Database Users

Gain root access to hardware locked vibrant

We now know that the new vibrant phones have the hardware key disabled to enter recovery mode. But these phones are not defective. The hardware key has been purposefully disabled as part of a misplaced strategy to secure a phone that has basically no security built into it.
Therefore it is really easy to gain root access to these phones. However the process requires the use of the adb program that is part of the google android sdk. This program likes to run on a 32-bit linux distribution. Since it will not run on a 64 bit system, here is how I managed to gain root access to my phone:
1. Download the sdk from google.
2. Boot into linux on a 32 bit machine. (I used ubuntu live cd on an old Toshiba laptop with an available linux partition to mount on the hd. Your mileage may vary.)
3. If you are not using ubuntu make sure that your c library is compatible.
4. Install the google android sdk on the hd linux partition, e.g. /home/android.
5. Plug your Samsung vibrant into the usb port on the linux machine.
The following steps are specific to ubuntu. The important thing to remember is that the adb program must run its server as root to gain the access we desire.
6. Start the terminal app: Applications > Accessories > Terminal
7. Mount the partition and change to the sdk directory:
sudo mount /dev/sda2 /media
cd /media/*/home/android/tools
7. Start the adb server:
sudo ./adb start-server
8. Make sure your device is recognized:
./adb devices
If you do not see your device connected you have some troubleshooting to do.
9. Reboot your phone into recovery mode:
./adb reboot recovery
Congratulations! You just gained root access to your hardware locked vibrant.
This message has been posted by my old g4 laptop while tethered through t-mobile 3g using wireless tether on my brand new Samsung vibrant.

M_T_M said:
Hmmmm..good enough to stick!
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Yeah it's good, but you should move this thread to Samsung Vibrant forum.

This works on any android phone.
Although the method was inspired by the desire to use my vibrant as a g3 modem, the adb program is a general android maintenance tool that runs on linux. So it really doesn't matter what kind of phone you have. Once you have started the adb-server as root the reboot command will boot any android phone plugged into the linux box.

Spiaatie said:
Yeah it's good, but you should move this thread to Samsung Vibrant forum.
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Click to collapse
I know, I know mate .....I'll do it later...

r2d4 said:
Although the method was inspired by the desire to use my vibrant as a g3 modem, the adb program is a general android maintenance tool that runs on linux. So it really doesn't matter what kind of phone you have. Once you have started the adb-server as root the reboot command will boot any android phone plugged into the linux box.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would this also work for the new T-mobile G2 4G ?

I'm sure we will be seeing more locked phones besides the vibrant and g2. This fix should work for them all. The adb-server gives you root access to your phone provided that you have root access to the machine upon which it runs.

r2d4 said:
I'm sure we will be seeing more locked phones besides the vibrant and g2. This fix should work for them all. The adb-server gives you root access to your phone provided that you have root access to the machine upon which it runs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that no matter what you do on the G2, it'll be wiped on reboot. You can gain root temporarily, but when you reboot, it's gone

Installing the root update
tjhart85 said:
Keep in mind that no matter what you do on the G2, it'll be wiped on reboot. You can gain root temporarily, but when you reboot, it's gone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to keep root after your next reboot, you need to update your filesystem. The first step is to install the programs busybox and su.
Before you boot into recovery mode, make sure you have the update.zip file downloaded onto your phone's internal memory card. Whatever is on this card will be left alone even upon a factory reset. But the phone's internal memory will be wiped. The update.zip file merely installs those two programs to the internal memory and doesn't wipe anything.
1. Download the root update for your phone. Rename the file update.zip and place it on the root directory of your device's internal flash memory.
2. Once you are in recovery mode, use the volume keys to scroll and the power key to select "reinstall packages". (This works on the vibrant. The g2 may be slightly different.)
3. Your phone will reboot and you will find the Superuser app has been installed. This app lets you grant root access to applications that need it.
Now you can download powerful apps from the market to gain even more control over your phone.
I hope this helps.

Does boot with a live CD of 32 bit ubuntu on my AMD64 work?? or do i need to boot on a computer with a 32bit processor as well?

[Q] ADB not recognizing, please help

Okay, I have a permarooted MT4G with S=Off, and I want to use the gfree method to unlock my SIM and get the universal CID while I'm still on the stock kernel. All of the guides I see for that push the gfree files using the ADB.
Problem: I cannot get the Android SDK to recognize my MyTouch 4g. (SEE UPDATE)
I followed this guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=834748 to try and set up the ADB to no avail. This is what I did:
-- Downloaded the SDK, booted it up, let it update. Booted it up again, let it update EVERYTHING (took like 30 minutes) again. It has no more updates to install.
-- I tried adding adb as an environmental variable in windows, but the command prompt, no matter where I start it from, does not recognize 'adb' as "an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file." (works now)
-- The HTC Drivers that came with my device have been installed on my computer. So, I uninstalled them, only to have windows reinstall them as soon as I plug the device in (I'm running Windows 7 x64 home edition, Build 7601).
I tried going here http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/HTC/HOW-TO-Get-ADB-to-recognize-your-myTouch-4G/m-p/540017 and using their technique, no dice. My computer has the exact same drivers as when I started, and I have a digital paperweight of a SDK. (see update)
UPDATE: I now have a working ADB (big thanks to TrueBlue_Drew and his guide for us noobs) that recognizes my MT4G, but I have another issue:
FINAL QUESTION: Now that my MT4G is showing up in ADB, I realized I screwed up again when I discovered a "Android 1.0" item in the misc. section of my Devices window in Control Panel. It currently says that Android 1.0 needs troubleshooting and the drivers aren't working. I tried to direct windows to the usb drivers I downloaded from the both of the guides I've used, but windows wouldn't accept either one. Am I using the wrong drivers? Which ones should I tell windows to install? Should I even worry about it since adb is working? Any help on that end would VERY MUCH appreciated.

If you are using true blues method are you changing your target folder to c:\adb?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

neidlinger said:
If you are using true blues method are you changing your target folder to c:\adb?
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean the target of the environmental variable? If so, then no, because the name of the folder is android-sdk-windows, making the target C:/android-sdk-windows/tools, unless I'm totally off-base, which is probably what's happening.
Still, I don't think the target is C:\adb, cause I don't have anything in the root of my C drive that's named adb

corruptsmurf said:
Do you mean the target of the environmental variable? If so, then no, because the name of the folder is android-sdk-windows, making the target C:/android-sdk-windows/tools, unless I'm totally off-base, which is probably what's happening.
Still, I don't think the target is C:\adb, cause I don't have anything in the root of my C drive that's named adb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the adb.exe file in your tools folder? Also you should change the name of your SDK folder just so that its easier to type in the terminal. I made mine simply ANDROIDSDK.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Have you installed the drivers successfully? Here's what I do and it's worked on multiple computers and on both Windows 7 and XP:
- Install SDK
- Turn on USB Debugging on the phone.
- Plug the phone into the computer and let it try to install some stuff. Ignore any dialogs saying there were errors
- Mount the SD card and run the HTCDriver.exe file that came on the sd card when you got the phone.
- Unplug it from the computer and plug it in again.
- Open a command prompt and navigate to the tools subfolder of the android sdk. Run adb devices. (Even if the first time doesn't return your device's serial number, it should say that it's installing more drivers. Once that completes, adb devices should return your S/N and you should be good to go.)

So close, yet...
TJBunch1228 said:
Is the adb.exe file in your tools folder? Also you should change the name of your SDK folder just so that its easier to type in the terminal. I made mine simply ANDROIDSDK.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Actually no, adb.exe isn't It has a .txt named "Adb has moved," not really sure how to proceed from here; I downloaded the SDK that was in the topic I linked above, and just allowed it to update. More below, and thanks for the response.
jdkoren said:
Have you installed the drivers successfully? Here's what I do and it's worked on multiple computers and on both Windows 7 and XP:
- Install SDK
- Turn on USB Debugging on the phone.
- Plug the phone into the computer and let it try to install some stuff. Ignore any dialogs saying there were errors
- Mount the SD card and run the HTCDriver.exe file that came on the sd card when you got the phone.
- Unplug it from the computer and plug it in again.
- Open a command prompt and navigate to the tools subfolder of the android sdk. Run adb devices. (Even if the first time doesn't return your device's serial number, it should say that it's installing more drivers. Once that completes, adb devices should return your S/N and you should be good to go.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the problem is that my PC doesn't list any errors when I plug it in. BUT BIG NEWS, I followed the ADB for noobs guide (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928370), and I realized, as I said above, that my adb.exe file was nowhere to be found, so I used the one from the noob guide, and it could recognize my device in ADB. BUT it could not recognize my device in fastboot, so after much frustration, I decided to uninstall the drivers and reinstall using pda.net. Whatever it did, it worked, because adb and fastboot both show my serial number under devices. Thanks to the both of you for your help.
FINAL QUESTION: Now that my MT4G is showing up in ADB, I realized I screwed up again when I discovered a "Android 1.0" item in the Misc. section of my Devices window in Control Panel. It currently says that Android 1.0 needs troubleshooting and the drivers aren't working. I tried to direct it to the usb drivers listed in the both of the guides listed above, but windows wouldn't have it. Am I using the wrong drivers? Which ones should I tell windows to install? Should I even worry about it since I can use adb anyhow? Any help on that end would VERY MUCH appreciated.

ADB, Toolkits and getting to know my N10

So tomorrow I'll be receiving a Nexus 10 from swappa that is already rooted and unlocked.
I still want to be prepared to have all the tools just in case I need to unroot & lock her back up.
I read that ADB needs to be updated for 4.2.2. I am no longer familiar with ADB and just wanted to know the best place to find the most recent files.
I read through some of wugfreshs' thread and I'm still a little in the dark.
Any help would be appreciated :beer::beer:

Install android sdk, and platform-tools inside it, you'll have latest ADB/fastboot version.
If you type just 'adb' (you may have to reboot or even add it to your path then reboot), it will give you all the adb command parameters, same with fastboot, then it's only a matter of finding further explanation if needed.
If the toolkit fails, you'll have no idea where it failed. Better learn it how Google does it first. This is a Nexus after all.
I think you should read the link below, ADB and fastboot still applies, what might not apply is partition tables, kernels, etc, but you already know that.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1814266
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app

bk201doesntexist said:
If the toolkit fails, you'll have no idea where it failed. Better learn it how Google does it first. This is a Nexus after all.
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Click to collapse
100% this. You will have a far better time later on (and with other devices even) if you learn how to do stuff manually early, via ADB and Fastboot provided by Google. Toolkits do nothing for your knowledge besides hampering it, and there's even talk of some toolkits (I don't know of any for the N10) containing malware.
Would you rather trust your device security with random programs, executables, and very likely un-updated drivers from a complete stranger, or you would trust Google's own tools? :good:
To give a brief setup process with Android SDK, you first need Java SDK installed, then grab Android SDK (either just the basic 21MB installer or the entire ADB developer bundle with eclipse), install it, run SDK Manager, grab Tools (may be already installed), Platform-tools, and Google USB Driver, install Google's USB Driver (via right-click driver inf > Install), add platform-tools folder to PATH (for easy access to adb and fastboot commands), and done You now have the latest binaries and drivers from Google, and now know how to setup a basic Android SDK environment, something a toolkit wouldn't teach you

Can I access the X Play via fastboot on Win7 without installing Motorola Drivers?

I just got my Moto X Play and wanted to root it and flash CM13. I installed the Google USB Drivers to get Windows to recognize the ADB interface, and getting into fastboot mode with ADB works just fine. But once there, "fastboot devices" fails to recognize the device. The device manager shows an unrecognized device "Fastboot lux S" for which the google USB drivers don't work. I've read that this should be fixed by installing the official Motorola drivers, but I would like to avoid that if possible - I'm doing this to get rid of the Motorola crap, installing more of it on my PC to do so would be disappointing.
So, I've got a heap of questions:
- Can I use fastboot on Win7 without installing Motorola-specific drivers? It seems that there should be a generic driver for the fastboot interface as it's a feature on all modern android devices AFAIK.
- Is it possible to use Linux to connect to the device via fastboot? I doubt there's a Linux driver from Motorola... but if it's possible to get fastboot access, I'd just boot a live CD and do the unlock from there.
- Does my objection to the Motorola Drivers make sense? Are there any benefits to having the drivers installed if I flash CM on the device?

The drivers are irrelevant to the OS you want. You need the drivers, install the drivers. Your computer is trying to talk to the phone, and right now they are speaking different languages, the driver is an instruction on how to talk to the phone. It has very little to do with Motorola, google didn't build your phone, they supplied the OS. Fastboot is effectively the BIOS of your phone, imagine what would happen if you flashed the wrong BIOS on your computer., would you call Microsoft and say fix it? no.
Install the damn drivers and get over it.

ImWarped said:
It has very little to do with Motorola ...
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That's exactly why I asked, I thought this was a standartized part of Android for which there might be a generic Windows driver - I guess that's not the case, thanks for the clarification. But I googled around and unlocking under Linux seems to work (and without requiring a driver), so I'll try that first.

fckmoto said:
- Is it possible to use Linux to connect to the device via fastboot? I doubt there's a Linux driver from Motorola... but if it's possible to get fastboot access, I'd just boot a live CD and do the unlock from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fckmoto said:
I googled around and unlocking under Linux seems to work (and without requiring a driver), so I'll try that first.
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Click to collapse
Since my wife moved to an Android phone, our house is Microsoft free. Being a fairly novice user who likes to tinker, this always introduces extra layers of doubt and uncertainty ...even fear, at times. I am forced to wonder, in the presence of all the Windows software and Windows-based procedures and advice, does it work on Linux?
My answer, so far, over three phones, is that if it is adb or fastboot stuff, then, yes it does. Or, at least, so far, everything I've tried works.
Depending on your linux distro, you might have to install some extra package containing those commands. You might want to install the whole Google android package. 99.999% developer stuff, but includes the two commands that you want. It's probably more up-to-date than the Linux-distro versions.
You might have to insert a line with some manufacturer ID (I didn't for the X Play) in some configuration file.
Look... my anti-MS biases show even through a thick overcoat. But do the linux thing only if you want to do linux. By the time you've read this post, you could probably have installed those drivers .
Does my objection to the Motorola Drivers make sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.

Thad E Ginathom said:
No.
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Click to collapse
Heh, I guess it's somewhat thick-headed to look for alternatives instead of just installing the drivers. My main problem with that is that Motorola doesn't offer a direct download of the driver but wants me to install a driver manager tool instead... I've kept my pc crapware-free thus far and intend to keep it that way If it's as simple as installing a few Android dev packages under Linux, I'll definitely take that route.
But with bash and the full Canonical repositories coming to Win10, maybe one could use the Linux adb and fastboot binaries under Windows in the not-so-far future... I wonder if those would then work without a device driver

Install 15 seconds adb 1.4.3 and run it in your fastboot folder you create in C of Windows7, no Motorola drivers.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48915118#post48915118

Motion Sense Radar Bypass

Hello everyone! I'm looking some advice from the wise about bypassing the region restrictions for the Soli Radar (Motion Sense) in my Pixel 4. I am pretty new at running ADB (Android Debug Bridge) from my Windows PC. That said, I'm sure I overlooked something very simple. I can't get the commands to work at all. I followed the XDA YouTube video step by step on how to install and setup the SDK Platform tools on my PC. As well as how to prepare my device to receive commands from my PC. But it fails every time. I'm pretty sure that I'm just running the ADB incorrectly, but I don't know. I have only been able to find instructions on how to install and setup the SDK package. But no clear instructions on how exactly to utilize it. Again, I've never done this before. I am running the latest version on Android 10 on my phone and my PC is running Windows 10. And before running any commands, I verified that the device is in fact attached to the PC by running "adb devices" first. I wish there was an option to attach a screenshot of failure message I'm getting. But it says:
setprop: failed to set property 'pixel.oslo.allowed_override' to 'true'
I get this same failure when I run the alternative command line as well. And I have tried both command prompt and Power Shell and receive the same failure message. Anything advice that can be shot my way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

First check the windows 10 device manager to confirm that your device and computer are successfully connected.
Then try to replace with a new data cable, a USB 2.0 cable may be better.

Is the phone bootloader unlocked or have you rooted it yet? Honestly I am not sure if either of those are required for the changes, but I suspect they are. If you haven't rooted the phone yet, then I bet you don't have the correct privileges to make those kind of changes to the phone.