to a degree, does so. This script is intended to and will wipe out the data and leave a clean set of partitions for a ROM to be installed to.
Q: (Submitted by Cargohook) Would it be idiotic or fruitless to run this and then restore a nandroid backup? I mean, would that defeat the purpose?
A: I highly doubt it would be a waste of your time. On an educated hunch, when you restore a nandroid all CWM does is format the partitions then load the data from the nandroid to those partitions; back to square 1 with old data being left behind. The only thing to say is that if there is something such as bugged settings, or file corruption, those things will be present in the nandroid itself.
Q: Why don't I get a message about formatting /boot?
A: Because it doesn't format /boot. Why? In testing I found that it doesn't need it. It's all a matter of how Android uses boot.img and how it's copied.
Q: Does this wipe internal or external SD? (added because it keeps getting asked)
A: In a word, no.
Q: Will using this cause nand-failure or make my phone unusable if used too much?
A: I first developed this in March, I have used it many many times and I have no problems. Some people want to get up on a soap box and declare that it will. Overground was kind enough to step in and offer an unbiased opinon here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25257903&postcount=327
(More to come as need be)

Reserved

Reserved, just in case.

quick question, might be stupid to ask but would i have to use the nullifier AND system format option, or just use the nullifier?

Your question is answered above in the section entitled "The Nullifier".
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

oh haha, sorry.

Drink more vodka.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

Question about PIT files

Hello everyone,
Please, just a question about repartitioning a PIT file via Odin. I´m a bit confused about information I have read about the result of the repartitioning operation.
In some forums appear to say the repartitioning operation via Odin is, first, a values rewriting of GPT entries, and after that any kind of formatting/wipe of all partitions.
In other words, if i repartition a PIT file exactly with the same values I have in my GPT table, does nothing occurs and the content of partitions keeps, or partitions data are lost?
Sorry about my english, and thank you for any answer you can give me.

D,
hi,
if i understand correctly, you would still be performing a repartition operation , which will destroy data during the process.
Although, if you have some experience with data/forensic recovery and can get the tools ported to your tab, it's likely
you may be able to recover a fair amount of what you lose without the data being corrupted.
That being said your repartitioning would need to succeed first.
The better approach for rescuing your data would be to pull the mmcblocks/partitions off of the device and onto
your pc [Linux] as img files through ADB [android debug bridge], BEFORE YOU PERFORM THE OPERATION.
That way if you fail in repartitioning [ which is highly likely]
your data will still be preserved on your pc. To be able to pull the information/data from the device, the device must be rooted
or have a custom recovery available with properly functioning access to/through adb for root functions and adb shell as root.
questions belong in q&a by the way.
m

hi,
if i understand correctly, you would still be performing a repartition operation , which will destroy data during the process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for you answer. Well, what i´m trying to do is just an "experiment" resizing partitions. Of course there are other ways to do it, but what i´m thinking about is this:
Imagine the recovery partition was located in the first memory addresses, so, in one of the first GPT entries, and what i want to do is just modifiy size of last three partitions, so, three last entries in GPT table. If i create a new PIT file exactly with the same values that i have in the GPT table of the device but only modified values for the three last GPT entries, after perform a repartitioning via Odin and restart the device the recovery will be still there?
So, that is the sense of my question: Repartitioning does only write the values in the GPT table, or besides performs any kind of data lose in partitions (wipe,formatting...) ?
questions belong in q&a by the way.
m
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry and thank you, next time i´ll pay attention to it.

On older devices I had some success resizing partitions using parted in recovery mode via adb.
parted doesn't support ext4 as far as it's useful functions goes, you would have to create/resize any partition
as ext2 and reformat from there, cute approach but more hassle/trouble than it's worth.
for your experiment, be sure you can afford a new tab ! :silly:
i'm pretty sure your block layout is hardcoded in the bootloader. So you will probably end up creating
a very fashionable serving tray.
Meaning your device won't be able to find recovery partition, also there is likely a set amount of partitions allowed
by way of kernel if i remember correctly.
If your trying to get rid of that annoying no-execute permission in data thing, getting rid of FUSE would maybe get that done.
m

Thanks again for your answer. Experiment cancelled, currently no budget for a new tab.
Just a last -and sure a stupid- question, please: In your opinion, what would happen if i extract the PIT file from my device, and use itself to repartitioning via Odin? I mean, just specifying the PIT file and marking Re-Partition, other options (PDA,Phone,etc) unmarked? After restart, could work the tablet or I´ll get a brick?
Thanks again.
Regards.

D,
hi,
That's not a stupid question at all. I would suggest you read this thread all the way through
http://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/help/t530nu-pit-file-t2968498
also search via your preferred engine and XDA for terms/variations
samsung pit file signed odin heimdall
so far, the chances of repairing/modifying partition table on these newer devices [samsung] is slim/grim.
However maybe utilizing external/usb-otg storages to suit your needs would be a way to go. :good:
m

[HOW TO] Trim Partitions in TWRP Before a Clean Installing a New ROM

How to Trim Your Partitions in TWRP for a Truly Clean Install​
Do you flash a lot of ROMs? Do you ever think to yourself, "I wish I could go through extra steps to get a performance boost?" Do you lie awake at night and wonder what happens to your old data when the "mkfs.ext4" command gets passed in TWRP?
If you answered 'Yes!' to 2 or more of those questions then this guide is for you! I'll explain how to run the Trim command in TWRP prior to a clean flash of a ROM to give you peace of mind and perhaps a performance boost! I emphasize perhaps because the level of performance we're talking about here may or may not translate to real world applicability, but I do it anyway because science!
Steps!​***WARNING: I highly recommend making a backup of your previous ROM because if you follow this guide we are going to send everything that isn't a binary zero to the data abyss until the only thing left on your device is a bunch of zeroes and TWRP. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!***
Follow this method prior to a clean install only (TRIM command can be run at any time)
1.) Reboot to TWRP and Choose 'Wipe' from the main menu
2.) Choose 'Advanced Wipe' and select Data, System, Cache, and Dalvik Cache
OPTIONAL (Most people shouldn't do this step): If you copied your TWRP backup to your PC and want to wipe out your SD card select 'Internal Storage' otherwise do NOT check this option!
3.) Swipe to wipe the selected partitions
4.) Hit the home button and choose 'Mount'
5.) Mount the System partition (data and cache should already be mounted)
6.) Hit back or home, choose, 'Advanced', and then choose 'Terminal Command'
7.) Hit 'Select' in the bottom right corner to get to the command prompt (you'll be in the root directory)
8.) type this at the prompt, "fstrim -v /system" and hit enter (do not add the quotes)--it will show wiped space
9.) type this at the prompt, "fstrim -v /data" and hit enter (do not add the quotes)--it will show wiped space
10.) type this at the prompt, "fstrim -v /cache" and hit enter (do not add the quotes)--it will show wiped space
11.) Reboot to Recovery
12.) Install ROM and Gapps of choice then reboot to system when prompted
13.) Super clean install complete
But, Why?!​Here's a good article that sums up the answer to this question: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/ask-ars-my-ssd-does-garbage-collection-so-i-dont-need-trim-right/
F.A.Q.​Q: What does the TRIM command do?
A: When data is deleted by an operating system it gets flagged for deletion. Which basically means that it gets overwritten if the OS needs more space. Otherwise, it just sits there invisible on your drive for an arbitrary amount of time. I can't stand arbitrary. I prefer weekly.
Q: Who else uses this command?
A: fstrim specifically is a Linux/GNU command, but if you try to defrag an SSD in any modern version of Windows they pass this command as well. OSX recently decided to extend this trick to third-party drives that owners installed themselves. How...kind of them.
Q: Do I need to run this?
A: Absolutely not. Running fstrim just accelerates a process that Android will do itself eventually. There is even a hardware trim built into modern SSD drives, but I don't know that all smartphone flash memory has this feature.
Q: Break down the "fstrim -v / " command for me cause I wanna learn!
A: fstrim is the linux command, -v stands for verbose output so you can see the results, and / is your partition that you are calling to run trim on. We only have 3 partitions to choose from and those are: System, Cache, and Data.
Q: I get the error: fstrim command not found. Halp?
A: Reboot to TWRP, re-mount the System partition, and re-run the commands.
Q: Does it work on F2FS?
A: It seems to. I ran it on my data and cache partition after converting them to F2FS and it trimmed like normal.
Q: Running fstrim, rebooting recovery, and running fstrim nets the same output. Why?
A: I don't know why this happens. If you run fstrim twice in a row you'll see the first one gives a byte output and the second run shows zero if passed on the same partition. However, rebooting recovery and perhaps remounting the drives causes it to think trim hasn't been passed yet and does it anyway? I'm guessing honestly.
Q: Will you add more questions to this as members find errors in your guide and remind you that you left something out because you're human and clearly don't know everything?
A: Absolutely.

Wow... nice!!
Great OP, too. Very informative!

"give you peace of mind and perhaps a performance boost"..
lol, perhaps? performance boost you will not get, its more like when you just run a rom after clearing your "dalvik". it will "feel" quicker for about an hour or so. i say "feel" because there actually isnt a boost there, its just cleaner on the first run. anyways, and regardless, this is still a good thread

Redundant file fragments take up space and slow performance as they're automatically deleted. You may not notice much of a difference, but it's definitely not a bad thing

This is great!! Thank you for this information

simms22 said:
"give you peace of mind and perhaps a performance boost"..
lol, perhaps? performance boost you will not get, its more like when you just run a rom after clearing your "dalvik". it will "feel" quicker for about an hour or so. i say "feel" because there actually isnt a boost there, its just cleaner on the first run. anyways, and regardless, this is still a good thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol you're correct to an extent, it is a lot like clearing cache/dalvik in a sense. But the main difference is that it actually overwrites the written sections and not just wiping the MFT like mkfs.ext4 does when you wipe a partition.
I'll put it this way, if the fine people at ASUS include it in my UEFI BIOS for prepping a new install of Windows, I think it should be a recommended step in installing a new phone ROM. For advanced users of course

Sounds like a great idea. So to clarify, by doing this trim we do not delete the internal storage (SD card) files we use such as files listed under the "downloads" folder. Is that correct?

Nickchapstick said:
Sounds like a great idea. So to clarify, by doing this trim we do not delete the internal storage (SD card) files we use such as files listed under the "downloads" folder. Is that correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. As long as you don't choose 'Internal Storage' when wiping with TWRP you can safely trim the entire data partition. The fstrim command only overwrites data that has been marked for deletion through user intervention or from a wipe command in TWRP.

So I just did this and wow there was a lot of data there. For me that short 5 minutes was worth knowing my phone has less trash just sitting around. Kudos AlkaliV2. I'll remember this til the end of time.

Followed the instructions perfectly and enjoyed the next few hours reapplying all of my settings.

enginuity2 said:
Followed the instructions perfectly and enjoyed the next few hours reapplying all of my settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love a good clean flash. I even deny automatic restore and pick, "Setup as new device" each time because I love choosing what will and won't be on my phone. It's a rush exceeded by many things. But still a pretty good way to end the day.

After Years Of installing many roms on my s3 mini (download mode showed 180 counts of custom binaries download!!!) this article brings first day freshness to my phone :laugh:
this gave me performance again; but my progress bar in some apps is bad again

AlkaliV2 said:
I love a good clean flash. I even deny automatic restore and pick, "Setup as new device" each time because I love choosing what will and won't be on my phone. It's a rush exceeded by many things. But still a pretty good way to end the day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this method feasible on a device that has a A/B partitions?

Dr Fone recovery option messed up my phone getting "Enter your password to start up device" and No support single sku

When I plugin my Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime and then select recovery module and it show as connected and then I select android data recovery option and then select recover documents only and then click next. Then it show and detected device model, downloading package and it went like that till 99% uncertain if it hit 100% or not and then it caused my device to reboot and after it reboot now it is asking for a password to start up device but I tried device screen password, google account password and samsung account password but all didnt work. Thus it shows have 7 attempts left before factory reset itself.
The boot up looks a bit different from normal too, unsure if it is coming through a different type of boot and if there is a way to reverse to how it was earlier?
In recovery mode it shows in recovery log pid 2064 ran. where first line filesystem table code was;
0/ efs ext4/ dev/block/platform/1354000.dwmmc0/by-name/EFS(/dev/block/mmcblk0p3) 0
and in following
#ls /cache/recovery
ksmg
-rw------root root 8190724 2022-04-02 11:19 last_ode_dumpstate_err_check_password.log
From what I could see further in log it seems like maybe dr fone tried to root phone since I see files seem to have been overwritten probably as same file name shown where earlier recorded in time stamp as either 2017 or 2008 and underneath that dst is run with today tim stamp.
What would be method to solve to get back to normal working state without any data loss?
It seems when check via dr fone transfer showing as mem capacity 2797mb and 1362mb used whereas it should show as 32Gb, also when start up it says Enter your password to start up your device but I am certain I enter correct passwords but it is not verifying. Also in recovery mode it shows No support single sku supported api:3.
And when try backup option no files come up on scan does that mean the Dr fone recovery package that it installed wiped out the data? Or is it like in another different boot system for recovery? How to solve this problem?
Also any backup software you think could backup stuff before applying any drastic fixes

I think your phone internal storage is corrupted because of Dr. Fone and this is caused by the data encryption inside the phone and I think that it requires the encryption password, and to solve this problem, you must flash a modified recovery like TWRP or CWM and then pull all the data by making a MOUNT of the internal storage it will only works on old Android version 6.x or 7.x but you can try

My android is 6.0.1 so I think it should work, do you have any video tutorials or a thread with stepwise instructions to get twrp or cwm to backup current data and later restore?
Also any idea if use the dr fone repair device feature it might fix?

Dr.Fone only one thing do transfer WhatsApp chat between android and iOS all else features not work perfect so try another way, ask google how mount internal storage on android phones by twrp it’s easy and not need a tutorial just flash a custom recovery and don’t let device to boot enter recovery mode immediately and go to mount and press mtp or mount storage

Looks like the device name has got renamed as well best try to see if have a file explorer or manager for android so can see if files still intact? Any pc softwares that can be used to clarify without need to unlock screen since it is asking for a pass saying Enter your password to start up your device but I am certain I enter correct passwords but it is not verifying.
If the files are intact then I can try twrp or odin cf root flashing to see if can flash home version file so files possibly stay intact. Or if they are anyways not then will try factory reset via recovery mode and then will need recommendation of good software to recover data for free
Any ideas?

That app is trashware. Do Not use!
If a factory reset doesn't clear it you'll need to reflash the stock rom.
The data is lost... that's my opinion.
Always backup all critical data redundantly to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC... or you will lose data, eventually!
NEVER encrypt a data backup drive.
Do copy/paste file transfer, verify file size and folder count match. Test for readability.
NEVER clone music data bases, copy/paste only.
Do not use compression or apps like SmartSwitch to backup critical data, they can fail you miserably.
You can never have too many backup data drive. Avoid using flash memory; quality hdds have better memory retainment. Store in more than one location. Near lightning strikes can wipe them; a metal earth grounded box or safe is best.

blackhawk said:
That app is trashware. Do Not use!
If a factory reset doesn't clear it you'll need to reflash the stock rom.
The data is lost... that's my opinion.
Always backup all critical data redundantly to at least two hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC... or you will lose data, eventually!
NEVER encrypt a data backup drive.
Do copy/paste file transfer, verify file size and folder count match. Test for readability.
NEVER clone music data bases, copy/paste only.
Do not use compression or apps like SmartSwitch to backup critical data, they can fail you miserably.
You can never have too many backup data drive. Avoid using flash memory; quality hdds have better memory retainment. Store in more than one location. Near lightning strikes can wipe them; a metal earth grounded box or safe is best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you recommend a free pc software that could possibly backup device in current state? Or a free pc software that could do data recovery without need to root phone so if I do go ahead with flash and it wipes data or i do factory reset then I could try to get backup data.

NW_Work said:
Can you recommend a free pc software that could possibly backup device in current state? Or a free pc software that could do data recovery without need to root phone so if I do go ahead with flash and it wipes data or i do factory reset then I could try to get backup data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not on an unrooted phone. You can try this.
If you used Drfone it has likely already encrypted the data with their own encryption key.
Hopefully some of your data is backed up somewhere else because this is a dead horse... I believe.
I be more concerned about salvaging the phone at this point. It's a tough lesson from the U of hard knocks... don't repeat it. Sorry.